Trip to Amarillo

We recently went to Amarillo to visit our son who lives there...

For some reason, there were so many interesting sights to see on the way home...

I started a list just so I could remember!  

Some funny:   

The Clarendon Outpost - we stopped there for gas, 

but it also had a full grill + 50s diner, 

gifts,

jewelry,

jerky, 

tiaras 

(YES there WERE Tiaras - be looking for those lady truck drivers wearing one!) ,

fabric you could buy "by the yard"

(for those ladies quilting on the road),

yarn, 

wheelchairs (that one I just don't know about...),

and good flavored coffee to buy "by the cup";

and finally - probably most importantly - 

hand-dipped Blue Bell ice cream!

some I wanted to remember for art projects:

Live well...laugh much...love horses

Cowboy morning trailing company

some firsts:

a motocross track out in an open field with bikes leaping the mounds -

I could imagine the dads out there building the course for their kids...maybe even themselves!

I saw my first cotton field with cotton bursting forth from the ripe pods...

cotton bales

stubble in fields already picked

walking irrigation units...

some corny:

Happy Pumpkin Ponderosa

 some inspirational...

a pasture full of shorn sheep

Water into Wine collection - 

that one just makes me want to go back just to see what it is about!

Another Angel quote...

"Isn't it awesome that God gave us fingers?!?  

Fingers and not some giant thumb...or hooves...

and we can pick up ANYTHING!"

Words weaving in and out in my mind...

Wounds to Worship
Healing worship
Worship brings healing
Bring your wounds to Him in worship, and let worship heal your wounds...

Christmas could last all year long....

The day is winding down, 

contentment and peace are everywhere, 

stomachs are full and sweet teeth satisfied...

I even have had time to finish this piece!  

A vintage bowl filled with ornaments (sans hangars) 

and glittered pinecones that I used on our breakfast table this year.

Christmas was a bit edited at our house this year, and the entire family

embraced the ideas of this word art...

I think these words are good to practice for the coming year!

Perhaps I will play with other photos as well!

Merry Christmas Day, 

to each and every one of you...

I pray the blessing of His Presence 

continues to lead you into pathways of peace and joy

as each day unfolds its treasures...

In the Place of Presents + Lego Nativity - enjoying HIM this Christmas

A couple of treats to help you and your family enjoy and reflect on the meaning of Christmas...

A worship song "In the Place of Presents", written and performed by our former music/worship pastor...as he pursues God's full purpose for his life!


And who knew Legos could be so meaningful!

Christmas Word Art for all - free download

Sweet tweener and I have been having fun doing art together on the computer...

So in the spirit of giving and giving and giving....
we made these prints for you to down load.  The resolution is 300 dpi, so should produce a good quality print in any way you choose to download them...



Click here for this red print with embellishments

You can have your choice of red or green...

Embellished, or...


Click here for this green print with embellishments 

not embellished...

we are lovin' Photoshop!


Just click for this red and simple print

Click here for this simple green print.

We simply wish for you to enjoy these, and to embrace the simplicity that is found in Christ Jesus during these merry days of 

C
h
r
i
s
t
m
a
s!

            Joining with Jennifer and other creatives at Studio JRU
 

Another Angel quote...

"I fit just right on your lap" - said to Poppa tonight as they cuddled...

"sigh" - love such contentment, and it is one of those perfect, stay tucked in, cozy rainy evenings!

New Vintage Postcards...

I'm playing with Kim Klaussen in her "12 Days of Texture"...here are two photos taken during our one beautiful snowfall in 2010 and processed with her new textures...

I love how the textures made the images look like old vintage postcards...I think I will play with these and have something ready for presents for next year!

Lamp post - you can see this same area in my Autumn Lingering post!

Simply processed with a soft blue layer + layer mask, a layer of "Annabelle" at overlay and another layer of "Annabelle" set to multiply

Snowy Stairway

Very simply processed with one layer of "Lilly" set to overlay and another layer set to multiply!

Love the look - thank you Kim for sharing!

Answers...

I know He delights to give the answer before the request is on my (our!) lips...(Isaiah 65:24).  Still, I was tearful as I read the "Voice of the Lord" devotional in my inbox...

"The things you heard from me ...commit to faithful people, such as will be competent to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2)."

I had been getting confused, wondering if my leadings were just my own flesh, white-washed with Scripture and old quiet time learnings...

 When one has embraced being "on the sidelines", "on the back burner", really - simply "being" - it comes as a surprise to be being called out again, with a newer focus, a newer audience.  And where will it lead?  I do not know...I don't want to "commercialize" the Lord and His ways, but that cannot be the reason to not venture forth at all.  I have to come back to my old definition of success - "completed what He has asked, regardless of the response of others".  Sometimes it isn't the inner critic, but simply our groping along on the path He has given that causes us to doubt!

Somehow, this post of Jodi's really ministered...I believe that He was saying His image imprinted onto me was the source of the leading...there is still "me", but with the + Him.  My will and His rubbed together in this life I live...

Autumn lingering

Finally, pouring cold rain after the long hot draught - and the colors so rich, having remained day after day, unusual for a Texas fall, (which is normally perhaps 1 week long).  I raced out during a break in the sheeting rain, the sky still sprinkling, because I feared the color would be gone after the sure freeze of the night...

A canopy of reds and greens - autumn nodding its head towards Christmas?

Autumn's arms beckoned, loaded with color...

unwilling to release her treasures,

a rich surprise after the ravages of the scorching summer...

Entering the circle drive - plus photoshopped with "Fresco"...love the painting type look!

Nature had clung to life - had her fingers forgotten how to let go?

No! She was pausing, asking the Creator...

"May I stay here just a bit longer? 

I don't want to rush towards the time to come...

Let me linger here,

with You,

longer?"

The other side of the driveway - the county road is below

Just this - her wish -

whispered in my spirit...

"Stop."

"Look."

"Listen."

and I wanted to...

beyond the fairy garden

"Stop" - Be present in this moment

Right outside the front door

"Look" - Be aware. See what is right around you

Over the ridge and down the street

"Listen" - What do you hear?  Sounds without - thoughts within?

Beyond the garden - deer rest just below that hill, and come up to snack on my garden if I am not careful to put the "liquid fence" around it periodically!

"Stop."

"Look."

"Listen."

Linger long with the Lord...

Not holly, but the oaks are trying their best!

 No matter what the season...

Joining with Emily and other imperfects at Imperfect Prose

In Awe - Texture Tuesday Celebrate theme

The photo above is the true photo - somehow photobucket darkens the images...maybe I will try flickr next!

This is my sweet tweener in earlier days - 7 years ago! 

Mouse over the photo to see the original...

processed with: one layer of Kim Klaussen's Stamped Softly at 51% and a layer mask

one layer of KK's Look-up at 29%

and an oval layer mask of the background.

Text is Edwardian Script...

Joining with Kim and the community of photoshop enthusiasts...