update:

My address has changed. I've moved. Wanna come with me? :-)

[1] [2]

making art

Art, art & art.

I've been considering art.

I've been pondering the point of my art in this life.

Do I dare?... Is it worth it?... How can I tell?

Friends, let's make art!

heart on my sleeve

Hello dear friends,

If you now find yourself reading this it means that I have mustered up the courage to post this and make a link on facebook for you to see it. It's not a secret, but most of you don't know that I've been here, writing away in private. I generally don't bring up the fact that I write a blog. (By the way, I hate the word 'blog'). And even if I do, I find the thought of someone I know reading it, well, scary.

But, you see, I did this crazy thing of asking God for vision for the coming year. And he made it bigger than I had anticipated. He said that there was more for this little blog than what I had plans for. He said to take risks and do things that scare me. So, here I am. Standing on the edge, taking a risk, doing something that scares me. Scary because I care too much what people think and I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve and I'm vulnerable. And even more scary because I'm going to keep on wearing my heart on my sleeve and being vulnerable and probably still care too much what people think. But the days of private contemplations are over. He's been gently but firmly pushing and prodding me to share my heart more publicly. I inwardly shudder at the thought. It's risky to share heart-thoughts with people, especially ones you know. But in spite of my own nature, I'm taking the leap anyway. And I don't know why this is important yet, but it just is.

So, here's my invitation: join me. Bookmark my 'home on the web', subscribe to my posts, whatever. But promise me, if you do that, don't be a stranger. I want to hear from you. No journey is ever as adventurous as when it's shared. And now that the words are all down on the page, I seem to be at a loss for them. Your turn - leave me a comment, send me an email, or hey, there's facebook too.


Love,

Jo-Ann

monsters under my bed

Remember when you were little and it was nighttime and the dark was scary? And you lay in your bed hiding under the covers when you really wanted to run to the safety of your parents but you couldn't because their were monsters under your bed?

And now you're grown up and you know that there aren't really monsters. Your fears were unfounded, imaginary, childish. But why then, do you still know that feeling those monsters evoked when you thought they were hiding under your bed? Because they grew up too. They may look different but they're still there. Now they have names like "Worried for a Job", "Need Money to Pay the Bills", "Can't Do That", "Not Good Enough" and "What Will People Think". Despite the fact that we shouldn't, we live with these monsters. They scare us. So we imagine them away, we run away, we avoid them. We hide.

I've been thinking a lot about fear lately. I know fear well. Fear had me tightly in it's grip once. (You'll find out about that soon.) But I got to thinking how God had set me free from that fear and yet in spite of it, there are still other fears that I hold on to. When I started thinking about all the uncertainties ahead of me this year, I got scared. I'm scared of the unknown, you know. Of the road ahead. I know it's an unfounded fear, but it's there nonetheless.

A few days ago, I read about Ann naming her years. It resonated. I always feel like I have a theme for the year. I've just never named it. So this year, I am. I'm not doing it because it sounds like a good idea (which it is, anyway) but because my year already has a name. And it's just a word. But it's a word that shapes the year and the work God has already started doing in my heart. Coincidentally (not so coincidentally!) I came aross OneWord. Perfect. My year has a name. It's one word.

"Fearless"

At the beginning of the year, I wrote down a short list of goals for myself for the coming year. The very last one was, "Take risks, do things that scares you, live fearless". Little did I know that God had it in mind to grow that little seed into my theme. But there it is: timely and in season. It's the right word. Fear has stopped me doing so many things. This year, I will be Fearless. I will hide in Jesus, not from monsters.

God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.

We stand fearless at the cliff-edge...

Psalm 46:1

(Message)

*Image

the bible and the reading thereof

My church is doing this wonderful thing of reading through the bible together this year . As in, the whole church. Everyone.

I've got a confession to make. I haven't started. Not that I haven't been reading my bible at all, I just haven't started using the reading plan. To be honest, I didn't want to start all over again at Genesis when I've read right through it five times after five failed attemts at reading through the bible. I just didn't want to do that again. Every time I slip up and stumble and miss a day (or a few more) I give up. Because the task seems too much, too hard, too long. But why should it be a task? Reading the bible should be a pleasure. Right?

So, I had been debating whether to just pick up from where I had left off in 2 Chronicles and continue from there or do the by-the-book reading plan the church is doing. Until I found this...

and that lead me to this: The Bible Reading Plan for Slackers and Shirkers.

I knew at the very moment I opened the pdf file that this was it. It's flexible, with room to change things around and read different passages while still getting through everything. And the best part is, I'm excited about it!

If you'd like a copy too...here you go :-)

january is for dreaming

I love January. No, it has nothing to do with the fact that my birthday is in January;) I love it because it's a time to reflect, to dream, to inspire the future. January is a month of lists and hopes and deep heart ponderings. January brings new vision.

January's vision is still being worked out and battled over. Alongside the dreaming is fear of living out the dream. The vision is the easy part. The outworking is hard reality. Reality is easier to run and hide from than to do battle with. Life's really messy bits would rather be conveniently ignored than dealt to. So, January finds me dreaming and battling.

I have several things on the go that I hope to share with you soon, as well as a series which will be launched by the end of the month. Stay tuned. Until then, fellow dreamers...