Sunday, June 30, 2013

Pillow Talk


And wow! do these pillows ever talk!  They speak volumes about life.




I love that every time I walk in the master bedroom they will be there to speak of the 
faith, hope and love we have in God.




I love that they remind me to pray for those who have been abused by human trafficking.




I bought them at The Sparrow's Nest, a small store run by volunteers who take donations for operating a safe haven for victims of human trafficking here in the Little Rock area.




They had Open House last night and the place was packed.  We heard a woman who had been
a victim herself of this horrible societal disease.



They sold a ton of stuff at incredible prices.





I think the pillows really complement the curtains that I purchased a couple of months ago.












And now abides these three:  faith, hope and love.  
But the greatest of these is love.
1 Cor. 13:13



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© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted



Saturday, June 29, 2013

Blessings of Peace


The Lord will give strength unto his people; 
The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Psalm 29:11



Today's watercolor enhanced with IPhoto and Photoshop Elements


© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted


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SUNDAY STILLNESS


Thursday, June 27, 2013

Butterfly Bush In Bloom














Today is all about about "finds."
What have you found this week that makes your heart glad?

Our beautiful butterfly bush--
I walked out in the backyard a couple of days ago and found these beautiful blooms on our butterfly bush that had been transplanted last year.

So glad it  survived the move and bloomed where it was planted.



You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13


© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Think On These Things





Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Phil. 4:8

my one and only calla lilly in the backyard 




© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

He Sobbed

For those of you who don't know, I teach a class at Renewal Ranch each Wednesday--it is a home for men suffering from drug/alcohol addictions.  This is what happened today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The film had ended and class was over.

He came sobbing to where I stood.

It was the movie The Hiding Place, the story of Corrie Ten Boom's mid-life adventure in the Dutch underground helping save the lives of some 800 Jewish people and her subsequent time spent in a concentration camp.

The story of loss, suffering, despair, questions, hatred.

When Corrie's heart was filled with hatred for the guards in the camp who had beaten her sister as she had watched, she did not know how to deal with the emotion.

Having lived in a loving home for 50+ years, Corrie had never experienced these kinds of emotions.

She was miserable and hated herself for the emotions she could not control.

Her misery seemed destined to drive her mad until at last, she asked God to take the hatred and to fill her with his love.

Then and only then did she experience peace and was able to minister to those around her.

Betsie told Corrie that after the war was over they had to go and tell people--all people--that there was no pit so deep that God wasn't deeper still.

She said the people would believe them because they had been there--the deep pits of concentration camps where millions perished.

Through sobs he said:

"Many of us here have lived lives filled with hatred and never thought much about it--it was a way of life.  Now we can be like Corrie and recoil at the thought of hating someone."  

The message I wanted them to go away with was this:

"Don't waste your sorrows.  You have been to the pit many times with your addictions.  The people outside of this facility who are hurting in all kinds of addictions will listen to you because you have been there."

"You know the power of God to change people--go and tell them!"

And they do, Praise God!

Every Sunday they worship with a different congregation telling all of the wonders God has performed in their lives.

They will be coming to share at my church this coming Sunday.
Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow!






© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted










Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Journals of Youth




The textures used include two of Kim's total grunge, one at 93%, one at 16%

Monday, June 17, 2013

Will the Circle Be Unbroken?


Writing about his grandfather who knelt by his bed and prayed for his family at night, Mark Batterson, author of Praying Circles Around Your Children said, 
 "Few things are more powerful than hearing someone intercede on your behalf. His voiceprint left an imprint on my soul." 


After a dynamic sermon on prayer, our pastor called the men of the church forward to give them the book by Mark Batterson referred to above and also to pray over them.




It was a wonderful sight to see almost every man in our church go forward for prayer.




Then the men joined arms and encircled our congregation to pray over us--their families, friends and loved ones.




It is hard to explain just how empowering it was to have those men praying over us, encircling us, making a hedge of protection around us not only with their physical bodies but with their bold and powerful prayers.

He asked for each man to pray aloud and it was a glorious sound.  
Just as the angels in heaven worship our Lord in voices raised together,
so did the men of our church.



My son Jeff (in white shirt) and husband, Larry next to him, praying for their families--
thank you, sweet Jesus.

What a glorious Father's Day!

One of our Renewal Ranch residents posted this as his status on Facebook yesterday--I love it! 
"To my Daddy, who breathed life into me, who adopted me, who called and sanctified me, who set my feet on solid rock..who loves me unconditionally. Honor to You on this day."


© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

Friday, June 14, 2013

Unique Pieces of the Master




Each one of us is a very unique piece of the Master and together we make up the Greatest Masterpiece God ever created--the body of Christ.





















© all photographs, art and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted









Thursday, June 13, 2013

No Beauty or Majesty













I have started a major canvas project for some friends of ours.  They have a new home and have a wall that I hope this will fit perfectly on.

It is based on Isaiah 53 from the Old Testament.

I have to remember that this is just the background--

that it will have several layers--

Trying to paint an awesome and beautiful canvas

about someone said to have "no beauty or majesty about them to

attract us to him"--

Is somewhat difficult--

While I want the canvas to have a regal and majestic look,

I want it also to reflect the ugly, the pain, 

the punishment, the despair, the rejection, 

the piercings, the wounds, 

the oppression, the afflictions, the judgments,

the crushing loneliness, 

But more than anthing I want it to reflect that

JESUS IS VICTOR!

______________________________


Isaiah 53

Who has believed our message

    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

    and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by mankind,

    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain

    and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

    stricken by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

    each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,

    yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

    so he did not open his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

    Yet who of his generation protested?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;

    for the transgression of my people he was punished.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

    and with the rich in his death,

though he had done no violence,

    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,

    and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,

he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

11 
After he has suffered,

    he will see the light of life and be satisfied;

by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,

    and he will bear their iniquities.

12 
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,

    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,

    and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

    and made intercession for the transgressors.





© all photographs, art and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted

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Abandon


Oswald Chambers is one of my favorite writers.  Somehow, he takes what seems to be complex at the time and reduces it to a simplicity that my soul grasps.

When things don't feel quite right--


whether unconfessed sin

lacking zeal in my daily pursuit of God

not loving as I should

negative thoughts

not rejoicing when truth wins out

lack of trust, faith, or love

__________________, or fill in the blank--


My spiritual self knows that we do not operate on feelings but on faith

but I also know that when I'm feeling out of sorts spiritually,

usually it is because I haven't abandoned.

So the complex becomes simple.

What do I want today more than anything else?

--a close relationship with my Lord and Savior--

--to be used of Him for His glory and the good of others--


"If you abandon everything to Jesus, and come when He says, “Come,” then He will continue to say, “Come,” through you. 
You will go out into the world reproducing the echo of Christ’s “Come.” 
That is the result in every soul who has abandoned all and come to Jesus. 
Have I come to Him? Will I come now?"   Oswald Chambers



Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  Romans 12:1


© all photographs, art and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted


Tuesday, June 11, 2013

This Is Now



For quite a few years our eight year old granddaughter, Noelle, has played a game of "running along the sidewalk by our car" when we leave after a visit to Tulsa.

Today she went to VBS before we left for home and there was no one there to run along beside us while waving, throwing us kisses and yelling to us that she loves us.

My heart and thoughts outraced me a little bit as I projected into the near future when she will not think it "cool" to do that anymore.

I wanted to cry but instead will embrace the sparkly moments like that that we still have.

She will bring us different sparkly moments in the future--we will embrace them then. This is now--that will be "then." Some of our sparkly moments this past week provided by Noelle, Ashton and James.


 

Noelle




Ashton




James









Thanking God for all the sparkly moments--thank you, Jesus!

Sing praises to God, sing praises;

    sing praises to our King, sing praises.    

Psalm 47:6



© all photographs and text property of Dianne Hogue unless otherwise noted