Sunday Devotions - This Old Bible

This Old Bible

by Calvin Hart

I was browsing through the books at a second hand store,

When I found an old Bible, tattered and worn.
The pages were yellow, the binding was scored,
The cover was dusty, faded and torn.

It must have been a hundred years old,
Or perhaps even more,
Well, I bought that old Bible,
From that second hand store.

I went back to my home,
Sat down in my chair,
And opened the old Bible,
With delicate care.

On the inside cover were the faded words,
"To momma, with love from your son",
And I though of the joy that she must have felt,
To receive such a gift as this one.

As I thumbed through the pages I found scriptures marked,
Underlined so carefully,
And I thought of the comfort those scriptures had brought,
To those who owned this Bible before me.

The twenty third Psalms was underlined,
And the Beatitudes of Matthew five,
And I could tell where tear drops had stained the scripture,
That told how Jesus had suffered and died.

And I could almost feel the joy and thrill,
In the hand that marked the scripture in red,
That told how the angels had opened the tomb,
And how Jesus arose from the dead.

I found John 3:16 was underlined,
And Romans 6:23,
And John 14:6, where Jesus said,
"No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me".

As I held that old Bible that I'd bought for one dollar,
I knew it's immeasurable worth,
Not only was it someone's most prized possession,
It was the most important book on earth.

I wondered how many tear drops had stained it's pages,
In salvation so pure and free,
I wondered how many hearts and souls it had touched,
Before it found its way to me.

Now it stands on my bookshelf,
A prized possession again,
A symbol of God's love and sacrifice,
His written word to all men.

Dear God, Thank You for the most important book on Earth, the Bible. Your truth is revealed to us. Dear Lord bless those who spread Your word to those who have yet to read it. Amen.

My Mama Bear Moment

In our little town, we have three different playgrounds we can walk to. This being the teeny town it is, I don't have any problem with my 7 year old boys going to any of them and playing on their own. They tell me where they are going and I usually go pick them up when it's time to come home. 

This week after school they took off on their bikes to the playground two blocks away and I told them I'd come get them later. About dinner time I drove down to tell them to head home and there are four other boys their age I recognize. I tell them to head home and Yip responds how that's a good idea because they were getting ready to get into a fight. 

A fight? Oh, that can't be good. 

During dinner I learn that "Alex", a third grader, was throwing rocks and kicking  some boys and generally being a little jerk! Gggrrr...I didn't like the sound of this kid but I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Alex was just wanting to rough house and my boys misunderstood, but I told them to just leave the next time he bothered them. 

Later in the week we are all at the playground when Alex and his buddy show up. I don't pay much attention at first but as we play I hear him make a few mean hearted comments. Nothing overt, more passive aggressive, and nothing so bad to get hollered at by me. And of course no rock throwing or kicking. He's a slick character this one. 

But I WANTED to holler at this kid. I wanted to beat up this little punk kid who    makes rude comments just to make a first grader feel bad about himself. I wanted to be mean back to him. I wanted to tell my boys that we were leaving right away and never playing near Alex again! Ggggrrr...Mama Bear was growling inside me. 

But I muzzled her, because I can't go around protecting my kids from every bully that comes around. As much as I wanted to haul the boys away from Alex, we stayed because I knew that they needed to learn how to handle a bully without me. So I stayed covertly to the side and listened. I really don't like Alex now. 

I'm not sure what Yip and Yap learned from that experience and I'm pretty sure they walked away with hurt feelings too. But I learned that it's hard to respond appropriately to my boys when Mama Bear is growling inside of me. It's even harder to say the right thing to my boys because I'm just not sure what the right thing is. I do know that I can't let Mama Bear do the talking. 

Foody Friday - Homemade Nutella or Chocolate Peanut Butter

My son Yip is in love with Nutella. He'd eat it everyday if I let him.

Not Yap though. I swear, the only foods both my boys like are apples and pasta.

You'd think they'd have a bit more in common being twins and all. Nope, they are about as different as night and day.

Anyway, the last time we went grocery shopping I forgot to buy Nutella. Oh the tragedy!! Our tiny grocery store down the street doesn't carry Nutella but Yip and I thought we'd try to make our own version. I found lots of versions online that included roasting nuts and cooking on the stove top. I don't have that kind of time so we improvised. Nutella is made with hazelnuts, no luck finding those either, so we used peanuts.

Chocolate Peanut Butter

4 cups peanuts (I used raw)

1/2 c. powdered milk

1/2 c. cocoa

1/2 c. honey

1-2 T vegetable oil

Process peanuts in food processor until the oil releases and it forms a ball around the blades.

Add the powdered milk, cocoa and honey and process until mixed thoroughly. The butter will be pretty thick. Add a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil to thin it out. Makes roughly 3 cups. Store in refrigerator and stir up before using.

If you don't have powdered milk I would suggest mixing the nuts, cocoa and honey together, then leaving out the oil and adding milk slowly until the desired consistency is achieved. That's what I'm going to try next time.

Yip thought the home made version was alright for now, but he's already made sure I added Nutella to my shopping list. I, on the other hand, am addicted. I'm pretty sure I've eaten most of this batch on my own.

Yahoo

Yahoo is my youngest daughter, sister to twin boys and our last child. Yes, last. Don't hold your breath. I'm done having kids. Yahoo helped make that choice. 

I always say how thankful I am she isn't a twin. I don't think I could handle two of her. It isn't because she's a girl either. Oh, she has her princess days where she stomps around the house wearing my heels and ravaging my makeup and being all girlie. But most days she's donning her brother's pirate costume and is dashing out of the house conquering dragons. And it isn't because she's high maintenance either because she is often content playing by herself without me around. 

No, the things that make Yahoo a handful is her independence, stubbornness and her energy level. Her latest response to anything I say that she doesn't want to do is a very loud, "NO THANK YOU!!!" 

Well, at least she's polite. 

I don't ever remember my boys being so independent at this age either. 

"I do it!!", I hear her say everyday. Just last week she donned her backpack, put on her shoes and announced she was going to school (which is right next door) and she walked out of the house. There was a bit of a screaming match on the front lawn when I caught up with her. 

When Yahoo wakes up in the morning she hits the floor running. There isn't any slow waking up morning routine. No, she hits the fridge, gets her milk and then hits the toys and books. No morning cuddles, kisses or hugs. She's too busy. 

And is she ever busy thinking. 

This week, as we drive in the car, she keeps telling me to make our car fly. "And just how am I supposed to do that?", I ask. 

"Push a' button." she answers wisely. 

Push a button. If that were the answer to everything I'd push a button and make Yahoo stay this age for a while longer. Because although she's a handful, and the reason I still take naps, she's already growing up way too fast  to suit me. 

Signs I need..

I love funny signs. The kind that are just dust collectors

but make you smile when you clean em?

This is a favorite my grandma gave me when the boys were little.

That's a pretty true sentiment.

This week it seemed all of my Facebook friends were sharing signs so I thought I'd pass them on to you. We all need a good chuckle or a smile now and then.

My kids must be ecstatic.

You Betcha!

*smile*

...words to live by...

Rain...

Saturday morning here in southwest Kansas was heavenly.

It rained. and it rained. and it rained.

It rained the entire morning! We didn't even get an inch of rain but what a wonderful gift that inch was.

The kids and I were in a neighboring town at their annual town garage sale and it rained the entire morning. If you are an avid garage saler, you know that rain the arch enemy of garage sale day. Not so this Saturday. Everyone I met, huddled in their garage trying to keep their stuff dry, happily welcomed me and all the rain that came.

The dark Saturday morning was like a breathe of hope that maybe, just maybe, this horrible drought might be over. Maybe this year of 2011, which was drier than the dust bowl, won't repeat itself in 2012.

Despite the blessings of rain, it has thrown a wrench into harvest. Over the weekend this pile at the elevator was supposed to get tarped. Well, now it has a layer of wet corn 4" deep. No tarp for now. Everyone was happy to see the rain...except DR.
Go figure.

My Visual File

Way back when I was a single teacher I was working on my Master's Degree at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. While I was there I took a ceramic class from a captivating woman, I can't even recall her name now but I can picture her clear as a bell. She was extremely intelligent, vivacious and driven. In the course of the class we were discussing another course she was preparing; Discovering Your Visual File.

It wasn't a hands on art class in the traditional sense, she explained, but combination of a psychology class and self study of an artist's own work. She told us how we are all attracted to certain shapes, colors, textures, etc. unconsciously that as artists we then apply in our artwork without thinking. By examining closely what we are attracted to and why, artists could then be proactive in creating their work rather than reacting and not knowing exactly what they are reacting to or why.

For example, she explained that she had always been attracted to polka dots which was evident in a great deal of her work. She would create huge ceramic bowls that she would then cover in intricate lines and polka dot designs. She never understood why until she asked her mother who replied, "Oh, I used to dress you in polka dots all the time when you were little!" This story illustrates how simple things in our childhoods can influence the creation of art as adults.

I was never able to take her Visual File class but lately I have began compiling a visual file. To do so my professor said to go through stacks of magazines...any kinds....and just flip through them. Don't read, don't stop, just flip...and when you see an image that makes you want to stop flipping, tear out that image. Then once you've got a big pile of images torn out, go through those and weed them out. Flip through and only save the images that really attract you. Don't think of why, just narrow down your images. Don't worry about how many you save or how many you throw away, go by your gut reaction.

I don't have a huge magazine selection but these are a few that have caught my eye. I'm continually adding to this bulletin board next to my easel.

I think this is a rather ugly as a coin purse but I couldn't get away from the design.

Once I started looking through what I've torn out I realized I'm very attracted to circles, repetition and high contrast. I just love the way the red metal glows brightly against the dark background of the blacksmith studio.

I'm not sure what my love of circles and repetition says about me.

Stability? Consistency? Continuation of all things?

Circles remind me a lot of Native American philosophy.

While I'm continuing to ponder why I'm attracted to these shapes, I've begun to explore some radial designs; lots of circles (some vaguely) and repetitions.

I've shared this one before...

...and now I'm working on these two.

As I study my own visual file I wonder if the images I am attracted to change throughout an artist's life? Because I can think back to a time where I was much more attracted to earth tones and natural, realistic shapes. There was a time where I couldn't do a painting without using the color black, but now I hardly touch it. I may never understand why I create what I do...or when. But it's nice to reflect because since I've identified my Visual File I've become a much happier artist. I have had less struggles in these last few paintings than I have in a long time. Creating with circles and repetitions have been like playing rather than working.

Do you have a Visual File? What shapes, colors, textures, etc. attract you?

Look around your home. More than likely you have decorated with a visual theme and never realized it.