Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year 2012*

I pray you have goals that you will accomplish, tasks that you will complete, and dreams to keep you going and give you hope of something to look forward to. May you always be willing to grow, learn, and be taught.

This year could be the end of your life on earth or it could be a beginning of great things to come. This year could hold tragedy in your life or it could be the happiest, joyful year you could ever imagine. No matter what it is, I challenge you to have a relationship with the true God. Because WITH Him, there is true hope, true peace, true joy, and true love that is with Him. He is also someone to lean on, to get strength from, and to depend on when you need someone through hard times. May God guide your footsteps to do HIS will and may you be a willing vessel to do what is in HIS plan for your life.

I pray a blessing over you and your family that you will find peace, comfort, and joy. I pray you have an awesome year and may this be the best year of your life. May you have a wonderful, blessed year in 2012. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


Friday, November 25, 2011

Does This Ever Happen to You?*

On Tuesday, I started oil painting a dove while I had the windows opened to circulate the air so I don't intake too many paint or paint cleaner fumes. One of my neighbors wanted me to paint a picture of a dove to represent the Holy Spirit. I thought that was an awesome idea, plus it helped that she's paying me to paint it. Even though I was praising God and praying over this art canvas, I spent too many hours in one day painting. As I finished for the day, I am just exhausted. But for some reason, I picked up a mirror I have in my "art studio" and tried to move it. I say my "art studio" because I have a spot in my living room that I decided is my place to do my artwork and I named it "Expressive Praise" (formerly known as Teensy's Art) Studio. The mirror hit a picture on the wall. The picture fell and collided with my head. So now I think, I definitely have to go to the chiropractor on Wednesday. I was hoping to sleep in on Wednesday, but I had to go to my chiropractor afterall. Luckily I did, because my neck was out of whack and totally had to be readjusted. No problem, this was nothing compared to all the other stuff that's hit me in the head; like the 20 lb box that fell on my head in 1995. For all you new friends of mine, I won't tell you what was inside. lol

On Wednesday, I was standing near the bench waiting for the bus. I purposely did not sit on the bench because there was a puddle on the bench due to the sprinklers. When I saw the bus, I grabbed my bag and walked up the stairs. As I sat down, I noticed I had water dripping down my leg. I knew I already used the bathroom, and I know I don't have a problem with that anyway. lol.  Then I sat down. I wiped the outside of my waterproof grocery bag. A puddle of water is now on the seat and one on the floor. I thought, I must have had my bag on the bench. Then I look in the bag and notice my water bottle's lid was not completely tightened. Oh well, I think. Then I go on my merry day, yet I am kind of embarrassed because it kind of looks like I couldn't wait to go to the bathroom. Oh well, it will dry, I think.

Wednesday night, I have to heat up a hot pack for my achy muscles. So I throw it in the microwave. I timed it for 1 minute...so I thought. I am talking on the phone in my bedroom, and I thought that I am smelling cigarette smoke. But I never smelled it that strong in my apartment before. (I don't smoke, but my neighbor's do). Then it's getting stronger. Than something smells like it's burning. I go to the kitchen that is filled with smoke, turn off the microwave and take out the heating pack. All the rice is charred, stuck together, and is on the outside of the hot pack. I guess it had exploded. So I dumped the whole thing into the trash. Then I realized, wait, I don't want anything else to catch on fire. So I grab it and throw it in the sink and turned on the faucet. Smoke is everywhere now. I am now coughing and trying to air out the smoke. I don't burn food; I burn hot packs.

Then Thursday, Thanksgiving morning, I throw my oatmeal, water, and cinnamon in the microwave as I get ready. I put my apple sauce, almond milk, and almonds in it after it cooks. I eat a couple of bites. Then I notice I have something on my spoon that I didn't add to the oatmeal. I look at it and I am thinking did the pages of my Bible come apart because I see "God" typed on this paper. I keep looking at it and laugh as I read, "Let God surprise you." I just laughed and said, "okay, God, I am waiting." I had previously cut that little sentence out of a magazine one day and placed it on my fridge, but I never knew that it would surprise me and make me laugh so hard. I don't have any idea how it got in my oatmeal but it was too funny.

Today, My friend and I went to the Thanksgiving meal my church provided. We were so grateful that it was actually on Thanksgiving day. It was a delicious meal and the people were so friendly. I was so grateful to be a part of this gathering. After we played games, they let us take home as much food as we wanted since there was so many leftovers. So I piled my containers of food into that same waterproof bag I had on the bus along with my umbrella. My friend and I walked to my house. I carried the food and he carried the empty dishes that I had leftover from the special (non dairy) mashed potatoes and homemade chocolate chip cookies I had brought over to the church for the meal. As I was putting away the food, I noticed the gravy had spilled onto my blue umbrella and down to the bottom of the bag. I rinsed it off and I figured I would attend to it later. Later I decided, that bag has been through enough, so I gave it a farewell greeting to the trash can.

A few minutes ago, I grab my checkbook to pay a bill online. I notice it's wet. I look in my purse and the only other thing that is moist is some important papers. I am thinking "Okay, how did that happen," and then I remember about Wednesday morning. I chuckle a little bit. O well, if I cried about everything that ever happened to me that was unpleasant, I would never want to smile. So now  I have to air out my checkbook and the other papers so they will dry. I still have to keep the windows open because of the paint fumes, and not to mention the smell of smoke that is in my house. The air exhaust fan above the stove is on to take away the smoke smell, the ceiling fan is circulating to help the paint fumes, the air purifier is on to re-clean my air, and one more fan is on to dry the oil painting. Brr and now I am bundled up and want the heater on. lol Anyone know how to get the burned smell out of a microwave? So does this kind of stuff happen to you? lol

Well I had an awesome day on Thanksgiving day. I had a delicious Thanksgiving meal with friends at my church. I even won a prize. It reminded me of that note that fell in my oatmeal.
Even though today was Thanksgiving, it felt so much like Christmas because of the genuine love I felt among friends at church. I am totally excited of all the things that God is doing in my new life. I am enjoying my church family. I am so blessed to have found this church. I am grateful for the emotional and Spiritual growth I had at my previous church and now I look forward to all the great things in store for my new church. and Yes, I will always have crazy things in my life to give me something to blog about; I will always have God loving me; and I will always continue to grow! Thank you God for wonderful memories and crazy experiences in my life. God bless.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

A Promise is a Promise*

Sunday, I went to The Ark. Yes, it's true. I found Noah and we are traveling back in time. All those animals were pretty hungry, so Noah decided it was my job to feed them, uggh...not my cup of tea. The smell of the elephants and camels were too much for me to bear with my strong sense of smell. After I talked to God about it, he gave me one of those filtered masks to wear. It made it much easier for me to breathe. He told me to spend time with all of the animals, and not just the monkeys. Although I did like to look at the spider monkeys; they so fascinated me.

Even though God told me to spend time with ALL the animals, I would not go near anything that looked or smelled like a bug or reptile. I left that up to Noah. I had to draw the line somewhere. Well maybe that's why God didn't choose for me to be on the ark. I have way too many allergies and stubbornness. He probably thought, "Nope, I cannot picture Teensy (a.k.a. Tanya) on the Ark, she just wouldn't make it out alive”. Lol

Well actually my new church is called "The Ark." If you look up at the ceiling in the sanctuary, it may resemble of what Noah's ark might have looked like. I know the church just changed its name to the Ark so I am pretty sure the ceiling had nothing to do with it, but sometimes my imagination takes the best of me.

Okay, so I went to church Sunday and the pastor talked about covenants with God. He had mentioned about how God may make a promise with you personally, but you should wait on God’s timing for the promise to come to pass. He said don’t do like Abraham and Sarah did. Don’t try to make God’s promise come to pass in your own way.
   

I will start out with Genesis 12; God tells Abram that he will make him a great nation. But Abram’s probably thinking: I am 75 years old, childless, and how can I make a great nation without children or descendents. Sarai didn’t feel that God would make Abram a father through her so she tells her hubby, “hey I’m old and gray, and way, waaaay up there in years. God won’t let me have children, so here is my maidservant. Go marry her, and have a child like God said even though it’s not happening with me.” (Okay she probably said it a little differently).

Abram says "okay, if I must. I mean God said he would give me a son. Right? So I have to do my ‘duty.’ It’s not going to happen unless I do something about it.” (emphasis is mine, again.)  

Notice that he didn’t stop, and say: “I love you; I don’t want to “sleep” with anyone else.” He goes and marries the lovely Hagar. I am sorry, but with a name like Hagar, I am picturing an ugly witch with a wart on a long nose. Hagar doesn’t sound pretty to me. Lol Abram gets married, has a honeymoon with his new wife, than out pops a baby 9 months later.  Sarai is bitter, and hurting. I can almost understand her pain, of wanting a child so badly, yet seeing someone else with a baby. It is very hard. Although she did put it on herself when she told her hubby to go have a baby. But now she’s so bitter, that she is mistreating Hagar.

In Genesis 17, God tells Abram,

As for me, this is my covenant with you; You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram, your name will be  Abraham. For I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful...As for you, you must keep my covenant... As for Sarai, your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai, her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations...” 

Here’s my favorite part.  Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “will a son be born to a man of 100 years old. Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90?”

God told Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child. Well they weren't exactly at the childbearing age of 70, I mean 40 years or under. I mean Sarah may have been around 89 and Abraham about 99 years old. Can you imagine having a child at that age? I mean nowadays that's at your death bed, or umm...about to get your ticket to heaven, hopefully. If you know what I mean. Well they might have laughed, but maybe they were a little scared. Can you imagine a 90 yr old lady pregnant? She probably couldn't or didn’t want to think of it. I wonder if she still had the aches and pains of an older lady and dealing with pregnancy too! Was she having a hard time walking with a walker made out of rods and rocks? Being pregnant might have seemed like a big joke. Did they have C-section’s back then?  Probably not.

Genesis 21 it says that the Lord was gracious to Sarah and gave her what he promised. She became pregnant and bore a son to her hubby in his old age. He named him Isaac. I like what Sarah says: “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” So she finally gets her baby; she is 100 years old now, and breastfeeding. Yes, Sarah, we can laugh with you; it doesn’t seem possible, but what God promised, he had it come to pass.

So many times we try to do things on our own. When God promises us things, we do what we can to make it come to pass. It’s like when I bought an emergency window ladder the other day. I had priced some of them online for $100 -$200 dollars. Well I found one at the second hand store for $10.  Instead of saving my money and waiting to buy one, I saw what I thought was a great deal. Well I purchased this ladder. It only is for 2 story buildings. I live in a 3 story building. I figured, just maybe I can jump down the ladder one more story. It was actually a useless purchase for me and I wasted my money. There is no way I can use that ladder if there was a fire at my apartments. So instead of waiting and buying a better one, I am stuck with one that doesn’t do what I need it to do.
We need to wait on God’s promises. When God promises us something, He will do it. We just have to be patient, and not try to make the promise happen like Abraham and Sarah did by trying to have a baby through their maidservant or me trying to buy an emergency ladder that is one story too short.
Did God promise you something special? Something that is just for you? Or maybe did he promise something for your family? I know that God has personally promised me things in my own life that haven’t come to pass yet, but I have to do my best and wait and not try to make the promise happen on my own. We have to let them go, yet have faith and hope that they will come to pass, in God’s timing. Even if we have to wait until we are 100 years old for the promises to be fulfilled, it will be worth the wait, when God’s involved.  

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Made It to the Art Gallery*

Wow, time sure flies. Christmas will be here before we know it. I can not believe September is here. I have been busy with art projects and have a love for it in my life.   To me, oil painting is challenging but it keeps my mind focused. I love to listen to the Christian radio station and sing praises to God while I paint an abstract picture or a scenery.  I have submitted some artwork at a nearby Art Association.








I am a newbie, so my paintings look minimal to the extravagant, gorgeous $1000 oil paintings that are near it at the art gallery.  I have seen gorgeous paintings and met some amazing artists who totally inspire me.

Who would have thought that I would be submitting artwork at art galleries?  I never even thought about this ever happening. It's amazing how God works and has changed my life.


The good news is that the more I paint, the better I get. But the better I become, the higher the prices I will sell them, hopefully. Hey and when I die and become famous, you may have wished you bought my beginning artwork, hahahaha....lol.







                                            Here is a flower pen bouquet:











These are my photo greeting cards:









This is a dormant or dead tree (This is not something I normally paint.  It was painted upon request)

















Artwork is by Expressive Praise

Sunday, February 6, 2011

106 THINGS TO DO* WHEN YOU CAN’T SLEEP*

106 THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU CAN’T SLEEP
All sheep seemed to have disappeared, so no need to count them any more.
(Warning: The author has not tried all items on this list and is not held responsible for any damages that may occur while trying anything, especially if it is done while sleep walking; nor is she responsible for any lack of sleep that may occur or will continue to occur. There is no guarantee that sleep will occur or will be limited or excessive after doing all items on list. Caution: Do at your own risk)...  haha lol 
1. Pray
2. Read Bible
3. Tell God 20 things you are thankful for
4. Do relaxation techniques
5. Watch a boring DVD to make you drowsy
6. Pray for people you know
7. Pray for missionaries in other countries
8. Pray for people in other countries
9. Read a book
10. Drink a glass of warm milk
11. Check your email
12. Check your Facebook
13. Change your Facebook status
14. Check what everybody else’s Facebook status is
15. Write a To Do list
16. Accomplish something on your TO Do list
17. Water your plants
18. Go outside and count the stars
19. Ponder about who made the stars
20. Tell God how much you love him
21. Take pictures of the sunrise
22. Turn on TV and see how many infomercials you can watch in one hour
23. Make your lunch for later
24. Sneak downstairs in the dark and pretend you’re a spy in another country
25. Call someone you know who would be up at this time. Bonus, it could be someone on the other side of the USA or country who you haven’t talked to in awhile
26. Order something online
27. Scrapbook
28. Balance your checkbook
29. Balance your credit card book
30. Write out a budget
31. Watch videos on Utube.com and type in “clean comedy” in search bar
32. Dance a crazy dance
33. Do the laundry
34. Do 20 sit-ups
35. Do 20 sit-ups while singing “I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner”
36. Eat a nutritious snack
37. Write a nice letter (or email) to a friend
38. Make a grocery list
39. Write a goal list for the upcoming week
40. Write a goal list for the upcoming month
41. Write a goal list for this year
42. Write a bucket list
43. Write a Thank you card to someone who has helped you
44. Write Get Well cards to people you know who don’t feel well
45. Take a class online
46. Check how many minutes you used on your cell phone this month so far
47. Check you how many texts messages you used on your cell phone
48. Call the operator and wish them a Merry Christmas
49. Call 1800 4prayer (and say "help, I need sleep")
50. Find out how many ways you can laugh
51. Look in a mirror and make funny faces
52. Floss your teeth
53. Try a new hairdo
54. Clean the bathroom
55. Write a poem of song, and dedicate it to yourself
56. Count how many paper clips you have
57. Clean under your bed
58. Defragment your computer
59. See if your computer’s security system is up to date
60. Make a list of any vitamins or medicines you are running out of
61. Go for a walk (if it’s light out)
62. Clean your bedroom
63. Restock your stapler
64. Defrost your meat for tonight’s dinner
65. See if you can make something with a glob of dried glue
66. Connect the freckles on your arm (or face)
67. Write out your tithe or offering check
68. Count how many times you see the word “and” in the Bible
69. Count how many times you find the name “God” in the Bible
70. Find the word “Rapture” in the old testament
71. Find the word “Rapture in the new testament...just kidding...The actual word “Rapture” is not there, only the meaning. Lol
72. Dust your TV
73. Polish your silverware. If they are not real silver, just shine them with a towel anyway. Still looks nice
74. Do ice or heat pack treatments if needed
75. Organize your bookcase in alphabetical order (no, I haven’t done this)
76. Color coordinate your closet (I seriously used to do this in my early 20’s. Lol)
77. Draw a picture
78. Color the picture
79. Pay your bills
80. Take digital photos of everything you own
81. Delete the digital photos of everything you own
82. Organize your food pantry
83. Set aside any cans of food that could be donated to a community food pantry
84. Straighten the living room
85. Fix any pictures that are slanted by your kids or earthquakes
86. File your paperwork
87. Mend some clothes
88. Organize your miscellaneous drawer
89. Pray for your children or spouse
90. Do 20 pushups
91. Delete any folders or files in your computer you don’t need
92. Erase your old text messages in cell phone
93. Upload pictures from your camera onto your computer
94. Send pictures to your friends
95. Delete the pictures on phone or camera you don’t need any more
96. Add songs to your MP3 player or IPod
97. Play songs from your MP3 player or IPod
98. See how big you can blow a bubble with chewing gum
99. Go through all your clothes, and set aside any that don’t fit anymore and donate them.
100. Type up a prayer to God
101. Write “To God” on the envelope and mail your prayer
102. Count how many times you blink your eyes
103. Take deep breaths
104. Inhale
105. Exhale
106. Slowly close your eyes

Good Night or Good Morning to whichever came first!!!