It’s raining today. It’s a typical Atlanta day in October, overcast and somewhere in between warm and cool. But the humidity envelopes you when you’re outside, so, for the most part, it’s basically warm.
Today I take my project outside despite the rain. I have a chair that I’ve painted gray with some spray paint. I’m going to finish it with some antiquing glaze. I take the chair onto my little front porch, and together my chair and I are protected from getting wet.
Since I’m outside in the humidity, it’s going to take longer to dry and finish once I put my glaze on. But it’s so peaceful. Amidst the steady rain, the birds are still singing and leaves are cascading from the tulip poplar in my front yard. I am away from the computer, iPad, and phone. I am away from the multi-tasking. It’s just me and the chair.
It looks so much better with glaze. More finished. More natural and “relaxed”. Less “freshly painted.” Less sterile.
While I am adding the glaze, I am thinking. I’m currently running a giveaway on my Facebook page, and Ken (my husband) and I were discussing a trend that I noticed. Every time I post something related to God people “unlike” my page. (The book I’m giving away has God in the title.) This makes me sad, and it makes me want to tell you part of my story.
For years I prayed. I prayed for a lot of things, but something that I prayed louder, and longer, and harder for was this: Please God, point me in the right direction. Lead me down the path I should go. I’m not always good at picking up on small clues, God. So please make it obvious.
For years God’s answer was “not right now.” About a year ago I was lucky enough to have God shout loud and clear. While “working” on the blog, searching for antiques, and repurposing I had a moment that with every fiber of my being, without a shadow of doubt in my mind, that THIS…this “Belle & Beau Antiquarian” is exactly what God wants me to do. In that moment I was 100% sure that I was doing the thing that God had planned for me. This is the path I should go down.
I can’t say that since that moment I have experienced 100% easy success. I wish I could say since that moment that I have not doubted that I was on the right path. I have doubted. I have wanted to quit. I have experienced failure time and time again, in small ways and big ways. I have had many months where I did not break even. I have had months where I overspent and then spent months paying for it. I have had months where I have neglected the blog. But I always return to that moment of 100% conviction. Despite failures, I have had successes. People read this blog. A lot of people. People are interested in what I do. I have an opportunity. This is what God wants me to do. Now, I need to make sure that I do it HOW he wants me to.
So like this chair that still needed a finishing touch, I still need some finishing touches, too. It’s hard not to take “unlikes” personally. But if you are “unliking” my page because I “like” God, then go ahead. The unlikes are certainly something that I will put in my “success” column.
Hope you “like” the chair.
XOXO,
Abby
P.S. Um, there’s a fabulous giveaway going on. You should really enter it!
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