The Letter F

Today's letter is the letter F for Festive. How many of us in today's hurrying and rushing around take time to be festive? I don't mean spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to out do the Jones's, I mean just simply making your home more festive?

During the summers here in Aberdeen, there are these very delicate looking beautiful pink flowers that crop up in my front yard in various places. No one can tell me what they are, I have asked over and over again and yet, for the last two summers up they pop on their willowy green bodies with their delicate pinkish purple heads in several areas in my yard.

After so many years of living in Phoenix with struggling to keep my flowers growing, these are a testament to me of the beauty God gives us without asking just to show us He cares about what we look at.

I love these flowers and have a special festive holder for them and they hold a special place in our home, they fit in a small bud vase that belonged to my grandmother. It is a very delicate Amythest colored bud vase with a fluted edge. I love this vase and always have. I fill it with a bit of water and two or three of these tiny flowers and place on my fireplace in the summer and immediately when you walk into our living room, you see this festive welcome.

Amythest is said to calm the mind, bring inner peace and balance to our lives and this little tiny vase does that in some way to our home.

I love to plant flower bowls and place them on my front porch steps so passersby and visitors are welcomed in spring and summer by brightly colored flowers. You don't have to spend a fortune on these either, buy some clay pots at a yard sale or local store and some craft paints, varnish, stencils, etc. Paint the pots on the outside, decorate the pots to your liking, fill them with potting soil and plant your favorite flowers!

Where do you spend lots of time? Your kitchen? Your living area? Your desk? Make these areas festive and pleasant to not only yourself but others.

My home is painted a soft purple with blue and white trim on the outside. While it may not be everyone's cup of tea for a house color, my husband and I wanted something that was festive and happy, not dull and dreary and living in western Washington with its gray skies and rain many days of the year, our home welcomes us and visitors like a huge smile!

We don't have to keep festive to certain days of the year and we can incorporate it into our daily lives to keep us feeling grounded and warm.

This is a small snapshot of my desk. You can see my living room walls are painted a reddish color, my desk lamp is purple (my husband bought this when we lived in Phoenix to match our office walls at that time), I have 3 very different little angels on my desk (the one on the far left is made of resin and her wings are like butterfly wings made out of metal and covered in little jeweled beads, her mouth is open in praise).

The middle angel is polystone, she is standing in prayer with her wings made to look like a wisp of wrapping ribbon and her midnight blue gown is sprinkled with stars. The angel on the right, she reminds me of snow, Christmas, joy, being your own self because her gown in painted in irridescent blues, silvers, golds and white, her lips are painted crimson, her halo looks like a fir bough iwth apples in in and her wings are metal with leaves hanging off of them. Each one is festive in their own way. My desk decor changes frequently to my likings.

The box of stationary I received as a Christmas gift, I keep it on my desk because the flowers remind me that while I love snow, I also love springs festive colors as everything comes back to life. There above my desk is a framed rendition of Hebrews 11:1, 'Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.' On it is a newspaper clip of a friends parents wedding anniversary. Their faces show me how wonderful love is after all those years and they make me smile. Festive is supposed to make us smile, feel happy and warm inside.

In today's times when everything right now seems bland and dreary, why don't you make your life and your families life more festive? Pick up a brightly colored serving bowl and fill it with fruit for your counter or table. Add some fresh flowers to a dark corner. Hang a brightly colored quilt, poster or painting on a plainly or dimly lit wall.

It is up to you to bring festive to your life. Today is Sunday and you can bet no matter what Sunday dinner brings, it will be festive. I hope you will join us later for dinner! Happy Sunday!