"One day at a time--this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering."

Ida Scott Taylor


Sunday, January 30, 2011

Freedom To Be

I have been busy taking an online 6 wk class 
called "Soul Restoration" 
that I WON 
from the
taught by
the artist, Melody Ross
with her sister Kathy Wilkins.
It has been amazing so far with
some tough heart work being involved.
We also do art projects but you don't
have to be an artist to take this class.


This is a bookmark I made to go along with
my Altered Art Journals that
I have been creating for my etsy shop.
Melody Ross
gave us a list of truths
and journal entry starters and these were
some of the words from there
that meant so much to me.
I've decoupaged them onto a bookmark.

This class is helping me to look back
at some of the untruths (lies) 
I  picked up along the way 
since just a little girl and have carried 
with me to adulthood. 
You don't know what lies
you've believed sometimes unless you
get BRAVE and
go back there to take a look. 

The wonderful thing about it all is,
that once you
see some of those stuck places caused
by lies you may have believed, 
you can then replace them with the
REAL TRUTHS 
from your Truthteller
which for me is 
GOD my Heavenly Father.

If you hear a voice within you say
"you cannot paint,"
then by all means paint,
and that voice will be silenced.
Vincent Van Gogh
 

My newest Altered Art Journal creation

"   I can't believe that 
God put us on this earth to be ordinary. "
Lou Holtz 

You don't have to stay stuck!
You don't have to let those lies 
that have kept you stuck,
keep you from being
all you were created to be
and  to become.
You don't have to hold back from believing you
can make the dreams in your heart happen.
Actually, you can Fly like you 
were meant to do
when you see the truths that God has
planned for you all along.


"Be strong and courageous,
all you who put
your hope in the Lord."
Psalm 31:24 



Will You come fly with me?
I think I see your wings unfolding too!

Monday, January 24, 2011

There's some Splashin Going on Here


Splish Splash...♫..♪..
I was taking a bath....♫..♪..
♫....la la la la ...la la ..la..♪.♫

YAY!!!!!  We finally
have our water back!
The plumbers have come
and gone.  Woo Hoo!!!!
(the party might be over once the bill arrives)


but for now...
..♫..♪..I am Splishing and
a Splashing♪..♫..
..Reelin' with the feelin'..
..♫..♪..movin' and ..
a groovin'..♪♫..
Rockin' and a rollin'
♫..♪..yeah...♫..♪


Splashes to you all...
Hope you are singing right along
 with me!


Sunday, January 23, 2011

When Things Go Wrong


Well, I was hoping 
to have another post put up by Saturday,
but we woke up with
 frozen water pipes
 in our
over 100 year old house yesterday,
and are still waiting to have them
 repaired today!
We may even be waiting until tomorrow!


It seems here in the Midwest with these
 below freezing temperatures, that many are having
the same problem and therefore
we may be waiting longer than hoped.

I'm very thankful for my
sister (and brother-in-law)
who live near by
 and opened their home
to us while we've been waiting!
So this post will be short, 
(I knew I couldn't make it short)
 as I am writing it from their home.


At times like this,
I could
get very frustrated and insecure! 


 
Things could be so much worse, I know,
and I'm so thankful for all I've been given. 
It's just that at times like this,
 it makes me stop and think more about those
 without a home or shelter over their heads to go to each day.
My heart hurts more when my thoughts go there.
But then, that is a good thing when
we are put in a position
that makes us think, hurt and feel more
for those who need a helping hand.
Right?



"Suppose one of you
says to them
"Go. I hope everything turns out fine
for you.
 Keep warm. Eat well."
And you do nothing about what they really need.
Then what good have you done? "

James 2:16
 (New International Reader's Version)




 When things like
 "needing a plumber"
happen to us,
just maybe it's really God
preparing our hearts to be ready 
 for that person in need
that is going to be placed right in our path soon!

I pray my eyes and heart
will be open and ready to DO something
about their needs and not just
wish them well. (like I've done many times before)


"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait
a single moment, before starting to improve the world."
Anne Frank


Thank you my friends,
for making my life so much
warmer!
I want to do the same for YOU.
 

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Wanting BEST instead of GOOD


Our dreams are so important and that is why last year I chose the word "Action"
to focus on for 2010.  Doing so produced some amazing results for me.  
I accomplished everything on my 2010 "to do" list plus learned so much
more about what I am made of and also that my dreams are exactly the 
right direction for me. So thank you to the word "Action" for keeping me
accountable last year. We were a great team!

Dream Altered Art Journal
I recently created for a customer- 
using old book covers

So now to share with you my word for 2011. It isn't what I call a pretty word.
It's not even what I think of as a desired word. I even went and looked it up in 
the Thesaurus, thinking I could find a more flowery word to use instead of it,
but there wasn't one.
Some words are just what they are and mean just what they mean.




Yes, PRIORITIZE is my word for 2011.

I kept trying to find another word, but
I couldn't get away from
hearing God tell me in my soul that this is
what I needed to do this year.

"  Commit your work to the Lord,
then it will succeed.
Prov. 16:3
♥ 


You see, when I chose Action for last year,
my creativity doubled and
tripled for me and it unleashed so many
good things inside of me. My spontaneity and 
imagination came more alive
and my hopes and 
dreams became actual open doors
  to begin walking through.
I was and am so excited about what is ahead.

But, other things happened last year too,
like loosing my job,
then starting another new part-time job and my
schedule changing. I also went through
a biopsy because of pre-cancer then a lump removed
which (a big YAY!!) ended up showing
no pre-cancer or cancer.
.....so now I know it is important that I start caring 
more about my health 
and what I can control like taking better care of it 
with exercise and better food choices. So I need
to make it a PRIORITY.

 I am in the process of seeking what
God and I want for my list of priorities to be this year.
I already know that creating art will be on
that list, along with
family time and time spent
daily with the Lord. To make
my list, I have so many good things that I
could pick from but
sometimes you have to give up 
the good for the Best.


"Decide what you want,
decide what you are willing
to exchange for it.
Establish your priorities 
and go to work."
H. L. Hunt

So I would love to hear from you about 
some of your tips on prioritizing. If you are 
an artsy person, tell me how you plan your day
creating.  If you have a part-time or full-time job 
away from home, tell me how you fit in
working towards your dreams etc..
Anything you want to share I know would be
helpful to either me or someone else.
Thank YOU in advance.


Wishing Y♥U, my friend, 
the BEST always!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Come and Gone


Hello everyone!  
I have sure been missing YOU.
Our family Christmas celebration in January
has come and gone
and everyone is back at their own homes again.
Some special  kind of memories were made,
but wait until you hear what happened!

  It has taken me a week
to get back into the swing of things.



Here are our daughters together.
Jessica and Jaymie
  Oh how sisterly love is forever special.
Even if you live hours away from one another.


Our grandchildren stayed
with us part of the week without
their parents, because mommy and daddy
went to a Couples Retreat together.
Papaw and I had one day with our sweeties,
  before a nasty
flu virus made it's appearance and 
messed up our plans.

Our little grandson, Ezra, was the first one to have it.
And the poor little guy still had it when he
left to travel back home 6 days later!
We felt so sorry for him because everything he ate just
wouldn't stay down and he was miserable.
.........and
papaw and grandma just weren't the same
as having mommy and daddy around when you are sick!

You can see that he looks a little energy drained here
in this picture with papaw and Aunt Jaymie.
After this photo above,
our granddaughter Ella and Aunt Jaymie
 came down with the nasty flu bug too!
Aren't you feeling a little sorry for us about now?

It's something
what grandparents will resort to when
 entertaining their grandchildren!

  This photo isn't the best
in color but I just had to show you
what a trouper papaw was
in bending his body all around, in the game Twister,
just to make 
his granddaughter so happy.
She and her pony sat back and gave the instructions! ha

Well five days later, when mommy and daddy
arrived back from a Florida Pastor's Couple Retreat,
grandma gave into that nasty bug too
that had been trying to
show it's face earlier, but she just couldn't let it until the
Calvary arrived!

We celebrated our family Christmas quietly in
our comfy home and had to cancel the larger family
get together with my siblings that we had planned
That made me super sad,
because a few of my siblings haven't met our 
sweet grandchildren yet. 
But they understood and really didn't want that bug
invading them.

We still had some wonderful hugs and smiles going
on through out it all.  Ella showed me how to use her
new paper bead machine, and we worked on making little
pot holders that I bet you too remember making as a child.
 

It's funny what life brings your way sometimes,
especially when you are least expecting it. Everyone
is well now and I am so grateful
that we still had this time
together
I'm just planning on a much more fun trip
in the future with no bugs allowed!


Be sure and tune in tomorrow, 
because I want to
talk to you about something for the new year. 
I've come up with my "WORD", instead
of resolutions, for 2011 and I'm
hoping it will also be an encouragement to
 many of you.



I'm so glad to be back with YOU my friends!
 Great Big Hugs
without any bugs attached!