Sand Away...

Well, Evy's dolls house is currently looking worse than when i started! I'm beginning to think this was the worst idea EVER... well maybe just the sanding was the worst idea ever ... this dolls house has been painted a number of times, so getting rid of the paint is proving to be a bigger job than i thought!

The other day in a small group, we were asked what came to mind when we thought of potential, some of the others thought of new creations, but i thought of the dolls house. This dolls house was created for a purpose, to bring joy to a little girl or boy somewhere, who I'm sure absolutely loved it. But somewhere along the way it got a bit battered then it got a new paint job to cover up the dents and nicks, then it got used and battered a bit more, and so some more paint was popped on to make it look as good as new again. Then it got battered and broken all over again until it found it's way to our family store.

When i saw it on that dark, rainy, windy night, i saw its potential, potential to be again what it was originally created for ... to bring joy to a little girl or boy. When i think of potential i think restoration, I think about a dolls house being restored to its original purpose. But it goes even further ... yes the dolls house will be restored, but i want it to be even better than it was, i want it to be the best it can possibly be for Evy (and for Zachy, i know he'll love it too!)

I can't help but relate the dolls house to me, to us humans, we were created for a purpose, to bring Joy to God, to love him and love others. Sin stops us from fulfilling that original purpose, but God who is in the business of restoration wants to get us back to that original state through his son Jesus ... and it's totally possible. Throughout life we've sometime given ourselves a new paint job, covering up the dents and nicks and chips ... the thing is to be fully restored we can't just keep painting over the top. We've gotta get to the bottom and get it sorted, well actually, we have to let God get to the bottom, we've got to let him do some sanding.

What I've realised this week is that sanding isn't easy, it takes time, it's a process ... so is restoration ... but i want to reach my potential in life, fulfil the purpose i was created for ... so I say "Sand Away Lord!"

Just some simple 'itsy bitsy' thoughts from Me!

I'd love to hear about any of your own projects ... Have you ever restored anything? What was it? What were the challenges and joys of the restoration process?

A glimpse of potential...

Over the past week, I've been busy caring for my two little poppets who've both had ear infections! I took Zachy to the Dr on Sunday, and the following day took Evy. Because I couldn't get her an appointment during the day i had to take her to the after hours. By the time we came out (after at least an hour) it was dark and pouring with rain ... i mean pouring ... those REALLY fat heavy raindrops where you need your wipers on super speed! I piled Evy into the car, buckled her up and jumped in. As we headed out of the car park i drove past the back of our family store (which backs onto the Dr's) and that's when i caught a glimpse!

3 seconds ... that's all it took! As i drove past the family store my eyes caught sight of this beautiful dolls house, it was sitting in the rain, in the cold, on a dark night, it had no roof, and it was sitting beside the skip bin ... you know what that means! It was on its way out! At first glance i thought ... "ooh, it'd be cool to do something with that!" All i could see was potential ... what could be.

As i curled up into bed that night ... I started to think about the dolls house, and colour schemes, and how i could fix it up ... sand it back, give it a new paint job, get some wood, cut out a roof, nail it on, and wham, bam, a dolls house Sam! I'm sure i spent at least 2 hours dreaming about how amazing i could make it, and how much fun Evy would have when she finally gets it in her hot little hands.

So the next day i went back to the family store and asked what the plan was for the dolls house, and they were going to throw it out, It certainly wasn't as beautiful as I'd thought ... but for a koha i piled it into the car ... well squeezed it in ... it took up the whole boot (and i didn't actually squeeze it in, one of the staff did) ... it was much bigger than I'd thought on the cold, dark, rainy night! Bonus was though ... that it did have a roof, just not attached.

So, here's my first little DIY project!

It's going to be a slow progression i think, but I'm looking forward to it. I didn't realise how much work it is going to be until i started to clean it  ... as i cleaned i thought "how am i going to do this?" "I wonder if I'll actually finish this" ... i have a tendency to start things and not finish them ... like books, i hardly EVER finish books!
So here begins the Dolls House project. I'm thinking pink, and pretty! (I've popped some ideas on my kiddliwinks pinterest board) here's hoping I'll see it through to completion ... in a reasonable time frame ... time will tell!

Itsy Bitsy :)

P.S: I've discovered spell check!