What every creative needs to hear/see/know...

I wish I had made this little movie - I need to work on doing something like it in the near future!
Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Sharing with Jennifer and other creatives at Studio JRU

Enjoy What You Create...

Photo Credit


****sight****
A wonderful thought for my day! 

Reflecting on the need to collect...

I mentioned before that I am a collector:  I collect stories, pretty objects that catch my eye, interesting items that seem to speak of hidden meanings, vintage ephemera,  tattered quilts...it is not just my stories, but others' that intrigue me...

I suspect that is why I like Pinterest, I can collect all sorts of things 

and they don't take up any more space than my laptop!

I collect written words that unveil eternal truths {especially those that reveal the depths of God's love, His desire to speak to us, metaphors that well describe His dealings with us, His dearly Beloved...} - an attempt to help those truths become like marrow to me!

Journals and sketchbooks become repositories of more abstract collections...thoughts, ideas,  memories...places to experiment and "try on" new directions...they are documentaries of the ethereal, the soul and spirit...personal histories of places and people...investigations of mysteries that have captured our curiosity -

Like the picture above - when I see this small fraction of the whole, not only do I wonder what it is, but who took it, what was it they were trying to capture, what were they exploring?  Do you?

I am eager to discover more!

God Leads Us to the Plains....

I am a collector of stories of how God speaks to His children... 

His stories - encouraging me that He speaks to me too, 

when the cacophony of voices in my life might draw me off course... 

This arrived in my inbox today, and I thought I would share it with you...

I have never heard a message about "the plain" before!

Photo Credit

How and Where God Speaks

"The hand of the Lord was upon me there, and He said to me, 'Get up and go out to the plain, 

and there I will speak to you.'" Ezekiel 3:22 

God speaks in many different ways to His children. He spoke through a bush to Moses. He spoke through a donkey to Balaam. He spoke through prophets to His kings. He speaks through other believers. He speaks directly to us through the invisible Holy Spirit. And He speaks even through circumstances. 

When God wants to speak a very important word directly to us without interruption from the noise of our busy lives, he will take us "into the plain." The plain is a place of no distractions and no other persons. It is a place of silence. It can be a place of great need as it often fails to have the normal provisions we are accustomed to. It can be a place we go to voluntarily to seek His face, or we can be moved there without choice by His supernatural ability. More often, it is the latter method that brings us into the plain. In modern times, it often means a separation from our normal activities such as jobs or families.

The plain can also be a place where we discover afresh that God's hand has been on us all the time. When we are so busy with life, we sometimes forget that God's hand is still there, gently leading our path. When our lives get so busy that we are not listening or responding to His gentle touch, He must take more aggressive measures to get our attention. Thus, the plain is one of those appointed times of one-on-one communication with our heavenly Father. No distractions, no people, no beautiful surroundings to capture our thoughts. It is a barren place designed to allow us to seek and hear clearly. When He speaks, we need to be able to listen. We hear much better in the plain. 

Do you need to hear God's voice today? Is your life such that you cannot even hear His voice? Each day God calls us to our own mini-plain in order to speak to us and for us to hear. If we neglect this time of open communication, we may be invited to His plain in order to hear without distraction. Pray that you might make time to hear.

Today God Is First (TGIF) devotional message, Copyright by Os Hillman, Marketplace Leaders. 10/25/2012

Godtube - a safer place perhaps?

Pastor Rap - Back to Church from alegator21 on GodTube.

I just found out about "GODtube"  -  I think I am going to like it!

...and we are filled with joy...

Image Credit

*sigh*....I am ready for fall!  This so inspired me - I don't look to the Psalms often for "joy" verses, but this is perfect!

A Letter to My Princess....{from God}

Photo Credit - Source unknown but found on Tumblr

“Wait on me, My princess. My timing is always perfect. I know you’re anxious about many things. I see your passion for all the plans I have put in your heart. I know you long to fly, and I see your enthusiasm. However, just as a worker amongst the vineyards nurtures the vine, and waits patiently for the right moment to harvest the grapes, so too am I working tirelessly to prepare you to bear much fruit. Don’t run ahead of Me or try to fly before My plans are complete. Your strength will fail you, and your dreams will wither away. Trust Me that My dreams for you are far greater than you can dream on your own. You will run farther and soar higher if you will wait patiently for the season of My blessing. Draw close to Me now, and I promise that the season of waiting, and remaining in Me, will bring you the sweetest of rewards. 

“But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength, they will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.” - Isaiah 40:31

With love; your King and Lord of perfect timings.  I wish I had written this, but I found it on Tumblr close in time to the little ballerinas, and they just went together!

{1000 gifts} He will grant the desires of our heart...really!

Have you ever been "sent" to a store, wonderingly compelled, battling in your mind over the selfishness of the trip, the "don't really need the {item swimming in your mind}" thoughts...and continuing on anyway as if caught in an ocean tide pulling you along?  And then you arrive and there is something so perfect and at the perfect price?  And in your heart you know you have just experienced a God hug?  But who can you really tell, because it seems absurd that He would do such a thing?  I want to tell you right now that I have such a group of friends that love it when this happens, and when I start off saying , "God sent me..." they can't wait to hear what He did!  I pray you have such a blessed group around you!

This happens to me frequently, and it is usually to yard sales that I am being led...and always, always, always, I happen upon something I have been NEEDING/as well as sometimes things I have been wanting, and for well, you know, yard sale prices!   Occasionally it is to a store that I am sent, to find something of the same need/want  genre on a super clearance price - and what is that price point?  That I cannot find another way to make it/gain it for any less money.  And yes, sometimes, He tells me to wait, and an item in the need/want classification comes my way FOR FREE {think clothes in exactly my style, color, size from friends with price tags still on them!}.

I give thanks to God for these items - it just warms my heart to know He cares if I have 8 dining room chairs {found at a clearance outlet} that match to go with the table He sent me to a yard sale just down the street from me to find...

But now I am tired of the color of the chairs, and have spent some minutes thinking about how to get my breakfast area + dining area less brown...and I came across this image this weekend!  {I am sure, led to it by Him}

These are my chairs!  Now I know a nice chalky white paint is the answer to my heartwish...I wonder if I can find a can or two at Home Depot's returns shelf!


Thanking Him for {#224 - #226}:

Caring about the small things in my heart as well as my major life needs...

Always finding my parking spot at Wal-Mart right next to "cart corral"...

Friends - online and off - that I can share such things with...

Relaxing art for Sneak Peek Friday

I wonder if God knows what He is doing to me when He drops an explosion of creative ideas that has basically left me completely immobilized in moving forward in any of them! 5 new projects in various stages of beginning, plus old series waiting to be added to, and of course a small stack of UFOs...

Perhaps His real message is 

"I am stretching you, 

follow close,

don't be afraid..."

So, I grabbed a book from my shelf to use for a word filled sketchbook...and tried to find a page I hadn't devoured as the one below....

 

I drew a grid - the smaller spaces seemed to be more inviting - and just began to doodle...

text words began to jump out at me

and the result was a hybrid of "zentangle" and black out poems...

it relaxed my mind 

and 

my creative heart was at rest...

The result of my attempt to just "do something"...

Now, I can't wait to tackle that explosion!

Joining with Jennifer and other creatives at Studio JRU....

As the deer...

Photo credit  

I added the words and blurred background to this stunning photo I found -

part of what I am calling "my creative worship" time...

"To pant" is a sort of idiom used to describe the intense longing of the heart in this Psalm (Psalm 42)
...the word `arag (translated "panteth") properly means to rise; to ascend; and then, to look up toward anything; to long for (Barnes Commentary).  Gesenius's Lexicon includes the thought of "to be bent, or intent upon anything".

 One of my all time favorite praise songs is "As the Deer", written by Marty Nystrom.  With my recent inspiration leaning towards this sweet, fragile, creatures, I am reminded of the song again..

A link of Robin Marks singing "As the Deer"...

Quiet Strength...

Image source, and then I manipulated it a little more...

   

                       Who is God, but the Lord?
                                          ...The God who girds me with strength?
                                          ...He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and sets me upon my high places.

                                 You enlarge my steps under me, and my feet have not slipped.

                                                          excerpts from Psalm 18:31-36

And so, dear heart, it is time for your restoration...

Good words...a reminder seasoned with salt...(and a favorite verse ☺)

You are a poem...

 

Just wanted to leave a blessed thought with you all...

(based on the original words in Ephesians 2:10 NLT)...

I will be out of town all week and I am NOT going to have internet service!  See you this weekend!

More Creative Techie work...+ inspired to new work...

Have you ever tried to make a gallery using NexGEN gallery with wordpress?  Well, this week I have been educating myself as I have received advice to sell art and items from my own website - I am almost there!  You can see one gallery (my photo work from this year) here, or click on the image below:

I have most of the galleries finished - but not linked to pages  :-0

However, all the technology dabbling of the week has left me longing for creativity where I get my hands "dirty" - so I made a pinboard of inspirations that are somewhat like what I am seeing inside...

click the pinterest button below to go see it...

birds, text, deer, music, hand sewing and an occasional piece of jewelry...what will come of it all?  Perhaps next week you will see something made with hands......{smiles} 

 

Joining with Jennifer and other creatives at Studio JRU...
and over at Arttherapist.ca

An Open Letter to All Christian Youth Leaders...(I really want to hear your comments)

First of all, I truly want to thank you for the service and sacrifice that you have given; for answering God's call and for working in the harvest field of teens and tweens...

For prayers prayed in the secret place, for firmness when these youngsters have acted out, for holding them gently when hearts are broken and cheering them on as you watch them "get it", for letting them see you worship, for letting them ask the hard questions and hearing you say "I don't know, but I'll ask God...", for being an example to them and a reflection of Jesus...

I think about what the books in heaven that God writes and are written in His Presence must say about these days of yours and secretly hope to read them with you and Him one day!

I have a story to share with you...

There was a man, a manager, who was working in a certain company that had branches throughout the world.  The branch he was part of was a minor part of the corporation, and was located in a remote area.  But this man liked his position and his job and was perfectly content in his place in life.  He ran his projects with exquisite administrative skill; his few workers assigned to him loved his organizational power, the smoothness that all their projects were always completed in; so they weren't surprised at all when the CEO of the corporation called their manager to company headquarters in order to oversee a new program that had been in the works.  The manager's new group was exponentially larger than the handful of employees he was used to and many had their own ideas about how to proceed with the R&D project that was already underway.  Immediately our manager saw he needed to go in a different direction than the group's previous leader had been going, in fact the entire reason the CEO had brought him into the situation was that the CEO knew the manager would accurately direct the project in the way the CEO knew it needed to go in order to be successful.  This new direction would ultimately allow everybody who was part of the project to interject his or her own unique style for the ultimate good of the company and the population who would use this system.  With the help of some of his old trusted workmates who had relocated with him, the manager began the monumental process of initiating the change. There was some resistance - persons who were loyal to the former leader didn't like the new manager, others felt their personal leadership and ideas were just as good or better than the new manager's, and others just went with the flow.  Small conflicts and office politics arose and yet the manager continued on, using the same skill set he had developed back home to keep the work moving along as well as encouraging the dissidents to work together for the good of all.  The CEO was pleased and had frequent conversations with the manager about the project, the people, and personal issues as well.  They became quite close as the work continued.  Occasionally, the entire group would be stumped as to how to proceed, even the manager, but the CEO could always see what was needed and would inform the manager during their daily chats, and he in turn would take the instructions back to the group and the work would move forward.  In truth, all the manager needed to do was to speak the word of the CEO; the resulting flow of ideas and connections and fresh innovations for the group was nothing short of miraculous.  

It became time to take the project out in the field.  The CEO placed the manager in charge and provided for the entire group to accompany him as they implemented the new program in the various company branches and other venues who were wishing to use it.  Their conversations continued on a daily basis, a good thing as implementing the new system and traveling brought new challenges and conflicts that needed to be worked through.  As always, the CEO was on top and knew what the entire group needed, trusting the manager to convey his (the CEO's) words accurately.  Some of the workers saw the gifts the manager had and aligned themselves with him, becoming his apprentices so to speak for they had vision to see that the new system and its benefits would extend far into the future, and they needed to learn the manager's strategies to continue the work and to train others who would come after them.  Others kept trying to implement the system in their own way, almost in opposition to the gifted manager.  It was these who stirred most of the group into grumbling and complaining when the travel and training seemed to reach an insurmountable problem which would effectively shut down the new system for all time, resulting in going back and redesigning the entire thing.  Most of the group were declaring "failure", only the apprentices stood by the manager.  Our manager, tired, stressed, and quite frankly, inconvenienced by the continual friction came back from his daily conversation with the CEO to address the entire group...and for the first and only time, his actions displeased the CEO.  The manager began by reciting to the group his feelings of the moment, "You are a rebellious group, will you listen to the solution!?" and he struck the podium with his hands, not once, but twice.  And as he shared the CEO's words, the solution did come forth and the entire group continued their tour of training and implementing the system.

But when it was time for the travels to end, and the group was going to be kept together in a brand new location that the CEO had provided to be the center of the new system (in order that anyone who wanted to learn it could come and train, then stay or take it back to their homes), the CEO had to tell our manager that he couldn't continue to lead the group there...the personal anger displayed that fateful day was not a true reflection of the CEO, and the vision, the history, that was to be written about the new system had to remain free from the idea that striking and anger was part of the new methods.

The CEO and manager remained close friends however, conversing often through the day, until the death of the manager...

This story is loosely based on the account found in Numbers 20.  I trust the history of Moses and the dealings with the people of Israel in the wilderness are familiar to you...



I know you are human, as Moses was, and I am glad you are willing to be a leader of such a similar mob of tweeners and teens!  But just as Moses, when tiredness and stress and inconvenience makes your words and actions less than grace-filled, less than a reflection of the truth of God's nature, I wonder about the far reaching effects of such...

There are Joshuas and Calebs in your care, watching and learning from you...there are others that will become strong men and women for God - Deborahs, Samuels, Hannahs, parents of Samsons and Ruths, worshipers like David and Bathsheba and Obed-Edom, prayer warriors like Nehemiah and Daniel...


When you are spent, and spent because you are working for and caring for our precious children's spirits, I pray that you see the heroes of the faith when you look in their eyes, when you listen to their words, especially their immature, hormone driven, less-than-stellar toned words...

You know this "unruly mob" is dealing with parents' divorces, bullying, peer pressure, perhaps domestic violence at home, and wondering if they should entrust you with a deep secret they have never told another living soul...just to name a few...and even tho' they have just had a great time, you don't really know what they are leaving you to go home to...

I pray that your words will "always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person"...

The other night, you told my learning disabled daughter, when she couldn't recite certain information to you, that "you were not going to wait another hour for her parents to show up" and when she explained her dyslexia was interfering, you were curt with her again - you made your inconvenience her fault (in front of other youth I might add), and she is afraid to come back to youth because you promised her punishment if she didn't get this one certain thing right...something she struggles with because of her learning disability and doesn't have control over, an issue that we had provided for because she cannot control it, but again, on the leader's end, our provision was not available...

The good thing about her communication with you is that you assured her you would be talking to her parents about it, and as you can see, I want to talk to you about it...


We are not derelict parents who try to drop off our child every chance we can and leave them for as long as we can...in fact, unknown to you at the time, we were already on our way to the parking lot to be there when the bus arrived, so in reality if you had to wait, it was because of ALL the other parents in the same situation as us - not knowing the youth leaders had decided to come back early (and why weren't we sent a text while y'all were on the way back home? When the appropriate leaders HAD the information needed to do so?) - because when we picked our daughter up there were about a hundred other kids waiting for their parents...in actuality the problem was with the leaders, when they chose not to make the calls to parents or to text them.

In the large scheme of things, I have thanked God that it happened to her/us, because He knew how we would handle the situation, how I would speak to her and how I would speak to you.  Trust me, if she had misbehaved we would be taking measure to correct that misbehavior.  In this situation, I think I have made it clear that I am thankful for your serving of the Lord, of us parents, and of our children, but I am asking that next time, you just try to hold it together for that one more hour (when you think of one hour in the light of eternity, it is so small) and continue to see those tweens and teens as future faith heroes instead of an inconvenience...that that one more hour might be when that secret is told, or the special intimate moment with the Lord during the retreat is shared with you, that somehow, maybe, God wants to give you a divine appointment to treasure till the day you are with Him in heaven...that hour of inconvenience might just hold another entry into those heavenly books He writes about us...

I hope you have heard my heart in this letter; please call me after you have read this...

**********************

I am hand delivering this at youth group tonight - what are your thoughts?

Cycles of Worship - Part 2 + Sneak Peek Friday

Heads bowed with the weight of ripe glory, the field watched and waited,

knowing the harvest was soon...

The rains had come, warmth and light had performed their duty, 

and the growth to maturity had been slow yet sure...

Sure as the seasons, marked by moon, stars and sun...

Sure as the rotation and orbit of the earth...

Sure as the Creator who had set all in place

And whose presence was felt in the field every moment...

Growth was always up and out -

Up - branch arms and heads reaching and stretching always towards heaven, towards Him...
Out - spreading and growing and becoming fruitful and multiplying, not only reaching up, but reaching out - enlarging the harvest...

and the field knew what it was to be spent for the harvest...

  The maturing crops wondered if the crown of creation noticed...

Did they notice how each blossom, each color, the bees visiting and pollinating, each shape, each spine or leaf or stem spoke?

Did they notice how every detail pointed to some aspect of their Creator, declared how the the Lover of their souls cared for them, revealed the depth of love He feels for them?

 Did they know that He created beauty just so they could delight in it?

And so they could remember their true purpose when the deceiver sought to blind them to it?
Because the beauty they encountered in the world was designed to remind them that they, too,
were beautiful?

And did they know that every time the wind blew, causing the harvest to gently wave, it was to remind them that the Lord of the Harvest was moving in each of them, and through each of them, and would be a catalyst to help them move together in the beauty of harmony?

The appointed days arrived, the people came to gather in the message

- and even harvested, the fields continue to speak out:

there is a harvest, 

it is growing, 

multiplying...

when the people gather the harvest, they see spiritual reality
before their eyes...

and each generation is able to experience the unseen truths as well...

when they watch the fields ripen, 

they understand the principles of growth,

that there are seasons to life...

And that counting the time, measuring the passing of days, 

it wasn't to remember their need for salvation, 

(tho' that also was woven in after the fall), 

but that the days, and seasons, and years, and signs...

were all to be crescendoing love gifts...

that the Creation would understand cycles of life and growing and maturing...

all eternal realities...

 

...and that He is counting the days till we are all gathered together...

in one incredible colorful and unique and diverse harvest.

And the joy of repeating the counting is poured out - 

over and over and over again...

generation after generation...

till the harvest is complete...

And the fields, gathered now to grace the harvest celebrations,

continued to bow their worship to their Maker.

Joyfully joining with Jennifer and other creatives at Studio JRU

Cycles of Worship - Part 1

The summer grasses waved their glory every day I passed; glowing golden in the late summer dusk...

Reminding that the later harvest was almost here.

I wondered how so many days had crept by, the desire for Lent to linger - pulsing and burning the path of life and liturgy and contemplation - dying down {yet not out}, counting by adding stalks of wheat in a vase...

four days:



             thirty days:

counting to Pentecost (fifty days and fifty stalks of wheat)   

                                               

and the idea occurred to me to continue on past Pentecost:  

Here is what 100 days (after Resurrection/First Fruits) looks like:

                                                     

The counting seemed natural, like how we count the days to Christmas and thus we know how to plan our budgets and time and ways to show love, just as the Jewish people knew because they were to count the days from one Feast to the next...

Somehow, when I had allowed the habit of the daily count to slip away, my attendance to the details of each day also slipped - of course the laundry was done and meals prepared and worship was given and scripture studied; joy and sadness and firmness and, yes, contentment was still woven through the life liturgy I live - and the conviction of purpose and meaning, that my existence was important also slipped.  My ministry to my family seemed small and inconsequential, as if it didn't matter in the larger picture of life...

and yet the golden heads waving desperately declaring that counting helps keep one: 

present:

looking forward to what is yet to come,

 aware of the day that today is  - 

focused:  

to make the most of today while

making the most of each day to come,

full of anticipation... 

grounded in purpose...

living in celebration of life... 

When God created "lights in the dome of the sky to divide the day from the night," he said, "Let them be for signs, seasons, days and years".  Later, these mo'adim became known as mo'adey Adonai (the appointed times of the Lord)— the yearly cycle of festivals ordained for Israel. Before Israel or even mankind had been created,God anticipated Israel's life of worship and made detailed provision for it.

And while the appointed times are to help turn our eyes and hearts to the Lord and to reveal Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He is showing me even greater depths of His love towards us...

What can you count?  1000 gifts with Ann Voskamp?
                                       Days of the Jewish Festivals and between?
                                       Days of the Liturgical Church Year?
                                       or make your own calendar of days?

Sharing with the community "Walk with Him Wednesdays" at A Holy Experience

Sneak Peek Friday - Creativity?

 

The Lord gave me this word one day for those who would come across the website...

Such a full week - and if our creative natures - instilled by the Creator Himself - touches each aspect of our lives, then this week has seen much creativity!  Tho' none has been 

pencil to paper

paint onto canvas

thread in and out of fabric...

and I long for that sort of creative endeavor soon!

but this week I did create:

language worksheets

bread pudding (twice!)

quiet spaces in my heart

and in the heart of another

another page in the book of heaven where the Lord records when His children talk about Him

new techniques in photoshop (to the left)...

learning to take better photos - still with my little shoot and go camera!

and if html code is art, then I did a lot (!) as I was able to integrate my blogger blog into my website! 

(Notice the new heading and navbar?)

I am still getting my blogger links into the new navbar...

And I invite you to come visit on Wednesday, when I reveal what God has been teaching me about counting, and you can see how these images will be altered and how they fit with that theme (and new images will be there as well...)

The whitest place for photo shoots!

    

Joining with Jennifer and other creatives at Studio JRU...

The Lord's Mercies...Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today

September 11, 2012

Late summer grasses near our house...

Outside my window...the cooler air seems to make the blue of the sky that much more crisp!

I am going...to get my fall garden planted this week!

I am reading...lots of things to sweet tweener...

From the learning room...school has begun - and days are full and or so fun!

I am pondering...more on contemplation and found a lovely spot to infuse my own journey...

A favorite quote for today...on education (at my flicker site)

One of my favorite things... lacy things

A few plans for the rest of the week: Sort and organize sweet tweener's clothes and new "beauty" products in her bathroom...

A Scripture to meditate on from this morning: 

Lectio Divina:
We read the passage slowly: lectio
                 Lamentations 3:22-23

We meditate on the Word or phrase: meditatio 

In the Jewish calendar, the month of Elul is a month of preparation, leading up to the Jewish new year (marked by Rosh Hashana).  It is a time of reflecting on the greatness of God, of our severe limitations when it comes to leading a holy life, and on how much we  desperately need Him, especially how much we need His mercy, or more accurately, His mercies...

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope...(1 Peter 1:3).

The Hebrew word for "mercy" is rachamim. It's plural. In Hebrew, you can't say "mercy" (singular). You can only say "mercies" (plural). God provides abundant mercy—; not just one mercy, but mercy upon mercy upon mercy. It's enough not just for one time, but for every time we need it. It's enough not just for bad sins, but also for the very, very bad sins.

We ask for mercy and God gives us rachamim. He gives us mercies overflowing and able to fill up and cleanse every sin and failure, with mercies to spare. So open your heart wide. He doesn't just have mercy for you. He has mercies— - and more than enough for you to live a life of abundant joy and victory.

...let the failures, the sin, the pain, and the guilt of the past be healed by God's rachamim. 

(The Voice of the Lord for Elul 20)
(You can sign up for "The Voice of the Lord" daily devotions to be delivered to your inbox at www.studylight.org)

 We talk with God: Oratio

We are silent: Contemplatio

Joining with the Simple Woman's Daybook community here
and
Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday here