Hi Blogging Friends! What a beautiful day it is, sun is shinning and temperature for February is warm today.

This week's Bible art journal is one of my favorite verses, Psalm 37:4.
"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Well I do delight in the Lord and I know that whatever His desires are for me, those are the desires of my heart as well. For what He has to give is the ultimate, the very best. I want to be so close to Him that I can hear Him breathe! There is nothing that compares with the perfect love Jesus, who laid His life down so that I could have eternal life.

I want to share my latest Bible art journaling project with you. I was inspired by Priscilla Shirer's video series on "The Armor of God" we're doing in our ladies Thursday night Bible study. What a fantastic study. The group of girls at our table are wonderful and we get into some pretty good discussions how the study is relating to each of us.

Sweet Blogging Friends Happy New Year!

This year I've decided to try art journaling in my Bible. I have been following Rebekah Jones on Google through 2015 as she journaled through her Bible weekly. I loved it and thought what a wonderful way to spend time with God. So I undertook my first journal art today from the Scriptures I've read starting January 1, 2016. The devotion I'm reading from is "Jesus Calling" Enjoying Peace in His Presence by Sarah Young.
The devotions over the past three days have been about spending time with God in His Word, to have an open and renewed mind. So what better way to depict that is a child reading the Word, seeking God. As I move along week to week I will try to post my art journaling and share Scripture.

I'm just an artist. I have a small in-home studio, nothing special, nothing unique. Not a very lucrative way of life, a starving artist so to speak, one that has to work a second job driving a school bus four days a week. Sometimes I wish I was good at something else, something more important like a teacher or a nurse, someone who helps people. But I have a built-in passion to paint . . . I love it, so I do my best to bless people with it. I know I don't make much of a difference or change another's life, I'm just an artist . . .

I want to make a difference, a significant difference, to bring a smile to someone's face, to brighten another's day, to bring joy to a sadden and broken heart, to be a pleasing aroma to God. I'm just an artist . . .

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

We have the privilege of dining with friends this Thanksgiving and are really looking forward to it. I'll be making dessert; my favorite thing to do. This year I'm making a Cranberry-Walnut Pie. I have a dutch apple pie also. I'm going to surprise our friends with a little hospitality gift for having us in for the holiday.

I recently found this jpg of a painting I did as a going away gift for a friend who was moving out of state. I had totally forgotten about it and decided to get some giclées made and keep one for my set. The title of the painting is "Some Kind of Wildflower in my Heart" after a book of the same title to remind my friend of the main character in the book "Birdie."

Hi Friends! The weather here in our area has been just beautiful since last Friday, warm temperatures, very spring-like. I'm loving it. I wish it would stay like this all winter here. This is one of the reasons we would like to eventually move south. Not exactly sure where, but we're looking around the Asheville North Carolina area. There are a few other areas we're looking at also. I'll let you know when we make our choice.

Took some fall photos over the last two weeks, just looking for landscape painting ideas. I was taking a few shots of local train tracks, when I turned around to get back in my car, I was amazed by this view that had been behind me. It was just beautiful with the sun sparkling through the trees and onto the road. The photo below is a shot I took from my back porch at the onset of a severe thunderstorm, hoping to capture lightening bolts, which if you look close enough you can see two streaks near the top center of the photo. I would like to get some nice bird shots here in the near future, just haven't had too much time this week to get my camera back out.

Good morning blogger friends!

It is a very rainy cold day here in Karns City Pennsylvania, a typical early fall day. I can say I'm not prepared for the winter months ahead. I love the beauty of the snow but not a big fan of the deep cold that comes along with it. But like anything else to do with the weather, its out of my control. :)
I have been reading an awesome book titled "Flash" The Homeless Donkey Who Taught Me About Life, Faith, and Second Chances, by Rachel Anne Ridge. This is one of the best books I've read in a long time; it is powerful. I would encourage you to read it, it will bless you immensely.

Just a couple of tidbits from the past few weeks; my husband opened our garage door to get the lawn mower out to mow before we left on vacation and there curled up was a very young rattle snake. It didn't have its rattler yet and was about 2 1/2 feet long. He didn't look that big until he uncoiled and snapped at us when we tried to sweep him out of the garage with the broom. Unfortunately he slithered off to the back of the garage and hid. We can't find him and he wasn't around when we got back from vacation. We do proceed with caution when opening up the garage. Trust me I don't want to get bit!

On our drive to South Carolina we stopped at some friends Mark & Anita in Myrtle Beach had lunch with them and played Hand & Foot (a card game). Of course us girls won! From there we went to Seabrook Island SC for our week vacation as well as for a wedding (renewing of vows) of our dear friends Rick and Val. It was a beautiful island not too far from Charleston. The house we stayed in was right on a golf course and about 5 minutes from the beach. We went swimming in the ocean (which I really miss here in PA), visited Charleston, went for a carriage ride drawn by mules Porgy & Bess, shopped, and bought a few little items to take home, a sweet grass basket, and a hand woven wire basket. We had an all-around great time.

Oh its back to driving school bus, not sure if I'm ready or not for that. I like the kids, teacher and monitor but the long bus run is the pits. I am, however, looking forward to get back to my art studio and paint some of the photos I took on vacation. A few were of marshes and egrets, Spanish moss, and palm trees. I will have lots of work to keep me busy over the long winter months.

Well better get back to reality and housework, oh yes and lots of laundry. Have a blessed week all!