Drawings

Several of my friends encouraged me to share my drawings with the world. In fact, they said I was being selfish to keep them to myself. For two years, I ignored their advice because it felt too vulnerable to share my untrained artwork. I know that there are artists out there whose work would make mine look like chicken scratch. I know that all I do is pencil sketches. The worlds of color, paint, ink, etc are all unexplored. However, I have come to a conclusion: even if it's not selfish, per se, to keep them to myself, it is an act of pride to keep them hidden. So. Here they are for your perusal. Any talent you find, I credit to God.

Siberian tiger - drawn in 2008 for a friend's birthday

"The Prancing Pony" (you know, like the inn from LOTR?) Drawn in 2005 or 2006 because I was crazy about horses

Old nag - 2005 or 2006

Another horse - 2005 or 2006Snowman - 2008 My dad commented that this snowman is a cannibal, since he's catching a snowflake on his tongue. *sigh* Haha. Megamind! ~ Incredibly handsome criminal genius and master of all villiany - 2011 Seriously awesome movie! Vash the Stampede - 2008 Character from a Japanese TV show. Drawn for a friend's birthday.

Grand Chase - 2008 Character from a computer game called Grand Chase. Drawn for a friend's birthdayFairy - Drawn in 2008 or 2009 because I became intrigued with mythical creatures. I have a centaur that I never finished...

Parrot - 2007 Don't ask me why I suddenly began drawing birds, because I'm not sure I have an answer.

Cockatoo - 2008

Toucan - 2007 Saw a picture of a toucan in a Central American guidebook that I was given after having traveled there.

Bald Eagle - 2008 Because what bird drawing collection is complete without an eagle?

"The most wasted of all days..."

"...is one without laughter." - e. e. cummings

In honor of all my Faith Builders friends who are getting married this year...

Happy Valentine's Day! (not for the faint of heart)

You were warned. :) Seriously though...even if all the red and pink commercialism kinda' makes me a little sick (did you know Americans send an average of 141 million Valentine's cards? That's a lot of trees, folks), I hope you feel loved this Valentine's Day.

Deep Thoughts

Actually, I don't really have any deep thoughts right now, or at least not any that are in any form to share publicly. So I'll share a laugh instead. :)

The very first senior moment...

Light Trumps Darkness

"There's always going to be bad stuff out there. But here's the amazing thing -- light trumps darkness, every time. You stick a candle into the dark, but you can't stick the dark into the light." -Jodi Picoult

My world has recently been expanded to include the famous story of Nate Saint, and his four companions who were slaughtered by the Waodani (also called Huaorani or Auca) people of Ecuador. And I was shocked by how dedicated they were…to go to the people who knew only killing and being killed; to be that totally given to a mission that they’d go through with it, no matter the personal cost; to not fight back or fire their guns when they saw the warriors charging with their spears.

They let go of their personal comforts that they could have had at home and moved to the untamed, foreign land of Ecuador.

They let go of their reservations in reaching an untamed, barbaric tribe and initiated contact.

They let go of their own natural instincts of safety and self-preservation and put themselves in a very dangerous place.

Somehow, without knowing the natives personally, they loved them enough to let go and reach out.

And as if that isn’t amazing enough, I was struck with another thought. My mind flashed to the wives of these five men. They loved their husbands to the point that they would share their mission. They would leave their extended families at home and struggle to take care of their immediate families in this unforgiving alien country. They hugged and kissed their men goodbye on that fateful morning, praying that this meeting with the natives would go as well as the previous, but still knowing that anything was possible. And, when days went by and their men didn’t return, they could only assume the worst. Somehow, by some divine assistance, those new widows found forgiveness in their hearts for their husbands’ killers, enough to go visit and even live among them.

They loved their husbands enough to let them leave on the ill-fated trip, loved the natives enough to forgive, and loved their God enough to get through the whole mess.

As it is so clearly evidenced, love is not safe. In a world obsessed with personal safety, this story could be more proof not to put yourself out there; an “I told you so” to every person warned of the danger of love. I see danger in elaborate home protection systems, and numerous insurance plans. I’m not talking about being dumb with our material things; keep honest people honest. But the extent to which we go, making sure that we can’t be touched, should be called into question. The same goes for heart matters – get to know the cashiers at your local grocery store, get involved in the community, give time and energy even when you don’t feel like it. Be yourself, even when you face the fear of rejection. Love wholeheartedly and unconditionally, even when you know it might never be returned. Our hearts, time, and money are not our own.

We know that Operation Auca and the missionaries’ sacrifices were not in vain. The killing of the men, followed by the forgiveness of the woman, allowed the Waodani people to accept God (or Waengongi) into their lives, and the revenge killings between tribes reduced by 90%. In the well-known words of Jim Elliot (one of the five men killed), “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

What differences can I make if I open my heart to the people around me and leave my safety in the hands of God?

~~~I have only watched the movie “The End of the Spear”. If any of my readers own books pertaining to the Palm Beach massacre, or the missionaries’ lives before or after, I would love to borrow them.~~~

"We are all in the gutter...

...but some of us are looking at the stars." ~Oscar Wilde

Hope is...

...the fizzing sound you hear when you open a new bottle of soda.

...the childish delight that makes you whoop and holler when you wake up to the snow that covered up the muddy mess from yesterday.

...listening to a new Christmas CD for the first time.

...hearing the hum of the washer and dryer as you clean up the kitchen.

...finishing the 600 page book you've read a dozen times before, but keep re-reading because the story of redemption and recovered dreams changes your life each time.

Hope has showed up in many more different moments, but these are the ones that most recently stood out to me. It's just good to know that no matter how much mud and rain there is in my life, there's a snowfall around the corner to cover up the mess and teach me that life is beautiful.

"You will not fear the terror of night nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the dark...for He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways." Psalm 91:5, 6a, and 11

"As long as we both shall live..."

Today was my first day with a new job. I am helping out a couple that lives in the community. He is 97 years old, and she just turned 91 years old last week. They are both darling. I can't wait to learn all that I can from them. Can you imagine having nearly a century of knowledge and experience to impart? And yet that's when people stop listening and write you off as "outdated" or "out of touch."

This woman reminds me of my grandmother. She worries when she perceives the room in which I am reading as too dark. She speaks proudly of her sons and their families and "my niece that wrote two books!" She offers me a glass of pop several times in an hour, and feels bad that she didn't have the energy to do the sink full of dishes herself. She wants to know all about my life, and has an amazing memory for names and events that are important to me. She brings to life the stories of the times that her husband walked to work because they only had one car and when "we were poor, so we didn't have much meat."

The most memorable part of the afternoon though, was when she got a soft look in her eyes and said this: "I never imagined that he would have a stroke and we would need to get help like this. I never expected it. But, I married him 'for better or for worse.' I guess now it's time for the 'for worse' part."

She's my newest hero.