colossians

At church we recently finished a series studying Colossians called Deeper. It was SO good. I've read through the book before but it's been awhile and during the study the verses of each chapter just came alive. Much of the book talks about what it looks like to be a christian and Paul brings a strong challenge to "take off" the old self and "put on" the new self. I felt God challenge me in a few different areas. To bring accountability to myself (which let's face it, is basically the only way I get anything done) I decided to #scripturedoodle one of my favorite verses from the book.

And so I'm sharing it with you! This verse is great to have hanging on the walls of the house to remind us to love...especially when the kids are screaming and the house is a wreck. Happy Day!

Download it here.

Nehemiah 8:10 Free Printable

So I've been going through the #shereadstruth Nehemiah study and I am just loving it! I never new I liked the book of Nehemiah, in fact not sure I'd ever read it. I'm so thankful for the girls who take time to write this great devotional! Today's devo was focused on memorizing scripture, I've never been great at that so I decided to make a #scripturedoodle on the verse to hang on my fridge, and I thought I'd share it with you. Here is a free printable of my doodle. Hang it on your fridge and memorize it, or even better teach it to your kids!

Sri Lanka Summer

FRIENDS! I am so excited to share a bit of my summer plans with you. I will be going with a team from our church to Sri Lanka. 

Our women's ministry is sending 5 of us to train the women leaders at a sister church, Bethany Christian Life Center. When I think about this awesome opportunity a few things come to mind:

1. A Thankful Heart- I am so thankful for the chance to go and see, go and bless, go and learn from these beautiful women about how they do ministry and share a bit about how we do things over here.  Thank you God for orchestrating this move and for letting me be part of it.

2. A Big Responsibility- We will be in Sri Lanka for about seven days, that's one week to share with these women! Our leaders have put together an awesome schedule of events for us including a one day Chosen leadership conference we will put on similar to ours at Seacoast each January. Our focus at the conference will be three things: Love God, Love People, and Be the Change. I have been asked to speak on the "Love God" topic. I'm so excited to share, and I'm praying that what I bring will spur these ladies on and ignite a deeper passion to love God, and share God's love with the unchurched people in Sri Lanka.

3. An Art Opportunity- Probably the most exciting part of this trip for me will be sharing my art with those we will meet. I will be taking various prints of my #scripturedoodles to give to the women at Bethany. How awesome to get the word of God into their homes in a creative way. In Sri Lanka there are three different languages spoken, before we go I will make three special #scripturedoodles each in a different language especially for these women! Imagine them opening their fridge each morning only to read God's word on the print stuck to their fridge just before grabbing the milk...Or maybe a sister gives her #scripturedoodle to someone else, a friend who needs encouragement in her life. God's truth will reach her friend as well. The Bible says that God's word is living and active, sharper than any double edged sword penetrating the soul (Hebrews 4:12). I am believing for God's word to penetrate the hearts of everyone we meet in Sri Lanka, believers and otherwise! Amen?  The truth of God is the only thing that will save people from this temporary world and bring them into His eternal kingdom. That is why we have been Chosen to know God, to share His love with everyone! I'm getting more and more excited just writing this!

So where do you come in? I'm glad you asked. First of all PRAYER. I know everyone shares the need for prayer, but truly prayer is number one! Although the $3500 price tag on this trip can be a bit overwhelming, prayer is the part that will have eternal impact. Our trip is August 9th-16th, can I count on you to pray for us before and during our trip? Maybe you're not in a place where you can give financially to the effort, don't worry God will make a way for the finances, I often remind Robert that God has all the money in the world, surely He will make a way for His children, especially when we go in His name. Thank you in advance for your prayer support to us.

Lastly, a financial gift. Are you able to give? If so, thank you! After an incredible message from our pastor this sunday on generosity I will boldly, but humbly ask for help. The message reminded me that God has called us to give financially to further His kingdom. Here is a link where you can give directly to my trip: https://public.serviceu.com/PaymentForm/15589/?OrgKey=a724bfb0-33c4-447d-9df8-ccdadd445df9

I can't wait to share more about taking #scripturedoodle with me to Sri Lanka! Stay tuned.

For the Mom who has lost...

Mother's Day! Such a precious day for so many blessed women in this world. Today can also be a day of heartache for all those who have lost a child in any capacity. Maybe through miscarriage or stillbirth or a failed adoption or losing the life of a child who has shared your home with you. Even those who just feel the loss of never becoming pregnant, getting that monthly reminder that once again you are not with child.
I never thought that I would have any trouble with infertility, but Robert and I shared a short season of it and it truly was one of the hardest things we have ever gone through. Those of you who are still in that season may think, "I can't hear what you have to say because you have a healthy baby now. Your hurt is gone and you can't understand what my heart is feeling". That's pretty much how I felt about every pregnant woman around me. I can't know exactly what you are feeling, but I welcome you to be angry at me or any other mom for as long as you need to be. And when the time comes where you want to continue to the next step, my ears are always ready to listen and share in your journey. One of the greatest things someone told me during our season of infertility was to let God grieve with you. Open your heart to God and understand the fact that his heart is broken for your loss and He is right with you. It won't happen right away but it will happen, God will heal your heart. Being a Mom is truly one of the greatest blessings in this life.
After my second miscarriage God gave me a series of paintings to tell our story. The pictures and narrative describe all of the feelings involved in the process. You can see it and read about it here: https://picasaweb.google.com/118253543908283414431/OurJourney#
My thoughts and prayers are with all the moms out there in this season, awaiting the story of God's faithfulness in your life!

Like an old school revival

So we are a week into our Instagram and health detox and I just wanted to share for a hot minute on our progress. In short, I feel great. The first couple days were really hard to stay off of social media but after I got used to it it became much easier. Now I don't even find myself thinking about what I'm "missing". As for my body on the health side of things I also feel great. A couple days in I remember feeling like a had the flu one evening, I was achey and tired, but the next day that went away and I started noticing the benefits of our healthy eating. I seem to have more energy than normal and I am waking up feeling rested. As a result I feel like my mind is sharp and my heart and ears are tuned to hear from God. I noticed yesterday in church I was taking away so many nuggets from the message and had a sweet time in worship. I'm just so thankful. Thank you God for allowing this detox.

I'm not saying that all of this refreshing is from my #instadetox or my #whole30 challenge with Robert, but I do think it has something to do with it. I think part of it is setting time apart asking the Lord for refreshing. Like an old school revival in church. People come expecting God to move, and He does. I can't wait to continue this little revival for the next few weeks, asking God for even more refreshing!

I came across this verse this morning and I loved it! It's how I feel about what this 30 days is bringing. I love the last part, "Return to Me, for I have redeemed you". Aren't we so blessed that God allows us to return to Him...always.

Insta Detox

This week Robert and I are starting a #whole30 challenge and to go along with it I feel a little nudge to also do an Insta-Detox and a Facebook fast. I've been fighting it but I think it's time. I know it's going to be hard because I love instagram and keeping up with everyone through Facebook, but I feel it taking up too much of my time on a daily basis. I pray that God will use this time away to discipline me with His word and love. Just this morning I was reading a devotional teaching about the tactics of the enemy, and two of his favorites are noise and distraction. Although social media is not supposed to be noise and distraction it has certainly been distracting me from spending time with the Father on a daily basis. Let me just take a minute to declare that I am the absolute worst at spending consistent time in God's word, and even though me spending time with Him won't change the way He feels about me, it might change the way I feel about Him, and that is what I'm hoping for.

I'm going to try and post every couple of days to share what I'm learning and maybe a couple of #scripturedoodles along the way.  Join me if you feel the nudge too. ;)

P.S. I can already tell this is going to be SO hard, posting the pic above made me want to look at my feed so bad.....and now I am convinced I have an insta-addiction. Deliver me Jesus :)

Doodle of the Day: Psalm 139:9-10

 Since having my sweet boy and getting back to work this new year I have felt somewhat in a "funk" artistically. I recently wrote a post about getting back to the heart of #scripturedoodle which has been slow but good at the same time. In my "funk" I just feel un-creative. I feel like I've stopped pushing myself as an artist to create something truly unique and special. So in my doodling, I've gone back to the beloved thumbnail sketches and pushing farther into what each piece "could" be. This has been a sort of conditioning if you will and it has been so refreshing! Thank you God for meeting each day at my sketchbook.

I just had the chance to do a special custom #scripturedoodle for one of our students at church for her 16th birthday. I really tried to tie the scripture to the image in a unique way and stretch myself creatively. Here's the final image.

Today's Challenge: stretch yourself creatively!

Re: Focus...it's about time!

So... have you ever started something with great intentions and lots of gusto? And as time went on you lost focus of your original goal and the point of the whole thing to begin with? For me that is how I feel about #scripturedoodle today.

At the beginning of each year our church does a 21 day fast where we prepare and re-focus for the coming year. In evaluating where I am the Lord has convicted me and in how off kilter my original vision for #scripturedoodle has become. My heart is broken that I let it get this way. In the beginning my heart for #scripturedoodle truly was for a devotional practice, one that digs deep into the word of God and explores creativity in worship. Over the past two years it has become a self centered way to make money, and I'm embarrassed.

In working for myself it is so easy to make everything income focused? What do my books look like? Where is my next job? Am I making enough money this week? ...Have any of you ever felt this way.  In all these "worries" I found that #scripturedoodle was a way to bring an income, selling prints of ones I've done and taking original custom orders. I'm not saying that it's bad, but what it is, is out of focus.  Instead of devotion and community creativity #scripturedoodle has become all about me and by art. It's not that I can never sell prints of my work or do custom work, but that can't be all there is, and it can't be first. The devotion has to be first.

So, in our fast this January I am refocusing #scripturedoodle to get back to the heart of what God wants it to be. THANKFULLY our God is a God of grace and love who forgives us for our shortcomings. God knew it would get this way, but He is faithful and loving to bring me back to Him and guide me in the re-focus of the purpose. I am SO BLESSED and thankful to have a Father like this.

Are you out of focus in your work or mission for God? Do you feel so far from where you started wondering how you can get back? Fear not! God is present waiting for you to come back to Him. He wants to help! Let's refocus together! Amen?