Painted for a Wedding Gift

This is what I painted for Chad and Meghan for their wedding on Friday. I was very happy with it. It is framed in a simple black frame which sets off the colors.
May their marriage include the Lord God and may they be fruitful.

Wish I had time to paint more. I do love it.

But, I have decided to go to grad school for a degree in counseling. Starts on Thursday. Not everyone thinks I'll be successful. I'm doing it anyway. If I don't try, I'll never know and I will regret it. Regret is a terrible pain. I sure wish they made an over-the-counter salve for that malady.

I am promising myself with this blog that I will set aside time to paint no matter how busy I get. If I am more disciplined with "lights out," I may have more stamina.

So, I'm registered. Printed out the syllabus and requirements. I have an email address at the University. I am looking forward to this. My largest fear is that I will be too physically exhausted to carry on.

Bottom line is that God will have to give me the strength to carry on. As Jill said, either that verse is true or it isn't. "I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me. I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me." Philippians 4:13 was one of the first verses that I ever took to heart.

"And my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus."

Someday, all this pain is going to make sense, and God will take it and use it for His Glory and in the service of comforting and steering His sheep right into His loving arms.

Nice little Saturday

Shopping today with my daughter to get her stuff for her new apartment. Gone is the rubber duckie bathroom theme that was great for nursing school. So many ducks in a tiny bathroom. Now, she is much more sophisticated. We didnt have a plan as we set off for Tarzhay. We didnt even have an idea of colors (except the copper accents for the kitchen.) We knew we wanted to go with that. We didnt have a list. But then what happened was pure serendipity.

First we hit the furniture shop looking for the sofa/loveseat combination. Daughter would not be pressured even in a low pressure situation. "we are busiest on weekends" saleslady said in a completely empty store. Daughter will end up purchasing. Maybe tomorrow. New Amex card has not yet been used.

On to the Bed Bath Beyond. We only picked up a couple of things. I got a new pure glass frame for my office desk to add to my growing glass frame collection. Daughter got an idea of colors, mostly solidified what she Didnt want. Got a silverware separater for the drawer. Not plastic. Stay awaaaay from the plastic.

On to the Tarzhay. First she chose a celery green shower curtain made of cloth. added cream towels and bathmats. Yes, this was a grown up scheme. But then there was a sudden change. Celery out, Blue is in. Stripes. Maybe the ducky shower curtain hooks can stay. New blue bathmats and white towels with a few blues for accents replaced the creams and browns. We added a bathroom glass jar for cotton balls and swabs and toothbrush holder.

A tomato red trashcan for the kitchen was added to the cart as well as one (1)counter stool. That's all they had. We will be back for more. Capped with a dark beige cushion, this completes the look.

Kitchen aisle: Turqoise plates to add to the turqoise accent dishes that I had already started her on last year? Tempting. We love turquoise. Suddenly the tomato red plates look better. Matches the trashcan. I think we have a theme cooking. I spotted a red pot. Not this time. Found some flatware with copper handles. YES. A couple of tomato-y mugs and and we headed for the door. Nice with the copper.
I bought some of this stuff, but not all of it. Daughter pulls out new AMEX card and flexes it. One should always stretch before a workout.

Next stop, AC Moore. We got 4 matted kitchen themed prints with that rusty color throughout, and 4 frames. This is going to tie everything together. One of the prints even had the boyfriends name in the design. Another had Daughter's city of birth. It was it was meant to be.

On to the storage unit to drop off purchases and we are exhausted. Move day is Sept 1. Stay tuned. Pictures of apartment to follow. Until then, here's Bob the Tomato.

Pray for Jerusalem

These battles, this war will be looked upon for many years and I believe, into eternity as another major step towards the Tribulation as was 1948, 1973. If you carefully read Zachariah 12 and Psalm 83, I believe these are the days referred to in those passages. Israel: "Cup of reeling to the nations." The world is mad. If you see Israel as the aggressors, you are being taken in on the wrong side. If you believe that Hezbollah is the victim here, you are poorly misinformed. If Israel goes, so do we. England has not learned it's lessons of 1914, Balfour and the White papers. They screwed Israel, and they lost their empire. Today, they are blind to their enemies moving right into their land and fomenting hatred against them. The have allowed the building a huge mosque for the olympics in 2012 paid for by terror organizations such as Hezbollah and alQuaida. But you wont hear of this on alCNN or alCBS.

It is wise for you to find the places in Scripture to see what will happen next. How to get blessed by God, and how to stay blessed. The choices will become blacker and whiter. You will have to choose. God or Not God.

Choose wisely.

Sick Bay

Havent felt much like typing or doing anything. Been sick all week and today I just went to ground. My prayer to the Lord went something like this, "You see this?" and of course, Yes, He did. He sent the Heron in the pond this morning with a full wing span in the full morning sunlight so that I thought it was a pure white egret and had to go out to look. Got me out of bed. I couldn't appreciate the first normal below 90 degree day in several weeks due to the stuff in my head and achyness, but I did get out there with the dogs. If this had been a work day I would not have been able to go. I gave my all at the office yesterday while sick.

Later this afternoon, there was a young buck in the driveway. Couldnt count the points on his antlers.

I was able to read a lot on my laptop today about watercolor. Specifically Bruce MacEvoy's Handprints online diary. He's an excellent writer and echoes some of my same thoughts and frustrations. Such as: When I dont have the energy to paint, I can always read about it, or watch a demo. I can store that information for when I really do have the time and energy. Perhaps tomorrow. I have got to feel better tomorrow.

I am planning on a real painting vacation. I may need to do this alone unless I can find someone like me who needs to paint and understands that it is a solitary time consuming thing. I was disappointed that I only got one painting finished in an entire week. If it had rained, I would have gotten more done. Next time, that is going to be what vacations are for. Paint and relax, draw and relax, paint and relax and EAT. Spaghetti and hot dogs if I want!