Author: The Kedge Anchor

This morning whilst rolling over in bed trying to fall back to sleep, I started to pray, but this thought came to my mind, losing steam. I must admit I am growing weary of the situation. Doubt creeps in, I really don’t feel like there is any end in sight, though I KNOW “the tide will turn.” And I began to think, what would I tell someone in my situation? What wards off the doubt? I began to think about the song “Raise a Hallelujah” “Sing in the presence of my enemies…” So ok, sing. ok yah singing and having a song in my heart, cool. The song continued in my head. Then what else helps ward off doubt? Being thankful, yah count your blessings, once you start seeing all the the things God has done, doesn’t the Bible tell us to mediate on those things? So I ‘m cool, what else? Encourage, it encourages me to encourage others, it costs nothing and seeing the smile on someone who is downtrodden or tired makes me feel good and lifts my spirits.

It was at this point I began to see a word – STEAM S-ing, T-hankful, E-ncourage.

Hmmm perhaps the Holy Spirit is telling me something. Always be… Singing, Thankful, Encouraging, Available, available to serve God in anyway. Taking my mind off of me and helping someone else, be it in the church, a friend, a neighbor, a stranger, blesses me. Wow ok, what’s M? Mad at the enemy. Be mad at the enemy for trying to steal your joy, even in the storm, for causing you to doubt, distract you from God’s word, his cunning tactics, be mad and fight back with scripture.

So SING!! The Bible tells us to sing during a trial. Paul in Acts 16- Paul sang in prison. When we take refuge, if we are taking refuge, we are storm or trial of some kind so Psalms 5:11: “Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy …” Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Psalm 96:1-2 Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Even God sings over us!!! Zephaniah 3:14–17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (ESV)I never knew that until recently!!! How cool is that!!! I really gotta do more singing!!!

THANKFUL, be full of thanks Psalm 107:1 (NIV) -“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ‘Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” That’s not an easy one to do in the middle of some circumstances, but the verse says to be thankful IN, not necessarily FOR.  Ephesians 5:20 “Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’

ENCOURAGE, 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (ESV) “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” Try it think of someone who may need their day brightened, heck make someone’s day go from good to great. Send a text, “Hey thinking about you today, send a real greeting card, add a gift card, or a real phone call, ask someone how you can pray for them. Reach out and touch someone.

AVAILABLE, be available to serve. The church is always a good place to start if you’re not sure where to start. Call your church office ask if there is something you can do, trust me they will have something, punch holes, make copies, organize something… answer the phones, type something, proof read, or maybe you can serve during the service, there’s always something. But also be willing and available to serve your community. Ask a friend or a neighbor if they need babysitting, cook a meal for someone who is sick or injured, volunteer for a local shelter or organization. There are soooo many forms of serving. . 1 Peter 4:10 “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”  Galatians 6:10 “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”  Acts 20:35 “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” 

MAD at the enemy. Get mad Jesus got mad in the temple Matthew 21:12 (NIV) “Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.”

It’s ok to get mad, just don’t sin. But get mad at the enemy for trying to steal your joy, help your unbelief Mark 9:24 (NLT) “The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil… and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. We should sit up and take notice: on the one hand we could give place to the devil and on the other grieve the Holy Spirit. Either one should be unthinkable.” Make him angry by Singing, Thanking, Encouraging, Availability to serve, and just plain make him mad. He has no right to steal your joy. Don’t rent hime the space in your head. Occupy your mind and time with God and His Word. Ask Him to forgive you for losing focus and to get back on track, He is right there waiting for you, loving you, singing over you!

My Painting Process

Last Saturday morning the weather was inspirational. It’s getting warmer, trees and flowers are blooming again and it was a sunny day. How could I not be inspired? Nature always inspires me and today it was shouting.

Like many times, I don’t know what to do. As inspired and motivated as I can be sometimes, what to do can be overwhelming. Have you been there? I decided to make a little game of it, and asked myself, “what if?” What if I actually painted something! You’ll hear many artists’ encouraging words to just make marks, put paint on paper, or ink, or whatever medium you are using. Just do something, even if it’s not perfect or you don’t like it, or you fail, just do something, be creative. That’s what I did.

When I do a piece that I don’t like or it’s a flop, I keep it but not for display. I recycle it. I keep it to use the other side for a do over. And that’s what I did here. I grabbed a large piece of watercolor paper and some watercolor brush pens and just started to make a small gradient . That’s it. Step number one of the “What If” game; keep it small, keep it simple. It’s more manageable, less intimidating. My next thought was to make a bookmark. I had purchased a book a few months back that had instructions using watercolors to make a bookmark and the warmer weather was making me think of the beach. I chose three-ish or so colors and started painting a sky, water, and sand. My first attempt looked flat, uninteresting. I tried again. This time I let the brushes do the work, I let them leave their marks and color. The look was starting to take shape and look more interesting. I could have left it there. But I didn’t, it needed more.

Then the question came again, “what if?” What if I took some white and enhanced the waves and water just a little? Aha! It’s looking more like water. Using what I have learned about making water on the shore, is to create a shadow under the water flowing over the sand. Thus the second step; build up or layer creativity on your painting. Add to it but carefully. A little can be a lot. It still need a little more but it was starting to gain more dimension. It needed a more and it needed contrast. I took a black fine liner and started to make some tall grass in the foreground.Then, I took a step back and it actually looked like a beach. That’s when I stopped. Of course now I see things I can do different, like make some clouds but the cloudless sky give me the opportunity to maybe write a quote over it.

That’s becoming my process as I learn. I ask myself the question, “what if …? and do it. Next, I break it down, keep it simple. My high school math teacher always told us to reduce our problems to lowest terms. So, keep it simple and small. Then I layer on creativity, I build on top of the simple image I created, with some detail using other media, asking myself again; “what if …”. And then I step back. Maybe there is more I need to do. Maybe it is done, but I step back and assess. Maybe I need to leave it, let it be silent for a few days to make sure it’s done.

As I let this little project sit overnight, that inspiration is kinda like God’s voice. It nudges, it encourages. Once again I asked; “what if …”. Don’t go away, stay tuned for next week as I explain that.

Would love to hear what inspires you and hear your process. Please be sure to like, subscribe, comment and share. As always, “Anchor in Hope.”