Lessons Learned From the Class of 2013 (Part 2)

When you have experienced a difficult year, the temptation is to cover yourself with camouflage in hopes the New Year cannot determine your whereabouts.  The truth is....that is not what you really want. Truly - HOPE does spring eternal.

Continuing on with Lessons Learned From The Class of 2013 (Part 2):

I have learned that I will NEVER stop praying for the healing of others up until the very last breath - whichever one comes first - theirs or mine.

I have learned that your hope, joy, peace can be built on none other than Christ alone.

I have learned to embrace the flawed parts of my life; body and soul.  For that is the sum total of what Christ deemed worthy to purchase with His life.

I have learned that facing my failures have not only become my credentials for ministry or the stepping stones to a different outcome for my future, but the pathway for deliverance (if heeded) for others. Jesus said those I have forgiven much - love me much and that is a fact!

Once you deal with the bitter - your capacity for the sweeter becomes enlarged.

I have learned that FEAR IS THE ULTIMATE LIAR, and offences keep you frozen in time.

I have come to terms with the fact that the "Word" is like a fire shut up in my bones!

Sadly, I have also learned that there are just some things that simply are NOT to be resurrected. There is rest in trusting God's ways are higher than our ways.

I have learned that being alone does not necessarily make you desperate or lonely.

I cherish my sense of humor as part of my heritage - along with the gray hair. The gray hair is proof positive that I survived another year. The sense of humor has served me well as a life preserver.

I have learned the true power of the blessing and covenant relationships.

I am thankful to discover that I can bring beauty and organization into chaos - I can perceive value in what others may deem worthless, broken or beyond repair.

Probably one of the biggest life lessons I have learned in this year's class...murmuring and complaining transforms the ground beneath you into quicksand.  It is then possible for you to lose your life stuck in one spot.

As I close...I was seeking the Lord as to how I should begin the New Year. Although, I had no one to kiss at the closing of the old year and the beginning of the new - I felt a surge of hope. I felt the Lord instructed me to stay up and turn on my front porch lights as if I were expecting a new friend.

HAPPY NEW YEAR & WELCOME 2014!

THE TRUE COLORS OF EASTER

The old saying is …”One picture is worth a thousand words.” With that being said, I am allowing this illustration to depict what Easter means to me.

This particular illustration is not something I just dreamed up. This is a vision I have held deep in my heart since 1988. The night I made the initial sketch the only art supplies I owned was a small pack of inexpensive copy paper and a #2 lead pencil. I did not own a computer, and certainly did not have any working knowledge of painting digitally. This was also the same night I felt direct inspiration regarding all of the ideas that would eventually be the sum total of High Art Forms and Modern Orange.

As I contemplate all that embodies both the crucifixion, and the resurrection, I am amazed there is always another aspect of power to be revealed. I am not sure we can ever fully comprehend the magnitude of courage required to fulfill the mandate on Jesus life. It is this fresh revelation, together with the events of these last two years that have forged courage I have never experienced before.

As I read and reread the Biblical depiction of the Passover Season, I am also acutely aware of the difference in relationships birthed out of obligation versus love.

Relationships birthed out of obligation are ultimately destined to fail. The fruit of this type of relationship is inevitable; frustration, bitterness, resentment, etc. I submit that if the motivation of the cross had been anything other than love it would have been totally ineffective.

Love enabled this mortal man to sacrifice and endure the highest levels of betrayal, abandonment, abuse, and ultimately the most horrific of all acts…the Roman crucifixion. The rusty nails did not secure this spotless Lamb to the cross; it was the power of Love.

Love enables us to respond beyond the emotions of the Adamic nature. Love makes the impossible possible. Tis’ the season to forgive.

              T-T-F-N ( ta-ta-for-now)

Make Way! A Dream Is Comin Thru!

For once I am going to take my own advice…….

The fact is…. life never stops throwing curve balls. The main issue is how you deal with them. Do you hit a foul, walk, strike out or hit a home run? Without total focus, energy and full concentration you can lose the game for your team. This analogy is hysterical seeing that I am the most athletically challenged and uninformed of our entire family.

It is far too easy for everyday life to take so many bites out of you and your day that the people you love most get so little of your attention. Silently, very good things can become unhealthy, and hazardous to both you and your family’s health. Unfortunately, if you do not recognize the disorder in time, there can be fatalities. By the time you decide YOU have time…..they may have moved on….or physically be gone.

If your priorities are not in order a dream can steamroll over you or unknowingly become an idol in your life. Actually, I am in the process of several of my dreams coming true, but imbalance can knock the shine off or even suck the life out of it. Honestly, as I watch my life-mate struggle, the things that have called and demanded so much of my time and energy pales in comparison to the real needs.

I have learned that as a woman, our own agenda can interfere or even prevent us from fulfilling the first call, as a wife, to be a help-mate. Yes, a clean house and home-cooked meals can take precedence over our Day Timer, outside relationships or yes, even ministry if these are the priorities of our husbands. The words keep flooding back…”What good is it to be a public success but a private failure?”

No one, but the Lord knows how excited I have been to have succeeded in designing and illustrating my first blog. To finally give voice to what has been dormant for so long. This may sound like I am quitting, but nothing is further from the truth. It has become necessary for the health of the dream and my husband to take time to regroup and get my houses(s) in order.

* Combo of clip Art

I have shared earlier that my husband’s current health challenges have forced us to make different choices. One of the major choices we have made is to have a building built and placed on our property. In addition to additional storage, this would be the new home for High Art Forms Studio. This in turn, will free space up in our home for my husband’s new office. So…within the next two weeks I will have a dream parked in my backyard, and my husband will be able to sit behind his desk once more.

Nevertheless, all of these changes will still necessitate a move on our part, but with our children being at the helm this time. All of our storage contents will have to be u-hauled back to College Street.

Given the current circumstances…doesn’t this seem financially risky? YES! Doesn’t this seem physically demanding? YES! Haven’t you been frustrated, angry or scared? YES! Hasn’t this hurt your pride to ask for help? YES! Are you going to quit? NO! NO! NO! I may go home to be with the Lord with pen and paper in hand, BUT NO!

From the very beginning the blog was to be the first step of many, but my ultimate goal was to develop a website. As I seek the Lord more diligently, and tend to the needs of my husband, the blog posts and Face Book interaction may be temporarily less frequent.

The newest movie release “Eat, Pray, Love” may be great entertainment, but as I look closer at the movie title, for me, it is a reverse of God’s commands personified. So please excuse me as I powder my red nose, wipe my swollen eyes, and together with King Hezekiah (Isaiah 38:1) get our house(s) in order.

As I process the process I covet your prayers. I pray that you will always save a sweet spot for MODERN ORANGE and the Flynn’s in your hearts.

Habakkuk 2:2-3

Then the LORD said to me,

“Write my answer plainly on tablets,

so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.

This vision is for a future time.

It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled.

If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently,

for it will surely take place.

It will not be delayed.

    Ta- ta- for now.