Let Each Snowflake Remind You...

Did you know

that man-made

snowflakes

from snow-making machines

are a jumbled glob of moisture?

But that God-nature created

snowflakes

are

unique,

one-of-a-kind,

beautiful,

intricate 

crystals?

Interesting.

Man-made snow

cannot replicate

the Creator's nature

patterns.

Kind of makes me

think about us.

About each individual person.

God.

Creator-nature.

Because God created nature.

And He has that creative nature about Him.

Creates each one

with unique

beauty

to

live

and

be

and

share.

Makes me think of a chapter in this favorite book of mine:

Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge

you can find it here:

Ransomed Heart Ministries.

It is all about living as an authentic woman.

How each one

is meant to grace the world with her dance,

and the way we find our own dance

is to find Jesus,

and when we find Him

He leads us to Himself,

and it is in Him

that we find ourselves,

and that we find out who we are,

and we find the passion

He has for each of us,

and we find the unique good works

He has

for us

to live

for Him,

and for others.

Being you.

Being authentic.

Comes from finding

the

Creator

of

the uniqueness.

And living the life

He

designed

for

you.

It is a gift.

It is your calling.

It is needed.

It takes

each one

to be the Body of Christ.

Because each one

is

unique.

Each one sings differently.

Each one dances differently.

But each one's sparkle reflects

the

glory

of the One

who

creates

the

true

snowflakes.

Photos and art property of Jodene (Jodi) Shaw.

2012.

Art Moms & Friends Holiday Boutique

Some of my favorite

work ever.

I have shipped off

to Art Moms & Friends Holiday Boutique

in Sioux Falls, SD.

{For the next 3 holiday shopping weekends}

A year ago . . .

I experimented . . .

making my first mixed media collage.

What a year it has been!

I remember how oddly

scared I felt when

I bought my first art supplies.

Fighting feelings and weird thoughts

like,

who do you think you are?

And showing my art the first time

feeling like a 37 year-old-child

with a

lemonade stand.

{Click "lemonade stand" above & you can read about that}

Every step of this journey

has felt extremely vulnerable.

Yet authentic.

True.

Wholehearted.

And that is just

how

I

want

to

be.

Crown ~ Abundance ~ Authenticity

I joined Beth Moore's

"Siesta" Scripture Memory Team

as a simple goal for 2011.

Every 2 weeks we memorize

a personally selected scripture.



My first verse for 2011

is Psalm 65:11.

You crown the year with Your goodness,

And Your paths drip with abundance.



I don't know if I will make an art piece

for each scripture.

But it sure helps cement it in my mind,

when I engage myself

in the imagery of it.

And I do love the imagery

of this verse.

I see how it was true for me in 2010.

And I look forward to the truth of it for 2011.

He crowns the year with His goodness (not mine).

His paths (not mine) drip with abundance.

It is interesting to see what that looks like.

How His goodness blesses me ~ blesses each one.

How His path for me is unique ~ for each one is unique.

How He walks us through our seasons of joy and pain.

And how His goodness is in there amidst all of it.

And His path is walked not alone, but with Him on the journey.

Whereever it may lead.

Alongside me.

It is not how I plan or expect.



I also made this piece

on request.

Another

"Be Authentic".



Bloom your sincere, genuine, authentic,

unique bloom.

Our authenticity

has seasons.



Of

being dormant

being planted in the dirt

invisibly growing roots

sprouting

maturing

blooming

&

fruit bearing.



I'm learning to be kind and gentle

to myself

and others

in my various seasons

of

authenticity.

Copyright January 2011 ~ Jodene (Jodi) Shaw.

Standing on the Edge of Me

It is Day 3 of Leslie's 31 Day Creativity Challenge

over at her {Words of Me Project} blog.

She asked us to think of 3 words that mean the most to us right now.

Here are mine:

authentic

truth

intended

*

And maybe I'm cheating a bit here,

but instead of creating a new piece of work today,

I'm stealing a page from my scrapbook dated March 2009.

It was in the midst of this "new thing" happening in my life...

I kept thinking I was at the brink. . .

Only to find that each day is a new brink.

But this page displays all that was and has been churning within me.

And I have an idea.

Today.

I have an idea that I am super exited to announce.

Of all this coming together.

Of that picture of all those paths in yesterdays post from my journal

in the first sketch the paths were like spokes.

But in the second were weaved together to make one new path...

and this is requiring creativity in me and partnership with the Ultimate Creator...

I think I have an idea of how to weave it all together.

And I don't have to wait for a publisher to accept my manuscript.

{although, I'm open to that in the future}.

But how I can bring my heart together to touch, teach, lead, counsel the hearts of women.

And I can use all these things I love to do.

So . . . I am not going to announce it yet.

Praying.  Making sure.  But thinking this is it.

And you can be a part of it!!

{I'm SO EXCITED!}

Here is a quote I want to share:

"In retrospect, I can see in my own life what I could not see at the time--how the job I lost [left behind] helped me find work I needed to do, how the 'road closed' sign turned me toward terrain I needed to travel, how losses that felt irredeemable forced me to discern meanings I needed to know.  On the surface, it seemed that life was lessening, but silently and lavishly the seeds of new life were always being sown."

~"Let Your Life Speak", Parker Palmer

love and grace to you my readers,

my supporters,

my encouragers,

my friends, 

jodi

"Artistic Mother" Vision Board Project

My next project in

The Artistic Mother by Shona Cole

is to make a vision board.

After 15 years of making "goal" posters

this is a familiar activity.

However . . . this feels more authentic than ever before.

Maybe it is because I know my own heart better than ever before.

Maybe it is because I have accepted and embraced myself and desires more than ever before.

But this is requiring me to take a deep breath as I prepare this post.

These are the vision, goals, values, and scripture that are my own.

And it is extremely vulnerable to lay my heart out there for the world to see.

And yet, I believe it is important. 

It is part of being real, being authentic, being courageous.

It is scary to even hang up in my own house.

But I am commited to living authentically for me and for my family.

This last week, I plugged back in to Beth Moore's broadcasts.

And watched "Don't throw away your confidence".

This is a bold, courageous, confident step for me to post.

But here's my heart, my hopes, my dreams, my goals ~

VISION

One of Beth's quotes was,

"What would a courageous person do in my situation? 

Be the person. 

Do it."

This is me doing it.

GOALS

MY VALUES

SCRIPTURE

In The Bible, in the book of John, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well.

Though they have never met, he knows everything about her.

She recognizes that He is the Messiah and tells everyone she meets

that she met a man who knew everything about her.

Through many experiences, I know that He knows me

better than I know myself.

I hope that as I share my stories of Him knowing me

Others will hear HIM for themselves and believe.

That is my prayer for my family:

that they will hear Him themselves

and believe

with their own faith,

their own hearts,

their own love,

know that He knows them

and know that this Man really is the Savior of the world

and of them individually & uniquely.

Photos & text copyright 2010 Jodene (Jodi) Shaw.