Art Journey

Current creative musings...

Joys and Healing

It's been a season of changes since this little one arrived.  Eli Raynor my high warrior is so tender toward his momma.  I won't be anxious to see this one grow up.  What a joy to my cast down heart.  I love you boy and so do your brother and sisters

These Gals

It is an incredible thing to realize how long and through what trials we can remain connected with people.  The faces in this photo represent a great deal of life endurance and journey through spiritual growth some yet to be discovered.  I am eternally grateful to friends who have walked through bitter moments with me and made courageous statements to help me see the Lord's mercy in spite of all things appearing grim.  Chosing honesty over personal comfort.  Applying love and care where it has been neglected.  Nurturing one another through fellowship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Remembering who we were and who we are transforming into through God's grace.  These journeys are hardly concluded.  I love you gals, stay close.

Inspiration with ITC

I'm one of those numerous dorks who wants to go to London and check off

üpicture with red phone booth 

I also want to ride a double decker but that's not part of this thought.

I struggle being content with our very modest life (and not modest at all compared to the daily misfortune of others).  I don't care about luxury or gadgets as much as I wish for the opportunity to travel.  I don't dream of some fluffy vacation, but simply the opportunity to behold more of God's creation.

I'm of the belief that you can't truly appreciate another place unless you've actually spent some time learning the cultural customs and social norms of that foreign place.  So going to London simply to get a shot of Big Ben and ride a double decker are not exactly cultural experiences, however they are icons of that culture's history and something to appreciate.  As a visual person I mentally store these "icons" and desire to one day see them first-hand outside of someone else's lens or interpretation.

Since I'm not booking any flights to London in the near future I will adapt my own imaginative interpretation of some of these icons...I could call it : "A Study of Cultural Icons".  I haven't settled on a medium yet, but paint seems inevitable.

So I have established my intent to create (ITC) here and hope to show my results in the near future..... 

Just Not So....for now

I recently found out that I will be waiting another year to attempt acceptance into the Radiography program. It's been a little disappointing. Since I began the program I knew this particular point would be the most uncertain since there are only 20 students accepted each year. I am like a sitting duck for another year - sitting figuratively; there's plenty to keep busy with in the meantime... Immediately I'm desperate to start a new project, but I have a house full already. I don't know what has come over me, but suddenly the walls are like the next best thing to a big expensive canvas and I wanna' paint! I'm not a painter so I don't know what the heck I'm thinking, but it might get a little interesting in here in the next couple weeks. I gave up dying my hair almost a year ago. I used to change the color and cut every 6 months. I think the change itch is now coming over me in a new way. I like the fact that if I goof up the wall I can easily start over - an immediate forgiveness to my fear of self-made disaster. I should keep the wall color on hand so I can do all this before Adam gets home from work. The kids will still rat me out: "Mommy painted this ugly thing on the wall!" So far I've painted the kitchen and a faux brick portion of the wall under the counter. I don't have any new ideas yet.

Plain Jane

I can't help but fall into the temptation of thinking we live a relatively plain life. Our goals are honestly to live each day to it's fullest and that's pretty much how each day transpires - full and -est and etc. (bedtime).

We've spent the last 10 years grasping perspective while the advance stages of parenting have all at once assumed position. God help us as we raise these babes while feeling constantly inexperienced. I don't know that we could attach anymore extraordinary circumstances to the ordinarily complicated ones we already have. I'm not just speaking about parenting but adding other ventures to making ends meat, surviving this world and doing it all for God's glory -- that is what I've come to observe is not enough of a challenge for some.

I spent my early adulthood signing up and volunteering for way more than I was able to undertake. It required a heap of burning failure and stalled ambition in order to realize that I could only give so much. Having three children has enacted a maternal self-awareness that has forced me to filter through these vast "opportunities" in order to maintain the strength and energy my children need from me on a daily basis.

So I am tempted to ask, "Is what I'm doing enough? Counted as worthy? Equivalently self-sacrificing?"


I'm a stay-at-home mom. I am a student. I am a spouse - a military spouse - and therefore a single parent at times. I am a survivor of once paralyzing anxiety and depression. I am a Christian in a world that despises absolute truth. I am ordinary and that's about all I can manage right now - by the grace the God.

Song Lyrics: Channeling Bitterness and Resentment

You ever find yourself telling someone off in your head while driving, cleaning or some other everyday task? The sheer emotion and precision that goes into a clever comeback or manipulating the most deep cutting remark is, what I believe, the same ruthless effort that goes into a good song.

Generally people, musicians and listeners, admire a song that fulfills an emotion for them. The words of a song speak for them the way they’d like to speak in a given life scenario – love life, family life, work place. That and a catchy chorus that manages to plaster itself in your head so easily that you’re singing it unconsciously throughout the day.

I was thinking this while reeling from a deep seeded emotional reaction I had recently, thinking “this would make a good line in a song”. That would maybe be the best place for it, since voicing it at any one person would enrage greater conflict and as a Christian I can’t justify stirring that kind of anger. So lately my head has been filling with “song lyrics” and that is a nice way to put it.

So vomit those aggressive words out on paper and spare your neighbor, family member or friend that mouthful of hate….please.