Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Welcome Change


Change, transformation, conversion, shift, turn-over, revolution, turn....

No matter how you say it or when it happens...it is simply a part of life.

AND I LOVE IT!!

As the leaves start to turn the rich colors of red and yellow i feel excitement. I feel prepared for the changes that God is handing me and my family these days. Trust me, I'm never prepared! I'm more of a roll with the punches kind of girl so this is very uncharted territory.

Lately I have this spirit of courage and TRUST.

I feel like God has me at the brink of something great and I'm ready to step  dive off the edge into the unknown.

 

Feeling so used up and tired earlier this month really turned out to be a Blessing. It allowed me the time to rest and renew my spirit in HIM so that i could feel the fullness and the beauty of the path unfolding before me.


 
    Are you are experiencing a beautiful transformation in your lives or are you in the 'Be still and know that I am God' mode?

Either way, each and everyone of us deserves to be the best we can be!
I believe in you!!
 He believes in you!!

      “The key to change... is to let go of fear.”
 Rosanne Cash

Thursday, August 18, 2011

The Indiana State Fair Tragedy and Memories

It has taken me two whole days to put this post together as I have gone back and forth about should i publish this or not. Please understand that I have chosen to focus on the wonderful family times to be had at the fair due to all the controversy about who is to blame for the tragedy that took place on Aug.13th. After much prayer i feel it would honor the victims more to focus on love rather than blame. Thank you in advance for your understanding.
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Indiana State Fair Memories

Lot's and Lot's to do at the Indiana State Fair...
                                       


Can't forget the Midway rides!


 The TREATS!!


The wonderful people who work at the State Fair year after year...


 The familiar and welcoming sights that let you know you are at the Indiana State Fair.


 And of course the music and special events...



Mercy Me and Third Day Aug. 10th 2011...I'm becoming a Gomer:)



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As I'm sure many of you have recently seen on the news, a terrible tragedy stuck my Indianapolis In. community this weekend. 5 people lost their lives and, as of this morning, 18 people still remain in the hospital, many in critical condition.

These are the photos i took of the memorial, outside the collapsed Grandstand 2 days after the accident.



 
Please lift up Indiana in prayer, especially praying for the victims who lost their lives on Aug.13th, the injured, the families of the victims, the people who rushed to aid those hurt during the event, those that witnessed first hand the accident and the people who work for the Indiana State Fair in all capacities.

May God grant them all healing, grace, and forgiveness.
 
 
****Please be aware that the footage below is disturbing and shows the collapse of the Grandstand stage on Aug. 13th 2011.



Life is short...God be with us all.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Renewed by TRUST & Collaborating ART


 

Feeling so much better these last few weeks as I've taken time to really fill up again. Crazy how quickly life can take a toll on our spirit. I really just needed to get out of myself for a bit and focus on my Blessings. God has me in some challenging places right now and I have to lean on Him and TRUST. Like i've said before, this is a process for me and trust doesn't come easy. It's hard work emotionally and spiritually. But it's good work and it's good for me to be tired from it:) The Lord continues to humble me and put me in places where I have to trust Him. I need you Lord and i thank you for your faithfulness.


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A few weeks back I held a workshop called "Pass Me the Canvas". I had this on my schedule for 6 months and had been anxiously awaiting the nights that 7 brave artist would spend two evenings playing the artistic version of musical chairs. This creative exercise allowed each artist to tap into the deepest part of their creative spirit and challenge themselves to just TRUST the artist within.

I began the workshop with a relaxing meditation, full of positive affirmations, that would help to free us from any strongholds and lies we may listen to.

Here is part of the meditation...
"When we pull back the layers of our TRUE SELF and bring LIGHT into DARK, hidden places inside us, then we will begin to know who we really are inside.
Expose the gentle child inside yourself…the trusting, vulnerable child.
Share her tonight with us."

After the meditation i had artist choose a pattern, color palette, and inspirational word to guide the collaboration of each artist. I also had artist write out nouns that they thought would inspire the progression of their artwork. Of course I chose nouns like bird, circles, flower, and nature. I chose my inspirational word by closing my eyes and TRUSTING God to pick for me...He picked the word Beauty .

Next, i asked each artist to write out their fear about coming to the workshop and this took an additional dose of humility.




                                 
Then we began the music and spent the first evening building our background by using mixed media supplies and lots of TRUST. We passed the canvas every 35 minutes for a total of 3 rotations.
Here is some of the amazing backgrounds creating the first night...













The next night we passed the canvas for three,15 minute rotations to complete the circle of artist. This allowed each artist to work on every canvas.
The backgrounds were complete and each canvas had a ton of depth and color.
 For the final hour of the workshop the artwork found it's way home to it's inspiration and true owner. Artist then added the final touches to their collaborated art. I assisted artist in their final hour so i haven't finished my piece yet but will post it as soon as it is done.

Here are some of of the finished pieces...







I think we were all surprised and pleased with the final outcome of our artwork. It was a journey as we stepped out of our comfort zone; it took a lot of TRUST. I was inspired by the strength of the other artist who attended the workshop. Thank you BRAVE GIRLS!!
We all experienced humility, creativity, and TRUST and the workshop turned out to be more than i could have ever dreamed.

Gotta be a lesson for me somewhere in that!