Petals of Friendship

I am in my third collage class session and am absolutely thrilled. I am learning, learning, learning. One snag though. It seems like the perfectionist in me is keeping me from creating as freely as I'd like to. The part of me that wants to do my work in an exact manner is hanging me up a bit. So I've been trying to pay more attention to what is inside of me, hoping to hear a whisper from the Holy Spirit. After all, the art is in me and so is He. I try to be aware of the messages that will lead me and memories come to mind of when I was a little girl, collecting and gathering this, that, or the other. I never understood why I was drawn to the things I chose. I just knew that when I liked something, be it a rock, an old screw, or a feather, I added it to my collection. I didn't think about it much, I was just happy with my stuff. Over the years, as I've been drawn to the "this and that", I have added it to my collection of stuff. There was no rhyme or reason to

It was an exciting day.  Joe and I decided to take a field trip to the Italio-American Accordion shop in Oak Lawn.   When I walked into the shop, I was amazed.   There was a huge variety of accordions and I felt a little priveledged that I could actually mingle in this environment.  We talked to the girl behind the desk and the resident technician.   He checked out my accordion by playing a few chords.  Immediately, he knew that it had a problem.  Using a special tool, he removed some screws, exposed the inside workings of my accordion and stated his diagnosis. “This accordion has been dropped,” he said.  A few months back, my accordion fell off a chair, and since then it never sounded the same. He made his adjustments, put it back together and placed it back in my case.  I was sooooo happy!   He refused to take any money for the repairs, so I was even more grateful. I couldn't wait to try it out.   As soon as I got home, I pulled out my accordion.  Wow! The rich sound I remembere

Over the years, I have explored my art through various mediums.  Ceramics, oils, pencil, acrylics, watercolor, photography (I'm sure there are more).  I've enjoyed all of them and this weekend I was going to add one more art adventure, collage.  I signed up, not really knowing what I was going to be doing, and I am so happy I did.  It was absolutely wonderful.  More than wonderful...I was completely in the zone for two and one half days.  A classmate in the workshop talked about losing time when creating, and that's exactly what happened.   I was in my own world for two and half days and whatever else was going on out there, just didn't matter.  It's strange how a room filled with artistic energy can create a bond beyond words.  I learned a new art form from my fabulous instructor,  Laura Lein-Svencner and equally rewarding was hearing the encouraging words from my classmates.  I was excited about attending this workshop for many reasons.  The obvious was that I was

I thought I was moving along and making great progress with my lessons.  I almost felt smug.  Suddenly, though, I was staring at a giant.  My giant was a new song with new notes.  This meant that I could no longer keep my fingers on the same five keys I had been using so confidently.  Now, I had to stretch, both physically and mentally.  Physically, my fingers had to reach keys that were unfamiliar to me.  Mentally, I had to admit I wasn't as slick as I thought I was.  I had so much more to learn.  Sometimes I feel like that on a spiritual level.  I am comfortable where I am and think I've got things pretty much under control.  And then God thinks it's time to learn a new song.   That humbles me but also makes me feel the discomfort of the upcoming stretch I'll have to make.  Discomfort may seem like a bad thing, but when it involves God, it usually isn't.  It builds trust.  It makes me see that I am human, and God is way bigger than my circumstances.  He will help

My heart sank when I heard the sharp thud. I knew instantly what had happened. My accordion fell, no...crashed, to the floor. Liz asked me to look at something in another room, so we placed my accordion on a chair. Obviously, not a good idea. I rushed to pick it up, hoping my quick response would miraculously undo whatever damage might have occurred. I tried playing it, and instantly we both could tell some things were not right I left Liz's house without my accordion and as I drove home, my mind filled with a little bit of anxiety. Liz assured me that she could fix the problems and so I decided to focus on that promise. I had to trust her, and I had to stop thinking about the damage. Thankfully, she has the skills to do the repair work. I started thinking how I am damaged too, and how I've "fallen" more than once. It happens more than I like to admit, and that's when I seek the Lord to fix me. With each repair, he perfects me so that I become what he designed me

It's been two weeks now. I've missed two lessons in a row. My instructor Liz and I live very busy lives, and while I understand this, I long for my next lesson. Each lesson pushes me forward, equipping me to become better. So, for the past two weeks I have been practicing my lessons, but I am a little stuck. I am having trouble with something new she taught me. I can't progress until I see her again and I can't wait to see her so I can move forward! I want to move to the next level. This is true with anything in life, but most importantly with my time in scripture. It is during this time that I can grow in the Lord and become equipped for the next "thing". I am reminded how important it is to make the time to learn, otherwise I can become stagnant. When I miss my time with the Lord, I feel the loss. So once again,I am convicted on my need to apply my diligence to my spiritual life. "...train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of

I’ve learned three basic chords. The chords are played with the left hand, and the C chord is the anchor chord. It is easy to find, because when you touch it with your finger, it has an indentation on it to make it evident that your finger is on C. Once I have my finger on the C, I can find the other two chords I’ve learned pretty easily. Those would be the F and G chords. Sounds easy enough. That is until last week when I saw a chord I didn’t know how to reach. The new chord was D. For me, it was D as in “duh.” How in the world was I going to get my fingers over there? It was above the G, and my teacher showed me where it was located, but once I got home, I was pretty lost. It took a leap of blind faith to find it, and then I had to get the feel of it. I know you’re asking that if what I explained earlier was true, what’s the big deal, right? Well, it’s one thing to move one key over with my fingers to go to the neighboring chord, but it’s not so easy to find a chord that