House Blessings for Your Sacred Space From the “Martha Stewart of inspired living” comes a collection of warm words and welcoming colors to make you feel right at home. Haven, home, or house. Whether it’s a special place, a feeling, or a person―rest assured, there’s no place like home. What is a home? To author Mary Anne Radmacher, it is much more than an address. It is a refuge, a creative incubator, a celebration of story and joy. In May Your Walls Know Joy , find aphorisms and illustrations to redefine and reaffirm your idea of home. Home is where the heart is. Made for those who have moved in and moved out, felt homesickness and homecoming, sighed “home sweet home” and yelled “welcome home,” May Your Walls Know Joy is for the reader who’s coming home. Gathered under one roof, Mary Anne combines caring aphorisms, blessings for the home, and charming four-color artwork. If you’re looking for the perfect housewarming gift or house blessing, and enjoyed books like Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers , House Blessings , or Being Home , then you’ll love May Your Walls Know Joy . In May Your Walls Know Joy, Radmacher returns to her signature style, combining a few poetic, aphoristic words with beautifully constructed four-color art. This book is a celebration of home and family and all that they mean--a refuge from the world, a creative incubator, where lives are lived and friends are welcome. Mary Anne Radmacher is a writer and an artist. She conducts workshops on living a full, creative, balanced life; teaches Internet writing seminars; and works with individual clients. She has been writing since she was a child, and she uses her writing to explore symbols and find meaning. Among her special honors, she counts the respect of her peers and the friendship of children. She is the author of Lean Forward into Your Life and Live Boldly . She lives in the thriving university town of Gainesville, FL, in close proximity to amazing humans and fine dogs. Visit her online at www.maryanneradmacher.net. may your walls know joy ... By Mary Anne Radmacher Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC Copyright © 2009 Mary Anne Radmacher All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-57324-400-8 CHAPTER 1 Some years ago I left Ireland after weeks of traveling throughout the island. Iwas a visitor, a stranger each place I went. Yet I never felt the stranger.Hospitality wrapped me in welcome, encouragement, and joy. I felt so "at home."I wanted to write a blessing that captured this spirit. I did not remain lost any place in Ireland for very long. I loved hearing theinquiry prompted by my furrowed brow and puzzled look: "You lookin' fer yur wayhome, lass?" My way home. It is true that home is so much more than a buildingwith a number we list on forms or licenses. Home happens in unexpected placesand at unanticipated moments. Home can be a surprise at a new address. Many years after writing the blessing that Ireland inspired (May your walls knowjoy ...), I was excited to create a permanent homefor myself. Discouragement set in after so many drive-arounds with my realestate agent. I wanted to see joy in the walls ... I just didn't. That is,until one afternoon when I was steps inside a place. I heard my patient realtorwhisper behind me, "I have a very good feeling about this ..." "Home," Iinterrupted. "Home. This is it. This is my home." It was a declaration. My realtor understood that connecting with the intangibles of "home" isessentially like love at first sight. Who can explain that beyond a feeble, "Ijust knew"? An offer was delivered within an hour. Soon this blessing was aframed poster, hanging on a wall in my new home. This book is what came of writing that blessing and my thoughts about it. Thisis a blessing for coming in and going out. A blessing for what happens on theinside of a home as much as the road away from and back to home. This is ablessing for the guest as well as the dweller. These wishes hold inspiration fora dorm room, a first home, a last home. They are a celebration of place, story,and joy. Beyond structures, the blessing extends to those who travel and look throughmany windows. Great possibilities await us all—and those are blessed whoget to travel to that promised joy from their own walls or gaze upon them out thewindow of their home. (Continues...) Excerpted from may your walls know joy ... by Mary Anne Radmacher . Copyright © 2009 Mary Anne Radmacher. Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. Used Book in Good Condition