A few things from my eye

Peeping Dogwood

To the bone

Lennon Wall says it all

Unrealistic Reality

Ahhhh!

As the cobblestones soaked up the sound

She walked in Beauty (picture for Laura)

Bragging

I just want to take this momemt and give a shout out for some of my absolutely amazingly talented friends. If only I could do art like all of them. I guess it wouldn't be art, it would be plagerism. HOWEVER, I can at least brag about these people and encourage you to look these people up through the web or visit thier blog and take a look at more of their work. Many of these people sell their work too, so embrace it. Soak it in. Let it bring beauty into your heart and life. And let me brag about my friends.



Naomi: She painted this for church at Christmas. One panel was on one side of the church and one was the other. Then when they came together you could see the word "Joy" in black. She does amazing murals too. I want her to do one in my home, so my home can look like her home.










Laura: I take a great deal of pride in knowing that I got Laura hooked on camera...soon she got her own. Now she takes some amazing pictures, and many better than I ever could. Plus she lives in Hawaii, so she has some great things to photograph!






Nate: Missionary in the Czech Republic/amazing photographer. I admire this man in so many ways. I am so glad to be friends with him. I think that people should buy his photographs to help with his support...but that's just me. The first picture he took in Czech, the second he took in Isreal.












Regan: I have known this beautiful person since middle school. She has ALWAYS been creative and always had an absolutely beautiful spirit, so it makes sense to me that she now captures beauty though a lens as well. She has always seen beauty in everything.




Aubrey: this is a person who I have not met yet, even though I will this summer. However, I ran into her blog through Nate and have been hooked ever since. I think it will be a true gift to meet her and to be able to see this person who inspires me so often.




Alyssa: A sudent, a friend, a humanitarian, an artist. Alyssa is studying in Switzerland. She takes the most beautiful pictures and lets me journey through life with her by looking at her pictures. I love her eye for the amazing things that are in this world.








Becca: I met her in College and she has become a dear friend. This is one of the sweet pictures she took of her girl Acadia. She will take pictures of my children when they are born...or else...!

Thanks for letting me brag.

A weekend in COLORado!

I LOVE COLOR. And I love Colorado. AND I love the fact that Colorado has the word Color in it. I really believe I was meant to live here. Truly! And if I was ever unsure about that fact, then all I would have to do is take a look at my weekend and it would remind me why I am here! Here are some highlights and colors of my amazing weekend!
SATURDAY: we bought our Kayak!
Kayak: Color-Red, Yellow, Orange.
Life vest: Color: Light Purple (with butterflies on the back)

SUNDAY: we spent the day with the Swansons, the Classens, The Becktels, and Allison and her mom. We also spent it with Jelly Bellys!!!
Jamison: Color: pink spring flowers and tons of laughter and hugs

Jadon: Color: Light blue and lots of silly faces

Jelly Bellys: Color: any you can imagine. Truly this is how color should taste too!

MONDAY: This was my birthday and I woke up to a garden and breakfast made by Allison.
Garden: Color: anything bright and fun
Seed Packets: Color: White and tan with pictures of flowers on them
Garden tools: Color: silver and tan
Fake Grass: Color: green


Edible arrangement: Color: Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, Purple (bowl) and Chocolate (it's a color and a piece of heaven!)

Balloons: Color: All the colors of a rainbow (Aaron told them he didn't care what they looked like, there just had to be LOTS of colors...that's how I know he loves me)

Birthday party dinner: Colors: The personalities added so many colors, but my favorite color was watching my mom laugh which would be a bright golden!

THE VISION

I love to paint. I am not the best at it, but I enjoy it. It is freedom to me because I process things in such a visual way. When I paint, I can get my ideas out. I can free them from the jail of my mind and let them fly on the wings of canvas and paint brushes. Once they are out of my mind they can run free and be what they are without the bounds of my rational trying to fit them neatly into place. Once they are out and on a page or a canvas, I cannot turn them into anything other than what they are. I cannot reason them away or make them more subtle or even make them more wild and fun. That is what painting is for me. It is reality unbound...and even more than that it is usually God's reality unbound, because it is almost always things that he shows me or tells me that I feel I must write out or paint. In the picture above are two paintings, the one on the left I painted after I felt like God was showing me a picture of what surrender and submission look like in my life. The one on the right was a picture of a vision that a very amazing woman, Joyce, had for me a few weeks ago when we were discussing my Spiritual gifts and my passions.

Here is the reality of the painting on the Right. I have been taking a sabatical from Youth Ministry. I have been doing it now for 8 years straight and along with that I married an amazing man who happens to be a youth pastor. I was a Junior High Director for three of those eight years, and Intern for a year and a half, and a volunteer for the rest. On top of that, I also spend two and a half years studying Youth and Family ministries for two and a half years while I was the Director. I have done a great deal with the youth and I adore the youth. But I felt strongly that I was needing to take a break. The Senior girls that I have been working very closely with will leave the youth group this year, and I felt that I needed to evaluate where God wanted me next.

That is where the Sabatical came in. And I just so happened to take it during a course our church was doing on finding your Spiritual Gifts, Your personal ministry style, and your passions. I have done many things like this before, and in fact taken this course before, but this time I was in a bit of a different place. I figured out my Gifts, which were no surprise to me. They are 1. Creative Communication, 2. Shepherding, 3. Mercy, 4. Encouragement, and 5. Words of Wisdom. The problem came when I was trying to define my passions. That also happened to be the day that I sat next to Joyce and ended up getting this beautiful picture from her that I truly believe that God was giving her for me. She explained it like this...



I see you walking through this field, and it is a shepherds field, except it is in beautiful, bright colors. It is pink and orange and blue and just bright bright colors. And you are walking through the field with the wind in your hair and you are free. And as you are walking you sprinkle some encouragement here and some wisdom there and some mercy over there and as you do this, these flowers grow. And they are not just all daisies. Their are all these different colored flowers and different types of flowers and whatever you pour into grows and blooms. And you are not growing like vegetables, you are growing these strong tall flowers that bloom as you pour into them. And you pour and pour and then you move on to the next thing and pour into those seeds and they bloom too.



When I was able to capture this and paint it, there was a freedom. Truly there was an unbelievable since of freedom when Joyce gave me the vision, but beyond that, once I was able to paint it and capture it for what it was, I felt this freedom and this truth of where God wanted me to walk, and how he wanted me to live.

I still don't know what my next step is. I have been really praying through my Sabatical, and I have many different options, all of them seem amazing. But I trust that God will show me and I will continue to walk in the field that he has given me and pour and pour and pour and through me God will make some amazing things bloom!

Winter Beauty

There is something amazing about being in the Colorado mountains on a winter day, especially on days when the sun is out and the snow is glistening. It almost seems enchanting to be in the Rockies on days like that. Saturday was one of those days. The sun made it warm enough that I could walk around even without having to wear my full winter gear (hat, gloves, etc.) and instead I just feel free to walk around let my hair down and soak in the sunshine and the sparkles in the snow. And to be quite honest, I wasn't walking around as much as skating around. Below is a picture of the pond we were skating on.


What made Saturday even better was that in Keystone there were some ice sculptures and in Breckenridge there was a snow sculpture competition. So on top of just an absolutely breath taking day with God's awesome creation, I was able to see the artwork of some of the most incredible "winter artists" I have ever seen. Teams come from around the world to carve these sculptures. There were teams from China, New York, Canada, Lithuania, Minnesota, Colorado, Germany, France, and many more. And the amazing thing about these people is that they work so hard for days to get these snow sculptures carved fully knowing that they will be fully melted in a few weeks. I just find that incredibly fascinating. There is something that I find so admirable about people carving these sculptures for the pure fun and beauty that comes out of it, only for it to go away shortly. I must say, I would have a very hard time putting all that work into something only for it to be evaporated. But these teams do that, and thank goodness I got to enjoy the benefit of it.

Here are some of the awesome sculptures...


This was a sculptures of all of these people holding up a bowl of what looked like marbles. This one was probably my favorite. I don't know why, maybe it is because it seems to me such a picture of what community is. I loved it.


This one I just loved because this is my favorite flower.


When I saw this one I couldn't help but be a little sad because I know that Aaron's grandma would have been crazy over this one. So I took this close up in honor of her. Plus, the eyes, whiskers, and id tag were all made from ice so it made it even more beautiful.


This was the winning sculpture from China. I thought that the stuff behind the horse rider was like coral, so I was greatly confused. But Aaron told me that they were prolific G.... (some type of tree that starts with a G, and I can't remember the word). So that makes more sense to me.


This one was my brother's favorite. I liked it too, but not as much as the first one with all the people. It actually reminds me of my Kisi stone from Kenya. Very beautiful. It was titled Cold Hands, Warm Heart.

If anyone knows me at all, they know why I liked this one. AHHHH hockey, what a great thing!


This one was super cute! I really enjoyed just gazing at this one, dreaming of the future! :-)








Now these weren't from the Breckenridge snow sculpture contest, but I still like them. And in fact, this was TOTALLY different because this was an ICE sculpture in Keystone. See the difference?

Home, art, and other good things

As I looked around my house last night, I thought about what are some of the things that I absolutely love around my house. What THINGS make me smile, make me happy, make my soul want to do a sweet tap dance jig. I am an extremely sentimental person and so you will see that most of my favorite things also tie into my favorite memories. There are two things that I didn't take pictures of, but one of them is the huge family Bible that my grandpa gave me when I graduated from College and one is the 60th wedding anniversary book that we made from Grandpa and Grandma, which Grandpa gave me when I got married. Those are the absolute most special, but there are others too, so here they are.

1. In my wedding, one of the most special moments was when Aaron and I washed each other's feet. Aaron's dad made us this pitcher by hand using 18 century tools. We bought the bowl. But the pitcher was one of the most meaningful things that we have ever had given to us. The flowers that are inside are from two different missions trips to Europe. The Calla Lily's are from Vienna (we did a camp for missionary kids) and the tulips are from Prague (we do English camps out there every year). The calla lilys we got when we were engaged (and we also had real calla Lily's in our wedding) and the tulips we got when we were married.


2. My type writer, this was given to me by my former student and current friend, Alyssa. I love type writers. I love the way they sound, I love the feel of pushing down the keys, I love the ding when you get to the end of the line. I LOVE them. So, for a complete surprise, Alyssa bought me a type writer that she found. It is one of my most favorite things in the world. I love this. All I need now is an ink ribbon.


3. My new clock. I just got this on Saturday. I have had my eye on this clock for at least two, maybe even three years. This artist is so creative and colorful and FUN! So, as we were up in Frisco for a getaway anniversary weekend, Aaron surprised me and got it for me! He actually told me before we went up that he was going to get it for me, but it was still a surprise! AND, I was so happy because they had the one I wanted there!


4. This was Aaron's anniversary gift. Once again I have been looking at this up in Frisco for years. This to me is so symbolic and SO Aaron. He loves to rock climb and I just see that this piece shows community and dependence. I know that I am putting way more meaning in it than there was ever intended to be, but the moment I saw this sculpture, I hoped I would be able to get it someday!


5. The ice climber, this was the first thing I ever bought from The Columbine Art gallery up in Frisco. This was a gift I gave to Aaron that was a real sacrifice to buy because I got it while I was in Seminary, but it was so worth it. I love this little guy, and I know how amazing of an experience it was for Aaron to go ice climbing, so I was glad to get this for him.

Creation: THE MESSY ROOM

If God allows me to have children, there are some very specific things that I want to teach them: such as...

1. That God loves them dearly
2. That creation should be taken care of since it reveals who God is
3. That they should follow their dreams no matter what that looks like and how crazy it may seem to others
4. That it is so much fun to play outside
5. That learning can be so amazingly fun

And there are so many more things that I want them to know. But one of the top things that I want my children to understand is how amazing it is to create and be creative. From things like tying a fishing fly to taking a photograph to coloring a page to singing a random made-up song, it is such an awesome thing to be creative and to create.

Aaron and I both have a great passion for this. And we both create in different ways. For example: Aaron loves to paint pictures, to tie flies, to sew, to build things...and all of his things he does with great detail and precision. I on the other hand love to paint, scrapbook, take pictures, create the right lighting for different rooms, and write, all of which I do usually pretty abstractly.

But both of us LOVE to create and be creative. For this reason alone we have what we call the MESSY ROOM down in our basement. In it we have a multicolored rug, painted cabnets, a painted desk, and a painted dresser, we have a wall that you can write on with chalk, we have an art easel, pens, paper, multiple colors of glue, markers, and so much more. One wall currently is just green, but I would love to have sombody paint a mural on it of the Garden of Eden (talk about ultimate creation). The pictures here are of the room and they are dated. Things have changed, the room is incomplete, (and it is messy...which is great) but I hope that truly the room will never be finished. I want it to always change, grow, hold different types of creation and beauty. I HOPE and PRAY that my children will be able to embrace their imagination and create. In fact, I would love to see everyone embrace their creative side. What a beautiful thing it would be to see students, children, adults, anyone who wants to come and use our messy room and CREATE!

Snow Days

There is nothing like waking up in the morning and seeing that the ground is covered in fresh, beautiful, powery snow. It is such a soft and gentle reminder to slow down, remember that each day is new, and that each moment we can make a fresh start, fresh tracks in life.


And I don't feel like there is anything right now that I want to cover up or need a fresh start with in the sense of something bad needs to be redeemed specifically, but even the idea that every day I get the choice to love Aaron more, to have more of a servant heart at work, to take a new picture that was never taken before...it is like a blank canvas waiting to be painted. Oh the idea of it is wonderful.

I remember as a kid when it would snow my brother and I took simple spray bottles and filled them up with colored water. We had bottles for red, yellow, and blue, and then sometimes we would get creative and make colors like teal, violet, or amber. We would take all these bottles, turn the spray setting to spout instead of spray and we would decorate the snow. While all the other yards were perfectly white, we would take our spray bottles and make our yard...well stand out to say the least. And the beautiful thing about it was that it would either melt or it would be covered by fresh snow every time. We were able to create master piece after master piece. Each one new and unique. Every time it snowed we had a fresh start, a blank canvas. And while sometimes our art was a little less desirable, sometimes it was absolutely beautiful.


At least for me, I believe that snow is meant to remind me to live completely each day, and let go each night. As it even says in Scripture...

Matthew 6
33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

May every day be a "snow day" where we embrace the kingdom and not worry about what will happen tomorrow until tomorrow becomes a new snow day.