4 Things

• Never have I read a post quite like this one on this topic.  Dressing well.  Modestly, yes, but this article moves beyond that.  Dress like a lady, act like a lady! Go ahead and read Rachel's post and get inspired yourself. . . 
• A beautiful read about life and abortion.  This mother is so loving and encouraging, even while she disagrees with something.
• The audiobook Sylvester by Georgette Heyer read by Richard Armitage.  Yep.  Mr. Thornton folks.  Check it out if you need a good diversion.
• A beautiful set of Thai commercials.  Such beautiful stories.

The Art of Life

Saturday was quite.  Snow gently fell and the temperature continued to drop.  Grandma and Grandpa had just gotten home from Panama.  Poor them.  80 degrees to -10 degrees is no fun.  My Grandma is a wonderful artist.  She is always quilting or painting or drawing or weaving or sewing something funky and incredibly BRIGHT.  She pulled out her paints and got to work on her hundred day challenge: to work on a creative project everyday.

She's been doing a study in poppies for the last couple days that is gorgeous.  Some she paints, some she uses chalk and today we gave her markers.  Permanent markers.

Mom bought this break taking set of 36 colors and we all wanted to try.  I felt like a kid on Christmas.  I couldn't wait to try something, but for fear of ruining that pure piece of paper I sat and sketched, erased, and sketched some more.  Finally I asked my brother Hudson if he wanted to collaborate.

We settled on a cityscape and I dug in my dusty bag of art skills till I found my one point perspective.  I dress an intersection and then mirrored it.  We were going to draw society.  Society from two opposite perspectives.

We got to work on the graffiti.  May I just say that I have so much more respect for graffiti artists now?  This is hard!  It's quite a bit harder to draw it in permanent marker though because you have to create your own layers and decide on everything before it happens.  We included a number of references to politics, books, movies, and our favorite tv shows.  Because we can.  Shout out to Doctor Who, Sherlock and J.R.R. Tolkien!  I spent probably 8 consecutive hours on this with occasional input and help from the Hud. (Hey!  He's a busy fellow.)

The official statement of meaning has yet to be released to the press.

4 Things

• Do we need more worship songs?  I submit to you that Christian pump up songs may not be worship. Check this article.
• Are you spiritually strong? There are some good reminders and probably some wake-up calls here.
• Truth. This has been on my heart in many arenas of life, but I have never been able to articulate it in the area of photography.  Thankfully We Are the Parsons has already done it.  And how beautiful it is. :-)
• I've been listening to Passenger, Andy Mineo, Linkin Park, Jeff Erb & Paul Renes, Secret Garden, Bach, Beethoven and Hans Zimmer recently. Talk about diversity!  Enjoy this mash-up of the wildly popular songs Let it Go, and Let Her Go.

Longview, TX   22:39

It is hard to believe that I woke up 20 hours ago. A car ride, bus ride, plane ride, rail ride, plane ride, and a car ride later I'm sitting in bed writing a blog post.  Of all things Jo!  Go to sleep!  But here I am, and my heart is full.

In the airport today I came across a U.S. Army service man and thanked him for serving our country. The look of surprise and sincere gratitude in his eyes made my own well up with tears as I turned away.  I had forgotten how powerful a few simple words could be.  

How often do I swallow the words in my mouth instead of my pride or business? Anyone can hold back negativity, but that isn't enough.  I want to go the extra mile and say kind and true things, even to strangers.  I want to speak with purpose and I want my words to bring life to the hearers.