I fell in love with these three girls as I illustrated them. I don’t know what it is about the process of illustrating these family pieces, but they make me feel like I know each family. Maybe its the personality descriptions each person, and putting them together with the photos. At any rate, what precious girls. I got a sense that I know I would just plain like them… AND mom and dad too! I totally feel for them moving away from such a beautiful place where they have LOVED living. I’m so glad I could create this piece to help them remember their time there!!

Here is Katie’s entry:

Katie and Ed, what a beautiful family you have!! Thank you for the joy of making this piece and for the little window into your sweet life!

Happy Memorial Day weekend all!! Thank you for all those who have served and for those who have served and died for our freedoms in this country!! I take it all not lightly!! Praising God for you this weekend!

xox,

Katie

Guess what!! Jonah is back for two more illustrations!!!  All my homework is done, papers written, last class attended. So I can get back to studying and concentrating on oohmoon and for a couple more weeks, Jonah! Yay!!

Have I lost any of you with this series? You can truly be honest!! Was anyone at least kind of OK with the other faith-based posts? Until we got to Jonah? Was a man being swallowed by a fish, surviving for 3 days inside of it, and being spit back onto dry land way too much? If so, I know. It is a little crazy! I hear you!!

We have to remember something when we consider this story and other Biblical accounts like it. We CANNOT ever take God out of the equation! We need to remember who He is! And He is not Someone our minds will ever fully wrap around!! He is God! If God could create you and I, if he could create the entire cosmos, couldn’t He have created a gargantuan fish whose insides Jonah could survive in? We already know He’s created gargantuan fish (or mammals) in the sea!! The latter is certainly possible too! In fact, my friend just returned from a Caribbean cruise a couple months ago. And knowing I was doing a Jonah series, she called me so excited to tell about a fish they saw with their own eyes on their trip (in a big tank). It was HUGE (and it was just a young one, not full grown). And apparently many believe it was the kind of fish that swallowed Jonah. It sucks up anything within 10 feet of its path (it has suction lips). It has a very slow digestive process, and within 3 to 4 days of holding its “food” in its belly, if it cannot digest it, it spits it back up. The fish could not digest anything with bones. It was easily big enough to suck up a human. And it cannot digest humans. A person would sit inside of it for some time, their skin would be changed (discolored, smelly, and with sores) from the belly juices, but they would not die. I wish I had a name for the fish, but she could not remember it (any fish experts out there??). Either way, it was interesting. Even if her story is not true (and it is), with keeping God in the equation, it was absolutely POSSIBLE!! And it DID happen!!

This story about Jonah is indeed a story of history. We need to be careful not to allegorize the story because we can’t wrap our minds around it as factual history. To allegorize is to add hidden meaning behind the text that was not originally intended, rather than reading it literally as it is written. That becomes US teaching God’s Word (the Bible). Rather than reading God’s Word as it literally is, and letting IT teach us! (Certainly, we need to allow for different types of literature within the text—like poetry and such.) Allegorizing God’s Word adds subjectivity (based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions) to the mix. And that is a slippery slope to picking and choosing what we want to believe about God. It ultimately ends in half-truths. If not all-out lies about who God is. God essentially becomes what or who we want Him to be, rather that what He says He is in the Bible. The truth is, God’s Word is objective. It IS Truth. It was “breathed-out” by God, whom it is impossible for to lie (2 Tim. 3:16, Heb. 6:18). In its individual words and in all its words as a whole, it was inspired by God. It is the only absolute truth that exists on this sod we call Earth. It’s important we remember that. As my pastor says, let’s “open our hearts, our minds, and our will to its powerful words!”

Let’s also remember that God is sovereign. He has full authority. And He is all-knowing. He plans things meticulously. His authority is exercised jointly with His full knowledge and understanding and righteousness. I am so excited to show you an amazing way God worked sovereignly and meticulously in this story about Jonah and the Ninnevites!!

Let’s start with the text.

In Jonah 3, Jonah literally gets a do-over!! The story basically starts over. In chapter 1, it started with God telling Jonah to go to Nineveh, basically because He (God) was angry with the Ninnevites, but wanted to give them a second chance. As we know, Jonah ran for his life from this command from the Lord. The second half of Jonah (it is 4 chapters long) starts with God doing the same thing!

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD… (Jonah 3:1-3a)

YAY JONAH!!! We will learn next week, however, that even though this time Jonah obeyed God, his heart was still not in it. Let’s consider some things about the Ninevites that point to Jonah’s problem with them. Nineveh was a major Assyrian city (located at present day Mosul, Iraq—search for pics of the ruins… pretty cool!). It dates back to around 4000ish BC and was overthrown in 612 BC. It was as ancient a city as there ever was!! The Assyrian Empire was established “by bloodshed and massacre, cruelty and torture, destruction, plundering, and exiling such as has seldom been seen in history” (ESV Study Bible, 1709). We learn in Jonah 3:8 that the Ninevites were evil and violent. It is confirmed in our history books that they were indeed EVIL and VIOLENT. In my research, some of the Ninevites’ torture stories surfaced. It was mind numbing. To say the least.

So can you start to see why Jonah did NOT think they deserved God’s mercy or compassion? Can you see how he WOULD want God to destroy them? The Assyrians, only 50 years after the events of the book of Jonah (in 722 BC), would actually take the Northern Kingdom of Israel captive, and bring it to an end!!  (The Hebrew southern kingdom, Judah, was a nation a while longer until 586 BC) And it wouldn’t technically* become a nation again until—get this—1948!! They would scatter the Hebrew people from the Northern kingdom of Israel all over the then-known-world! Suffice it to say, Jonah had legitimate reason to not like the city of Nineveh!!

To add to Jonah’s dislike of the Ninevites was the fact that they had many gods. As many ancient peoples did, of course. To the man who knew the One True God, and who knew the commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3), he knew this was a serious infraction against God. So these were violent people with very eerie and strange false gods. While their main god was Ishtar (the goddess of love and war…a fighting deity for the rapacious and warlike Assyrians), many other gods were worshipped at Nineveh… (Tyndale Bible Dictionary, 953; Wikipedia).

This is the part I’m so excited to share! One of the many gods they worshipped was “Dagon”.

Hold that thought as we return to the Biblical text for just a moment: Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth [an ancient demonstration of mourning; in this case, mourning over sin and showing repentent hearts], from the greatest of them to the least of them. Jonah 3:3b-5. (Parenthesis mine.)

Now quickly returning to the god mentioned just a moment ago… Read what one website said of Dagon (the article was very good if you want further reading):

• Critics also find Nineveh’s repentance (3:4-9) hard to believe, though it isn’t technically a miracle. In actual fact, Nineveh’s repentance makes perfect sense given Jonah’s extraordinary arrival upon the shores of the Mediterranean and the prominence of Dagon worship in that particular area of the ancient world. Dagon was a fish-god who enjoyed popularity among the pantheons of Mesopotamia and the eastern Mediterranean coast. He is mentioned several times in the Bible in relation to the Philistines (Judges 16:23-24; 1 Samuel 5:1-7; 1 Chronicles 10:8-12). Images of Dagon have been found in palaces and temples in Nineveh and throughout the region. In some cases he was represented as a man wearing a fish. In others he was part man, part fish—a merman, of sorts.

Imagine these Ninevites who were already superstitious by nature, who probably either knew of or worshipped the fish-god. Imagine what they thought when they saw and smelled Jonah. Imagine what they thought when they found out (maybe via rumor mill, perhaps even via eye witnesses) that Jonah had just come from the belly of a great fish! Now consider God’s amazing attention to detail!! God knew Jonah would rebel. God knew He’d appoint a fish to swallow Jonah. He knew about the fish-god popular to the people of the area. He knew Jonah’s appearance and story would help call attention to him before the Ninevites. Even to the throne in Nineveh (Jonah 3:6-10). While Jonah was learning several very serious lessons, God was using all the details of Jonah’s story, seemingly unrelated to anything but teaching Jonah a lesson, in order to ultimately show Nineveh compassion.

As one friend, Sandra, wrote me, “It all shows me that God uses anything and everything in the culture to point people to Himself — even false things.  He is so in pursuit of lost people, so in love with them, that He will harness their culture in any way to win them to the Truth.” Amen, sister!!

Oh He is in wild pursuit of you and I, dear Oohmoonie!! He’d meet you in the depths of a sea of serious (or even seemingly harmless) rebellion. We don’t have to “straighten up” before we come to God. He’ll come to us long before we “straighten up”, if we’ll let Him!! He’ll meet us in that drowning and strangling ocean, and He’ll love us the whole way to eternal salvation, right living, and relationship with Him.

He came to Jonah at the climax of his rebellion. He came to the Ninevites in the throws of evil. And He’ll come to you and I wherever we are today too. It’s not our job to straighten everything back up. That’s God’s territory. If we place our faith in His Son Jesus, our next jobs should be to start reading His Word (come to know Him personally), and then do what it says (submit our hearts and our wills to Him). As we take one step of faith at a time, He begins to fix our hearts (and often our lives) in the process! Listen sweet one, if you’ve never taken a moment of time to ask Jesus to be your Savior, please consider doing so today! Doing enough good works isn’t enough for God. He says it is ” not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph. 2:9). Rather, the Bible says that by God’s grace alone (God giving us something we don’t deserve) we are saved when we put our faith in Him. It is not by anything we could do on our own. It’s a gift. Simply a gift. That our faith in Jesus’ atoning death on the cross receives. (Eph. 2:8-9).

You guys, the Ninevites were some of the least deserving recipients of God’s grace in all of human history. Yet… “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it” (Jonah 3:10). Something similar goes for us. When we turn from going our own way in life (Isaiah 53:6), and instead place our faith in Jesus, God has mercy on us and saves us for eternity. We are secure in Him, no matter what happens. No matter what we do. And, if we submit to all-knowing and truly Righteous God and His will for us (which we learn about as we read the Bible), He begins the process of heart-healing we all so desperately need.

All my love to you dear Oohmoonies! I am so very much enjoying this series!! If you’ve been able to read along, I hope you are too!! One more week of Jonah left! I think I’ll be sad when it’s over!!

Love to you,
Katie

* denotes: The one qualification may be noted, that during the Maccabean Period the Jews (Judas Maccabaeus) actually “ruled” for a short time (165BC to his death in 161BC).  But technically, the Seleucid’s ruled and even more technically, the Romans ruled. So there was no Jewish nation (sovereign) from 586BC to May 14, 1948.  That is 2534 years!

Quite literally!

Our boys gave Garrett a Batman t-shirt, so he could get in on the superhero fun with them! And then I (unexpectedly) proceeded to make both boys Batman t-shirts (undershirts + iron-on-transfers) and bat capes! It was SUPER fun!! And it was a SUPER day!! We had a SUPER donut (and coffee) picnic on the front steps for breakfast. Then we had somewhat of a feast for the late afternoon and spent much of the day outside. It was one of my most favorite days in a long time!! Just a delight!!!

What did you do this weekend? Anything worthy of sharing? If not, what are you doing this coming Memorial Day weekend? I’d love to hear!!!

Love you guys!!!!
Katie

I finished this piece 2 Friday’s ago, but since it was a surprise for Mother’s Day, I waited to post it until the gift was given! Well, it’s past Mother’s Day now, and so here is the post I wrote the day I created this piece:

I was SO excited when I read that this entry is for Mother’s Day!!  What a NEAT idea to do for Mom on Mother’s Day!! I can’t wait to hear how this mom (Ruby) reacts! I don’t have grown kids yet, but I sometimes think about how precious images of your original core family must be once the kids are grown and married with kids. Those must be just precious too. But I wonder if there’s something about pictures like this that remind a family about how they started. Who they were when they were under one roof together. And now they are something wonderfully magnificent as a growing family too!! And now you can’t image in life without all the beautiful new additions… but I don’t know. Anyone know what I’m saying? Whenever I see a photo of my family from when we were kids, I tend to linger and stare at all 8 of us. Remembering those times. We have very few photos of us like that now. Now its a rare day when we’re all 8 together again. Once or twice a year… IF we’re lucky!! (We are pretty spread out.) What a gift for this family to live close together and see each other regularly and to have an illustration like this!! Congratulations Paul family! And may you be blessed with a bright future of love and close-family unity! Happy early Mother’s Day Ruby!

Chelsey shared with me that they love to sit as a family outside on their parent’s deck. So that was definitely this inspiration for this scene. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend! Here’s to sunshine and family time this weekend!

Blessings to you all!! Talk to you on Tuesday!
Katie
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P.S. New Jonah piece on Wednesday!!! Freebie tomorrow!!

Oh my goodness!! When I read that Jen wanted me to create her family as SUPER HEROS I could HARDLY wait to tackle this illustration!!! I was so all over that idea!! Oh my goodness! What FUN it was to create!!!! What an awesome idea for their imaginative super-family too!! My son could hardly WAIT for me to finish drawing this piece so that he could see it finished!! I did the faces last this time so he kept asking when the super heros would get heads! Lol!! Thanks Jen for such an AWESOME idea!!!!

Here is her entry:

I absolutely fell in love with those kiddos as I was working on this! What a precious bunch they are!! And mom and dad are pretty super cool too! Oh! And that dog! Isn’t she beautiful?? (Minus the cone of course!) What a georgous dog.

To explain the costumes a little… They were all inspired by Jen’s description of every one. Dad likes to swim. So does mom, but she also likes to be crafty, so I went with Super Crafty Lady. Alex loves sports (I got a kick out of the fact that he reads the sports section every morning!!). Andrew loves animals and wants to be a farmer—hence the lasso and plaid shirt. And sweet little Caroline loves princesses and prefer dresses. And how could I leave out Sophie the dog? Doesn’t every little boy and girl want a super dog?!

What a great way to end the week!!

I also wanted to quick note that the winner to last week’s oohmoon giveaway was *Cammie*! I’m so excited to work with her this summer!! Thank you ALL of you who entered! It was a lot of fun!!! The ONLY reason I didn’t announce the winner earlier was because I’ve been swamped with final papers (last class for the semester is this week!!). Thankfully Megan posted it on her blog!!

Have a most splendid weekend!! It’s my sweetheart’s birthday this weekend, so we’ll be celebrating him!! Can’t wait!! I’m so excited for the gifts I have for him!!!

Blessings!!
Katie

So speaking of the pending summer, we’ve also been having picnics in our 3-season patio for at least one meal a day! It’s been so splendid! Unfortunately, a few insects always manage to creep in past the screen and scare the daylights out of our oldest! Lol! It’s pretty cute…. Insects… they and I have never really gotten along…. I try so hard not to pass that onto my kids… but apparently I need to try a little harder!

This dragon fly was part of the “Bugs, Bugs, Bugs” series I did last spring. It was fun. But I was creeped out looking at insect photos for a whole week!

Even though I don’t like them, I am fascinated by them. The important jobs they have for such a big world screams to me that they were wondrously and meticulously planned and imagined by a Creator! It’s just all so stunning, isn’t it?

With that, I will let you go. Next week I will resume the Jonah series with the second to last piece of the series! Check back on Thursday for this week’s Happy Family illustration!!

xox,
Katie

So I did this series. And this was my favorite illustration in the series.

My truest form of hope was realized a little later in the summer after learning all about what it means to *believe God*. Not in the sense that we believe IN God and Jesus for eternal salvation. But rather, I learned some big lessons and studied some great material on what it means to believe God at His Word. I learned that I CAN believe that God is who He says He is in the Bible. Because His Word is true! And it is impossible for God to lie! He’s always faithful to His Word!

The main aspect of God’s personality I was struggling with last summer was His goodness. I was staring at all the devastation and my faith was truly challenged. Did I still believe God is just as perfectly good as His Word says He is?

Psalm 34: 8 says, “O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.”

Yes, the Lord is good. But, when life seriously shook me, I had to believe this in my heart more than I tangibly sensed it with my eyes or ears. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The assurance!! Of things hoped for. The conviction. Of things not seen!!! I had to choose to believe what I know the Bible says about God. That God knows all things, that it is impossible for God to lie, that there is no darkness in Him, that He is the Righteous Judge (He cannot judge wrongly), that He is indeed good, and that His ways are higher than mine, and his thoughts higher than mine as well. Essentially, I had to believe that God knew what He was doing. And that He is who He says He is!

On the flip side, it was important to remember that this life and this world isn’t all there is. There is something far more incredible and beautiful and everlasting than this decaying world offers us. And in that I found joy. I didn’t find joy for the sake of forcing joy into my heart. It was true joy. A true response to something truly believed. I had to believe that what is coming—especially being in God’s presence, in His kingdom, in a renewed body—is really coming! We are told in God’s Word that nothing compares to what everlasting life will be like. “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9) When I could find nothing to have joy in here, I looked ahead to what God has promised. And I chose to believe. This changed the rest of the summer and fall for me.

If you need some hope today, wouldn’t you believe God at His Word? You can believe He is who He says He is, He can do what He says He can do, you are who He says you are, He loves you like He says He does, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, and that His Word is alive and active and has the power to change our hearts and anyone’s who chooses to read and study it! Those are surely things worth believing!

I wish you hope today. And faith to believe God for your life. Especially to any one of you who may need an extra dose of it!

My love to you!
Katie

If you don’t have have oohMoon “liked” on facebook (go do it now! ), you missed last night’s facebook announcement of a great giveaway!! Megan, from Everyday Art Photography is giving away a custom HappyFamily illustration for one winner’s family, and a choice of one really adorable frame! Don’t miss the opportunity to sign up for the chance to win!! Click here to do so!

What a great way to end the week, no?

Good luck, ya’ll!

I have to admit that I am really pleased with the outcome of this piece!! Each person in this family had so much distinct personality and style. I really enjoyed the illustrating process of this one. I loved staring at the smiles of Nora and Gary (the kids) especially. What great smiles they both have!!! And it became obvious as I was staring at their pictures all day that they REALLY love each other! They always seem to have their arms around each other!! SO sweet!! I want to give them all a hug from me! I hope they’ll consider this illustration my great big hug!!!

Tell me a brief summary of each member of your family (name, age, hair/eye color, personality). *

Jim—- brown/hazel, very smart, funny, works with computers, but originally went to art school.

Julie—- brown/blue, kindergarten teacher turned stay at home mom, crafty, hates to cook but loves to bake.

Gary—-10, brown/blue, just like his dad, very smart, likes computer games, card games, legos, starwars, is an amazingly funny writer.

Nora—-5, dark-blond/light-brown hair/blue eyes, very VERY artistic—-she makes about 30 different cool “things” a day. She is constantly cutting or gluing something. She has a paper trail a mile long.

Margaret Thatcher—-2, the GIANT family dog, brown/brown.

Mousie—-about 4 (I think, he has a birthday party a couple times a week). He had to be included because he is “real”. Nora says he has bones. He has attended both preschool and kindergarten and has gone on every ride at Disney World—-except the haunted Mansion (he got scared at the last minute and jumped off—-thankfully he was waiting in the ride’s staff office for us when we got off). He has his own Christmas stocking and hd a list for Santa this year longer than Nora’s. Brown/with red overalls.

The 3 to 5 prominent colors I would like in my piece include:

Blues, aqua, greens, maybe red.

Is there a career path you would like to include in an illustration 

Not really.

Tell me what you would like to see your family doing (would you like them just sitting all together posing, as if for a picture? Or would you like them to be doing something together). Please supply the most details here: 

We go on an annual vacation to Grand Haven, MI for a kite festival.

It is on a beautiful white sandy (unusual for Michigan) beach complete with lighthouse. There are literally hundreds of kites in the air in a rainbow of colors.

Jim and I are also very affectionate, both with each other and the kids. Whenever we hug each other though, both kids coming running across the room screaming “group hug”.

I would love to see a group hug at the beach flying kites with all the rainbow kites in the background.

************

I have to say that I REALLY LOVE the story about “Mousie”, little Nora’s stuffed mouse!!! I love that he’s been adopted as another family member! SO cute!!! Julie had sent me a picture of Nora sleeping with Mousie on top of her. It was so precious!! I wanted to die! I LOVE that they bring him every where and that he even gets changes of clothing!

Yaklic family, what a delight to illustrate you were!!

Much love!
Katie

I had mentioned a few days ago that I’d be giving away 2 oldie-but-goodies this week. My final papers for my class are due in the next two weeks. They are not actually totally due until next week, but they did mention at class last week that it’d be nice to get them in this week so they can be graded by the following week. I was hoping to accomplish that, but I have come to realize that there will be no such luck in that! We have a 5-part paper to write. And the second part alone, which is only two-fifths done, has taken me at least 12 hours just to research. I don’t know how I’ll finish all five parts before next week! Well, yes I do. I’ll work on that and nothing else until then. And so that is why I am taking extra time to work on those this week, rather than research and illustrate another Jonah piece. There are still two pieces left for the Jonah series, but I will not be able to get to them for another couple of weeks. So I’ll be giving one extra “oldie” away this week and next to make up for my lack of new post! Sorry to keep you waiting! I hope you can understand!

Regardless of the papers, I WILL be doing a new Happy Family piece this week and next week! So please still watch for those! Speaking of those, I need to get back to tomorrow’s piece!

Could I ask all of you to pray for the ability to get all of my final course work finished and handed in on time! Two other papers accompany the final papers in the mean time! I need the prayers so very much! I’ll pray for any of you who may be finishing up semester work as well!! It’s totally that time of year!!!

Have a lovely Wednesday, dear Oohmoonies! Sorry my mind is so distracted by school-talk right now!!I’ll try to talk about something else next time!!! Much love guys!
Katie

This was another of my favorite series from last year. It was a blast to create. And I still love its beautiful simplicity. I chose to offer this piece today, because lately, I feel like this girl looks. I have removed the umbrella of self-will and self-plans and self-preservation, and am surrendering to the downpour of what life (God) has in store for me. Its scary. I’m going to get muddy. Heck, I already am. But the downpour is refreshing. It’s cleansing. Reviving. FREEING. All-encompassing (touching every aspect of who I am). Nourishing. Causing growth. Thrilling. Exciting. Humbling. It makes me sing. Quite literally.

I remember being a young girl. My mom very very rarely let us play in the all out rain. We were allowed to go splash in the puddles afterward. But for whatever reason (I’m sure she had a good one), we didn’t usually get to play IN the rain. I remember being a kid, staring out our windows, and wishing I could go get drenched. I promised myself, then, that someday I’d let MY kids plan IN the rain… I’ve kept that promise. Splashing in the puddles is fun. Most definitely! But getting soaked in a warm summer rain, for the purpose of getting soaked in it, is beautiful. It’s sublime. Everything else fades away. It’s just you and the rain. Nothing on you is untouched by it.

If you can make heads of tales of this metaphor, that’s my life in recent weeks and months. My hair has been ruined. My feet are so muddy. It’s been hard to breath in it at times. I’ve cried secret tears. The rain seems to take their form. Or vice versa. its been beautiful. Sublime. Most often, just between me and the Lord. It has touched every aspect of who I am. Everything is different now.

And I wouldn’t trade it for anything in all the world.

I can’t wait to see what happens after the rain. When the son sparkles on the damp flora. When the air smells more lovely than it does at any other time. When the rainbow or promise finally makes its appearance.

But for now, I’ll enjoy the rain. As best as I know how.

I love you so!! One more free piece tomorrow. I’m taking a hiatus from Jonah for a week. Getting my final papers for class researched and written this week. No small job. But, somehow, I’m loving it! Strange. Exciting.

xox,
Katie

Hope everyone had a good week. Mine/ours was all over the place… some good, some bad, some hard, some easy, some highs, some lows. Some sorrow. Some delight! An interesting week if there ever was one! But we’ll take it! That’s just all part of living, no? Weeks like this make me so glad I am in this with the Lord. I can still trust that He’s in control and good! I’m definitely relieved it’s the weekend and I look forward to some family time.

Oh! I also wanted to say that ordering will not open again again around June 1st!! Those orders will be chosen and illustrated in July. I’m taking orders one month in advance. That gives me time to read through entries and choose the few for the month. I have enough orders in right now to keep me busy through the end of June (or longer), so I’m going to wait to open the shopping cart again until June 1st(ish). I know I’ve mentioned opening them in May, but after a good look through of the orders I need to fulfill, I am going to get those scheduled in before I receive more in. Hope that makes sense!

Happy Weekend!

Love,
Katie

Disclaimer: I’m trying something new today! If you want to interact AS you read today’s post, click here. You will be taken to another blog site with a lot more interaction possibilities! Still the same post, just more fun!

Jonah was a man “called” by God. God literally called (spoke to) Jonah to go to speak to the evil Ninevites (who were known to persecute and torture the Jews). It was for a greater purpose than Jonah could ever have imagined. But since he couldn’t imagine why, as we all know, he ran!

You and I are called people too. If you are not in Christ (haven’t placed your faith in Him and what He did for you on the cross), then He is calling you now to Himself. Jesus said in Luke 5:32, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” He pursues you tirelessly, desiring that you (and all people) would come to saving knowledge of Him, as well as an intimate daily relationship with HIm. If you are IN Christ (having put your faith in Christ for your eternal salvation-John 3:16), you are still called. And even more so! Now that you’ve responded to the first call, you are called to do His good work! Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship [another translation says 'masterpiece'], created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Yes indeed. When we put our faith in Christ, we are made new. Re-born. Re-created. From the inside. And for what? For good works (unique to each person) He’s already planned out for us to do! THAT is our calling!

For Jonah, knowing what his calling was, wasn’t very hard. “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah…” (1:1). Somehow God spoke it directly to the prophet Jonah. He didn’t have any doubt what his purpose, in that exact time, was. It can be a totally different story for us, can’t it? We can be made new in Christ immediately upon putting our faith in Him, and then waffle for some time with what our purpose is now! OR we can be like Jonah, know our new purpose(s), and be so upset over it that we run from it!

Either way, whether you are fulfilling your “calling” or purpose as we speak, running from it, or having no idea what it may be…. God is still going to complete it!! “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.” (Phil 1:6). No matter what, we have been promised that His calling WILL be completed in us. That is a promise you can count on. Ephesians 2:10 (two paragraphs up) said that we were created anew in Christ Jesus (when we placed our faith in Him) for “good works” He’d already planned for us. And in Phil 1:6 we see that He who began those good works in us (same exact Greek phrase used in both verses) WILL bring them to completion! He who is faithful and true, WILL do it!! Even if you are running from it now!

Jonah ran from his calling, and God chartered a bus others may know as a whale, that chased him down, picked him up, and returned him right back to where God had planned for him to be!

“And the LORD spoke to the fish…”

(Notice, all God needs to do is speak, and all of creation obeys?)

and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” (Jonah 2:10)

Yup! Right back where he began!

If we’re running to escape, off course in anyway, or just running around like a chicken without a head, and we’re a follower of Jesus, we can expect that the life circumstances we are in right now are our bus ride, not only to safety, but to the GOOD purpose/calling He preplanned for us long ago!!

Here’s how that looked in my life: I wanted a graphic design job. Not even ONE opened up to even apply for. I was devastated as I waited. I became paralyzed by fear as I waited. I turned to God in anguish. He whispered to my heart, “Hope.” I learned how to hope. I hoped beyond all hope. For God to know more than me. For God to have a better plan than I had. He gently prompted me to consider other avenues of art. I began to define my “style” of illustration. He immediately confirmed this new direction. The dry work spell immediately became an overflowing work spell. I fumbled awkwardly through it, learning as I went. I grew in it. I started oohmoon. I grew some more. It ended. But I knew God was saying, “Keep going. This is part of my bigger plan.” So I did. So I am. And now I’m doing posts like this one… and He’s still daily confirming, “This is part of my bigger plan.” I have to say that I don’t know the end of this plan. I haven’t the foggiest, but I know I’m walking in my calling right now. I wasn’t at first. I was wondering. Like that headless chicken. And then God, without my having a clue at the time, used the bus of despair and fear to bring me to solid ground, and gave me the strength and the wherewithal to take my first tiny step. Which He quickly confirmed. I’m still not to my destination… but I KNOW this road is leading to my preplanned destiny. Fulfilling little purposes on the way. Building up muscle for it on the way. Learning what to do once I get there. There’s a plan. I have hope in it. Moreover, I have hope in God who made the plan. And I have full faith that He will see it to completion.

What bus are you on today? Is it a yucky bus, like Jonah’s was? The “yuck” can deliver us to our calling. It may become a part of our life-story that will be the drive and passion behind our calling. Or it may deliver you from going the wrong, wandering, way from your ultimate calling. If its a “yuck” bus, like I have DEFINITELY been on!!!!!, it still may turn out to be a good-in-the-end bus because it ended up bringing you to the right place.

Did you notice Jonah was *vomited* onto dry land? It wasn’t pretty. I promise you that! Imagine what he smelled like!? Now ponder this… Not only was he almost responsible for many many many others’ deaths (the sailors and the whole enormous city of Nineveh), he almost drowned, swam around in stomach fluid for three days, and then was vomited back up. Whew! Even his step out of the “bus” wasn’t easy. It only happened because it was an act of God. He spoke. The fish puked. It may take an act of God to place your sweet feet back onto dry land, and back on the road toTHE purpose of your life, but please know this: God is faithful! If you are His, He will do it. And He CAN do it! Sometimes knowing He can do it takes more faith than knowing someday He will! Our lives may seem so impossibly confusing or off course, that the HOW of getting back on course seems to utterly not exist. But remember, God does it. Not us.

Don’t forget that Jonah prayed first though. Last week we spent considerable time looking at Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the great fish. Here are three sure things that will help you walk full in your calling:

1. Pray. Ask God to help you discover the “good works” He’s already prepared for you! He promises He has prepared them (See Eph. 2:10)! Tell Him you WANT to fulfill them. That with all your heart, you want to bring Him the glory due His name! Which is what His calling on all of our lives is ultimately about!
2. Be in God’s Word. If you are actively and genuinely pursuing a relationship with God, especially through reading His Word (the Bible), you WILL find your feet walking a path to your full-blown calling. I promise. Pursuing God is ALWAYS part of His plan for your life! He LOVES and desires 2-way relationship with us! “With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments (aka: Your Word)!…How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” (Psalm 119:10,103, parenthesis mine)
3. Obey. When you talk to God, let Him talk back. Listen to what He says to you. The most concrete and objective way He speaks to us is through His Word. You can always know His will for how to live when you read His Word. It can also guide you and speak to you for your current situations. Be consistently (every day if possible) reading the Bible! If you aren’t now, make a plan for how you’ll do it! Live obediently now, as best as you know how, and He’ll direct you to full-calling obedience later. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3).

God is all about deliverance! As we’ve discussed in previous weeks, Jonah in the belly of the whale for three days reminds us of Jesus, dead in a tomb for three days. Jonah was vomited back onto dry land. Jesus was miraculously risen from death. For you and me. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32) That doesn’t necessarily mean earthy possessions. It has eternal implications. But for our purposes today, He will give us all things that we need now in order to fulfill the purpose He wants us to live in now. If God has given His very Son for us, won’t He also help us fulfill our God-given destinies, now? Fulfill the desinies He has had planned for our lives from before we were born?!

If you haven’t yet found yourself on dry land, pray! If you are on dry land, but you are either scared to take the first step or don’t know how to, read your Bible. Eventually, if you are growing in the Lord, you will fulfill your calling. And if you are walking the path to it, not fully there yet, press on! Keep praying. Keep reading God’s Word. Keep seeking solid Biblical teaching. And keep serving the Lord and doing what you were created to do, as best you know how! And be patient. God is using now to prepare you for later. God knows the right timing for your full-blown fulfilled destiny-living. You can trust Him. With all your heart. Since we have not made it to Nineveh yet in our weekly studies, we’ll cover full-blown calling once Jonah gets there! We’ll rest here for now. Patiently.

It is an honor and privilege to serve you today. And to serve the Lord Jesus Christ!

All my deepest affection to you today!
Love,
Katie

Remember the Happy Family piece I did for them? Happy Family Blake? This moose showed up on their piece too!

Anyways, I hope you’re having a fun time exploring the outdoors with your little ones this year. And looking for baby animals with them too! Just yesterday I loaded my kids up in the bike trailer that pulls behind my bike, and we rode the few miles down to the river, I unloaded everyone, and then went and explored the river bank. We looked for birds and beavers and bears. Oh joy! What a wonderful morning we had! I’m hoping or two days in a row of the same adventure. My older son and I decided that that was more fun than the playground any day!!

Have a most lovely day!
xox,
Katie

There has already been a HappyFamily Attlan (same family!!) piece, so today’s piece is titled “HappyFamily Attlan GIRLS.” Dana has been working on a rainbow theme room for her girls Audrey and Juliette. How lucky are they?? So this piece is for their bedroom.

Oh my goodness I LOVED reading about these two girls. They sound like SUCH happy little girls and buddies! I laughed out loud when I read about how Juliette sneaks chocolate! LOL!! SO cute!!

More more about them here:

What are you family Members names, ages, color hair, color eyes, etc.? And, tell me a bit about their personality.*
Audrey – Age 5 – brown hair & brown eyes. Audrey is: athletic, adventurous, independent, artistic (she LOOOOOVES to draw), social and smart. she is a rule follower and big help around the house. she is also super active – she loves running, swimming, hula-hooping, climbing, ballet and gymnastics. she sings to herself all.the.time (and especially loves to make up her own songs). she loves princesses and dress-up – but her very favorite movie character is harry potter.Juliette – Age 3. light brown hair and brown eyes. Juliette is just the most lovable thing ever. She is energetic, sweet, funny and happy. She loves to dance (ballet) and sing. She loves to snuggle and gives the best hugs and kisses. She idolizes her big sister Audrey and does her best to keep up with her. She loves to wear dresses or skirts so that she can look “beautiful like a princess” and she has a favorite pair of pink cowgirl boots that she wears most of the time. Juliette is also less of a rule follower than Audrey – she is even a bit sneaky … haha – she has been known to sneak chocolate into the bathroom and eat it before I notice what she’s doing
The 3 to 5 prominent colors I would like in my piece include: *	bright, girly rainbow colors – mainly bright & light pink, turquoise & white and pops of other rainbow colors – it’s a colorful room.
Is there a career path you would like to include in an illustration (ie: I illustrated the husband as a police for the Brown family portrait):	no career – but this is for the girls’ new rainbow themed room (not a primary colored rainbow, but a girly bright colored rainbow )
Tell me what you would like to see your family doing (would you like them just sitting all together posing, as if for a picture? Or would you like them to be doing something together). Please supply the most details here:
i’d love the have a rainbow in the piece w/ some clouds .. and if you can add any words i’d love to have “somewhere over the rainbow” included somehow (as much of that song as you like ). i’d love the girls to be together outside … i’ll let you decide what you think would be best from the ideas i had – i’m not sure what is easiest to illustrate and i don’t mind being surprised - playing on a swing set – they love swinging and sliding - sitting in a tree house (they don’t have a tree house yet , but they would love one! especially if it had some girly details) - picking flowers and just walking along - sitting on the beach w/ the ocean/rainbow behind - just standing together with their arms wrapped around each other … like in pic 0011 … actually – i like this idea a lot unless you just want to something else
Any other details you might be able to give me that would help ensure your enjoyment of the piece:	really want the girls to be fairly ‘large’ in the piece – so we can really see their faces. I’d also like them to be wearing dresses or tutus – probably pink or purple . they are super happy, super fun girls so that’s what i’d like to make sure i see oh- re. hair … audrey’s is shoulder length and usually worn in a headband and juliette’s is longer and she likes to wear it down best (although in pics it’s usually up) … also – they do not have the pink feathers in their hair anymore …

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Are they adorable or what?! Don’t you just want to give them each a big squeeze and sloppy kiss on the cheek???

Dana!! THANK YOU for letting me recreate your beautiful girls once more! What a JOY this piece was to work on!!

God bless you all!!
Katie