Blog-a-versary!

Today this blog is 5 years old! Amazing. Although I'm not very prolific, this still seems incredible. I'd like to do better at posting. Sometimes, like last night, in the middle of the night I wake up and think, "Blog about that!" But then I get up and I have no idea what "that" was, I just know there was something important enough to wake me up and make me think I needed to write about it. I think at those times I need to sit down and be still and ask God if it was as important to Him as it was to me and if so, please help me remember. But right now, I'm celebrating! Five Years! Wow!

And....I must finish this cross!! - which is coming along wonderfully. I'm hoping to finish it today. That's my goal! I'm putting the color on the bowl and pitcher. Words to be written. Attaching everything.

I've learned something about myself in the process. In the past I've been impatient with art. I want to sit down and start something and finish it right then. I'm not real fond of time consuming projects. Going through the process of building the bowl and pitcher through papier mache has been rewarding and has taught me to be a little more patient. As the finished product begins to reveal itself I'm excited and the destination has become worth the journey. I'm layering color on and the same thing is true. I'll know it's finished when I see it. It's not yet, but soon.

Isn't it just like God to take an art project and teach you a life lesson? Sometimes I'd like to skip to the end of everything. But there is worth in the process. There is God in the moments. I have another project I've set aside because I'm too antsy to do the minute by minuteness of it - I wanted it to flow so smoothly that I could get to the end quickly. When I didn't, I laid it aside as if it had no value. Huge mistake! I'll be picking that project back up as soon as I complete this one. Today is a grateful day for me. A humbling day.

This was my Henri Nouwen meditation for today:

Being Humble and Confident

As we look at the stars and let our minds wander into the many galaxies, we come to feel so small and insignificant that anything we do, say, or think seems completely useless. But if we look into our souls and let our minds wander into the endless galaxies of our interior lives, we become so tall and significant that everything we do, say, or think appears of great importance.

We have to keep looking both ways to remain humble and confident, humorous and serious, playful and responsible. Yes, the human person is very small and very tall. It is the tension between the two that keeps us spiritually awake.

Remember to look both ways today. I'm off to get my hands in the paint!!