The Sky Clears Up

Oh!! Black Friday... There seems to have been some madness out there, with shoppers desperate to get their deals... thankfully, I celebrated the "holiday" by staying at home, making "next day turkey carcass soup" (which turned out really flavorful and yummy!), and painting!

On Thanksgiving we had decided to put out a big canvas for our guests to paint whatever they felt like painting and end up with a corporate painting. Someone started with a blue background, then someone else added the ocean, then a sun... then big dark brown clouds!? I'll spare you the pic (it wasn't that bad, just not what my roommates and I had hoped for).

So yesterday we... um, we had to say something. Big dark clouds wasn't going to do it for this beautiful canvas that was to decorate our home. Thankfully one of my roommates mentioned it first and so we were able to agree with her that we had bigger and brighter dreams for this canvas.

I was determined! I got all set and started by making the sun way bigger, covering part of the clouds even with that move. Brightness and joy started to jump of the canvas, and I started feeling like I was truly performing a prophetic act. One cool thing about painting is that no matter how bad it looks you can always change it, you can always make it better, it's up to you...

I kept feeling like I was clearing the skies. No matter who had painted on it before, no matter what they had done, no matter how dark those other clouds were, it was up to me to bring the light. It took a couple hours (it's a big canvas) but I had so much fun playing with the colors and discovering all that came out from the experience. Then there it was:

Sunrise!! Clear skies! Yay!! It might not be perfect, and I could probably work some more on it, but I like where it's at right now... lighter colors, warmth, joy and peace... the canvas is what I make of it (with the help and inspiration of Holy Spirit, as I partner with Him in everything), even if others bring darkness, I can clear it up, clean it up; I can bring the Son-Rise ;)

...

Speechless.

Thankfulness is the theme of the day, but in my life it's been the theme of the season. Really! Where do I start? My Papa has always been so good to me and He's teaching me to have eyes to see beyond, into the little details and thoughts through which He celebrates me... He celebrates me! That in itself it's reason to be thankful for life; and then a long list of blessings rushes into my mind and my heart is overwhelmed with His tenderness and joy! Wo-hooooo!!! He loves me! :D Him and I we have a history, it's been growing, it's unfolding, it's ours alone, it's intimate & miraculous... and I'm simply thankful.

I'm thankful for this season and the seasons prior that brought me here, I'm thankful for my spiritual and biological family, thankful for friendships of a lifetime and new friendships, thankful for His faithful provision and His teaching of living in joy through anything as log as He's with me; I'm thankful for the assignment over my life in this season, thankful for the amazing people involved in fulfilling it with me, thankful, thankful, thankful and then some...

I'm alive, I get to smell, see, hear, touch and taste the goodness of my Maker in His creation; beauty all around! Each day a new chance to see His mercies, His care, His righteousness and power, His love. I get to feel beyond my senses all His goodness, all His care. "God is good" is so much more than a phrase that a congregation shouts when the pastor prompts them to, it's a profound reality beyond this world, beyond the very words that utter it. God is good!

Sorry for the rambling, but this morning my heart was overflowing with the theme of the day and I just wanted it to leak through my fingertips as I wrote this entry. May our eyes be opened even wider to the beauty and the love of the most incredible Lover, the most thoughtful Savior and Friend.

Feathers

 It is 11/11/11 the global day of worship, and Bethel Church in Redding is having a 48 hour House of Prayer event, with continous worship that started last night and goes on until tomorrow. I love creative expressions, and always wanted to worship through plastic arts. I remember that when I was little I thought it would be cool for someone to paint on stage while worship was going on... that was way before I ever saw it happen through other people. ha,ha! Yesterday, my friend Janelle and I got invited to sign up to paint at the front of the Twin View Campus, where the House of Prayer is event is happening. Honestly it was a bit intimidated and I said no at first; but she knew it was something I'd been wanting to do and offered to do it together. Yay!! 

We signed up for today on the 10am-12pm, which meant that in this glorious day of worship, we would be doing prophetic art at 11:11 am on 11/11/11, how cool is that?? We wanted to do a test run, so during last night's worship we asked Papa for a picture. He gave us the concept of rain down, feathers and gavel; and together we painted the picture on the right that I feel stands for Papa's justice with a rain down of feathers in colors that represent glory, revelation and healing... it was so much fun! 

So today we went for the real deal, right at the front, with another 4 artists we took position before the canvas. By now I was no longer scared but excited and with anticipation of what Papa and Holy Spirit would do. It was so much fun!! I felt an explosion of creativity in worship the whole time. It was so good to partner with Holy Spirit and connect with my friend. Isn't that what life is about? Relationship with God and relationship with people that brings forth beauty and speaks life to this earth. That's exactly what we did, and God spoke so much, and it felt like such a life & love giving experience. My friend and I kept sharing what we felt God was speaking and painting over each other's work, and this was the result; fun worhsip! We actually did two pictures, the one on the left of this paragraph is one of them, we felt God wanted to release a continuation from last night's painting with the feathers... and then refining fire, gold of joy and beauty.

I can't get over how fun it was to do this; listen to Holy Spirit, worship Jesus, honor Papa, paint with a friend... I'm so thankful that we had this opportunity and that creativity is released in His presence. 

Pozole

The weather's getting cooler, the year seems to be dialing down, 9 more weeks for 2012!? I feel like I'm just getting started!

Around the awesome culture that I live in these days, a lot of people come and go. There's always something going on, "special events" are more regular than "normal days". It's glorious! It's crazy! I love it! ... and in the midst of that one gets asked "what's next?" rather often. It's so tempting to come up with some smart answer or wild vision, it's encouraged, and I agree with the encouragement... and yet... well... I like planning, trust me; but I feel like a lot of times Papa won't give us the next step until we're ready for it, and while dreaming and envisioning are crucial for our lives, planning without Papa's direction can go downhill pretty quick.

I believe that the true meaning of living by faith is not necessarily connected to monthly support vs. paying job; living by faith is about knowing we each have a customized path, and we are to dynamically follow the Teacher in order to run the race. "Customized", as in we cannot compare ourselves with anyone else; as in following in the "good works" that He prepared in advance for us to do... We are to dream wildly, but hang loose to those dreams because only Papa knows how they'll play out.

So, that brings me to Pozole; it's a Mexican soup made with spices, hominy and meat; in my culture we have it on special occasions, like family gatherings and wedding after-parties. We make it when the weather starts to get cold so that it warms up the house. I made some for a lunch for Latin-american leaders the other day; and it was so yummy!! The texture, and the blending of flavors that comes from the ingredients boiling together for a long time; delicious! Pozole takes a while to cook, and it's all about "enjoying the process"... see where I'm going?? he, he... that's the path that I feel The Teacher has me on right now; dreaming unreasonably while seizing the day! I don't want to focus on tomorrow's circumstances because I have no idea what they'll look like! So, my apologies to Paul Manwaring, but I don't have a plan ("I Have a Plan", is the theme of this year's deployment program)! I'm not making excuses for it, not saying I won't come up with one in due time. My plan is to not plan, unless I get a blueprint from Papa; I want to live by faith, in constant dialogue with the One who has all the answers, rather than making stuff up or comparing my walk with others.