Paint – Five Minute Friday!
If you’ve been with us a while, you know it’s time for Five Minute Fridays!! We write for five whole minutes without worrying about anything in the world except getting those words out. No editing allowed! 🙂
If you haven’t participated before, I encourage you to do so either here with us below in the comments, on your own blog, or on our Facebook page. I would love to read YOUR masterpiece with words!
The prompt word for today is: PAINT!
Ready?
Set!
GO!
My daughters and I love to gather all of our painting supplies and sit down at the table to paint our grand masterpiece of the day. Whether we’re painting figurines or free-handing lighthouses and ladybugs on the canvas, painting is soothing to our souls.
My daughters love the different colors and spreading them across the canvas with the various different brushes. The smaller brushes used for the finest details, while the thicker brushes transfer beautiful colors for the bulk of the picture.
We took an art class recently where my oldest daughter and I painted a beautiful peacock. She did better than I did, of course, but it was time spent together, which we loved!
My youngest daughter really had a desire to paint as well, so we enrolled her in a class where she painted a beautiful mermaid, her absolute favorite in the entire world.
When we were all finished, we stepped back to look at the beautiful display of colors on the canvas and how it was arranged so beautifully to make the grandest picture ever … that we crafted and created with our own hands.
Then I think of how God must have felt after He created for six full days, and then stood back on the seventh day to soak in all of the beauty that He had created. All He had to do was speak, and there it appeared before Him in all of its radiant glory. He breathed life into each animal, each person, each plant and tree in the forest. He formed them all and painted the most beautiful skies … all for His glory and delight.
STOP!
My oldest daughter painted this lighthouse for me … for Light, Love, Hope!
“If it wasn’t for the lighthouse … where would this ship be …”
Trusting In God In Tough Times
It’s so easy to say that we trust the Lord when things are going wonderfully in our lives. It’s great to recite scriptures and have words of encouragement flowing from us when times are good! It is when times are tough that we are really tested. When we trust God even in the tough times, that is when we know that our faith in Him is real and true.
Just recently my family watched as I went for the ride of my life. One minute all was well, and the next minute, the little horse I was riding on decided to bolt. I tried several times to get the horse to stop, but the horse was more determined than ever to show me who was in charge. My family watched in absolute horror as I held on for dear life. I was literally clutching the horn of the saddle with such force with my left hand as I tried to hold on to the reins with my right hand. The horse went as fast as she possibly could, and then rounded the corner going toward the fence. I felt my feet coming out of the stirrups on the saddle, and my husband later told me that as I flew through the air when the horse threw me off, my last words were, “Oh Lord …” as I called out to Him in those final moments before I hit the ground.
Dazed and confused, with everything black before me, I faded in and out. Although my husband told me that I never officially lost consciousness, all I could see was black, and I have little memory of what occurred moments after the horse bolted. Although he said my eyes were wide open and I attempted several times to get the horse to stop, I have no recollection of anything other than what I’ve written above. My husband filled me in on how impressed he was with the length of time I managed to stay on that horse. He said I did everything within my power, yet the horse would not listen. I know that in those moments when everything was black before me, my God was protecting me from the traumatic events that were taking place. I know that the moment I felt my feet leaving the stirrups, that my God was protecting me even still as He cushioned my fall. I could have gotten seriously injured, and yet I was able to get up, with the help of my husband and daughter, and walk into the house to rest in my recliner. I remember being frightened by seeing black, then the inside of my house, and everything fading to black once more as I said, “I need to get checked out …”
We made our way to the emergency room, and my children did not leave my side. They rolled me into the emergency room with a wheelchair because there was no way that I could walk at that point. Fearing the worst, my children held my hand and reassured me with their love.
Moments later, I was in x-ray, and then I heard the tech call for the doctor “Stat.” I feared that was certainly not the best of news, but I knew that it was all out of my hands at that point. I did not cry. I did not really have any emotion at all. I just sat quietly in the wheelchair as I waited. The tech immediately took me to a room, and shortly thereafter, a nice doctor appeared. I cannot say enough good things about this man. Instead of insisting that I lay in the hospital bed, he, instead, allowed me to stay seated in the wheel chair as long as possible. The nice nurse gave me pain meds right away, and finally I was able to shift over into the bed as the pills were starting to ease the pain. The nurse began wrapping my hand in a splint and placed it in a sling to hold it closer to my body as a reminder that it was injured so I would not be tempted to use it. Although my pinky finger was turning purple at this point, the pain I was focused on was my hip and certainly not my hand.
The nice doctor returned to tell me that they were concerned about the findings on my hip x-ray. He asked if I had any pain in my right side, but I did not. He said he had called in another doctor to review the x-rays because of the findings on the right side, although the impact was on the left.
My daughters waited with me, and they said silent prayers to themselves as they held my hand. I prayed silently as well, trusting God the entire time. My human side wanted to be fearful of what I did not know, but there was no point. God was in control. I, clearly, was not. My fate was in His hands and that of the capable hospital staff.
The doctor returned to say that after further examination, I must have had some type of deformity on my right side. Even in my foggy state thanks to the wonderful pain meds, I asked him to repeat himself. I had to laugh about this “deformity” as it was news to me, and it was odd even to my children that I found humor in this. Hey, we’ve known for quite some time that I was far from your average every day person … and most definitely not normal, as that is way too boring! So, my “deformity” just added a little spice to life at that moment in time. This “deformity” hadn’t caused me any problems up to this point in life, and I am thankful to God … yes, even after hearing of said “deformity.”
The results were all in, and the kind and gentle doctor stated that I had a fractured hand and a fractured hip, all on my left side. I was free to go home with pain meds in tow, but I was to see an orthopedic doctor immediately for a follow up visit. I thanked the kind doctor for all that he did for me that evening, and the nurses came back in to make sure I was comfortable before my ride home. They wheeled me out to the vehicle in a wheelchair, just as I had entered the emergency room earlier that evening.
In the days after the accident, I have been shown quite a few things. One being that the people you thought would care, didn’t show it as much as you had thought they would. Meanwhile, others that you really did not expect to care are the ones that ended up showing way more kindness, love and compassion than anyone.
People are strange creatures … even harder to figure out than the horse that bolted on me.
As to what happened to the horse, we knew that we could not keep her as she was originally purchased for my children. We called the lady we bought her from to tell her of the accident, and her very first words to my husband were, “I sold you a green broke horse.” That was the first time we had ever heard those words. This lady knew that the horse was purchased for my daughters, and she knew that they would be the ones riding the horse. She told me on several occasions when we visited that the horse would be good to just “throw the kids on in the back yard and let them play all day … they’ll be fine.” Thankfully, I had my hesitations about them getting on this horse, thus the reason I was the one riding her. I had been on her three times … the first two times, she was great. The third time, however, is when she bolted resulting in my injuries.
We have learned a few things in the “horse business.” Unfortunately, you will meet all kinds of people. The majority are good, honest, people with the best of intentions. Others, however, are shady characters that will not tell you the truth. Being trusting individuals, it is hard to understand why people chose to be deceiving, especially where children are concerned. However, this has opened our eyes completely.
The lady has since taken the horse back and has refunded our money. She hesitated on this several times and almost backed out of the deal before my husband could return the horse. Thankfully, though, she was true to her word on this deal when he arrived with the horse trailer, and she did refund the money to get this problem horse away from our family!
My daughters are now afraid of horses, which is the last thing I wanted to happen. They were so excited up to this point, and now this.
Something good has happened in all of this, though. During these tough times, my oldest daughter told me just last night that she saw God in action. She said that she believed in Him before, but she prayed to him, really clinging to Him and trusting Him with me, and He answered her prayer. She said she witnessed God in action with how He took care of me … how He cushioned my fall, preventing me from breaking any bones. She said that she knew without a shadow of a doubt that God is the reason I was able to walk away from this accident as I have.
While I am sorry that any of this happened and sorry that my children witnessed their mother in pain after the accident, words cannot begin to express how it feels to hear your children talk of how they trusted God and how God saw us all through this tough time.
What I would like you to take away from all of this is to just know that God is in control. Things happened that we did not plan and certainly wouldn’t wish on anyone, but even in the final moments before I hit the ground, I called out to God … and He met me there!
Be careful who you trust in this world, as not everyone is trustworthy, as we’ve found out the hard way. However, I still try to see the good in people, as that is just who I am and how God made me.
People will fail you, people will not be there for you as you’ve been there for them in the past. People will desert you in your hour of need while others will not hesitant to swoop in and be there no matter what, holding your hand through it all, offering words of comfort and grace, being as gentle with your heart as if it were their own.
Through it all, no matter what you face in this life, trust in God. Let your words before the storm be, “Oh Lord …” as you cling to Him.
Live Out Loud Conference
My 17 year old daughter and I attended a ladies only event called Live Out Loud on March 8, 2014. How fitting that this date was also the International Women’s Day, too!
The Live Out Loud Conference was held last year in the same location in Elloree, SC. While it was certainly close enough and I wanted to go, I was hesitant about this thing called community. I know that as women, we crave community. We just want to fit in, be loved, and love! Some times, though, it isn’t that easy. Often times we feel judged by the very same women that we so desperately want to be in community with! My daughter, even at such a young age, has felt this way also. We would like nothing more than to become friends with these women, yet we’re hesitant due to things in our past, rejection we’ve felt at one time or another at the hands of fellow women that still haunts us, and so we retreat to our safe place, our comfort zone and don’t put ourselves out there. Honestly, I allowed that to hold me back last year. However, I have grown so much in a year’s time with God’s help that it simply was NOT holding me back this year! No way, no how! This year instead of feeling like I needed to protect myself from others, I was craving coming together and forming friendships. There’s always a risk involved, but it is worth it when long lasting friendships come out of it.
It was monumental for me to attend this event with my daughter as it was an opportunity for further bonding as she matures into adulthood a lot sooner than I was prepared for! (Ladies, it is true that they grow up WAY TOO FAST! Enjoy every single moment as they do not stay little long!) Last night my daughter turned to me and said, “Mama, I’m really looking forward to our special day together. I can’t wait for tomorrow to spend some quality time together just the two of us.” That melted my heart completely when she said that! Pay attention, ladies and gentlemen! This … from a teenager! To … her mother! I know what you’re thinking, “Will miracles never cease?”
Throughout my daughter’s childhood, I have always had the desire to be not only her mother but ultimately, as she grew into a woman, her friend. I had a lot of well meaning people through the years tell me that you simply cannot be your child’s friend. They said it wasn’t possible. Well, I beg to differ. While my daughter knows the rules (and thankfully abides by them for the most part), she also knows without a doubt that she can come to me with any thing and every thing. This trust, this bond, this friendship has been formed and shaped over time. Over all of her 17 years, it has been my ultimate goal that we would end up as the very best of friends with her knowing with full confidence and faith that I would be there and “have her back” no matter what. Oh, I have heard plenty of horror stories about how you don’t even know your child once they become a teenager, as if they turn into some sort of alien being that took up residence in your home. While they do change, it’s important to realize that they are on a journey to their independence and finding their own identity in this world. As parents, we are to raise them up in the way that they should go, praying for them, for their future, and for them to make wise choices. Then we have to allow our children to grow, mature, and spread their wings and fly hoping that what we taught them along the way won’t soon be forgotten.
I’ve had people talk to me on the whole subject of “letting go” of your child, too, as they draw nearer to graduation and emerging as an adult out in the “real world.” Just recently a friend insisted that I was going to “have” to let go at some point. However, I refuse to “let go” as was suggested. Instead, I intend to continue holding her hand firmly in mine as we skip merrily along while feeling the sunlight on our faces as we throw our heads back and laugh just like we did when she was little. And you know what? On our silly days, my daughter and I still do this. Why? Because it’s such fun!
Today was one of those hand in hand days where we really did throw our heads back laughing. While we were not outside in the sunlight, nor were we alone just the two of us, we were sitting side by side in the church attending this women’s conference together with approximately 340 other attendees!
Honestly, I was worried that she would not enjoy this conference at all. Having never been to one like this before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I glanced over at her a few times during the praise and worship portion, and she did not look enthused at all. I wondered if she was just tolerating this for me. At one point, though, they did a little skit and burst out into lip synching to “Oh Happy Day” where a woman in the choir loft was having the time of her life dancing.
After that, things settled down and got a bit more serious. As they did, I reached over and grabbed my daughter’s hand. We sat there like this for a while, and then Cindy McKeowen, one of the praise and worship leaders, began to share how her 15 year old daughter went out for a run one day in 2007, collapsed due to heart failure, and died. They never even knew that she had any health issues at all up to that point. My daughter and I were still sitting there holding hands, and as silent tears began to fill my eyes I thanked God for the privilege of sitting here at that very moment with my teenager daughter. This testimony from Ms. McKeowen also touched my daughter’s heart as well today. She gripped my hand tighter as the lady continued to share her story. Even in the mist of the storm, Ms. McKeowen said that Jesus carried her. She wrote a song about it and shared that with the congregation.
Almost as soon as we were wiping our tears of sadness away, they were replaced with tears from laughing so hard at the former pastor’s wife turned comedian, Anita Renfroe! Ms. Renfroe is known for the big ole belly laughs that she provides while on stage, and she definitely delivered today! I no longer had to worry whether my daughter was enjoying herself or not as I began hearing what originally started out as stifled laughter become full laugh out loud moments as she allowed herself to enjoy right along with the rest of us! Thank you, Lord!! She really, truly was enjoying herself! She wasn’t just putting on a fake smile to pretend for her ole Mom’s sake. She was laughing so hard at Ms. Renfroe’s jokes and how she’d turn one of your most favorite songs into something that would have you almost rolling on the floor laughing! Yes!! Success! What a relief!
As we were leaving the conference, my daughter turned to me and said, “You know, Mom, I thought this might be some stuffed shirt kind of conference, but this was pretty cool! Thank you for our special day. I wasn’t sure about this whole thing at first, but now I’m glad I went with you. I really enjoyed our time together.” Ah, such sweet words from my best friend’s lips spoken to my heart.
We truly had a wonderful time together today. Oh how I treasure this time because of the memories we made that will last a lifetime.
