Bon Jour and Happy Monday to you!!!

Good Morning and Happy Monday to you all!!
It was a wonderful weekend of time at home for me, hope you all had that as well. Here in Texas, we got some much needed rain!  

     It made me laugh, usually rain makes me feel gloomy but after so many days of heat, I was doing a happy dance about the rain!!!!  I have been on a clean out mode here at my little old house!!!  My neighbors and I all had a garage sale, I cleaned for a week beforehand to empty out all the "treasures" and "projects" that I had stashed in the garage over the last few years.  Now you can actually see the floor and walk thru it from front to back!!!!  If you have ever seen my garage, you know what a job that was!  
      My dear friend Cari came over for several days to cheer me on!  She is good at snapping me back to reality when I get that far away look in my eye over something as I plan what I can do with it...she would say, how long have you had it, you don't need it, how many more do you have out in the studio....etc, etc... She has a much more simplistic style than I do....and she has just about convinced me it is much easier to keep a house clean with less stuff.  Oh but I do love me some stuff, especially vintage stuff!!! 
     Saturday, I continued the cleaning and worked in my Living Room....many many trips out to the studio to carry boxes and bins of art supplies and works in progress that had collected in the living room. Why I even uncovered a sofa with some pretty pillows on it!!!!  My sweet dog was so excited to have several choices of places to nap as I uncovered the floor and carried out the paper, paints, canvas, embellishments and paint brushes....he was all caught up on his rest by the end of the day!!!  
     Saturday evening was filled with a visit from Cari (sweet friend that encourages me to clean!!!) and we celebrated her new teaching job. Cari worked for me for years, but her true passion is in teaching special needs children. She went back to school and graduated just as her youngest daughter was graduating high school!!!  Way to go Cari!!!! and she is now going to be teaching!!!   I hope and pray her first day is filled with fun, new friends and laughter as they get ready for a new school year!!!  
     Sunday was another day of working in the Living Room...and I have to tell you, that when I got up and got my coffee this morning,  made me super happy to sit and sip it, in my clean living space!!!  It will also make me super happy to come home to.  Why oh why do I let it all get so cluttered up???  When it is that way, it keeps me frazzled and frayed!!!
      Speaking of frazzled and frayed...that was part of my devotional today!  Are any of you reading Jesus Calling by Sarah Young????  Wow, what a great devotional book!  At first I didn't really like it, it had several scriptures at the end of each devotional reading...and I was overwhelmed by that...but once I started doing it, I loved it!!!  I do like to read scripture, especially if it is in context with something...especially life!!!  But I guess giving me more than one to read at a time was too much for my adult ADD!!!  But now, after reading the three verses, I usually can see how they relate and usually I will have a favorite one...one that just speaks to my heart!!!   
      Todays devotional was about how our human-ness finds us easily flustered and frazzled, that we can get so overwhelmed by life...but if we just stop in the middle of all that and remind ourselves that we are God's, He is in control and most important..we trust Him with it all (or we should!!!! -that's the part where you have to stop and say " oh yeah...God is in control here, I am not!!!)  It is a good reminder to  stop several times in my busy day and say "God I trust you", "God I give this all to you"...just taking time out to remind myself of that, allows me to take a deep breath and relax..give it to God and move forward.  
     And speaking of moving forward...I better get out the door to work! Got some rugs to order, colors to pick, quotes to type up, window treatments to design and contractors to call.....my head is just spinning thinking of it all...but, then I remember, God, I trust you! Till next time, may you be blessed to overflowing with the grace of our precious God!!!~Sandra