Illustration

Daily Drawing #283, Hanging Out With Your Friends

| Whitt’s End Art

One thing I really miss from my youth is the hours spent just hanging out with my friends. Back then we didn’t have video games or electronic devices or um-teem number of television stations. All we had was our own sense of adventure and time. Needless to spent hours of time out doors playing made up games and even more time just hanging out at one of many places. One of our favorite places to go was the mall. There we would compete with each other at the local arcade, comment on people walking by or spend time seeing the latest movie.

I learned a lot about my friends in the hours we spent together.  I know hanging out sounds dull but we were happier and closer then. Sadly once adult life caught up with us we stopped hanging out together and almost all of us went our separate ways. I look back on that time and wish I could recapture those moments now, but times have changed and become more hectic.

Those by gone days remind me of all the time Jesus spent hanging out with his disciples. As they traveled together they learned a lot about their savior and friend and while Jesus, being God come to the Earth, already knew all about the disciples found out what it felt like to hang out with your friends. We need to get back to those days with fellow believers, just hanging out with other believers in order to get to know each other better and grow as Christians.

Daily Drawing #282, The People On My Street

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I’ve written before about how Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors. The closest neighbors we have live right next door or right across the street. Growing up those neighbors were my best friends, the first girl I hung with and so much more. My neighbors were the ones I went to when I wanted to talk over things or when a good time was brewing, like a party. Sadly today in many neighborhoods our neighbors are just the people next door we may talk to from time to time. We need to reestablish the connections to our neighbors in order to make each community better.

Daily Drawing #276, Wharever Happened to the Fairytale Life?

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I know I’ve mentioned before about my passion for the fantasy genre. I love the way teh genre takes you into imaginary worlds where the hero must save his kingdom from a great evil which comes about the land. Part of the fantasy genre which always seem to have a really happy ending, well unless you read Grimm’s Fairy Tales which do not always end but always seem end with a moral the characters need to learn. I always thought life would be like one of those fairy tales where there would be this great happy ending. I was half right this life will end for all of us some day. The happy ending will come to those who have asked Jesus into their hearts when we see Him in Heaven.

Daily Drawing #272, Some Things Just Don’t Go Together

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As I grow older I have discovered there are certain things which no longer go together like when my mind tells me I can do one thing but my body tells me I can’t. As a Christian I have been told over and over again that the Christian mindset does not go well with the worldview. In other words be in the world but not of the world. What does this really mean. I live in the world how can I not be of the world. the answer is simple. As Christians we are not to see as the world does but as God does. This means we no longer seek to satisfy our own needs but seek to become one who gives unconditionally. Think about how much good would be done if everyone who claims to be a Christian lived like one.

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.

Daily Drawing #258, My Church is Bigger Than Your Church

| Whitt’s End Art

Over the course of my Christian life I have attended or visited many churches. Some of the churches have been mega churches with a couple thousand member, still others have had moderate membership upwards of a few hundred and lastly are the smaller churches with around 50 members. The most recent church I attended was a small church. I found I like the small church the best but sadly churches are at a disadvantage because they are not always viable financially.

Our church was in this position so we switched to an affiliation with another church. This at first glance is a good thing but now it appears our church is locked into getting the number of the attendees up. Now as we expand those of us who once called the church home have left and are being replaced by new members. This leaves some us long timers feeling lost in the membership shuffle. So in my thinking it is not always better when my church is bigger than your church especially when you loose the focus of why we are ALL entering the building in the first place…to honor God and fellowship with other believers.

Daily Drawing#255, Dancin’ Makes the Heart Happy

| Whitt’s End Art

Today’s quick drawing is an homage to the Peanuts comic strips. The Peanuts comics have always been one of my favorites. Charles Schultz and his group of children were one of the reasons I wanted to be a cartoonist in the first place. I grew up watching the TV specials and reading the daily comic strips all the while seeing myself in the Charlie Brown character. I like him saw myself as the misfit who was always trying to fit in with others. Still like Snoopy I learned long ago dancing a happy dance makes the heart feel happy. There is something about getting out there and helping others which makes you forget about your problems. This I think was one of the lessons Charlie Brown learned inadvertently. He was always messing up when he tried to help others but in the end it worked out and all gang had a good time. So get out there and find what you can do for others so you can do your happy dance.