October 23, 2014 The Gift of Giving

The gift of giving is presentation from the heart, transitioned through the Soul.

In recent months the journey in my life has taken some twists and turns that have brought to light the gift of giving and just how awesome and humbling it is. Truth and sincerity seen through eyes that are pure and devoted reaching out to offer self without any expectancy of return. Knowing that a piece of ones self is given and accepted with humility and thankfulness is awesome and at the same time humbling. It is proven in an act of kindness, a physical gift and especially presence in time of need. It often requires nothing more than that, your presence.

When my mother passed away I was standing at the door greeting those who were coming to pay their respects. A couple came through the door, one in a wheel chair and the other pushing her. I totally came unglued on seeing them. Her health was failing and her husband and family tried to talk her out of coming but she insisted on being there. I greeted her with tears in my eyes and she said I just had to be here and smiled. It wasn't too many months later she herself was called home to our father in heaven. It was a lesson never forgotten. That was almost 14 years ago. It was truly a gift from the heart and soul.     

Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life. I make my home in the house of Yahweh for all time to come.

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The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Ps 23:6). New York: Doubleday.

This post will be a fairly short one. I recently received the package from Maria. It was a very pleasant surprise. There were a lot of oo's and ah's when the package was opened with all the goodies in there. I just had to take some photos and share them with you. Here is a picture of all the things that were in the package.

I must say I was not expecting this. But it certainly came at a time when it is very much appreciated. Thank you Maria.

I'm going to try to post a very special card on Sunday. Until then, remember to LOVE THE DETAILS.

October 13, 2044 What Is In A Name

Inspiration can come from almost anywhere and often comes from surprising places. Since There was ZERO inspiration for this post, I decided to find out what the name James means. Surprising enough, James is a derivative of Jacob and Jacob means Supplant. In short, James does not mean anything on its own. That's a bummer. Being a derivative of Jacob, it means the same as Jacob. Jacob in Hebrew means "to take by the heal or supplant." This means: 

1) to supercede (another) especially by force or treachery.

That doesn't sound so nice does it? It certainly is not me.

2) To take the place of and serve as a substitute for, especially by reason of superior excellence or power.

Now that is more like it. LOL. That still is not me. There is another word that means basically the same thing but sounds much nicer. Successor.This means:


: a person who has a job, position, or title after someone else : someone who succeeds another person

Why all of the hoopla over a name? I couldn't think of anything else to write about. Since I was bored I just thought everyone else should be bored too. LOL. Actually there is a purpose behind this. Here are two biblical excerpts to explain my thoughts.

James 2:55  Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who were poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.

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The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Jas 2:5). New York: Doubleday.

How about that! I have my own book. Who says James has no meaning. LOL. Actually it is one of the books that I like the most. No, not because it has my name, but there are a lot of practical bits of wisdom therein.

Mt 7:7  ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. Everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened.'

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The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Mt 7:7–8). New York: Doubleday.

Now that I have your attention there is a new winners badge from Bibiana's Throwback Thursday challenge blog on my side bar. I was the second winner of her badge and a stencil. Thank you Bibiana. It is a great honor. Bibiana runs this challenge every other Thursday. It runs for two weeks at a time. I think it is great fun and if you would like to try, visit her blog. The challenge rules are halfway down the page.


I was originally going to put some eclipse pictures on here but the pictures are terrible. We had clouds interfering and I couldn't get totality due to trees. Sorry. A typical day for me right now. LOL

I have been working on the painting that I started some weeks ago. Since things had been so crazy around here I've been doing this painting at night. That of course means spending less time than I would like on it, however, I have gotten quite a bit done. Before we get to that, here are the colors used, both on their own and blended to get the extra colors needed. 

This meant spending many hours, evening mostly, to get something done. There are 11 colors here but at least 17 colors were used. Like I said before, This is not your grandfather's paint by numbers. This painting would not be attempted without a magnifier to see the small detail. Now for the painting.

There is a huge amount of small stuff in the landscape. There are decent sized areas to be done in the sky and sea but all else is magnifier work. The light house is close to done. There are still areas that need to be blended in the sky and one or two other areas. (SHH. I need to correct a few small boo boos too. Nothing major though. Nope! Not telling where they are. Just trying to be honest about it.)

The nice thing about the natural world is you do not need to worry about some things being messed up or not being exactly right. Nature, landscapes in particular, is fun to do for that reason. 

I will apologize now for the next few months. I will be very spotty in visiting your blogs to see your work and comment. There will be little time to spare between now and the end of December because of commitments in my life. Living has its ways of creating that kind of detour. I will respond and visit all who take the time to visit and comment. I will also accept any prayer requests and include them in my book of prayer requests. That is an absolute nightly thing for me. It is never skipped or set aside. Prayer requests are never shared unless requested to do so. For that kind of request there is a network of prayer warriors that can be called on. You can contact me for any requests here:

penholder562 at gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by and remember to LOVE THE DETAILS.

September 30, 2014 Gone but Present

Believe in prayer. Prayer is believing.

 My last post was on prayer. There is much more to prayer that we never hear about. Do you know why I believe in prayer? It is for the same reason you should. When you pray you become a believer in the most personal way. Yes, you can believe without ever praying but when you pray you are laying yourself out before the Lord and saying "I am in your care and those I am praying for I am trusting to your care". There is nothing else you can offer that would be of value to God. Many have not given thought to why praying is so important and at the same time personal before God. How can prayer be dismissed out of hand that way? I often hear about fearing God and, in fact, I was brought up to FEAR God. YOU CAN NOT LOVE WHEN YOU ARE LIVING IN FEAR. God gave us Jesus and he gave His life so that we could believe in God and have our fear removed from us. Fear means we still have Him on the cross. Praying does not excuse us from life but it makes it possible for us to communicate that we are in His hands and, whatever His plans, we know His hand is in ours and we need not fear. That is why this canvas I am working on is so special. THE LIGHTHOUSE. The light that guides ships to the safety of the port. Again removing the fear and replacing it with trust and ultimately with love. Prayer is our home port. A refuge from all that the world is able to throw at us. The 23rd psalm is what prayer brings us to. How is your prayer life today? Do you fear the Lord or feel the LOVE of the Lord? We were created to Love the Lord not to fear Him. Fear is for those who do not believe. Talk to Him and feel His love fill you up. Prayer is our communion with Him.It is the greatest form of worship.

If we have died with him, then we shall live with him. If we persevere, then we shall reign with him. If we disown him, then he will disown us. If we are faithless, he is faithful still, for he cannot disown his own self.

2 Timothy 2:11–14

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The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (2 Ti 2:11–13). New York: Doubleday.

I have two projects to share with you today. First is a CAS card I made. It is a tent style card.

I did not finish the inside of the card this time to allow a note to be hand written. 

The dove                -  Sizzix #659126 die set
The glitter die cut  -  Spellbinders "Fantastic Flourish Thee  Die Set
Sentiment               -  Sweet n' Sassy "The Future" set
Card stock is from my stash. All gluing was done with Sookwang 1/4" and 1/8" tape. 

I am going to break with my no challenge tradition and enter this card at: 


Word art Wendnesday

The second project is something I made some 40 years ago. It sits in the hallway to our bedroom. It is a reminder of the Lord no longer being on the cross. 

 The nails are there but he is not. Hold out your hand and He will take it and be your guide. 


Blessings and remember to LOVE THE DETAILS.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

This is a special edition post. Bibiana at Stamping with Bibiana is hosting a Throwback Thursday every two weeks. If you wish to participate, clicking on the button at the top of my side bar will take you to the rules page. The image I am sharing is one of the very first ones I posted back in January of this year. It is by far one of my favorites. Sorry folks that is when I started to blog. Can't go farther back than that. All three are actually cards. Enjoy.

The next two images are from the same artist that were also colored by me. 

This artist is very talented as you can see. Please visit her site at Imagineanddo.fi. She has some fantastic images. This is a scrap booking site so some of the images are large. She only sells the images as part of a package. Sorry no stamps or digi's. It is still worth a look if you are looking for something unique.

Be sure to stop by Bibiana's blog and see what she is doing. This is one very talented lady. I will be surprised if you don't fall in love with her creations. They are beautiful and unique.

Remember to LOVE THE DETAILS.  

September 21,2014 Prayer

It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. - Mahatma Ghandi

This past month or so has been a hectic time. As many of you know I keep a book called "One Day At A Time." It is a book for those who request prayers. The prayer requests that are entered run the full range of concerns of people just like you and I. If you feel you can't touch someone else's pain because you are different than they are you are wrong. Because we are all a part of humanity its is always possible we could find ourselves in their shoes. Prayer DOES change things. Many prayers have been answered recently. Some things were a total surprise, some were as prayed for and others not yet answered that we can see. Not all prayers are visibly answered but they are answered. This past several weeks I found myself praying day and night. Even waking up at night and praying for I knew not what but praying in earnest. Even pausing at the feeling that something horrible had happened but not knowing what but praying for it. Some of you, I know, have experienced this. We are all called to pray for one another and support one another in our times of need. Prayer is not supposed to be heavy or light, too much or too little. The Lord wants our prayers to be short, to the point and unencumbered. He already knows what is needed and sometimes just waits for us to ask. Pray with the expectation that there will be an answer. He will provide according to His will. Some of my prayers took 30 years or more to be answered. Some will not be realized as they are not in His will. That is OK. He provides abundantly and cares for us. Pray for others and make a difference in lives.


 For in this use of the Holy Spirit Jesus became a model for all Christians. Philippians 2:7 tells us that Christ Jesus laid aside (emptied Himself of) His divine privileges when He became a man; so Luke 4:1 indicates that He conducted His earthly ministry in the power and enabling of the Holy Spirit. His ministry thus becomes a model that all the regenerate can emulate, for He conducted it as a man, not in His power as God.

Mills, M. S. (1999). The Life of Christ: A Study Guide to the Gospel Record (Mt 4:1–Lk 4:13). Dallas, TX: 3E Ministries. Also Mark 5:25-34 


Many thanks to all who dropped by to wish me a happy birthday. Mary H. of Carolina Cards by Mary H sent a card of thanks for participating in the TCBH. Thank you Mary. That was very thoughtful and appreciated.

Included with the package was a red rubber stamp. It is very appropriate since it is for Thanksgiving.

I actually retreated for several days and just painted and talked with the Lord in prayer. Therapeutic and filling. I did visit a few people that commented and returned the kindness. A bit more got done but most of it was the larger areas. It is beginning to look more like the image on the box. Jill said what was done was beautiful. I am inclined to agree. There is a lot of finer detail left to do that I'm sure will take some time to do. Here is what is done so far.

These were the paints used this time to bring the painting to this point. 11/61 is the one currently being used and the most used color of them all both for being on its own and in combinations to get some of the other colors.


There are areas needing to be blended together but they are being saved until near the end. 

I will be taking a few days break and visiting everyone I can and commenting probably starting tomorrow. No card making this time around, sorry! I just want to catch up with what all of you are doing and let you know Cherokee and I are still around. I am pushing to get things done before winter really sets in. Remember to always LOVE THE DETAILS.