Goodthoughts

Spring is back and so am I!!

Spring is my most favorite season of the year!!!  I love the freshness and colors of life beginning.  I love seeing the daffodils share their smiling faces once again after a year of waiting. Like the daffodils, I've been taking some time off to live and think at a slower pace for a while.  It's been a time well spent for me, but I'm ready to get back again to sharing my art, gardening and dreams with all of you!  Stay tuned.

Bugs and blooms

You know, when you're trying to garden organically...you're going to run into a few bugs!  Here's a look at our vegetable and flower garden where the bugs are enjoying some of the plants as much as we are.  The secret to staying ahead may just be to plant so much stuff you can afford to lose a few now and then.  So, come on in...and welcome to this year's garden!  And I know what you're thinking... it's not 2011... but I can't figure out how to change the title...so you'll just have to remember it's really 2010!!

What is God like?

Resurrection

 The painting is "Easter Morn" by Chinese artist He Qi.

It's been a lovely spring day!  The dogwood blossoms are opening in Easter greeting to the warm sunshine.  Daffodils are smiling all over town.  The birds are gathering bits of grass and straw...singing their nesting songs.  The warmth of new life has replaced our cold, dead winter.  It seems that all of nature is shouting out the resurrection story! It's a story we long to hear again each year...for it's triumphant and hopeful like spring!

Here's the story as told in the gospel of Matthew. 

After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God's angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn't move.

The angel spoke to the women: "There is nothing to fear here. I know you're looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed.

"Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, 'He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.' That's the message."

The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. Then Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks. "Good morning!" he said. They fell to their knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. Jesus said, "You're holding on to me for dear life! Don't be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee, and that I'll meet them there." --Matthew 28:1-10, the Message

The Daffodil

Spring officially arrived yesterday!  I've been working in the yard all week...happily coaxing my muscles back into gardening shape again.  Daffodils have popped up all over our back yard but the first clump to bloom was down by the labyrinth.  I picked a vase full and brought them inside to brighten the kitchen table.  Their happy faces inspired this poem which I wrote this morning and shared with the children at church.

     

 
 

Happy Valentine's Day

 Watch what God does, and then you do it,

 like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. 

Mostly what God does is love you. 

Keep company with him and learn a life of love.

 Observe how Christ loved us. 

His love was not cautious but extravagant. 

He didn't love in order to get something from us

 but to give everything of himself to us.

 Love like that.

Ephesians 5:1-3 (The Message)

Fun with digital painting

I've been playing with my new Christmas toy this week.  It's called ArtRage...a digital painting, drawing, collage program by Ambient Design. 

I had my eye on Corel Paint, but it's a little expensive.  One day while searching for paint programs I found ArtRage and downloaded the free trial version for Macs. After a few minutes...I was in love!!

I painted this zinnia with ArtRage and it's almost as much fun as painting in oils...only without the fumes!  The brushes wiggle back and forth like real brushes and the paint has visible brushstrokes if you want them.  If you don't you can turn the strokes off. The program is very intuitive with more settings and preferences than you'll ever use. 

You can paint in oil or watercolor, use pencil or inkpen,  felt markers, crayon, airbrush, paint tube, glitter tube, chalk, paint roller, palette knife, or gloop pen. 

ArtRage works in layers like Photoshop.This feature allowed me to paint the background, blossom and stem each on separate layers.  It really comes in handy when you want to erase or change something without disturbing the whole picture.  You can also turn layers off and on with a mouse click.  This give you the freedom to try something completely different without losing what you've already done.  It makes it a lot easier to forget about the finished product and just play! 

If you've always wanted to get into digital art... check out the ArtRage website to discover the infinite possibilities.  You'll also need one more thing...a Wacom tablet to make drawing and painting easier.  The new Wacom Bamboo Fun has the touch features of an iPhone as well as a pen for drawing and painting. 

There are so many fun ways be creative!  Whether your choice is hi-tech or simply pencil and paper...try adding a little art to your life each day!

Some Questions for Angels

 

Chuck and I started talking about angels a few weeks ago.  For some reason, neither of us can remember exactly what got us started.  It seems that I asked him a question about angels and he started googling on his laptop and we were off and running!

Several years ago, I wrote in my journal that I wanted to paint pictures of the unseen world.  I had no idea how I was going to do that at the time.  Or even what I meant by it.  But after Christmas, I felt compelled to try my hand at angels. 

My bluebird paintings usually have an angel somewhere in them, but I think I'm at a different place now...where the angels are going to be center stage. 

This painting is a cropped version of a digital painting I've been working on since Christmas.  It's about the story of Jacob's ladder in the Bible with a little twist...at least in the staircase!  I have a lot more work to do on it, but thought you might enjoy seeing it.

Here's a little late night journal entry from Sunday while pondering  my guardian angels.

I've been reading angel stories today.  It makes me wonder about my guardian angels.  Like where are they while I'm writing this...looking over my shoulder?...smiling at each other?...hovering above me near the ceiling?...or sitting beside me on the bed?

If I talk to them would they feel better?  Have I been ignoring them my entire life after all they've done for me?  Should I ask questions or their opinion about things?  Should I ask them to come enjoy the sunset or watch the clouds shifting in the wind?

Should I talk to them like I talk to God?  Should I ask them for ideas for paintings or  for directions when there is a fork in the road?

Would they like to discuss ideas for the garden?  I think angels like gardens.  It probably made them sad to guard the Garden of Eden from Adam and Eve.

Maybe my guardian angels sit outside in the garden when things are slow here with me.  Maybe they're the ones calling me out to play on the first warm day of spring...and every day after that! 

Maybe they like the garden for the same reason I do...there is so much to remind them of God there.  The color.  The beauty.  The mystery and magic of life.

Chuck is preaching a series of sermons on angels. You can read the first one,  Entertaining Angels: Who are Angels and Why Do We Need Them? at chuckwarnock.com

 

The best Christmas carol

Image via Wikipedia

Does Jesus have a favorite Christmas carol?  Could it be "Silent Night?'  Maybe "Away in a Manger?"  Or how about "O, Holy Night?"   These are all beautiful, but I don't think they are the best. 

Over 2,000 years ago the angel, Gabriel, appeared to Mary with God's great surprise.  She would have a son and call his name Jesus.

But Mary was scared...she had questions...concerns.  How was such a thing even possible?

Gabriel's answer was "Nothing, you see, is impossible with God."

I believe the best carol ever sung...better than the Magnificat which Mary sang a few days later when she greeted Elizabeth...were Mary's final words to Gabriel :

"Yes, I see it all now:

I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve.

Let it be with me 

just as you say."

Luke 1:37-38 The Message

I think Mary's loving response is Jesus favorite Christmas carol.  It may be the best carol any of us can sing.  I'm reminded lately that life does not always go the way we planned.  Our journey takes us through shadows as well as sunlight.  We may have questions and concerns about why things happen.

But in the end, we too can joyfully embrace God's travel plans.   And like Mary...we can sing to the Lord our version of the best Christmas carol ever sung...

"I get it, Lord!  I'm all yours.  Whatever you say...I'm in!"

 

Wishing each of you joy, love and peace this Christmas!--Debbie and Chuck

"Nana Banana" and the Falling Piano

 

This is a true story.  Well, more or less a true story.   I first told it to our grandson, Wesley, when he was about 4.  I called myself "Nana Banana" from the time Wesley was a baby because it always got me a big grin.  He asked to hear it again last month after we had just finished Thanksgiving dinner.  My mom, who is also in the story was also there.  Wesley's 12 1/2 now.

When "Nana Banana" was a very little girl Santa brought her a blue baby grand piano for Christmas.  It was about a foot long and stood on 3 very short legs.  "Nana Banana" loved playing her little piano with the black and white keys that really worked...until  one day when her Mama noticed a big nail sticking out the side. 

Being a good Mama, who didn't want her little child to be cut by a rusty nail, she carried the little blue piano up the folding stairs to the attic.  Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months until one morning "Nana Banana" remembered her blue piano. 

"Pl...eeeee....zzzzzz   get my piano down from the attic!" begged "Nana Banana."  "Pl....eeeeee......zzzzz, Mama!"

"Okay," said Mama, "but first I have to fix the rusty nail."

"Nana Banana" watched eagerly as Mama pulled down the folding stairs and climbed into the attic to retrieve the piano.  "Nana Banana" stood at the bottom of the stairs.  Her brown eyes big as saucers looked up in anticipation as Mama held the piano tightly with one hand and the stair rail with the other.

Just then Mama lost her grasp on the blue piano and she gasped in helpless horror at what was about to happen next.  Fortunately, for "Nana Banana," that's the last thing she remembered.  The blue piano tumbled quickly and quietly until it landed with a loud "kerthunk" on "Nana Banana"'s forehead...right between her eyes!!   Blood gushed from the jagged cut on "Nana Banana" 's head!  "Oh, no, I've killed her!" yelled Mama as she picked "Nana Banana" up and carried her to the bed.

A nurse lived next door and Mama called her for help.  The neighbor ran over to check out the situation and declared that "Nana Banana" would indeed survive and would not need to go to the hospital for stitches.  After a few minutes of resting on the bed with a cold washcloth, "Nana Banana" got up to smile and hug her relieved Mama and play a few songs on her little blue piano!   THE END

Well, almost the end. 

When I finished telling the story after our Thanksgiving dinner...my mom said quietly over her pecan pie, "Well, she wasn't exactly a nurse."

To which I  replied, "Well, what was she then?"  

"Well, she worked at a doctor's office." said Mama as she enjoyed her pie. Chuck and Wesley began to snicker quietly.

"So, exactly what did she do at the doctor's office," I asked.

"She was the receptionist...."

"The RECEPTIONIST?!!  You based my medical help on the advice of the receptionist?"

"Well, she had a lot of experience with medical situations." Mama said as she chewed her last bite of pie and smiled.

By then we were all laughing hysterically.

No wonder "Nana Banana" is still sporting an inch long scar between her eyes to this very day!!