Kindred Spirits

This page is dedicated to a young woman I met recently. A friend of mine met her in Scotland but she is really from England but is now living in Spain. Have I confused you yet? She came for a visit and I got to meet her at my friends house. She is the sweetest person and has the coolest accent. I woke up last night with this poem in my head and it is dedicated to her.

I wish I'd known what might have been

Your stay was way too short

A cup of tea and time to share

Who we really are

You never know what the future holds

we may be friends one day

I thank the Lord for this brief time

our lives have crossed today!

I won't be the only one missing her when she leaves but I suspect she will be back.

Making Memories

Here is page one in my second art journal of 2008. The quote says, "I want to appreciate the times when moments are made into memories. " For me those times are when I am least expecting them. Times when I am just hanging around without an agenda. Yesterday and today I took a couple of hours to just sit with my kids and grandchild. Nothing in mind to do and it truly was glorious. I laughed so hard a couple of times over stupid stuff and those are the memories I want to remember. My grand baby has a poker face just like his mama used to when she was a little girl. He stared at me the longest time and I couldn't stop laughing. Finally when I stopped I told him it was his turn and I stared back. He started laughing then and I wish I had a video camera because it was precious. Or how about when my daughter twirled the baby up in the air and he drooled a bucket of spit right in her mouth. Or, and this is the best one, when I came home today and my grand baby reached out to me and gave me a big hug. When I am rushing around, those are memories I miss out on. The ones that fill up your heart with love. Why do I constantly have to remind myself to take these moments and slow down?

#1 is finished

I am so excited!!!!! And so proud. My first ever art journal is complete. I love the bulginess of it and how it feels in my hands. Kind of like I'm sure it feels when you finish your first novel. Well, maybe not as exciting but pretty close. I just want to peruse through the pages and feel the texture and smell the paint. It is a lovely thing. As you can see, I have my next one ready to go and will cristen it in the the next couple of days. I wanted to start today but I feel the need to take a day of silence in honor of the first before moving ahead. Maybe I should write a poem. Here goes:

Ode to the journal

you were so clean and bright

now you are so messy

declaring all my insight

I will treasure you forever

and keep your pages safe

for someday you will remind me

of my starting place.

Personality

I found this quote by Theodor Suess Geisel and had to make it into a page. I have recently had conversations with people who have rekindled their love of talents or interests that have been dormant for some time. For me it has been art others it has been dance, writing, music or crafts but what ever it is no one really knows why they gave it up, but they are revived by it's reappearance in their lives. Some say having kids left them with little time to pursue their creative outlets. Others said it was the realization that they couldn't make a living out of it and needed to move on to more lucrative endeavors. One thing they all have said to me and that I find true in my own life, is that their souls were starving without it. It is like a part you you never knew existed comes alive when you pick up the pen, or paintbrush or sit down at the piano. It is a feeling so deep that you can't explain it, you can only experience it and it makes you whole. You say to yourself, "this is what I was created to do" and it brings you to a place of balance. So whatever it is for you, do it as unto the Lord. He created you to express yourself in this way and to worship Him through it. It doesn't have to do with how good you are at it or whether what you do is appreciated by other people. If you were created to dance then crank up the music when no one is around and dance your little heart out. The other part is, try to encourage those who are stuck in the box to break out and be themselves. It is through out uniqueness that we make life interesting. There are too many bored people who are not living in this creative zone and depressed because of it. Be yourself this week and encourage others to join you.

Arte y Pico Award

Gift Graciously Bestowed

My friend Sharon over at sharingsharon.blogspot.com has awarded me the Arte y Pico award.

http://www.arteypico.blogspot.com/

Apparently it was an award created for bloggers who inspire you with their creativity and talents!Thank you dear Sharon for bestowing such an honor.I am humbled and blessed by this. Sharon is herself a recipient of this award and I encourage you to go and read her blog as well.

This award is special I am told.Therefore it comes with some rules:

1.)Pick 5 blogs that you would like to award this honor to.

2.)Each award has to have the name of the author and a bloglink to be visited by everyone.

3.)Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that gave them the award.

4.)Award winner and the one who was given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog so everyone will know the origin of the award.

I bestow this award upon:

Michelle at http://www.allendesigns.typepad.com/

Karin at http://twitterpatedkarin.blogspot.com/

Kristy at http://kristychristopherson.blogspot.com/

Paulette at http://pauletteinsall.typepad.com/

Katie at http://stilwater.typepad.com/

Check out their blogs because these are very creative ladies who will inspire you too!

Little Eyes

I haven't been posting much this week. I have been trying to keep up and work through a personal crisis. It's all good though. What is that saying, "this too shall pass." OK, so onto the journal page.
I was working on this page, not knowing where I was headed with it. Of course, that is normal. I never know where I am headed with my pages. They just appear on the page and I am just as surprised as anyone. I was thinking about little children and how they have so many possibilities when they are small as to who they will become. The two children staring out from this page have very little expression and so you wonder what they are thinking? Who will they become when they are grown? For some reason I felt the need to paste the continent of Africa on this page. Then I went down stairs and found a letter from our sponsor child who lives in Africa. It was so cool to think about her as a child in Africa. For the first time she asked if someday we would come and see her. Then I knew that this page was about protecting the children of the world. Be careful little eyes what you see. There are too many children whose eyes have seen things that they should never have seen. How can I make a difference? Maybe I will travel to see our little child in Africa someday. Until then I can pray and write letters that encourage her. Maybe this will get you to think about what you can do to encourage a child to see the possibilites to have hope for the future.

Good Friends

I got together with a friend of mine yesterday for lunch. She is moving to Nashville and it was the last time I will see her maybe forever, but at least for a long time. I remember the first day I met her as she showed up in a bible study I was leading. She has blossomed and grown so much since that day three years ago. I will miss her. We were talking about friendships because she has the ability to make really close friendships in a short time. She says it is because she is an army wife and moves so often. I think it is because of her tender and caring spirit. I have been thinking about my friends. I have some of the most amazing women as friends who are there if I ever need them. But everyone is so busy. I feel the need for daily friends who call to tell you stupid stuff and call and say I'm at Starbucks come and meet me. Friends that make as much effort in the relationship that you do and give you face time. I know I am not alone. As a society we have lost the ability to have community with one another. We are disconnected from one another. I was reading in Isaiah today and ran across this verse. Isaiah 30:18 - But the LORD still waits for you to come to Him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God, Blessed are those who wait for Him to help them. That is one friendship that is always there, always faithful and He is always ready to spend time with me. I will wait for Him to help me in this quest for art journaling, daily friends. That was the other thing, I would love to find, some really good art journaling friends who share my passion in this area. Oly Oly Oxen free! Come out, come out where ever you are!