TRAINING IN WAITING....by TRUSTING

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEYTON!!!!! ARE YOU HAVING FUN TODAY!!?? Maybe my new banner for the blog.....or am I too attached to the old one? All with a ball point pen....fun doodling and some color.....bliss!! Who knew?! ...Alisa Burke did!!! Love her class! More ball point pen doodling....such fun!! I discovered this on the chalkboard after the children went home .... Pilar drew this !! She is 10 and going to be baptized in two (weeks) Sundays.... I would say she is excited!! I would love this on an invitation..."Today is Sunday!" There are a lot of activities for the youth on Sunday at our church....so happy when the kids look forward to going! Waiting is not one of my pluses .... and I am learning to accept someone else's (God's?) timing. Actually, I am at peace with the timing of our "downsizing" progress .... sort of up in the air until the next project is finished and we move on to the following item that usually we are tripping on! And in between I sneak in a little doodling and drawing with a ball point pen, pencil or micron pen and some water colors added ... my joy is doing SOMETHING creative....it is the fuel for my being along with the THANKSGIVING of a true God who is soo alive in our daily lives. Even in the tough times, he must be by my side in my soul like life blood for me to continue each day. There is so much more good than bad about this world if you see it from His perspective! Anyway, things are good right now and I am loving the process of the progress!!!! No matter how slow!! One exciting item to mention is that they have built a sleeping loft in the big garage that I am turning into a studio in the new old house we will be moving to! I needed another bedroom for my kids and family when they come and the sleeping loft is what the kids are sooo excited about!! It will have a railing around it and they can see below.... kind of like being on the side of a mountain!! For a four year old, that is wayyy up there!! Blessings to you today!!!

THE JOY OF IT....

The hungry second born (born that day!) of the beautiful blue eggs my mockingbird laid in her beautifully built nest....which was in a wire basket on my trellis where I could lower it each day to check on them....she never fussed!! Those little nubs of wings that will turn into beautiful wings so he can fly! The nest was so beautiful, even had horse hairs in it that she got from the neighbors barbed wire fence where the horses tails swish across the barbs leaving long hairs... Click on the pictures to see them up close!!! Look at the beautiful fungus on the tree twigs.... a loosely built nest on the outside and then a delicate more tightly woven nest on the inside.... Those feathers beginning to develop ! NOW for a nap til supper!! This is ONLY one week later!!! I FORGOT TO MENTION....Flat Stanley Star Wars style from LaGrange Intermediate school, came for a vacation to our house and got to climb a tree with the grandkids! "D" for daughter... God and Family, cherished, the apple of His eye..."Home is where the heart is...."....for my daughter's Mother's day card.... Card below designed by my grand daughter for her Momma...the top attic opens for a sweet note....we used stamps too....she wanted no color....simple and classy, just like her Momma! she put our bird nest up in the peak....it was Mother's Day.... For a friend's daughter.....praying for her to flourish and heal with upcoming surgery.... "A" for Adams....or Anything! A design gathered from an old white on white hankie.... The JOY of what? There is so much hurt, disappointment, loss, self-righteousness and self centeredness .... what JOY could I be talking about? Sometimes you just can't put it into words ..... or you may be critisized for it anyway .... and you just aren't up to the analysis of others .... so you don't try to explain it.....I'm sure you have been there! BUT!! .....BUT there IS JOY ..... JOY in these words spoken this week ...... why are we so lacking in the work we try to accomplish for Him? These words ( Isaiah 33:6...And HE will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The "fear of the Lord is his treasure"....it is key, I think, for authentic success) words rang LOUD in my head when I read them over and over this week. Then there is the JOY of ART and the colors and joy of getting to be creative with it .... for me anyway! Here are some pieces of ART I have been playing with and the house card my grand daughter did for her Momma. THE JOY OF HIS LOVE ..... even for "just me" .... inspite of myself or the yukky and sometimes disappointing world around me. I BRING YOU THE WONDER OF HIS CREATION AND THE JOY OF IT....enjoy these incredible pictures of my "Mockingbird Babies" and enjoy the art.... Blessings to you!! Have a good weekend.....

JUST FUN.....

Finished ...... It can be easy ..... Growing instructions ..... planting seeds.....love these ....good advice...plenty of room apart so they can grow tall...... Guaranteed to grow ..... What a joy to just get to spend a day in the studio. No plans.... I just played and they came to me. As I told a friend ... "it is expressing my soul to paint".....good or bad .... all to Him. I've been called a "goody-two-shoes" for sharing my faith ..... truth is.... I'm as big a sinner as there is with things in my past I would be ashamed to share. So there, I'm not so good ..... just forgiven and full of joy because He loves me, gave me a second chance, helps renew me each day, helps to heal me, helps me love the unlovable .... even myself. Maybe you don't believe in Him, that's your choice, but I do believe in Him, and I'm not ashamed of it, because He gives me worth, I am eternally grateful. He says.... "You are worth it,......what I did." So much that I try to say sometimes is mis understood, .... I hope this is not.

"ABIDE IN ME"

Melissa and our Carrie.... Our daughter-in-law is beautiful, even when she sticks out her tongue!..... Karen (Janel and Carrie's Mom)....where were you when I needed you!? Corie and Janel..... happy faces..... Grace seriously looking for the right scriptures.... Amy's hands working her artistic talent ...... Amy 's end result of going a step further with her bird's nest ....... These look like bees!!..... Now the "LOVELY" results of each one........plus the first one at the top! Janel, Melissa and Amy with their necklaces...... Corie, Grace and Carrie with their creations...... These cloth pouches for their necklace charm were made with ideas I gleaned from Deryn, and other artists I have gleaned from on the super creative blogs I find.... and in books........ The bird's I purchased from a collage artist recently .... sorry I can't remember each person I have gleaned from..... I'll try to add them.... but all you have to do is go to Deryn's blog and start clicking on the blogs that she recommends.... beautiful blogs to inspire your creativity ... I got a piece of jewelry from Deryn in one of her sewn pouches.... which gave me the idea....of adding sparkles and the netting..... Just Wal Mart fabrics, twigs from my peach tree, purchased birds and nest paper, brite cut felt pieces (vintage from Great Grandma's bag) and the little piece of crochet..... then I printed and added a scripture I picked for the girls..... because they are so valued by the Lord .... and lastly a ribbon with brite felt sewn on the ends for a little punch. These were fun, fun...... my grand- daughter, Olivia and daughter, Kellie helped me design them while she was here from out of state...... my other JOYS!! We had the pleasure of hosting a small retreat group of young women this last week. They are the Bible Study group of my my awesome daughter-in-law, Carrie, the beautiful one with her tongue sticking out ..... a joy! They had personal study, prayer time, great food and some fun time as well!! My email friend Deryn Mentock gave me the "blessing" of letting us use the tutorial I bought from her of the "bird nest charm" to do with the group of girls, so here are the photos, Deryn .... Thank You!!! They each picked their "nest eggs" .... and then after twisting the wire and adding beads they searched for the scripture or words they wanted to add to the leaves ....each one with their own "heart reasons". As I photographed each one, I came across one that said "Abide in Me" ...... and I thought about what a bright future this country, their children and friends have because of "THEM ABIDING IN GOD'S LOVE". Just to watch their faces and experience their faithfulness to a God that will never fail them. They think and prepare their lives with "Eternal Purposes" and results that can't help but make a Nation have Hope for the Future ...... Wow,..... we know they have not had the perfect life without great hurts or disappointments, but we see where they have turned ...... to direct their lives and in whose hands.....they put it all..... the Living Word. Dick and I .... being older relished the fellowship, faithfulness and friendship we saw, not only with each other but their personal relationship with the Lord. I don't know what their study was on(to see what they studied, see Carrie's comment below, click comments), but I know when I saw the words of Christ to us on one of the necklaces that said..."abide in Me" .....John 15:9 and John 15:5 ..... "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love." and "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." ...... I knew I had evidenced it in them and it gave us joy and hope for the future of our grandchildren and beyond! Thanks girls for blessing us with your presence!!! Come back, ANYTIME..... OH!!!! I MUST thank and praise some husbands and Dad's who took care of things and the children so these awesome women could get a break!!! THANK YOU..... YOU AWESOME BOYS!!!!!