“flourish” January 24, 2009

“flourish” : 1.09 : acrylic paint : done for an online art challenge.

The word I chose to describe what I want in 2009 is “flourish.” I want to flourish this year!

So ordinary January 13, 2009

“I’m breaking out, 
It’s a time like this that makes you want to die. 
I’m breaking out, 
Of this modern day belief of not to try. 

And I’m dying to be, 
What you’re seeing in me. 

Stop trying to be so ordinary, 
Be strong and be brave, and begin your story. 
Cause it’s all that you’ve got 
When you make it in this world. 

I’m breaking out 
It’s a tidal wave of everything to come. 
I’m breaking out, 
So I’ll ride the wave and see what I’ve become. 

And I’m dying to be, 
What you’re seeing in me. 

Stop trying to be so ordinary, 
Be strong and be brave, and begin your story. 
Cause it’s all that you’ve got 
When you make it in this world. 

And you’ll forget, just how to be. 
And you’ll regret, cause now I’m free. 
All that you need, 
Is all that you are. 

Stop trying to be so ordinary, 
Be strong and be brave, and begin your story. 
Cause it’s all that you’ve got 
When you make it in this world”

— “So Ordinary” by Ryan Star

Evening Moon January 6, 2009

“Evening Moon”: Mixed Media. Done for an online art challenge. I’ve been experimenting with metallic spray paint a lot lately.. This is done with silver spray paint, colored pencils, acrylic paint and glitter dust.

2009 Life Map January 4, 2009

Basically this is a creative exercise where you flip through magazines and pull out pictures & words/phrases and make a collage. I interpret the exercise to be a picture of what I want the atmosphere of my life to be in the next few months. Sometimes I am more specific in the pictures I put down. But, this life map suggests the themes of growth, abundance, art & creativity, and beauty. I chose a word that describes what I want in 2009: I want to “Flourish.” So, when I found the artsy flourish I knew I had to put it on my collage!

So Ordinary January 3, 2009

“I’m breaking out, 
It’s a time like this that makes you want to die. 
I’m breaking out, 
Of this modern day belief of not to try. 

And I’m dying to be, 
What you’re seeing in me. 

Stop trying to be so ordinary, 
Be strong and be brave, and begin your story. 
Cause it’s all that you’ve got 
When you make it in this world. 

I’m breaking out 
It’s a tidal wave of everything to come. 
I’m breaking out, 
So I’ll ride the wave and see what I’ve become. 

And I’m dying to be, 
What you’re seeing in me. 

Stop trying to be so ordinary, 
Be strong and be brave, and begin your story. 
Cause it’s all that you’ve got 
When you make it in this world. 

And you’ll forget, just how to be. 
And you’ll regret, cause now I’m free. 
All that you need, 
Is all that you are. 

Stop trying to be so ordinary, 
Be strong and be brave, and begin your story. 
Cause it’s all that you’ve got 
When you make it in this world”

— “So Ordinary” by Ryan Star

Mountains! December 9, 2008

Mountains! This is probably my favorite page in my art journal right now. Done with watercolor paints, pens and colored pencils.

Sow into service November 24, 2008

I’ve been trying to write this blog for about a week, but couldn’t seem to focus enough to get it down. So, I’m determined to make it happen now….

The revelation that I’ve been working through lately is all about service. I have learned to appreciate and value the act of service for the past few years, but I haven’t really given it as much thought as I have recently. Why is service so valuable? What power is created when one person serves God and other people? 

“A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” – Galatians 6:7-10

From this passage, I find a curiously magical blessing: sowing into the Spirit of God unlocks eternal life. When we persevere in doing good deeds, we plant seeds that we can harvest later. When we serve others, we are pleasing the Spirit! How beautiful is this?! Service precedes abundance and creates a garden of life. 

I have come to embrace the bigness of the word “ALL” in scripture. Here, the command is to do good to ALL people as we have opportunity. I know I am guilty of seeing dozens of opportunities to bless and serve people throughout any given day, and more often than not, I feel like I have the right to pick and choose which opportunities I feel like taking. But, this passage urges me to do good to ALL. If I see a need that I am able to sow into, I am asked to do so. 

It has been made aware to me that service is healing for both the server and the one(s) being served. As I serve a person, I reap joy and peace and blessing just as the person I am helping does. Service causes the people on either side to get out of their circumstances and look up and out. We look up to the God who provides what is needed to accomplish the service, and we look out beyond ourselves to others around us.

If we are looking inward at our circumstances and issues for too long, we only have a very small frame of reference. I believe this is a major cause for depression, anxiety and fear. The Bible urges us to keep our gaze on Christ. Why is that? Because He is bigger than our circumstances. When we take our eyes off of ourselves, we see a bigger picture. We see a God who is Sovereign, a God who loves, a God who is the Source of all we need. We see people who are in need, people who are hurting, people who need love. And we realize that God is able to meet the needs of His people. And, then we become empassioned to be a vehicle for the Spirit of God to help those around us. 

I encourage you today to take your eyes off of yourself and look up at God, and then out to the world around you. Who needs a touch of God today? How can you be the tangible heart of God for those people? A hug, an errand, a word of hope, a task completed, a ride, a promise lived out, a random act of love…. these are all seeds that will create a harvest of abundant life if you commit to endurance.

Remember the words we all long to hear when our life on earth is finished: 
“Well done, my good and faithful servant.” 

Serve well! Serve now! And here you will find your peace and joy and abundance.

revelation November 5, 2008

On Friday evening I had clocked out of work and jumped in my car, cranked it up and headed towards the North GA mountains to spend a few short hours in Blue Ridge with my parents who had rented a cabin up there for a few days. 

I spent a good deal of the drive in prayer over various issues, one in particular. I was focusing on who God is, when I stumbled over a name for Him that I had not exactly thought about before. God revealed Himself to me as “The Lord Who Knows.” I suppose this is similar to the popular name of All-Knowing… but The Lord Who Knows is new, refreshing. I had been dealing with some fear and doubt and anxiety… and The Lord Who Knows showed Himself to be more than enough to cover my insecurity.

Ever since encountering The Lord Who Knows, I have had a new level of confidence and courage. Whenever I feel doubt or fear I just turn my heart to God and call on Him as The Lord Who Knows, and the fear and doubt fall away.

I say it tonight as everyone in the country is all up in happiness and also disappointment of the election results. The Lord Who Knows is the One who “is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17). 

I say it in response to fear in my own life that I may have made a huge mistake in neglecting my health. The Lord Who Knows sees me and loves me and will pull me up into health once again.

I say it tonight as I struggle to know how to pray for my friends who are hurting and confused as they move through the challenges of life. The Lord Who Knows is intimately acquainted with their hearts and is working things for His good, which I know is ultimately their good. Some may have trouble seeing God, but He sees them and loves them and calls them to His heart. 

God is The Lord Who Knows. I pray that you will find a resting place in this part of His character. I pray that you will find refuge in this truth. I pray that the same revelation in this part of God’s identity will take root into your mind and your soul as it did in mine.

Journey: blog 3 October 30, 2008

 

The deepest revelation I received from my Journey experience is this: I must finish what I have started.

Distractions have always been a big issue for me. I do not process experiences and problems with great urgency. Instead, I use distractions to short-circuit my thinking and feeling when I go through intense situations. If I have a stressful day at work, instead of first praying about it, journaling and de-compressing in a healthful way, I usually just watch hours and hours of television and eat. Although excess tv and food is already bad in of themselves.. these habits slow the progression of reaching my goals and dreams. In some instances, the distractions even cause me to forget my goals altogether.

I’ve always been the type of person to get things done in the short-term. If it takes too long to work on a project, then I usually give up. I’d rather pull a couple of late-nighters to write a paper, rather than work on it over a longer period of time in shorter bursts. I tend to get heavily inspired and passionate about something in the beginning, but then lose momentum quickly and then the endeavor or project or dream fizzles out fast.

This weekend on the Journey has caused me to revisit the importance of finishing what I start. I know that as a visionary, I will always come up with a large number of ideas and projects, and some of them probably don’t really need to be completed. But, I’m referring to the endeavors that are worth seeing through to the end. I really do think there are several projects and ideas that I quit working towards that could have been great. I don’t think I have really let myself “mourn” their loss. That may sound strange.. but until I get to the point where I can realize what I have turned my back on.. I think it will be more difficult to take future goals seriously. 

Also, I think there are other projects and goals and current endeavors that I am holding on to that are not completely worth the time and effort I am spending on them. I think I need to let go of a few things so that I will be able to make room for more important goals.

I shared my revelation with my Journey teammates on Saturday night around the campfire. I shared that I was so grateful that I had finished putting together my CDA (Child Development Associate) resource file binder before going on the Journey. The CDA is a certification program that childcare workers get. It’s taken me forever to finish my CDA, and a lot of it is because of me. I’ve continued to put off working on it because frankly, I am sick of it and kept finding more important things to do. So, now I have even more responsibilities in life, and more endeavors in my life, which has made it nearly impossible to focus on the CDA stuff. But, I know I have to complete the work so I can be certified. It will benefit me in so many ways. But while the CDA is still left undone in my life, it continues to nag at me. I can’t focus on the mission of reaching my dreams while I have things like the CDA left undone. But, just finishing the resource binder TOTALLY allowed me to focus on the Journey. I didn’t have to fret and worry over what I left undone. I had peace, and held on to it. This one example has fully inspired me to replicate the decision to finish other started projects. 

I think finishing what I start develops quality character traits too. Perhaps it would be considered being authentic. Also, it requires trust and dependance on God, because if it was just me fulfillng my needs, I’d never be content. I can be assured that as I move, God moves. I move in the natural, He moves in the supernatural. 

2 Corinthians 8:11
Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.

James 1:4
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking 
anything.

The Journey: blog 2 October 28, 2008

One of the inspirational moments I encountered on the Journey really changed the way I think about decision making. Friday afternoon we had been told by Pastor Jim that we were to come up with a team mantra. It relates to the military’s tradition of having a saying that the Marines (or Air Force or Army or whatever) can say to each other, and in doing so are basically saying to each other that they understand what each other went through and they are there for each other. So… when times get tough even after their time of service is done, they can say that simple phrase to a brother or sister and it will be understood that they care.

So… Pastor Jim did not give us any instructions on how or exactly when to come up with the phrase, only that it had to be done. And then he ended his message. 

Instructor Tim Bennett then came up and said he heard we had to come up with a Mantra. So, he instructed us to get down in push-up formation. He said that as we came back up from each push-up we had to say our team mantra. We all nervously laughed and looked at each other while bending down for the first push-up, because…well.. none of us had really had any time at all to discuss the mantra. So, it was hilarious when Instructor Tim said, “DOWN! UP!” .. some of us just said whatever came to our mind. I thought it would be funny to yell, “CARPE DIEM!” So a few people laughed. During the next dozen or so push-ups we kept hearing various things from fellow teammates like, “Don’t back down!” “Don’t give up!” etc. etc… Instructor Tim kept yelling, “DOWN!” “UP!” over and over and funny thing.. we were so tired of doing push ups we started listening to each other and one phrase began to have dominance over other phrases. “Go big or go home!” was starting to sound louder. So, Instructor Tim stopped us and said, “What is your mantra? I want to hear your mantra, what is it?!” And almost everyone shouted, “GO BIG OR GO HOME!” And so Instructor Tim had us go back into push-ups and shout it louder and louder until we sounded convinced that we were all on board with it. And we were!

For the rest of the weekend we did use that phrase to encourage each other and pull each other back in line when we got tired or whiny. Go Big Or Go HOME! It’s pretty powerful if you think about it. Do we want to just skate by our lives just to appear like we’re accomplishing tasks and enjoying life, or do we want to put ALL OF OUR hearts, minds, souls into our endeavors? If not, we may as well quit now. We need to be fully engaged and passionate about what we do. Or at least that is my new take on life. 

So.. in those few moments of striving with my teammates to get through the push-ups and choose a mantra, I learned an important lesson. Decision making does not have to take forever. It is possible for a group of people to make a decision without arguing. We just have to go into it as a unit. Listening is key. We all had to start listening to what each other was saying, and decide to surrender our own will. It’s quite profound to think about how our mantra was chosen. I think all of us still will speak that phrase in reverence to each other. I think we will continue to believe in it and use it to lift each other up.