Take Me Deeper - April Week 2

Well, due to various issues I didn't have the Holy Week I'd hoped for! Easter Sunday was different also...and I still think to myself how weird it is not to be up early and getting ready to play all the hymns at Church for the Children's Family Mass (I 'retired' from playing the organ June 2014)! It would always be quite nerve-racking as there would be so many pieces to play and I had to have the music in the right order to make for faster transitions!
Still, it's a good job we have faith in God enough to sustain ourselves through this time of despair, and can lean on Him to bring us through. I am so thankful for everybody at His Kingdom Come who inspire me so much with their words, their artwork and their kindness. If you would like to join this wonderful community and perhaps take up the Take Me Deeper 2015 Project or another class or three (!!) you can find it all HERE!

Now, to my Take Me Deeper Page for April Week 2 - From Death to Life

I read Romans 6-8 as suggested and noted down a lot of points, including:

- if we have died to sin we cannot live in sin

- we are to think of ourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.

- sin must no longer rule in our mortal bodies, so that we obey the desires of our natural self. We must instead give ourselves to God and surrender our whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes.

- No longer do we serve in the old way of a written law, but in the new way of the Spirit.

- If Christ lives in you, the Spirit is life for you.

- ...the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with god for us...And God, who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of his people and in accordance with his will

- Those whom God had already chosen he also set apart to become like his Son, so that the Son would be like the eldest brother in a large family.

- He gave his Son - will he not freely give all things?

Then from 2 Corinthians 5:14-21:

- Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also. Our message is that god was making the whole human race his friends through Christ.

- Here we are then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ's behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends! Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God.

Then from Collossians 2:13-15:

You were at one time spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were Gentiles without the Law. But God has now brought you to life with Christ. God forgave all our sins; he cancelled the unfavourable record of our debts with its unbinding rules and did away with it completely by nailing it to the cross. And on that cross, Christ stripped the spiritual rulers and authorities of their power; he made a public spectacle of them by leading them as captives in his victory procession.

Lastly Ephesians 2:1-10:

- In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins. At that time you followed the world's evil way; you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual power in space, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God. Actually all of us were like them and lived according to our natural desires, doing whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and minds. In our natural condition we, like everyone else, were destined to suffer God's anger.

But God's mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God's grace that you have been saved. In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the heavenly world. He did this to demonstrate for all time to come the extraordinary greatness of his grace in the love he showed us in Christ Jesus. For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the results of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it.God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do.

I then looked for some commentaries on these readings and made some notes on these including this from Matthew Henry:

Paul speaks of the great foundation doctrine of the Gospel. if we believe we might be justified by the faith of Christ and belief in Christ, is it not foolish to go back to the law, and to expect to be justified by the merit of moral works, or sacrifices, or ceremonies?

Paul saw that justification was not to be expected by the works of the law, and that there was no further need of the sacrifices and cleansing of it, since they were done away in Christ, by his offering up himself a sacrifice for us.The effect was not a careless, lawless life. It was necessary that he might live to God and be devoted to Him through the motives and grace of the gospel.

Finally: No man, whom we have reason to believe to be justified by faith in Christ is to be refused either Christian association or Church fellowship.

having read all this and starting to think about an image to represent it all (!) I decided it needed to be kept simple. Firstly I thought about surrendering your whole being and what kind of image could represent that. Next I thought about new life and new creation and images for that. I knew then that I wanted a person looking free, no self consciousness present, fully surrendered to God and new life. I wanted flowers strewn around, as if flying through the air with abandon; in celebration of being free and no longer a slave of sin. Finally I knew I wanted light, bright colours - the darkness of sin has gone!

So this is my piece! The dancing lady just felt so free and full of life! She is dancing on the flower, representing new life. There are small flowers strewn around, flying through the air around her, in celebration. The colours are bright and cheerful with no hint of darkness. The Spirit is represented around her as in previous weeks' pieces. Other accents were added to add to the feeling of light, happiness and abandonment to God. This dancing lady is truly living a new life!

Dancing lady is a CU vector, the flower b/g paper is my own, and everything else is CU brushes.

TFL!

Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - April Week 1

Holy Week, leading to Easter. Such a momentous time; I can hardly believe it's here! 

I'm so lucky to be surrounded not only by family and friends IRL, but also by the lovely people at His Kingdom Come who are such an inspiration and a help on my journey of faith. I'm very thankful for them, especially at this time, when I'm reminded of how much I need Him..and how much I need to let go and trust that He will nurture and save, and also trust that He will work out every situation according to His will.

So to business!
April Week 1 - He Is Alive

I looked up definitions of the words given and was quite surprised! Just shows how you hear and say these words without knowing the full impact of them sometimes!

I found the following commentaries on a couple of them that drew me in...

Hosanna: "So as Jesus rode the donkey to Jerusalem, the crowds were correctly shouting 'Hosanna!' and acknowledging Jesus as their Messiah. A cry for salvation and a recognition that Jesus is able to save. The people cried out for salvation and that was exactly why Jesus had come. Within a week Jesus would be hanging on a cross."

Hallelujah: The words 'praise the Lord' are used over 50 times in the Bible but not as a translation of the word Hallelujah. Hallelujah is only used in Revelation 19. The scene opens in Heaven where a great multitude has gathered before the throne in the immediate presence of God himself, after the final overthrow of the enemies of the Church and the triumph of the Gospel. A song of thanksgiving is uttered in which all beings could unite. Hallelujah is the only word grand enough to express their rejoicing.

An image then came to mind of the path that has been in my March pieces, leading towards Easter, finally reaching its destination of the Cross. There would be light and the light rays as in previous weeks, as well as the path with flowers. I wanted the Cross not to seem sad and horrid, although of course it was. I wanted to pick up what was said in the devotional - that without Good Friday we could not celebrate Easter. Plus the feeling of Jesus being recognised as Messiah and being able to save. So I wanted it to be more positive, strong and not something looking like defeat.

I went on to read Revelation and in Rev. 22 found Jesus described as 'bright morning star.' So I added that to the piece as even more of a positive sign!

The colours are bright, not morbid, although I left some dark in the sky to acknowledge the evil and sadness. I drew out the size of the shadow of the cross to add impact and bring it right up to the viewer - drawing us in.

I'm hoping the light around the cross conveys a feeling of power and hope - all these feelings mixed up in one image for me! Yet having prayed before starting, this piece just flowed!

created with CU brushes and a CU cross and layer style.

TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - March Week 4

March Week 4 of Take Me Deeper! If you'd like to join in, it can be started at any time...you can find detail HERE at His Kingdom Come.

The first reading that I wrote down was Isaiah 40:3-5 - A voice is calling, "clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

I think this formed most of the scene for my page, although I didn't know it would at the time of reading!

From there I went to Isaiah 43:19 - Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

One reading I found I really felt called to was Zephaniah 10:12 - "And I will strengthen them in the Lord, and in his name they will walk," declares the Lord.

Exodus 23:20 gave me more food for thought for my page - "Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared."

Next I was led to John 12:35-36 - John answered, "The light will be among you a little longer. Continue on your way while you have the light, so that the darkness will not come upon you; for the one who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Believe in the light, then, while you have it, so that you will be the people of light."

From a commentary on that reading I picked out the following points:
- walk as people who are conscious that the light is among them

- these are the last words of Our Lord's public ministry. Afterwards he only spoke to his followers in seclusion at Bethany and within the upper chamber.

-walk in the light, believe in the light. To walk in the light we must first believe and trust in the light. Faith is the way we can see the light. As we trust the light we see the light. Believe in the light and trust Him who is it. Absolutely we may rely on it, unconditionally we must follow it. Lean on Him - His arm is strong to bear the burden of our weaknesses, sorrows and our sins.
- Trust the light and you become children of the light.

And so I've tried to incorporate those thoughts into my piece! Two children of the light, about to walk through the wilderness, with its desert and rivers. There's a path (pretty straight!) through the wilderness, and ahead is an angel (signified by the cross), which has been sent to guard the children along the way. The children believe in the light and will walk in the light, but the darkness is still around. The rays of light and the stars hint at the glory of the Lord which will be revealed.

The children are from Graphics Fairy site and all the rest is CU brushes.
TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - March Week 1

Well! A new month, a new theme in TMD and boy my pages seem to have changed in feel! Not too sure what to make of it but they are what they are! I enjoyed the process of making this page!

March Week 1 - I Will Follow

Points that jumped out at me when reading Romans 8:1-17:
-There is no condemnation for those who live in union with Jesus Christ.

- Those who live as their human nature tells them to, have their minds controlled by what human nature wants. Those who live as the Spirit tells them to, have their minds controlled by what the Spirit wants.

- Those who obey their human nature cannot please God

- But if Christ lives in you,the Spirit is life for you...

- Those who live by God's Spirit are God's children.

- For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, "Father! My Father!" God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ's suffering, we will also share his glory.

Plus Romans 8:28: We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those who he has called according to his purpose.

An image came to mind of a path. Each side of the path was a wasteland - what it is like to not live in union with Christ...to have a mind controlled by human nature...a dark, colourless land where the people are not living full lives and are limited wherever they go and whatever they do. A sad place. The people are like shadows of the people they could be.
The path however is a happy place! Full of colour and light and where the people are children of God, living in the Spirit. It's always a path of course, following on from January's transformation which is ongoing. A path of love also; love of God, love from God, and love for each other by the humans on that path.
I wanted to make the path look happy and attractive of course! Bright colours, pretty flowers. The representation of the Spirit is still there, continuing from last month's pieces, and the people on the path live by the Spirit. One child on the path helps another child; someone else is closer to God, another rests in God's love on the path. Somewhere off in the distance is the bright light of God - and the rays of light from February's pieces are also still there.
The people who do not live in union with Christ look on as they stand in their dark, colourless and barren lands. It would be easy for them to just take a step and walk onto the path, to enjoy that life, and yet they have not done that - yet!
I used a lot of red as in our Church we use red at Pentecost, representing the Spirit. The happy and colourful path is filled with red - filled with the Spirit - the flowers, the birds, the landscape and the people.

I have to confess this piece makes me a bit uncomfortable! I wanted to try to make it more positive and not dwell too much on the 'wasteland', but it demanded to be seen! Right at the end I even made it darker as it just seemed to want to really push the contrast at me! Also, I think I feel uncomfortable because although it's simply representing the Bible verses, it almost feels like judging others, which I try to stay away from!! Anyway, it is what it is! It looks nothing like the sketch I did when reading the verses and again I have no idea where it came from really as I just stamped down brush shapes and a landscape formed! This took hours longer than my pieces usually do as well! Not to sure what to make of it lol!
Made with CU brushes and Afrika Children font.
TFL!
Bernie x

P.S. If you'd like to join us at His Kingdom Come for this year long project, you can find all the details HERE! x

Take Me Deeper - Week 4!

The end of February! How did that happen?!! Without further ado here are my thoughts, the readings I was led to, and my piece for Take Me deeper this week!

February Wk 4
I wasn't at all sure about this one for some reason but my eldest (18) said she loved it so am keeping it!

2 Cor. 5:19 - God,through Christ, is making the whole human race his friends. I found some commentary:

- we are to be reconciled to God - i.e. to accept what God has already achieved - it is not that we must reconcile ourselves.
Through Christ we truly assume his righteousness, just as Christ assumed our sin.
I read that in Paul's writings, God is always the reconciler. This is the reverse of Hellenistic religion where the human seeks restoration of God's favour, and also of Judaism, where confession of sin and repentance are the means by which reconciliation with God is sought. The initiative now is with God, who changes a relationship of enmity to friendship. This is accomplished through Christ.
not sure if I was going off on a bit of a tangent there, and being Catholic, that commentary gave me pause for thought as growing up I've heard a lot of the need for confession of sin and for repentance...ie everything coming from the human.

So I continued on and searched for what the Bible says about loving yourself.
1 John 3:1 - See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (That last sentence really jumped out at me but I felt it was for another time to concentrate on that).
Psalm 139:13-14 - You created every part of, you put me together in my mother's womb. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Phil. 1:6 - And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
John 15:9 - As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
Romans 8:16 - God's Spirit, joining himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children.
1 John 4:4 - Little children, you are from God...he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Genesis 1:26 - And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness...
Psalms 103:12 - As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Reading all the above, my image represents God sending out into the world all of us, His children. Transformed children, (hence keeping the butterflies from the January prompts), thanks to everything God has done for us (see above quotes). I wanted to give a nod towards the theme of creation (God creating us, the world, love, and so used some stars and a bit of a bursting forth theme also to represent that. The 'wind' of the Spirit is still in there, as are the rays of light, among each other, as friends (see above quote).

Basically, it all seems to be summed up as loving yourself is being thankful and appreciating the person whom God has made in you.
TFL!
Bernie x
Hands are a brush from SpiritSigh @ DeviantArt, and the rest was created with CU brushes

Take Me Deeper - February Week 3

I know it's a recurring theme for me LOL but can you believe it's the 3rd week of February already?!
Shrove Tuesday has come and Ash Wednesday, and I am so thankful for the Take Me Deeper Project as well as all the lovely people at His Kingdom Come.

Remember, if you've not already joined us and would like to, you can find he Take Me Deeper Project and other classes HERE at His Kingdom Come!

So, to this week's study! I read the provided Bible quote in context. and then looked for commentaries. Within them I found three thoughts that stuck with me:

- a community of love shines as a light

- genuine love and unity among Christians was a major cause, perhaps the strongest single cause, of the spread of Christianity

- love acts in obedience to God's will, under the guidance of the Spirit.

Then I didn't have the chance to try and create anything for a week, and so went back to the readings and searched for Bible quotes about neighbours. I found:
Leviticus 19:17 - ...but love your neighbour as you love yourself
Isaiah 58:9-10 - If you put an end to oppression, to every gesture of contempt, and to every evil word; if you give food to the hungry and satisfy those who are in need, then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon.

John 14:26 - But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Matthew 25:40 - ...I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these members of my family, you did it for me.

I have the jam jar with escaping butterfly representing us, through love, escaping from our little confined, self-centred worlds. Once I'd got that on the page I got a bit fed up as it seemed flat and I had zero ideas how to progress the page! So I prayed and it came to me to add in some extra darkness around the jar...I ended up making that into a wasteland-type landscape, representing the dark and miserable world we live in if we don't love our neighbour and care for others. I took out most of the colour from that area to make it more stark.
Then the bright butterflies of love and care, once released out into the world, bring 'the brightness of noon', shown by the blue sky and rays of light.
The representation of the Spirit is carried on into this piece as well.

Basically, a dark world can be transformed into a world of light and colour by one simple thing - love.

Jam jar brush from SpiritSigh at DeviantArt; the rest is created by me with CU brushes and a CU texture.
TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - February Week 2

Morning! Well, it's been another rollercoaster of a week here! I'm not going to talk about the flood of nastiness and negativity which hit this week on social media from people who should know better! I'm taking it as a test of faith and while I'm of course not perfect, I'm remaining strong! Thank goodness for HKC and our Take Me Deeper project! Things I have pondered since the start come flooding back to me at various times, all designed to be at the best time to help me, naturally! Although the negativity really dampens my creativity, I still managed to find strength, with a lot of praying, to open up Photoshop and create! In losing myself in that process, I found again the peace that I need and the confidence that the long arms of hatred can't actually reach me when I am safe with God, and when my focus is all on Him!

SO, starting from Matthew 22:37 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, I then went on to v.38 - This is the greatest and most important commandment and v.39 - Love your neighbour as yourself.

Then I searched for other scripture containing similar words and found Deut. 6:5 which then led me to Deut. 6:7 - Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. And v.18 - Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight.

So I'm still thinking about how do I show love on the page and in life, and the word serve came to mind. This led me to Deut. 10 v.12 - ...what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and to observe the Lord's commands...

Then I found Deut. 10:14-15 - To the Lord your God belong the heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the Lord set affection on your ancestors and loved them...

Then I wanted to search the New Testament and was drawn to 1John 4:8 - Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Also 1 Corinthians 8:3 - But whoever loves God is known by God.

Finally I found a commentary which I found interesting to ponder! It said that it is humanly impossible for fallen mankind to love God with ALL his heart, soul and strength, 24/7. Without the cleansing of sin that God provides and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit living in our hearts, he fails at this commandment. But as Christians we are cleansed from sin and do have the spirit, so we ask God for help and it is in this power that we do the impossible. Also that we cannot fully love someone we don't know so knowing Him is the priority.

As I was just about to start my page, I read again the words on a piece of art my eldest daughter (18) had painted for me after I'd gone to bed and had left for me to find on my computer desk in the morning...for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Luke 12:34). Which gave me a final thought about making God our treasure and our hearts will be there.

All these ideas are tied up in my page! I wanted to use the hands gently sheltering the butterfly to symbolise a gentle love that allows freedom and yet shelters from harm. It looks as if the butterfly is treasured. The hands look like they are doing good, and I hope the feel of serving comes across in the attitude of the hands - it's just the feel of them to me! I liked how one hand is coming from 'below' and one from 'above' hinting at how we love and are loved in return.
I wanted the idea of a road represented, and the hands seem to be formed up and out of that road...we love wherever we are, wherever we go. The suggestion of wind is there again, representing the Spirit we have, and the rays of light - the good we strive towards and God's love also shining out towards us. Setting this within a landscape fitted nicely with the Deut. 10 words.
Phew!
TFL!
Bernie x

Made with my own papers, the hands were a brush from Spiritsigh at DeviantArt, and the rest is CU brushes.

If you'd like to join us at His Kingdom Come and take part in the Take Me Deeper project, just visit HERE!

Take Me Deeper - February Week 1

Well that's another week passed with me barely seeing it lol! Lots of late nights this week for some reason, which meant I wasn't up as early and lost my creating time, and time when I can easily go online to HKC and other places uninterrupted! Plus my dad was unwell, which when he's 90, is always cause for concern. As always though, head down, plough on, with prayer, and see where I end up!

So, February Week 1! I started at John 3:16 of course - For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

Then I was drawn to John 3:8 - 'the wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.'
Well then I wanted to know more about what that actually meant! I found two commentaries: The first was saying that the Spirit sends influence where, when and on whom and in what measure and degree he pleases, leading to regeneration and transformation. God sent His Son to make us aware, accepting and believing.
The second commentary gave this: that in human minds the Spirit doesn't reveal itself, but its effects - we discern the Spirit's presence by its effects.

I then read John 3:21 - But those who do what is true come to the light in order that the light may show that what they did was in obedience to God.

So somehow I was meandering through all these thoughts and readings and no definitive image was coming to mind! Which after last month was a bit disconcerting lol! So I prayed and opened up Photoshop and just started to put stuff on the page. I actually started with creating a word art around the word Believe but that was completely left behind once the piece started to form!!

The page has a hint of a representation of our world with the circle and the trees behind the hands. The hands are of course representing God giving the world His precious gift. I liked the idea of keeping the butterfly as an ongoing theme since my transformation is ongoing and it seemed to fit with the idea of the wind blowing in John 3:8. It also, through its gentleness, seemed to represent what I read in John 3:17 - 'For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but its Saviour.' There is a representation of the wind there, swirling around within the light, included for John 3:21. Of course, my Logos365 word, Focus, is easily represented here with the butterfly being the central focus of the image and of the readings!

Looking at this now I'm amazed how this came from reading one verse, John 3:16, and being led through other readings and commentaries towards this summary of it all! I'm sitting here almost in disbelief in what taking part in TMD is doing for me! If you're not already taking part, why not come and have a look and join us?! Doesn't have to be digital art, it can be any kind of creating you please! We have people creating beautiful pieces in mixed media, materials, photographs, poetry...it's wonderful and so inspiring! You can find take Me Deeper at His Kingdom Come here!
TFL!
Bernie x
(made with my own paper as background then the rest created with CU brushes. Hands with butterfly image is a brush from Spiritsigh at DeviantArt.)

Take Me Deeper - Week 4

Well, this has been a week and a half jam packed with emotion and decisions to make and lots and lots of praying lol! As a family we have decided that school is not the best place for our youngest daughter, 12, to achieve the best kind of education for her, or for her to be fulfilled. So we have made the decision to Home Educate her!

It's a big step but one that feels so right for her and for us all, at this moment in time. Hubby and I have been shown throughout these past few weeks since we started looking into Home Education that we are most definitely not able to control the things we would like to!! Given that, it's important to realise that we can only do what is best for us at this moment in time. No point in worrying about the future or how today's decisions will affect tomorrow...leave that to God to order and take care of and bring us though.

So, the letter goes into school today to deregister her, and from next week we are officially a Home Educating family! We've got some resources already, are collecting others, and I've met some really lovely people - other Home Educators - online who are SO helpful with links to online resources! Firstly though, children who are taken out of school should have a period of 'deschooling' to get them out of the school day mentality. Home Education, can be so much freer and informal than school, and it's important that the child gets back to their natural state of being inquisitive and wanting to learn, and learn according to their interests as well. It's a whole new mindset for parents as well as children, and it is accepted wisdom that time should be taken to 'deschool'. During this time we'll be talking about how we want to study and what we want to study. of course, we know that children are learning all the time through their everyday experiences, so that is where we are starting from during the period of deschooling. I'm looking forward to getting things organised and starting to do more of the things that our daughter loves to do but rarely had time for during the week as she was just so exhausted after school and homework!

I suppose I should have known something was coming, lol, what with the Take Me Deeper theme for the month being Transformation! I really feel I have been transformed good n proper in certain ways through this experience, lol! From dismissing Home Educating out of hand initially, thinking I wouldn't be up to it and it had to be much more formally done than is actually the case, to one day just being aware of the words 'freely give' in my head. Must have been words from God as I remember no connection with anything I was reading or listening to at the time! That was when I started googling Home Education UK and found out just how wonderful it can be and not at all how I'd thought it would have to be done! I felt such peace when thinking I could actually do this for our daughter! So I researched some more and spoke to hubby, and we have been led towards today when the official letter will go into school!

My mind has been well and truly opened and educated and it has been a really strong lesson in trusting God to take us through hardships that come; trusting that He will lead us to do the right thing when we can't possibly know how something will pan out; trusting that even if we're making a mistake He will get us through; trusting that he will be there with me, helping me to cope with the everyday practicalities of Home Educating! Realising that we don't have to simply settle for what everyone else is doing just because society says that's what we should do! Thinking about things that hadn't really impacted me before - how children, young children, are doing 10+ hour days and still having to do homework in their downtime once their home! How many adults would do a 10 hour day (inc travelling time), then when they get home do a couple more hours' work, all for no reward while they are doing it?! Just on trust that they may get a piece of paper at the end that may help them sometime in their future?!! That's what government deems suitable for the majority of children in our country, regardless of their own individual personalities and needs, which the system isn't really set up to cope very well with! Thank goodness we have the legal right to Home Educate!

Anyway, that's what I've been up to with my family these past few weeks. It's been quite draining but now the decision is made we can go forward positively I feel. So, here is my Week 4 page for Take Me Deeper! It's quite appropriate in regard to our situation, although I wasn't aware of that shaping the artwork when I did it!!

I did all the additional reading - this seems to be a pattern now, unless and until I've done all that reading not a single glimmer of an image will enter my head LOL! My thinking on this one involved themes from each one of the other readings plus extra bits that I read around those! (ie I couldn't stop at just the verses suggested!!) You can find the Take Me Deeper Group, and the prompts etc here if you'd like to join in!

The girl is rising up out of the waves of doubt, leaving those behind, focussed on God (the rays of light). Rising towards God's approval and possessing the blessings that God keeps in Heaven for His people - those who through faith are kept safe by God's power.

So we rise up and do not sink. We can be confident that a righteous life will be the reward.

The girl was made using Sewing Patterns font, and I chopped the arms around a bit to make them rise up! Then clipped papers to her to make her like a paper-pieced doll. The butterflies are still present showing transformation all around - God working on us and with us. We just need to keep our focus (my Logos365) in the right place!

The rest was created using CU brushes and stash from Altered Amanda's Studio.

TFL!
Bernie x

Take Me Deeper - Week 3

Well, what a week is has been! Let's just say that I've been having to focus (my Logos 365 word!) really hard on the Lord lately to cope with everything affecting our family at present! Even down to looking into Home Educating my youngest because of problems with school - something I really hadn't seen becoming a distinct possibility!

Anyway, as I've been waking at 3.15am all week, I've made good use of this quiet time to enjoy reading all the extra suggested passages within the TMD prompt. A pattern seems to be forming now where not a single speck of an image for a piece of art around the prompt will even suggest itself until I've done all the suggested reading...and once I get started with the reading, it's all too easy to carry on past the suggested passages! I'm loving it!!

I loved reading all the extra suggested passages, and the 'feel' of an image around a veil and light and keeping the butterflies started forming! Once the idea had formed in my head, I was a bit concerned about how I would translate that onto the page...but thankfully, Altered Amanda's Studio had just the stash I needed to make the vision come to life!

You can find the Take Me Deeper Project and prompts here. 

For this piece, once I had it laid out as I liked, I lightened part of the veil to give a feeling of reflected light - we will reflect God's glory when we are transformed into His likeness. The lady has lowered eyes - submission - and the veil is coming off (ie doesn't cover her whole face any more), showing an ongoing process, started but not yet complete. The light is there to focus on, and the butterflies leading towards the light signifying the transformation that will come once we are joined with Christ (when the veil is lifted).

I'm enjoying this project so much and finding it such a help when life is throwing so much at us at present! if you haven't already, do come and have a look and join with us! you don't have to do digital art if that's not your thing! Whatever response you feel led to is great! Poetry, paint on paper, mixed media, wood carving, fibre craft...the list goes on! There's loads of inspiration in the TMD gallery at His Kingdom Come...just take a look!

TFL!

Bernie x