Uphill idealist

Image and quoted text from Art.com Vincent Van Gogh’s exquisite “Almond Blossom,” which he painted for his newborn nephew as a symbol of budding life, embraced one of his favorite subjects: flowering branches against a blue sky. Epitomizing the tormented artist, Van Gogh (1853 – 1890) was a post-Impressionist Master whose fragile psyche was uplifted by the healing effects of painting outdoors. Extraordinarily prolific, Van Gogh produced all of his works during a 10-year period—at one point, creating an astonishing 150 paintings and drawings within one year. Although Van Gogh only sold one painting within his lifetime, he profoundly influenced modern Expressionism, Fauvism and Early Abstraction. © Art.com I came across this image at Art.com and was surprised that I'd never seen this painting by Van Gogh. Lately, I've been drawn to everything green and blue, maybe it's a mid-winter malaise, but I think this painting would be beautiful to me in every season.

As a youth minister, I have to admit it's really hard to choose my favorite age of kids to work with. The teens are all questions, the middle school kids are ALL energy, the grade school kids are wide eyes open, and the kindergarten kids - they are not afraid of anything. Today, I asked a two group of kids to help me write some new lyrics to the song "He's got the whole world in his hands". The grade school kids needed some serious encouragement, but once they got started they had fun with the process. The little kids were so excited about the project, they could barely take a breath to tell me what they wanted to put in the song next. It bothers me that as we all get older, sometimes our enthusiasm fades. Ask a six-year-old if they can be a dancer, singer, astronaut and artist and all of them will say "YES!" It's my hope that making songs with these kids will help me stay enthusiastic about life and help the kids I work with to never let go of the enthu

Statistics can be a useful tool in assessing pretty much anything. You can take a quiz for pretty much any questions you have. You can find out what personality type you are via various personality assessment platforms, you can see how energy efficient your home is by having a wind test done, you can even track how many people read your blog. I enjoy simple trivia quizzes just much as the next person, but there are some things that statistics can’t show. Early in the first weeks of 2010, I was comparing my blog readership from 2009 to 2010 by tracking the readership with Google Analytics . As I looked at the pie charts and grids and finally looked to the visit count for each month, I could feel a wave of disappointment rise from my stomach. 2009 had started out well, but about half-way through the year the readership looked to have dropped by half. This development was disappointing to me. Reading the decline in the statistical results of my blog, I began to doubt my writing ability. I

Photograph by Raymond Larose , this and other images can be viewed on his Photostream at Flicker. The dimness of light and the wash of old snow makes my mind turn to thoughts of sunshine, warm breezes, and ice-cubes dancing in tumblers filled to the brim with sun tea and slices of lemon. If it were not for this grayness, would I remember springtime in all it’s gentleness? Would I count down the days until, springing forward were a reality instead of a winter daydream? I suppose I ought to be thankful for January and its gifts to me. January gifts are hope, promise and time to read a good book. January’s gray gives me the space to dream of days fair and bright, all while being wrapped up in my favorite blanket. I look, still daydreaming, out the window and watch hopefully as new white snow begins to fall sleepily from the slate sky. By: T. L. Eastman 2010

The Halti headcollar has made walking my once-a-stray-beagle mix shelter dog so much easier. No more pulling or tugging since I started using it. This is especially good since its' been icy around here.:)

Mary Lue shared her host post on business and rest for this weeks Sleeping with Bread Examen. Her words resonated with me in the fact that due to a significant staff change at my office, there is more work to be done and my plate is feeling fuller lately. There have been more meetings, and lots of talking and planning. For the most part, I've felt much more connected to people since I've become more involved in this way, but oddly when I'm done for the day or night - I find myself in need of some quiet. Maybe I'm still sorting and planning in the back of my mind, but silence (even my own) is something I find myself being more and more drawn too. It's like the extra noise, both internal and external, makes me feel claustrophobic . A few days after Christmas, I went into a game store with my son and was overwhelmed by all the noise and activity there. The store was tiny but filled with kids and their parents vying for their video game of choice. My head felt hot, my

I love this version of the worship chorus, "Jesus be the Centre" by Vineyard Music . Below are the lyrics for you to read if you like. I've been teaching this song to my Sunday school kids and they really seem to like it as well. Jesus, be the centre Be my source, be my light Jesus Jesus, be the centre Be my hope, be my song Jesus (Chorus) Be the fire in my heart Be the wind in these sails Be the reason that I live Jesus, Jesus Jesus, be my vision Be my path, be my guide Jesus (Chorus) Be the fire in my heart Be the wind in these sails Be the reason that I live Jesus, Jesus (Instrumental solo) Be the fire Yes, Be the fire (Chorus) Be the fire in my heart Be the wind in these sails Be the reason that I live Jesus, Jesus Jesus, be the centre Be my source, be my light Jesus Be my source, be my light Jesus