It’s been SO cold here in Virginia this last week, so today I’m dreaming of sun and Spring flowers as I sit under my sun lamp trying to make up for my lack of Vitamin D (and general sense of joy). Do you remember my first watercolor tutorial (you can find the first it HERE)? Today I had a lot of fun recording a second super simple watercolor tutorial video. There’s also a free printable template you can use with...
A few days after Christmas, my daughter put a leftover cinnamon roll in the microwave, set the timer for four minutes, and walked away. A few minutes later, as the cinnamon roll began to char, I hurried down the stairs after smelling smoke, and was shocked to see grey smoke billowing from the microwave. My son started coughing and crying in the next room. My husband rushed the noxious plate outside, and on a frigid 30 degree day, we...
Occasionally, Facebook will let me know that a friend has marked his or herself “safe” after an earthquake, a terrorist attack, or a hurricane. As we face a new year, can I encourage to mark yourself “safe” in all the ways that matter? Sometimes I face the new year with a bit of fear. Will God be there as He has been in the past? Sometimes I face it with some cynicism. God, you didn’t really fix...
Hello friends! Thank you so much for following along this past year! I am fully enjoying rest mode this month: we are putting together puzzles and watching Christmas movies, and have already had two snows! I am looking forward to another year of creating art and blog posts that encourage you and help you encourage and teach others in your life. My friend Jenny, at Be Thou My Vision Photography, took our Christmas pictures again this year, and I...
I can feel it even now. The busyness creeping in as my day planner pages run out: Christmas plays, parties, the gift lists I need to make, the pretty new wreath I imagine for my front door to let everyone know there’s joy inside. My brain begins to spin and it’s so tempting to absorb and manage every bit of information at my fingertips. This, combined with a tendency towards gloom in the winter months, is my recipe for...
My son is three and half now, very verbal, and asking big questions: How did I get out of your belly when I was a baby? (“God made a way, buddy.”) Who’s your mom? (“Mamo.”) Why do I have to take a nap? (“Because Mommy needs a nap too.”) Where is God? He asks the last question strapped into his carseat behind me as I drive. I answer, “Well, God is in heaven.” “Where is heaven?” “Heaven is...
I was reading Psalm 109 this week and thought, “Wow, David sounds kind of dramatic here.” Most of the Psalm is David pleading for God to punish his enemies harshly, cut off their posterity, blot our their names and their memory from the earth, etc. The usual. He laments: “For I am poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me. I am gone like a shadow of evening; I am shaken off like a locust.” Psalm 109:22-23...
When you think of God, do you think of His infinite joy, and the delight he takes in his good creation, including you? I’m slowly reading through Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy.** You’ll probably be hearing a lot about it here as I work through it. I was reading this week about how God is characterized by joy. Willard writes, “Undoubtedly, is the most joyous being in the universe. The abundance of his love and generosity is inseparable from his infinite...
Sometimes, I think it’s important to take a big step back out of the busyness of life, and ask the big picture questions. What is God doing here? What am I doing here? When we frame life in God’s big picture, then the day-to-day takes on a different color, a deeper joy, and a rediscovered purpose–without changing our actual circumstances one little bit. Here’s a big picture truth: God has a kingdom and he’s calling you and me to...
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