Friday, January 20, 2012

Every Little Thing Gonna Be Alright



Look at the birds of the air,
for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns;
yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?
Which of you by worrying
can add one cubit to his stature?
Matthew 6:26-27 NKJV



Give your entire attention
to what God is doing right now,
and don't get worked up
about what may or may not happen tomorrow.
God will help you
deal with whatever hard things
come up when the time comes.
Matthew 6:33 ~ The Message


Got some worrying going on
in the house.

So I found the Word,
gathered some music,
and made art.

Erin made some "curly-cue" art also.
"Look, Mom, my first sunshine with curly-cues!"



Joining Jennifer and the artists for a sneak peek in the studio:
sneak peek

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Pretty Beads On Dirty Carpet


This morning

Erin called to me, "I need your help, Mom!"

Common phrase.

Like, I don't get too worked up about it.

Into the living room I go.

Here she is on the floor with a pink funnel in my glass bead jar.

She is picking up teeny tiny beads that are spilled into the carpet.

I told her that next time she needed to ask for my help.

"I know," she said.


There is nothing like getting your nose and fingers

down into the carpet picking up pretty beads,

to make me see how filthy, dirty my carpet is.  Just gross.

But we did it anyway.

And I said, "Guess what?  Even though you spilled the beads . . . "

Erin finished my sentence, " . . . you still love me anyway. 
I knew you were going to say that you still love me anyway."

"You are so right," I said.  "That is exactly what I was going to say."

She teaches me much.
She came clean and told me she needed help.
She knew that I still loved her anyway.


I had been reading in my Bible this morning.
Seeing and knowing that no matter what, I don't do it all right all the time.
Even though I try, my life still gets messed up with bad choices and thoughts sometimes.
And I was on the verge of discouragement.
Because sometimes I think I'm doing really good
and I get proud.
And sometimes I get lazy and slack off, and other times just exhausted.
Sometimes I do something like blatantly choosing to spend too much money when I should save it.
And I beat myself up in my head, thinking all kinds of mean thoughts toward myself
and get fearful, doubtful.
My "carpet" is dirty.  Even though I'm trying my best to keep it clean.
I cannot satisfy every person, including myself, all the time.
And this walk of life and of faith is hard.
But like these butterflies in the mud and with broken, tattered wings,
that still do what they were created to do--
that still fly anyway,
I am reminded by my daughter,
to love anyway,
to live anyway.
and that
God still loves me even though I spilled the beads
when I should have asked for His help in the first place.
And He helps me clean up the mess,
when I come clean and ask Him to help me clean it up.

Erin
Grace.
Thanks, my girl.

I read this in Eugene Peterson's The Message this morning,
it's Paul lamenting about doing what he doesn't want to do
...that battle within us between flesh & spirit...
at the end of Romans 7 and beginning of Romans 8.
It brought much relief to me.

It happens so regularly that it's predictable. 
The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. 
I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight.  Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I've tried everything and nothing helps.  I'm at the end of my rope.
Is there no one who can do anything for me?
Isn't that the real question?

The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does.
He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions
where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind,
but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved.
Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us
no longer have to live
under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. 
A new power is in operation. 
The Spirit of life in Christ,
like a strong wind,
has magnificently cleared the air,
freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny . . .

Relief.
Grace.
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Jesus.

I think I will vacuum my floor.
Funny how grace doesn't make me want
to keep sinning.
But to clean it up.
Without the condemnation.
But with love instead.


*
All photos copyright Jodene (Jodi) Shaw.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Sturgis Area Arts Council Artist of the Month


About 2 years ago,

I had some art ideas in my mind that involved

some unique ways to share my photographs

with a message.


I had taken my kids to the library

and noticed a local photographer's work displayed.

I mentioned to my son

on the way home

that perhaps someday

my art would be in the library.



He was so excited and encouraging

and said many kind and believing words.

So I "tucked" the idea

"in my hip pocket"

for the future.



A little over a year ago,

I started experimenting with collage

incorporating my photography

as a focal point.



It was a bit like scrapbooking,

only on a piece of wood to hang on the wall or set on a shelf.

I knew that I liked it.

And that is truly what matters.




But what surprised me

was how quickly others responded.

So here we are celebrating as a family.




As I tried to think of a way to display a large number of photographs,

my rancher husband's creative wheels started turning . . .



He made me two cedar fenceposts

and

I almost cried.

Because of the love of my husband,

and how perfectly it fit my heart and vision

of sharing my love for this life.

I carried the idea of "story on a string"

that I used for my photos

to also share some of my writing and blogs

about my family as well as the story behind some of my art pieces.




My art is all about
honoring God
 and what He has done in me and for me
. . . especially setting me free
from thoughts that robbed me of joy,
and honoring this life that He has given me
right here, right now
with this man
and this family.


It is so rich and fulfilling
to see it expressed
in a way that is true to me and what I love.

If you get a chance to stop in,
my art & photography will be on display
at the
Sturgis Public Library
until January 30, 2012.

What a great experience . . .

Joining Jennifer & inspirational creative women here:
sneak peek