Flower

Dan's sister and her husband decided to decorate part of their daughter's rooms with art from family members...so for their first little girl everyone got a wooden butterfly and for their second girl we got flowers. It is so adorable to see them mounted on the wall and such a cute idea. I did not get to do a butterfly because Dan and I didn't even know each other at the time. But with baby number two I got to shake the dust off my creativity.

With my plain white flower in mind I started thinking about what I wanted to do. Plus as people turn their flowers back in we all get pictures of them. I am not really sure how I got the idea but decided on putting the meaning of her name on the flower. Than Dan and I headed to Michael's to see what inspiration we could conjure up. Slowly colors and idea's started to emerge and we ended up leaving with lots of fun things to use.

General lay out idea

With my lay out in mind I knew I wanted to paint my flower to add some texture. I haven't painted in a long time and think I might start doing more of it. I already draw in my journal...why not add painting?

Blue and Green watercolors

 Next I used the sparkling letters to spell out Captivating (the meaning of Rebecca) and made some adjustments to how I was going to lay out the birds and buttons.

I used some glue to attach the buttons and the birds already had a sticky side. My last move might be to add some sealer to the top but after everything dried it seems well secured on. Here are a couple pictures of the final flower :) I love how it turned out.

 Now I just need to get pictures of Dan's flower when he is done. I am excited to see it, he has a really good idea.

Be Joyful in Hope

Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

Hope scares me. It always feels like a bubble or a beautiful dream close enough to touch but fragile and quick to disappear. As God and I have been talking about Hope this year I found my first response was fear. I took a deep breath and thought, "not again; I thought we covered this one"...and did it well. During my last journey with Hope I even bought the word ( which I didn't want at the time). I didn't want the reminder of God asking me to Hope for things in my life; things I was scared I would never have.

I even had it in a specific location in my apartment where I would have to see it every day when I would walk in the door and before I left. I knew I had to choose Hope even when my heart was terrified. And though I found strength in the Hope I discovered with God I am still scared. For me Hope is about dreaming and God is calling my heart to dream, wish, and Hope. Hope more, Hope longer, Hope bigger, and in my Hope find joy.

Fear asks, " What if what I Hope for never happens?" It wants to pull me into myself, crawl some place safe and live in fear instead of possibly being disappointed. Disappointment happens but don't loose sight of Joy.

Fear keeps me from dreaming big, Hoping for more, and from experiencing joy. Dreaming gives joy, the joy of thinking about the possibilities. And there can be sadness in loss of expectations. But God isn't saying be joyful in expectations...be joyful in HOPE. Hope of what can be, what might be, and what could be. Hope is free from expectations.

I think God wants me to do a bit more untangling.

He makes all things new

Just because

What my wonderful husband had waiting for me when I got home from work this week :)

It's beginning to look a lot like summer....

First campfire of the year!!!

We decided to keep our Christmas tree and use it for firewood :) We can't wait to go camping.