The true value of vintage
The desires of your heart.
The desire of my heart was placed by God when I was very young growing up in our 100-year-old home on 5th Street. In a tiny Mayberry like community surrounded by mostly older widowed women, who kept neat yards, and treated my sister and I like their very own grandchildren, I walked the alley a lot visiting a few of them, and my grandparents who lived four houses away. I didn’t know it then…but the days spent digging up buried treasure in the back alley, as I was making my visits, were the very moments God was placing…the desire of my heart. Collecting…repurposing…creating. As I would scour the alley…I always found some dirt covered ‘treasure’. Often, I would show up at my grandparents’ back door needing something to clean my treasure to know exactly what I had unearthed! Today, many of the bottles and pieces of enamelware I collected are showcased in our 1875 bank building. I am sure when people discarded their old ‘junk’ in the alley, they never thought it would be included in an amazing building and often admired by many during tours of our boarding rooms. BUT…God did!
God saw that piece of ‘junk’ and knew that using a little soap to clean it up, and a little polish to make it glisten, to a young girl…it would be a jewel. That’s how He works. He’s the ultimate Restorer able to turn ashes into beauty and discarded ‘junk’ into treasure. Because, if we listen...to the still small voice, it’s God who gives us the desires of our heart. In Psalm 37:4 we learn that if we delight in the LORD, He will give us the desire of our heart. Now…many think that scripture means we tell God what our desire is and He’ll grant it, but it’s the reverse. If we spend time with God, He will put in our hearts, what His desire is for our lives...our purpose He put us here for…a calling to serve Him. Many times, when that happens, everything begins to make sense. Your previous career path, your knowledge of certain things, your unique abilities, your passions, and you know deep in your heart that God has placed a desire in your heart to purse what He’s calling you to.
The cover of this issue is a photo of a portion of the upstairs boarding rooms in our 1875 bank building facing a hallway with many doors. As I’ve walked this hallway thoughtfully reviewing this issue of ‘For your Heart and Home’, I realized it was the perfect cover photo, because the doors represent so many choices that will be put before us…there will be many ‘open doors’, but it’s important to stay in contact with God and seek His counsel as to which doors He wants you to go through. The world will tell you to do it all…BUT GOD, will tell you take the next tiny step. Trusting Him for each step. Because it is God who will give you the desires of your heart. A gift from a father to His child. One He will assist with in every way.
Yes, there will be times of hardship, doubt, and disappointment (read the article by Sarah Sampson of Harvest Home Interior Design). Sarah reminds us that God’s plans for our lives can often take years, but we must not hurry ahead of Him. He’s orchestrating things so that the ‘doors’ He wants to open will be cleared and we can do what He’s called us to at the appointed time.
You’ll find many encouraging articles in this issue of pursing God’s calling. Avis Dobbs, whose amazing photographs and totally awesome creative displays were featured in the July issue of Country Sampler magazine, shares not only her awesome work and some tips, but how she got involved in her career years ago, and after the passing of her husband she found a new niche on Instagram, where her amazing creativity caught the eye of Country Sampler Magazine.
This issue is filled with lots of great recipes, design ideas and tips, along with encouragement and true fellowship with these amazing authors who have contributed to this issue, truly sharing from their heart, for you, our readers.
Take some time this summer to evaluate with God if there’s doors He’s preparing you for, doors He’s opening, or a door you’ve walked through and you’re needing some courage and encouragement. We’ve got you covered in this issue.
Go find a cozy place on your porch, get a glass of iced tea and be prepared for refreshment…of your heart and home…in this online edition.
Thank you for being part of our online magazine family of readers, ‘For your Heart and Home’. (As you read this issue, don't miss the opportunities to win a candle pack from The 5th Street Candle Co. by sending us your own 'how to' and completed photos to possibly be used in an upcoming issue!). Now, get that tea, relax, and read this issue :)
Blessings, Shelly
Publisher
The Notebook Café
Millie McKeever’s Vintage & Home Decor
The desire of my heart was placed by God when I was very young growing up in our 100-year-old home on 5th Street. In a tiny Mayberry like community surrounded by mostly older widowed women, who kept neat yards, and treated my sister and I like their very own grandchildren, I walked the alley a lot visiting a few of them, and my grandparents who lived four houses away. I didn’t know it then…but the days spent digging up buried treasure in the back alley, as I was making my visits, were the very moments God was placing…the desire of my heart. Collecting…repurposing…creating. As I would scour the alley…I always found some dirt covered ‘treasure’. Often, I would show up at my grandparents’ back door needing something to clean my treasure to know exactly what I had unearthed! Today, many of the bottles and pieces of enamelware I collected are showcased in our 1875 bank building. I am sure when people discarded their old ‘junk’ in the alley, they never thought it would be included in an amazing building and often admired by many during tours of our boarding rooms. BUT…God did!
God saw that piece of ‘junk’ and knew that using a little soap to clean it up, and a little polish to make it glisten, to a young girl…it would be a jewel. That’s how He works. He’s the ultimate Restorer able to turn ashes into beauty and discarded ‘junk’ into treasure. Because, if we listen...to the still small voice, it’s God who gives us the desires of our heart. In Psalm 37:4 we learn that if we delight in the LORD, He will give us the desire of our heart. Now…many think that scripture means we tell God what our desire is and He’ll grant it, but it’s the reverse. If we spend time with God, He will put in our hearts, what His desire is for our lives...our purpose He put us here for…a calling to serve Him. Many times, when that happens, everything begins to make sense. Your previous career path, your knowledge of certain things, your unique abilities, your passions, and you know deep in your heart that God has placed a desire in your heart to purse what He’s calling you to.
The cover of this issue is a photo of a portion of the upstairs boarding rooms in our 1875 bank building facing a hallway with many doors. As I’ve walked this hallway thoughtfully reviewing this issue of ‘For your Heart and Home’, I realized it was the perfect cover photo, because the doors represent so many choices that will be put before us…there will be many ‘open doors’, but it’s important to stay in contact with God and seek His counsel as to which doors He wants you to go through. The world will tell you to do it all…BUT GOD, will tell you take the next tiny step. Trusting Him for each step. Because it is God who will give you the desires of your heart. A gift from a father to His child. One He will assist with in every way.
Yes, there will be times of hardship, doubt, and disappointment (read the article by Sarah Sampson of Harvest Home Interior Design). Sarah reminds us that God’s plans for our lives can often take years, but we must not hurry ahead of Him. He’s orchestrating things so that the ‘doors’ He wants to open will be cleared and we can do what He’s called us to at the appointed time.
You’ll find many encouraging articles in this issue of pursing God’s calling. Avis Dobbs, whose amazing photographs and totally awesome creative displays were featured in the July issue of Country Sampler magazine, shares not only her awesome work and some tips, but how she got involved in her career years ago, and after the passing of her husband she found a new niche on Instagram, where her amazing creativity caught the eye of Country Sampler Magazine.
This issue is filled with lots of great recipes, design ideas and tips, along with encouragement and true fellowship with these amazing authors who have contributed to this issue, truly sharing from their heart, for you, our readers.
Take some time this summer to evaluate with God if there’s doors He’s preparing you for, doors He’s opening, or a door you’ve walked through and you’re needing some courage and encouragement. We’ve got you covered in this issue.
Go find a cozy place on your porch, get a glass of iced tea and be prepared for refreshment…of your heart and home…in this online edition.
Thank you for being part of our online magazine family of readers, ‘For your Heart and Home’. (As you read this issue, don't miss the opportunities to win a candle pack from The 5th Street Candle Co. by sending us your own 'how to' and completed photos to possibly be used in an upcoming issue!). Now, get that tea, relax, and read this issue :)
Blessings, Shelly
Publisher
The Notebook Café
Millie McKeever’s Vintage & Home Decor
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