Sara’s Words and Debi’s art. See Debi’s children’s books with original art @Amazon.com, Deborah Chaves
I think a major hold back from experiencing the new is ” letting go” of things in our past. Could be one or all of these three; people, places, things….Always wanting to look back either in thought or word. Trying to go back, instead of enjoying the surroundings of our new wanting to run back to the old. Things we onced enjoyed…leave them for others to enjoy. Could be our youth, clothes or cover girl? Heck, we might as well leave our minds free from this old …because it could only be a fallacy for some of us. We might just be the shopping bag to hold the items that just robbed us of our time, dime and fun. People we let go of are happy to be free of us and we them but we sure can clay mountain build in our minds a fantasy bigger than life. Some precious people we had to let go of because their journey here had ended but we won’t let them go because their memory helps to bury another old poor me thought. This blocks our view and cripples our limbs from serving others with compassion, love, giving and doing.
Do I have dead limbs or am I a sick stick tree? Would one see me flourishing like a green olive tree in the house of The Lord? Behold, beauty is seeing lush- fresh- blemish free fruit- ripe -and ready to eat not hours invested in a spa while I try and dream my way to make myself believe I deserve this. This comment is all about me. I sure hope in 2013 I crawl out of the old me hole!
thedailylily.com 
I wrote a little story once which gave me the idea that we find the greatest mysteries within. I found the doll within. Many find Narnia within. Jacob, from the OT found courage from within. I talk so often with those that feel so empty within. They try to dress the outside so their natural eye can be satisfied. They cut, twist and color their hair. Puff their lips and face and say; O’ I feel so good. The feel last ‘for but a day’ and then off to find another fix. There is a great mystery within, I believe. When we search for the mystery we will find and be satisfied. Jacob, said “He was there along and I didn’t even know it.”
Debi’s art gives me an idea that maybe the real is under my foot when the real should be in my spirit. The second art making me a bag instead of life makes me think, ‘where am I? Maybe I should take a trip and find the closet with snow and friends that speak to the heart and not the flesh.
Does anyone remember this line in “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe?” “Try me.” Lucy later attempts to return to Narnia via the wardrobe, but the Professor tells her he has been trying for many years, and they will probably return to Narnia when they least expect to return…”
Narnia, wardrobe, closet door, battle? Jacob, ladder, dream, vision, rock and battle? The “Doll Within” emotion of seeing and desiring;….finding again and again….Hey, this is fun looking for the door…..
And don’t forget Alice in Wonderland…she desired very much to go through the tiny door to the beautiful garden she could see beyond…but she would have to shrink and become small to do it.
Another good one Debi.
Love Debi’s art & your “art word” Sara. Proverbs 27:10 says, “neither go to your brother’s house in the day of calamity; Better is a neighbor who is near, in spirit than a brother who is far off in heart.”
Wonder what this Proverb means? “Birds of a feather flock together’ is the first thought that came to my mind. Geneva Study Bible says, “Do not trust any worldly help in the day of your trouble.” OOOPS
Maybe ungrateful, unappreciative and unthankful of those that have given much love and trust in one’s life….when death knocks at your door go find those that your heart has been longing for. WHEEE!
W just read an ob of a lady we watched in her calamity; I understand she wrote this a few months before her departure. She named and numbered her birth/blood family. But, look to whom the special thanks went.
“After bravely facing a long illness, “Eadie” passed away peacefully at home. She is survived by her husband, …; 8 children; 14 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. Edith was a member of the Elks Women’s Auxiliary.
Special thanks to all my friends and neighbors, especially my dear friends in Mah Johgg who helped me through this journey…”
Be thankful to those we can trust. Ones that have proven their loyalty. Interesting, how this scripture fits the individual needs of those that are in need. So like God!
I love how the pictures above so expresses the words written!
“Girl,” as a friend would say to us….Chickfarmer, she was….Hey, Tammy, I’m with you on this. Debi, drove a nail in my limbs with the stroke of her brush.
Perhaps I may see this story differently. The woman I see LOOKs IN THE MIRROR and sees a face wrinkled AND WANTS NOTHING BUT TO SERVE AND HONOR YOU Lord. She KNOWs that every day must be a day of advancement (Smith Wigglesworth). She knows that many have given up and have become sidewalk huggers. Get up woman she feels like screaming as she taps the woman with the very toe of heels and she says see what your Father in heaven has for you to do, get up. Turn your horrid journey into a story to help others. Perhaps if I have anything in this old bag to nourish you I can nourish your flesh, but please get up. Put off the coat of self pity off – another tap of her heel. Put on the Coat of Service, pack your small travel bag get moving, and hold fast to God’s hand. Move into the new. According to Smith Wigglesworth (January 16 devotional) – “be (reconstructed, it will be in the hard times (as you see in your cement hugging.) It won’t be in a singing meeting, but at a time when you think all things are dried up, when you think there is no hope for you and you have passed up everything. That is the time that God makes the person. And out of the experience, we will have a story to tell about what God has done for us. When the trial is severe, when you think that no one is being tried as much as you when the trial is so hard that you cannot see and you do not know what to do, “count it all joy” (James 1:2) You are in a good place when you do not know what to do; look for God for the answer. Thought for the day: It is when you are tried by fire that God purges you, takes the dross away, and brings forth pure gold.”
Walk on Ladies of Faith, Walk on, the PROMISE IS AHEAD, AND THE MASTER IS THERE TO OPEN THE DOOR WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED THE RACE. What a lucky woman the sidewalk hugger was to have a woman of faith bold enough to pull her out of the flames of hell. Thank you!!!!!!!
You might be lucky enough to meet her. She will share all her wisdom and finances even the last dime in her purse until she has exhausted all for you to enter the MASTER’S HOUSE and be everything God has called you to be. Her sadness at your situation will then turn to JOY!
An artist told me this week; art unites. We may not understand the different way art is seen but it tells a story. Rena’s view also shows me words again from Phillipians 2:12, NLT “…Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.” I think KJV says, work out your salvation with fear and trembling before The Lord.
Rena,
I have been blessed to have met Sara and the lilies, who have encouraged me and lifted me up in prayer, during retreats and many other times. Sara, as a mentor and Bible teacher, has been relentless and unselfish with her time, money, and energy to help mentor me, during trials in my personal life. Through her teachings and wisdom, Sara has been able to put a mirror before me, and others that help us to see that it’s not about the outward, but the inward, that God is looking to change, in each one of us. I can appreciate each person’s giftings, as Debi’s art tells a story of our outward, while God through the work of Sara, is working to help us see Psalm 139:13, “how He made all the delicate innerparts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 119:73 says, “God your hands made me and formed me, give me understanding to learn Your commands.” My gift has flourished since I have tried to be obedient to make changes and allowed God to fashion me; inwardly, so I can be used, in the church.
Yes Sara has done that for me as well and I say amen to all you have written.
Tammy, I gave from my self as simple as he may be and I see it has returned in it’s multiplication just as the wise man said it would be. ◄ Ecclesiastes 11:1 NLT “Send your grain across the seas, and in time, profits will flow back to you.”
Tammy and all that read; 🙂 Sarah Young’s devotional says today, Day 36; “Just as the sun is at the center of the solar system, so I am at the center of your entire being-physical, emotional, and spiritual. I, the Mighty One who created the universe, live inside you! Let this amazing truth reverberate in your mind and soak into your innermost being. Ponder what it means to have so much power dwelling inside you.”
I see from your comment that you are ahead of her day but right on your day. I must saying reading you, Tammy and Sarah Young, back to back my mind went to my communications that I have daily with a family member in another time zone. They are a day ahead of me but some way we are talking on the same day. 🙂 The Power to connect is flowing like an electric circuit through my mind.
Just as Debi’s art connected to my words and your thoughts and actions connected to art in paint and word form; your heart fingers connected to the world through internet and phone. Hey, if people don’t understand, I might just know why? You have got to plug into the power source that Young writes about, Debi paints about, Sara’s words dance about and your words Joy about.
Rena, Sara wrote a song that responds much to the heart’s cry that you write of, above
JESUS IS WAITING THERE ©saramullennex
THERE ARE SO MANY THAT HAVE CROSSED THE ROAD
THEY’VE CROSSED THE ROAD TO THEIR WEALTH OR SO THEY SAY
BUT THEY HAVE MISSED THE PATH, THE PATH THE SAVIOR WALKED TO ENDURE
TO ENDURE TO THE LAST.
O, I HEAR THE CRY OF THE SAVIOR SAY
COME BACK, COME BACK TO ME MY WANDERING CHILD
O HEAR MY VOICE THAT PLEADS TO YOUR SOUL OF WOE
O LAY ASIDE THOSE WEIGHTS AND COME HOME TO ME.
**FOR THE MASTER WAITS FOR YOUR HAND TO RAISE
AND JOIN THE HAND OF YOUR HOPE
FOR IT’S HIS HAND THAT WILL CROSS THE FOES
OF ALL YOUR DARK, OF ALL YOUR DARK AND GLOOMY DAYS.
SO HEAR YOUR MASTER SAY, MY LIGHT NEVER DIMS
MY PEACE WITHIN WILL BE A STRONGHOLD FOR YOUR SOUL
O LET ME IN, O LET ME IN, I CRY TODAY
FOR YOU WILL FIND ME THERE, YOU’LL FIND ME WAITING THERE.
I’M WAITING THERE AT THE DOOR OF YOUR SOUL
TO RELEASE THE CHAINS OF YOUR PAIN
SO HEAR ME WHEN I SAY COME BACK TO ME MY CHILD
COME BACK TO ME , TO THE PLACE OF MY REST.
**LOOK UP, LOOK UP PAST THE DAYS OF GLOOM
AND LET MY MOURNING DOVE ARISE IN YOUR HEART
YOU’LL FIND I’M THERE AND WAITING FOR YOUR CALL
SAYING O JESUS, SAYING O JESUS, SAYING O JESUS,
Love this song. The words sure speak to the wounded.
“I’M WAITING THERE AT THE DOOR OF YOUR SOUL
TO RELEASE THE CHAINS OF YOUR PAIN
SO HEAR ME WHEN I SAY COME BACK TO ME MY CHILD
COME BACK TO ME , TO THE PLACE OF MY REST.”
I sure hope the woman that needs the fix in Rena’s thoughts will take the risk.
I heard a song years ago sung by a young girl in a Methodist Church in Raleigh, NC and an awaken occurred in my life. Here are some of the words from this song;
“For whatever it takes to draw closer to you, Lord,
That’s what I’ll be willing to do.
For whatever it takes to be more like You,
That’s what I’ll be willing to do.
Take my houses, my lands,
Change my dreams, change my plans
For I’m placing my whole life in Your hands;
And if You call me today…
To a place far away
Lord, I’ll go, and Your will obey.”
Song of days gone by could now say, Take my makeup, shopping bags, booze and snooze, rings and blings, purses and belts and drugs and lies I tell…Whatever it takes to be more like You, or draw closer to You. Huh, this seems a bit old fashion, don’t you think?
“I think a major hold back from experiencing the new is ” letting go” of things in our past. Could be one or all of these three; people, places, things….”
This sentence of Sara’s was the basis for the picture idea of the woman in the hat…old enough to wear a ‘red hat’ and embrace that season of life but not willing to let go of younger years of the past. Am I/we holding so tightly to going places (thus the travel bag), buying things (thus the shopping bag) that nothing new can fill the hands. And, feeling the need to keep someone else under feet /hold someone else down or control someone….just can’t let them go and move on. To me, a caricuture of foolishness, ugliness and emptiness.
These words of Sara’s, “We might just be the shopping bag to hold the items that just robbed us of our time, dime and fun.”, prompted the thought of the bag picture. Am I just an old bag with things in me that rob and deplete and don’t produce anything of real value?
The eyes on the harvest picture relates to Sara’s words, ““I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” John 4:35. Literally, are my/our eyes open to see beyond ourselves and see the harvest…people…some hurting, some languishing, some oblivious to what is going on around, some seeking?
Sara, the words you quoted from the devotional “Let this amazing truth reverberate in your mind and soak into your innermost being. Ponder what it means to have so much power dwelling inside you” stand in sharp contrast to the ending words from your story sentence, “Behold, beauty is seeing lush- fresh- blemish free fruit- ripe -and ready to eat not hours invested in a spa while I try and dream my way to make myself believe I deserve this.”
On Ponder: reflect deeply on a subject; to weigh in the mind with thoroughness and care; to reflect or consider with thoroughness and care. (sounds much like Behold!)
One definition of Dream: to indulge in daydreams; to suffer delusions; be unrealistic.
Ponder/Behold…produces
‘Dream my way’…an evaporating illusion
At my BSF bible study this week, the speaker mentioned that Watchman Nee said that we must approach God as a child with open hands. If we have too much in our hands he may come and say daughter give me your hand. If your hands are too full He may ask you to lay it down. The lady’s hands in the picture are full of her wardrobe now and she would have to let go to take God’s hand. The lecturer asked, “What are you holding on to so so so tightly?” books, money a house, husband, children, looks, titles, degrees etc. all of which are idols? The lecturer goes on to ask “What are you clinching in your hand that holds you back from holding on (trusting) God?” Because he loves you so much He may put you through a test . Remember she says God has a right to take back things in your hand. He gave them to you anyway. He only puts those whom He calls his own to this test. God wants to give us a test to keep us focused on Him. He wants our love. He does it for us to go deeper and become more productive for him. The lecturer went on to explain that a test seems unreasonable but temptation brings about the worst in us. as I see it a test brings abundance whereas temptation to a well worn path of repentance. The lecturer explained that going through the test the outcome is good and one really doesn’t mind the sacrifices of the stuff in your hands.
One thing I have come to understand letting go is a continuous cycle. All to often some of us can be; “as snug as a bug in a rug.”
Letting go like Abraham and his walk with the Lord in Genesis must be a continual building of faith and trust in God.
Thinking more on Sara’s words,”…but we sure can clay mountain build in our minds a fantasy bigger than life” helps me understand about this mind and fantasy more.
Of all the soil types, clay can easily become the most compacted…hard as a brick when dry and uselessly soupy when too wet. Water just doesn’t move through well because there’s not much space between its tiny particles. Its packed with lots of great food, but fruitful plants have a hard time growing in it…just not enough air and breathing room. Using our minds’ time to build these fantasies that will never materialize must help create this clay in our brains. Clay minds…dull, clogged, heavy, dry, soupy. Very sad.