Daily life

Daily Drawing #229, The Home Which Once Was…

| Whitt’s End Art

I would love to visit a so called “ghost town.” Not to search for paranormal events because I have my own theories on those but to see how people once lived. They say you can never go home again. In a sense ghost town is a reminder what we once knew as home is never the same as we remember. I have been back to the both my birth home in West Virginia and the home where I grew up outside of Philadelphia. Neither of the places resembles what I remember from my youth. The neighborhoods are different. The homes I knew are gone. Even many of the people that once lived there are gone, moved away or deceased. The homes which I once knew exist now only in my memory. This is one of the reasons I write this blog to write down my memories and thoughts before they are gone also. In my opinion everyone should write down what they remember about their lives, take pictures of old neighborhoods and people. This is one good way you can go back home again, if only in your mind.

Daily Drawing #228, Playing Music By the Moonlight

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There is an old saying, “Music soothes the savage beast.” While that may be true back in my day music was blamed as the source of a lot of misbehavior. Still I grew up a rock and roll guy. I like other bands like ABBA and the like but my favorite was 70’s and 80’s rock. I used to love to go to concerts, especially outdoor live events. There is something about the open air and live music. When I gave my life to Jesus I thought my rock music days were over. For some they because of the association with the past lifestyle. I however have always liked music for the music and the lyrics.

There are some in the church who disagree with Contemporary Christian Music especially the harder stuff. I however am one of those people who while selective and lyric content oriented understand that God can use any tool he sees fit to further His kingdom here on earth. I am a testament to that. He called me, a person who in my estimation is not suited for His ministry into His service for twenty some years now. So when it comes to liking Christian Rock or harder music, do as you with anything else, be discerning by checking into the bands background and testimony and look at the lyrics.

Daily Drawing #227, Learning Not to Touch 

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Today I have a message which is sort of a complaint and a partly a question. Here it is, “Why do people persist in touching stuff which does not belong to them?” When I was a child my momma taught me to keep my hands off of other people’s property as well as stay out of a yard I was not invited into. In our modern world a lot of people think they are entitled to do whatever they want. If this means you have something they feel like they want to use they go ahead and try it out without permission.

There is an Old Chinese Proverb which states, “He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.” I for one don’t mind people borrowing or using my stuff, I feel what I have is a gift from God meant to be shared but please learn to ask. If you can’t ask then then please do not touch.Sorry for the rant it was just one of those days.

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Daily Drawing #226, Watching the World Go Bye

| Whitt’s End Art

When I was old enough to drive my friends and I would go to our local mall to play arcade games at the Space Port. During our game downtime we would get a soda and a dog at the Pampered Pup and sit down to watch the people stroll on by. I would be respite if I didn’t mention we made comments to each other about the way people were dressed or their hairstyles or any number of other things. I think watching the people was more fun than playing the video games. Even to this day, as an artist I love to go to a park, a mall and other public places just to  sit and just watch people walk around. There are a lot of interesting people out there to sketch. So grab a pencil, an art pad and get on out there. After all plein air sketching is all the rage these days.

Daily Drawing #222, The Dog Days of Summer

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What are the dog days of summer? The answer comes from Dictionary.Com, “the sultry part of the summer, supposed to occur during the period that Sirius, the Dog Star, rises at the same time as the sun: now often reckoned from July 3 to August 11. a period marked by lethargy, inactivity, or indolence.” The reason for the lethargy and inactivity is the heat. When it is hot it is hard to be moving around. I was in Las Vegas this year and the temp out there when I went averaged out to 115 degrees. I know it is a dry heat but to me it was still hot. My wife and I managed to push through the heat and have a great time. In life there are going to be times when the heat is turned up. The key to getting through these times and not become inactive or lethargic is to pray and seek God’s strength to help you remain sure footed. The dog days will always come but they don’t have to last.

 

Daily Drawing #221, Looking Out Over the Landscape

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I sometimes pick up a pencil and just draw. This is one of those times. I started out with a simple landscape drawing and then added a face in the mountains. The piece is entitled “Looking Out Over the Landscape.” Like the lady in the mountain there are times in life we sometimes need to step back and survey the landscape instead of rushing ahead without all the details of what lies ahead. I have experience in this area, believe me. In my life there were so many times I failed down to look down from the mountain to see what was ahead so I stumbled along the way.

An example of this be buying the first car you see instead of taking the time to check to see what was out there. In the end you may have a good car but not the one which may have suited your needs better. God wants us to be patient in everything we do and most importantly to seek his wisdom in making important decisions.

Daily Drawing #219, Your Presence is the Best Present

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Love is a funny thing. Many of us seek to express love by offering up big and little presents or gifts to show someone how much we love them. Then we spend the rest of the time doing our own thing. Many people who say they love each other spend many of their free hours not together but doing separate activities. While I don’t think you have to spend every second together. Even couples need some apart time. What I talking about is the fact that the best present or gift you can give someone is the gift of your presence, to talk to each other, to grow as couples, to do fun things together and much more. Take the time now because as sad as it is to say someday the person will not be here and the only presence you will have will be in your mind or photos.

Daily Drawing #218, A Chip Off The Old Block

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I love those commercials where one member of married couple is starting to exhibit traits of there parents. I don’t what the commercial is for but it got me to thinking. We are more like our parents then we think. Like my drawing entitled, “Mini Me,” we carry our parents genes so we are going to be like them in some ways. Don’t panic yet. It is not a bad thing to be like your parents as long as you don’t repeat the same mistakes they did and you listen to the all the wisdom they impart.

Like everyone else our parents made mistakes, many of which we have seen as we grew older. So when you see yourself starting to exhibit some of those undesirable traits stop yourself and switch gears. You are your parents child but you are also an individual who can make your own decisions. The time is now.

Daily Drawing #217, Taking On Your Giants

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One of my favorite historical events in the Bible is the story of David and Goliath. Here is a young man taking on someone who towers over him. My drawing “Looking Up,” is a modern take on the Biblical story. It is a representation of what happens when someone gets the courage to take on a bully. The simple pencil drawing offers a look at how daunting our giants can appear. In school I was bullied quite a few times and was reluctant to take a stand. I was like the rest of the Israelite army standing back leery of what was to come next.

This message is the unplanned third in a series on dealing with the giants of all kinds in our lives. David showed how easily it is to stand up against giants. His giant was a physical specimen our giants can be a disease, a bully, financial and much. No matter what the giant is the key to defeating giants is to do what David did, put your whole faith and trust in the God and like He did for David, He will deliver you from your giant orgiants.