porch pictures and molly

i seem to not be able to take a clear picture these days...

i did not want to use a flash and it is early morning and overcast as well...and i have a stinkin headache again!!

we have been able to sit out on this marvelous porch quite often this winter...today it will be high 60's. i love sitting out there when it is raining.

news on our sweet molly came back yesterday.  the tumor in the tail was cancer, and they found cancer cells all the way to the margin.  hopefully, that is where it ends.  only time will tell.

i have been playing around in my calendar book...painting a few pages and doodling and journaling a bit differently...will show you later.

i hear the birds singing and no dogs barking so i am gonna go grab a cup of coffee my bible and journal and go sit on that porch.

grace, peace and love!

where i was last night

this is where i slept last night

it was such a mild evening i could not resist. and the local news said we were in for some overnight storms

love sleeping on this daybed, tucked away in the corner of the porch in storms

no storms

it was lovely, until i was wakened by the neighbors loud obnoxious dogs...they have about 8 of them and anytime a car drives by they go berserk!!

oh, had my first sale for the red barn sale before the red barn sale

the small color wheel canvas sold

thank you!

more...

small 10x10 canvas

working on a few things for this springs red barn sale (see button on sidebar)

below is a journal spread i did several months ago...yes, i seem to be drawn to this color wheel thingy.
i removed it from the journal and framed it. i think i will do some journal spreads on loose paper and
frame them for the sale as well. i am thinking if priced reasonably one would rather have an original
piece over a print.

i was not happy with this spread, so it became

this...now why will this one not load horizontal like the rest i do not know...drives me nuts!

and, added a little more to this one

today

some new journal spreads in various stages

a few more home pics

we got a second couch to have more seating space. these are slipcovered couches and i had this color and an off white one for the couch we already had. i knew i could not get two slipcovers for the second so decided on red. glad i did. i think the off white would be too light with the light walls...at least for me.

i am loving this arrangement and the room seems bigger to me even with more furniture. go figure.

update on Molly girl

Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, and well wishes. 

Molly Isabel is doing remarkable well. She does not seem to be in too much pain thanks to pain medication, but I think dogs and cats have a very high pain tolerance. They do not get cranky and out of sorts like we do when in pain. They still shower you with love and affection. Which by the way she is getting lots of these days. 

We leave the huge cone off her when we are home, and she is doing a good job of not licking the incision, which I have not photographed, which i am sure you are thankful for...you're welcome. :)

Thanks again for keeping us in your thoughts, you blogging community are the best.  

Grace and peace

Molly girl

our sweet Molly girls goes in for surgery tomorrow morning

the lump that she had last fall is back, and now the vet is positive it is cancer

they will remove her fluffy beautiful tail tomorrow in hopes the cancer is contained

we had x-rays taken of her chest yesterday to make sure it has not spread to the lungs

since they are clear we are proceeding with the tail amputation

love

Valentine love from my husband

This was posted on my church's website by a lovely lady named Carolyn Bahr.

Blessed me immensely, thought it would you too.   

A Letter to My Beloved Daughter

My Precious Child,

Today, I want to remind you how much I love you. You are a crown of beauty in my hands and I delight in you. (Isaiah 62:3-4)

I, the Creator of the Heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), am your Abba, Papa-God (Rom.8:15). Long before I laid down the earth’s foundations, I chose you as the focus of my love, to be made whole and holy by my love. (Ephesians 1:4) I wasn’t attracted to you and didn’t choose you because you were big and important—the fact is, there was almost nothing to you. I did it out of sheer love, keeping the promise I made to your ancestors. I stepped in and brought you out of slavery. I amYOUR God, a God you can depend on. I covenant to love you for you observe my commandments. (Deuteronomy 7:7-9) I formed you in your mother’s womb…I know every bone in your body (Psalm 139:13-16) and the number of hairs on your head (Matthew 10:30).

Nothing can separate you from my love – neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing… NOTHING can separate you from my love (Romans 8:35-38 ). There is no where that you can run, where you are out of my sight. If you go up to the heavens, I’m there. If you fly on the wings of the dawn, I’m there!  If you settle on the far side of the sea, I’m there! I know when you sit. I know when you stand. I even know the very words you are going to say before you speak them (Psalm 139:1-12). I KNOW YOU!

Don’t be afraid, I have redeemed you. I have called your name. You are mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end—Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you.  (Isaiah 43:1-4)

I love you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 3:13) I am theLORD your God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you, Do not fear, I will help you.  (Isaiah 41:13) My Loyal love will not run out. My mercies will never dry up. They are created new for you every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-24)

I long to stack blessings upon you. I wait with arms wide open to provide an escape from this unkind world you live in. I will hide you safely away from all opposition and silence all gossip against you. (Psalm 31:21)

I forgive all your sins – every one! I heal all your diseases – every one! I redeem you from hell – save your life! I crown you with love and mercy – a paradise crown! I wrap you in goodness – beauty eternal! I renew your youth – you’re always young in my presence! (Psalm 103:3-5)

I make everything come out right; I am sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, and rich in love for you! I don’t treat you as your sin deserves, or hold grudges forever. In fact, I have separated your sin as far is the east is from the west. I dare you to try to take it back! Remember, my daughter, my love is ever and always eternally present to you. (Psalm 103:6-12) My love is higher than you can ever imagine!  Every cloud is a flag to my faithfulness to you. I will reveal my glory to you, dear one, and will reach down to help you when you call to me. (Psalm 108:3-6)

I know what I’m doing, Dear One. I have it all planned out for you—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen. When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed. (Jeremiah 29:11-14) I know all your needs. I can provide for them all. (Matthew 6:8) I am your portion. I am enough. (Psalm 73:25-28) Don’t forget to ask – and it will be given to you. Seek – and you will find. Knock and I will always open my door for you.  (Matthew 7:7-8)

My beloved, I know you struggle to understand and receive my love. I, your God, will cut the calluses on your heart and on your children’s hearts, freeing you to understand and receive my love. (Deuteronomy 30:6) If you will let me, I’ll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. l’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands (Ezekiel 36:26:27)

I am generous in love, huge in mercy and long to extend grace to you, my child. I will scrub away your guilt and soak out your sins in my laundry. (Psalm 51:1) I will set things right for you and rescue you from your enemy’s anger. I will save you from bullies. I am your Rock and towering Salvation! (2 Samuel 22:50-51) 

I am here to be your cheerleader (Yeah! Rah!) and to help you persevere. My love will hold you fast. When you are upset and beside yourself, I will calm you down and cheer you up. (Psalm 94:17-19) I will listen to you very intently as you lay out your case before me. When you call out for help, I will be gracious and save your life. It is I who makes things right. I am a compassionate God who loves to take the side of the helpless; when you are at the end of your rope, I will save you! (Psalm 116:1)

You must know that I am not a high priest who is out of touch with reality. I’ve been through weakness and testing. I’ve experienced it all – all but the sin. So, walk right up to me and come and get what I am willing and ready to give. Take my mercy and accept my help! (Hebrews 4:14-16) 

If your heart is shattered, do not despair. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape my attention. (Psalm 51:16) I love you and will make you strong. I am the bedrock beneath your feet, the castle in which you live. I am your rescuing knight. I am the high crag in the rock where you can seek shelter. (Psalm 18:1)

Look for my love, my child. I am ready and waiting to come to your rescue in bad times. In lean times, I will keep your body and soul together. (Psalm 23:6) My love for you is meteoric, my loyalty astronomic, my purpose titanic, my verdicts oceanic. Yet, in my largeness, nothing gets lost; not you or even a mouse slips through the cracks. (Psalm 36:5) I will remember you when you are down, my love never quits. I will rescue you from the trampling boot, my love never quits. I take care of everyone in time of need.  My love never quits. My love never quits! (Psalm136)

My darling, did you know that I rejoice over you with singing? (Zephaniah 3:17)  Here is some perspective for you…I love you with the same intensity that I love my son, Jesus! (John 17:23, Ephesians 2:4-5) I will guard you as the apple of my eye. I will never abandon you. I will never, no NEVER, forsake you. (Deuteronomy 32:10, Hebrews 13:5)

I will never betray you or take my love from you. I will not fail you.  (Psalm 89:33-34) You are my possession, a special treasure. Don’t ever forget it. (Exodus 19:5-6)

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me, my child. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. (Matthew 11:28-30) 

Come to me and I will strengthen you by my Spirit – not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength – that my Son, Jesus Christ, will live in you as you open the door and invite Him in. I will firmly plant your feet in love so that you can take in all the extravagant dimensions of my love for you! Reach out and experience the breadth of it! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives in me. I can do anything, you know – far more than you could ever guess or imagine or request in your wildest dreams! I am at work within you, my Spirit gently calling you to a deeper relationship with me. (Ephesians 3:14-21)

Come, my daughter! Come! My arms are open wide. I am waiting to hold and shelter you in my loving embrace. Come! Say, “Yes!” to my extravagant proposal of eternal life, freedom and intimacy now and forever! 

Believe!

Receive! 

Come!

I love you!

Your Heavenly Father

Happy Valentine's Day

work in progress

The King Who Loved a Humble Maiden

Here is Soren Kierkegaard's version of this story:

Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden. The king was like no other king. No one dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all opponents. And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden. How could he declare his love for her? In an odd sort of way, his kinglines tied his hands. If he brought her to the palace and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist-no one dared resist him. But would she love him?

She would say she loved him, of course, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief to the life she had left behind? Would she be happy at his side? How could he know? If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners, that too would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross the gulf between them. For it is only in love that the unequal can be made equal.(as quoted in Disappointment with God)

The king clothes himself as a beggar and renounces his throne in order to win her hand. The Incarnation, the life and the death of Jesus, answers once and for all the question, "What is God's heart toward me?" This is why Paul says in Romans 5, "Look here, at the Cross. Here is the demonstration of God's heart. At the point of our deepest betrayal, when we had run our farthest from him and gotten so lost in the woods we could never find our way home, God came and died to rescue us."

The Sacred Romance, 80-81 by John Eldredge

Valentine ideas

playing on my iPad some more.  love these simple framed hearts with sentiments in them.

i was thinking about making some and listing them in my etsy site. if anyone is interested in one or two for Valentine's Day let me know.

there a few choices below, and if you wanted something special written in one let me know that too.

oh and that great print on the dictionary page is from The Salvaged Sparrow.

these are 8 x 10 prints.  i also have different heart cards available in my shop.