go easy

thinking of you

my friends...

feeling very grateful

and thankful

that you are

a part of my life...

enjoy your weekend

take time to

renew your soul...

***

slow down the pace

***

don't sweat the small stuff

***

god was reminding me this morning(again)

of these very things

so i'm just

sharin' the love...

xo

god whispers

(bliss)feeling a bit of overwhelm this morning. ever get so much goin' on that it just all of sudden hits you? that is what is happening to me right now. the kids moved out last friday. we spent last weekend putting the house back together. it has been a frenzied week at work. this weekend i will spend shopping, cleaning and preparing for my sis, her husband, and my brother who are coming from out of state and will be staying for 5 days...we are giving a 50th wedding anniversary reception for our dad and step-mom which is on sat. 9/4.

so, this morning as i was spending too much time "in my head" (you know what i'm talking about), sitting on the couch whining to god about all of this, blah, blah, blah....he lovingly whispered...

"so......get out of your head, get up off of your butt, and get busy".

really...he said that.

i feel sooooo much better.

just a little perspective while linking with emily...

xo

to have and to hold

chrissy at fireflies and hummingbirds is doing a marriage series on her blog, along with the regular topics and points of interest that she shares. she asked for stories from her readers with regard to marriage...whatever the reader wanted to share. so i decided to contribute and today is my guest post. if you want to read a little of our story(the very condensed version), take a peek over here....

xo

question for you

if you were forced

to eliminate

your material possessions

except for what could fit

into a single backpack,

what would you put in it?

happy dance

i just had to shoot this pink anemone this morning.

i was so excited i had a flower, the deer usually get to them before i do.

***********

well, this friday is the big day...

the kids and grandkids

leave the nest

and we

return to empty...

***

hallelujah

***

praise the lord

***

can i get an amen??

***

the adults are doing a happy dance, for our own reasons...

when i asked my oldest grandson if he was excited about moving back into their own place, he said "well, sure i am nammie, but i really love living here with you and papa..."

melted my heart...

***

but not enough to want them to stay!

( i'm so laughing out loud at what i just wrote!!)

***

***

they will be living 15 minutes away

there will again be sleepovers with the boys

back to normal is good...

****

xo

what a ride

most times when i do a post,

i know exactly what i want to write about.

today i wasn't sure, but i knew i had something to say.

i was looking through my pictures on the computer

and came across this one.

it tugged at my heart.

"boy-ness" scattered in the yard.

i am not sure why i took it at the time...

maybe just so i could do this post today.

i shared earlier in july that our son, daughter-in-law,

and our two grandsons were moving in with us temporarily

due to tough economic times.

i am happy to say that god has

blessed them beyond measure

and they are moving into their own place next friday.

their time here with us has been a mixed bag.

it's been rainbows and butterflies

along with times of struggle.

through it all

and our ability to work

through those struggles

some very positive things happened

and the floodgates opened for them...

god has been right there amidst us

in our struggles and joys...

leading us and teaching us.

and it's been

pretty

darn

cool

*

*

*

to finish my post

i want to say

to you...

my friends...

this online community

just blows me away...

the support and love you have given

has really strengthened my soul...

*

*

*

thank you for that...

xo

keepin' hope alive

well, my friends, god has really humbled me this week. my previous post expressed that i was thinking about closing my etsy shop...wondering if selling my art online was really what i should be doing...not the making of art(that will never cease!), but the selling...and then i sold a canvas titled "hope". when i e-mailed the buyer to let her know it had shipped, i asked her, out of curiosity, what motivated her to buy that particular canvas, and this is what she sent back:
"Bev, I purchased it for a lot a reasons. I'm 26 and disabled. My faith is my rock and without hope I don't want to even imagine where I would be. I have a service dog. He changed my life in many ways. His trainer helped me to find God. My service dog was the first glimmer of hope I'd seen in years. There is a passage from Romans, my fave book in the bible, that reads: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit...Romans 15:13. I find that to be a very powerful statement.
I noticed "walk by faith" was also on the canvas. I live by the saying, "walk by faith if not by sight" because my life has been has been so filled with many trying times. I lost a close friend back in October to a homicide, then January another friend died of cancer. Then in February I was in the hospital 17 times with one emergency surgery. I was sent home and then ended up back at the hospital with a raging bacterial infection. It was really a period where I was walking by faith and faith alone. I felt like my faith was the only thing solid I had to hold onto because I knew it would carry me through.

My family is remodeling. This will go in my bedroom. I will send you pictures in about 9 months when the remodel is complete so you can see where your work will finally hang. I want to have artwork to pass down to the children that I one day hope to have."

you could have knocked me over with a feather.
her words brought tears to my eyes and she encouraged me.
i let her know that and we have very quickly become friends.
i will continue selling art.

god is great, isn't he??

for more inspiration check out

"imperfect prose on thursdays"

on this blog

xo

reflection

i have been thinking alot lately...reflecting. thinking about my art and what it means in my life, what the purpose of it is. thinking about other dreams that i have.

when i started making art a year ago, after several months at it, i felt led to open an etsy shop. while i have sold some art, it has never been a dream of mine to make and sell art. never. having said that, the process i have gone through emotionally and spiritually to start expressing myself creatively and then mustering up the courage to open an etsy shop and actually sell art has been.....well...invaluable to me as a person. for my growth.

the last week or so i have been thinking about closing my etsy shop. and then i sold a canvas yesterday. one i had made earlier this year, titled "hope". and i realized i needed to get my eyes off of myself and remember why i am doing this art thing in the first place. the "hope" is not for me, it is for others. god has asked me to do this, and i need to keep that in perspective. i really don't know what prompts someone to buy one of my canvases...where are they in their life? did it stir them spiritually? it could be any number of things. but i have to remember why i do it. and if sales aren't vigorous, so be it. if i sell only one canvas a month, so be it. all i know is that it puts god out there and that is how all of this started...

xo

a mary heart in a martha world

hello friends...i have a guest posting today, her name is chrissy, her blog is a delight, and she would like to share about a bible study she is doing...check it out!!

Hi, I’m Chrissy and I hang out at a little blog called Life’s Not Always Fireflies and Hummingbirds. I want to begin by offering a great big thank you to Bev, for allowing me to hijack her blog for a few minutes today, and then I want to invite you to join me in my brand new book club/bible study! When you look closely, it’s easy to see that the lives of us twenty-first century women really aren’t all that different from the lives Mary and Martha lead in the New Testament. We're a lot like Mary because we want to be what God designed us to be, and to worship Him, and to devote our time and energy to His purpose.But boy, life just never slows down, does it? That's when we're like Martha: so tired and weary from trying to keep up with everyone and everything, and then we become a little resentful about all that's asked of us.We know what Jesus expects of us, and that's what we want, too, but how can we just ignore those piles of laundry and those dirty dishes and that barking dog? If we don't take care of them, no one else will!(Isn't that how we all think?!?)That’s why I’m inviting you to join me for my Mary & Martha Book Club and Bible Study! We’ll be reading Joanna Weaver’s book Having A Mary Heart in a Martha World, beginning with our discussion of chapter one on Wednesday, August 11th. I’d love to have you join us! Just click on over to my blog to get more details! Post my button on your blog to encourage your friends to take part, too!