Heart-work

Hello Friends,

It has been a while since my last post! I have been recovering from this lower back pull and oh my!! it has really taken a while to heal. However, I am convinced that it has given me time to slow down and reflect on some things and regain a compass reading.
I don't have any artwork to share today, but I guess instead I could call this Heart-work.
I must admit to you, that in this day and age my attitude sometimes just plummets to some low levels. I find that usually, it's because I am focusing on ME or the problems in this old world ,the complaints, criticisms, the dark side of life pulling at all sides and demanding my attention or even the mundane........is my life being purposeful??

We melancholies tend to go through these battles, but I bet if we are honest, putting churchy platitudes and pride aside, we all struggle at some point in our lives wondering if we are making a difference and does our life matter? Why are we here? What am I to be doing? Do we have to be front and center of peoples attention and applause? Or can we be content being servants behind the scenes, touching peoples lives ONE at a time?


I came across a few quotes given by one of my favorite teachers Chuck Swindoll: "We cannot change our past.We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable.The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude........The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day..........Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitudes toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it. "

I love that!!!

Don't misread me, we are not to be Pollyanna's, in denial with our head in the clouds and our hearts out of touch with what is going on in our world and culture. People are hurting. They are wondering if there is any "hope". And we are to be His ambassadors. Representing Him, His attitude, His love and hope.

But we have to train our own hearts and minds to "think correctly". If we don't, we will wind up in the same despairing thoughts and traps. Scriptures give us a clue,that we are to guard our minds and hearts. To pay attention and even practice what we are thinking about.

"For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think ; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly...." Romans 12:3-6 NASU

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."Philippians 4:4-9 NASU

This on going battle that we are in, is worth it friends. It isn't easy.....but it is worth it. Will I still struggle with a bad attitude or feel some lows again? Most likely. You see, I am far from being perfect in any way and my emotions and mind follows suit I am afraid. However I am.........."being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you (and me) will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." ~Philippians 1:6 NIV

AND

"Now glory be to God! By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May He be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen." ~Ephesians 3:20-21 NLT

Big sigh.......of relief and yes, a confident expectation in HIM = hope.

I came across this article today written by Margaret Manning. I found it VERY encouraging and inspiring. Hope it encourages you too! The next post I will have some new artwork to show you :)

Keep being creative and using your gifts!!! In His Grace, Anni


Stewards of Culture by Margaret Manning

I am a gardener. When I say that I am a gardener, I mean that I love working with soil, pruning, weeding, planting, and tending to whatever plot of earth I've been afforded in the hopes of nurturing growth. I do not always produce a bountiful harvest, but I love the sense of craft, care, and cultivation that goes into making a beautiful garden.
In my current locale, I have been made the steward of the gardens that were planted long before I ever arrived on the scene. My landlords loved to garden as well, and have left me in charge of caring for the well-designed garden beds of various flowers, trees, and now a lone tomato plant. I feel the strong sense of responsibility to sustain, nourish, and cultivate the yard that has been entrusted to my care.
In contrast, I am often surprised at my disregard for the common spaces we share in our neighborhood. Often, litter is scattered across the sidewalks and streets. Most of the time, I do not stop to exercise the same care and stewardship as I do over my own yard to pick up the trash that mars the landscape. I don’t make the connection between my own lack of care and attention and the anger or despair I feel over its prevalence and the cavalier attitude of those who litter in the first place.
Perhaps this serves as an analogy for our stewardship of culture itself. Unfortunately, as writer Gregory Wolfe suggests, “many Christians have allowed themselves to become so estranged from contemporary culture that they have essentially given up any hope of influencing the artists who will create the visual images, stories, and music that shape our time.”(1) Indeed, Wolfe goes on to wonder if Christians have ever applied the concept of stewardship to the wider culture. We fail to realize the connection between our own despair and anger over the demise of culture, and our own unwillingness to exercise stewardship, care, and responsibility for our culture.
Often our lack of involvement in the culture contrasts sharply with the stewardship we assume over the resources we’ve been given in our families, our gifts, and our talents. Yet as Christians it would seem a vital part of our mission in this world to seek out ways to cultivate our culture, just as we would cultivate the land or soil in preparation for growing crops or plants. So what might this cultural cultivation entail?
First, we exercise cultural stewardship by becoming familiar with our culture through art, music, literature and film. How can we speak into our culture when we do not know its language? Spiritual discernment and a level of spiritual maturity are essential in this process, and one need not see, read, or listen to every movie, art exhibit, book, or piece of music in order to learn how to speak into culture. Rather, what are the cultural works that stir discussion in our churches, at our workplaces, or in our social settings? Those might be voices we need to hear and enter into these discussions with the unique message of the gospel.
Second, we exercise cultural stewardship by recovering the doctrine of the Incarnation. The Incarnation of Jesus suggests the total union of the human and divine. Wolfe notes that we apply this Incarnational balance to many of our theological concepts, holding together in union God’s justice and God’s mercy, God’s sovereignty, and human responsibility.(2) In a similar manner, the Incarnation serves as a plumb line for our engagement with the various voices of our culture. If we simply enter into cultural engagement without spiritual discernment, we are driven here and there by every trend and twist in our culture. However, if we remove ourselves from all cultural engagement, we lose our ability to communicate and speak to the culture lacking the vocabulary of faith.
Finally, we exercise cultural stewardship by remembering that we are made in the image of the God who creates. All that God created, God declared “good.” While sin mars and distorts the goodness of God, God’s image-bearers are called to seek out ways in which we can create meaning and beauty, justice, and righteousness in our world. We highlight the good of Creation by being cultural creators and not simply cultural despisers.
In other words, we ought not simply see the trash of culture and do nothing about it. Instead, as image-bearers, God calls us to pick it up along the way, and to cultivate a culture that values beauty, goodness, and truth.



Margaret Manning is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington.
(1) Gregory Wolfe, “Art, Faith, and the Stewardship of Culture,” December 31, 2008, http://catholic.net/, accessed July 15, 2009.(2) Ibid.
© 2008 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. All Rights Reserved.