Lauri Hawley

Longing

Today I started a watercolor design experiment using soapy, clean dishwater bubbles. I got to be a kid again, blowing through a straw and making a bubbly mess! Getting the bubbles out of the glass and onto the paper without popping them took some technique, and wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. Scooping them with a metal spoon popped them right away, but a small, rubber spatula made it a bit easier. Then the bubbles would pop on the paper too fast, giving me little time to get the paint from the paint pans to the bubbles.

Thankfully today is shopping day, and I decided to pick up some cheap play bubbles from the kids’ toy section of the store while I was out. I was longing to get home to finish my experiment so I could compare bubble to bubble! I know you’re longing to know how things turned out, so I’ll relieve your angst.

The toy bubbles were much easier to move from the glass to the paper using the bubble wand, and they sat on the paper much longer before popping. I wasn’t so stressed trying to get paint on them as I was before. Now you can try it for yourself!

A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul.

Proverbs 13:19a NIV

The longing to return to my creation is a silly, shallow sort of longing, but having it fulfilled was still sweet to my soul! Imagine the sweetness when our longing for complete redemption and restoration is fulfilled. Oh, what a day that will be!

Here is my creation:

Hearts painted with soapy bubbles and watercolor

I used dish soap inside the hearts, and play bubbles for the yellow surrounding them. Once it was all dry, I filled in the non-bubbly spaces with my paintbrush.

I was thrilled when I pulled the painters tape off and discovered that the soapy water had seeped underneath, leaving a different, colorful, frosty-looking design along the edges! How fun! I may have to play with that discovery more another day.

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. Today’s prompt: LONGING.

Cold

I’m so old that I remember when going outside in the cold meant you would catch a cold! I recently recovered from my yearly knock-me-down cold. Getting it every year in winter would seem to support the cold weather→sick cold hypothesis. Just in case, I’ve painted some oranges and berries to remind you to stay stocked up on your Vitamin C!

We know better these days. We know there have to be germs around first. But today’s extreme cold could certainly wear down a body’s defenses so that germs could settle in for a spell! An extreme cold warning is in effect in our area, with wind chills to -25°F (-31°C). Frostbite could happen within 30 minutes.

The climate of our nation could be compared to a deep freeze. Hearts are hard as a frozen pond, and the germs of malice and hate have found a foothold. But there are pockets of reprieve, where strangers (regardless of political leanings) are invited into the warmth, sheltered from the winds of chaos. These pockets of love and kindness are like immunity boosters against the hostility whipping through the cold winter winds outside.

Every individual we meet is created in the image of God and worthy to be valued on that basis alone. May we spread kindness and mercy today through actions and words to whomever we meet, and may it boost our communal immunity against division and strife.

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.”

Matthew 5:43-45 NLT

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. Today’s prompt? You guessed it! COLD

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!

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.

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!

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!