God's Mysterious Ways

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GOD'S MYSTERIOUS WAYS


I’ve been seriously ill, which does remind me, once again, of our human fragility.  We’re all only a breath away from physical extinction at any time.  But some of us receive reminders to RECOGNIZE this fact – which is good, since we don’t take our bodies and life-courses for granted.

I’m struggling at the moment with the apparent (or at least possible) death of some of my fondest dreams.  My ideas and imaginations for ways of glorifying God and serving him – which I had perceived as being in line with his will for my life -- now seem mildewed and far-removed. 

How does one who has identified herself chiefly as a prayer warrior, function when her mind is often too foggy to pray?  If  I’m not going to be able to be an artist-creator-producer, who AM I going to be?  How do I juggle the paradox of wanting (sometimes) to do something with other times not caring if I just stare at the ceiling and declare that most of the so-called real ambitions of most people’s lives, simply do not matter to me?  How do I get back to the point of not crying out to the Lord – “Am I really still God’s child?”

God’s ways are not our ways.  His plans aren’t our plans.  He is the Sovereign God of all the universe.  Shall the clay say to the master-potter, “Why would you mark out this path for me?”  “What are you teaching me that I don’t understand yet?”

Right now, I don’t really have it in me to “trust in God,” if that means feelings, or mental assent on my part.  However, I can choose to say I will look forward to what he’s doing in me, even though I’m baffled by God’s mysterious ways.


Images and text  (c) by Marilee Miller 2013



Here are some links I’ve found thought-provoking, and, well – hopeful.

www.christianity.com/christian-life/spiritual-growth/ten-questions-to-ask-at-the-start-of-a-new-year-11643580.html

http://seeprestonblog.com/2013/01/tilted-world-today-with-tanya-marlow/


And here’s one just for fun!
http://blog.oregonlive.com/terryrichard/2013/01/borrego_springs_decorates_cali.html#incart_river



Also sharing today with Laura Boggess, “Playdates with God”

Background Colors

Commenters on my last week’s blog post asked how I created the colorful backgrounds I used with my Scripture texts.  So here is a look-see at how I cropped and re-colored an image in Photoshop.

The view above, like the original photo (the latter seems to have been erased), had a blurred bunny figurine sitting on a countertop  – only in the image I used, the bunny was turned sideways, with just the top part showing.

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(example, from another blurred bunny pose).  Lower marks show approximate bottom edge of original image; the top marks indicate where I cropped off the ears.

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A side-project.  The bunny remnants digitally transformed into a rock.  This frame can become a desert landscape or have other additions to play with later.

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 Pieces of background, moved over the rock, with countertop area expanded, to create an interesting all-over pattern.  (Also a cropped and zoomed version emphasizing color and texture.)

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Color-changing with Photoshop filters.




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 I’m so glad God never tires of changing my patterns and colors and reworking the stranger parts of me!
(Oh yes, for another project, I also changed the colors and shaping of the coiled telephone cord from the first photo.) 



This post is shared with Laura Boggess, "Playdates with God"

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Psalm 27:4-5

This post is shared with Laura Boggess' "Playdates with God"

God Knew Me Forever

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GOD KNEW ME FOREVER

"For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them."

Psalm 139:13-16
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Why do I fret, at times, over what I ought to be doing for God?
Or wonder what will become of me, how I will manage to “make it”.
Why do I forget, so easily, that he knows me through and through?
He planned out “the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them”!
Oh, may I rest in his provision and bounty and care.
He’s prepared for me since time immemorial.
Thank you, Lord!  “Be it unto thy handmaiden according to your word”.


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This post is shared with Laura Boggess' "Playdates with God"

Delight

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DELIGHT

 Potentilla,
Your tender little blossoms shine so sweetly
As you fulfill your God-ordained duty;
A quiet growth of  yellow petals greet me
And fill my heart fresh-full with beauty.


Thank you, Lord
For the humble glow of these, your dear flowers
Glimmered by sun and rinsed by showers;
I delight in the Lord who created each and all,
Yet find Your Divine Presence the best gift of all.

© 2012 by Marilee Miller   all rights reserved

This post is shared with Laura Boggess' "Playdates with God"

Softly, As I Play

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Softly, As I  Play

Suggestions of hills and sky,
On-screen they flow and fly,
Softly watercolorish –
Yet not made with brush,
But with graphics’ program ply.

Someone wondered, on a blog nearby,
Whether it was right to seek quiet by
“Doing nothing”; not being in a rush.
Could that open doors to the sweet touch
Of God being made nigh?

So here is my “doing nothing” try:
A restful answering to artist’s heart’s cry.
Lord, my dearest wish
Shall emerge with your quiet hush,
Softly, as I play with digital hills and sky.
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Digital art derived from a blurred photo

Images and text (c) 2012 by Marilee Miller

This post is shared with L. L. Barkat and Laura Boggess

MANY COLORS

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MANY COLORS

When I play with my graphics program,
I can render many colors from one design.

Likewise, God infuses many colors
As I, my will, to him resign;
His hand upon me shapes my way:
My growth in him is Love’s own sign.

There is a place of bright wonder;
He renders many colors from my human design.

Images and text
© 2012 by Marilee Miller     all rights reserved

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