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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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April 25, 2011

Blog of the Week and The Simple Stencil Winner!

Our featured blogger this week has officially been given a title by the girls At The Picket Fence.  We have dubbed her our “Inspiration Friday Goodwill Ambassador“! Wherever Vanessa and I go around blog land we see her sweet comments.  She makes an effort every week to visit so many of our inspiring guests at our Inspiration Friday party!  Not only is she kind and supportive, she is talented and creative too!  You can find this special lady at her blog:
Sullivan and Murphy

and her name is Sue

la, ree, and me
Yes that would be Sue (in the middle) with Ree
aka The Pioneer Woman. No we are not jealous…much.

Sue doesn’t live very far from Heather…we have promised that the next time Vanessa comes to visit we are going to meet up with Sue and give her a big hug and thank her for being such a super fantabulous friend to us girls!

We would be so honored if you would head over to Sullivan and Murphy and leave Sue a sweet comment for all of the comment love she gives others and while you’re there become a friend of her wonderful blog!  Thank you Sue for all of your support, we appreciate you!!



And now to announce the winner of our Simple Stencil Giveaway!  Using Random Generator we chose the winner of the $40 gift certificate to The Simple Stencil.  And the winner is:

TOLEPAINTINGKIM

Congratulations Kim!  Please contact us through our Contact Page and we will put you in touch with The Simple Stencil to claim your gift certificate! And thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway.  We hope you will consider supporting a sponsor of At The Picket Fence and purchasing from The Simple Stencil for any of your stencil needs!

6 Comments Filed Under: Featured Blogger, Giveaways

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Comments

  1. NanaDiana says

    April 25, 2011 at 1:21 PM

    Headed over to meet a new friend. So much better to have a SweetSue than a DebbieDowner (NOT talkin’ bout anyone here in Blogland-but if you are out there you know who you are);>D I love uplifting, supportive people-we need MORE of them! Hugs-Diana

    Reply
  2. tolepaintingkim says

    April 25, 2011 at 2:58 PM

    WOW, I am so excited that I actual won something….thanks for the great giveaway!!! I am heading over right now….great time for a Mother’s Day gift…<3<3<3

    Reply
  3. Sue says

    April 25, 2011 at 3:18 PM

    Oh My Goodness- Thanks so much for the feature, Heather and Vanessa! I’m a ‘people person’ so it’s true that I like to do a lot of visiting and commenting. Can you see my backside growing, as we speak? I’ll be the first to admit that I need a serious course in time management!
    When I first started blogging, it took ages to gather a following. I can remember anxiously waiting to see the alerts pop up in my e-mail after each new post! Sheesh- am I sounding needy?! Back then, there wasn’t the support network that so many people, such as yourselves, now employ. When you unselfishly promote others, it perpetuates the real reason I started blogging in the first place– to make and cultivate friendships! I truly believe that participating in blog parties and giving others encouragement through honest, heartfelt comments does help to do this. I call it “spreading the comment love.” It’s totally amazing how much we can really learn from each other! BTW- to this day, I STILL get a big kick hearing from people who share a common interest with me!
    So thanks, once again, for YOUR friendship and bloggy love!
    Lotsa hugs, Sue

    Reply
  4. Paula Jo @ Outdoor Garden Decor says

    April 25, 2011 at 4:48 PM

    I’m going to head over to her blog, and I wanted to say Congrats to the winner of the giveaway. I hope you had a great Easter.

    Reply
  5. Shelia says

    April 25, 2011 at 5:59 PM

    How nice to feature our Dear Sue! I’ve been visiting her for a long time and she is amazing and sweet!
    Thank you for popping in to see me!!
    Hope you had a wonderful Easter!
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia 😉

    Reply
  6. Kathy says

    April 27, 2011 at 12:46 PM

    Sue is terrific! Congratulations!
    Kathy

    Reply

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Yesterday on the way home from school I had the ra Yesterday on the way home from school I had the radio tuned to my daughter's favorite station and a song that was playing had a line in it that really stood out to me. It made reference to a 'season of the sticks' which I think its safe to say must mean winter. I thought that was such an accurate, albeiet kind of depressing, picture of this time of the year.

While we definitely have more than our fair share of evergreen trees here in Oregon, we also have plenty of trees and bushes that are reduced to sticks during the cold months. But, this morning as I looked out my kitchen window, greedily sipping from my mug of coffee, I marveled at the beauty of the winter sunrise. The sky was all pinks and oranges with frost on the rooftops and a little bit of fog. And, I realized that part of why it was so amazing is because I could see it more clearly through the sticks. The bare branches allowed me a view that I wouldn't be able to see if those same branches were covered in leaves. Being stripped down to almost nothing revealed something magnificent.

We have seasons of the sticks in our lives too, don't we? Times when we feel as though we've been stripped bare and left exposed. It's easy to think that this is a place where all is ugly and dark. And yet, just like the winter sunrise was more visible because of the bare branches, the vulnerability we feel in the winter season of our souls allows us to get a glimpse of beauty that we wouldn't see otherwise. In the lush, warm seasons it's so easy to become comfortable. But in the bare, cold seasons we recognize just how much we need to rely on the One who placed the stars in the heavens and is sovereign over all.

If you feel like your soul has been stripped bare and you've been left exposed and vulnerable, may I encourage you today to ask the Lord to help you to see the beauty in this 'season of the sticks'.

“Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." Psalm 143:7
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It's honestly fairly representative of my state of mind these days as I can't seem to make the date on the calendar match the date in my spirit because it feels like it should be January 45th. Every year this month drags on and every year it seems to surprise me for some reason. In addition, my heart just feels heavy as I witness a lot of darkness and sadness around me. So, I'm choosing to control what I can control by making my house feel as cozy as possible, relishing the sunshine whenever it dares to peek through the clouds, gathering inspiration for warmer weather projects and, most importantly, resting in the comfort of the sovereignty of my Father.

“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ So that everyone he has made may know his work..." Job 37:5-7
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The day after Christmas I found myself laundering The day after Christmas I found myself laundering and folding all of the linens we used the previous night as we hosted my husband's side of the family for dinner and other festivities. As I laid out each cloth napkin and folded them one by one, I couldn't help but be struck by what a simple, yet meaningful, task it was. It's such an honor and privilege to be the hostess and, at this stage of my life, I realize that this has almost one hundred percent become my role now. Our parents are in their 70's and have either downsized significantly or simply don't have the energy to take on hosting duties for a large group. I could resent this. I could feel overwhelmed by it. But, instead, I'm choosing to embrace it knowing that, someday, I too will pass the hosting torch and I hope that I will be welcomed with love and attentiveness. So, I fold the linen napkins, taking pleasure in the way all of the creases line up and how neat and tidy they look in the drawer of my dining room buffet. These seemingly simple chores are part of the lifeblood of homemaking and my attitude towards them can either be one of gratefulness or grumbly-ness (yes, I'm making up words now). 

And I’m choosing gratefulness. 

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Here’s to beginnings. Happy new year friends! May you experience the majesty and sovereignty of the Lord in 2023 like never before! ✨
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