Healing

Heart Has Fallen

Photo Source

My

One Little Word for this year has been "heal".  After a tough and tramatic 2011 with our family facing unemployment, then a big move, and a death in our family, I felt I needed some time this year to focus on healing, resting, nurturing my heart and being kind to myself. 

Love NEVER fails.

Photo Credit

One of the ways I've done this is to work on nurturing my creative soul.  I've gotten back to the basics and have been taking some wonderful online classes from

Christy Tomlinson

,

Junelle Jacobson

,

Gritty Jane

, and

Jeanne Oliver

.  I've been sketching and searching and playing and trying new things!  I've been allowing myself to rest and rediscover my loves and what inspires me.  I'm working on surrounding myself with other, like minded, kindred spirits who can love, support and encourage me and I them.

My heart in your hands

Photo Credit

I'm really looking forward to jumping back into my art making and creating now.  I feel like I'm ready to dive back in and create like hopefully never before!  I hope I will in turn continue to heal, grow, flourish, thrive, be strong in my life, and in turn encourage and nurture others!!

Do you have One Little Word that you've been processing, living and nurturing this year?  I'd love to hear about it!!

Happy creating!

♥ Jennifer

My "One Little Word" for 2012

Healing.

Photo Credit

Thank you so much to everyone who read my

last post

and for all of your kind comments, encouragement and prayers!  They mean more to me than you could know!!  I just love this blogging community and feel it is truly a gift to be a part of it!

As I mentioned in my

last post

, the last year, and especially the last few months, have been quite hard.  It has been a time full of heartbreak, loss, huge changes, growing pains and challenges.  But it has also been a time full of hope, answered prayers and the beginning of healing.  For this reason I've chosen

Heal

to be my "

One Little Word"

for 2012!

Heal the world !!!

Photo Credit

I want to take this year and focus on

healing

. After all we've been through I feel like this is a time to rest, breathe, listen, learn and

heal

.  I'm excited about this new word!  I've been pondering how I can focus on

healing

and restoring my spirit.  Here are a few things I've come up with so far...

First, I am a daughter of Christ and He is the Great Healer!  No

healing

will come except through Him!

"He

heals

the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."  ~ Psalm 147:3

You Whisper You Love Me

Photo Credit

I'm so thankful for this, for a God that I can go to for everything!  It is so important to me to spend daily time with my God.  I want to meet with Him, pray to Him, read His Word and grow to be more like Him.  I don't pretend to be perfect, and sometimes my day gets away from me and I haven't had that sweet, quiet time with Him, but I always want to try!  I know this is the only way to truly

heal

my heart!!

Next, I am an artist! 

"Create" by Jennifer Snellings

Mixed Media painting

"For this reason, I ask you to keep using the

gift

God gave you. It came to you when I laid my hands on you and prayed that God would use you." ~ 2 Timothy 1:6

My art has always been so

healing

.  It is a place I can escape from the realities of life and focus on my passions!  It re-energizes me, reconnects me, and feeds that special place that God created in me as a creative soul.  My art is nurturing to my heart, so I hope to spend lots and lots of time creating this year!!  It is also my prayer that God will use my art, in His amazing way, to impact others.  Serving and helping those around me is another way to bring

healing

to my heart!!

Finally, of course relationships can be so

healing

!  My goal is to make extra effort this year to nurture those most important relationships, with my God, my husband, my children, my family and my friends.  I want to make intentional efforts to spend quality time together and not let the busyness of life get in the way!  After all, life is so short and we don't know how much time we'll have with one another!

It is my hope and prayer that 2012 will be a

healing

year for you as well! 

Happy creating,

♥ Jennifer 

I Was Fearless!

Things have been very quiet around here for the past few months. Sorry for that! Life has a way of throwing curve balls at you and it seems like the last year, especially the last few months, has been full of them! If you remember from

this post

, last year my

“One Little Word”

was

Fearless

. Never would I have dreamed how important that would be when it came to facing the year ahead.

Looking Down II

Photo Credit

 At first I embraced the word

Fearless

from an artistic and creative standpoint. I took the leap and focused on making my creative business and dream to sell my artwork a reality. I wasn’t going to let my fear get in the way!! I was mentored by the amazing and gifted,

Wyanne

. I revamped my blog and created my

Etsy Shop

. I even stocked it with some paintings for sale – be

Fearless

! (More paintings coming soon!!) I was able to start my youngest in a wonderful Mother’s Day Out program – be

Fearless

- that allowed me to focus on my business twice a week. I also had the great honor of being asked to join the teaching team at our local

Painting With a Twist

studio.

My "Whimsey Tree" Class

It was scary starting to teach again when it had been so long – be

Fearless

- but it has been the perfect part time job for me to stretch my teaching muscles and share my love of painting with others. This was all such a blessing and a very exciting time, but I had to be

Fearless

to push through and do it!

On a more personal note, my family had been going through the stressful process of a new ministry position/job hunt for my husband who is a Pastor. I had to be

Fearless

and trust God that He would provide for us while my husband was between jobs. (And He ALWAYS did!) The church interviews take months at a time and I often have to interview with him – be

Fearless

!! We knew God had a plan for him and a place picked out; the searching for that right place and fit is what can be so challenging.

After a very long process and interviews with countless churches, God led Matt to his new job and our new church home. In October he got the call, we traveled to house hunt, and moved from McKinney to our new home in San Antonio by the end of November – be

Fearless

. In the process we hit every speed bump we possibly could….from delays in preparing our house to sell (foundation problem, etc) to not being able to fit all our belongings on our moving truck – be

Fearless

!!! I was determined not to let the fear of the “what ifs” and “unknowns” get the best of me!! I tried to tackle each new problem head on and not give into my fears. God was with me each step of the way.

As we began to settle into our new home and face the challenges of relocating (unpacking, meeting new friends, settling into new jobs, adjusting to new schools, etc) we also were smack into the middle of the holiday season. Busy and overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to explain how I felt!! During this time I tried to keep things simple, take it one day at a time, and remember how excited we were to be here even though transition and change is often not easy – be

Fearless

.

But, even though it was the end of the year, the challenges were not over. In fact, I was about to face one of the biggest ones of my life…

My step-dad, affectionately known to my children as “Big Jim”, was diagnosed with

Aplastic Anemia

four years ago. He and my mom have a special love story. You see, my dad died when I was 17, very suddenly, of a viral heart infection that damaged his heart. My mom found great comfort in a Widows Support Group, which is where she met Jim, who was also widowed. Three years later they married and have been now for 15 years. About a year ago we learned Jim was out of remission and had developed MDS. This past Thanksgiving he was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia and was in the hospital over the holidays. On December 27th, he met his Savior. We got to be with him before. We said how much we loved him; we said our goodbyes. Be

Fearless

.

"Big Jim"

 Jim was my 2nd Dad. He had been in my life as long as my real Father was. He was such a servant and a strong follower of Christ; a wonderful example of a godly man. He was there for my family always and while he never tried to replace my real dad, he did all the things my dad would have done had he been here to do them. Jim never treated my children as anything but his grandchildren. He loved us.

Big Jim playing!

He has met my dad now and I have a feeling my dad thanked him for his time with us. He took good care of us.

Jesus said, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” John 16:22

As hard as this past year has been, I know I’ve learned a lot! I’ve been stretched and God has been faithful. I am glad it is over and I’m enjoying the fresh start of a new year! I’m looking forward to 2012 being a better year! Although I’ve chosen a new “One Little Word” for this year, I’ll continue to keep

Fearless

close to my heart.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

Be Fearless!!!!

Check back here soon to hear what my new “One Little Word” is for 2012. Have you chosen your word yet? I’d love to hear all about it!!