Game of the Day - Bubbles

Bubbles - Try to pop the bubbles by shooting at same color bubbles. You must touch 3 or more bubbles of the same color to pop them. Have Fun!

Memorial Day - Remember and Honor

For a larger view click Here.

This is a video I made to honor those who sacraficed in the United States Military. Thank you for your service and your sacrafice.

Listening to the Whispers ... again

In these last few weeks God has been chasing me around with as much encouragement as possible and I have been somewhat stubborn about accepting it. I have been struggling so with my own questions and doubts about what He has said to me. "For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay." (Habakuk 2:3) His definition of the word "delay" and mine are quite different. But He has reminded me that the vision originated in Him and will be brought about by Him.

Thankfully He has been pursuing me with reminders of His perfect timing, His plans, His active involvement in bringing fulfillment of His plans on His schedule. (I guess it's not about me.) He has reminded me that, like with Philip and the Ethiopian, He always goes ahead of me, He is the one who orchestrates the circumstances, and He arranges the events in accordance with His perfect timing. He has also been impressing on me His command to have faith like that of a child. Last night I got it. "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him." (Psalm 62:6) This was the basis for my P31 devotional yesterday. It began with "Children anticipate everything.......... Yes they await good things with expectancy." I am so glad that we have a God who is persistent and will not give up on this stubborn one.

Lord help me to hear You throughout my days. Let me be sensitive to the thoughts and ideas You bring to my mind, the scriptures you place before me, and the words you chase me around with. I will believe what You say. I will trust Your plans. I will wait expectantly.

Lunch at Grandma's

Well the girls liked being the stars of the zoo video so much that today they decided to make their own movie. Of course they recruited me to do the filming and they each played the part of themselves. There was no camera shyness going on during this filming. Actually, it was a good way to get them to participate (willingly) in making lunch happen. It is not often that I get to see so much cooperation going on between the three of them. What a treat!

Here we go...

To view larger version (which is the best way to view) click HERE.

Still Painting

I haven't really had much to post about. Not much going on except painting. Here's a picture to prove it. :-) I will post soon with pictures of the progress.

In the meantime, watch this video of Anita Renfroe's "A Moms Overture". I saw this at last year's Women of Faith conference. Anita is hilarious! Enjoy!

Mother's Day

A Day at the Zoo

Last Saturday was another girl's day out; this time we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was a great day for it. Spring is always the best time to go. Since it's not too hot, the animals are mostly out and about ... and since it's spring there's a better chance of babies. When Nik was a little girl we used to go to the zoo quite a bit and one Spring we went and I think all the animals had babies. It was an incredible day at the zoo and neither of us ever forgot it. We didn't see to many babies this time but we did see a few and some nesting mamas.

Nik's favorite was a young orangatang (I think that's what it was) that was showing off for the crowd. He climbed down from a ledge to a pool of water where a couple of old towels were floating around. Without getting in the water, he pulled one of the towels out and carried it to a grassy patch where everyone could watch and hid himself under the towel. Then he would get out and make his way to the climbing structure, still carrying the towel, and perform some impressive gymnastic moves, swings, flips and such, and then go back to the towel routine.

One of the girls favorite was in the bird sanctuary. They have it setup now where you can go into the caged area where there are probably hundreds of parakeets. We purchased bird seed on popcicle sticks to feed them with. We would hold the popcicle sticks in the air and the birds would land on them to eat the food. The girls loved that the birds would come to them like that. Nik had absolutely no interest in birds so she wouldn't go in and I don't think she even took any pictures. It's too bad, those would have been great pics.

My favorite was the Jaguar. He was magnificent! The big cats are probably my favorites of God's creatures. They are so powerful and yet look like you could just hug them. I just love them. This cat was very restless and was pacing back and forth the full length of his grounds directly along the fence. He was only about five feet from us so we really got to see him up close. It was awesome! Unfortunately my picture card was full so I couldn't take any pictures. I think Nik might have gotten one but there's no telling when those pics will ever make it from camera to computer.

I put together this little video of our day.

For close up view of the video click Here.

Getting Creative

Meet Emily, aka Little Em, aka Emily Energy. Isn't she just a little cutie!? Emily loves to paint. Whenever she comes over, as soon as she walks in the door, the first words out of her mouth are "Can I paint?" She even asked as soon as she woke up one morning when she spent the night. My lovely little artist. I try to encourage artistic and creative abilities in my little grandaughters. I was not encouraged in this area when I was growing up. Actually, one time when I made a foil crown for a family member, I was told "She won't want that." As harsh as that sounds, the person who said it had NO intention of being hurtful at all. I've even come to realize that she was speaking from her own deep insecurities. In any case, it most definitely left me believing that I had no creative abilities what-so-ever. I hope to instill in these little ones the confidence to see themselves as God sees them, and to recognize, develop, and use the skills and talents that He gives them.

I painted the little heart on her face. God has shown me that He has given me a little bit of creativity too and has been helping me to cultivate that gift and enjoy it. I have enjoyed dabbling in jewelry making, both silver-smithing and costume, mosaics of all sorts, copper/tin embossing, wood carving, sketching, and a wide variety of crafting projects. My latest is one of my favorites. If you can't tell from my blog, I enjoy working with graphics. I had the pleasure of creating the new logo for the company where I am working. It has been a lot of fun for me as I love the challange of trying to custom create something for other people. Especially when they are pleased with the end result, and in this case, they were very pleased. :-)

God tells us in His Word, "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. .... Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6 & 8). I love decorating my home with scripture and things that will make Jesus visibly the focal point of life. I want to be the influence this scripture is commanding. Such home decor is not always easy to find and is often quite expensive. That has led me to start creating scripture home decor by framing scripture using my own graphics and embellishing the frames. I had the pleasure of creating several for my dear friend Rhonda to give as Chrstmas gifts this last Christmas. I was very pleased to hear that they were very well received, and to know that little seeds are being planted because of it. Here are a few that I have made. Click on the image for a closeup.

Mother's Womb - This is the first baby picture of my first grandaughter Olivia. I keep this one in my bedroom. I love that Olivia and the other two are able to see that a baby is real even in the womb. Olivia was about 2 months living in this picture. She was born 3.5 months premature and she is grateful to God for her life. I know that this picture with the scripture is instilling in these girls that God is the giver of life.



The Value of the Father's Child - This one sits on my night-stand to remind me of the value God places on me. I textured and embellished the frame then painted it in a soft buttercream. The little bird in the image is one of my first detailed graphics.



The Vine & Branches was a gift for my neighbor as she has a Tuscany style kitchen.



Many people enjoy being creative in some manner. This is one way that God has made us "In His Image." Artists often sign their work, this too comes from God. His signature is everywhere in creation. Sometimes we see it clearly and sometimes we must look for it. Nothing that any human being ever has or ever will create, has or will even come close to the indescribable and amazing creations that God has designed with a Word or a Breath. Here are two must see video clips that I found tonight focusing on His design of the human body, and His majestic universe. He placed His signature boldly in both of these creations. Watch both and you will see what I mean.

This one I wasn't able to embed it so here is a link where you can watch it. Indescribable God


This one is the Laminin video clip with Louie Giglio.