march

this month has been a WHIRLWIND. a lot of months feel that way, but this month especially... in the midst of getting decor stuff ready for church, captivating group, and the rest of life (that was already full-time before adding those in) with jason & joey... we've really felt the lack of time to ourselves, the lack of REST. but in the midst, i've been able to use joey's naptimes (fueled up on coffee ;) and jason has been AMAZING about giving me time to work on art & time with God & rest. i started a series in my art about worship - mostly based on lyrics to Kari Jobe songs. this one is my second (and jason's favorite) piece. i'm really excited about this series. exploring art with worship as the subject matter, as well as art AS worship and worshiping DURING art-making. i would love to get a strong sense of God's intention in making us creative (specifically ME creative), and how that can bring him glory (and maybe write an article about it... or a book - hey, why not? ;)

i love this picture - haha - he is such a techie already ;)

now for the REAL fun... :) for Christmas, jason gave me a coupon for a retreat in the mountains. so i could be alone with God, work on art, and rest... and it was last weekend!

all set up & ready!

we planned it for as early in the year as we could, hoping that there would still be snow on the ground (but had given up all hope of that after being in the southern california warm weather for so many weeks before going). not only was there enough snow on the ground for our 4WD jeep to get stuck going up the driveway, it SNOWED like 18" while we were there! it. was. amazing. so beautiful. and felt truly like a gift from God to me, for that weekend.

jason and joey on their way out for a hike (this was just before all the snow started coming down - look how clear that driveway is compared to that other picture that was the following day... when we were trying to leave! we were truly "snowed in" - it took lots of shoveling, a snow plow, and finally a tow to get us out of the driveway! not to mention the rest of the way down the snowy mountain road...)

i got to read, journal, write poetry, just enjoy the beauty, and make art! for 2 1/2 days!! i set up all my art stuff upstairs while the boys stayed downstairs (or wandered around outside) the whole time - just came down for coffee refills & meals :) it wasn't as restful as i'd hoped... i had a hard time being truly "present" and engaging in the moment. but i still got a chance to process a lot, and make some truly heart-worship-art. so thankful for that time.