In Him We Live

Hoping your weekend is filled with work, play, fun, relaxation, living, moving, being, rejoicing, worshipping.

 As for me, I will be watching a granddaughter play basketball, spending some quiet time with the Lord, watching cheesy Christmas movies with my husband and praying for you if our paths happen to cross here.

For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Acts 17:28 More versions of the verse can be found here.

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

Power Supply

This morning as I was having my devotions, I found it hard to concentrate on God's Word.

 My mind kept going to a couple of nagging situations--me wondering how to handle them--them taking my mind off God's Word.

 I struggled with this but finally got through my regular reading of five psalms a day and the reading for She Reads Truth.

I always get something from God's Word even if it is one of those days when I am struggling.

After all, Hebrews 4:12 says that his Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. 

God always knows just what we need though. After reading those selections, I picked Jesus Calling for November 15 and this is an excerpt from today's reading.

"Approach problems with a light touch. When your mind moves toward a problem area, you tend to focus on that situation so intensely that you lose sight of me. You pit yourself against the difficulty as if you had to conquer it immediately.  Your mind gears up for battle, and your body becomes tense and anxious.  Unless you achieve total victory, you feel defeated."  Jesus Calling, Sarah Young

We have such an incredible power supply.  Thank you, Lord, for ALWAYS responding when we are trying to seek You with our whole hearts.


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

Many Many Tears For Me Today

Our Muhly grass is going nuts.

I couldn't decide which picture to post so I will bore you with all of them.

It does seem redundant to keep posting almost the exact same picture.

Please forgive me but there was just a mood or something about the one above that made me put it on here and leave it.

And this is kinda a boring pic but just couldn't hurt the little Dianthus' feelings and not show it.

And this one---it almost looks like a doily or lace, doesn't it.  God's creations are really just so magnificent.

And the dogwood--well, I should have taken the picture about two days ago--that was when it was showing off the most.  But you know how you ignore your kids sometimes when they're showing off--guess that's what I did.  I know, I know, I really regret it now.

And I love my little flag that says, "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow."  Yes, they do, amen!

Our first big cold front of the season is coming in tonight.  When I went out to take these pictures today it was around 70 degrees.  Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 47 with real feel of 37.  I will be driving to Conway to Renewal Ranch.  We had part of our class outside last week.  Well, we won't be doing that tomorrow, I'm pretty sure.

Another view of the side of our front yard.

Back in the post a ways, I spoke of the magnificent, wondrous creations of our God. Speaking of that, I wanted to share this little tad of news about my class at Renewal Ranch last week.

This is what I posted on Facebook last Wednesday.

"Great time at the Ranch today--16 men and I walked the grounds, ascribing to God in loud voices 365 different names or attributes He is--from far and near I heard one voice and then another as these mighty names flowed forth--Precious cornerstone, Coming Again, Morning Star, Rose of Sharon, Holy One of Israel, Fragrance, El Shaddai, and 358 more……………..

If you haven't praised Him yet today, I pray that you will.  He is all deserving.  I know that some of you may be going through very hard times.  This is when we offer a sacrifice of praise.

My heart is really heavy today.

This was my post tonight on Facebook:

This precious man, Mikal Hunt, one of my former students, passed away today. Please say a prayer for his family and also for me--my heart is so very heavy and sad at his passing.

When he was in 7th grade, he ate lunch with me on numerous days. I would be in my room working/eating and he would come and we would discuss the deepest issues of life. He always wanted to talk about God. He was such a deep thinker, very caring and loving and thoughtful for such a young kid. 

When it came time for me to retire, he planned (with help from the awesome Marilyn Cullum I think) a retirement party for me with all the 7th graders--at least the ones in our "family." He also sang to me that day--You're Still You by Josh Groban. 

When we studied about the Holocaust and all the Jewish people endured, we made butterflies in remembrance of them. We hung the butterflies (each of them represented a real child) on the walls and at the end of our 6 week study, he framed his and gave it to me. 

When we read the book, The Hiding Place, and then watched the movie, at the end he came up to me, put his arms around my neck, his head on my shoulder and sobbed like a baby.

I had moved to Little Rock several years before he graduated from high school but we had a deal that I would be at his graduation. I was. 

He will always have a very special place in my heart. I loved you so much, dear Mikal.

Here is the song he sang to me--sung by Josh Groban--





Yes, I cried more than a few tears today.


©  2008-2013 all photographs, art and text property of Elizabeth Dianne unless otherwise noted

Howdy Pardner

It's been quite a while since I've shown a picture of our newest grandchild, James. He turned 11 months old yesterday. I can hardly believe it.  The years seem to be flying by.

He is so darling and as always, I can't remember our family without him.  He is such a special gift from God.  It's a long story but we were extremely surprised when Chris and Andrea announced the big news to us.

Here is a link to the awesome news I shared at the end of 2010.

Andrea worked at a crisis pregnancy adoption place.  They turned in all of their papers and a Lifebook--the "in crisis" mothers would look through the books and choose a family they wanted to have their baby.  Chris and Andrea were never chosen--this went on for a little over a year and our hearts were getting heavy again--

And then bam!  Andrea announced that she was pregnant.  God knew all along what was in store for our family.

We would have loved an adopted child so very much--one that came not from our bloodline but our heartline.

However, we got one that came from both and he is a little character.

He has the cutest fake smile he "does for the camera" every time he sees a flash.

We are in love.  Thank you Lord.

Finally, My Art For Sale

Finally, I have placed some of my art for sale on FineArtAmerica. 

 I hope you will click on this link or the one on the sidebar and take a look at it.

 My goal is to add at least one piece per week (hopefully more) so I hope you will check back from time to time and see the updates.

 Here is my artist' bio--it was interesting making myself write about "being an artist."

One of my very first memories is asking my mother to draw for me. I loved watching the pencil strokes she made and seeing something so simple become a piece of art, well, in a five year old's view, it was art.

I remember a JFK pencil sketch I did copying his portrait from a Look magazine cover. I also remember walking by the art room when I was in college yearning to be in there painting but knowing I had to have a career that would provide a dependable income.

I think I must have been afraid of failure also because I never took an art course even as an elective. Looking back, I really regret that.

A busy life of marriage and family preceded a 20 year career as a public school teacher. During those years, I was always creating something and was happier when I was creating.
Along the way, I did take a few calligraphy, oil and watercolor classes. I had a small calligraphy business for a while but found I could not keep up with teaching, family, and a business.

After retirement, I started to paint more and joined a watercolor society. When one of my paintings was chosen to hang in an exhibition, a granddaughter asked me if I was an artist. Right then and there, I had to decide how I was going to answer her. It was a huge decision to make--to call myself an artist. But I did. I told her I was an artist.

Making that decision led me to develop my own style--I am a very loose painter, designer and calligrapher. Most everything I create has a loose, relaxed, impressionistic or abstract feel to it.

I don't like staying 'in the lines.'

I will be adding pieces weekly so I hope you will check back often.

Hope you enjoy and God bless you. 

_____________________________ 

I am finding that it is very hard to humble oneself enough to promote their own artwork--some might think it is a prideful thing but for me it is more of a humbling to ask for help.

So, if you like my work and feel comfortable doing this, would you be so kind as to like the Facebook or Google + buttons right below this post or give me a shout out on your blog.  I would be ever so grateful.