I have discovered the older I get the more life is not about accumulating stuff but is more about family. Each day that goes by we need to grab hold of those we love and cherish and celebrate life together. So as the holidays rapidly approach spend time with those who matter.
When I was young you could find me on many nights looking up into the sky looking for falling stars. I believed in the old adage when you wish upon a falling star your wishes would come true. Since many of those wishes didn’t come true I guess I can give some of them away.
Like Charlie Brown I wished the girl who lived across the street from me would see me as her boyfriend. I wished to be one of the cool people at school. I wished to be good at something. These were only many of the wishes which went unanswered.
I know now many years later life is not about wishing on stars but putting your faith and trust in Jesus. He is the one who has the wisdom to guide me through life in order to avoid many of the pitfall which normally strike.
Life is all about the line…sometimes those lines are very fine. It is up to us as Christians to decide how we are going to walk each of those lines through faith and trust in Jesus or by putting our faith in our own decisions.
I have posted before how much I like drawing portraits. In fact on my other blog Tim the Artist I am doing a long term 100 Portrait Challenge. I think life is like drawing a portrait. Each day we add a line to our portrait until the drawing is finished on the day we are called home. My question to you is what kind of portrait are your drawing? One with the soft colors of service or one with harsh lines of a self-centered life.
I have an obvious metaphor to go with today’s drawing. In life we are going to up against many walls. There are times when we must take our time to walk until we reach the end of the wall. I have lived through a couple of those, like cancer and debt reduction. There are other times when we must climb up over the wall and see what exists on the other side, like maybe a new life. One of these is the moment you decide to follow Jesus. It only takes a moment to bend the knee and climb over the wall. Think about it.
Giving the gift of merriment is something each and every one of us can do each day. A good example is just passing a smile to everyone you meet or giving a heart felt hello. I know what you’re thinking, “but I don’t feel like smiling everyday.” Truth is me neither. At one point in my life I suffered from depression but I set my mind on not passing on my down feelings to others. Instead I decided to pass on a smile and a hello each day.. I still do it to this day. I’m not saying it will work for everyone but at least give it a try. I must also add if you’re suffering through any kind of depression or any other related illness please seek out a Biblical counselor.
Life is hard. If you’re like me each day is filled with a lot of stress and very little time for rest. That is why it is important to not only carve out a block of time to do a daily Bible study and prayer but also to take some time to just rest your body. If you do not rest it affects not only your body but also dulls your mind. Today’s drawing is dedicated to taking some time to rest.
As an artist I struggle with what I would call true abstract art. Sure I’ve created pieces of art which border on the abstract but I find most of my pieces are slightly altered real life drawings or cartoons. I hope to keep broadening my horizons and branch out into more abstract pieces. Life is kind of like an art piece you can either live it like a real life drawing or have some fun living life a little more abstractly. Think about it.
I don’t know about but there always seems to be something dangling just over my head. When I was a young child it was trying to find my niche in my peer group. Well I guess that never seems to go away. As I grew my area of concern was getting good grades in school and what college I wanted to attend. When I finished high school I ended up working in stead of college. The list of things dangling grew as I went to college later in life and tried to support a family. Well you get the idea. There are a lot of things dangling over out heads The key as Jesus said is in Matthew 6:30-34:
“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.““Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Life is not guaranteed to be care free. The key to not be overtaken by the things danging over our heads is by putting our faith and trust in Jesus.
