ANOTHER PAINTING PROJECT!

In addition to Christmas crafting, I've gotten the card table back out and set up the paint set Rhiannon gave me for Christmas last year. The other night while we watched a program, I painted a picture of Jenny Lake in Wyoming--the first picture below is one we took probably 11 years ago when we first took the kids out west. Now one of them lives out west (Colorado) and can view scenes like this daily! My how things change! I do regret that the color on the picture of my painting is "off." The colors on the actual painting are much closer to those in this photo, but for some reason the camera didn't capture it correctly in the painting. Blessings, LORI

JANUARY PROJECTS

I am thrilled to share with you my first two paintings! Rhiannon got me a beginner's acrylic set for Christmas and I've been having such fun. I try to paint almost every day near the living room window where the afternoon sun comes shining in. I know I have a long way to go, but I feel like I've improved in just two projects.

The first painting I did was the hollyhocks. Emma and I were working together in the last blog post and that was the hollyhocks picture in its infant stages. The second painting was another country scene, the red barn against fall fields and dark stormy skies. These are the scenes of my country life.

With all the family history we've done, I've read about my grandmothers and great grandmothers who loved to paint. One great grandmother loved to paint the pansies that she grew every year. My own dear grandmother painted flowers and covered bridges. I remember seeing her paintings displayed all over her living room when I was a young girl. She once gave me a painting of poinsettias on a canvas. I wish I still had it, but somehow it was lost over the years.

Thanks for sharing my latest art attempts! Blessings, LORI

ENJOYING FAMILY HOLIDAY TIME

Here is a picture taken during the recent Christmas sesason at our house. I wanted a lovley little picture of the girls in the dresses I made them--but Sophie was mad about posing! They had little coordinating dresses made from some leftover fabric I sewed up from a bridesmaid dress Rhiannon had made for a friend's recent wedding! I did some beading on the decorative ribbon and added a sparkly tulle skirt to each dress. They looked like snow princesses! Wish I had a good picture of them in their outfits.





I really like the picture of two budding artists! Rhiannon got me a watercolor painting set for Christmas. I've always wanted to learn to paint. I am enjoying it so much. If you know anything about painting, you can see I am going about it the wrong way! But I completed the picture today and I am quite pleased. Emma insisted on sitting very close to Granny and coloring on her own pictures! I loved it!







I also wanted to tell all my blog friends that during this Christmas season, we made one of the hardest decisions of our lives. Early in 2010, it seemed the Lord spoke to us about this being a year of awkward changes. There were many! Some of the biggest changes of our lives, like JT and Kori moving to Colorado and Clint's mom moving out of her home of 49 years all occurred this year. In addidion to that we had a big decision to make ourselves. We resigned the pastorate at NCCF--a position Clint has held for over 18 years. This decision was agonizing. He began a sabbatical upon the strong advice of our oversight in mid-November. Clint was burned out at that point and seriously needed to regroup. Through much prayer, counsel, and even things like prophetic words and dreams, we finally could see that God was directing that our time at NCCF was through. This decision was emotional to say the least. We read our letter of resignation on January 2. We will stay at NCCF for a short transition until the end of January. After that our plans are indefinite.



It would have been more comfortable for us had we had another job in place, but this time it seemed the Lord was asking us to take a big leap of faith. We do not know what we are to do next--still waiting on the Lord for direction! In the last year or so we had done some speaking outside our church. Clint is an evangelist at heart and hopes to be able to do more along those lines. If you know of any churches or groups wanting special speaking or a series of meetings--please suggest us!





Please pray for us as we come to mind. We will be seeking other employment and Michigan is not the best environment for that, but we trust that God will work beyond any of our limitations.



Happy New Year to you and many Blessings, LORI