God-sized plans for me and you

It’s so true.

Noah, Mary, Paul.

They were real people.

With real dreams.

And I’m sure their dreams didn’t include:

Building an ark.

Giving birth to God.

Leading Gentiles to faith in Jesus.

But God had bigger plans for them.

God had God-sized plans for them.

My dreams and prayers are usually along the lines of:

Give me sleep. Please.

Help us pay our bills.

Make art.

Keep us safe.

Keep us healthy.

Teach me how to be married.

Teach me how to be a good momma.

And when I’m really dreaming big:

Please give us a long vacation.

And a 3 car garage.

Oh, and help me read my Bible.

I don’t know,

but I think God might have bigger plans.

God-sized plans for me.

And for you, too.

Now to Him who is able to do

exceedingly abundantly

above all that we ask or think,

according to the power that works in us,

Ephesians 3:20

His grace is sufficient.

My grace is sufficient for you (erin)

(and you too my dear bloggy friend)

My power is made perfect in weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9

God has been whispering this verse to me over and over again.

In that still, small whisper that only comes when I am quiet.

His grace is enough to heal all of my wounded parts.
His grace is enough fill up the many places I fall short.
His grace is enough to bring the parts of my life and my hopes and my dreams,
that I thought were dead, back to life.

This for me.
and for you.
to remember.
every day.

God is in the business of
bringing dead things to life.
making all things new.
 healing the sick parts of us.
binding up the wounds of the broken.
making us whole.

His grace is sufficient.

You are worth far more than rubies.

Red Letter Words

It's true.

Don't you forget it!

God has made everything beautiful for it's own time.

It's true.

His timing is perfect,

even though it's not mine.

I keep trying to tell Him how to time things...

and he doesn't seem to listen,  

but His ways are higher than my ways

and his thoughts are higher than my thoughts...

and His timing is always perfect.

Speaking of timing:

1 more week of work.

4 more weeks until baby is due!

Getting so ready to welcome him into our family,

and have him on the outside of my body.



Sunday Scripture: Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.
Happy Mother's Day!

Sunday Scripture

Wishing you a restful Sunday.

In the Studio: Getting Unstuck

I was ready to burn these canvases.

ready to throw them out the window.

I could not get them right.

I started to play

not worrying, just having fun with
color and paper.
and this turned in to this...

which turned into this...

which turned into this...

 it is well with my soul.

my cup overflows.

after letting it sit and sit and taunt me.

it all fell together.

easily.

where did it come from?
i have no idea.

the best kind of creating.

it's just it's own thing.

It's a constant battle to suspend judgement
and just go with whatever feels right
to take risks and not just do
what is comfortable.


And I have to say,
I love working in a space that is
organized and makes sense.
It was so worth the time it took to my studio to this place.
It makes me happy just to be in here.

Happy Easter

 

I found this here and wanted to share it with you.

A Portrait of Christ from Jeremy Cowart on Vimeo.

Sunday Scripture: Psalm 37

Happy Sunday!

Philippians 4:4



Becoming a Business Owner. Part 2: The Stories We Tell Ourselves

 

Don't let the title mislead you.

This isn't a how-to.

It's just my thought and feelings
 and fears and process.

I want to share with you this journey.

I also want to help you, anyone, who is doing the same thing.

And continue on this journey with you.

It's really weird.

I so hesitate to write about the business side of things

because the gremlins come out in full force.

I feel realy embarassed.

"Who do you think you are?!?"

You're no business owner.

You just like to paint.

But I am writing and publishing and putting this outthere
because I am convinced that we believe the stories

we tell ourselves over and over every single day.

Whether we are concious of them or not.

So I have to become aware of my thoughts

and grab and put them in the Lord's hands.

These are the verses that I keep coming back to:

If any of you lacks wisdom, ask.

and

not by might not by power, but by the spirit of God.

and

apart from me you can do nothing.

and

we take every thought captive

Dear Lord,

I have no idea what I'm doing.

Please help me and lead me a guide and

take me where you want me to go.

Please provide for us.

Amen.

How about you...

Do you struggle to see yourself as something new?

anything new?

an artist?

a runner?

a photographer?

a business owner?

What is it for you?

Behold, I am making all things new. Revelation 12:5

If you've read my blog for any time you know that

I've only in the last 3 years found this art gift.

And that's exactly what it is to me:

a pure gift.

grace.

And I know that gifts are meant to be used and given away,

but I'm kinda like a five year old at a birthday party.

I wanna cling to this gift that I brought,

that was meant to be given,

hold it tightly in my hands,

and not let it go.

But I'm learning to surrender. to lay it down. 

I'm learning that the gift does not belong to me.

The gift, in fact, has very little to do with me.  

It is to be used and given.

And the gift to me is that

I get to be a part of it.

a broken vessel.

a jar  of clay.

As I good friend (and by good friend I mean therapist) recently said to me:

Do you hear yourself? And why do you think this belongs to you?

This has very little to do with you.

Like your time. Like your money.

It's not yours. It doesn't belong to you.

You get to use it.

That's the blessing.

I keep reading and rereading different parts of this book.
And it's helping me get perspective.

So now, before I start anything in the studio I pray.

I had to write down my prayers.

They help me remember.

Because I forget.
Here they are:

Lord, please use me. Please use this gift.

Lord, let me be available to you.

I lay it down at your feet.

 Please use it for your glory.

Please lead me where you want me to go.

Please remind me that it belongs to you and you you alone.

And not me. Please use it. Use me.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for this gift. For this time. For this space.

My dear sweet friend Henri Nouwen,

always, always speaks right to my soul.

I love this prayer:

Dear God,

I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!

Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to?

Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands?

Please help me to gradually open my hands

and to discover that I am not what I own,

but what you want to give me.

And what you want to give me is love,

unconditional, everlasting love.

Amen.

— Henri J.M. Nouwen

(The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life)

Now, that's what I'm talkin' about. My heart.

Thank you, Henri.



Sunday Love

In the studio...

First, I just wanted to say how awe inspiring One World, One Heart has been.
It has been so fun to find different blogs & people from all over the world.
It'll take me a while to visit everyone who's visited me, but I'll get there.

In the studio...

I've been so fortunate to be

working on a commission I love.

Commissions can be tricky.

On the one hand I love working with people

to create something so personal and special.

And I can usually see the idea in my brain before I create it.

The tough part is communicating the picture

 in my head to someone else.

In September I created

 these 2 paitings for sweet twin baby girls.

Their auntie contacted me in January

with the best commission ever

for her soon to be born son:

I love your work.

Whatever you do will be great!

Total freedom to create.

So fun.

So these paintings have been in my head for a while

and they immediately popped into my head.

It was so liberating to have the freedom to create these pieces.

To hang on the wall and sink deep into the heart

of a new little creation.

Knowing that he will be reminded of

who he is and how he is loved every single day.

It really is a privilege.

I love it.

Thank you for this opportunity, Ashley.

It came today.

Somerset Studio's latest issue.
I've been running to the mail box

 for about a week now waiting for this.

The new issue of Somerset Studio.

My first real, published article. 

Art in print.

page 90

I'm beside myself.

I submitted these pieces in May,

and I was asked to write an article in July,

so I've been waiting and waiting and waiting.

Somerset always does a gorgeous job

 with photography and layouts.

And they did again.

Sometimes dreams really do come true.