Amsterdam bound

Amsterdam bound. Yes, I am, thanks to a dear friend who asked if I would join her on the Missions Focused trip with our church. With this trip, we will learn from our pastor, Jeff Adams, who will teach us about the missionary view and cultural sensitivity. I have heard of so many life-changing experiences [...]

Floating

Self portrait from a joyous family reunion.

The effects of the Kansas wind also reflect the the cogs in my brain. I need a time of rest, a time for my windblown mind to settle.
I’ve finally made it to this place. I have nowhere to go and nothing to do. I’ve been looking at this space [...]

Re- freshed, Re- newed, Re- directed

The featured speaker at the Summit this year was Morgan Jackson from Faith Comes By Hearing. He was an incredible story teller, sharing stories of the Word of God impacting illiterate people through the audio Bible.
A great reminder received from Morgan Jackson is that God’s Word can be shared in stories. I do not have [...]

Shift -ed

Towards the end of 2008, I felt anticipation, intuitively knowing that something was about to change. I found myself making concrete goals, taking affirmative action, becoming that artist I’ve been telling myself I am. My journal pages reflected this.

I do owe much of it to this book:
But something pushed me, prompted me to purchase the [...]

My Mom the Artist

My mom and dad visited last week. Mom and I had fun as she designed some jewelry pieces for gifts, and I soldered for her. I love how they turned out.
Front:
Back:

Friendship Ring:

Front:
Back:
This was her first time creating charms. I think she did such a wonderful job. Her recipients are in for [...]

Decompression

For almost two years, my family has been preparing and serving meals each Friday at VERONICA’s Voice. This past Friday was our last day. God had been leading me to reevaluate our service this summer, and once school began for us, the answer was obvious. It was time to stop.
I really have mixed emotions about [...]

The Big 2 oh

Yesterday was our 20th wedding anniversary.

Besides eating at one of the best restaurants in town for lunch, and eating the most delicious cake made by my daughter,

we spent the day rearranging furniture. We have a sleeping porch which we have always used for a dressing room/sewing room. My husband had the brilliant idea that we [...]

Summer

’sez:
“This summer will be different,” she says, like she says at the beginning of every adult summer she’s ever lived. “I’m going to relax and not do a thing.” Then she gets out her planner and looks at the lovely blank pages, and begins to fill them in. “Hmm, I’ve got to squeeze in a [...]

Contradiction revisited

Since a recent assignment in The Artist’s Way, I’ve been pondering the truth behind the mantra, “Treating myself like a precious object will make me strong.” Being a student of Jesus Christ, my first reaction was that this mantra was not Biblical. The Scripture “let him deny himself” immediately came to mind. But experientially I have [...]

the Right Side of My Brain

I’ve desired to know how to draw for years. After several tries with “learn to draw or sketch” books with instructions and suggestions, I’ve finally decided that The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain was worth the time investment it would take to read. It is more than a “learn to draw” [...]

Redeeming the time

I’ve been working through the book, The Artist’s Way, these past few weeks. I highly recommend it for growth in any creative area of life. Each week there are new assignments to enable one to strip away the barriers from creative thinking and doing. This week I am practicing “reading deprivation.” I am not reading [...]

The Draw, the Pull

Much like gravity is this pull from the depths, the pull of my Creator. I see His fingerprints everywhere and long to gaze upon His face. Sometimes, rather often, I long to see His face greater than I long to dwell within the constructs of time and space. Thankfully, I know I am not alone in this [...]

Truly Free-Range Chickens

Discussion at the dinner table today:
He says, “We need to put a spring on the chicken coop gate. The chickens keep escaping.”
She says, “Since they are enclosed, they’re not really free-range chickens.”
He says, “They can move around within the pen freely.”
She says, “To be truly free, they must be born again.”
amanda ∞

Enslaved

Today’s lunch menu for VERONICA’s Voice included:
Corned Beef, Cabbage and Potatoes
Homeade Rye Bread
Green Clover-shaped Spritz Cookies
I was also going to serve fresh apple slices, but left the apples at home. Oops.
The smell of the corned beef still lingers in our home. Delicious and comfortable.
As a continuation from my thoughts on slavery yesterday, I wanted to [...]

Lent

The latest Salt challenge is Lent. This was a difficult topic for me since I don’t participate in traditional Lenten practices. Although raised in a church that does recognize the season of Lent, I had to do an internet search to refresh my mind on the purpose and intent of Lent.
Lent is a time of reflection [...]