Leah Richardson

But you have exhalted (lifted up)

my horn (symbol of power, strength and victory)

like that of a wild ox (not a timid creature!)

Psalm 92:10

Although not a pretty picture in the natural, in the Spiritual, we are men and women with horns on our heads!!  And when we lift up our horn, we lift up our God!  Like the wild ox, we are not to shy away from or be afraid to lift up our horn. We lift our heads in faith, and our horns follow… goring our enemy and bringing our victory.

Are you at your wit’s end doing this thing called “daily life”?

Don’t panic

Don’t give up

don’t fret

don’t despair

don’t hide your horns!!!

stand firm and

LIFT UP YOUR HORN!

——————–

The Bible says you are victorious, more than a conqueror,

the son and daughter of the

MOST HIGH KING!

LIFT UP YOUR HORN!

—————————

The angels in Heaven are cheering you on…

LIFT UP YOUR HORN!

————————-

Where are you longing for victory today?

say it out loud…

I LIFT UP MY HORN!

Psalm 75 ends with a sure promise from our God…

All the horns of the wicked

I will cut off,

but the horns of the righteous

shall be lifted up.

Lord, by your Power and Presence in our lives, give us the strength today to raise our heads and lift up our horns, for we need a victory like only you can bring.

Praying for us to grow Rhinoceros-size horns!

xoxo   leah

Jim and I are settling in our new apartment in Florida quite well, but we have been experiencing record temperatures! Often in the 100-degree range at lunch and still hanging around the 90s at dinner.  It is really hot!  Too hot to heat up a large oven, especially in a small home.

As more of us Baby Boomers become empty nesters, I believe good Kitchen Design in the 21st century will include a small oven.  In the past, it seems like clients have always been concerned about having an oven large enough for that Thanksgiving Turkey, but, I think I will suggest including a small oven too.  It seems to make more sense for the daily life of a couple or small family.

We have one large oven and a very small kitchen…so, Jim decided to research some “no cooking” recipes to survive these dog days of Summer heat.  They are absolutely delicious and so simple…so, I wanted to share his recipes with you.  Gazpacho has been a mainstay in our summer repertoire, but I just love the new additions.  The recipes are 4 servings and fresh lemonade goes great with them.

GAZPACHO SOUP

1 Cucumber peeled and diced, 2 large ripe tomatoes diced, 1-2 cloves garlic diced, 1 green bellpepper diced, 1/4 cup olive oil, 3 inches of french bread soaked in water for 20 minutes.  Cube all ingredients and put in blender with bread and olive oil and puree.  Pour into a large bowl and salt to taste.  Add 2 teaspoons of Sherry Vinegar.  Chill.  Before you serve the individual bowls, make croutons (you will have to turn on the oven to toast them), and dice some red pepper, cucumber, and green onion to garnish.

CUCUMBER SOUP

2 large cucumbers peeled and diced, 3/4 cup green onion diced, 1 tbs lemon juice, 1 tsp lemon zest, 1 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp ground pepper, 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, 1/2 cup sour cream.  Place first seven ingredients in the blender and puree.  Pour into a large bowl and stir in sour cream.  Chill for at least 1 hour.  Serve and garnish with chopped cucumber, green onion and lemon zest.

CANTALOUPE SOUP

Dice the inside of 1 cantaloupe, 2 cups OJ, 1 tbs fresh lime juice, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon.  Place cantaloupe and 1/2 cup of OJ into blender and puree.  Pour into a bowl and add remaining ingredients.  Cover and chill for 1 hour.  Garnish with mint.

AVOCADO SOUP

1 medium Cucumber peeled and diced, 1 peeled and diced avocado, 1 chopped shallot, 2 tbl plain yogurt, 2 tbl fresh mint, 1 sprig fresh mint, juice of 1 lime, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp ground cumin, 1 radish chopped.  Place all ingredients, excluding radish and mint sprig, into blender with 3/4 cup of cold water.  Puree and chill at least 1 hour.  Serve and garnish with mint and radish.

Thanks Jim for your cool design- Soup!

Taste and See that the Lord is good.

Psalm 34:8

If you have any good ideas for COOL DESIGN, please share them.

xoxo   leah

Yesterday I experienced what I call a “life hiccup”!  It comes from out of nowhere- BAM!  And suddenly you are dealing with something unexpected, irritating and time consuming before you can catch your breath.  Those are the times that we should run, not walk, but run to God.  That is what I would encourage you to do…BUT, I, unfortunately, threw a mini pity party instead.  It all centered around not getting one iota of sleep the night before.  In my compete exhaustion, I did, thankfully, recognize my state of mind and emailed a couple of good friends to PRAY.  In a dazed, blurry-eyed stupor, all I could do was mutter his name…JESUS, over and over again.

Have you ever heard a sermon and it just stuck.  Years ago I was listening to a CD teaching by Dr. Charles Stanley and he used the acronym HALT when the devil, world or your new upstairs neighbor, who tromped around like a small herd of elephants ALL NIGHT LONG, causes you to stumble and fall.

Just say HALT! I am not going down this path.

Just say HALT when you are HUNGRY, ANGRY, LONELY OR TIRED!

That was me, the last one!  I really wanted to confront the guy, but I knew that the Holy Spirit did not want me to do that.   But what if the same thing happens tonight, I pondered.  But God had another way.  BUT GOD.  About that time, the dear friend I emailed called with good Godly advice and prayers.  She also reminded me of THE HIGH CALLING, which is something we used in a Bible study we taught together in the past.  I think about  THE HIGH CALLING periodically and, like me, you might see yourself and situations you are facing in it.  The author is unknown, but it is rich with wisdom.  I hope you will take time to read it.  Maybe print it off.

Marcy had me read it out loud.  It was healing.  It HALTED the chaos in my head and brought me peace.  I was still exhausted, but it reminded me of what I know and gave me strength to open my mouth and start quoting Scriptures which build me up and encourage me.  Funny, but that was going to be the subject of today’s blog…BUT GOD.

The High Calling….

If God has called you to be really like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility and put on you such demands of obedience, that He will not allow you to follow other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it; and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others can brag on themselves; on their work, on their success, on their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to him or in having luxuries, but God may supply you daily, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, and that is a helpless dependence on Him, that He may have the privilege of providing your needs day by day out of the unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honored, and put forward and keep you hid away in obscurity, because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.

God will let others be great, but keep you small.  He will let others do a work for Him, and get the credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done, and this will make your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes.  The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feeling or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.  So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and He will not explain to you a thousand things that may puzzle your reasoning His dealings with you.  God will take you at your word; and if you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and let other people say and do many things that you cannot do or say.  Settle it forever, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes; in ways that others are not dealt with.  Now when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven.

- Author Unknown

Have you had a case of Life Hiccups lately?  Stop and find the vestibule of heaven…

xoxo   leah

Your life is a journey you must travel

with a deep consciousness

of God.

1Peter 1:18  Message Bible

This weekend let’s swap “self”-consciousness

for

“God”-consciousness!

ENJOY ALL YOUR BLESSINGS !!

xoxo   leah

Last week, in the middle of downsizing and moving back to Florida, I received my ATLANTA HOMES and lifestyles magazine.  If you miss Southern Accents, Atlanta Homes is a wonderfully inspiring Southern Shelter magazine.  So at the end of a very long day of yet more eliminating, organizing and editing, I flipped through and found myself smiling and nodding exuberantly!   The designers of the 2010 Cashiers Designer Showhouse were featured and asked…

THE BEST WAY TO UPDATE A ROOM IS TO…

Here are some of the answers that I have tried and found to be oh so true.

Dianne Estes says…Clean out the unnecessary, outdated items, (I won’t elaborate on this but you know that it is an absolute must to get a new fresh look)  and SHOP YOUR HOME AND MOVE ITEMS FROM OTHER ROOMS TO CREATE A FRESH LOOK. I have never quite put it that way, but I love the idea of shopping in your own home.  So often when I am redesigning a room for a client, I open hall closets and linen drawers looking for treasures that the client has not considered using.  Truly, I have never been disappointed!  I always find Something to bring out into view that enhances and adds beauty to the room.  When it comes to moving things around, I like to gather everything and put it in the middle of the room on the floor and start placing things in new and unexpected ways.  Here are some pictures of our new little apartment.  I had to be very selective in accessorizing.  Since I have very little table top space, I used the Dining Table to display some things I enjoy.

I enjoy living with books and browsing through my design books in the evening.  With no shelving in this home, I stacked them and made a book table.

THE BEST WAY TO UPDATE A ROOM IS TO…

Francie Hargrove says…By changing out lampshades- it does wonders.  Note the oversize lamp shades I have chosen.

When you have artwork you love, but little wall space, remember you can stack art too.  Here is an example that works well.  Why?  I stacked a smaller, unframed canvas over a larger framed one.

My creative solution to the “downsizing” challenge of where to place my big, white Jardinere, that I dearly love-  We have 2 entrances, so I blocked the rarely used front door!  Beauty and Security!

What TV?  I admit I am in complete denial about the TV.  I just pretend it is NOT THERE!!

If you move into an older residence, it might not have overhead lighting.  My solution is to use lamp light evenly placed around the room.  I have to admit that it gives a beautiful glow and creates an intimate atmosphere in the evening for dinner.  Make sure you use a 3-way bulb.

Melissa Key gave me this stunning little canvas framed in metal by her husband, Rob.  Every time I sit down here, it reminds me that the most beautiful thing I can possess is a “grateful heart”.

The Master Bedroom is only 11 x 14.  Large mirrors duplicate the space.  Go big when it comes to mirrors in a small space. They create a wow factor and the reflective quality opens up and layers the room.

THE BEST WAY TO UPDATE A ROOM IS…

Suzanne Kassler says…EDIT.  (She is my kind of girl!) CLEAR OUT A ROOM AND START AGAIN WITH YOUR FAVORITE PIECE; THEN, BUILD THE ROOM FROM THERE.  This way you will be living with things you truly enjoy.

Corbin Bronze named this small sculpture Lyric, but she received a new name in my home.  I call her my “Hallelujah girl”!!  Today I am reminded that she was the first image on my first blog one year ago this week. I want to say thank you for your support and encouragement.  We are not connected by chance.  There is one true living God in Heaven who carefully and thoughtfully orchestrates our world…downsizing and updating each and every day!

If you are reading this, know that I thank my God each day for YOU!  And I pray for YOU too!

Now, what do the words DOWNSIZE & UPDATE mean to you?

And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every disciple who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.

Matthew 13:52

Keep those old, time honored and trustworthy truths while opening your life and heart to the new and vibrant because both have life-giving potential. Downsize yet update…nourish your life in the variety of God’s infinite wisdom.

xoxo    leah

Hello friends!  Thank you for your calls, comments and emails encouraging me during the move. Last night marked one week and I am ALMOST unpacked!!  (:

Please savor this beautiful, insightful and encouraging analogy a dear friend of mine from Seattle, Jody Collins, wrote during a very difficult season recently.

———————————————–

The last several weeks have been a significant challenge for me, as my husband and I have been caring for my aging father-in-law, who lives with us.  Managing his care, hiring daily help, working with hospice and doctors, plus dealing with my mother-in-law, who was also convalescing, was very hard, to say the least.  I felt supernaturally protected and strengthened by the Holy Spirit during that time.

One day I read a quote from a preacher, via a very wise woman:

“Honey, if the mountain was smooth,

you wouldn’t be able to climb it!”

I said, “AMEN!” And then these words just poured out of me…

This is for all of us who are climbing with Jesus!  (Dad passed away on the 4th of July).

Climbing the Mountain

by Jody Collins – June 2010

GETTING STARTED – Going Up

I.  WHAT should I have?  The right Tools and Equipment

Crampons/boots to steady your feet along the path- “feet shod with the gospel of peace”

A walking stick- what are you leaning on?

The right clothes- to stay warm, protect you- “put on Christ”

Enough food- the Word for your daily bread and living water

A Flashlight/lantern- to light the path

A Map is most important- to know the way

CLIMBING -along the way

II.  HOW am I going to do it? So I am not overwhelmed- “Man this is a big mountain!”

One step at a time- using the light you’ve been given

Follow the signs-  Pay ATTENTION!

Stay Focused on the path- don’t look to the right or to the left

With the encouragement of others-  ”I’m praying for you”,  ”God is faithful!”

Rest and Refresh along the way- no reason to hurry

Most Important: Eat, drink and breathe daily-  Read God’s Word and breathe the breath of the Holy Spirit

AT THE TOP- Time to Stop

III.  WHY did I climb this mountain?   PURPOSE

To Get God’s perspective - because you can see better from the top!

To Prove you could do it- build your faith

To be strengthened- for the next challenge

To come down and encourage others-  ”You won’t believe what I saw!” ,  ”If I can make it, so can you!”

Whatever Mountain you face today, Jody and I both want you to know that you are not alone!  We are all climbing together.  Lord, show each of us the “next right step” toward reaching the top and show us who we can encourage along the way.

Have a wonder-filled weekend!  xo   Leah

What a wonderful day at Epcot with our daughter Lauren on her 26th Birthday!

It was a “hat” kind of a day!

Hola, que tal?

Moroccan girl and her camel

oui mademoiselle

Canadian Chic

Always our little girl!!

We Love you Priss!!

image PVE.blogspot.com