Unusual

I’ve been painting daily this month as part of a challenge to be creative for 31 days in a row. Today’s watercolor creation called for layers upon layers. Each layer left out one more piece of the puzzle.

Watercolor painting of diamond shapes on hills

With each new color layer, I was surprised with the result! I started in the middle of the rainbow, and instead of Roy G. Biv, I painted Yor Vib G. Yellow and orange were no surprise. Red over yellow and orange was just more orange. Violet over red just made a slightly darker red. Indigo over violet, the top diamond, still showed more orange/red than I expected. The blue was surprisingly dark over it all! I used a lime green for the last layer, but the blue underneath darkened it quite a bit. It needed two coats just to be seen. I’ll have to try this again with different shapes and colors, since it was such a fun discovery!

I’ve been posting my daily creations on social media for the simple need for accountability. Not everything I post is worthy of accolades, but knowing that folks are watching keeps me at it when I might have otherwise dropped out of the challenge.

I enjoy creating unusual designs and patterns, but I can’t say that I love abstract art. I can’t quite let myself get that messy.

Our creativity is a gift, part of our imago dei. We were created in the image of God, who is himself a creative creator! Whether we write, sing, act, paint, sculpt, design cities or buildings, decorate homes, or make beautiful, delicious new recipes, we were made to create. Something inside of us wants to make something never seen before–something unusual and extraordinary! We want to make a mark on this world.

Perhaps that mark could be our very lives shining as unusual lights in the darkness of our times.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life…

Philippians 2:14-16a ESV

This post is written in response to Kate Motaung’s Five Minute Friday link-up! These prompts are fun to respond to, and only take five minutes to compose.

Horizon

It’s a crisp winter day. The trees are bare, having lost their leaf coats months ago. Through their stripped branches, I can see what is invisible during the leafy seasons of spring, summer, and fall.

The horizon lies beyond, beautiful and distinct.

So it is with God. Our lives have seasons of vitality and activity, and we believe God is near, but our busyness keeps us from seeing him clearly. Then come slow seasons of rest and stillness, and suddenly the One we’ve been missing comes into view. 

May you find moments of clear vision today, my friend.

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Psalm 46:10 ESV

This post is written in response to Kate Motaung’s Five Minute Friday link-up! These prompts are fun to respond to, and only take five minutes to compose. I’m also smack-dab in the middle of a 31-day creativity challenge, and painted these winter trees to go along with this post.

Watercolor winter trees against backdrop of bare mountains

Mend

Today I received a text from an unknown number. 

“Your kids keep climbing my tree, please ask them to stop.”

My first reaction was to laugh, because my kids are all in their 20s. If they’re climbing the neighbor’s tree, they’re grownups and responsible for themselves! I replied that I wished my kids were out climbing trees!

I looked up the area code, and discovered that the number was from another country.  Definitely not one of my neighbors. I sent them another text with a bit of advice.

“I’m not your neighbor, but perhaps a warm apple pie and some tea might provide a good backdrop for opening up the lines of communication!”

Not that I expected one, but I’ve received no response.

Mending relationships, or even building new ones, requires a sacrifice of time and intentionality. Understanding what can be gained makes it all worthwhile!

The greatest act of relationship mending came through Christ, and I am so grateful.

“For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God” (Romans 5:10-11 NLT).

If you feel far from God, take heart, my friend. He’s only a breath away. ❤️

This post is my first response in a long while to Kate Motaung’s Five Minute Friday link-up! These prompts are fun to respond to, and only take five minutes to compose. I would like to continue joining in every week! I’ve got two graduate courses starting again on Monday which will require a lot of written pages, but I hope I can squeeze in five fun minutes a week at my laptop.

I’m also attempting to paint with watercolors for 31 days of creativity. I’ve been having a lot of fun with it so far, and I applied this prompt to that as well: little stem stitches trying to mend spaces between painted lines. It’s not lovely, but it’s authentically mine!

Rhododendron Insights: Adapting to Life’s Seasons

I was worried earlier this winter when all of my smaller-leafed rhododendrons had turned burgandy and curled up tightly. Had I killed them by pruning them too deeply after they flowered last year?

Rhododendron leaves curled up and brown against a backdrop of snow

I’ve written before about senescence, in which the rhodies’ older leaves turn yellow and fall off in the autumn. Even the evergreens lose their leaves and needles sometimes!

Continue reading Rhododendron Insights: Adapting to Life’s Seasons

Broadening My Harvest Horizons

It’s only January, but I’m dreaming of pruning around my yard. I don’t know what it is about pruning, but I love it as much as weeding (which is a lot, let me tell you)!

There’s so much opportunity to put the shears and loppers to work–forsythia, tons of lilacs, and wild grapevines.

Continue reading Broadening My Harvest Horizons