I made this for my husband last year for our 40th anniversary - the sentiments are the same this year for our 41st! :)
So many things to write about - everyday life,gardening, cooking,France,Kansas,family,holidays, church,God,Jesus Christ,Christianity,missions, ministry,abortion, politics, art, music, "Sullivan" our English bulldog,reading .....
Friday, August 13, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Poster/France
Beautiful black-and-white photography ... poster of winter in the small village of Algrange, France - a great gift for you, a student for his dorm or any student, or a teacher ........or, for ANYone! :)
Travel Coffee Mug
Great travel coffee mug! Makes a fun gift for a back-to-school student and/or teacher. Design available in other mug styles, colors, materials and in other prices. Can be customized.
French Lorraine Village Posters from Zazzle.com
French Lorraine Village Posters from Zazzle.com
A beautiful poster from my original watercolor ... need a back-to-the-dorm poster for a student? new wall decor? a gift for a friend? a gift for YOURSELF? Take a peek at the poster .... or look around in my online store at the many other original items available. All original and unique - my art work and/or photography. Items may be personnalised. Great gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, holidays, etc.
A beautiful poster from my original watercolor ... need a back-to-the-dorm poster for a student? new wall decor? a gift for a friend? a gift for YOURSELF? Take a peek at the poster .... or look around in my online store at the many other original items available. All original and unique - my art work and/or photography. Items may be personnalised. Great gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, holidays, etc.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Tears
From "The American Heritage Dictionary of The English Language" : "tear" ... "A drop of the clear salty liquid that is secreted by the lachrymal gland of the eye to lubricate the surface between the eyeball and eyelid and to wash away irritants."
There have just been many of those "drops of clear salty liquid" sliding down my face ... I have once again allowed myself to let the tears fall over an on-going family sadness. I haven't sat and thought about "it" for some time; and I haven't cried about "it" for sometime. But I just now did. Those tears flowed, as my thoughts flowed; and, though those tears have not "washed away the irritant" - the reason for the tears - they have brought me a certain amount of relief. Tears don't always change a circumstance, but I think they can help us cope with the circumstance.
A second part of the definition of "tears" says: "a profusion of this liquid spilling from the eyes and wetting the cheeks, especially as an expression of emotion".
Well, my emotion has just been "expressed", once again, with my tears. The tightness in my chest has been relieved! Tears really do help us relax; soothe us.
I thank God for these tears. They are a gift; though I often try to "fight" letting them flow. The tears also remind me to rely on God to take care of the CAUSE of the tears. There are some things in life that I can do something about; and there are many things in life that I can do nothing about myself. I MUST rely on God and His promises - that He IS "in charge", even though I might not understand what He's doing (or not) at the moment. God's timing is certainly not mine. I want it DONE and NOW! The definition of "done" and "now" to God may be a whole different definition than mine. I often need to reread the definition of "patience".
As a Christian, I know God loves me, and everyone else. He does. And I believe that God Himself lets the tears fall sometimes because of us; because He loves us so. Jesus did! So, I will "accept" my tears, as they come. Be glad the floodgates opened and relieved the stress of the situation. But, I will also be looking forward to the time when those tears will no longer be necessary. No more reasons for the tears. No more illness, death, family sadness.
I cling to God's promises:
"Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him." (the Bible: Psalm 126:5-6 - NIV version)
and:
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (the Bible: Revelation 21:4 - NIV version)
Amen! to that.
There have just been many of those "drops of clear salty liquid" sliding down my face ... I have once again allowed myself to let the tears fall over an on-going family sadness. I haven't sat and thought about "it" for some time; and I haven't cried about "it" for sometime. But I just now did. Those tears flowed, as my thoughts flowed; and, though those tears have not "washed away the irritant" - the reason for the tears - they have brought me a certain amount of relief. Tears don't always change a circumstance, but I think they can help us cope with the circumstance.
A second part of the definition of "tears" says: "a profusion of this liquid spilling from the eyes and wetting the cheeks, especially as an expression of emotion".
Well, my emotion has just been "expressed", once again, with my tears. The tightness in my chest has been relieved! Tears really do help us relax; soothe us.
I thank God for these tears. They are a gift; though I often try to "fight" letting them flow. The tears also remind me to rely on God to take care of the CAUSE of the tears. There are some things in life that I can do something about; and there are many things in life that I can do nothing about myself. I MUST rely on God and His promises - that He IS "in charge", even though I might not understand what He's doing (or not) at the moment. God's timing is certainly not mine. I want it DONE and NOW! The definition of "done" and "now" to God may be a whole different definition than mine. I often need to reread the definition of "patience".
As a Christian, I know God loves me, and everyone else. He does. And I believe that God Himself lets the tears fall sometimes because of us; because He loves us so. Jesus did! So, I will "accept" my tears, as they come. Be glad the floodgates opened and relieved the stress of the situation. But, I will also be looking forward to the time when those tears will no longer be necessary. No more reasons for the tears. No more illness, death, family sadness.
I cling to God's promises:
"Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him." (the Bible: Psalm 126:5-6 - NIV version)
and:
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (the Bible: Revelation 21:4 - NIV version)
The Flowers ....
Thank You, God, for the beautiful flowers You have created ... You are the perfect Artist!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Some of my art ...............
These art works are for sale ... and they may also be found on many different products through my online store at: http://www.zazzle.com/samecla
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Joyful Future
"As I was 'getting older' I used to wish I knew what was in my future ... now that I've 'become' older and lived through some of that future, I am thanking God that I didn't know my future ... and am trying to live it as it comes, and let God help me through it day by day!"
The quote above is my most recent Facebook "status" posting. I posted it to remind myself, and others, that God IS in control. He IS there with us; through the good and the bad. Through the pain. Through the heartaches. Through the financial difficulties. Through the sorrows of wayward children. Human that I am, I NEED to be reminded of this all too often.
Isaiah 43:2 is one of my favorite Scripture verses:
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."
Now, I'll be the first one to admit that I don't care to "pass through the waters/rivers", and definitely not "through the fires"! Oh, no. Not me. I am a world-class coward when it comes to pain ... at least, if I know pain is coming; I handle it better when it's a surprise. :) I mentioned in that quote at the beginning that I used to wish I knew what was coming; but then, through the years, EXPERIENCED "what was coming" - and was glad I didn't know it beforehand. It was hard enough to handle and get through when it came as a "surprise". There were (still are) many times in the last few years that I have had to read and reread that Isaiah 43 verse - had to repeat it to myself over and over and over.
"God? Did you mean it? ARE You really here? How come I'm not 'feeling' Your presence? How come You are allowing all this to happen? How come You aren't just zapping all of this painful unpleasantness out of my life? Are you punishing me? Are you punishing my family? Why can't You just KNOCK the truth into people? You ARE God - how come you don't do it?" And on and on and on. There were certainly many time when I wasn't allowing the joy of God to shine through the bad times.
I just read an article in a devotional book about "joy", which I've written about myself before. The author said pretty much the same as I did in my own articles on the subject: JOY is not a fake smile or put-on happiness in the middle of some disaster in our lives. It's not pasting that "up" look on your face and declaring to anyone who asks that "everything's great - all is well - no problem". Real joy is something we can show to others, as well as to ourselves, in the middle of any of the worst situations in life - because the joy I refer to is not about US. It is about Jesus. We can have this joy BECAUSE of Jesus Christ, pure and simple. We can have and still show this joy when we go through the hard times because we still have the assurance of God's love through the acceptance of Jesus's death on a cross for our sins. We KNOW we are "okay", no matter what life is throwing our way, because, in the end, God is waiting for us. That's JOY!
No matter what the past has given us,no matter what we are living through in the here-and-now, no matter what the future holds ... nothing can take away the JOY of our lives: the love and salvation that God has sent our way, through our belief in and acceptance of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
When we are floundering through the waters or fighting through the fire, if we look up we see that God IS there with us. He hasn't left us to our own devices. Having already gone through some of those waters and some of those fires, I can now look back and see that, yes, God was with me; I can now see, looking back, more clearly where He was helping me. At the time I struggled so much to feel or show the joy of the Lord; even becoming angry with God; wondering why in the world He is allowing these things to happen. Yet, He was still there. He waited for me to look up - as I coughed and sputtered my way through the waters, shielded myself from the flames ... God waited patiently for me to see that He was right there with me. And still is. And that knowledge, too, is pure JOY
We don't need to know the future. There will surely be good times AND bad times to come; but what we NEED to know about the future is that God IS there with us through whatever the future holds for us. And that the "final future" will be a future with God Himself - and that is JOY!
The quote above is my most recent Facebook "status" posting. I posted it to remind myself, and others, that God IS in control. He IS there with us; through the good and the bad. Through the pain. Through the heartaches. Through the financial difficulties. Through the sorrows of wayward children. Human that I am, I NEED to be reminded of this all too often.
Isaiah 43:2 is one of my favorite Scripture verses:
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."
Now, I'll be the first one to admit that I don't care to "pass through the waters/rivers", and definitely not "through the fires"! Oh, no. Not me. I am a world-class coward when it comes to pain ... at least, if I know pain is coming; I handle it better when it's a surprise. :) I mentioned in that quote at the beginning that I used to wish I knew what was coming; but then, through the years, EXPERIENCED "what was coming" - and was glad I didn't know it beforehand. It was hard enough to handle and get through when it came as a "surprise". There were (still are) many times in the last few years that I have had to read and reread that Isaiah 43 verse - had to repeat it to myself over and over and over.
"God? Did you mean it? ARE You really here? How come I'm not 'feeling' Your presence? How come You are allowing all this to happen? How come You aren't just zapping all of this painful unpleasantness out of my life? Are you punishing me? Are you punishing my family? Why can't You just KNOCK the truth into people? You ARE God - how come you don't do it?" And on and on and on. There were certainly many time when I wasn't allowing the joy of God to shine through the bad times.
I just read an article in a devotional book about "joy", which I've written about myself before. The author said pretty much the same as I did in my own articles on the subject: JOY is not a fake smile or put-on happiness in the middle of some disaster in our lives. It's not pasting that "up" look on your face and declaring to anyone who asks that "everything's great - all is well - no problem". Real joy is something we can show to others, as well as to ourselves, in the middle of any of the worst situations in life - because the joy I refer to is not about US. It is about Jesus. We can have this joy BECAUSE of Jesus Christ, pure and simple. We can have and still show this joy when we go through the hard times because we still have the assurance of God's love through the acceptance of Jesus's death on a cross for our sins. We KNOW we are "okay", no matter what life is throwing our way, because, in the end, God is waiting for us. That's JOY!
No matter what the past has given us,no matter what we are living through in the here-and-now, no matter what the future holds ... nothing can take away the JOY of our lives: the love and salvation that God has sent our way, through our belief in and acceptance of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
When we are floundering through the waters or fighting through the fire, if we look up we see that God IS there with us. He hasn't left us to our own devices. Having already gone through some of those waters and some of those fires, I can now look back and see that, yes, God was with me; I can now see, looking back, more clearly where He was helping me. At the time I struggled so much to feel or show the joy of the Lord; even becoming angry with God; wondering why in the world He is allowing these things to happen. Yet, He was still there. He waited for me to look up - as I coughed and sputtered my way through the waters, shielded myself from the flames ... God waited patiently for me to see that He was right there with me. And still is. And that knowledge, too, is pure JOY
We don't need to know the future. There will surely be good times AND bad times to come; but what we NEED to know about the future is that God IS there with us through whatever the future holds for us. And that the "final future" will be a future with God Himself - and that is JOY!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Upside-Down Truth
Facebook | Sandra Carol Mers Clayton
Essay about truth - and what some are trying to pass as truth in today's society.
Essay about truth - and what some are trying to pass as truth in today's society.
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