Thursday, January 29, 2015

Crayon and Watercolor Art


Yesterday the girls spent quite a while with this easy 
and fun little project.  
They’re getting cabin fever here at the end of January, 
so I’m glad for something creative they can do! 
And I kinda enjoyed it myself! 

One great thing about this is that little kids can do it
 (if you do the crayon drawing part) or older kids can do it themselves 
– just pick a more challenging drawing. 


 I found a variety of coloring pages online 
(I googled “abstract coloring pages” I think), 
copied and pasted them onto my word program,
 and then printed them.  You can draw your own things 
with dark ink too of course 
– printing just seemed like an easier route for the more difficult stuff!

 Lay a sheet of typing paper over your printed page
 and trace the design with a white crayon. 
 Then the fun starts. 

  Use watercolors to reveal the design.  
The girls loved having me do the crayon drawing
 and they’d get a surprise. 






 I thought this would be a fun project to use 
for making valentines if you’d cut out and glue the
 lightweight typing paper onto cardstock.

Happy long-winter-days to you!


“Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits.”
Psalm 103:1,2


Tuesday, January 13, 2015

I Give Up. Dealing with Resolutions.

res•o•lu•tion
ˌrezəˈlo͞oSH(ə)n/
noun
1.    a firm decision to do or not to do something.
synonyms: intention, resolve, decision, intent, aim, plan,
 commitment, pledge, promise


In January we hear this word more often than we do
the other eleven months of the year.
A new year, a blank page in front of us,
makes us hopeful that things can change.
That as humans, we can change.
And so we resolve.  We commit.
We determine to be better,
to do things differently this year.

 
More often than not, we fail, statistics say.
Our resolves grow weak.
Our commitment and determination wanes
as real life becomes hard.
And as we, in our humanness, are still

… human.



What if, instead of mustering up our resolve,
we just gave up?
What if instead of promising to do or to be someone new,
we relinquished our rights to ourselves?
What if we surrendered?
What if we said, “Okay God, anything You say.”
Would things change?
Would I, on the inside, change?


What if my whole mindset for doing things changed?

Rather than resolve to get up earlier, what if I gave in to God?
What if I said “Okay God, You want me to get up?
I’ll do it Your way not mine.”
Or instead of promising not to overdo what I eat
when I sit down to a meal, I’d surrender and say,
“Okay God, I’ll do this Your way.”

Would our lives be different if we
simply surrendered instead of resolved?



Jesus said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11: 28-30




“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:1,2 and 6-9


Jesus said:
“I am the vine; you are the branches.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing.
If you do not remain in me,
you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers;
such branches are picked up,
thrown into the fire and burned.”
John 15:5,6

 In Jesus there is power! 
It comes to us when we give ourselves to Him.  
We will never have it by
 resolving harder,
 trying harder, 
working harder. 
We have His power when we give up everything 
and rest in Him.







Monday, January 5, 2015

Best Face of 2014 -- I Heart Faces Entry




After looking through so many photos from 2014,
 here’s the one I’m entering for the
“Best Face of 2014” at I Heart Faces! 
I’m unable to truly pick a favorite,
but I do love this one of my daughter, Cassia.  



Photo Challenge Submission 







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