I’m pretty lazy when it comes right down to it; therefore if there is a way to cut corners and not sacrifice quality, in this case taste; then count me in.

Last night I made my famous meatballs.  They’re really only famous inside this house, but you know what I mean, my family loves my meatballs and so do I.   Since I cook my meatballs in the sauce I figured why waste another dish to mix them up in…right?

Want to know my recipe?  Begin with a saucepan, large enough to hold the amount of meatballs you wish to make.  I used a 3 quart for this demo.

I used 2 lbs. of 98/2 Laura’s Lean Ground Beef, 2 eggs, salt, pepper, 2 cloves of pressed garlic, Italian Seasoning, about 1 cup of bread crumbs and if I have it, I will toss in some fennel seeds.   I mix right in the sauce pan.

After mixing well, I then rolled into meatballs.  2 lbs of meat makes 16 meatballs for us because I roll them large.   Then I pour 2 jars of sauce over the meatballs.  I prefer Barilla Marinara, but any sauce will do.

Cover and cook on medium heat.  Sauce should simmer long enough to cook meat through.   This is where I typically make a mess because I set it too high and sauce pops all over the stove when I remove the lid to stir.

I simmer for about 40 minutes and prepare the pasta.

Then we eat…. Yum!

bon appetit

sorry…my intent was not to mislead you with the title, but only to get your attention.  I’ve read that blog titles should be catchy and entice the reader into reading more.

I just couldn’t let this one get away, I mean after all it is Mother’s Day weekend and I am a mom, so I had to share this with you.

This really happened, except the people in the observation were rearranged.

The whole story goes like this:

Our daughter was driving, my husband was in the front seat, I was sitting in the back.  We were on our way to see a movie; “The Avengers”  (side note: great movie!)

We pull into the parking lot to look for a space.  Being it was opening weekend for this particular movie, the parking lot was crowded and spaces were few.  But we all spotted this one car backing out and DD waited for the car to pull away and then we began our approach to claim the coveted spot.  And then there it was…a white bag, gleaming as if a spotlight was shinning on it, a very large fast food bag.

Now I know that it’s quite possible that the car that just left, might not have left it there, maybe it was from another person…who knows?

The way I see it…we all have a choice at this moment.  Wait, but really?… do we?  I mean when we claimed that spot, at that point didn’t it become our responsibility to pick up the trash?

What do you think? 

My (hero) husband opened the door and swooped it up, carried it up to the theater and simply dropped it into the garbage can.

Did he want a pat on the back, applause, accolades for this deed? 

Absolutely not!

But he did get a hug from his daughter and a kiss from me, and in our daughter’s eyes, her daddy was a man of integrity.  I know this because in my eyes he was.  He always has been, but those moments like this… when we have the chance to leave a lasting impression on our children and others around us, it was the fact the he seized that moment, that’s when integrity shows… and he did it with humility to boot! That is when character begins to take root in those who observe our actions and reactions to situations.

How about you?  Do you seize every opportunity to teach and build character in your children?

Thank you for allowing me to share this story with you today.

Do you forgive me for pulling you in with the title? Ah, come on…it was worth it, don’t ya think?

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

“HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY”
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Studio JRU: In the Studio

I’m late, I’m late for a very important date.  More like a season.  Spring is here and up until the past Saturday, my home…well small spaces of it, was still wrapped up in a winter blanket.  Warm rustic colors are wonderful in those chilly months following the Christmas season, but since we’ve had green grass since February, you would think I’d be more proactive about bringing the seasonal colors into our home.  What can I say?  Maybe I’m just a late bloomer, ya think?

A few days ago I wrote about how I freshened up an old lamp, gathered some lightly hued vintage treasures and pulled together a sweet little vignette that prompted the awakening from my decorating funk.  Once I get started I am motivated to continue until I’ve cleaned, reset and redecorated our cozy little abode.   When we repainted our walls in our den, entry area and a small space off of the den back in the fall, we choose a much lighter shade of paint for the walls and added a board & batten treatment in all three areas.  This, to our amazement, opened up our home so much more.  Not only due to the lighter walls, but because they were all tied together with the same color walls, it gives the illusion of one large room, instead of three separate areas.   We are still very, very happy with our choice of color, even more so when I go through my home pulling very colorful items to make my entry area into a vintage garden vignette.  Color is my friend, I love love love color and it’s fun to bring different colors into our home, this is made easier by going with neutral colors for the wall.  In my mind, matching isn’t an issue as much as blending.

Many times I’ve wonder just what my style of decorating is, I’ve never been able to really say if asked. I do love to mix things up.   After finishing the entry area, I’ve decided that my style is; “Eclectic French Country Vintage Rustic”.    Not that it’s necessary to have a specific style, but now I’m ready if someone should ask.  However, if you disagree…I’m going to give you the chance to give your thoughts after I finish showing off my entry into Spring.

What is Spring without a pig?  It worked so well for E.B. White in the children’s classic; Charlotte’s Web.  Yes, my pig’s name is Wilber.   The blue plate is my favorite piece to decorate with, it pops no matter where you put it.  A touch of rust is a must as you can see.

A vintage sewing drawer was reclaimed and branded with “fraiches” which is French for “fresh”,  lovely pears in Spring green add more color to this space.

A vintage incubator tray serves as a magnet board and gives the area some dimension, pulls the eye up and makes a perfect perch for a vintage carpenters ruler as a photo or card holder.  Vintage seed packets would look great wedged in there too.  I’ll be on the look out for some of those this weekend.

The lamp is one of a pair, I pulled this one from my workroom, it adds more light and touch of French Country to this vignette.  Now you can see the size of the large incubator tray, I snagged that on a WUSLU deal months ago, I couldn’t resist this buy and I’ve been looking for the perfect place to use it ever since it arrived.  Told you I was slow.   To add more color to the Spring garden entry, I grabbed a very special painting and slid it behind the tray.  Do you see how it looks like your looking out of a screen door on a beautiful Spring day?    My oldest daughter painted this for me years ago, she will never know how much I love this painting even more now that I can enjoy it every day.   Metal marquee letters and a galvanized heart spell out “C loves J”, adding a touch of Spring romance.  I ordered the letters from Peppercorns, the pretty tag in the first photo was a gift with my purchase.  I love gifts. The hearts are from Jack Rabbit Flats. Rusty the owl is nestled in a corner of the tray.

Everything in this photo is from my house.  Nothing is new, but it sure feels new because it’s pulled together to create a new space, a new look…a fresh look.   There is more up above, but for now I’ll leave it here.  One because it isn’t completely done yet, need to find a few more items.  And two because I needed to wrap it up and get busy on an order that’s due this week and also because Snoopy was tired….

He and his sister, Charlie are our esteemed house guests for two weeks.  They are also my grand dogs and they love coming to visit g’ma and playing with Rudy and Rover.

So what is your decision?  Am I Eclectic French Country Vintage Rustic?  Did I hit the nail on the head?  or did I miss by a long shot?

peace.love.rust

]]> http://rustiqueartblog.com/a-late-entry-into-spring-seasonal-decor/feed/ 1 http://rustiqueartblog.com/my-trip-to-the-country-a-front-seat-view/ http://rustiqueartblog.com/my-trip-to-the-country-a-front-seat-view/#comments Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:30:24 +0000 Cindi Albright http://rustiqueartblog.com/?p=3261

Saturday mornings are really nice around our house. Typically, Mr. Rust and I sit and drink a pot of coffee and discuss what we need to do vs. what we want to do.  This morning was a little different because the mister still had some work he needed to finish up, coffee was cut a bit short and he was off until noon.  I proceeded to dismantle my entry way, clean and reset with a more summery look.  Just when I had everything scattered across three rooms, the mister called and asked if I wanted to ride along with him to the last job of the day….it was out of town, in the country.  Although it wasn’t really in the country is was further away from the city, far enough that dogs could be out unleashed, houses sat on larger parcels of land and I couldn’t hear traffic.

I love the country!  Love the fresh air, it was cool here this morning, so we rode with the windows down and the wind in my face. My plan was to sit in the truck and read while hubby finished up. I brought water and my book, just in case I get bored.  And of course I brought my camera…

I’m just getting to the really good parts and I look for reasons to sit and read.  I figured this would be a perfect plan!

But I got hungry so I began eating sunflower seeds…

There is always a bag of seeds in my husbands truck.  Sunflower seeds must be a required staple for pickup trucks. I was happy they were there and I helped myself to a handful…I love to see how far I can spit the hulls.

Gosh it’s so wonderfully quite in the country, just the wind in the trees and…a sqreechy, squeally, squeaky sound, what is that?  Ohhh….a windmill!  I could just barely see it through the trees, but I could certainly hear it.  What a wonderful sound.  Wind in the trees and the rhythm of the windmill turning.

Oh cool!  this country house has a bunny!  I can see it in his little hutch.  He’s nibbling at something and then begins to give his shelf a bath.  He  must sense that I’m watching, because he begins to watch me.

or maybe not…maybe he’s watching the other something that is watching me.

aaawwwh….hey there sweet baby!   Isn’t she so adorable.  She’s wondering why I don’t get out of the truck and play with her.  So she tries to make me believe it will be really fun if I do.

we could roll around in the grass and get jiggy! or…

play with my rope…here let me show how it works.

first you go this way, and then…

you grab it like this, then you do this…

hey wait…that’s not supposed to go there.

She makes it look fun, doesn’t she?

and notice how she doesn’t even mind sharing the yard with a the country bunny?

wow!  I’m impressed and now bummed because hubby is done and it’s time to go.

Man…it’s a good thing I brought my book!

I hope your Saturday was a entertaining as mine was.

peace.love.rust

Have you ever noticed how different you look and feel when you apply just a touch of mascara, some blush and lip color.  It doesn’t have to be much, just a hint.   Most of the time I go without makeup, I will even curl my hair and feel wonderful and refreshed.  I mean if I only had so much time to get ready, the makeup could wait, but the hair has to look good.   When I do wear makeup, it’s just a lite application of mineral powder, some liner, mascara, a lip color.  Being that it’s already warm weather, the sunshine has given my cheeks a natural glow. Or maybe that is from the “hot flashes”

Are you wondering what this has to do with my house?  It’s simple….we put makeup on our house last weekend.  Well that’s what I call it.

Here is what the front of our house looked before the make over…

It’s looks okay.  The yard is pretty and that helps. Mr. Rust loves his yard and enjoys taking care of it on the weekends.

Our home was built in 1985 and we’ve been renovating it since we moved in.  There is always something being repainted, ripped out or installed.  There’s no doubt we love to make continuous improvements to our home.

Now here is the front of our house with some “make up” applied…

Mr. Rust made shutters for the windows.  This is something we’ve discussed for a few years but just never got around to it.    Now we are wondering why we waited so long.  It made a huge difference in the way our house looks.

We also removed the faded and sagging solar screens that were on two of the windows, which I’m sure would have been an improvement without the new shutters.  Last spring we repainted the front door, spruced up the front porch and painted the mailbox, the shutters just tie it all together.

I think my mister did an awesome job.  He’s pretty handy to have around.

Believe it our not there are a 1000 more things to do…one project at a time.  Our goal is to get one project completed each weekend.  So far we’ve held close to this goal.

My awesome husband has even offered to help me do a tutorial on the making of these shutters.  Isn’t he sweet?  I was so bummed when I realized that I totally forgot to get step by step photos when he was making shutters.

That chin quivering trick really works!

Are your weekends full of home projects too? Do you work on little things each week or are you in the midst of a major reno right now?  What is one thing you’ve been dying to change in your home?

What’s next on our list?  The Garage Door make over…. Now that outta be fun!

peace.love.rust

door knobs, vintage door knobs,

how many ways can I use thee

…let me count the ways;

#1 ~  My all time fave….the “photo holder”, this is my version; rustic of course, but their are some wonderful things being done with a simple piece of wire and a door knob.

A few little twists and loops and some vintage charms and a touch of lace…viola! You’ve got a Victorian like the amazing designs from Petite Michele Louise shown below, and some paint and chip it up, you’ve got Shabby French Country. I’ve even made one with the industrial look and feel…loved that one to pieces.

#2 ~  Display as a collection in a beautiful bowl. With the wide variety of door knobs available in the salvage yards and flea markets these days, it won’t be hard to build your own collection of vintage door knobs.  Ceramic, embossed metal, glass, even the occasional wood door knob.  Let the hunt begin!

#3 ~  Curtain Tie Back…this one is by Susan at Meridian Road, but I’ll be giving this project a try later this month.  Hope mine turns out as awesome as hers.

#4 ~  Towel hooks!  I love it.  I’m sure this would work as a coat & hat rack in a mud room too.

#5 ~ Fabulous as lamp  finials.   My “duck egg” lamp needed a finial, but it needed to be junktified, so I sat this rusty door knob on top and called it done.

#6 ~ Landscape design? You betcha! Check out these door knobs set in the ground for a cobblestone effect! Click image for the full article and source.

#7 ~  Wine Stopper…awesome idea.  These make great gifts with a wonderful bottle of wine of course! This one is available at Casanovas Cabinet on Etsy.

#8 ~ This vintage door knob serves a dual purpose; first;  to add charm to the headboard re-purposed out of door and second; the door knob turns on the book light! Now that is clever!

#9 ~  Pie Tin Cloche!  Why not?  these are so cute and the tutorial can be found in the Flea Market Style Magazine Fall/Winter 2011 edition, page 133

#10 ~ Vases…Adorable. Found these over at Chipping with Charm

#11 ~ A ceiling fan pull!  I whipped this little ditty up yesterday.   It was pretty fun and turned out great, looks pretty funky hanging from my ceiling fan.

whew!   I’m worn out and would you believe there’s a lot more ideas out there?   I saw vintage door knobs in Bridal Bouquets, as yard art, on bird houses, wall art…the list goes on and on, but I stopped here because I’m hungry.  Time to fix dinner.  But I’d like to leave you with one more nugget of goodness, a link to a tutorial on how to add screws to the door knobs and turn them into drawer knobs or anchor right into a piece wood. Read about that here.

Do you have any ideas to add to this list of super duper door knob ideas?

If ya do, let me know in the comments.  I’d love to hear your ideas.

peace.love.rust
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Rustic Crafts & Chic Decor

I’ve come to believe that wicker may never go out of style and even if it does or it seems as if it comes and goes over a span of time, it really never goes out of style, it’s always there, we may not choose to pick it up and add it into our decor for various reasons, but in my opinion, it is an element that adds warmth and texture to any decor.

Some will say it looks too beachy or too summery. Maybe so…particularly if painted white or in a pastel tone. Others are of the opinion that wicker is too rustic and would only be at home in a fishing lodge or cabin setting. Again, maybe so…in fact; wicker if left in it’s natural unfinished state, will age beautifully and can take on a lovely rustic patina. Then there are those who wrinkle their noses and say the wicker is too country or it would only look good in a sun room or enclosed patio area.

So you see there are many opinions about wicker, but if all of the opinions above prove anything, it’s that wicker is versatile and proven to be at home in any decor.   Just like burlap, wicker adds texture and warmth to a room. Understand that I say this with the notion that it should be added in small doses or it will begin to take the form of one or more of the decor styles mentioned earlier.  However, if you are looking for that certain something to pull a room together, a natural element with texture is likely to do the job.  Adding wicker, burlap, jute or any other natural element is like comfort food for a room.

I spied these lamp shades at Pottery Barn a few weeks ago and thought they were so pretty and I bookmarked the page for future reference.  Now what I mean by “future reference” is simply code for meaning; “this is really pretty but I’ll never pay up to $70 for a lamp shade so save this for reference and maybe I’ll find something cheaper”

Do you use code language too?

Then just last week Riley and I went to lunch at our favorite pizza place up the road from us in Denton. Denton is the county seat and you know what that means? There’s a courthouse, that means there’s a square and of course that means there are a few fabulous antique malls.

And we did happen to go into one store that day….you’ll never guess what I found!

Yes!  I found a lovely wicker lamp shade.  Funny thing; I passed by it three times and never saw it.  Wanna know why? It was sitting high on a curio shelf.  It blended in and honestly when I did see it, I just sort of stared at it.  Probably speaking more code to myself…like; “do I have a lamp for that”, “should I get it”, “wonder how much it is”…and so on.  I finally snapped out of my after lunch carb coma, and reached up to grab it.

Still talking to myself, I looked it over once, then twice…”no damage”…”the lining is gross, wonder if I can take it out?” “only $10? I’ll take it”

The whole time I was in the antique mall I scanned the booths but not with a clear head.  No, instead I was planning and plotting.  Ideas were coming so fast I had trouble walking.  You know that feeling?  It’s when you just have to stop right where you are, even if it’s smack dab in the middle of the isle in a antique mall.

As it turned out, I had a plan before Riley and I got half way home.  In fact, she couldn’t drive fast enough…I figured out that I did indeed have a lamp that this wicker lamp shade would compliment just dandy and even better than that; I had something I could try my new  “duck egg”  paint on.  I was so pumped!

Once home, I removed the lining…yuck.  There really wasn’t anything wrong with it, but it just sort of looked old and junky, but not the good kind of junky.

See…it’s in great condition, no holes, no damage, no kidding!

and this is where I left you hanging in the last post.

I’ve heard that wasn’t very nice.  Sorry, had to finish primping for the big “ta-da”, and I needed to find the brand new can of clear coat that I know was purchase the last time I visited the paint isle in Home Depot.  For some reason it was no where to be found.  I decided I could live without the matte finish clear coat and just live with the flat chalky finish.  It only bothered me for a few hours and then I got over it.

Guess what?  I foundthe can of clear coat the next day. It was buried on my work bench in the garage.  There’s a proverb or a moral in that story somewhere.  Something about surrender…or maybe the one about tidyness

After it dried, I plopped that sweet little shade on it and fell in love.  Just so you know and so it goes on record, Riley said that it would look too beachy….what do you think?  The photo above is with the light off, but wouldn’t you know, it looks even better with the light on.

At this point I really don’t care if it does look beachy because I’m as happy as a clam!

Was it worth the wait?

Be sure to let me know.

peace.love.rust
Linking up & Sharing my style at:

Miss Mustard Seed: Furniture Friday

my newest love.

duck egg.  as in the color, not an egg.  which by the way, are duck eggs blue?

i wouldn’t know.  but i do know that i’m smitten with the paint color ‘duck egg’.

can you blame me?

it’s so fun to open a fresh can of paint, especially Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP), especially this particular can of paint because i’ve been looking for something to paint with it.

that’s right!  i bought it simply because i adored the color, but up until recently i didn’t have an object to use it on.  that all changed yesterday!

but not so fast…just a bit of back story first;

maybe you didn’t notice or maybe i didn’t tell you…but,

i bought a new rug back in December. believe it or not, it is still in tact although i’m not sure how.

it had a rough beginning

like the day we bought it a put it in place…literally 1 hour later 5 beautiful grandchildren, one precious dog, an adorable kitten and two adults  pull up for a weeks visit.

but that wasn’t an issue…they’re all house trained.  LOL!

no the real issue was the dark baking chocolate Rudy ate while we were all out of the house one night.

and the bag of brownie mix that he tore open on my sofa (okay, his sofa) rolled around in it then proceeded to roll on my new rug (gasp)

and my “new” rug was also the first place he choose to begin puking up the chocolate that he consumed.  before i go any further please know that Rudy is fine and will live to tell his story.  okay, i’ll be telling the story but what’s important for you to know right now is that he is still walking this earth and yes it probably is by the grace of God.  (praise)

if you have dogs that live in the house, i don’t recommend ever buying a looped rug like this one

regardless of how much you love the colors, regardless of how perfect it will look with the new walls in your den, regardless of how wonderful it feels under your bare feet…

you see, dogs have this odd habit of digging or act as if they are digging…on your new rug of all things!

and one dog in particular (Rudy) likes to lay on his tummy with his back legs extended behind him

a boy and his dog…awwww, so cute!

as cute as this is, it’s devastating to the ‘new rug’ that he is stretching out on as his nails get caught and snag the rug.

needless to say; my crochet hook is not just for crocheting anymore, in fact it sits within arms reach of me at all times so i can repair the snags before Mr. Rust sees them.  (another story for another time)

okay, back to the paint!  no…i’m not going to paint the rug.

about 8 years ago i found an ugly lamp at a thrift store, that was about the time i was into my ‘rust’ mode 100% of the time, now i’m only in that mode about 75% of the time.  i’ve mellowed a bit.  i still love my rust and the rustic look, but i’m moving toward a lighter shade of rustic.

when i bought this lamp, it was a chalky cream color, i painted it black and then over sprayed with a bronze metallic paint.  then i made some jewelry for it, plucked some bird feathers…no, i bought some feather trimmed ribbon and glued abound the neck to hide something i didn’t like but can’t recall what it was.  the lamp came without a shade, but i found one on clearance somewhere.  it was perfect, like a tan chamois color and texture, but no feathers…so i added feathers to the shade too.  oh boy did i think i was so savvy.  reeeeaaaallllly now.  i think i was full of myself!

over time, like anything in my home, it suffered wear and tear, got nicked up from being moved a zillion times from room to room.

so guess what! i’ve found my next test subject for my duck egg paint that will look absolutely awesome with my, not so new rug.  i’m excited…how about you?

so here it is, plucked, jewelry removed and shade naked

set up in my kitchen/painting studio

i’ve always like the texture on this lamp, i know it’s a dated design, but anything can look better with a fresh coat of paint and everything deserves a second chance, and i’m an obsessive recycler and will keep something until it doesn’t work  any longer.  therefore, dated or not, it stays and i get to play!

are you ready for this…

oooooh so yummy!

…to be continued

i know! that’s so mean

but, you’ll just have to come back and see what i’ve done

i promise you won’t be disappointed

peace.love.rust

This might go down as the flop of the year…but I’m just going to have to live with it.  I have no desire to repaint, but as with everything in life, there is bright side.  I have been toying with some paint colors to paint my kitchen cabinets in, I now know it won’t be the color combo I used on my dresser.

First, let me explain my color choice….I had a inspiration photo to go by.  I know it’s a dining room, but my bedroom walls are gray like the room below.  So I thought that my dresser would look nice if I painted it like the table below.

Great idea…right?  *sigh* I almost got it right…but not quite.

Here is a photo of the dresser before, I warn you now…

it’s ugly!

told ya so!

 there is no where to go but up from here…

you would think that anything would be an improvement. right?

Maybe so if I had stopped here…

I was going to title this blog post; “on the floor in the bedroom”

…I mean really?  who paints furniture on their carpet in their bedroom.

People like me who don’t want to move it into the garage!

The first coat is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White, one coat covered that red monstrosity.  Amazing paint!  and then after it dried, I dry brushed some ASCP Coco over the Old White.

Before I go any further I know where I went wrong….I should have reversed my colors and done the first coat in Coco then the Old White, but I didn’t and it’s already done so here is the “ta.da” part

nice cord   stick around I’ll show you how you can achieve this amazing decorating trick. (sarcasm)  Hubby’s “to do” list includes putting an outlet behind the dresser.  I suppose the builder didn’t think I would need an outlet on “every” wall.

I allowed some color to show through,  no one likes it…”whatever” it’s only a tiny bit and it sort of looks like a deep rose color, not as ugly as the shade it was.  I will probably go back and cover the red, or maybe not.

Another problem with this whole room/dresser thing is that my gray walls have a blue undertone, where as the inspiration photo has gray walls with the brown undertone…HUGE difference.

Will I chalk this up as a fail?

No, because it’s livable.  Meaning I can live with it until I get tired of looking at it and redo it again.  Pretty soon I won’t be able to shut the drawers because of all the layers of paint.  I just like to get my dollar’s worth out of my furniture.

so ya wanna know what’s next?

maybe I’ll just stick to the Old White on this one. Or you can give your opinion if you like.   Remember the rest of the bedroom looks like this…

at least in this photo it does

peace.love.rust
Linking up & Sharing my style @

Miss Mustard Seed: Furniture Friday

Oh Glorious Day!

Matthew 28

Jesus Has Risen

¹ After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

The Guards’ Report

¹¹ While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³ telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

The Great Commission

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Oh Happy Day!

Easter Blessings,