glorious mess

it's a sunny day in july. though we are all down with head colds, i am reminded of the serendipitous fact that the paper dolls i've just finished are laminated...meaning they can be wiped off and cleaned! i had this in mind when laminating them--longevity and clean-a-bility. whilst emailing with one of the wonderful staff at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, i discovered that because of their strict standards, paper goods are not e given to children in hospital without being laminated. it was so nice to be able to share that the paper dolls are already protected! i am praying for the opportunity to bring and give these paper dolls to Manchester when i travel there in April 2013 (so the plan goes...Lord willing!). As you see above, there are a few new pieces in progress.one not so tidy looking as life has not been so tidy over the past few months.i've felt a bit exposed...and tangled up...but guided by light (see above my head) and by a pillar of cloud (on left, unseen and representing the Holy Spirit) and a pillar of fire (on the right, also representing the Holy Spirit).knitters will know that it's maddening to untangle yarn when you are ready to use it...which is how i've been feeling...ready to be used creatively yet being unravelled first--which is part of the refining process (which i had forgotten!). so, praise God for the messy parts, like feeling exposed and unravelled while healing from yet another injury (my hip) and caring for jesse's healing fractured back and injured ligaments. (phew!) and praying to figure out how to care for chloe, who has been feeling a lack of attention of late. (if any of you caregiving parents are going through this, please feel free to comment and we can dialogue about this...a very real part of the healing process is how a cybling(s) is effected.) thankfully, we have wonderful counselors who are working with us as a family to get out of survival mode and into living more after all of this glorious mess. i am looking forward to jumping back into working with "holland", the parent to parent group at Children's Village in Yakima, Washington. But only after our family is properly cared for and ready to roll again. blessings on you who have had a summer of healing, whether it be emotionally, physically or otherwise. Mary

walking wounded and light in darkness

These pieces, along with many others, are available at marymakesart.etsy.com in print form. I am excited to post them for you now! I've been working on a new series of art about light in the midst of darkness and am finishing the garments of praise series with wearable art. As you will read, these opportunities have been gifts through a very difficult time. Beauty from ashes. Mourning into dancing. A boy who is not paralized, but walking. Our hearts changing through turmoil. Months after my last blog, I am finally here again. Since the last post, my son, Jesse fractured his back and damages muscles and ligaments. We just returned from our last visit to Children's Hospital in Seattle. His fractures have healed and he is just beginning to be able to walk more! He is still very sore but healing well and we are so thankful it wasn't worse. I learned what it means to be caregiver again. Days of feeding him, helping him bathe, use the toilet, etc. It has been a good reminder to me of the need to encourage caregivers. Their help is vital to the healing of long term illness. I was thankful to have the help of family and the encouragement of friends along the way. I have no answers as to why our family has experienced so many health issues. But I'm okay with that. This time around we really got shaken. I was not sure how to handle this kind of stress...it affected our family in the worse way so far. I lost sight of God's comfort for a few weeks. I am excited to post the "Tranquil" painting/print as it means so much more to me now than when it was first created about 10 years ago. Again, I look at a piece of art and it serves as a visual reminder...when i pass it and look, even if only for a moment, I remember that peace in the midst of a storm is what having a relationship with Jesus is all about. I am reminded that through art, I hope we can share that kind of peace and promise to kids all over the world with long term illness. I am reminded that i can serve, even if i stumble around and grope in the dark for a while--I still belong to an unchangeable Creator. This journey continues. I really want to be living the peace that I've been shown. This is my latest portion of the journey.