Daily life

Daily Drawing #275, Be Careful Who You Hug

| Whitt’s End Art

I have often been accused of freely offering up a hug to all those I meet. It is something that comes from my Southern heritage. I think a good hug warms the heart and can break down the barriers between two people. However I have also learned over the years that some people don’t want to be hugged for whatever reason. So if you like to give a hug of greeting like me make sure if you don’t know the person that well ask before you give out the hug. Why all the talk about hugging? Because in this world which seems so filled with hate and division it is one small way we can do as Jesus instructed us, “Love thy neighbor…”

Daily Drawing #274, Trying to Find The Happy Place

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In life there are times when you need to step back and find your happy place. A happy place is somewhere quiet where you can be free of the hustle and bustle of the world around you. A quiet place can be a room, a place in the yard or another place where you can pray or talk to God. My happy place is when I do my art work. It is in those moments of creating a drawing where I lay pencil to paper and talk to God at the same time. These are the times when the tension melts away and I can listen for the still quiet voice of God. Take the time to find your quiet place and go there daily.

Daily Drawing #271, Time is Flying By

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It is hard to believe how fast time flies anymore. It seems like only yesterday I started my self imposed drawing challenge and now it is almost the end of September. I must say I’ve enjoyed the process so far and look forward to drawing the last 94 drawings. The hardest part has been coming up with things to draw. By the grace of God I’ve made it this far and I know he will see me through till the end.

Daily Drawing #270, Please Stop

| Whitt’s End Art

Today’s cute cartoon is a reminder to us all that at times we can be annoying and don’t know when to stop. the poor cat is tired of listening to it’s owner singing. “Please Stop,” the cat meows. Why do we not know when to stop? The answer is simple we are looking out for our own interests and fail to see the cues that we’ve crossed a certain boundary. As Christians we especially have to be careful not to be over zealous with our message. Look for the cues when it is time to stop. Then start praying that God will open up new avenues for you to once again give out the message of hope.

Daily Drawing #269, Prayer is Always the Way to an Answer

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Prayer, why is so important. Well for one Jesus says, “You don’t have because you do not Ask.” For another God wants to hear from us even though He knows what we want and need. Remember in our eyes wants and needs may be the same thing but in God’s eyes they are not equal. I have found many times in life when I haven’t prayed about something the ending was not what I expected. This is why I pray whenever I can, wherever I am. Even out by myself maybe by the water or as my little is doing, even on a lily pad. This my thought for the day.

Daily Drawing #267, Tryin’ to be The Cool One

| Whitt’s End Art

When I attended high school, many many, many years ago we had four groups of people in our school, the cool people (those with status for one reason or another), the jocks (self-explanatory), the nerds (the smart people who didn’t fit in with the cool people) and the others (the ones who didn’t fit in anywhere sometimes by choice.). I started out hobnobbing in the academic world of the cool people.

Then one day I found out I just didn’t like the way the cool people treated those who didn’t fit their mold of what it meant to be cool. By the way jocks and cheerleaders always seem to be cool.  In my junior year I ended up in the world of the others…by choice. These people were true friends who like you for being you. They didn’t judge you or make you feel like you didn’t want to be in school.

I have discovered over the course of my Christian life that the church can be like high school with the members sorting themselves into groups. If you don’t fit in a group, well you become one of the others, on the outside looking in. It should not be this way. A church should be focused on the vertical and should not have any type of division but should be all inclusive.

Daily Drawing #263, Giving A Friend a Lift

| Whitt’s End Art

One of the greatest treasures of this earthly life are our friends. As I have recorded in earlier writing I had some good friends in my life which came from my neighborhood, my school years, the years spent as a volunteer fire company, church and of course work. the sad news is almost all of those good friends not counting family and my wife are no longer part of my current life. Many of my past friendships I wish would have continued but sadly they didn’t. Only their memories are still there. So today I give to you this advice, hold onto your friendships as long as you can.

Daily Drawing #262, Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

| Whitt’s End Art

Growing up Autumn was one of my favorite seasons. No not because of school but because I knew Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas were not far behind. Now, I am in the late Autumn of my life time. I am not so much looking forward to what comes in this season of my life. While there are bright sides to the Autumn season of life like retirement and having more time to do things you always wanted to do there are also drawbacks. As we age our bodies loose some mobility and aches and pains seem to pop up out of nowhere. Don’t get me wrong. I am not whining. I have just realized that as I age each new day is a gift from God to be used for what ever He needs me to accomplish. I now look at the Autumn of my life as new days of opportunity and if I do get to retire someday I will still be working for Him anyway I can.