Our house has three bedrooms. The first is our master bedroom. I decorated it nicely right after we moved in. The second was Matt's room when he still lived with us. It's the room where James keeps all his weightlifting apparatus, which I think is very unsightly! So I hardly ever go into that room. The third room is our guest room. It has a bed, bedside tables, and a built in cabinet. I use that room as my office, too. For some reason, I never got around to decorating it. I used a bedspread and curtains from our former house, and left it at that -- just functional.
A few months ago, I decided I should really try to make it more attractive, especially since we do have guests from time to time. I found some pretty fabric (see above) which inspired me to try to make it look nice with a rust and gold color motif. I just worked on it little by little and finally last week I finished everything. We have a lot of pictures, vases, and other knick-knacks that were given to us by our students from different Asian countries. I pulled together the ones that fit with my theme/motif, and I am really happy with how it turned out. My friend told me yesterday that it looks like an Asian hotel room now. Would you like to have a tour?
Here is the bed with the pretty bedspread and matching curtains. I made the bedspread and pillows, but hired someone to do the curtains, because it is time consuming.
Everything in the room has a story, even the sheets on the bed! They were given to us during our first trip to India. James taught two weeks of Bible classes for the CCC staff, and this was their way of saying thanks. We fell in love with India during that trip! The sheets are made of Bombay cotton, and are sort of an overview of the history and geography of India. Not your ordinary bedsheets! Bombay cotton must be good stuff, because we have been using them for seven years and they are still going strong.
This is a wall hanging given to us by one of our students from China. It is based on the Bible verse about forgetting what lies behind and pressing on to what lies ahead. I can still remember Jun An, the Chinese student, earnestly explaining the meaning of the verses. We are proud of our graduates in China, and would love to visit them someday.
If you are our guest, one of the first things you will see when you open your eyes in the morning is this elephant from Thailand. I can't begin to count the number of elephant gifts we have received from Thailand. Wooden, brass, and cloth elephants, elephant t-shirts, elephant bags, elephant coasters. It's definitely the favorite animal there. This was a pillow cover, but I thought it was so pretty that I un-stitched it and had it framed here in the Philippines. We have been to Thailand several times because we usually fly through Bangkok on our way to any other Asian country we are visiting. Visiting our graduates in Thailand is always a highlight for me. I am already trying to figure out when I can visit again. So get
your guest room ready, Ruth!
This is a vase from Myanmar. Zam and Mimi, the couple who gave it to us, were our first graduates from Myanmar almost 20 years ago. We have more than 30 graduates there now, and they are working in a very difficult ministry situation. My heart aches when I think about Myanmar. We have been there twice.
I want to give you a closer look. The beautiful dark red design on the vase is a classic Burmese art form. It is made from layers and layers of lacquer, painstakingly applied one layer at a time. It's so elegant!
The natural reeds that form the background for these shelves are from Japan. But we did not receive them from a student. In the mall near our house there is a Japanese discount store that sells every item in the store for $1.83. So that's how I got the Japanese look -- we don't have any students from Japan! Hahaha! So I don't have any emotional response to the reed mats, but I think they are cute.
Now, back to the things that have memories for me. . . Aren't these vases lovely? We received them when we visited North India. They are brass vases inlaid with marble. When I see the vases, what comes to mind was the amazing time we had in Delhi last year with our graduates Deepak and Anuja, as they introduced us to their young disciples from Kashmir. I can still hear the melody of a room full of young men from Muslim backgrounds, all new believers, singing praise songs to Jesus. It was an unforgettable experience.
This tiny vase was given to us by Bernard and Sujeema, our former students from Sri Lanka. It's made of etched brass with black lacquer. We are currently emailing back and forth with Bernard to arrange a trip to Sri Lanka next year, hopefully in May. I can't wait!
This is a framed piece of Indonesian batik cloth. The cloth was given to me by one of our Filipino faculty colleagues who traveled to Indonesia for ministry. I love the picture because it depicts a worker bringing in the harvest -- and reminds me of all of our Indonesian graduates who are doing exactly that. Some of our dear Indonesians have been facing severe persecution in the past few years, and the batik harvester always reminds me to pray for them.
This brass sailboat comes from Bangladesh. It was a gift from Hirak and Metali, the couple who hosted my trip to Bangladesh earlier this year. I have such good memories from Bangladesh, and I smile whenever I see the sailboat. And, plans are in the works for another trip to Bangladesh!
I always enjoy scented candles. This pretty candle was made in the Philippines. It has real leaves embedded in the wax. I have had it for years, but it fits my color scheme perfectly, so now it has found a place in my special room. I use this room to sit and read and have my quiet time, and the sweet-smelling candle adds to the peaceful ambiance. I love it!
This is my reading corner, and the pretty square basket, also from the Philippines, holds my Bible, pens, journal, and whatever I am currently reading. The Philippines is home to us, so many things in the room are from the Philippines. Now when I wake up in the morning, I look forward to coming into this room to read and pray and work. I thought I was decorating it for our guests, but it turns out I am the one who is blessed.
So that, my friends, is my favorite room in the house, our Asian hotel room. When are you going to come and visit? I will wash the Bombay cotton sheets and get your bed ready!
