Uphill idealist

Seven months between meetings. Over Jasmine tea. Wondering how life can be so different. How did all this come to be? Some areas have moved forward. Some have moved back. There is peace knowing - that someone greater than me picks up my slack. Seven months in the future. I hope there will be Jasmine tea. But most of all I know that... You always are carrying me. October 2015 Copyright T.L. Eastman

From winding roads... To sun-shimmering mornings. From apples red as red can be, to beagles' happy to sniff a tree. To skies looking gloomy and threatening snow, and wood fit for wild things to grow... Autumn days are here. Sit near. Grab a good book. Happiness awaits if only you take a look.

What feelings do these images stir up for you? What actions do they imply? After a struggle with concepts - and almost being run over with a mason jar display at Michael's, this idea really is one that hits my thoughts about the upcoming mission fair home... The jar is filled. The jar is an everyday item. The image is neither too feminine or masculine... What do you think? Which jar design do you prefer? What about the extra text below? Does the earthy wood grain work? Thank you for your feed back! 

Some projects fall into place - ideas pop and images land on the page in perfect space. Then there are some that are restless. Frustrating. Filling the page with eraser pills and re-writes. Somewhere in this mess of space and trace the idea will be born. This idea will take form. This idea will somehow come to center and fill its space on the page. T.L. Eastman Copyright 2015

There is a longing to live life to the full, that tugs and pulls. It draws a breath deep and keeps me far from sleep. I don't want to miss a thing. From dreams not dreamed and hopes just starting to gleam this glass-always-half-full draws me to drink deep. So much to see, and do and be - the limit is beyond the time of each day. Through the dawn of bright to the fall of night - wholeness is fullness seeing every hue shades each step along the way. Copyright T.L. Eastman 2015

Mark 10:2-16 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 2 Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,[a] 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” Jesus Blesses Little Children 13 People were bringing lit...

A dear friend posted this poem via Facebook the other day,  and it found me in the midst of a wild day.  I'm not familiar with the author, Wendell Berry , but I hope that my re-post of the image will be acceptable. Here also is a link to this particular poem, 'The Peace of Wild Things' at the Poetry Foundation website . Thank you Wendell for sharing the peace - you helped me on a wild day. If you would like to listen to Wendell read some of his own poems, visit his podcast here.

Breathe. Trust. Play. Rest. Create. Love. Be. These are the words that I need. These are the words that I will hold close. These are the words that are a prayer -  when I forget to breathe, when I don't remember to trust, when I need to play, when rest is far from me, when I don't feel like being creative, when love is what I long to feel and when "being" needs to be enough. Be. Love. Create. Rest. Play. Trust. Breathe. Thank you Jesus...  for these seven simple and profound words. No matter the order - these seven words bring light and life. Amen.

Image found at Infinity Institute Newspaper Just like that... The air is crisp so that the windows need to be closed at night. Just like that... I've worn more sweaters and hoodies in a week than I've worn all summer. Just like that... Soup and stew sound like the perfect thing for dinner. Just like that... The harvest moon hangs in the sky and autumn is here. Just like that... there is pumpkin spice flavored EVERYTHING available! Just like that... it's October.