The Rescue Haiti’s Children team is still laboring in Haiti.  Haiti’s needs will be long term, and Rescue Haiti’s Children will need continued support as well.  In light of this, I have decided to make a few changes in regard to the original art sale.

Changes: Instead of selling the original paintings, I will be selling prints.  This way more people will be able to buy their own copy and we will eventually (+hopefully) be able to donate even more to Rescue Haiti’s Children.

Also, due to time restraints and the creative process, I will be spreading out the paintings.  I currently have “I was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me” finished and ready to make prints of, which I will be selling in my Etsy shop.  Over a longer course of time I will be creating more pieces for the Matthew 25:35-36 series.  I will inform you all as they are made available.

Thank you so much for your support and enthusiasm!
I’ll keep you updated!

I’ve been reading J.R. Miller’s book The Family (formerly Home-making) and have been drinking in its beauty and wisdom. I highly recommend this book to every Christian who desires to bring honor to the Lord in their entire lives and learn how to better serve their families. This following quote is from the chapter, “The Parents’ Part.”

“But the true idea of a home is that it is a place for growth.  It is a place for the parents themselves to grow - to grow into beauty of character, to grow in refinement, in knowledge, in strength, in wisdom, in patience, gentleness, kindliness, and all the Christian graces and virtues. It is a place for children to grow - to  grow into physical vigor and health and to be trained in all that shall make them true and noble men and women.

“. . . A true home set up and all its life ordered for the definite purpose of preparing and sending out human lives fashioned into symmetry, filled with lofty impulses and aspirations, governed by principles of rectitude and honor and fitted to enter upon the duties and struggles of life with wisdom and strength.”

- J.R. Miller, The Family

Last week I began my twentieth year.  (Most would say I’m nineteen, but…)

~

I think most people my age want to rush into their futures.  In some ways I do want to plunge into my plans.  But I am so enjoying the life that God has given me right now, that I want it to slow . . . way . . . down so I can thoroughly soak it up and appreciate it.

Perhaps that is why I feel old-ish.

There are those days when I get a little antsy.  Not discontent, but . . . I guess the word is eager.  Eager to see what comes next.  But there is still so much for me to learn before that time comes, and there is so much in the waiting to keep me busy!  ;)

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. -Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV)

But am I redeeming the time?  And I don’t just mean that in the context of preparing for marriage, but for the entire short, fleeting vapor of my life.  Am I preparing to be a wise and teaching mother? A physician? A gardener, a nurturer of souls?

I often fail and allow frivolous things to distract me, but my Lord is always beside me, teaching me, guiding me back to where I need to be.  Helping me to notice the little things and see His fingerprints.  Showing me His Sovereignty and Providence.  And drawing me ever closer to Him.

As a daughter of the King of kings, I need to want to be as productive as God will give me strength to be.  So while I soak up this beautiful life with its little foibles and fascinations, I’ll leave the time tables up to Him and learn all I can to be prepared for whatever He has in store for me.

.:. .:. .:.

“May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace.”
- Psalm 144:12 (ESV)

How would you like to own one of my original paintings?

How would you like to help the orphans in Haiti at the same time?

***UPDATE: Click here for the update on my art sale!***

Mr. Doug Phillips and a group of men have just arrived in Haiti to help the many orphans and victims of the recent earth quake. You can read the details on Mr. Phillips’ blog. Keep updated on the Rescue Haiti’s Children mission by following their Facebook page and Twitter feed. Mr. Phillips writes,

My mission to Haiti is four-fold: First, I will be establishing one of the only distinctively Christian reporting operations to tell stories of both the present crisis and the work of Christians on behalf of the sick and the widows and the orphans in the midst of Haiti’s present horror. Second, I will be working to facilitate the rescue and delivery of orphans to Christian families in America. Third, I will be identifying specific families that need direct support from the people of God in America. Fourth, my team will be providing specific relief to people in distress.  Read more . . .

This is a critical time for Haiti, and the Rescue Haiti’s Children team needs our open hearts and financial support. Maybe you can’t travel to Haiti, or even adopt an orphan. But perhaps you could give . . . even a little?

As for my art: Over the next several days I will be creating six pieces of original art. As a fund-raiser, I will be donating all profit from these six original paintings to the Rescue Haiti’s Children. Each piece will be based on Matthew 25:35-36:

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.

I will be posting the paintings as they are created and made available for sale. Until now, I have never sold any original pieces. Each one will never be made available again as no prints will be made. All profit will be going to the Rescue Haiti’s Children project.

Or, if you can’t wait to give, donate now by going here.

.:. .:. .:.

Thank You , Heavenly Father, for . . .

73. a new drawing student . . . who wants to learn to draw what I love to draw: people

74. the silhouettes of snow drifts in the morning

75. the green tips of an amaryllis bulb, sitting on the window sill

76. bunny tracks in the snow

77. a new scanner/printer

78. traditions of courtesy

79. history books written by those who acknowledge Your glorious power

80. “Institutes of Biblical Law” by Rushdoony

81. a pretty, well-lit room to call “my studio”

82. safe travels on icy roads

83. Sabbath visitors

84. paper dolls and the girls who like to play with them ;)

.:. .:. .:.

New Year’s Eve was fast approaching, and I wanted to have my list of resolutions ready for the big day. Busy scribbling away at my agenda, I thought of the verse,

“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” -Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)

“Winter” by Jean Léon Gérôme

This has held true throughout my life, and I’m sure you can relate! The resolutions I wrote at the end of 2008 look very different than what was actually accomplished in 2009.

And while I have plans and hopes and dreams for 2010, I’m sure God will be changing them according to His plan and purpose, which is always much better than my own.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.”
- Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)

“Evening Prayers” by Eugene Ernest Hillemacher

“. . . For every wife the first duty is the making and keeping of her home. Her first and best work should be done there, and till it is well done she has no right to go outside to take up other duties. She is to be a ‘worker at home.’ She must look upon her home as the one spot on earth for which she alone is responsible, and which she must cultivate well for God if she never does anything outside.

“. . . There have been wives who in their zeal for Christ’s work outside have neglected Christ’s work inside their own doors. . . . While they were winning a place in the hearts of the poor or the sick or the orphan, they were losing their rightful place in the hearts of their own household.

“Let it be remembered that Christ’s work in the home is the first that He gives to every wife, and that no amount of consecrated activities in other spheres will atone in this world or the next for the neglect or failure there.”

- from The Wife’s Part in The Family by J.R. Miller

“Is it heartless to be unconcerned about needs far away? We must not be unconcerned, but we must remember that we cannot fight every battle.”

- from Fathers, Daughters and “Mission Work” in So Much More by Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin

“It is in her own home that this warmth of heart and this openness of hand are first to be shown. It is as a wife and mother that her gentleness performs its most sacred ministry.”

- from The Wife’s Part in The Family by J.R. Miller

(All emphasis mine)

Thank You , Father, for . . .

41. books on color theory

42. local shops

43. scarves

44. warm gloves

45. cough drops

46. The Mysterious Islands

47. yellow pencils with pink erasers

48. pencil sharpeners

49. calculators

50. light bulbs

51. growing enthusiasm for grocery shopping

52. twinkle lights

(who knew they were only $1.84 for a string of 100 little white lights at Wal-Mart?!)

53. embroidery

54. Christmas music

55. my two art students

56. waking up to a blanket of snow outside

57. little puppy paw prints in the snow

58. candle-lit lunch

59. reading Augustine’s Confessions, “sed qui fecit, reficit.” (”He who made us, remade us.”)

60. a conference to look forward to!

Thank you Heavenly Father for . . .

20. safe 7 hour bus ride

21. nearly butterfly-less performance

22. growing opportunities to minister through music

23. humbling realization that I must always lean on Jesus

24. God’s design for order found in beautiful music

25. fading fall colors

26. violet, frosty mornings

27. fog that clings to unharvested cornfields

28. Japanese maple by the Library

29. red berries

30. pressed leaves

31. time to read more

32. a warm home to clean

33. the God-given need to create, infuse life, and communicate

34. the black and white energy called Bentley that collapses into cuddly naps

35. the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave that we still fight for today

36. hearts of our forefathers that were wholly dedicated to the Lord

37. dangerous sea voyage and sacrifice of the Pilgrims

38. Providence of God in the forming of Plymouth plantation

39. . . . and Jamestown

40. . . . and our country

.:. .:. .:.

In John 1:35-37, John the Baptist has just watched Jesus walk past him. John says to two of his disciples, “Behold the Lamb of God!” the One whom John has been preaching about throughout his whole ministry.

This moment is what John the Baptist has been preparing his disciples for. Andrew and, mostly likely, John (who never identifies himself in the book of John), recognize Jesus as the Messiah and, leaving John the Baptist, follow the Son of God.

“Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’ And they said to Him, ‘Rabbi, . . . where are you staying?’” -John 1:38 (ESV)

Notice that Jesus doesn’t audibly assume they are following Him by asking Whom are you seeking, but what are you seeking. In this morning’s sermon, Pastor Jeff said, “All men, by nature, are seekers. Jesus reveals this in His question.” Men (and women) seek all kinds of things - status, image, money, entertainment, power, etc.

But Andrew and John answer with another question that reveals that they not only are seeking Jesus, but want to pursue a relationship with the Son of God. “Teacher, where do you live?” implies that the one who seeks to learn wants to be near the teacher, around him as often as he can be, to spend time with Him.

In verse 39, we find that it is about 10:00 in the morning, and Andrew and John spend the whole day with Jesus.

Do I seek to spend my whole days with Jesus, or just the mornings? How about you - Is your relationship with Jesus at the top of your list?

.:. .:. .:.