Original Art by Uncle Sam

Blessed is the one

    who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

    or sit in the company of mockers,

2 

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

    whatever they do prospers.

Psalm 1: 1-3

Recently I posted about a painting that I have that is a treasure to me.  

It is an original piece painted when the artist, my Uncle Sam, was very young, as I remember being told.  

Ma-maw had two similar paintings that hung her hallway in the home I remember her and Pa-Paw living in when I was a kid.  I can remember, even now, standing there looking at the paintings and marveling how talented my Uncle Sam had been to have painted these masterpieces.  I am not sure how old he was when he painted them, a teenager maybe, and he was a couple years older than my mother.  

All grown up and years later, after a lot of life... some good, some really good and some not so good, as is the tale told by most families...My aunt gave me a painting done by my Uncle Sam. 

He is gone now and I am sad that he never got to know our boys or that our boys got to know him.  He was talented and creative and they would have appreciated that being creative and talented themselves....

The frame it was in was plain and brown making the painting seem not as significant as it really is.  The other day, a cold early spring day, I decided to paint the frame. 

For all the time that I have been in possession of this painting, I have not known where to hang it.  I have moved it around several times, never having the perfect spot to display it in.  

So I decided to hang it near our recliner and table where I have some devotional books and a lamp... ready for a moment of quiet and peace with the ONE who is our PEACE.

It "fits". And this is what came to my mind as I re-hung this painting.  Even when I was but a little girl, the Lord was drawing me toward images of Oak Trees and Water.  This painting draws me in to think about the cool water flowing by the huge oak tree and I wonder what sounds the birds are making in the trees, if only I could sit under the shade of this tree and listen...

And HE says to me,

Blessed is the one who...delights in my Word... They shall be like a tree planted by the water...

Thank you Lord for Your Grace that Precedes my need.  

Love that can never fail.  You are Good.   

The Word. Worship. Prayer.

These are my Roots.

It's Supposed to be SPRING

It is supposed to be SPRING!! and I have a long list of things I need to do outside!! But it is too cold to be out doing them.  I feel restless, a little despondent and don't know what to do with myself.

Other than the list of SPRING CLEANING I could do inside, I opted for a more relaxed and unexpected day of PAINTING small projects.

A friend of mine is getting married in the early summer and had asked me to help paint her chalk board frames.  So I decided to get those done and finished and ready for pretty days outside for other fun things like digging in the dirt, pulling weeds, and- my favorite- painting furniture!

While I was getting these chalk board frames all done, I remembered something I had seen in my most recent magazine from Ballard Designs.

What I did was go through the magazine and tear out all the things I was inspired by.  One item was a landscape with a price tag of $249.

View From My Room

I really liked the scene... so serene and lovely.  And the frame is beautiful too.  Simple. Elegant.

And then I remembered... I have a landscape painting that I could paint the frame and have an INSPIRED DESIGN .  I already have some left over paint from another project or two ago... hmmm.

So this is what I came up with.

I forgot to take a before picture, but this is  the painting minus the plain brown frame.  There is a story to this painting that I will share in another post.  

        Some left over paint...

The painting now fits perfectly in this spot that was bare and NEEDED something.  I am pretty pleased with the results.  AND this is an original painting by someone I love who has been gone for many years. I count it a treasure to have this piece.

Dinner & a Movie

Hunky Hubby took me on a little Dinner & Movie date last night... 

We went to the theater to see God's Not Dead, but when we got there, the show we had planned to see was SOLD OUT!! Well, that's good, except we like to be home early! But the next showing was only an hour later, so we went over to a little restaurant called TableFields... where they serve up some yummy healthy food!

Here is a picture of the Veggie Pizza that I ordered.  I only ate half and brought the other half home for lunch today... except Cameron ate it instead. That's OK.  That is what us MOM's do... share our food- even with the grown up kids!

Then over to the movies we went!  We found ourselves seated in front of our new neighbors who live down the street from us.  Ironically, when we found our seats, there was a commercial playing for a Disney and the song, of course, was "It's a Small World After all.."  How cool was that!

I am also a people watcher... and I am always entertained!  The theater was full, but not overfull or crowded, plenty of empty seats here and there.  There were those TWO SEATS on the sides of the larger middle section where groups of TWO could have easily sat down to enjoy the movie with their LARGE Popcorn and SODA... 

But NO.  This one couple made their way in the semi-darkness to sit right in front of us.  

NOT A PROBLEM... for us.  It just didn't make sense that there were two seats directly across the isle they could have sat in when what they chose to do was sit RIGHT BESIDE a family seated in front of us.  Who does this??? 

It would have been different if there were not OTHER SEATS where the two of them could have sat and not been RIGHT ON TOP of another family... BUT they did.  

AND then proceeded to take off their coats after they were seated making it fun to watch them try not to touch the other people they did not know... I am still in awe of how clueless human beings can be in social settings!!!

Oh, and then came the movie.  God's Not DEAD.

Mike and I really enjoyed the movie. It was not cheesy, like some "Christian" movies, when the director and actors try really hard to be perfectly spiritual and religious.  We may be biased, but we thought that Kevin Sorbo did an outstanding job playing the part of an outraged atheist.  The other main actors were believable too and the movie revealed real life choices and decisions that WE ALL face when it comes to what we believe.  The characters didn't always get it right.  Neither do we.  I appreciated that perspective by the directors.  

Were there some less experienced actors/extras in the movie? Yes.  But the main actors/characters took center stage and they were great!  The movie, as I have read, is not a major budget flick, but that didn't make the final product seem like it was lower budget than, say DIVERGENT or NOAH...  

All in all, I would give this movie a Two Thumbs UP... (like you care how many thumbs I have!!! hahah!!!)  Seriously, this is a movie well done and well played.  I hope you will go see it!

Learning to Trust

It has been two years since I last blogged.  A long journey that I had almost given up on.  A journey through valleys and shadows and the death of some things.  

"I wonder what sort of a tale we’ve fallen into?”

“I wonder,” said Frodo. “But I don’t know. And that’s the way of a real tale. Take any one that you’re fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of a tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don’t know. And you don’t want them to.” ~The Two Towers T.R.R. Tolkien

Just this past fall, when Mike and I were discussing me leaving a full time place of employment in order to be more actively involved in the mission and ministry of our local church, I admitted to him that I had/have some major TRUST Issues.  

The Lord had revealed this to me in my quiet time... tenderly, sweetly, lovingly.. in a way that spoke to my heart "De Anna, I know you.  I know when you rise and when you sit and I know the thoughts of your heart before you even know what they are...Trust Me."  


Exactly two years ago this date, I wrote about my insecurity and fear of Trust.  The core of who I thought I was had been dramatically shaken and I wasn't sure if I would make it through to the next mountain top with the Lord... the valley was long and dark. 

But I am now looking back to find that God has been-indeed-faithful.  I am learning to Breathe In His Grace, and to Breathe Out His Praise once again.

When I thought the Word that I had hidden in my heart had slipped away and I could no longer recall the hope of grace, He was there to remind me that I am His and He is mine.  

So.  It is time to MOVE ON and MOVE FORWARD and TRUST.  To get on with the Life that I have been called to lead.  

yet will I trust in Him

Job 13:15

This is a good time to RE-vamp and Update this little blog of mine... To dig around and see what God has been teaching me and to do what His word says...

Write down the revelation
    and make it plain on tablets
    so that a herald may run with it.
Habakkuk 2:2 NIV

Not sure that I have anything important to say, but God has impressed me to write about a topic. One I am still on discovery with and am prayerfully seeking His wisdom and knowledge.  

The Courageous Bride: When Trials Trouble and Adversity Comes, the Bride Will Maintain Her Integrity

So here's to discovering what Life Under the Oak Tree really means.  

Warning( to myself and to the reader ) 

Life is REAL and Life is Hard. 
But sometimes it is FUN and Silly.  

There is no telling what I may post.  I have lots of interests... Bible Study, Furniture Re Fab, Food, Family and Sunrises...we shall see.  Thanks for reading.  

The Word. Worship. Prayer.

These are my Roots.