Autumn Recipes

Oh.. I love this time of year.  

This photo is pretty unrelated to the topic.  But to find a 'fall' looking photo I started scanning through pictures from last year and came across a series of these.  OH my how much smaller she is.  I didn't even remember taking these.  It makes my heart melt to think of how fast they're growing.  I always tell her she can't keep growing that I want her to stay three (fah-lee) forever.  "Oh but I can't mommy, Jesus made me to grow bigger" she always replies.  She's in such a hurry to be older.  When we pretend play she's always seven and the big sister.  But she does reassure me that I can always hold her even when she's a grown up.  Sigh.  Why is it the older you get the faster the time flies.  It's just not fair!  Someone stop the clock ok?

But back to our topic.. Autumn recipes.  None of them are mine.. but I'm introducing you to a plethora of yummy gluten free recipes you must check out!  Gluten is the source of problems for so many people.  It is a main source of inflammation so with a lupus diagnosis my doctor recommended I avoid it.  

I love this blog "Gluten Free Goddess"!  But just because you're cutting out gluten doesn't mean you can't enjoy some really yummy foods.  I've learned how to navigate around wheat and gluten really well in the last year.  The internet sure helps.  I wanted to share her post today because of all the scrumptious Autumn recipes.  

There are soups and chili and pumpkin waffles and muffins and deserts galore.  But the thing that has my mouth watering are these two recipes.  I am a mexican food-aholic.  I think I could honestly eat it every day and not get sick of it.  

Chicken and Artichoke Enchilada Bake!

Or this one. 

She says her chicken enchiladas are one of the most popular recipes on her blog.

She also has a whole section of Thanksgiving ideas.  Interestingly that's right around the time I found her blog last year.   I think you'll find lots of yummy ideas there too!  Happy cooking and Happy almost fall.  Can you just feel it in the air?  I know in Southern California we don't have fall like so many states, but I still feel the change in the air, the light, the smells.  And I love the excitement of all the fall activities and celebrations.

A Little Bit Of "Free" Time

Today my last 'peanut' (that's what I have called her since she was a baby bundled in a swaddle because she just reminded me of a peanut) started her first day of preschool for the year.  She was so excited to see her friends and to be back at her school.  There were no tears thankfully.  Just a high five and an I love you mommy.  She was settled in with her friend Ry Ry and the baby dolls.  That's all she needed.

So I am home.  Two hours really is all I have till I pick her up.  But it's the first uninterrupted two hours I've had since last June to be home by myself.  Yes we go out on date nights or I'll have a meeting.  But I'm talking about being ALONE.  I crave it.  Is that bad for me to say?  I don't think so.  Because without it I'm not as good a mommy or wife, or anything for that matter.

I have learned about myself that I need time to be quiet.  Well, maybe not completely quiet.  I love turning on my pandora Ginny Owens station.  I love getting to read an inspiring blog or two and I sit here wondering which project to start first.

There are so many.  That's the problem with a personality like mine.  I can't just sit.  Part of me wants to.  But I am too excited to embark on all of those projects I've been putting on the back burner.

I prayed the Lord would let me be wise with my time.  Not waste it because it goes so quickly.  I felt the Lord telling me to get to this first.  So today is a day of new beginnings for me.  A day to pursue those dreams that have been on the back burner for a little while.

I drew it a little over a month ago.  It should have been colored in by now... but sometimes life gets in the way and sometimes I'm too tired at night.  Ok a lot of times I'm too tired at night.  A little note that I'm almost afraid to speak out loud.  But my hope had been/still is to have enough drawings done to sell prints and possibly other things on etsy by the end of October.  I really would love to have a whole calendar worth of drawings ready before the holidays so it can be a gift option.  Oh... I need prayers that I'll be able to achieve this dream.


But back to this drawing...

It is inspired by Isaiah 40:31.  

"Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles..."

I currently have this scripture with the famous Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker painted in my daughter's room.  But rain water damaged it awhile ago and we're about to have to paint over it.  I'm ok with that because I did it six years ago.

At that time I wasn't confident enough to try my hand at my own drawings for a mural so I copied hers.  I love those fairies and think she was an amazing artist.

When we chose Ava's name I learned it means bird, but specifically Eagle in Latin.  I love this scripture.  I also found this story about how eagles use the storms and rise above them, they allow them to carry them higher.  It's very symbolic of how through God we can be renewed in our strength and rise above the storms in life. 

I never knew how many times I'd look up in her room and need to see it.  It has served me more than her to this point.  But I wanted to choose this as a scripture for her to hold onto throughout her life.  

Ok.. that was kind of a side note.  But I wanted to explain why I wanted to do another painting with this scripture since we'll be painting over the mural soon.  

 I also was inspired by Daisy Love who is fighting her second Wilms tumor right now.  She is a six year old little girl and the daughter of Pastor Britt Merrick from Reality Carpinteria.  They have quoted this scripture on their blog through this journey.  

She is an amazing little girl.  I don't know her personally, but can just tell by what has been written.  I wanted to capture that feeling of soaring free with your faith in the Lord.  He will lift her higher, above this storm.  He will do that for all of us.  And even in her trial, others are being brought closer to the Lord.  He is amazing that way.  And praise God her second tumor recently shrank enough to be completely removed.  My girls especially are set on praying for Daisy every night.  She has a place in their hearts.  We continue to pray for her full recovery and a long faith filled life ahead.  I actually just checked and her fever is rising.  So please join me in prayer that Daisy Love will be completely healed.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord.  "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future." Jeremiah 29:11

"Streams In The Desert"

I absolutely love this daily devotional "Streams In The Desert".  It was originally written in 1925.  Some of the language is a little old fashioned.  But the ways it takes trials and helps you look at them with a new perspective is really amazing.  

It's biblically based using scripture, sermons, poems and stories.  So many mornings it has helped me see things in a new light and has taught me to thank the Lord for the trials in my life.  

If it weren't for them I wouldn't have needed Him in such a way of sheer desperation. 


I wouldn't have been broken. 

I wouldn't have come to the end of myself. 

I wouldn't have let go and given it all to Him. 

I would have still thought I had control,

and would have tried to keep it.  

I wouldn't have been blessed by drawing so near to Him.  

I wouldn't have known Him the way I do now. 

If life were all easy,

honestly would I have drawn this close?

I think the answer is no.

And knowing what I do now,

I know that would have been sad. 

I would have died without understanding the depths 

to which my relationship with God can go.

But I also know I still have so far to grow.

But it's exciting knowing Him this way.

Feeling His presence in my life this way.

And yet knowing it's only a glimmer of what Heaven will be.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  James 1:2-4

Because of His Love

Because of His love
I feel a power not my own
strength 

and resolve 

I wouldn't have known
His spirit convicts me
and whispers
You are enough
You are beautiful
Believe
Oh wonderful Savior
 You love and adore
and call to all
to know the truth and more
To feel the way
You give peace
and joy
patience
and comfort
Because of His love
I am changed
  and am called to love 
called to forgive
the way he would
to have a mind like His
to flee from lies
to give
to receive
to hurt
to heal
to grow
to overflow
to weep
to dance
to believe
Because of His love
I am His child
His daughter
He is jealous for me
and intercedes
on my behalf
He fights for me
and died for me
and for this reason
I will fight for Him
and fight for the life
He meant for us to have
I am just one
but I am enough
to share the truth
my faith
to share His love
that is more than enough
to overcome
to restore
to believe again
in the Creator
who is calling to you
Because of His love

I've been listening to lots of beautiful music lately.  So much of it ministers to my soul.  I just felt super moved to sit down and write and this is what flowed out.  Perhaps it'll minister to someone else.

Also.. here are some songs/videos that have me feeling really inspired, convicted and encouraged to do the hard work we're called to do.

A Place To Call My Own

This little haven of mine has been a long time in the making.

First it was a dream... for well, a few years.

But finally, it was time to build that window box seat
I had been dreaming about.  

The building happened somewhere in December of last year if I remember correctly.

It sat bare for months.

While we still had a round table that didn't fit our family of five anymore.

Typically we'd eat in stations or one of the adults would wind up at the little red kid table because the kids no longer would eat there.  That just didn't seem right.

Then it took me awhile to find just the right fabric.  I went to just about every store I knew of here in Los Angeles, including downtown to the fabric district.  Nothing was just right.

I don't like settling when it comes to these things and I'll be patient enough until I find the thing that makes my heart sing.

Tanya Whelan's fabric was the the thing that did it.  Oh I fell in love!  I envisioned this little french country bistro... and it's just how I imagined.  I'm leaving room to add some pillows for when something catches my eye.  I'm hoping to find one with a cute bird on it.

Oh and I almost forgot... the whole reason I'm posting this now is that our farm table is finally in.

I dreamed of a rustic looking farm table.

I tore pictures out of magazines.  I drew up my idea.

But nowhere and I mean NO WHERE did they have a table that was small enough to fit our space.

Then I was told about Oasis in Malibu.  And do you know when I walked in they had a table that was the perfect combination of the three I was putting together to make the one I really wanted.

I didn't even need to ask for a change.  Other than the fact that the dimensions needed to be smaller and we had to lose a diagonal feature because it wasn't long enough to keep them.

It's a trestle farm table made with re-purposed wood.  The top is a natural wood color, but the bottom has a shabby chic white wash.

Oh and the other real reason I wanted to write about this is that this is where I go early in the morning before the kids rise to read my devotionals and my bible. 

To drink my tea.

To look at the birds out the window.

To journal to God.  To listen to God.  To dream.  To Hear.  To feel filled and inspired.

I walk away from this spot feeling ready for my day.

It's also where I squeeze in moments to draw. 

I don't have a craft room.  Perhaps one day.

But for now this is absolutely perfect to me.

Inspiration

I find inspiration in the simplest of things.

In the words of a song.

In a bird sitting in a tree outside my window.

In a moment of time while my kids play.

I see a picture.

I usually run for the camera so I can remember the image in clearer detail. Later that scene, altered here and there will become the starting point for a drawing.

Or often times scripture will bring to mind a picture. I'll think of how I can bring it to life, in my own style.

I think of something that I'd want to wake up and see first thing in the morning to inspire me to live a better life and to stay focused on God. So many little things can do this for me.

I love being open to them and then pondering them in my heart and mind. The idea for the art is usually a lesson for my soul. It helps me focus on the scripture that day and focus on the Creator who brought the scripture to me for a reason.

I love the connectedness I feel to the scripture as I work on the picture. I love the lessons God is teaching me as I simply draw and let go of any little worries bogging down my mind.

I think we all can find these moments in doing simple acts that cause you to let go and get lost in the moment. Folding laundry, ironing, making dinner, doing dishes, sewing, putting away toys, exercising, drawing or creating.

The little repetitive motions that allow us to escape usually open me up to hear from God. So the next time you're thinking about something as mundane, think of it as more than that, as an opportunity to quiet your mind and hear His gentle whispers.

"Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind.

After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire.

And after the fire came a gentle whisper".
1 King 19:11-12