guess and get give-away

Thanks for playing along on my give-away! I have never done a give-away before and it is fun!! It's a little tricky for me to pick out the picture clues...wanna make them easier as we go along but not completely give away the location. That wouldn't be any fun!

 Here's what you can win...

8x10" original mixed media art that was inspired by my kids and Psalm 17:8 ...

"Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wing"

Here are the picture clues...

                                                              Here deary, deary, deary.
                                               Apparently, wild dear are super friendly here!

                                                      

                                                         One of the many beautiful views.


Think you know where we went for summer vacation??
 Take a guess in the comment section and the first one that guesses the location, wins! Yeah! I am having way too much fun with this:)


xo, Jill

Guess and Give Away

                                                               8x10" mixed media

Super excited (and kinda nervous) to give away this TRUoriginal!

This original piece of artwork was inspired by my kids and Psalms 17:8,
"Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of the wings"

Followers, all you have to do to win is take a look at the photos and try and guess where my family and I went for our summer vacation. I will post 2 photos per post till we have a winner:)

                                                                Just out and about.

                                                               These were in bloom.

Have fun and thanks for playin:) Linking up up with Jennifer at STUDIO JRU....http://studiojru.com/blog/.

The Day of Forgiveness

                                                              My Dad and Daughter

As a little girl I was never close with my earthly Father. My parents divorced when I was 2 and i simply didn't know the man I called Dad. Unfortunately I spent many years bound in resentment and bitterness over this. I felt unloveable and my bad choices through my teens and early twenties just added fuel to that fire. I blamed way too much on a man who I believe today did the best he could to love me. Today holds a dear place in my heart for so many reasons, it marks the one year anniversary of the day I forgave my Dad. Sitting in church a year ago today, God's mercy washed over my heart and He gave me His eyes to see my Dad as He does and here's how i see my Dad today...

generous, funny, down to earth, a great cook, wonderful smile, creative, broken, hurting, and loves me and my family so dearly.

Last week I recieved a letter from my Dad saying all the words I had wished for so long he would say to me, almost a year to the date of my forgiving him. The amazing thing about that letter is I didn't feel how I thought I would feel about recieving it. I thought it would make me feel some how justified in my pain for all those years, kinda like I deserved to feel like that...bitter and angry. But it didn't make me feel deserving at all, it made me feel just the opposite, it made me feel unworthy of God's mercy and it made me feel sad for my Dad not having a friendship with Jesus. God calls us all to be OAKS OF RIGHTOUSNESS, A SPLENDER FOR HIS GLORY and I knew in my unforgiveness i had not been that for God. He asks us to forgive our enemies and here I held onto unforgiveness like a security blanket.

As I sat in church today, filled with gratitude, all I could think of was my Dad and just how much God loves us all. I thought about how God has filled me up so completely that, in Him, I have been made new and His mercy gives me beauty for my ashes. And I thought about God's generosity to me, giving me my Husband, my Priest, and my Father in Law. I no longer have an absent dad...I have FIVE FATHERS! God is Good!

                                                          My Husband, my Best Friend

The man who taught me love, patience, and trust. You are my Heaven on Earth! I admire, respect, and adore you and the kind Father you are to our babies. I have learned so much from you, love of my life. xo

 I'm always amazed at what comes out of me on this little blog of mine. I never mean to go deep yet somehow I always end up here. My prayer for you, if you are holding onto unforgivness in any way, is that you would lay it at the feet of Jesus. That He would do for you what He did for me.... give you His eyes so that you could see your enemy that way God does....broken.

 "Unforgiveness takes delight in our fear, as it binds our wings and pushes us off the cliff of dispair."

 Come back this week to play "Guess Where", my silly version of Where's Waldo and win a fun prize:)

 Linking up with Jen and my sisters at http://findingheaventoday.blogspot.com/, stop on over.

Love Song - Adele

Close your eyes....breath deep....look into the eyes of your Lord as He reaches His hand out to you...take it.








whenever i'm alone with you
you make me feel like i am home again
 whenever i'm alone with you
 you make me feel like i am whole again
whenever i'm alone with you
 you make me feel like i am young again
whenever i'm alone with you
 you make me feel like i am fun again
 however far away
 i will always love you
however long i stay
 i will always love you
whatever words i say
 i will always love you
i will always love you
 whenever i'm alone with you
 you make me feel like i am free again
whenever i'm alone with you
you make me feel like i am clean again
 however far away
 i will always love you
however long i stay
i will always love you
whatever words i say
 i will always love you
 i will always love you
 lyrics by The Cure. (fitting because yes He is...The Cure:)

 Isaiah 61:1-3
"The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion -- to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory."

 Oh how He loves us!

Where's Waldo...

If you have tween kids you probably remember the WHERE'S WALDO books. Loved them as I sat with the kids and we all tried to be the first one to find the goofy looking Waldo character. Well....that's kinds been my life lately! Friends keep asking WHERE'S JILL? Blog buddies check in periodically to see if I'm ok and most of the phone messages from family members begin something like this, "I know you've been busy lately but when you get a chance can you give me a quick call?" That's the worst :( First let me say THANK YOU for the "just checking on you" emails I received. It still amazes me that God has put you in my life. It amazes me that you would even care what a mess like me would have to say over on this little ole' blog of mine. It has been a truly Blessed month for me and my family, full of ups and downs. The ups~

• Co-chairing my church's SPRING GALA with my hubby. Lot's of hard work but we raised some much needed funds with a great community of people. God is trying so hard to make us a great team....we're gettin there .

I was invited to attend the Surtex show in NYC by a friend who is a licensed artist. I learned SO much about the licensing art world. Fair to say the good, the bad, and the ugly! Not sure if this is my path but I'm open to the possibilities. NYC was very cool to visit for the first time as an adult.

these guys were having too much fun!

catwalk at the Surtex show
and Time Square
and Central Park

*************************Blessed to witness many Baptisms this last month, 8 to be exact! Not too sure why God allowed me to be at the right place at the right time but sure does put life into perspective when you watch so many come to Jesus through this sacrament. Holy WOW!

Attended Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral while in NYC

***********************************************************

• The ending of many activities for the kids...soccer, acting class that ended with a play, spring musical and of course the end of a school year!

Yeeha! Welcome Summer:)
My sweet kiddos..Lauren is the mad scientist, Cooper is the goalie!

• An exciting opportunity to wholesale with my very favorite local boutique. They have several locations and tons of foot traffic. I have been biding my time and waiting til the right opportunity came up to begin wholesaling...could this be it? I'll keep you posted.

TRU workshops and ATC swaps! I am so thrilled that my workshops have blossomed into a place of creative support and love. It has taken me 2 years to finally see the fruits of this journey and God has been more than faithful to me. I am inspired by the women who join me on this journey and am in awe of the art they are creating . ********* TRUly inspiring women!

• Putting my health on the list again, I'm exercising everyday, taking my vitamins, drinking more water, and enjoying whole, clean foods. Lost 10 Lbs! Not brave enough to post a picture here.
• Getting my house organized. I know, i've been talking about doing this forever and i'm finally working it out! Again, not brave enough to post a picture...not of my messy closets!

The downs~ Missed my nephews 1st Communion because of my trip to Surtex. Computer officially crashed! This was more than a downer! Just yesterday we finally got all my contacts and documents loaded and this has been a day to day process. This was a very difficult thing to give to God as a real part of my life lies in this little laptop. My work, my photographs, and my contacts all sat untouched for weeks at a time as we struggled to find a solution to my computer problem. Finally the big black screen of nothing. Had to bite the bullet and just get a new machine, my mother board had died. I do not wish that on my worst enemy so as a friend my only advice is...shut your computer completely down each night.
Contracted a terrible rash from NYC?? Still not sure what it was but very itchy and left welts on me. Not sure if it was bedbugs...yuck! All gone now, no sign of critters.

My hubby and I finished up our first year as Youth Group leaders at our church...oh wait, that goes in the UPS section. We will miss our teens this summer!

Missed my sisters birthday but going out tonight to finally celebrate.

Missed some of my BFFs...finally catching up on walks, dinners, and phone convos.

Missed you, my bloggy friends. That's it!! We are leaving for vacation next week and I will post some pictures while we're there. Leave a comment to see if you know the location from my pictures, kinda like a virtual Where's Waldo, and you could be the winner of a special give-away. Look for more details to come. I have not given up on the Choosing Hope series i have planned to post, so I hope you haven't either. I will begin that in June, God willing (i'm learning to say that more!). xo jill