your photo stories to practice resurrection (week 6) + enter our giveaway!

"... we should be taking steps to celebrate Easter in creative new ways: in art, literature, children's games, poetry, music, dance, festivals, bells, special concerts, anything that comes to mind.  this is our greatest festival....This is our greatest day. We should put the flags out.

...if Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up. ...The forty days of the Easter season, until the ascension, ought to be a time to balance out Lent by taking something up, some new task or venture, something wholesome and fruitful and outgoing and self-giving."

Want to join me, to practice resurrection for Eastertide? Take something up and share it with us.  Maybe a six week dance class?  We want you to show us a picture.  Planting spring flowers (maybe a new variety this year)?  Show us!  Taking a new route to work (maybe taking more time than necessary in honor of the mad farmer)?  Share it!

may 17
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We have lived in our house about 19 months now and this nest has been empty until this morning. I noticed a mama bird hanging out! How exciting! (Lindsay Youngs Gilligan, Whitney Point, NY)

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Making strawberry jam goodness with Mom.  (Deb Perry, Newport News, VA)

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I love to hear the sound of the cardinal every day at our feeder. It's one of the small gifts from God that we delight in daily. (Kirsten Reynolds, Conklin, NY)

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Thank you, Janelle for introducing my little princess to painting nails. All she wants for her birthday is nail polish.  (Anca Kochis, Vestal, NY)

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I started baking and decorating cakes again. I like to think of it as a way to honor and remember my grandmothers.  One was a fantastic cook and baker and the other one was a wonderful painter/artist. (JoAnn Murphy, Apalachin, NY)

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Trapeze school, blue sky, and a circle rainbow! Amazing.  (Cheryl Mango, NYC)

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For our one year anniversary, my lovely girlfriend Rebekah painted me a picture of my favorite scene from my favorite movie (points to whoever can guess what it is). This might be the best present I've ever received. (Alex Murphy & Rebekah Cummins, Austin)

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This week I'm featuring Megan Glennon from Glennon Interiors in Phoenixville, PA.  She generously shared a tutorial for turning trash to treasure with us on Wednesday. 

Read her guest post:  Take Up Something New - repurposing curb-side trash to furniture treasure

You can see more of Megan's repurposing, decorating and event planning projects at her website and at her Facebook page.  

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Taking something that is trash and of no use to someone else and making it beautiful is my kind of therapy. Repurposing is such a great feeling! (Megan Glennon/Glennon Interiors, Phoenixville, PA)

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Each week for the rest of May  I'll select one motivational print from PJeanArtMachine to give away to one of YOU photo story contributors.   

Three easy steps to play along our Practice Resurrection photo story series (and get your name entered in a weekly drawing):

1. Take up something new. (one day or fifty days doesn't matter, just one thing that's new or, maybe just unique with this season)

2. Take a picture and write a description in 36 words or less.

3. Share the photo and the 36 word or less caption with me via email or facebook message by Thursday morning each week of the series. 

A few more ways to enter the weekly drawing, leave a comment (on this post) every time you:

• Like This Sacramental Life on Facebook.  
• Like The Ambrosium (Phaedra's fan page) on Facebook
• Favorite PJeanArtMachine on Etsy 
• Become an email subscriber to This Sacramental Life 
• Share this post on Facebook, Twitter, Google + or Pinterest (use all the cute little icons at the bottom of the post)

This week's giveaway

5 Stories of Re-purposed Public Space

All week I've been looking for glimpses of our future hope that all things will be made new.  Until the new heaven and new earth, we walk around re-imagining, re-making, restoring, refreshing, renewing, reconciling, reclaiming and redeeming.

Sharing today 5 of my favorite examples of innovative and creative re-use of public space.

-- 1 --

Abandoned Wal-Mart transformed into a functioning library

before: 124,500 square feet of warehouse space [source]

after: McAllen Public Library, TX [source]

"McAllen is near the southernmost tip of Texas, on the Mexico border. "In a city like McAllen, with cartel violence across the river (less than 10 miles away from the library), I think it's amazing that the city is devoting resources to a) not only saving a large and conspicuous piece of property from decline and vandalism, but b) diverting those resources into youth and the public trust," Ramirez writes." [Los Angeles Times]

-- 2 -- 

New Yorkers can float over busy streets in an innovative park.

before: 1.45 mile long inoperative elevated rail in NYC's meat packing district [source]

after: NYC High Line [source]

"Almost a decade after the Giuliani administration tried to tear the High Line down, it has been turned into one of the most innovative and inviting public spaces in New York City and perhaps the entire country. The black steel columns that once supported abandoned train tracks now hold up an elevated park—part promenade, part town square, part botanical garden." [National Geographic]

Learn more about New York's High Line, view beautiful gallery of images at The High Line.org 

-- 3 -- 

A dynamic arts and cultural campus that's bringing new life to the city's former Bethlehem Steel plant

before: Bethlehem Steelstacks -- in 1995, after a nearly 120-year history of steel production on the site, the plant closed its doors. [source]

after: SteelStacks Park, Bethlehem, PA [source]

"SteelStacks Park is a ten-acre campus dedicated to arts, culture, family events, community celebrations, education and fun. The campus is in the shadow of the blast furnaces of the former Bethlehem Steel plant." [SteelStacks.org]

-- 4 --
Community Thrives Along With a Garage-Top Garden

before: aerial view of  30,000 square feet atop Mercer parking garage in Seattle [source]

after:  Designed and built in seven months on a $150,000 budget, the community-run roof garden was created by designer Nicole Kistler, landscape architect Eric Higbee, the community of Queen Anne/Uptown and the P-Patch Program of Seattle. [source]

-- 5 --
I Wish This Was A [you fill in the blank]

[source]

"As an experiment, Candy [Chang] created fill-in-the-blank stickers that say “I wish this was ____.” She placed boxes of free stickers in businesses around the city and posted grids of blank stickers and a permanent marker on vacant storefronts, so anyone walking by could fill one out. The stickers are vinyl and they can be easily removed without damaging property. Responses ranged from the functional to the poetic: I wish this was… a butcher shop, a community garden, a bike rack, an affordable farmer’s market, a taco stand, a place to sit and talk, Brad Pitt’s house, full of nymphomaniacs with PhDs, a source of tasty healthy food I could afford, my art gallery, your dream, Heaven. It’s a fun, low-barrier tool to provide civic input onsite, and the responses reflect the hopes, dreams, and colorful imaginations of different neighborhoods." [Candy Chang.com]

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Also, each week during Eastertide I'm collecting your photos of practicing resurrection, taking up something new to celebrate our risen Christ who makes all things new.  Share your photo with a caption in 36 words or less at the facebook page for This Sacramental Life.  (See our first week here.)

  Read here for details on how to enter a giveaway for the Just Paint print and theMake print from PJeanArtMachine!

Take Up Something New: repurposing curb-side trash to furniture treasure (Glennon Interiors)

A mild disclaimer:  Megan Hill Glennon is my cousin.  I used to babysit her.  Two reasons to be slightly biased, I suppose.  But if you could walk through her Pennsylvania home, or attend one of the infamous parties she throws at Halloween and New Year's Eve or taste just one of the double-digit dozen homemade bagels she makes at Christmas (using her mama's delicious recipe) you'd see the truth:  this lady's got talent.  Luckily for us, she slowed down her regular ball-of-fire pace during a recent project to capture a step-by-step tutorial for us.  If you live in the mid-Atlantic states, hire her for your repurposing, decorating or event planning projects:  Glennon Interiors on the web; Glennon Interiors on Facebook. (both sites will give you photo peeks into her gorgeous home as well as portfolios of her work) Thank you, Megan!

Turning a curb-side dresser with a missing drawer into a beautiful three-drawer & a shelf dresser

by Megan Glennon, Glennon Interiors

1.  It began as a nasty piece of trash on the side of the road.

2.  The drawers were not in it at the time. When I got it home, I realized there were only three drawers in a four-drawer dresser. After feeling a little bummed for about five seconds, I remembered that I have been wanting to do a dresser project that had a missing drawer so I could make it a shelf and use baskets

3.  Another problem was also this nice little crack on one of the drawer supports. 

4.  A little glue, some finish nails and clamps took care of that problem. Patience is something I'm not good at; however, with my carpenter-husband's voice in my head I waited a good 24 hours. 

It was hard...I have to admit. But worth it.

After 24 hours, the wood was perfect -- sturdy and strong again. 

6.  I took it outside and sanded it down...just to rough it up so it would accept the paint.

7.  I had found this awesome color in the mistints at Lowes for five dollars. Painted away!! I wasn't concerned about full coverage at first because I wanted that old, antiqued chippy paint look, but as i started painting I changed my mind and did a good three coats. More tan time for me, and my six-year-old was helping me so it was good mommy-son time.

8.  While it was drying, I cut my pallets to fit the shelf and gave them a good sanding with my palm sander. 

9.  I put the handles back on. I didn't change anything about those because I loved the antiqued brass.

10.  Before I put the drawers back in, I got out my husband's trusty finish nail gun (which has become my new favorite tool) and nailed the boards down. Looked awesome!

11.  I slid the drawers in and then began the antiquing process for the paint, which for me involes my palm sander. I just rubbed off the edges of all the corners including the drawers. And voila...antiqued!

12.  I wiped it down with a little soapy water to get all the dust off, stood back and enjoyed the view!

Taking something that is trash and of no use to someone else and making it beautiful is my kind of therapy. It just makes me happy. 

Repurposing is such a great feeling!

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Also, each week during Eastertide I'm collecting your photos of practicing resurrection, taking up something new to celebrate our risen Christ who makes all things new.  Share your photo with a caption in 36 words or less at the facebook page for This Sacramental Life.  (See our first week here.)

  Read here for details on how to enter a giveaway for the Just Paint print and the Make print from PJeanArtMachine!

imagining home

via

We're moving. 

Again.

This makes the third time in less than two years.

If you'd just met me at a party and we were getting to know each other and you said "So, do you guys move around a lot?"  I'd say "No.  We like to stay in one place, settle in, spend quiet evenings on the back patio drinking iced tea.  Not us...we're not movers."

I think that's kind of like the time I asked my cousin -- after I'd been married a year and a half and while handing my son a cheerio -- "Is it weird, I still think I'm a virgin?"  

In my heart of hearts, I'm a cocooner.  Problem is we haven't found the right cocoon yet here in Austin.  Or maybe I'm Goldilocks and the third time'll be the charm.

Adding suspense to the whole adventure, up until this week we only knew that we were moving at the end of May but God hadn't  yet told us where.  To be fair we knew He wanted us in central Austin -- same school district -- so that's something.  I'm not being cheeky; that really is something we're celebrating.  The girls both tried two different school options our first year here.  The high school they're in now has been on target for them and we're still grinning relief at the discovery.

In March, Brian and I spent a day at Laity Lodge to hear Jamie Smith talk about the imagination.  As in, we need to form a better one -- for ourselves, our children, our community, our congregation.  And every single time we walked into another rental house, stepped over someone else's moving chaos, picked our way around their dirty dishes in the sink, unmowed back yard, half-completed remodeling projects I thought about the power of a good imagination.  Without it, my faith in the goodness of a providing Father faltered big time.  

When I ignored the gift of a Spirit-infused imagination, I walked through some college student's rental debris and got angry at God, Austin, my husband, landlords as a people group, and pretty much anyone else who came to mind.  (And, seriously, mothers of Austin college students, when's the last time you asked your kid if they're keeping their house semi-clean? From one mama to another, I'm telling you -- they're not doing it.)

On the other hand, when I walked into a potential next house for our family, calmed and alert to the creative inspiration of the ever-creating Father, Son and Holy Spirit I could see a home hidden in the chaos.  Tonight we sign our next lease.  Hopefully it's the last one we'll sign for a long, long time.  We'll walk through empty rooms, figure what furniture we'll keep or ditch, where the art will hang, mourn the lack of closet space.

We'll do the work of imagining what really matters in the whole scheme of things.

*Linking with Heather's community at Extraordinary Ordinary today.

Seventh week of Eastertide with earthquake mash-up photos + The Brilliance

We celebrate our risen, ascended, reigning Lord in the liturgical calendar this week. Like the disciples waiting for the promised Power-with-us, we wait the final restoration of all things made new.  

source

Revelation 21

English Standard Version (ESV)

The New Heaven and the New Earth

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

⁵ And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” ⁶ And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. ⁷ The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. ⁸ But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Shawn Clover: 1906 + 2010: The Earthquake Blend

Easter Anthem:  Christ is Risen by The Brilliance

Just Paint (winner + next giveaway revealed)

Just Move.
 Nothing begets nothing, but something just might beget something really good. 
Print details at PJeanArtMachine on Etsy.

Five motivational prints to give away in four weeks, week two:  Just Paint.

We celebrate our risen, ascended, reigning Lord in the liturgical calendar this week. Like the disciples waiting for the promised Power-with-us, we wait the final restoration of all things made new.  In the meantime -- as often as possible -- we re-imagine and re-make restoration.

sneak peek for this week's guest post from Glennon Interiors

ANNOUNCING OUR WEEK 1 WINNER....

recruiting 2 lovely assistants before they leave for school

.... KRISTA VOSSLER!

Each week for the rest of May, I'll select one motivational print from PJeanArtMachine to give away to one of YOU photo story contributors.   

Three easy steps to play along our Practice Resurrection photo story series:

1. Take up something new. (one day or fifty days doesn't matter, just one thing that's new or, maybe just unique with this season)

2. Take a picture and write a description in 36 words or less.

3. Share the photo and the 36 word or less caption with me via email or facebook message by Thursday morning each week of the series. 

A few more ways to enter the weekly drawing, leave a comment (on this post or the Friday post) every time you:

• Like This Sacramental Life on Facebook.
• Like The Ambrosium (Phaedra's fan page) on Facebook
• Become an email subscriber to This Sacramental Life 
• Share this post on Facebook, Twitter, Google + or Pinterest (use all the cute little icons at the bottom of the post)

On Monday mornings I'll announce the winner from the previous week and reveal the next print to give away.  The last week in May I'll also draw a name from all the entries during the entire series to win this brand-new, not listed yet print from PJeanArtMachine...