ONLY BEGOTTEN SON

For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.   –John 3:16

We spent a lot of time deliberating over which name of God to paint on this antique sled. Originally, the entire sled was faded wood, but we could see a hint of white on the center board and the barest hint of red on the sides. I applied a light stain to bring back the colors, and then hand-painted the name.

EL SHADDAI

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless."   –Genesis 17:1



This beautiful sign is another example of Wendy's skills at painted letters. The old frame was rescued from a barn. Wendy cleaned it up and attached recycled canvas to the frame for the letters. The canvas was originally used for another elementary room project, but Wendy "antiqued" it by soaking it in a solution of strong tea. The final result has a vintage parchment tone and matches the look of the frame perfectly.

EMMANUEL, ET AL

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 
–Matthew 9:23 (KJV)

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,”  for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 
–Genesis 16:13

After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 
–I Kings 19:12

Greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
–John 15:13

For he himself is our peace, 
who has made the 
two groups one and 
has destroyed the barrier, 
the dividing wall of hostility, 
–Ephesians 2:14

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
–Ephesians 4:4-6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 
–Isaiah 9:6


Wendy used her pallet sign crafting skills to make this beautiful sign. The letters are all hand-painted, and I love her choice of vintage colors. We liked signs like this one because they quickly brought up our "count" of names of God without adding too many signs to the list!

If you like this pallet sign, you should contact Wendy. She takes custom orders and never says "No." I would include her email address or Facebook page, but she may never forgive me.

CORNERSTONE

Jesus is
 "The stone you builders rejected,
   which has become the cornerstone."
   –Acts 4:11

One of the ministers at the church generously donated loads of items from his mother, Mary, who had recently passed away. Mary had been a faithful Bible teacher and mentor to children at First Christian since the church was formed. She had a positive impact on many of the parents and young people at the church. People were profoundly moved and deeply touched to learn she had a role in the signs.

This perfectly square board was a find in her sewing room. We're not sure how she originally used it, but we had "square board" written on our list, and we found it!

Wendy painted the lettering on this simple but sweet sign, and I donated the stone—it was one of my treasures from coastal Maine.

PRINCE OF PEACE

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  –Isaiah 9:6 (KJV)

Did I mention one of our team is a professional? Wendy paints and sells pallet signs. She's become very accomplished with hand-painting lettering, and after one or two of my own botched attempts, I turned the rest of the painted letters over to her. 

Here's a simplified version of the steps (excluding any mistakes and back-tracking):

1. Clean and repair windows and use a sander to add some texture and reveal the wood.

2. Apply a walnut stain and quickly remove it with a rag. The stain soaks into the exposed wood but adds only a light finish to the painted surfaces.

3. Paint the glass with chalkboard paint–once or twice will suffice.

4. Lightly dust/sand the chalkboard-painted glass to "age" it.

5. Paint the letters–two or three times.

Hah! If only it were that simple! We're clearly amateurs (at everything except painting the letters). In real chronological order, the steps went like this: 1 (clean), 3, 4, 1 (sand), 3, 4, 1 (repair), 3 (right side this time), 4, 2, 5.