Momma

Painting has been so slow lately. Life, on the other hand, has not. I am trying to find the balance of doing things I enjoy & enjoying the things that I do.

Does that make sense?

This weekend is going to be great. Dear friends of ours are coming from North Carolina. They are expecting so we decided to throw them a baby "party"... because that is more manly that a shower. Haha. My amazing friend came to my rescue & helped me with a gift. She taught me how to use a sewing machine! Oh my word... it has been a long time coming. I am so proud of myself, but mostly just thankful for her. She spent all day helping me make goodies. Truthfully, I only made a couple of the items, the rest was her. She is such a generous person. I thank God for her presence in my life.

I can't show you pictures yet, because I have to give it to the mother-to-be first! But I will, as soon as I can.

I do have one new piece of art to show you. I painted this for my mother. She doesn't get to see my daughter often & it was her birthday. It happens to be one of my husband's favorites so far. What do you think?

Pine frame. Acrylic paints. Gift.

Lazy Love

I have had a lot on my heart lately. Since this is my blog... I feel like I can openly share my heart. Hopefully, out of respect for "mah personal space" random ugly comments won't show up.



I am just so tired of people being so lazy about Christianity. If you aren't a Christian-a true, believer that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, died for your sins & rose again that if you accept His grace & forgiveness, you will have a place in eternity with Him- then this does not apply to you. I am talking to my fellow body of believers, my brothers & sisters in Christ. My Spiritual family.

We have tapped into His grace, mercy, love & power... there is nothing to big for us to conquer with the King of Kings on our side. Yet, we struggle to find the energy to get out of bed early enough to read His word? We are so passionate in conversation about things that don't even matter. Petty drama is constantly on the tip of our tongues. Why? Why do we waste our precious time talking about such vain things? When believers are gathered together, we have such a beautiful opportunity to unite together. Sadly, lifting one another up & discussing personal growth are not the norm.

I can't stand it.

& I think that is because there was a time in my life when I knew that kind of relationship. I had a firm grasp on my faith. I knew what I believed and why. There was a time that I truly understood what it meant to be a PART of the body of Christ. A time when I called on a sister in Christ to bear my burdens with me. A time when gossip was far from my heart & mind. When love was real & evident constantly... When sin was bluntly called sin.

I look around me & into the mirror & I see the same sour faced "christian." Claiming that God is good with our mouth, yet anger is violently shaking our heart. We don't believe we are welcome into the arms of God, so we choose to suffer through it all alone. Holding on to some bitterness, hurt, lie, anger or whatever. Life overwhelms us & we don't even put up a fight. The thought of making the conscious choice to be joyful, or to dwell on truth doesn't even cross our minds. We are so consumed in the negative of life that we refuse to dive back into God's unfathomable love for us. He desires to take our pain & do away with it... FOR US. All we have to do is knowledgeably give the control of those issues over to God & the rest is taken care of.

But, No... we just hold on it, instead.
We see hardships coming & forfeit. Because we "don't want to fight anymore". We're tired of life being so challenging.
Woe is me.

As long as I am doing better than them.... right?

Wrong.
When we could be living life abundantly through the everlasting, we decide to merely get by through ourselves.
We trade the truth of God for a lie.

What does it take?

Jesus Christ never gave up on us on His way to the cross...

Finally

I am terrible at keeping up with this blog lately. I apologize. Life has been happening, even when I didn't realize it. I feel as thought I woke up one day & noticed I had missed out on a lot. I hate getting into the motions of things & not putting my emotions into them. I hate that I have let time pass me by without acknowledging it. A good friend once told me about living your life with intent. I am trying to get into the habit of that.

Some things that have been long awaited how finally taken place. A few good friends have ended their journey as singles & tied the knot. I really enjoyed the past two weddings because I felt honored to be there. If anyone ever deserved a lifetime of love, these beautiful people do. It was such a beautiful reminder of why I am where I am. I have finally realized that I need to be where I am, in every way... not just physically. I feel like there's this big wall of selfishness that I have been looking at for a while. I've known I needed to begin conquering it for quite some time. I don't think one could ever actually overcome it... but at least, I have begun.

It's a really big wall. Really thick. Really high. & really uncomfortable.
But. In the end, it really is worth it.

On another note. I have been working on this painting for a while. It was a wedding gift. It had been the source of my frustration for quite a bit.... but I think I finally came to a satisfied end. Jess & (now) Jayne Kota are good friends of ours. We had them over for dinner before they got married. We had a really great time of genuine fellowship & encouragement. I knew then I wanted to paint something spiritual for them... not just "Mr. & Mrs. Kota" like I had originally intended. I found out their general color scheme for their future home & got busy busy the next day. I can't wait to hear back from them in a few weeks & see what they think.

What do you think?

Acrylic paints. Gift.

Changes

Oh my goodness it has been so long.

I am so sorry. Thank you for not giving up on me!

Okay. So, before you read on.... find a way to listen to the band "Brown Bird"... I am serious. Don't read without doing it.. you'll miss the mood.

"I am a child without you near
my strongest love reduced to fear
for when you're gone
I'm a severed soul..."


Life is so full right now. I know God is at work in my life-everywhere I look. Inside of me & around me. I am feeling so overwhelmed- in a good way? I have never been so happy to be confronted with myself. I feel like lately I look in the mirror & see the need for change & I like it. I guess what I am trying to say... God is replacing my contentment with desire. He is reviving my heart for friendship & comradery. I didn't know my husband and I could be more in love... but I am falling more & more in love with him every day. I constantly find myself thinking, "we are having such a good day together" but the next day is even better. Sometimes I am amazed at the faithfulness of God... even in the little things. When I seek Him, I find Him... in everything. I am so excited to see where He is leading & how He will provide for my life.


On a "business" note. Things have been slow. I currently have about 4 or 5 gifts that I am working on. Each one will be a seperate blog, once I actually give them (don't want to spoil the surprise). Recently, a couple from the church I grew up attending contacted me. There has been a member of the church who has stepped in as the choir director until they found someone else to permanently fill the position. She did this for 3 years. Now, THAT is dedicated service. Not to mention, she was my dentist as a child :) It's a small world after all, isn't it? Any how, the couple asked me to make her an "award" with the church colors- navy, yellow, & white. It was to read, "World's Best Interim Choir Director" & have some musical-ness to it.

What do you think?


Acryic & latex paints. Sold.

Refreshments, anyone?

We headed to North Carolina friday night to surprise some old friends of ours. They recently found out they are pregnant & therefore were planning to move this past weekend. Good thing we did, because only two other people who had offered their help showed. That was so frustrating. What happened to people owning up to their word? That "grinds my gears". It use to be that a man gave his word with a handshake. Now, a man's word often doesn't mean anything at all. Doesn't it bother anyone? Does it not bother us that in today's society, honesty means nothing?

On the positive end of things... my wonderful husband IS a man of his word. I love him so much. He made me so proud the way he stepped in & took initiative. What wonderful ideas (& MUSCLES!) he has! It was so good to watch him from a distance. It reminded me to honor him. & at the end of each day, we had great,much needed time with our sweet, long time friends. It was so refreshing to have fellowship with believers who are also dear friends.

The ride home was great, as well. There was such a sweet spirit & bond between us. We had such a nice time talking & laughing together. Yes, I said it... my husband & I talk... & LAUGH together. We ACTUALLY like each other. I know, weird isn't it? :) I really felt like we got over a wall, conversationally, that has been building up for a while. We talked about some really important things & made some really productive conclusions.

& before we went to bed last night, we prayed together. I love praying to my Lord & Savior with the wonderful companion that He provided me with. I use to believe that marriage was all coincidence & that you just end up with THE someone that you really believe you can make it work with. But. it seems like I am constantly being amazed at just how perfect we are for each other. Maybe God does make someone for everyone? I don't know, because I am not God. What I do know is that my husband was,is, & always will be the one & only for me.

I love my life.