Hiking In Grace & Capturing My View

Five Minute Friday: Choose

02.28.14

Every friday Lisa-Jo hosts a link up for writers all writing for five minutes on one word. No editing (except maybe punctuation and spacing). Straight off the cuff and through the fingers to the screen.

CHOOSE:

It’s funny, but really kinda sad.

As we were preparing to go to the Philippines, I gathered art supplies from every missions closet offered to me to browse.

I shipped them halfway around the world and put them in my art closet.

And there they pretty much stayed.

I clung to them with the thoughts of; “I don’t want to waste them” and “I can’t replace this stuff over here”.

And so I didn’t do as many crafts with my kids as I dreamed about. I lived with a fear of using them up and then what?

So, we dragged them back around the world and here they are in my art closet, on the shelf.

Much of my stash is still unused.

I know in my head I need to CHOOSE to use them.

I must face that old fear again and forget about messing them up.

Which in itself is a bit weird.

But to make anything beautiful I must CHOOSE to loosen my grip on those pots of pigment and colors encased in wood and put slashes and blotches on the white of paper.

It is funny that I am afraid to paint but I am not afraid to snap a million photos.

… However, I rarely print them.

What is the deal with that?

Maybe it is because I can only afford to print a few and have them done up in frames and matts for the walls of my home and I am afraid to CHOOSE…

… because once I do … surely I won’t be happy with them and wished I’d picked different ones.

STOP.

I know. I have issues.
Click on over to Lisa-Jo’s to read more Five Minute Friday posts on “choose”.

Shocked and Inspired By My Own Words

01.07.14

In July of 2011 a post of mine was featured on (in)courage.

The topic was facing fear; in particular my fear of the white of a blank piece of watercolor paper that hid behind a door in my home. It was stretched and ready to go but it sat there hidden behind a door for a long time. Months.

I didn’t want to “waste” an expensive piece of watercolor paper by painting something that would turn out mediocre. I was afraid to mess it up. It was as if the blank paper was worth more than any efforts I could attempt to make. As if the blank sheet was perfect the way it was and any mark I might make on it would render it “ugly”.

Crazy huh?

The post published before I was informed and so I never was able to write a “teaser” post on my own blog ahead of time to send readers over to (in)courage to read it.

At the time it was published I was headed to Florida for a much needed vacation with my family. We stayed the night at the famous South Of the Border “resort”. We intended to stay there two nights, my husband wanting our kids to experience the junk shops and climbing the big sombrero that overlooks I-95, something he did as a kid with his parents.

While my husband and kids romped in the pool, I sat and checked my email.

It was flooded with “comments” to reply to. After a moment of confusion, I realized that my post had been published THAT MORNING.

I wanted to shout Hooray and Yikes at the same time! I was disappointed that I had not been able to post a “teaser” on my blog but I was thrilled at the response my article was receiving.

I sat down to respond to the comments and as I worked my way down the list I read this:

I have considered Holley to be a friend since meeting her at Relevant/Allume 2010, the very first one.

For that kind of response from a person whom I admire and respect in the blogging community… WOW.

However, the dark valley of 2011 and 2012 caused me to back off blogging and over time I forgot about Holley’s comment.

When Holley released You’re Made for a God-sized Dream,

I was still in healing mode and sat on the sidelines as I watched and read about all the bloggers involved with launching the book and then writing about pursuing their God-sized dreams throughout 2013. I was slightly saddened (and slightly jealous) that I was not participating. Life just did not allow it at the time.

In the end of October 2013 I picked up You’re Made for a God-sized Dream at Allume. I come across a whole chapter related to facing fear and overcoming it.

I finally sat down to read it in the end of November. One morning while reading, I turned the page to see…

my name and words staring back at me off the page.

Yes. I admit it. I SCREAMED!

I was excited and shocked and overwhelmed all at the same time.

My words. Quoted and cited in a published book.

Not only had my words made an impact when they were published on (in)courage but it impacted Holley enough to choose to make them part of her book.

Although they were “my” words, reading them set in the commentary of another made me stop and read them afresh and gain a new perspective.

It caused me to stop and think about the fact that I had written those words.

Where did that Sharon go?

I realized that though I faced my fear by finishing a particular painting, I had not followed through with another painting. I had dropped the proverbial ball.

My “dream” had become a lot of talk and no action.

In 2014, the year of INSPIRE, I have set a goal to pursue my God-sized dream and paint a whole lot more.

An even bigger part of that dream is to make an income of some sort with my art {painting and photography} for two reasons:

1. to be able to give more to the Lord and

2. to be able to contribute to our household financially, looking toward the future of hopefully buying our own home one day.

Do you have any God-sized dreams?

Have you been pursuing them or have you let them gather dust behind a door, hidden away and forgotten?

And if your dream is lurking in the corners of your life… what might you do to start on the path of hiking toward seeing it come to fruition?

Share about it here in the comments below.

I’m linking up over at God-sizedDreams.com today. Come on over and read about others who are pursuing their God-sized dreams.

Linking up with Crystal for Behind the Scenes too!

The Word for 2014: Inspire

01.02.14

Many people make lists of resolutions and others set defined goals and still others “name” their year. This year I fall into the last category.

I have been praying for the Lord to give me a word for 2014 and this is it:

INSPIRE others to follow Christ.

INSPIRE my children to live for Christ in their daily lives.

INSPIRE others through my words- written in pixels, spoken, and sung.

INSPIRE others through my art- in colors of pigment on paper and pixels on screen.

Recently I have been re-inspired to follow a God-sized Dream.

What God-sized dream you say?

Well… Two years ago I wrote a guest post at (in)courage. I wrote about facing my “fear of white” and getting back to painting and art again.

In a wild and crazy round-about way I have been inspired by

my own words.

What has inspired you lately?

Is there anything you have been inspired to do?

I invite you to share about it in the comments below.

The Next Wave: 2014

01.01.14

2014.

It’s here.

When I was a child (who am I kidding? I still do this!) I would float on my raft watching and waiting to catch that next wave. Depending on the surf that day, the next wave could be full of the thrill of a great ride that would land me right up onto the beach or it could overwhelm me, flip me over, fill my nose with salt water and nearly drown me.

As I sit here at 4:55 AM writing this, thinking about the new year approaching I wonder which kind of wave 2014 will be.

2009, 2010, and 2011 were all the latter wave. Three consecutive years of being knocked off my raft. Three years of being caught off guard, against my will, in the churning of the wave, caught off guard so fast that I couldn’t gasp enough air going under that I thought for sure I would drown. I came out of the water with scraped up knees and elbows from being pummeled into the broken shells that littered the shoreline.

In 2012, I staggered out of the surf onto the beach with cuts and scrapes; wounds inflicted by the double standards of legalism, people I trusted that turned out to be wolves in sheep skins, and experiences of my past- from my life before I met a merciful Jesus.

Throughout 2013 I rested and healed on the beach. Watching as others rode the waves. I tested the water and waded at the water’s edge. Recently, I have made my way into the surf, encouraged to get back on my raft and catch a new wave.

My hopes are high as I wait for the next wave.

What kind of wave was 2013 for you?

What kind of wave do you hope to ride in 2014?

Share your dreams in the comments below.

Happy New Year!

Running Ahead and Rescuing

12.04.13

This year at Allume I finally was able to meet a blog friend of mine. It was a gift from the Lord to meet Laura in person. She and her husband were challenge by the Lord to step up and do something. They formed a nonprofit called The Exodus Road.

Let me introduce you to The Exodus Road.

This is one of the nonprofits that I feel led to help by blogging about them and their work and writing about the plight of the girls and women they are working to rescue. They are fighting the modern day sex slave trade.

Modern-day Abolitionists.

Recently during a raid in India of a private brothel a 16 year old girl was rescued. There was one woman running ahead of the team. In her bravery, she stepped in to comfort a girl who has been living a nightmare. Click over to The Exodus Road to read more background about the raid.

Watch the video below and ask the Lord what your response should be. There are several ways to get involved:

1. Like their Facebook page.

2. Get involved/ donate to support and investigative team

3. Volunteer