TEABAG ART DAY 30

TEABAG ART DAY 29

"TO TRY IS TO LIE, TO DO IS TO BE TRUE"

A wise man said this to me long ago.  

Whenever I hear someone says, "I will try" or "All I can do is try,"  this verse comes to mind.  I asked one of my students, who was a compulsive class disruptor, if he was making any progress with his behavior.  He said, he tries.  Of course, that day he never showed any improvements, in my opinion.   I believe what he meant was that he was hedging his bets and was still giving himself wiggle room under the guise of change.

Accountability is both a blessing and a curse.  We  all have good intentions to change for the better, but there is a fear of stretching ourselves outside our comfort zone for fear of failure and accountability.  However, when we do achieve success, accountability will have been the catalyst for such a change.  But the success only lasts as long as we hold on to the accountability.  Thus, double-edged sword.

Synthetic procedures are sometimes used to help us change.  But such procedures are short-lived.  An obese person who undergoes bypass surgery loses the weight but he must also make a paradigm shift in order to keep the weight off.  He must reach deep within their psyche to change his attitude towards food and what causes the addiction in the first place.  Absent such change, he could backslide.

While all these sounds good, none of them will really work.  Real change must come from within, what I mean by that is more spiritual than emotional or physical.  Temptations are only temptations because we have to first be drawn away from our own lusts.  There must be both mental and spiritual change.  That change is only achieved through Jesus.

Looking into ourselves for inner strength against evil must be the first step to real change.  We have to rise above the things of the flesh, the world, the temptations and the filthiness of this world and humble ourselves before God, read the WORD which is our only way to salvation.

(James 1:14 and 21)

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

TEABAG ART DAY 28 - GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.

GOD BLESS THE USA

TEABAG ART DAY 27

TEABAG ART DAY 26

TEABAG ART DAY 25

TEABAG ART DAY 24

TEABAG ART DAY 22

TEABAG ART DAY 23

TEABAG ART DAY 21

HOPE - THE SPIRITUAL OPTIMISM

Two people I know of, although not personally, had their lives taken by suicide.  For the life of me, I could not fathom how one could not at all see hope in their lives, not even a smidgen, to stop themselves from taking their own lives.

Sure, there are times in my own life when I wished that God would take me with Him because this world is so laden with sickness and disease.  However, I also realize how critical it is to have God in our lives.  If we only had the grace of the Holy Spirit flowing through our hearts regularly, called hope, the spiritual optimism, maybe there would be less suicides in the world.

With hope from the Holy Spirit comes earthly optimism.  It helps relive some tension.  Especially in those times where even hope cannot carry one beyond the barrier one faces, it has a vital role in the life of the believer.  Believers are to be optimistic.  

Understanding that our lives do not end at the grave, we are assured that all things work together for the good to those who love God and whom are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Seek first the kingdom of God has an important task.  If we live our lives for God, and not for us, because after all, it is not about us, it will be less difficult to handle the negativity that this sinful world brings us.  Just keep plugging along and living your lives according to God's will and for the furtherance of His kingdom and then all your riches will be stored in heaven.

Until my next rant...  LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

TEABAG ART DAY 20

TEABAG ART DAY 19

TEABAG ART DAY 18

TEABAG ART Day 16 & 17

TEABAG ART DAY 14&15 (late post)

PRAYERS BEFORE PROTESTS

Do you sometimes find yourself complaining about, oh, maybe your pastor, or someone in a leadership position?  I do.  I'm not proud of it but sometimes I do complain in my mind about why my pastor said this or that, or why they do certain things I didn't approve of.  

I am quite aware that I have complained about the past president.  I didn't agree with what he did to the country for 8 years.  However, I suddenly realized that what I was doing had a very negative impact, not on the person in a leadership position, but really on myself.  It caused me anxiety and I realized further how unhealthy that was for my physical and mental well-being.

Most importantly, it didn't look good to God.  God said through Paul in the bible when he told Timothy to pray for their leaders.  Praying people produce good pastors and leaders, in this case.  As humans, we criticize them, judge their actions and disagree with their decisions.  The best way to handle it is not to handle it and instead, let God handle it.  God knows what is best and if He agrees with us, He will make a way to correct such leaders.  Tempering our protests with prayers so that God would intercede on our behalf and then thank God for them.

Let prayers be our first "go-to" instead of complaints.  Proving to God that we trust His judgment and His correction would pave the way for our own blessings.

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

Teabag Art day 12

TEABAG ART DAY 13

Teabag Art day 11

Teabag Art day 10

TEABAG ART DAY 8

I made cookies for Christmas but they were so time consuming.  At the party, they disappeared of course so I decided, this Christmas will be A Charlie Brown Christmas so I am making them forever ornaments!  Which of course triggered the teabag art theme.  

TEABAG ART DAY 7

Picasso Feels

FREE AS A BIRD

We all know the saying, "free as a bird."  But what most of us don't know is that "birds are instinctively limited to the land that they fly over and slaves to the air they fly through.  They have their own invisible barriers and don't know enough to break through this barrier if their area is suddenly changed by nature's compulsions such as strong winds and storm which could plow through it.  They are in short, captive of their own instincts from which they sometimes cannot escape behind their invisible prison bars." (taken from https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/225-draw-near/day/6)

We, as humans, can also be compared to a bird's cage.  We are caged behind our bitterness and unforgiveness.  It is invisible, we cannot see it, but yet we are lost in its bitterness.  The only way we can break through this invisible prison is by obtaining mercy from God only as we are merciful.  Because judgment is without mercy to those who has shown none.  Alternatively, those who have learned to forgive are free because mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:13)

One can never be free unless you break through and win over the invisible prison of an unforgiving spirit and those who seek Jesus' forgiveness must first find forgiveness.  Letting go of their anger to find real freedom.

Think of a person who has you bitter and then forgive them.  They do not need to know you have forgiven them.  Then throw their transgressions into your lake of forgetfulness, just as God does for our own transgressions against Him.

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

TEABAG ART DAY 6 - MAKING JAM

Making strawberry jam Baguio style! Yum!  They still had strawberries at the store, yay!!

TEABAG ART DAY 5 - PLASTIC ART

Replica of current art work I'm working on

TEABAG ART DAY 4

In a dream, a man asked me if I wanted to adopt a Le Tigger (idk, it's a dream) puppy.  "Of course," I said.  He led me into this dog pen and a little white dog was laying there, barely alive.  It had pink colored eyes.  She had fleas, I saw them jumping on my clothes.  I took her into a public bathroom and gave her a bath.  The ladies in there were smiling, as if they knew another dog was going to have a good life.  The dog bit me from the shock of the water on its back.  

Her bite didn't hurt me but I understood why she did it.

After she was flea-free, I took her and dried her with a million paper towels.  It would have to do.  I wrapped her around some dry ones and carried her to the bus stop.  I named her Vincent.  Vincent and I rode the bus to her new home.  I woke up.  Darn.

TEABAG ART DAY 3

Changed Chai to Sky and used a line from the movie Vanilla Sky, "My dreams are a cruel joke."

TEABAG ART #2

TEABAG ART #1

Jan 1