Happy Birthday C.S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis was born on November 29, 1898. He died just shy of his 65th birthday on November 22, 1963. He began his adult life as an atheist and then, as only God can do, he became a believer in Christ. To me, Lewis was a master of description that allowed the reader not only to visualize what he was trying to portray but also to FEEL the emotions of the depiction. I have learned so much about God and myself through Lewis' writings. Lewis was also an avid letter writer to his friends and fans. Through these writings you see a man whose kindness and compassion clearly protray the grace of God in his life. I close this post with one of my favorite quotes from The Last Battle that describes his and our hope of Heaven: ""There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you are--as you used to call it in the Shadow-Lands--dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning." And as he spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

illustration is watercolor and collage by myself

An Unexpected House Guest

The other night my son was in his room cozily reading in his bed. Very suddenly, B. noticed a mouse was squeezing his way under my son's bedroom door. The mouse ran and then stopped, looked up at my son locking eyes, then scurried under a chest of drawers. My son got out of bed pounded on our door, waking us, and announced we had a "visitor". My husband got up to investigate but the "house guest" did not make himself known that evening again. We know he/she is still here.(we heard chewing last night) We have set traps...but we still wait.

It has occurred to me how many unwelcome events in our lives happen just this way. We are coasting along. Reading a good book or sleeping when suddenly out of nowhere, a "unwelcome visitor" appears. We seek to solve the problem but there are situations that cannot be solved immediately or at all. We question - why did this happen? Did we leave the garage door open? We ask - what is going to happen? Will this "visitor" get into our goods and make a mess? The only thing we can really control is the present and how we respond. Things are easier if that is what we make our focus--the present - And GOD. So we wait... and pray. (And don't underestimate the praying at all times) During this time, if we allow God, we can learn a good deal about our weakness and His strength, grace, and mercy. We must look to Him and what we need to do TODAY. Hopefully this "guest's" days are numbered as we allow the "sudden visitor" to teach us.

Give Thanks

"We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is "good," because it is good, if "bad" because it works in us patience, humility and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country."-C.S. Lewis

Thy Mercy, My God

Without thy sweet mercy I could not live here;
Sin would reduce me to utter despair;
But, through thy free goodness, my spirits revive,
And He that first made me still keeps me alive.---Taken from Thy Mercy, My God words by John Stocker

Nothing Wrong With a Little Fresh Paint

If there is an empty space, somehow I want to paint it. As you can tell from previous blogs, I love to paint. A wonderful artist blog that I visit gave me the idea to paint rocks with white acrylic ink. www.geninne.com

How To Make A Gift Card More Personal

You've bought a gift for a wedding shower and you want the tag to say a little more than "to" and "from". Grab a mailing tag or make one of your own. Its fun to make one of your own by tracing a garment tag or even just a rectangle onto an old cereal box. Cut out the shape and then trace that shape twice onto pretty scrapbook paper. Glue the paper onto the front and back of the tag using a glue stick. Before you start to decorate your tag, take some vellum or other paper. Even a clear shopping bag will do. (Ann Taylor Loft has nice clear bags) Using your gift tag as your guide, cut out enough to wrap around the tag and glue in the back. Then fold the bottom opening inward and glue. (I use a very thin line of YES or a glue runner) This will make a "slip in" envelope. Decorate the top of your envelope with a pretty paper trim you cut out or one already made. Paste your "to" and "from" emblem on the front.
Now the fun part--the tag itself.

Find a picture of the lovely couple or print one out. I used my couple's facebook profile picture and printed one onto photo paper just the size I wanted. Before I glued the pic, I added some lace on the bottom. Using a decorative trim cutter (this one is from Martha Stewart) I cut out some ivory paper and stamped it. (This stamp says" And they lived happily ever after." ) Then I glued the paper on the front of the tag. Next I glued the couple's picture. Finally I sewed ribbon onto the top along with a button.

Need Direction?

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. Psalm 62:5

November

We saw a family of 8 deer in a store parking lot near us the other evening. They didn't hang around for long though when I pulled out the camera.
My watercolor was inspired by the artwork of Geninne Zlatkis.