Don't they know? Don't they believe?

Six.

Can I say I'm so glad she still has wings?

A few ladies in church call her

"our little butterfly".

Riding in the car this morning,

her birthday dolls have their hands up,

she is singing with them

as we are listening to Chris Tomlin sing

our God is greater

our God is stronger

God, You are higher than any other 

*

and if our God is for us

then who could

ever stop us?

She stops and asks . . . 

"Mom, how come in the movies they don't talk about God?

Don't they know about Him?

Don't they believe in Him?"

Another deep breath moment for me.

And my standard answer it seems lately . . . 

"I'm not sure.  I don't know."

She says, holding up Merida,

"Like this movie."

I say,

"Yes, you're right."

Then she says,

"Well, she's learning about Him now.  I'll teach her."

*

*

*

*

Yesterday she came home from school

and it was,

"The worst birthday of my life..."

Somebody had upset her on the playground.

So I listen, 

because her hurt deserves listening.

Then I tell her not to focus on just the bad things

and declare it to be the worst birthday of her life,

but to think about the good things that happened.

Because that's like throwing away all the good stuff

and keeping the bad stuff.

"That's what Mrs. D. said," she told me.

I'm so glad that Mrs. D. and I think along the same lines.

We make a great team!

There have been plenty of bad stuff moments in the last couple days,

but this moment,

this one right here of E teaching Merida about God,

I'm going to hang on to that one moment

and let go of the others

{the whining, yelling, fighting, bickering}.

That's the one moment I'm going to keep.

Because

that moment matters.

And I'm going to share it.

For your hearts too.

*

*

*

By the way, for those of you that have followed

my birthday cake

fiascos . . . 

this one turned out pretty good.

Whew!

Maybe I am learning a lesson.

Must be watching all those Pioneer Woman episodes!

Pure Heart

Blessed

are the

pure in heart

for they

will

see

God.

Matthew 5:8

This one turns 6 years old tomorrow.

She is a pure heart.

An honest one.

{Unless it comes to telling whether or not she has brushed her teeth.}

Otherwise,

she's a "no bologna" kind of girl.

Sometimes it's stressful.

But mostly, what is most important,

is that she is all-out, wholehearted.

In her "yes".

In her "no".

In her belief.

And this time,

she wanted God to have this drawing she made.

She thought perhaps she could keep it until she died someday

and she could take it with her.

But then it would stay in the casket,

so that wouldn't work.

She decided He should come get it.

The next day, it was still here.

WHY won't He come get it, Mom???

My answer, 

I don't know.

What should we DO, Mom?

My answer,

Let's take it to church and we'll ask some people.

Yes!  Let's have a MEETING about it.

she says.

So the next day,

we went to church.

She sat beside my friend

and told her about it.

We had a Bible school meeting,

so we prayed about it.

And my friend says,

What about helium balloons?

She embraced the idea.

So here we are sending the picture

off to God.

She ran after.

We watched it head west for a while.

And then it went

straight

up.

Do you think an angel got it and took it to Him?

I don't know, honey.

Do you think He is looking at it?

I know He sees it.

And He sees

your

heart.

Sunflower Art

Simply

excited

to share

new

art

with you . . .

Truly.

What you believe, is how you will live.

That is how important belief is.

What you believe about yourself, about others, about life.

You will live the truth of your belief.

Sometimes I have to stop, take a breath, and ask myself,

"What am I believing today, in this moment?"

And then ask myself this question,

"Is this thought that I am believing true?"

"Am I going to choose to believe this, or something else?"

We all believe something.

It might as well be true.

Hold out your hands

to feel

the

luxury

of the sunbeams.

~ Helen Keller ~

Better is one day in your courts

than thousands elsewhere. . .

For the Lord God is a sun and a sheild . . . Psalm 85

I found this sweet little childrens song

in my great-grandmothers hymnal ~

"Jesus wants me for a sunbeam"

Joining my friends . . . in their studios . . .

Copyright 2011 Jodene (Jodi) Shaw.

Beautiful Day

What is all this day about?

Whispers & callings in my heart

stirring, urging me on a new path . . .

Praying, journaling, asking,

Really, God, is this You

or am I just making this up?

Identification of belief ~ my beliefs

of what is important

and how I want to live.

Asking the question:  what am I believing?

Asking this question: how do I want to teach my children to live?

Play it safe? Or risk following what's in your heart?

Do what you think will please others and impress?

Or do what you really care about and believe in?

Seek what the world says you need/want?

Or love and live right where you are?

Wish to be someplace else, some other time, someone different. and have something else?

Or find beauty right where you are and enjoy what you have?

Try to not to disappoint anyone?

Or realize that we all disappoint someone sometime?

Stay on the same path,

or follow the one that is true to your heart?

Worry that you might fail, so you might as well not try?

Or have faith that trying you may fall

but that learning is a process,

and God's grace is the hand that will catch you

and set you back on your feet again?

Think your too old or it's too late to start something new?

Or believe it's never too late to be what you might have been? (George Eliot)

Stand still because the journey is so big?

Or start by taking one step today?

Wish you would have done this or that?

Or start taking steps, even small ones, toward it today?

The journey to this

new beginning

has been full of hours of fitful sleep,

choices to stay on one path or follow another,

hard choices, facing who I want to be, choosing not to hide that person,

risking vulnerability,

putting my heart out there in writing, speaking, teaching, photography, and art

and weaving all of those things together.

Believing God is with me,

really doing a work in me.

Choosing to believe God over the doubt

and sneaking whispers of fear and discouragement...

This has been a journey

of facing fears,

of fighting gremlin-like voices in my head

that discourage and diminish who I am

and what I have to offer,

as well as battling the prideful heart that desires

to prove my worth, my validity, my security.

Life is facing all that.

It is taking a look at all the things

that hold me back

with faith that the God who made me

did so with purpose and intention.

It is trusting that He takes the hurt parts, the broken parts,

the places where He shattered pride and arrogance,

made me humble,

and puts them back together and redeems them,

for a purpose with a passion for Him

and sharing all of that . . .

so that others would seek Him, find Him, and follow the unique purposeful passion

that He puts in their hearts.

That's what all this is about.

Listening so closely for the heart of God.

Finding His voice.

Following it.

Being who He made me to be.

Because in really searching and seeking for Him,

I find who I am, and I discover all these other wonderful blessings

that are right here in my hands, my heart, my life.

So, so grateful for this family, these friends,

that came to support and celebrate

this opportunity to share a beautiful day

of stepping out in faith and not letting fear rule.

Especially grateful to my husband Jim

celebrating 15 years of marriage,

of saying "yes" to him here at Chute Roosters in Hill City,

16 years ago,

that he has loved me through all of my

ups and downs, questions, wondering, fear/faith battles,

falling flat on my face in failures, getting back up again, and

being here for a great day like this one.

Thanks to Lori and the staff at the

Jon Crane Gallery in Hill City, SD,

for giving me the opportunity to share my art.

I'm honored and grateful.

*

*

Linking with Jen here:

and with Jennifer In The Studio here:

Studio JRU

Sneak Peek Friends, this post was on Monday,

but thought I'd share here as a celebration with YOU

for the STUDIO work I've been doing and sharing with YOU.

THANKS FOR YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT.

My Friday post is HERE:  There is a season.

It features my photos of the beauty of the prairie where I live,

which is also what I've been up to "in my studio" this week and month!

*

*

Lemonade Stands

Joining my artistic friends at Studio JRU.

So about a month ago,

I am getting ready for my first booth showing my art

and I am just having a moment.

Like an exploded balloon where all of the

confidence, faith, belief, courage, passion, all of it just blew up.

Trying to put on my makeup, but it's no use, because tears keep coming.
I am annoyed with myself.  Mad.  Frustrated.  Scared.  Vulnerable.

And I was left with this one little voice whispering,

"What are you doing?"

"You are just a little girl with a lemonade stand."
"Just pretending to be a big girl with a business making nickels and dimes."

I get face down on the carpet and pour it out to God.

The fear, the doubt, the little girl feeling, and the anger.

Why am I angry?  At Him?

I am.  So I tell Him.  And I breathe deep.

And be authentic before my God

because He already knows what I am thinking and feeling anyway.

So ~ I call a friend.

She pep-talks me out of the lemonade stand mentality.

I get my make-up on and go

put

my

heart

out

there

for

my

community

to

see.



I talk to Heather

about stepping out in faith and risk

toward the lives we want to live. . .

even though money is oh-so-tight, it seems . . .

but I want to live what is most important. 

Family.  Faith.  Follow the calling in my heart.  Now.

"Yes,"  I think to myself, "that really is what I believe in."



Bob talks to me about my photos

and putting together a calendar.  Really?  A calendar?  Cool!

People look and linger and {gulp} . . . they buy things.

But it is so much more than the purchase

that makes my heart sing.



It is the "Begin one small step at a time" piece

that I loved, yet nobody ever looked at it.

And I wondered "Why?"

Until a mother bought it for her daughter

who had just begun to rebuild

after her home had burned to the ground.

And I knew why nobody looked before.

And a "made in South Dakota" store connection.

Then a woman with tears in her eyes

whose veteran husband suffers from PTSD

has a new home for "Be Real".

Another loves birds, and orders a set like I made in memory of Grandma Marj.

And the man from Montana studying my pieces

that I start a conversation with . . . he, too, is a mixed media artist.

Stepping out, sharing his work.

One is moving to Cody, Wyoming.

She buys prints of my wildflower photos to remember South Dakota.

Connections of the heart

through creativity.

Full circle

fulfillment.

New opportunities that I cannot wait to share.  {SOON!}

Far and exceedingly above all that I could ask or imagine.

From this little girl lemonade stand.

Just putting my heart out there.

"See, look what I made."

That is how I felt. 

Like a little girl hoping somebody would like what I had to offer.

And

some

did.

And

it was good.

Above, beyond, exceeding my imaginations and my askings.

*

*

copyright 2011 Jodene (Jodi) Shaw.

When you've lost belief ~

This piece

was born

out of the memory of

a heart's cry



prayer.

When my beliefs

about who I was

and how I would make my way



in this life



were challenged.



My heart's cry was this:

"I don't believe in myself anymore."

This is what I heard

in the quiet stillness of my spirit . . .



Little by little

it has been changing me

from the inside out

ever since.

The change

is a relief.

The change

is good.



{Whew.  Deep breath of stepping out with my heart here in this one.}



copyright 2011 Jodene (Jodi) Shaw.

Even though it isn't officially started back up yet,

I am sharing this as my

Sneak Peek

In The Studio

which you can read about here:

Studio JRU.