It Is Well With My Soul

Over the weekend Brant and I made this amazing sign.  I did the distressing of the wood and my super, terrific, steady handed husband painted the saying. 

Since hanging the big piece of driftwood from our recent day at the beach the wall was in dire need of color (I'll share the entire wall with all it's new pops of color another day).

I started with a leftover piece of wood from Brant's stash.  This light pine was perfect for staining.

Before I stained it I used all kinds of "tools" to distress it a little.  First I sanded down all sides and corners to take away the clean straight lines.  I used a heavy duty file in Brant's tool box.  After taking away the square edges I used a hammer to start distressing the wood. You can hit the wood with a hammer or a rubber mallet. The hammer will leave deep impressions while the mallet will make slight dips in the surface.  Next I took a bags of big screws and hit the soft wood a few times. 

NOTE: Due to the color of stain and the paint over it you can't see any of the distressing of the wood unless you are right upon it.  But it gives it an aged look so it was a must do for me.

For staining I used the darkest stain I could find, Minwax Wood Finish-Red Mahogany. I wanted the stain to show through after painting so I knew it had to be dark. Using a rag we applied the stain to the wood.  It only required one coat.

Next it was time to paint it.  For the paint I used a latex Folk Art acrylic paint-Patina. These paints are at most craft stores.  I used a brush with very little paint on it.  Light strokes across the wood without totally covering the stain was all that was needed in order for the stain to show through.

And now it was time for Brant to work his magic.  This man has a talent for painting with a very steady hand.  In all our years of painting (and we painted LOTS of rooms, several times, in our home in Fort Worth!!!) together I have never been allowed to paint trim, close to the ceiling or baseboards.  He never uses tape and rarely messes up.  So when it came to painting this saying on the sign I knew he would be in charge.  No stencil on this either.  Just a very steady hand, eyes and a good pencil.

And then finally painting the letters white.  The boys decided they wanted to paint with their Daddy.  For the letters/saying I had the same brand craft paint in Wicker White. 

I had the easy part of distressing the wood.  Brant's part was much harder.  And without his help I would not have this wonderful sign hanging in our living room.  I love the old, distressed piece of wood with the clean, bold white letters. 

And of course I love what it says.

I sat this morning thinking about this old hymn.  I sat thinking about how far we have come in a year.  I think back about where we were a year ago today.  Thoughts I want to never think about again.  Hard, painful memories.  Many things have changed in a year's time.  Many things we would not have wanted to changed, but they did.  I sat thinking about our faith and realize we would not have the positive attitudes we do today without our faith in God.  We feel very blessed to be where we are today. 

Romans 8:28 says it well......."And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." 

And with that "It Is Well With My Soul".

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

 

 

 

The sign was found through Google images on a Pinterest page in an Etsy shop at one time, but is no longer available.  This was the vision for our project.