My Old “New” Shade

The name of this blog is His Heart and Home. I have been telling you a lot about how God has been working on my heart, but not how He is using my home. Well, I have a way to show Jesus in your home I think is quite “enlightening.”

I have this lamp that is about as old as creation itself and about as ugly as homemade sin.

It blends in with the wall.

I got in when My Man and I got married. It is one of those brass lamps with a swivel arm. I got tired of the brass look and painted it black.

My problem really is the shade.

Plain Jane, if I do say so myself.

I, myself, am not plain because I have a “Y” in my name.

To try to spruce it up, I spray painted it. That didn’t do well at all! I have been looking at this ugly lamp for years. Guess I have just gotten used to it.

That ended today.

I took my Bible and a permanent marker and went to work. (Totally got this idea from Pinterest.)

I wrote verses, some of my favorites, on the shade. I was led to write the ones that praise God for who He is. Once, I got going,God just kept leading me to the next verse.

After each verse, I wrote the scripture reference for it.

Here are my tips in doing this.

1. Pray about this first. Ask God to lead you to the verses He wants you to put on the shade. Pray for a steady hand and correct wording and spelling. You are using a permanent marker and mistakes can’t be corrected.
2. Use your Bible and take your time. Even if you have had a verse memorized for years, your mind will wonder and it is easy to make a mistake. Double and triple check the wording, punctuation and spelling. If the Bible used all capital letters for “Lord,” so did I. You can see that in the picture above.
3. If you are not comfortable with your handwriting, ask someone else to do it for you. People have always complimented me on my handwriting, so I was pretty comfortable.
4. I propped the shade on my knee as I wrote.
5. Have more than one marker. They start off sharp and smooth, but quickly dull and the letters become too fat to read.
6. This should have been number 2. My shade was not cloth and it had a coat of paint on it, so I didn’t have to worry about this. If your shade is cloth, on the back side of the shade test your marker and make sure it doesn’t “bleed.” Even permanent markers may bleed.
7. If you start making mistakes, take a break. You will only get frustrated. It took me about 1 1/2 hours to do this. I was slow and deliberate.

I am happy with the results. Now, I have a conversation starter. People will be curious and take a closer look and read God’s word. He has an opportunity to speak to them through His word.

I also like it because now, the lamp doesn’t blend in with the background. It stands out.

My prayer for this is for the Lord to be made known in this home to everyone who comes in. More important than the lamp telling of God, they must see God in me first or all this is in vain.

I have more projects in mind that I plan on sharing as I get them done. Pillows keep coming to mind. Hmmmm….

Happy shades to you!!

Jayne