My eclectic art projects

One of my new projects is painting rocks that have birds and flowers on them. They make good gifts for friends that love gardening. I am enjoying doing a lot of different things like the wall quilt below that I sent to my son in New York to decorate his room.

I had many a fun afternoon painting flowers on my ugly fence. Provides a nice view from the kitchen window year-round.

My friend Margaret gave me two old windows and this is the one I painted for her. Her husband added shutters to it and it graces their patio beautifully. I have yet to paint the other one, but I am thinking about starting it.

My Favorite Quote on Prayer

"Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by thinking you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all that we ask or think. Each time you pray, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!" (Andrew Murray)

My Dear Solid Prayer Partners

I am blessed to have some friends that have prayed with me for many years, at least seven. We have prayed over our kids as they were growing up, our marriages in their different stages, our diets, our churches, our health, and many other issues. And I am happy to say we have a great track record of answered prayer.

So now while the whole nation is having some shaky financial times, I am getting lots of prayer myself for our economic troubles. Bill has lost his job, and I still haven't found one. Times are tough, but God is good. We will see what His plan is for us as it unfolds.

Our family has had this same prayer request entirely too much over the past four years. But God has been consistently faithful and trustworthy, so that is who we are looking to. And waiting on. And hoping in!

Reunion in Galveston, Texas

Once again, my high school girlfriends and I managed to carve out some time to get together, this time in Texas! This is our third reunion in thirty-five years and we had a wonderful time catching up, singing favorite Spanish songs, and laughing over old stories.

Back in the 70's we attended a missionary kids boarding school that only had 42 in the high school. So our graduating class was only ten people-7 girls and 3 boys. We have lost track of the boys, but we girls have kept up with each other through marriages, motherhood and now grandkids. How many people can say they keep up with 70% of their graduating class?

We "frittered away" a lot of time just being together and reminiscing. What a gift to have that time apart from life's whirlwind. Since I don't have flesh and blood sisters, they feel like my sisters in every sense. We have our love for God and our faith in common which makes up for lots of differences.

Merry Zoe hosted us at her home in Houston, and part of the time at her condo in Galveston. Lois flew in from Spokane, Washington, and Debbie Gray from Maryland, while Debbie Schwing drove in from Louisiana. Lynne and I winged our way from sunny California, and our favorite teacher Trudy Kutz joined us from Eugene, Oregon.

It was a delight to hear about each other's kids and husbands and families. Some tears were shed, but we also spent time praying for each other. I was encouraged and uplifted!

Rock Beautification Project

Perhaps painting woodland creatures on randomly procured rocks might seem hokey, but I am thoroughly enjoying it! My latest artistic endeavor involves scoping out the interesting shapes of rocks everywhere I go to determine which animals could be painted on them. Right now out on my patio is a smooth stone that boasts the contours of a sleeping fawn which I will paint soon.
Okay, so it isn't classic art, but I am attempting to use the technique of "trompe l'oleil" or "fool the eye" to make them seem alive. I have given some as gifts, which is great if the person likes handmade things, but not so great if they think you are just a cheapskate. The reactions have varied from "Oh, I love it! It will be perfect in my garden!" to "It scared the crap out of me!"
I have painted other murals in the trompe l'oleil tradition, and I recently came across some wonderful examples in the 3-D art drawn on sidewalks by Julian Beevers.

Update on Jared's adventures

After not hearing from my youngest son for 2 weeks while he was in South Africa I received a link to a YouTube video of him doing a bungee or bungy jump off a huge bridge! (See "Jared's bungy" on YouTube) Just what a mom loves to see! But at least I know he survived the trip. The team worked hard and then did some fun things at the end, like surfing off the coast of South Africa.