If it's worth having, it's worth the wait.
Oh, my lovelies. This Princess has gained much after migrating south a decade and a half ago. I have developed a great love for country roads and mountain views. Listened to amazing stories and sermons. Lived in many places. Had mission trips and grand adventures. Written novels and painted murals. Taught youth and made friends wherever I journeyed.
But my toughest and most beloved task was raising and educating my five oldest children.
I finished homeschooling three years ago. I thought I would love the day hubby and I were alone, but empty nest caused a deep depression. The reality of it tortured me. I love teaching kids hands-on, through the arts. I ached inside to minister again. I almost forgot my calling. Not just to write good stories and create art.
But my purpose.
The vision God gave me a long time ago.
Ah, yes, my school...
I continued to pray.
To take classes.
And Pray.
Fast.
And bang my head against the wall
wondering if the voice I heard was imaginary
and I needed to just hide in a corner.
And write a sonnet.
Or something.
I quit on the idea, but God, in His wonderful timing brought me a miracle over a thousand square feet in size on an acre of land. The owner offered it at a modest price. I will own it. Once we raise the money to put in a well and septic we will open the doors to my castle-shaped school.
Students will focus on the arts while finishing their high school diplomas.
I will still build towers on either side for our gallery.
We will plant a community garden.
I will drop the ceilings and build two partial lofts.
One for a prayer loft.
The other for sleeping space when needed.
In between will be barn beams where I will hang twinkling icicle lights and banners and buttons and baubles and whatnot.
There's room for my two-story upcycled Jesus (jungle gym) statue.
I have my safe place for kids to create. A haven for the troubled wanderers and creatives. Our little piece of heaven on earth. My tiny Kingdom where I will teach my royal subjects to be Kingdom dwellers, and I will lead them to the King.
It doesn't look like much yet, my darlings. It will be the most eclectic and energetic Holy Ghost acre in this county.
At long last, when I least expected, my lifelong dream is fulfilled. Praise the Almighty God. For He is good.
Until later, my darlings. Be royalty always.
Princess Jae
As much as I dislike entering blog posts from a phone, I don't regret taking a summer break from internet. Her Majesty and I have shared many new adventures over the last few weeks, including treasure hunting at the beach and the river.
Today she took an early nap. This gave me time to do some editing. As she later woke (always when I'm at a crucial scene), I scrambled for activity. Aha! The art kit... She loves watercolor as much as Mommy.
I noticed right away she was struggling with the tiny brush. I had an idea. I found a colorful watercolor brush from my own collection. She's old enough now to occasionally share Mommy's tools.
We must allow our children to express themselves. And I must trust my child's artistic instincts. The more room we give a child to grow, the more they will desire to learn and accomplish.
Selah.
This morning, as hubby went to leave this house- he woke me to kiss me good-bye. He looked into my eyes and he said, "I love you
very much."
"I love you honey. We have to do what it takes to get to this thing."
"I know."
And he left.
I laid there for half an hour thinking about those two words.
VERY MUCH.
As much as this house is a disaster because of all the things I have to do right now. As much as I nag him to do what is right. As much as I push him. As much as the pruning process we have been going through has pushed us to the wall. The absolute pressure of facing a room full of people I don't know to convince them they have to help us get this thing moving...
VERY MUCH.
I fell back asleep and I had a dream about the one thing that is holding me back. Hubby and I have been working together to rid my life of that "one thing". It comes back to haunt me every time good is about to come. I woke feeling torn and I am now more determined than ever that it is the one thing the devil uses against me most (in the form of a broken heart). I woke insisting that the one thing be removed from me forever.
When I called my friend to tell her some good news, she shared a word with me. She said she knew it was for me and she had to read it. I listened carefully. She didn't send it to me in an email. SHE READ IT OVER ME. It was a word of encouragement from the Lord. And as soon as she began to read it, I felt God's love and anointing pour over me. I began to cry cleansing tears. I felt His words sink deep into my being, and in doing so, it ripped a large part of that ONE THING out of me. A clean and holy wind blew into me.
I know we still have work to do. We are never a completely finished product until we meet face to face with Jesus Christ.
But I know the Lord loves me VERY MUCH.
Later I read that Word for myself. I sent it to a writer friend to share what God had done for me today. She immediately wrote me back and said it was a word for her as well. Praise be to the Lord our God!
Then I settled down for a bit of Psychology. Seven minutes later I had a pretty little girl on my lap wanting something to do. I found a tablet of drawing paper. I thought about it. She gets bored after a while with each project. But I couldn't find the glue stick. Within minutes she produced the basket that has the glue stick inside. I smiled. She got all excited. She's never used a glue stick before. I know this may sound ridiculously mundane to some who read this, but hear me. Please.
I went to the drawer with the hole punches inside. I pulled out the one with a flower punch on one side and a heart (her shrashorite shape). I got some pretty paper and I showed her how to use the hole punch and the glue stick. She could barely contain herself.
I looked at her and said, "This is glue."
I then pointed to the hearts and I said,
"
LOVE is the
GLUE that binds a family together."
VERY MUCH.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.- 1 Peter 4:8
Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.
There's just something
About that name.
Master. Savior. Jesus.
Like the fragrance
after the rain.
Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.
Let all Heaven
and earth
Proclaim.
Kings and Kingdoms
will all fade away.
But there's something
about YOUR name.
I don't know, but it feels like Revival hit the house of Watt this morning in the form of audio Bible. Words elude me. In awe. Completely. Join me in worshiping the Lord today. Share some art later- but right now, oh mama mama- I'm on Holy Ghost fire.
MmMmMm.
PS- if anybody wants to share some Jesus art on here or a recycled treasure on Hand Me Dones, please just let me know. Woo! Have a blessed day.
Early in the morning our praises rise to Thee...
Holy, Holy, Holy was one of the first worship songs I ever learned after I got saved. It was one of the first "religious" songs I ever fell in love with. It made me understand that God wanted to communicate with me, and wanted me to communicate with Him. That even though He is the most important being in the entire universe- He wanted to take time out of His busy schedule every day just to be my friend.
When I learned to worship the Lord first thing in the morning, I learned how to die to self and live for Him each day. When I forgot to do such things, I learned how to die inside...
I had a very frightening life before Christ. There were times I didn't know if I would make it another day, feared for our very existence. The sad part was, there weren't many humans around to help us through the hard parts. We were all alone. The word of God, and communication with Him through music and the arts saved me from going over the deep end in worry and doubt. Kept me sane. Helped me to be filled with the courage I needed to fight back in a world that says children don't matter enough to protect them. The Lord was with me when man failed me; refused to be my friend.
The day I found Christian rock and roll I felt as if I had gotten saved all over again. I could jam out and still glorify the God of all gods & King of all Kings. I felt like a little piece of heaven fell from the sky into my hands in the form of a compact disc. And I will never forget the day my hubby mentioned a band called Third Day. We were spreading out a drop cloth on the floor so we could paint our living room. He said, "There's this song..."
"You mean this one babe?"
I pulled out that c.d. and popped it in the radio and his face lit up like a lighthouse on the darkest of shores.
"Yeah! That's the one! Where did you get that?"
"I ordered it in the mail."
We listened to it all day long. We had found something (as a newly wedded couple) that we shared in common. Music.
Through the years we have made rhythm with objects we found lying about, played musical instruments and sang with the churches we attended, did silent dramas, taught kids to paint and make drawings, showed them Jesus through creative avenues, and even did a few festivals. We have traveled together across the United States (our five kids, the dog, and a twenty-one foot motor home) to share the same hope we had been given by the Lord alone.
Being in the woods for seven of the eight years we have lived here taught us valuable lessons about Who our friend is. His name is Jesus.
My point, I guess, is this. Music is the breath of our souls. It is a way to speak our gratitude to the Lord when we don't have prayers that we can utter. It is the most expressive avenue of entering into His presence. It is a form of worship that makes the Lord smile. True music doesn't come from the brain of an intelligent being. It comes from the heart of a thankful child.
Like a love letter.
These are the things we are going to teach young people.
Soon.
Again there is that word.
In the mean time, we spend many hours drawing away from other humans (because humans can't help where God is concerned anyway- this we have found) in order to know what He wants in this wilderness experience we are in the midst of creating for the young. Hours spent worshiping, healing, smiling in His glory; learning to lean on His understanding.
Selah
Comments welcome. Sharing welcome. If you have a need, contact me at [email protected].
There is this tiny little distraction that eats up most of my hours per day. I have found it hard to create much art- and stories come in bites now instead of chapters. But one look at that face will tell anyone why I don't mind.
Her Majesty wants to do whatever I am doing. We spend more time in nature, in creeks, etc. than we do creating art, mostly because she is two and we are already having artistic differences. Lately everything is boo-gween. I don't even know where she learned blue-green except that when she was younger I would try to color a project we were working on blue, and she would rip the color out of my hand and replace it with green. Or vice-versa.
I do know this. I have found my paintings and drawings with her tiny imprint upon them. She wants to help make art. We are inspired to discover and create beautiful things together. It's what is in our inner most beings. The cry to express ourselves in the Lord through the arts. She is always learning. As her parent, it is my job to encourage her in the areas where she excels. I am so glad she has interests which are similar to mine. She loves animals and nature, swimming and art, dance and music. She loves a good story. She doesn't even know yet that I am a writer. Which tells me how absolutely blessed I am to have a kindred spirit such as our little Princess. The Lord knew what He was doing when He decided she needed to grow up with me. Not that I will ever grow up- but I can help her find her way. I love all my children. Whether they came from my womb or I got blessed with them another way. They are my heart. They give me reason to live. I am so honored to share my life interests with these children.
I cannot wait until the day where I can do so with other young people.
Soon.
That's all I know.
Soon.
I printed off the picture to the side for her the other day to color as she watched Harry the Bunny so I could finish my school work. I didn't tell her that Harry was yellow. She figured it out on her own, because I gave her the freedom to do it for herself. That's is what I am talking about, though. Kids need to be allowed to be free to be who they are.
I am excited to teach them to worship the Lord and find/express themselves through the arts. I have been doing it for years. But I want to do it on a much bigger scale. Through outdoors and nature. Not all computers and technology. Too many screens in young people's lives. They need to unplug and rewind. Relax and revive. They need a wilderness experience and I am going to help them find it.
Jesus, Hubby, and me...
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There's room for my two-story upcycled Jesus (jungle gym) statue. 
