Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Women of Valor Bible Study-Week 6: Miriam {Bible Art Journaling}

Bible Art - WomenofValor - Miriam

Exodus 15:21

I typically remember Miriam as the sister-protector who watched over her baby brother Moses, after he was placed in the bulrushes by his mother, to escape death from Pharaoh’s decree to kill all the Hebrew baby boys. She was brave and bold in her desire to protect her brother, and she played a major role in her brother’s eventual rise as the leader of the Israelites.

After that brother grew up and led the Hebrew people out of bondage in Egypt, once again we see Miriam, this time as a worship leader.

Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron [brother of Moses] took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”
-Exodus 15:20-21

There is more to Miriam’s story, but for this Bible art, I focused on “Sing to the Lord.” This instruction still applies today. We should be about “singing to the Lord,” in the good times but also in the bad times. In the good times, we rejoice because He has “triumphed gloriously.” In the bad times, we rejoice because we already know He is GOING TO “triumph gloriously” over our enemies.

This Woman of Valor is referred to as one of those whom God sent to lead the Israelites out of slavery:

I brought you up out of Egypt
and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.
-Micah 6:4

#BibleArtJournaling #SeasonsIllustrated #WomenofValor #Miriam #IllustratedFaith #FaithArt #BibleMarginalia #ScriptureArt #CreativeWorship #InktenseBlocks #CopicMultiliner

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Leaders {Gratitude52 Art Journal}

G52 Prompt 29 Leaders

The Gratitude52 Journal prompts seem to be getting tougher each week. This week’s challenge is “Leaders.”

In the context of the political party conventions currently, and in advance of the upcoming national election, sadly, I have real trouble saying that I am thankful for our national leaders.

However, I am thankful that I know that God is still in control. And, we are exhorted in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 to pray for those who are in authority over us.

So, what I am thankful for is this: I can, and must, pray for the leaders who rule my country. I also pray for the blessing of having godly leaders, and I pray for that blessing to come soon.

#Gratitude52Journal #Gratitude52Community #G52Prompt29 #PrayForLeaders #acrylicpaint

Monday, July 18, 2016

Early Memory {Gratitude52 Art Journal}

The prompt for Week 28 of the Gratitude52 Journal is the toughest yet.

c8013384-c9ce-4097-9a9b-9f0a98e75e44

Wow. Now, rest assured, I have some very early memories. My earliest memory, in actuality, was right after my sister was born. She is 15 months younger than I, and I have a memory from not long after she came home from the hospital and took over MY baby bed. But, I can’t think of a link between that memory and my “purpose.”

So I gave myself permission to recall one of my earliest memories that IS illustrative of who I became and who I have been, the rest of my life since that memory.

G52 Prompt28 Early Memory

One time when I was around 9, my family was visiting in the home of someone who owned a piano, and the piano was in the living room where we were gathered. I placed my 1-3-5 fingers on the keys, playing what I later learned was a “triad.” The harmony was incredible to my ear. From that day, more than anything, I wanted to play piano. Shortly after that, my mother was able to get “her” piano from her mother’s home many miles away, and my parents started paying for me to take piano lessons ($.50 per lesson). Mother said she never had to “make” me practice. I just wanted to play, more than anything, and I understood that the only way I could get better was to practice.

Through the years, I continued with lessons, with many large chunks of time when we couldn’t afford it, during which time I took myself through the lesson books. I was still taking lessons as a senior in high school, when I began to teach piano. I gave piano lessons off and on for many years, teaching for brief periods my own two children and two of my grandchildren.

Piano became a major part of who I am. I accompanied for our churches, from the time I was 11. I accompanied my siblings as we sang around the piano so very many times, and as we traveled to local churches, singing as a family. I accompanied my children as they began to sing in public at very young ages. I love to play my baby grand piano now, as my children and grandchildren sing around the piano.

As I grow older, there are so many memories that I treasure. I rehearse them so that I “don’t forget to remember.” That first realization of the beauty of piano music is one of those early memories that truly foreshadowed my life from that time forward.

new yamaha

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Monday, July 11, 2016

Women of Valor Bible Study–Week 5: Rachel {Bible Art Journaling}

 

Bible Art - Women of Valor - Rachel

Continuing in the Women of  Valor study from Seasons Illustrated, this is what we learn about Rachel (taken from the Seasons Illustrated blog):

Rachel was the wife whom Jacob loved. She only had two sons; she died in childbirth with the second one. Still, despite the sad end to Rachel’s life, her story lives on through her sons.

Her first son, Joseph, is favored by Jacob and thus sold into slavery by his brothers, but rises from slavery to become an overseer of Egypt. He also becomes a strong and confident patriarch much like his father, and reconciles with his brothers despite their betrayal. He and Rachel’s son Benjamin, along with Leah’s sons and those of their handmaidens Zilpah and Bilhah, become the heads of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and so the fathers of God’s people.

Rachel was an imperfect woman. She kept idols, which tells us that her faith was likely less strong than Leah’s, or that her long-lasting infertility perhaps caused her to trust less in God. She was bitter towards her sister, though the sour parts of their relationship were two-sided just as much as were the loving parts. And she was not naturally resilient, often complaining or lashing out at her loved ones such as when she yells at Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”

And still, despite her imperfections, she was chosen to be one of the mothers of God’s people. Along with Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah, Rachel is considered one of the matriarchs. She is still remembered today, honored in homes around the world on the night of the Jewish sabbath, when daughters are blessed with the words,

“May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.”

Though Rachel may have felt forgotten when God did not give her children, she was always remembered, just as God remembered Hagar, and Sarah, and Rebecca, and Leah in their own distress. And still today, we remember her.

Rachel’s legacy through her sons is what the elders in the Book of Ruth refer to when they say that “Rachel and Leah… together built up the house of Israel.” Ruth 4:11

Legacy is a core value in my life. I have always been aware of and believed in the importance of what I leave for my descendants, in terms of who I am and what I would like for them to remember about me. So when the word “legacy” was used in this study, to describe the story of Rachel and the other matriarchs, that’s the part of the story that resonated with me.

#seasonsillustrated #womenofvalor #BibleArtJournaling #llustratedFaith #BibleMarginalia #ScriptureArt #FaithArt #CreativeWorship #Legacy

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Recipe for Gratitude52 Art Journal

G52 Prompt 27 Recipes

Prompt #27 for Gratitude52 Journal 2016: Share or illustrate a favorite recipe.

Wow, I have MANY favorite recipes, as I’ve always been a “cook” and come from a long line of cooks. We have lots of family recipes. But for these prompts, I usually go with whatever pops into my mind first. In this case, we had just made homemade ice cream for our July 4 celebration.

In the old timey-times, we never worried about consuming raw eggs. So, my standard recipe through the years was this simple recipe that called for raw eggs. I made it many, many times, especially for family camping trips (in those wonderful days when my children were home and we did so many fun things together).

In recent years, I have tried some recipes that require cooking the mixture. It is very inconvenient, and just not the same. With some research I discovered I could use my original recipe and just substitute liquid eggs (pasteurized). Yep, as delicious as I remembered it, with no health concern.

G52 Prompt 27 Recipes

#Gratitude52Journal #Gratitude52Community #G52Prompt27 #sketchandpaint #DistressInks #InktenseBlocks #homemadeicecream #ILoveIceCream #favoriterecipe

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Praise Him With the Trumpet {Bible Art Journaling}

Bible Art Ps 150

I smile when I read Psalm 150. My family is a musical family, and we have been praising the Lord with musical instruments for as long as we have been a family!

I always try to make sure I do not cover text with my art. In the case of these stamps, I paid more attention to that than to the “accurate positioning” of the instruments!

Bible Art Ps 150

#BibleArtJournaling #FaithArt #ScriptureArt #CreativeWorship #IllustratedFaith #DistressInk #stamping

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Women of Valor Bible Study-Week 4: Leah {Bible Art Journaling}

Bible Art-Women of Valor-Leah

From the Seasons Illustrated Bible Study blog: After the love story of Isaac and Rebekah, their son Jacob marries two sisters (long story involving deceit), Leah and Rachel. He loves Rachel but not Leah. While Rachel remains barren, Leah has child after child. First is Reuben, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me” (Gen 29:32).

And still, Jacob doesn’t love her.

Next is Simeon, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” (Gen 29:33).

And still, Leah is unloved.

Third is Levi, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons” (Gen 29:34).

And still, Jacob remains unattached.

Finally is Judah. With his birth, Leah says “This time I will praise the Lord” (Gen 29:35). Leah was not born in to Jacob’s faith; rather, she adopted it as her own when she married him.

Here we see that Leah truly was a woman of faith, who praises the Lord with every birth of her children, and mentions God in these chapters more often than any other figure. She took the faith of her husband and made it her own.

#BibleArtJournaling #SeasonsIllustrated #WomenofValor#IllustratedFaith #ScriptureArt #FaithArt #InktenseBlocks #BibleMarginalia

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Thankful for a Free Country (so far) {Gratitude52 Art Journal}

G52 Prompt 26 Independence Day

This week’s (#26) Prompt for the Gratitude52 Art Journal is “Sketch, quote or illustrate your gratitude for your freedoms.”

The holiday we celebrate on July 4 each year in the USA is “Independence Day.” We so often take our freedoms for granted, and it seems like these days so many are willing to give up the freedoms that were so costly to attain.

I am thankful to live in a free country, although I do believe our freedoms are being threatened, and this time, from within. While I am sad and disappointed about that, I celebrate our freedoms while I can.

#Gratitude52Journal #G52Prompt26 #freedom #independenceday #USA #acrylicpaint #Gratitude52Community