Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Musings....

Rain clouds on the horizon. I am a good tired after a day of activity. In the early morning I kayaked with friends on our beautiful river. Still feeling my muscles from first aid training yesterday, I probably pushed myself a bit but it was good and the fellowship was lovely. I worked this afternoon but that too was good and fulfilling.

If you followed me over the years, you probably wonder where I have been. Life is busy. There are other things besides blogging that have taken up my time. However, I still journal almost daily in my note books but I missed typing words on the computer and stretching my horizons. I would like to say I am back but time will tell. There is that teaser I wrote last October or so about feeling the urge to blog again. Yah, well that wasn't so productive. So here I go trying again. Life has stretched me. Things aren't always as smooth as I would like them to be...one thing is sure. God is always faithful, always sure. Words from a hymn I read recently say it well....

"And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
 Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
 And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
 Alleluia, Alleluiah/

 (For All The Saints, by William W. How)

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Still Here...

So I am getting the blog bug again. I know its been a while. Stay tuned.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Spring has Sprung

So it is spring! Cold today and not too sunny. I celebrated the day by creating a little work space for myself. I have begun painting again this year after a long hiatus. Somewhere back there years ago, I used to oil paint, and draw with charcoal, and play with pastels. Over the years of child raising, (and there have been 32 of them so far,) I got caught up in the making of crafts and cutting of paper dolls. Oil paints gave way to Play dough, paint brushes to markers and crayons. Instead of picking out perfect white paper just made for a project, I strong- armed huge strips of newsprint off a thick cardboard roll or pulled sheets out of tattered pads of construction paper. I loved it all, the Christmas angels, the paper chains, the finger painting dripping down my fridge. And it became my artistic outlet.

But a month or two ago, I looked at a stack of art supplies I was sorting out for the grand kids and I became overwhelmed with the urge to create something 'grown up'. I squirted a little paint on a dish, put brush to canvas and I was hooked. Hopefully the talent I once had will return but for now I am content dabbling a little here and there. 

All that said, around 11:00 pm last night, I rearranged my bedroom and hauled up a plastic table from the basement. I pushed a chair up to the table and tada, art space. I spent several hours in the wee of the morning setting some things up and painting a little. I'll let you know how it goes but it is a start.





Exodus 35:35 says,
"He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer." 

If God has sent a little skill my way, I want to be sure to use it as best I can. It feels great to be painting again.

Monday, January 26, 2015

January Joy

New beginnings....January always sparks something fresh in me. Some of my favorite weather days are those ridiculously bright ones when the sky is brilliant blue and the snow sparkles like bits of glass. I know its cold, but on a day like that I can stay outside almost forever and trudge through the fields and woods, dressed for it of course.

I can feel the coming of spring somewhere in the distance and it lures me to peruse seed catalogs, repot my plants, and do laundry. Yep, those sheets need washing even if I can't hang them on the line. I polish and dust and vacuum and then....ah, its still cold out and not a robin in site. Maybe I get a little ahead of myself. But I think the sun does that to a person. Makes us happy after long stretches of dull days. Gives us energy. That brightness produces January Joy. And if you read way back there in my posts somewhere, you will remember that 'joy' is one of my very most 'favoritest' words.

The sun can produce a temporary physical joy that drags us up out of the everyday and gives us a new lease on life....for a while. 

There is however, a more permanent joy that is always available to us. God has not promised us a perfect life with everything smoothly in place, but He has promised us that if we trust Him in all we do, He will give us joy even in hard times. 

Draw a little closer to Him this year. Read the Bible a little more. Pray a little harder. Rest in God's love. Feel the joy God gives so freely. 

Psalms 63:5-7 My soul will be satisfied and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your soul. 

 
 
 


 

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Christmas 'Round The Corner

Ahh, the blog. I love it/hate it. I wanted to finish the photo challenge last month but there it sits. I stopped somewhere mid month. The weather was still warm, leaves needed raking, life got busy. But it is November now. More indoor time, more focus on what I want it to feel like between these four walls. My mother made our home such a cozy place to be. I try to focus on that. Hot chocolate, candles lit, decorations up. All the festivity needs to begin! I started where we usually start. Shortly after Remembrance Day, some lovely little people came to visit and set up my Christmas Village.


Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Day 18 Made Me SmileToday





The fact that my 14 year old still thinks it fun to hide in the leaves or that I found him there while I was raking....both made me smile.

Day 17 Fruit