Sunday Love: When I say I'm a Christian...

I posted this on Facebook this week
but it says it so perfectly.
Just wanted to share this with you...

I'm a Christian

By Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin."
I'm whispering "I was lost,"
Now I'm found and forgiven.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
and need his strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain,
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
who received God's good grace, somehow.

         Maya Angelou

Seriously. We're all so broken.
We all need so much grace.
Every day.

 

A few of my favorite things

1. My favorite quote:
 

You have a masterpiece inside you, you know.  One unlike
any that has ever been created, or ever will be.  If you
go to your grave without painting your masterpiece, it
will not get painted.  No one else can paint it.  Only you.

Gordon MacKenzie

2. The Sparrow Fund!
Meet my friend Kelly. She's amazing. She seriously gets things done.
She and her husband started the Sparrow Fund, after their own adoption,
to walk along side adopting families and provide support.
Kind of like Young Life for adoptive parents.

This month is their big month! 30 (or more sponsors) have
pledged 10% of all proceeds in May to the Sparrow Fund.
So while I may not be in the place to adopt,
we (me & you together) can be a part of what God is doing to
bring his children home. for eternity. and we get to be a part of it.
Participating businesses are right here.
 

3. Who can resist these?
Awkward Family Photos

4. Uhmazing, brilliant photographs & story.
Eye candy. Wow.

5. The Best of Brad Pitt

6. My favorite Trader Joe's Recipe
Black Bean & Sweet Potato Enchiladas
These are so (surprisingly) good!

7. My favorite video almost of ever.
Every day I'm shufflin'

8. One of my (2) favorite things of all...
one tired boy

 

Happy weekend.
We are out to enjoy this summer weather.

Spreading a little earth day love...

Spreading a little earth day love to you today!

20% off all prints & originals right here in the shop!
Saturday, April 20- - Wednesday, April 23

Coupon Code: earthday

In honor of Earth Day 20% of all proceeds will go to  Plant with Purpose
They are amazing.They do amazing things. For this life and for eternity.

Every dollar = a tree!



Earth day art is being featured over at  Namaste Cafe today.

Best Day Ever

I haven't blogged in so long,
but a few Sundays ago was the best, unexpected day ever.

This picture says it all. 

Nothing less than THRILLING.

The look on his face is priceless.
One of those moments you just want to freeze and hang on to.
forever.

We went for a ride around the lake.

Jack kept saying, 

"I'm doing it!!!"

The best.

"I've always dreamed of riding my bike with 2 wheels."
The first thing he said when he came down stairs the next morning was
"Can you believe I rode my bike with two wheels?"

And of course Joshy would not be left behind.
 He jumped up on Jack's little bike and figured out how to ride within days.
And he is so happy to be a big boy,

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I know I've slacked off the blogging wagon
but I've been making and making and making at night
and it feels really good and productive.

One of my big, huge art dreams is coming true.
I kind of don't even want to speak it out loud...
and just wait to make sure it doesn't disappear in a poof of smoke.
but I kind of can't even keep it in.

My art work will be represented by A.D. Lines at Surtex this year.
So I'm making all kinds of collections.
And trying not to get too excited.

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I'm so, so inspired by you.
Thank you so much for stopping by and supporting and encouraging and sharing.

I've received a handful of emails from people letting me know that
they have started art journaling scripture,
or added a little bit of art to their writing journal.
Yay!!!!! That's my whole point!

To be honest, the 31 days was WAY more work and time
than I ever imagined it could be.
The reason I chose it, was to get scripture inside
my (our) hearts and minds and into my (our) lives.
To "work out my salvation"

I love if you are still patiently following along,
even though it might take 10 more years to actually finish
And it's totally worth the work if you try something (anything) new
take a risk, and get a chance to explore God's Word in a new way.
You know?



And a little midmorning snack...

Squirt bottles.
best/cheapest toy ever from the 99 Cent Store.
This kept him busy for hours upon hours upon days.

And finally! We planted a flower garden.
mammoth sunflowers, pumpkins and a bunch of wildflowers.
last year our garden was eaten by critters before it even had a chance to grow.
This year... I'm hopeful!

Happy Friday, Peeps!

Inspirational Owl Mixed Media Collage

Meet my little family of owls.

There are owls everywhere around here.

Here is the first bunch.

And I'm loving painting these little guys.

I know, I know everyone has done owls,

but I still love painting them. 

And I'm realizing that I really enjoy painting in a series

because I get better with every painting.

Painting the same subject, or in the same style

gives me time and space to explore.

I can't explain exactly what it is,

but I am loving it. 

I just listed these in the shop.

Happy Spring Break and other stuff...

It's official: Spring Break is here!

We are celebrating with a quick get away to Las Vegas.

Lots of pool time and walking around and long naps

I love getting away, but even more than that, I love coming home.

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

I dressed these guys up in their Easter best,
and do you think  I could get even one good picture of the 2 of them?!?!?

no.

I think this is my favorite picture of the day.
She was trying to talk to him through the suit,
and he was so confused.

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

At night I've been painting my heart out.

That's why I haven't been blogging

like I said before, I can't figure out how to do both.

So I've opted for painting.

 Here's a little preview...

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As I told you in this post I signed on with a licensing company

A.D. Lines-Eurogroup.

Which is really exciting.
I'm just not really sure what it means right now.
I'll let you know when I know...

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

Finally, 31 days of Scripture Art Journaling! 
Don't give up on me quite yet...
I have the posts written,
I just need to make them,
take photos, edit & upload....
I WILL finish. I promise.

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

Jack: Hey mom, Let's talk about putting things up our noses.
I'll put a volcano up my nose. What do you want to put up your nose?

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

And as for spring break, I'm going to...

1.Finally (FINALLY!) finish Jacks room
that's been half done for forever.

2. Stay up late painting. and painting. and more painting.

3. Hem/fix a pile full of clothes I've been putting off.

5. Get us back to eating healthy.

6. Get my phone back and get on instagram already. sheesh.

7. Make spring bud vases that I've had in my
 imagination for about a year now.

A New Art Journaling Magazine...

 Hi friends,

I had unexpected life overload so I took a little break from blogging. 

It seems I can either make time for painting, or make time for blogging

and I was blogging so much, that I wasn't creating for fun at all. 

And when that's my outlet, my fresh air,

it just gets to be work. 

And I already have enough work and must-tos in life. 

So I need unstructured time to do the stuff I want to do.

And that time is from 8 to 11 at night.

And quite often I like to pretend that I can function without sleep,

so I stay up entirely too late and it takes me a week to recover.

When will I realize that I'm not 18?!?!?

And we've just been sick for so long. It starts to get really discouraging.

I think we're better and then it's back. Whatever it is. 

Anyway, besides all of the sickness, life has been really good around here. 

We haven't been doing anything special, just life. 

I was in such a creativity slump. 

I didn't want to create anything. I think it's because I had so many must-dos

and not much space for doing whatever I felt like.

So I had to drop several things I committed to, in order to maintain sanity

And just as with all things, the more I create, the more I create.

Once I started creating for fun, I wanted to create more, 

and I had more ideas and more desire to keep making.

And... the best thing ever arrived today! 

Stampington's latest Art Journaling Magazine 

and of course, it's stunning.

And I get to be in it!

(Thank you Stampington!)

I have lots of new paintings about to be finished.

I'm excited to share them with you.

Hope you are well!

xo