2012 Christmas

So I thought I'd share a few moments from Christmas this year.
This is a painting I did several of to be given as gifts to several lucky people. I'm still working on a few more, even now in January.

Our Christmas eve services were different this year. I found a order of worship on http://www.gbod.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=nhLRJ2PMKsG&b=5455155&ct=7735769 which we tweaked a little bit.
I used a nativity set that I borrowed from Louise Branom. Here's a few of the shots.

Communion served at a second altar.

Nativity on the main altar with candles

Richard lighting the Gabriel candle.

I thought the service went really well. However, Christmas Eve was the day that the creeping crud finally got me, and I was pretty miserable through both services and at Julie's After Party. As of today, January 7th, the crud is still hanging on.

These are a few of my favorite shots from the candlelight portion of the service. Love capturing these!

Let your light shine!

Santa even made it to the service!

Reilly and Kelsey

I have to share, that even though I didn't feel good, I drove mom and dad down to Bumpa and Aunt Joyce's for Christmas morning. Being with family definitely made the day. That and getting to hear my cousin Allison retell the Christmas story to Reese, Hailey, and Colton. I'm not sure I'll be able to listen to the story again and keep a straight face. Let's just say that a shepherd named Louie made an appearance, and the three kings evidently made a stop at Denny's before making it to Mary and Joseph's house. The morning was all the better because there were plenty of Jiggers and Colton received a rubber band gun (which he wasted no time shooting Megan with!)

Hope your Christmas was joyful!

He is Risen!!

OH! I have so much to talk about. . .and I can only talk about it now, because I've finally recovered from Holy Week 2012. . .it only took me five days of walking around like a zombie, I might add! :)

So Danny and I decided to once again produce Holy Week prayer stations this year. We'd done them for three years in a row, but in 2010 we decided we needed a break. So, it's been two years since the last time we did them, but it was so much easier this time around.
  
What is a contemplative prayer station you ask?
The entire purpose of a contemplative prayer station is to create a time and space for people to experience God in their lives. Prayer stations can be highly creative or an incredibly simple approach to prayer and spiritual reflection. Typically, a space is set up where people can enter and participate at their own pace and level. (thanks to Creative Prayer for the description!)

In fact, I have to give props to Creative Prayer, and a host of other sites online for their creative inspiration. It was a ton of work on my part to search out ideas that would work, as well as all the time that it took to edit and tweak them so that they worked for us. However, if I didn't have the internet as a resource to go to, I don't think we could have pulled any of it off.

Well, I talked about prayer stations two posts ago, letting you in on some of the stuff we'd done before. It was close to the same format this year, with only a few minor changes, stations that were replaced, stations that were newly created, that kind of thing. So I'll post some pics and their descriptions so you can understand better, and maybe utilize them in your own church or faith community.

This journey is not about an agenda or meeting anyone's expectations.
It's simply a time and a place for you to draw close to Jesus.

This first one is a particular favorite of mine. We dressed the area with everything
we could think of that could be considered "idols". 

Letting Go of Idols

 Letting Go of Idols
Matthew 4:8-10
Meditate on the scripture. Close you eyes and clench your hands tightly. Imagine all the things that you have allowed to come between you and your worship of God. This could included money, your job, relationships, popularity, technology, hobbies, or any other things you can think of. Then in your own time, still clenching your hands, turn them over so that they are facing down. Imagine God's hands underneath yours. Slowly open your hands so that the things you are carrying fall into God's hands. You may wish to repeat this several times. Then with your hands face up and your palms open ask God's Spirit to fill you afresh.

This station seemed to resonate with everyone who went through.

Forgiving Others

Forgiving Others
Luke 6:27, 28
Think about some of the people you consider "enemies". When a name (or "names") pop into your head, pick up a stone and use one of the markers to print the person's initials on the stone. While holding the stone in your hand, say a "prayer of blessing" for the person you wrote down. After the prayer, wash the stone in the water and allow God to wash away the grudge you hold against that person as the water washes the ink off. If you are able to set in motion the blessing for the person you prayed for, take the stone home with you to remember to do so . Otherwise, just place your clean stone back into the pile.

This station is wonderful for allowing people to expand their prayer vocabulary.

Praying the Names of God

Praying the Names of God

John 14:13-14

There are several ways you can pray the Names of God.

-You can simply read through the Names of God.

-You can read through the names of God and then focus on one or two.

-You can read the Names of God until one specific Name "speaks" to your spirit. Remain with this Name until your heart is satisfied.

-Read the Names of God in your prayers to shape your prayers.

Example of such a prayer:

Abba Father, I confess that You are The Supreme God, a God of Mercy and Grace, a Mountain Fortress for all Your children and the Source of all Steadfastness and Encouragement. You are my Father and You have compassion for me. You are the One who does Wonders because You are the Living God.

This one is always visually impacting.

Prayer Chain

Prayer Chain
Romans 1:9
We are called to be a community of faith, to help each other with our spiritual walk. Think about your relationship with God. Was there someone in your life who helped bring you to know Christ? Are there individuals in your life who need God right now? Do you know someone who has never heard of Jesus Christ and His message of love?
You are invited to take a strip of paper. This strip is a physical representation of your prayers. It can be for a person in your life, it can be for you and your relationship with the Lord, or it might even represent a person or persons that you would like to help bring to Christ. Take this moment to pray for them.
Write down the name or thing that you would like to pray for on the strip of paper.
Pray that God would work in your life or the other person's life.
Pray that God would bring you or the other person into a deeper relationship that revolves around God.
Pray for anything else that comes to mind.
When you have finished, loop it through one of the already completed links in the chain and staple it closed. You may make as many links as you would like.

Just Jamie

I have no idea what the etiquette for writing a blog might be. The idea of sitting down to write my thoughts on the in and out, daily occurrence, general lah-di-da, ho-hum-ness of my life seems a tad bit ridiculous to my way of thinking. However, the idea of having these writings to look back on in later years also strikes a cord in my heart. I wish I had more examples of writing from family and friends who've passed on.

My cousin blogs. You can find her at http://hopeabound.blogspot.com/. She's the main reason I'm blogging. I love getting to read about her daily life and that of her twin girls. I wish I got to see them more, but reading about them and seeing their pictures is almost as good.

So, here I am.

I'm on the cusp of 30 years old. How dreadful. . .lol. I don't mean that.

Mom at 2011 Cane Grinding 

My life is not a normal one, I'll grant that. I spend my days taking care of my mom, who lives out her life dealing with the difficulties of being confined to a wheelchair. She came to this situation late in life. I'll tell that story another time. Needless to say it's extremely frustrating to her and to my dad and I. It's not something that any of us had in mind when it came to how the two of them would live out their retirement years.



 So, I am a caretaker. From 8:30a to 12:30p most days I run her around on errands in her specialized wheelchair van. From grocery shopping to taking her to get her hair cut, we spend a lot of time in the van. This also includes managing our 25 rental properties that the family owns. My mom and I are extremely close, and I'm very glad that I am in the position where I can be as much help to her as she was to me when I was growing up.

From 12:30p through the rest of the day I'm employed by my church where I do a myriad of tasks, most of which do not actually fall under my "job description" but which I undertake with no qualms. . .ok maybe a few qualms. . .but not a whole lot. I am "paid" to create and run the Power Point slideshows for both our 9:00a and 11:15a worship services. I also created and maintain our two websites as well as our facebook accounts.

I'm also a youth counselor, and so a lot of my extra time is took up with youth group activities. Needless to say you'll probably end up seeing lots of photos from our events and mission trips in later posts.

But the name of my blog is "Eraser Marked Soul". This refers to the fact that I am an artist. . .with a caveat. I am an artist and I fully understand and give complete credit for all my artwork to God. The Creator works through me in all my work especially my art. As such, He is constantly at work on my soul, creating me to be what can only be a perfect creation when I am with Him again in the end. So, from hereon until that end, I am a work in progress. . .
So, to leave you with an idea of just what some of that art looks like, here's a pic of a recent project that I and the children's ministry here at the church put together for their Christmas play. It's tissue paper glued onto poster board sheets. I then drew out the letters onto white bulletin board paper and cut out the odd shapes to make it look like stained glass windows.