Once Upon A Time....

Once upon a time....before there was this blog, I wrote a guest post over at Drinking From My Saucer {'cause my cup has overflowed} about a little update I made to my kitchen cupboards. It really was a needed freshening up for the kitchen and also wound up inspiring some other updates (which I will share about in the near future.) 

You can read all about it  HERE.

 

**Full Disclosure** - Sally at Drinking From My Saucer is my sister. My favorite sister. (Okay....she's my only sister.)

Back To School, A Transformation, And Making Memories

Have your kids gone back to school yet?  Yesterday was the big day for my kids. It's always a little bittersweet for me.  In all honesty, I'm usually ready for them to go back (and they are too.)  But it means that the last bit of Summer is slipping through my hands.

Back in the Spring, I painted a large chalkboard wall in our kitchen. (Stick with me, this will all come together and make sense in a minute, I promise!)  It was a huge leap for me, but now that I've done it, I love it! It's added a lot of character to our kitchen and, well, it's just kind of fun.

 

Here is that part of the kitchen "before."  Pretty boring, huh?

I was a little concerned after the first coat. It wasn't looking good. But after another couple coats, I was really pleased.

After the paint had dried for 24 hours, I seasoned the chalkboard by rubbing chalk all over it. This helps the chalk to "stick" better when you write on it and also prevents a ghost image which is when you can still see your writing after you erase.

Then came the fun part. I doodled around for a while and then decided I would do a large calendar for the month.



So back to Summer coming to an end.....

A couple years ago, I got really discouraged because it seemed like Summer was passing us by. I must admit that because my kids have special needs, it's often difficult and frustrating to try and go places with all three. I decided that if we were going to have any fun and make any memories, we were going to be very intentional about it. The Hubster and I sat down with the kids and made a "Summer List."  We allowed them all to choose things they would like to do or accomplish. We told them to dream big. We couldn't guarantee them we would complete everything on our list, but at least we would have some goals. Our first year's list was written on a piece of notebook paper and put on the front of the fridge and we checked things off as we completed them. Our lists have included everything from a vacation at the beach to visiting friends, a long car ride, eating at our favorite restaurants, and getting ice cream.

Now back to the chalk board.....

This year, as the kids spouted off things they would like to do this Summer, I wrote them on our new chalkboard. It was fun to have it right there in big letters in front of us all Summer. Many dinners around the table were spent talking about our list. And this year we did a pretty good job and accomplishing things on it. It's been fun to have this little family project and spend time together as a family, making memories.

So I thought it would be great to take a back to school photo in front of our chalkboard showing both our Summer List and the August calendar.  I think it was the perfect way to look back at a great Summer while also looking forward to an exciting new school year.

What's In A Name?

A blog name to be exact.
I thought you might be interested to know how I chose the title.

Keeper

I wanted it to be about what I do and what is really important to me. A few months after The Hubster and I were married, we determined that it would be possible for me to not have to work outside the home. I was delighted! My Mom had always stayed home with my sister and me and it was what I always wanted to do. Although I went to college for four years and got my nursing degree, I had no career aspirations but to be a wife and mother and take care of our home....just as my mom had done.

But at that time, we were still without children. So, in our culture in this day, I was a rarity. Few women made the decision to not work outside the home unless they had small children. I got a lot of, "What do you DO all day?" I started to think about what my "title" really was. I really disliked the term "homemaker." It just seemed to have such negative connotations in our society.

At one point, during a women's Bible study, I was reminded of Paul's teaching in Titus 2:3-5.

³ Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Do you see that phrase "busy at home?" In other versions of the Bible it says....

 "working at home" 

"managing their home"

"fulfilling their duties at home"

But my favorite was from the good ol' King James Version....and maybe only because it was the way I first heard it as a child....

"keeper at home"

On The Narrow Way

This part was easy....well, easy to chose as part of a blog title, but hard to do. It comes from Matthew 7:13-14.

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

As a follower Of Christ, I am urged to take the narrow road in life....the harder, less-traveled road....because it is the one that leads to life. And in my role as this "keeper" of my home, I need to follow the narrow way as well. Even if it's not what everyone else is doing.

Still

Once upon a time, there was a blog called Keeping On The Narrow Way. It was mostly something I did for fun. It started out as a way to share about what was going on in our family. At one point it became a blog about my love of digital scrapbooking. It has sat deserted for a couple years now. When I decided I wanted to do this blog thing for real, I knew I was going to have to start from scratch. But I was married to the name, thus the "still" was added. Because even after all these years this is what I want my life to be about.

There.....now you know what's in THIS name.

What's This All About?

Welcome!

If you've stumbled upon this blog, you're just in time! 

"For what?" you may ask. 

For my very FIRST post!

So now maybe you're asking, "What's this all about, this 'Still Keeping On The Narrow Way' blog thingy?" (Yes, "thingy" is a word. At least in my world it is!)

Welllllll.....Let me start by telling you a little bit about myself. I am a wife and mother of three kids. All three of our children came to us through foreign adoption and have special needs. Plus, we have a dog who is the biggest "Mama's boy" ever! So things around our place can get pretty crazy.

Also, since I was young, I've loved houses and home decor. But now that I've grown up and have my own family and home, it's become more about making a comfortable, secure home for my family as well as a welcoming place for friends and family. Sure, I still want to have a home that looks nice, but it is more about the feeling you get when you're there.

I love simple projects and touches that make my home feel special. I love decorating to celebrate the seasons. I love creating memories for my children.

So, I guess this is what you can expect here. Posts about family and making home special.

I read recently that if you write a blog, you have to be an expert at something. Well, I am NOT an expert at marriage, or parenting, or organization, or decorating, or DIY, or crafts. (You get the picture) But, I AM good at trying.

Since, I'm no expert, my real hope that this blog will be a conversation....where I share a little and you share a little too.

The subtitle of Still Keeping On The Narrow Way is

 Living - Loving - Laughing - Learning - Dreaming - Daring - Doing. 


I hope to do all of that along the way.

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