{a little...just a little navel gazing...with an artistic bent...}

so I've been thinking...

it's time to step it up a bit...

time to grab that clean slate that God gives me everyday and do something extraordinary with it!!

I'm really feeling the Before and After scenario here...

Before (above)

After (above!)

My art journaling yesterday takes it another step...

I am given a seed...a seed of talents...

What am I going to do with that seed?

I certainly do not have the personality to hide it in a little bag and trade it for a cow...(Jack in the Beanstock reference there...LOL!!!)

Before I figure out the actual HOW, let's look at the After...

I love this analogy!! 

And here's what I believe: (remember, BELIEVE is my word for the year!)

As long as I am moving forward nurturing that seed, my God will steer me in the right direction! You may think that is naive or a crutch or a cop out, but after 42 (yes, 42...you can call me middle-aged, if you want. I know the truth!) years, I have realized we all have to relinquish control some time...Who you choose to relinquish control to is, of course, your decision...

But for me, I choose God, and my God sent his Son to die for me so that I won't ever be apart from Him. That's the eternal part of the equation...(probably the most important part) But what about the here and now?

It's like these new thingies I just bought a few days ago. They are miraculous!!!

I have been doing a HUGE amount of hand binding and embroidery and other needle work (like hexies!! yay!!), and my poor middle finger has received the brunt of all of the pain!

I tried traditional thimbles...no maneuverability...

I tried those cool leather thimbles...again, hard to manage and even harder to fit!!

So I tried these...(I even have one on right now as I type! I'm about to hand quilt a quilt in a minute!!)

AMAZING!!

What the little plastic sticker thingie (technical term!) does is it allows my finger to do what it is supposed to do, and yet, it protects the fingertip from harm. It absorbs all of the sticking of the needle so the finger doesn't pay in pain!!

This is what Jesus does for me every day. He carries my load...He takes on my burdens...and he directs my path!

Pretty cool!!

Just a quick note for you, my darling blog readers...

I don't often preach here...but I do hope to inspire you, to give you a hope! 

Personally, my hope comes from my God, and so you'll read that a lot here...

not in a preachy manner, but an inspirational one...

{pic by my darling beautiful daughter, Cora!}

BTW, you don't have to make the seed actually grow!! That's His job! You just have to plant it and nurture it...He makes the miracle happen!!

_________________________

Just a quick note about Fun Fridays this week...

Mr Gorgeous is out of town with his fancy iPad that I use for my videos, so I'm actually going to have a fun new tutorial up for you here! With a PDF to print! Yay!!!

Here are some sneaky peeks! So you won't want to miss it!!!

inspirational thought for the day:

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.

Common English Bible Translation - Matt 11:28

Comments

[Stephanie in Mi]

I like your sneak peeks! I would love to do some art journaling, but I am really struggling to make the time....

[Sasha]

Your art journaling is amazing Sally!! I've been meaning to try those little pad thimble thingies lol! I love my leather one, but those little pads sure do look neat! I can't wait to see the tutorial =D