Wednesday, February 29, 2012

WOYWW: Of Clean Hearts and Messy Desks

Hopefully the state of my heart
has no relation to the state of my desk!!!

This is my desk this morning! 
And by no stretch of the imagination
can you call it clean!

On the foreground is a finished painting
for my niece Elyse.
I used designs from her fine arts thesis,
"Fractals and Patterns from Seashells
Applied as Graphic Elements".
I had a rubber stamp made 
from one of the designs
and used that to make the flowers.


It is entitled "Keep Believing!"

From a page in my journal:
God did not have to make a covenant 
with man.
He did not have to promise us anything.
He did not have to send His Son Jesus
to make His message clear,
and to die for us.
And yet He did all these things.

He gives us the beautiful rainbow as the sign
of His covenant wth us.
In ancient times, in the east,
rainbows were thought to be the 
god's battle weapons.
The lightning was the arrow, and the rainbow, 
the bow.

Did you know that if you were in an airplane
and at a right angle to the rainbow, 
you will see a complete circle and not 
just an arc?
This is a real sign of God's covenant with us!
It is like a wedding band!!!
See more full circle rainbow images here 
if you're interested!

Joining the lovely Julia for a 
peek at desks and projects!

I love blog parties!
Won't you join us?

Linking up with



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Blessings!
Patsy

Friday, February 24, 2012

Paint Party Friday: Am I a Light to Others?

On my desk today
is a pile of works in progress.
This one is for a nice, very patient lady.
It is on thick sketchbook paper which I 
put wall putty on.
The verse for this work is from Isaiah 6:3
and I am planning to make lots of colorful 
flowers and insects and animals,
because the verse is about 
how the whole earth is full of God's glory.

Another work in progress.
This time for my niece,
Peggy's daughter, who enlisted me to help
with her Fine Arts thesis entitled:
"Fractals and Patterns from Seashells
Applied as Graphic Elements".
What??? 
Anyway, she is making a pattern book
from designs from seashells.
We have lots of beautiful seashells
here in the Philippines!
I had a rubber stamp made from 
one of the designs
and am using it in this piece.
Looks Hawaiian!!!

On my journal, advice from the prophet Isaiah:
"This is the fasting I wish:
setting free the oppressed, 
breaking every yoke,
sharing your bread with the hungry."

It is the 3rd day into Lent
and I've been reading blogposts
about what bloggers are giving up for Lent.
It's great to go hungry,
if it will lead us to hunger more for God! 

 But let's not forget that 
God does not need our sacrifices
if it makes us focus on ourselves
and our concerns.

John the Baptist did no miracle,
but Jesus said that among those
born of women, 
there had not appeared greater than he.
John's main business was 
to bear witness to the light...

and one of the ways we can do that is 
by being a light to others!

Linking with 
Blessings,
Patsy


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

WOYWW: Watch out for the Locusts!

It's hard to put anything on my desk
these days!

Lots of things going on and piling up!

I discovered from Traci Bautista's class
for Strathmore, that you can mix
gesso with acrylic so that
the background won't show through.
In my case I mixed wall putty
with flesh acrylic,
and as you can see I've been making
lots of faces on bodies on different backgrounds.
A closer look.
  
Here's a finished canvas.
It's entitled, "My Times are in Your Hands".
On my journal yesterday:
from James 4:8, "Draw near to God,
and He will draw near to you."
 Today is Ash Wednesday.
The reading is from the prophet Joel.
I was wondering why the prophet was advising
the bride and bridegroom to stop their honeymoon!

It so happens that a plague of locusts
were destroying the land of Israel,
and Joel was calling on everyone to join the priests
in prayers and fasting for repentance
and intercession.



Locusts have been called
"formidable eating machines that can rapidly
devastate crops".
Theodoret, a Christian Bishop of Syria,
said that the head of the locust 
is very much like a horse!
Indeed, the Italian word for locust,
cavaletta, means little horse,
and the German word, heupferd
means hay horse!!


In the Bible, the effects a herd of locusts 
brings on much the same effect 
as an invading army.


Sin, or disobedience to God, is like 
a herd of locusts. 
It can destroy the peace, joy,
and love in our lives when we do not do 
anything to stop it!


Lent is a time of particular grace
when God offers us this unique invitation
to grow in our faith 
and in knowing Him
who loved us first!



Joining the lovely Julia for a 
peek at desks and projects!

I love blog parties!
Won't you join us?

Linking up with



Grab My Button


Blessings!
Patsy



Monday, February 20, 2012

Help my Unbelief!


On my journal today is a sketch 
of the very worried father
and his epilectic son who foams 
in the mouth and has seizures,
from Mark 9:14-29.

The father pleads with Jesus,
"If You can do anything, have compassion 
and help us!"
Jesus answers, " 'If you can!' 
EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE
TO ONE WHO HAS FAITH."

Then the father responds with, 
"I DO believe. Help my unbelief!"

Mark 11:24 reads, "Have faith that whatever
you ask for in prayer is
already granted you,
and you will find that it will be."

It is sometimes hard to understand  these words.
All I know is
FAITH is a gift.

"Every perfect gift is from above."
James 1: 17

And if we ask God for something,
and it is not granted yet,
we can pray like the father,
"I DO believe, help my unbelief!"


I love blog parties!
Won't you join us?