Good News of Great Joy- Cheers for the New Year!

" But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them." Luke 2:19-20

Like those shepherds I too leave this Christmas season praising God for all I've seen and heard throughout 2011! I am thinking back on all God has brought forth this year not only in my life but in my heart- discovering new desires and " renewing" old ones! Now it been close to 2 years since our move from Athens, Georgia and I look back in awe at the journey that lead us here. God has faithfully lit our path here with the love and support of many friends and family. Our " nest is truly blessed" with love, laughter and always a touch of chaos- enough to remind me God is always in control because I can't be! As I read in an article shared with me, " our home will never be perfect, but it will always be beautiful because it is full of joy"!

Over Christmas following Mary's journey (through out Luke Chapters 1-2) was my personal advent. My favorite part has always been when the Angel comes to Mary announcing she has been chosen to be the mother of Christ. She is struck with fear, confusion, disbelief. Yet she lays aside her feelings of fear and her thoughts of disbelief and trusts God with her life despite all the crazy circumstances...
" Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." Luke 1:38

What a beautiful moment of personal surrender and display of strength and grace. A decision that changes not only the course of her life but of all creation. What an inspiration for each of us to carry in all our endeavors through out 2012!

As I continued reading I was reminded Advent season may have come to a close on Christmas Day but the story did not end with the birth of Christ. It only begins....

The week after Christ birth Mary is pondering all that has just happened to her. I'm sure she felt a little tired yet awestruck after going through childbirth and all the difficulties and obstacles along the way over the past several months. This is the week perhaps she too rested. She let it all sink in and looked back in amazement at how faithful God had been to her, in ways unexpected. We rest and ponder as well this week anticipating the New Year and recuperating from the hustle and bustle of the holiday. Gratefulness and joy for all the abundant gifts and blessings we just received not only on Christmas Day but through out the year 2011. May we each treasure up and ponder in our hearts not only the visible gifts 2011 brought, but may God reveal to us those disguised gifts. Those that came wrapped perhaps in trial or difficulty only to reveal the rarest treasures in our hearts.

As we ring in the New Year, may we be like those shepherds when they returned from Bethlehem and celebrate! For they too knew their lives would never be the same. God brought them an answer , a savior. Today and always we have that same answer, the same Savior. Because of this may we always look towards the New Year with even greater hope, joy and expectation!

Blessings in 2012! Angie

Bread for Fall

I admitted when I started this blog that I'm not a blogger. And my goal was to post only once a month as to not set myself up for failure. Yet I'm already 5 months into this with only 3 posts! So not only have I disappointed myself but feel horrible thinking I've left you all to believe I'm still in " Back-to School Blues" at the end of October. You will be happy to know yes- I have moved on and am in the throes of Fall Frenzy! We have multiple ongoing soccer games and practices. Cae turned 6 years old and celebrated with a campout at the lake. And we are in the midst of numerous school fall festivities and activities. I don't have time to stay blue for too long!

" Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,..." Ecclesiastes 9:10

Today my hands made Pumpkin Bread for the boys' teachers at school while I drank a yummy Starbuck's " Salted Mocha Something or Other" for the first time this fall. And I can officially say it's fall not just because the leaves are turning , pumpkins are out and Starbuck's has changed their seasonal menu. But because I made Mom's Pumpkin Bread recipe for the first time this year and my heart is changing.

The yoga instructor announced " 10 weeks till Christmas! " and I have to admit I cringed a little. Who doesn't look back and think where did that year go and see all we didn't accomplish that maybe we set out to do? And think will I get it all done in only ten weeks?

" So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have." 2 Corinthians 8:11-12

Reminded of all the desires I set out upon this year and all the times I fight not to abandon them in my heart. Like writing this blog, starting a new painting, doing more paintings, finishing a project around the house, continuing the Book Club I started, better parenting habits ...the list goes on and on. They seem menial on a level yet I'm convicted of procrastination, writer's block, artist block, fear of failure, fear of succeeding... whatever I want to call it.

I realize that I'm a steward of what I do with the desires of my heart, if He places them there. And I'm guilty of using all " the things I don't have" as an excuse in not fulfilling them whether I realize it or not. Daily I come to Him with the list of what I don't have and He sweetly exchanges it for the list of ALL that I do have. And gently reminds me, " It's acceptable. Now do it!"

So tomorrow I will start a new painting and be able to look at the blank canvas and pray that my "readiness in desiring may be matched by the completing it of what I do have". I will write a new post without as much apprehension and take on that new project with a little more confidence and ease. He never requires of us what we don't have. But He does require ALL of what we do have and that is much much more than any of us realize. So I don't need to focus on doing more than what is in my hands to do but on giving Him more of what He has already placed in them.

And I'm finding how all these bigger desires of my mine are being fulfilled as I pursue with my whole heart what He gives my hands to do daily in the little things, like making Pumpkin Bread.

Fall Findings

Labor day cook outs, pools officially closed, and I've had a bit of " back-to-school" blues. My 5 year old jumped on the bus for his first day of Kindergarten with barely a glance back. He was too excited to see for himself all the stories he had only heard from big brother. But the bus pulled off leaving me "feeling a little hollow". Grateful though I still have a little guy asleep in his crib. I know the hardest 1st day of Kindergarten is yet to come in a few years. I walk back inside the house and pick up a brush and paint and paint. With each stroke I find the " feeling a little hollow" is filling with excitement of fall's adventures to come- theirs, and mine. A new season is upon us all.

Another reason I paint. It punctuates my life. Wringing out each minute of my day with each drop of paint ( Better than wringing little necks!). I paint in our dining room where everyone runs through the house, out the back doors or into the kitchen. I used to go to the studio hours upon hours to paint in college, where I would have to turn on music because of the silence. Now I paint in the midst of a flurry of activity and noise, oh so much noise. Spending hours upon hours living with only interrupted moments to paint. Moments, I can hold back the hands of the clock and suspend the busyness of life - at least for a minute or two. I think on where we have been, blessed,very blessed and look forward faithfully to where we are going.

Is summer really over?" one of the boys had asked. " Yes- kind of " hesitantly I answered. Trying to make the summer season last just a little longer by stretching out my words. But I can't keep those calendar pages from turning like I can't keep those leaves from falling off the trees onto my back deck! Summer may go but fall always comes. May this fall find you , where it finds me.... with a painting.


" Brothers' First day of School"

Summer's Catch- Fish Art!

Summer is here! And after the whirlwind of end-of-year school and soccer activities how wonderful it feels to press the pause button on our life and live at the pool, eat watermelon for breakfast, lunch and dinner and not have to live by the clock...at least for the moment. Fall will come and the boys lives will take on their somewhat separate paths doing all the things they individually love as 2, 5 and 8 year old boys. But for now I love watching them " be brothers" ....yes fights and all! I have a continual pile of Legos in my living room floor. What is it about boys wanting to eat cereal all day long?And I'm learning to judge what exactly is the coolest jump you can make into a pool. Oh how can I forget the fishing and catching critters.

I'm finding most of the things my husband and boys love never even crossed my mind growing up as a girl. They are my adventure and why I know God has a sense of humor and surprise giving me 3 boys! I will probaly never get them into one of my dance classes or love looking at fabric samples with me hours upon hours. Bringing them into my world is a lot harder than me joining them in theirs, like watching them fish at the lake.






Which is what I find so special and a surprise to me in my art, especially my fish art. We all somehow connect there. The boys love picking up a paintbrush with me on the deck and critiquing shapes and colors. My husband makes my boards and tells me which types of fish I should paint. And recently painting has made me think of my mother's father, the avid fisherman and outdoorsman in a way I never have before. Honestly fish would have been the last subject matter I would have chosen to paint. They didn't really mean anything to me and I don't think I ever really looked at them closely. But now they are more than " fish". Their colors and shapes are beauty in an unexpected place. They remind me of the beach, the lake, the places our family share so many joys and memories. They connect me to the world of my boys.

May 10, 2011

Honestly I am not a blogger. I spend most of my time with a paintbrush in hand, sweeping floors, rearranging furniture and folding loads of clothes our family of 5 produces daily!

Sitting at a computer downloading images and typing are not the joys of my life. However I am hoping this site will become a place that I can share the things I do take joy in, feel deeply about and inspire me.

I'm learning to discover and focus on my strengths yet acknowledge my weaknesses ( like blogging!) So I take great comfort that God doesn't need our strengths. " My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." 2Cor 12:9
How awesome that He always is faithful to fill in the gaps where we are lacking usually through the hands of one another.

Which makes me even more grateful for the talents and gifts of my brother, Rob Orihuela, who created and designed this site...isn't it amazing?! Truly his strengths have filled in some serious weaknesses ( in computers, graphics and designs)on my part...thank you Rob!