Roxee, our youngest, is 5 years old. There are two things Roxee absolutely loves! Candy and treasures! Almost daily she comes home from school with some type of treasure she found that day. She has brought home so many treasures from kindergarten this year, that I have a box of all the things. Roxee doesn’t know I have been storing these treasures away, and at the end of the school year, I will give her the box.

I also mentioned she loves candy. Everyday she asks for candy or tries to bargain with me to earn a piece of candy. She asks for candy when she wakes and it’s also the first thing she asks for when I pick her up from school. She is candy crazy!

Recently, I took a month or so away from painting after trashing several pieces I just was not happy with. The pieces did not bring me joy; but they did bring plenty of frustration. So, I took a break from painting at all. When I did return to painting the first piece I did was a suggestion from Roxee. She wanted me to paint a Gingerbread House. Roxee guided me on all the elements she wanted: a house, snow, and lots of candy!

As I was creating it, I thought a lot about our home. It’s loud and messy and has sticky spots and fingerprints. And of course, hidden candy! My mind reflected often on these verses in Proverbs:
Proverbs 24:3-4
By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established;
Through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.
 
The Gingerbread House painting was at a time when I was just getting back into painting after several failed attempts and a month off. I had the knowledge of how to paint a picture and I had the supplies… but I was definitely out of practice. So, this painting looks a little sloppy and crooked and strange in places. But I did it. I made the time, I listened to Roxee’s suggestions, added the elements she requested, and she loves this painting. She treasures it.

My husband and I decided long ago that we would always claim Joshua 24:15 in our home. It says “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Putting God first, telling our children about God, storing our treasures in heaven… this is us establishing what is important to us in our home while simultaneously filling it with rare and beautiful things and people. It can get messy at times, but when it does, it means we are out of practice and we are letting other outside influences creep it. That’s when we have to be intentional again and lean on God and His wisdom to focus on what is truly important. And to us, the most important thing is… keeping God first.

The next time you see a Gingerbread House, ask yourself if God is head of your household.
God bless your journey!

My oldest daughter, Rylee, and I attended a painting class last year. Rylee was 6 years old at the time.

It had been years since I had painted. My dad had spent lots of hours instructing me in painting before I had kids. He taught me to take my time, don’t rush, notice where your source of light is coming from, and pay close attention to light and shadows. My dad has always felt that anything worth doing is worth doing right. And wouldn’t you know… I have that same mindset.

As my dad instructed me in painting, years ago, he would remind me “we are just layering.” If an area of my painting bothered me, he’d say “go back and re-do it.” But one thing he insisted on, as I said before, was “Don’t rush, take your time, and enjoy the process. Painting should be fun and relaxing.”

So as my oldest daughter and I are at this class painting together, my dad’s words came flooding back. He had spent his time and patience instructing me, and thankfully, I was in a season of my life where I was open to receiving his instructions. Because I listened to him, my skills grew and matured. I’m not a master painter… I’m mediocre at best… but I absorbed the information, made myself available, and heeded his instructions.

I do regret not heeding all the guidance and advice my parents have given me over the years. I could have saved myself a lot of heartache. But I didn’t always listen to my parents… which got me to thinking about Proverbs 1:8-9:
   8 My child, listen when your father corrects you.
                Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.
   9 What you learn from them will crown you with grace
    and be a chain of honor around your neck.

There certainly is wisdom to be had, shared, and experienced if we are open to it and in a place to receive it! In this biblical instance, a father was preparing his son for life in the world. Our Father, God, uses His word to do the same for us. God’s Holy Word, the Bible, is our instruction guide.

As we are reminded in Proverbs 3:13:
                Joyful is the person who finds wisdom,
                                the one who gains understanding.

This is the tool you need. To keep with you. This tool will help you find the answers you are seeking. Open it today and start filling your mind, body, and soul with the goodness and wisdom of our Heavenly Father.

Rylee and I finished our works of art and we felt so proud to have completed them. I think we will definitely take another art class soon and invite the 5-year-old sister to join us! Hopefully they will listen and heed their mother’s instructions!

God bless your journey!

My parents lived at the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a long time. My husband, children and I would go several times a year to visit them. It is such a beautiful area… and if you know the right places to go, you can catch the most splendid sunrises and sunsets imaginable! Talk about captivating… just watching God paint the sky over the ocean or the sound was such a blessing to behold! It never got old. Never.

As a hobby, I paint. I have tried numerous times to re-create the beauty that I’ve seen God paint. I fall short, but it’s still fun trying. And I learn so much every time I paint a sunrise or sunset.

At the Outer Banks if you want to catch a sunset, you have to go over to the sound side. And of course, to glimpse a magical sunrise, you have to be on the ocean side. But no matter which side you’re on, the infinity beauty of the sky mixing with the water abounds all around you and is absolutely stunning.

While painting a picture of a sunset recently, I was thinking about the infinite beauty in God’s creation, and it made me think about the infinite value of knowing Christ. In Philippians chapter 3 Paul is writing to the church in Philippi telling them how awesome it is to know Christ and how worthless everything else is compared to Jesus.
Paul says in verse 8 “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus.” Right before Paul said that, he reminded the Philippians that it wasn’t by works or human effort or obeying the law that saved them. It was by faith in Jesus!

Paul said if it was by effort then he would have and could have confidence in his own effort. Read what he wrote in Philippians 3:5-9:
5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

After studying these passages, I don’t ever want to just look at infinite beauty without first acknowledging the One who has infinite value – Jesus Christ my Lord! Don't you agree?

Thank you for reading! God bless your journey!