Last Day Retreat of the Year

Last Saturday, November 12, we had our last Living Water Day Retreat for this year.  The weather was perfect, cool with a breeze and clear blue skies....It was cool enough that we made a fire in the fire pit and that kept us toasty while we were outside...

A wonderful group of ladies attended and Sandra and I were delighted to spend time with each one of them.  We all received insights from God as we sat at various places on the property as well as when we did collages in the Art Shed.  God is always faithful in giving each one just the right message for the issues that are being dealt with at the time...

Sandra with her big Smile

And Of Course Me 

I am so thankful for having the opportunity to be a part of these retreats this year.  God has blessed me abundantly both in working with Pat and Sandra but also in meeting and getting to know some wonderful sisters in the Lord....

I pray next year God will see fit to let us be apart of more retreats.

Love and blessings,
Nancy

I got up this morning thinking about God's eye on the sparrow and how much He cares for us and provides for our needs....so when it came time to work on my journal page I was thinking God's eye and a sparrow.  Well, here is out the page turned out...as usual I never know where it's going but it seemed there is more about creation and the life journey than just the sparrow.....

I hope each of you is having a wonderful weekend and having some time to create to your heart's desire.....I have extra creative time today as my hubby and grandson went to a basketball game...I'm anxious to see what else is going to turn up......

                          

          
                     Hugs and blessings,
                     Nancy

It's cool and breezy at the beach but much warmer than North Carolina right now......Perfect time of the year to take long walks, reflect, and look for shells......The ocean always reminds me of the ebe and flow of life and to take one day at a time....staying in the moment and being thankful for all the blessings in my life......
I am reading a wonderful book right now..."One Thousand Gift: A Dare to live Fully" by Ann Voskamp and this has been the perfect setting to let the words wash over me and sink deep into my soul......

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy

Another project

I know I know...I said I was not going to knit anything else until I finished the fisherman's socks.....Well I finished one sock and the top of the second one and I kept seeing where so many people were knitting the eternity scarf and I couldn't help but notice there was a perfect green in my stash.....I thought well, I will just start it, break the monotony of the brown socks, and then I'll go right back to the boring socks......I don't know what happened but the next thing I knew I was finished with the green eternity scarf....It is a fast knit wish the socks were as quick.....Well here's a picture and now I am back with the boring socks...maybe I will finish them this time.....

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and have lots of time to create however you choose to do that....

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy

Journal page on Affirmation

Every once in a while when I catch myself feeling resentment or self pity, I have to ask myself where am I looking for affirmation....We were made to need affirmation and approval...you know the old pat on the back once in a while but often we don't get it...or maybe we are "needy" in this area of our life.....didn't get what we needed when we were a child and still searching for that nod of approval.....
This issue can become a real trap if I am not careful......catch myself doing things for the wrong reasons or having too high an expectation on others....When I do that and those old self pity feelings come I know I have given away my power and I need to trust my own judgements.
Of course I already have God's approval so that is set but He has promised to provide for all my needs and that includes any affirmation I may need...Sometimes, though, I tell Him I need the physical touch or words and that's when I ask Him to send me Him with arms and legs.  In order words, a human.....and if it is a need He knows that I need then He sends me that human or provides for what I need in other ways......
This is all about trusting Him and looking to Him more and more for all my needs......I serve a mighty God who is quite capable of taking care of this little sheep He birthed many years ago......

        Hugs and blessings,
               Nancy

Unfinished Project

Do you ever have a project you ignore or just can't get yourself to finish.....Well I have one right now...I guess I should start at the beginning.  Last year, my DH asked me to knit him a pair of wool fishing socks....He's an (obsessed) fly fisherman so of course I agreed....I started the socks but soon I was slipping into other projects that were more interesting and the socks were eventually put aside...way aside.....
With a new year beginning, I was looking in my yarn stash for a project and the socks glared back at me...."Are you ever going to finish me" so I got them out again and working very hard to get them finished because they are just as boring now as they were last year......but somehow this represents my undying love for my DH so I refuse to start another project until they are finished.  I am not sure what the problem is with these socks...I love knitting socks, pretty girly socks but he wanted brown and I am very sick of brown....So when you think of me, know I am knitting at a fast speed....

Please feel free to share any unfinished projects you struggle to complete.....

                              
                             Hugs and blessings,
                        Nancy

After Christmas, we headed to Washington DC to a bowl game and to take in the sites with our daughter's family.....The bowl game was very disappointing but we had so much fun with the kids....They loved riding the train (subway), going to the Museums and seeing the monuments or I should say the six year old did....they all loved the train, the 19 month old slept through the museums and the four year old got very tired of walking......but back in the hotel, we played games, ordered ice cream and watched movies....It was a fun family time......
                          Pa Pa with Hank and Max

The whole crew with the exception of me

We have been blessed this holiday season but this Grandma is tired and ready to rest for a few days and then start on some adventures in the New Year....................  

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy

                    

My Special Angel

As the Christmas season comes into view, we hear and talk more than usual about angels; we even sing about them and decorate our houses with them.....They played a very important part in the birth of Jesus.

So when Sissy, our almost 4 year old granddaughter, invited us to go  to her Christmas program, we were not surprised that she was dressed as an angel.  She is a very independent child with a mind of her own and one who will not let you put anything in her hair and does not perform on command or because you want her to...So we had anticipated that she would probably not participate on stage.
Miracle number one....she walks down the isle with a garland around her head smiling as she passes as if she knows a secret....
She walks up on stage with the rest of the kids and to our amazement she sings all the songs, plays her tambourine,  raises her arms and is absolutely the life of the program......

All I can say, kids are amazing and always seem to surprise you when you least expect it.....She was my adorable angel and it was a day her Nanie will never forget.....When she passed by us smiling, she knew what she was going to do.......I so look forward to all that God has for her because she is a very smart and talented little girl....and I love her to pieces.....

Thanks for letting this Grandma share alittle of what makes her the happiest......

                          Hugs and blessings,
                       Nancy

A Christmas Carol

I found this very interesting....

From 1558 until 1829 Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly.  Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.
It has two levels of meaning:  the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church.
Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.
-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
-The five golden rings recalled the Rorah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit - prophesy, serving, teaching, exhortation, conribution, leadership and mercy
-The eight maids a -milking were the eight beatitudes
-nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--love, joy, peace, gentleness and self control
-the ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments
-the eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples
-the twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed

I have always wondered about this Christmas Carol and I now I am happy to know that it has a Christian meaning behind the words.

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy

My Bossy Cat

I can't stop laughing at Simon, my human cat, this morning....
Here's the story.  Several weeks ago, a friend of mine whose daughter makes dog beds, sent me a beautiful fleece dog bed for Daisy.  She knows I love butterflies so it's covered in butterflies and oh so soft.
So I put it out for Daisy and she immediately started sniffing and climbed in for a test drive....that didn't last long as Simon came over and after sniffing it, he pushed Daisy out and climbed in and you could tell it wasn't for a test drive.....He had found his new bed.
Every time Daisy would attempt to claim her gift, Simon would push her away and climb in for a nap.  Well, needless to say, Daisy has just about stopped trying to claim her gift and has generously handed it over to Simon.  He curls up in it with a glazed look on his eyes as if surely he has found heaven.....

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy

New Journal Cover

I have been wanting to cover one of my journals so I started by glueing a piece of drawing paper to the cover and then added one of my gals....I put tape around the edge of the page and then proceeded to stamp around the edges of the picture....Three different ribbons are added to the edge and tied at each end.  Now I have an original journal cover........

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving; ours was blessed beyond measure with good food and good family time.  Hubby and I even took our two oldest grandchildren ( 6 and almost 4) to a football game yesterday and we had so much fun.....They both love football which they inherited from their Dad and Granddad.......

Here's a gal I did recently.  I've been trying out different pencils and pens.....

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy

Abbingdon, Va is a quaint little southern town with so much charm and history....It is about an hour from our  mountain home and my sweet hubby and I love going and staying in the Martha Washington Inn and catching a play over at the Barter Theater......

We went yesterday morning and the weather was wonderful, clear blue skies and about 62 degrees.
Abbingdon was already decorated for Christmas and you felt as though you had been transported back in time....We got nestled into our room at the Martha Washington...freshened up and went to eat at their fabulous restaurant...And then it was off across the street to the Barter Theater to see "It's a Wonderful Life"......It was a great production......We returned to the Martha Washington under the light of a full moon.....it was a perfect setting.....

We headed back to the N.C. mountains today and felt as though we had escaped our world for a few hours into a world of the past....It was wonderful and refreshing.......Now we are ready for Thanksgiving and family time.....


                               The Martha Washington Inn

The Barter Theater

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy

Often, I get too hung up on the outcome.....The left side of my brain tries very hard to see the purpose and the outcome of my endeavors and that is definitely not my responsibility....Sweet as God is, He brought the perfect words to me this morning to reassure me that my responsibility is to focus on my race and the outcome is His.

This is the reading this morning from JESUS CALLING by Sarah Young....wonderful devotion book...

"LEAVE OUTCOMES UP TO ME.   Follow Me wherever  I lead, without worrying about how it will all turn out.  Think of your life as an adventure, with Me as your Guide and Companion.  Live in the now, concentrating on staying in step with Me.  When our path leads to a cliff, be willing to climb it with My help.  When we come to a resting place, take time to be refreshed in My Presence.  Enjoy the rhythm of life lived close to Me. 
You already know the ultimate destination of your journey:  your entrance into heaven.  So keep your focus on the path just before you, leaving outcomes up to Me." 

I think about Secaratiart,,,his role was to run the best race he could...the outcome was not up to him.....
I am to run my best race, staying close to the Father, and He is responsible for the outcomes of all along my race......

What a relief......I can just run and run along side of Him and have no concern about the results...

                        FREEDOM

Hugs and blessings,
Nancy

Prayer Journal Pages

It seems at every turn I hear of someone I know has found out they have cancer...It's almost weekly and it really makes me mad......

I have a very special friend who is battling breast cancer.  She has completed her chemo and went for her appointment today to find out about her radiation treatments.....Her spirits are good but I can tell it is weighting on both her and her husband.

Today an old friend came by who had been diagnosed with lung cancer...He had part of his treatments and got in such bad shape they had to stop.....they gave him no hope.....Several months later, he went for his appointment and after the scan and all the tests they put you through, they told him there was no sign of cancer not even a scar......He hold me after they gave up on him, he was getting ready to preach one morning when he went into the prayer room and said "Lord, you take this..I am not going to think about it again...if you want me here fine and if not I'll be with you......

So this afternoon, I have had both of these people on my mind...one struggling to live and the other one healed.....so I sat down to pray and with paper in hand started to doodle and talk about these two people to the Lord......This is what came out of that session.....I can see lots of respresentation in the doodle but I won't go into that now.  I just felt a real sense of peace when it was completed....

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy

My Silly Animals

It was late afternnon yesterday and I was reading but when I glanced down to see my two funny animals playing with the shadows my foot was making in the light and I just sat and laughed.....Daisy, the dog, thinks Simon, the cat, set the moon and whatever Simon is doing Daisy will follow along.....Simon is obcessed with shadows and will play along time as long as they are moving.....As you might expect, I am happy to oblige him.......

Catching those special moments in life no matter how insignificant they may seem...........

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy

My Grandson's Visual Journal Page

I spent the weekend with my grandchildren and children and what a surprise when I went with Leigh to pick Hank up from school (he's in kinder garden) and he comes running to the car with his piece of art.  I am just blown because my first thought
 was Visual Journaling......I asked about the process they went through and he told me the teacher put on music and ask them to put different objects on the page that represented what he was seeing in his mind.......what a great idea....and to start them so early on this type of art......Some of us in our older years are just becoming aware of this process and how helpful it is into seeing issues and things going on in our minds and hearts.....

We have ladies at the retreats that think they can't do any kind of art and I guess because of just coming out of one and spending so much time thinking and creating visual pages, I was just so taken that a child has reminded me that anyone at any age can make art...and wonderful art to boot....My grandchildren are always giving me art they created and it makes me so happy to see their creative tendencies encouraged....

I made so much over it that he gave it to me to put up in my studio at home.....It is just so precious to me and every time I look at it I will not only think of a very special little boy who I love to pieces but a reminder from a child that I can do art too...........I learn so much from my three grandchildren and they hold a place next to my heart that only they can fill........Love from a child keeps one growing....

We must keep our ears and eyes open because you never know where inspiration and encouragement is going to show up in our lives.......Thank you Hank for blessing your Nanie beyond measure.....

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy

October Retreat

I am so glad to finally be back on line.  My computer decided to take a break and I have been so frustrated not being able to talk to each you.

The October Retreat amazed us all as God revealed Himself to each of us....As we studied the Art of the Listening Prayer and how our hearts affect everything to do and say, He guided us through steps of change and spoke to each of us words of conviction and of encouragement.  We ate lots of food, including chocolate, learned visusal journaling, took a hike up the montain, sat around the fire pit and sang songs and ended with communion on Sunday morning before we all said our goodbyes and headed home. 

Mary Freeman was our guest artist.  She did an incredible job as she shared with us her adventures of journaling and then actually took us step by step through the process.  Each gal did a journal page and were amazed at the results....Thank you Mary for sharing your gift with us and being so willing to be open and transparent.  You are a blessing to all you meet. 

It was such a treat getting to meet Mary and Bevie in person.  When they opened the car doors and stepped out, I felt as if I had known them for years.....the hugs and the laughter will stay with me for years to come....and I know I have made life long friends.....Sweet, wonderful gals who love the Lord and are eager to be all He has for them.....What a treat for us that they were able to attend the retreat.....

Here are some pictures from the retreat and if you would like to know more about the retreat or see more pictures, visit http://wwwfootprintstothepottershouse.blogspot.com/    
       
                                     Friday Night after Dinner

Chefs Paulette and Martha

                           Mary Sharing on Visual Journaling

Mary's Students

Mary Instructing her Students

Two Sweet Sisters, Mary and Bevie

Hike to the Top of the Mountain

Time to Go Home and Practice What we Have Learned

Now I am ready to spend some time catching up with what's been going on with you while I've been away......................................................................................................................................................

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy

Fall in the Mountains

The mountains are so beautiful right that words can't describe their splender.....if  I am sitting by the stream or hiking up the trail, words fail me as I try to take in all the beauty God has created...
So rather than try, I am going to show you........

;;

Hugs and blessings,

Nancy