Shut up and Pray!

This quote came out of a discussion

in my Sunday School class

a couple of weeks ago.

Someone was trying to figure it all out,

to solve things and then said,

"You know, I'm just gonna shut up and pray!"

I loved it immediately and knew it

needed to be a sign.

Instead of figuring it all out.

Just,

Instead of wasting all that time worrying

and fretting,

think about the birds...

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:26

He takes care of them.

He'll take care of you.

Here's my son,

these baby chicks adopted him as

mom for a day.

He cares about baby chicks too.

Precious in His sight,

Incredibly so,

You are.

blessings,

deedee

The Journey Girls

I have been in a Bible study called "The Healing Journey," by Cyndy Sherwood.

It has definitely been a journey 

and I  have taken it with five other ladies.

On the last day of the study

one of the ladies mentioned praying for her

'journey girls.'

And an idea began in my little brain.

Here they are!

Aren't they so cute!

They are modeled after my 'journey girls' of course,

with lots of hidden messages in this collage.

Now, I am a beginner at this

art stuff,

so I'm not sure what to do with it

for all the ladies.

Or where to have it done,

t-shirts, mugs,

plaques.

Still thinking on how to share

it with 6 of us.

Here is another one I had to do some

technique practicing before I was ready

to put the journey girls on canvas.

I didn't even realize until they were

both done that they went together with the same 

message.

Healing.

He does long to heal us.  Love that.

I need to dwell in that today.

Got to looking at some

old photos and

had a weeping session.

Life hasn't been what

I had hoped and dreamed for.

Initially.

But it can be awesome.

Still.

In a new way.

It is actually,

but healing is a process.

No, 'okay all done, all fixed now.'

Moment by moment.

Finding the good.

The precious.

Cherishing it.

I am very thankful that

my journey girls have  helped me so much this year.

Do you have journey girls?

Friends who can help you through the

muck.

Rejoice with you in the yippees?

I hope so.

Maybe you can be that for someone else.

Friends in the journey.

blessings,

deedee

Today I choose to live in hope.

Hope
hang onto it,
never let it go.
Christ wants to give you
the desires of your heart.
It says so right there
in Psalm 20:8.


Wow.
Really?


That is amazing to ponder.


I've been playing in the newly tidied work area
in my garage.  Now that it is warmer,
I can take my paint
and wood
and mess, there's a lot of that
and not worry
that the kitchen is a wreck.
The kitchen gets to be a wreck
all by itself!


Here is a sampling of what I've been collaging 
(the dictionary tells me that's not spelled right.)
This is actually my practice board
for the piece I have in my
head, got to try those 
techniques and figure things out.
I'll post the one
that's in my head,
"The Journey Girls,"
when it gets more complete.


Live in hope,
deedee

Use your 'big girl words'

I work in preschool.

Yesterday 

another adult in the class said these words,

"use your big girl words,

crying isn't going to get you what you want!"

I had to write it down

and tell her I was

turning it into a sign.

Not only are they good words for young ladies 

learning to be friends,

but for grown up girls too.

My big girl words,

my voice,

it took some time for me

to find it again,

but I never want to forget to

use my 'big girl words'.

'Cause they are worth hearing.

You are a gift and using 

the voice God gave

you 

matters.

A sampling of my  journals

as I was finding

those words.

God has been faithful to me.

He has carried me.

I want to share

that with people.

To give hope.

You may be in rough circumstances.

Most of us have to go through

the valley,

but He is the one

who restores our soul.

Don't lose sight of what is

possible

in your life.

How God can use your story,

How He longs to 

hear you

and heal you.

"Be strong and courageous

for the Lord your God

is with you wherever you go."

Even if it starts with a little squeak,

deedee

A time to play

It's biblical you know,

playing.

Well

maybe not,

but when I wrote the title,

it sounded like the chapter in

Ecclesiastes

"A time to plant...

A time to HEAL..

A time to tear down and a time to build,

A time to weep

and a time to LAUGH,"

Yeah, laugh!  It's in the Bible!

"A time to mourn and a time to DANCE.

A time to embrace...

A time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to search and a time to give up.

A time to be silent and a time to speak.

A time to LOVE...

A time for

PEACE."

This garden was one of those places.

A garden of old metal,

flowers in unusual places.

Pieces of whimsy

that jumped 

out at you.

While traveling with my teenagers

last spring,

we stopped at Necessities in Hutchinson, KS.

They waited in the car

for mom to look at one more antique store.

I had to come back and get them

for a photo shoot, I was so inspired!

and the funniest thing happened....

they loved it!

They played.

There was a graveyard of old

VW's.

My daughter has wanted a hippie bus

forever.

You should have heard her squeal as she

took off running!

Don't forget to take time to play.

Enjoy those moments,

those ordinary ones

can easily turn into

EXTRAORDINARY moments.

play hard,

deedee

live in hope

I'm in a Bible study called

the Healing Journey

look it up, it's

an amazing study by

Cindy Sherwood that takes you through 

almost 30 weeks of

processing your garbage

and letting God

have it.

All of it.

Some things I am learning this week are 

that I want to get

back to 

living in hope.

dreaming with possibility.

I want to live wholeheartedly

and purposefully.

unafraid.

look at this girl!
that's me
full of dreams and hopes
she is braver than she thinks.
stronger because of Jesus.


She's ready to let her contagious joy show!

I hope you find
healing on your journey.
We're all broken people
and we can
be made new in Jesus.
That's actually part of the mission statement
of my church.  Written larger
than life reminding
us weekly
we are being made new.


lovin' who God made me to be,
deedee

Be strong and Courageous

Refuse to give up hope.
Tell your story.
Be strong and courageous,
overflow with joy.
Reflect on how far you've come.
Stop criticizing yourself.
Count your blessings,
over and over.
Cherish your family...   a lot!
Give praise and credit to God.

Pray, it's enough.
Trust.
Live fearlessly for the Lord and
speak of His faithfulness.


A lesson in good self talk that

I have hanging above my work table.

I was lost

for a time.  Don't

want to forget

who God made me to be.

And all that he has in store for me.

It's time to dream again

and remember to

hope.

"My soul stood straight."

Stand straight.  Stand firm.  Be courageous.

For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

With hope,

deedee

A breath of exhilarating fresh air

I have saved this card for a number of years and just

happened across it today.

Brought me to tears.

My dad has been gone for 3 years.

I cherish this reminder

of how much he loved me

and treasured who

I was.

I pray this

for all

little girls.

Not much beats a daddy's love.
Your daddy in heaven loves you like this.
Never forget that.

deedee

Counting Blessings

legs

arms

hands

friends

children

moms and dads

work

play

my faith

hope

opportunities

music

tears

laughter

just a few of the things I am thankful for.

Today I saw a person with prosthetic legs

and a prosthetic hand.

I was reminded how blessed

I truly am.

And inspired by him.

Don't know why, just was.

It's easy to forget to

Count those blessings.

One by one.

deedee

here

You are here.

Just think,

You're not here by chance,

but

by God's choosing.

His hand formed you

and made you

the person

you are.

He compares you to no one else.

You are

one of a kind.

You lack nothing

that His grace can't give you.

He has allowed you to be here

at this time in history

to fulfill

His special purpose

for this generation.

~Roy Lessin

I love this.

Because I make signs, 

I tend to talk in quotes, and many

of them are my own

gentle reminders...  celebrate the journey ...  even the yukky parts

hard to do, I've been in some pretty yukky parts.

But, I know without a doubt

that God will take you

where you are

with 

your hurts and scars

and 

touch lives

as He needs to, with your story.

For His greater purposes.

 I pray that you will remember just how 

precious

you are.

peace,

deedee

Geraniums and other things.

 My geraniums spent the winter inside.  Warm and growing and watered and fed, (when I remembered).

So how did they know that it was Spring?

And that it was time to bloom?

But the poor thing, it was only a half an hour, but the wind kicked up.

Shocked.

It is recovered this morning and is...  

Still blooming!

Sometimes I need to remind myself to keep bloomin'

even when the wind kicks up.

Make that especially when the wind kicks up.

In my cracked pot.

My blooms bring joy to others.

and Smiles.

Jesus carries me and has restored my soul,

how can that not be an inspiration to others?

It has been only by His strength.

Mattress coils are so interesting.

Sometimes I am inspired the unusual.  Definitely the imperfect.

Putting opposites together can be very beautiful.

Like these angel wings on the primitive angel I made a few years ago,

sitting in front of the old mirror.

Somehow I just noticed from the side how cool this was.

They've been sitting in a display in the hall

for a few months now.

and these lunch trays, so cute~  we ate outside

the other day and my son's

cucumbers

just 

called out...

please take my photo

so I got the camera for my daughter

to do the honors.

and, the cookies I had to bake enough of, so that they could

have their own photo op as well.

on the pretty cake plate.

Inspired by the unusual, yep
that's me.


Keep bloomin',
deedee

auction fun!

Oh I had a very good time at the auction yesterday!

I got some great treasures.  

I do admit to squealing a few times when 

my bid was the winning one~

 I already had this ticking mattress that will look nicely on the rusty old bed frame.

                        This scrapbook was from a golden anniversary....they were married in 1881~
                                                   I do love old writing and papers and just a 
                                                                           glimpse
                                                                      of their story...

I am a typewriter addict I think.

Something about the words.

The library catalog

is really cute too.

 I have loved old boxes since my first Jack Daniel's box in college.  Hmmm, quite a 

number of years ago!

These will look great with geraniums in them

won't they?

I haven't been to an auction in a very long time.

It was a day of fun and 

soul restoration.

Joy in small things, ordinary moments,

a day of play.

May God give you such a day of joy.

deedee

You are fearfully and wonderfully made....Celebrate It!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rK0kZFkg

words

"You are fearfully and wonderfully made," never forget that!  Psalm 139

Did you do something today to make yourself proud?

Ah, so many empty canvasses and so many quotes in my head!  These will soon be in Magic Fairy Candle Shop in Longmont and in Bloom's Boutique in Este's Park, Colorado!

Find your happy place,

deedee

Splendidly Imperfect!

 I am inspired by the imperfect.  Maybe because I see myself!  Definitely imperfect.  A child of God whom He delights in!  Don't you just love that!  Zephaniah 3:17 

"He will take great delight in you.  He will quiet you with his Love,

 He will rejoice over you with singing."

And  He knows how truly imperfect we are.  I find great comfort in that.

  

I bought this chandelier out of an old home in Denver.  It was still hanging in the ceiling, lighting the room.

I just happened to spot it as I was checking out of the estate sale.  I was enjoying

visiting with the family who was putting on the sale, they were in their 50+ years and

had been raised in this house.  They apologized because the chandelier was broken and had

been taped with sturdy packing tape some time in the 70's I believe.

I have never taken the tape off to see what is broken.

I love it this way.

A simple reminder hanging above the dining room table.  Even though

it is imperfect, it gives great light.

I am imperfect

I can give Christ's light to the world,

even more so because of my imperfections.

With Joy,

deedee