Pain is joy?

Recently I went into the hospital for an abscess on my foot. My first thoughts were directed at God saying, "Anything else Lord?! I can't stand or walk, I require help to go to the bathroom and to shower. My body hurts, sometimes to the point of tears. What else am I to endure?! Does my seemingly-forever suffering have no bounds?" The progression of my disease is inevitable; there's no denying that, but my frustrations tend to have a 5 minute shelf-life. After frustration, comes sadness, then acceptance and, finally, joy. Some may think or say, "Joy? What joy? How could a person have joy dealing with so much struggle and pain?" I have not acquired the taste for wine yet, but the process of making it is fascinating to me. The soil for the vine must be a dry environment with minimal irrigation. With conditions like these the vine is left to struggle, which intensifies the flavor, thus making a better wine. I believe we are the vine and suffering is the dried soil and limited water. God allows the struggles to strengthen our flavor. We are no longer a simple seed with little experience and a lot to grow. We are a beautiful wine full of depth and character; able to share its flavor and origins with others

Get back appendicitis!

The 21st of August I turned 27. You would think that a persons birthday would yield a number of cards with beautiful and kind words, special dinner and maybe a few gifts. I received appendicitis, needle pokes and any number of unpleasantness that I will shield my readers from. Well one gift I did not expect was an extremely fast recovery. One might question God saying, "Why are you doing this to me?" I don't make it a habit to sugar-coat things; sometimes life just flat out stinks. Hardship is like the forging of a sword. In order to make the sword strong enough, it must go through extreme fire, pounding of metal against metal and then put into water. Then the process is repeated until the blade is ready for battle. We never enjoy hardship nor would we ever voluntarily ask for it. I often wonder if I had been given the choice, would I decide to be confined to a wheelchair or have the ability to walk? Would I have the same perspective? Hardship isn't what God "does" to us, it's what God "allows" us to go through so that we are strengthened in our walk with Him. Then He can use us to build His kingdom. Amen!

Joy trumps sadness

No one, except The Lord, is certain exactly when our lives will come to an end. Now, my friends, before you call me Mr. Morbid, I'd like to to elaborate. Though death may be more eminent in my life, God has blessed me with a unique perspective. Last week, I was sitting in the backyard. The warmth of the sun gently kissed my face. A light breeze made the leaves blow in the wind, as if they were waving hello. Not five feet in front of me, the honey-bees busily went about their work spreading pollen. All of a sudden I was over whelmed with sadness and, at the same time, a feeling of great joy. God created such a marvelous world filled with vibrant colors, wonderful creatures and vast galaxies. I was saddened at the thought of leaving my family, friends and beautiful surroundings. On the other hand, I was joyful because I know that heaven will be better than my puny little mind could even imagine.

Original artist

As I sat in the sun today, I couldn't help but wonder what a joy it was for God to create a world full of beautiful and majestic surroundings. I like to imagine our Creator is an artist painting on a canvas the different animals, plants, water and skylines. My friends, as you are out enjoying the summer, I encourage you to reflect on just how amazing and how personable God is.

Light in the darkness

The following story is fairly long, but I feel that I should share with you my unbelievable experience. Late at night, while trying to fall asleep, my mind was racing with thoughts. Of the many things I pondered, a few seemed to stand out. I began to think about life and how the days just seem to be speeding up. A feeling of fear began to come over me as I thought about death; not necessarily where I'm going, but more the physical steps that my body will endure. All of a sudden the fear I was feeling seemed to melt away. I could only describe it as an unbelievably warm sensation. The only explanation I can come up with is that God heard my fearful thoughts and just took them away. He didn't stop there. Just to show me how how infinite and extravagant he truly is, the Lord surprises me even more. The door opens and in walks my mom. Noticing I'm still awake, she asks me if I'm okay. Astonished, I could only respond with three simple words, "How'd you know?" to my friends and family, I tell you that even though thoughts of fear and doubt will come, God has sent His only Son to be our light in the darkness.

Covered

In the late hour that is now I am left with my thoughts to ponder. Among these thoughts there is a remnant of fear. Not a crippling one, but a fear nonetheless of what we will have to answer to when we meet the Creator. There will be an account of everything we've done, said or even thought. Thank the Lord for sending His son on our behalf to take the place of our sin. It's as if we are naked before the Father and Christ gives us His robe and says, "Here, take mine."

Freedom

Lord God, please use us to build your kingdom. I ask that you use our suffering to bring You glory. I thank You for sending your Son to break the shackles of our sin be broken, thus giving us wings to fly. Amen!

Break me to build me up

In my relationship with the Lord, He has shown me things that I believe, if we accept it, can bring me and fellow brothers and sisters-in-Christ closer to Him. One of the things is that God must first allow us to be broken before He can rebuild us to truly be used for His kingdom.

Ignite in me your Spirit O' Lord!

I am thankful to the Lord for providing us with the Holy Spirit. A situation arose today with me and my caretaker where I was inconsiderate to him. I am blessed to have a mother that brings to my attention things that I am too dense to notice. People can bring things to our attention, but it is God who opens our heart to acknowledge when we are wrong. I realized what I had done and apologized. Thank you Lord and thank you mom.

My apologies

My apologies to my followers. I have a tendency to procrastinate when it comes to posting on my blog. So I will be posting more current projects, experiences and the occasional ramblings of a simple young man. To my faithful followers, I thank you.

Bison Or Buffalo? I Can Never Remember

My sister continually gives me great ideas when it comes to my art. So this year for Christmas, instead of buying gifts for friends and family, she suggested making gifts. Because of his love of Native American history and culture, I decided to draw a bison for my Uncle Dan.

He Keeps Crankin 'Em Out

God blesses each and every one of us with talents. we just need to find out what that talent will be and how it can be used for His kingdom. My family has been blessed with a number of talents. One of them is creativity. My dads creativity usually involves classic vehicles. Well his creative juices were flowing when he took a flywheel, flex plate and crank shaft and made an end table.

Reclusive, But Productive And Positive

I find that in my life there are times I tend to be somewhat reclusive. There are a number of reasons for this. One reason is that I am physically in pain or I may have issues medically. Another reason is that I depend on others to drive me places. I may be working on an art project that requires my time. Other times there may be family stuff planned. Sometimes it's all of the above. Needless to say, life requires time. The questions I often ask myself in times of reclusion are: Am I being productive? Is this productivity positive?

Lately, I've been working on finishing a stippling project I started almost a year ago. I am happy to report that I was able to finish it. As I've said in the past, I love comic book characters, so I decided to draw Iron Man. Here is the result of my work.