In His Grip

Three Word Thursday

My first love!

Prayers For Haiti

Wow, the past couple of days I just cannot stop watching the newscasts on Haiti.  The Haitian people, especially the ones that I met last April, are on my mind constantly.  We visited several orphanages while we were there, most of them to the southwest of Port au Prince, and have received word that these children and their Mamas and Papas are safe, there is still one orphanage in the city that is still unaccounted for.  The people of the Global Orphan Project have a team that has gone in to assess the need and take supplies.  If you want an organization to donate relief funds to, click here.  The Global Orphan Project is guaranteeing that 100% of the funds donated to Haiti relief will do exactly that.  If you are in the Kansas City area on Saturday, January 16th, there is a Haiti Prayer Event being held at 8 - 9 am.  To get the most up-to-date information about the Global Orphan Project team in Haiti go to their blog.

Go Into All the World!

I have had this picture hanging above the sofa in my living room for many years.  I really wanted to update the look but after looking at artwork, I was not willing to pay what a piece this size would cost.  So I decided to make something myself.  Over the last couple of years I have been very drawn to globes and world maps.  I found a great world map at the Curious Sofa  for $5.  The only thing I did not like about it was that it looked brand new. 

The first thing that I did was to wad up the map to give it some texture.  I then brewed a very strong pot of coffee and put the map it to soak for a couple of hours. 

I then flattened it out to dry.  Once it was dry I used my iron to flatten it out even more.  I then used a Q-Tip and my chalks to darken it up even more, taking into consideration where the map would be touched when being used. 

 
I painted the frame a chocolate brown. 

 
And I painted the matting as well.  The fun part was putting it all back together and realizing it turned out way better than I expected.

In the small opening I put the verse: Matthew 28:19 ~ Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 

I really like how it turned out.  The only thing that I would do differently is make the matting a different color,  I think that it is too close to the wall color.  Now the next thing I want to do is either get a wall decal or a sign of some kind that says "peace on earth" to put above the frame.   

A Different Holiday

Our Christmas holidays have been very different than ever before.  Our family has been on a journey that was very unexpected.  My Dad has been in the hospital since Christmas night with a critical lung disease.  We have spent most of our days and nights there too not only to keep him company, but to support Mom as well.  Although to look at him, you would never know just how sick his lungs are, but the doctors keep telling us just how bad they have become.  My sister, Lori, has been able to be here from Washington, and her daughter Amanda has come from Minneapolis.  The rest of the grandkids keep coming by and bringing the party with them.  If it is too late in the evening, they take the party to the family waiting room. Our prayers for my Dad are that he can get his oxygen levels below 10 liters, he would stay infection free and strength for both Dad and Mom.  You can follow his progress on Caring Bridge.