Arrival...Refrigerator?

Yellow Flowers
Contemporary Art Daily Painting Flowers by Laurie Justus Pace

8 x 10 Watercolor

Contact me to purchase or for commission work: Laurie

This is Christmas Eve LATE NIGHT. We were eating See's Candy sent by a close friend in Sacramento. She always knows Terry loves his candy.

This is late late Christmas Night and I was worn out from 6 hours of cooking and then an hour of cleaning up. Thank you Jan for your help and ever busy hands! Also Mac for pitching in that morning in the kitchen with cooking. THANK YOU GOD!

I have to stay with thoughts of bible stories this morning. I keep remembering the wise judgment of King Solomon when two prostitutes came before the king. Both had given birth to babies. A few days later, one baby had died and the sneaky mother took her dead baby and laid it at the breast of the other sleeping mom. She slipped the live baby out from next to her and took that baby to her bed. When the one mother awoke and saw the dead child she was upset but in the morning light she recognized it to be the babe born to her friend. (Some friend.) They ended up in court before King Solomon. The king heard their story and then asked for a sword. He gave the order to cut the living child in half and give one half to one mother and one half to the other mother. The mother of the living baby said, "Please, my lord, give her the living baby. Don't kill him!" the other mother said,"Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two." King Solomon was wise. He smiled and said,"Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is the mother." ( This story can be found in 1 Kings 3: 16-28)

When I look across our fair land with all the divorces and the torn up children pulled from one family to another, especially at Christmas time, my stomach knots up. These children did nothing to ask for this back and forth ping pong in their lives. These children are literally cut in two. They constantly find themselves caught in between conflicts and battles. I think the only thing worse is when it comes to fore in public, on the news or in the newspaper. The child always suffers. A wise parent would never submit their child to the ping pong of homes, the arguing between families, and forever conflicts. A wise parent would not expose a child to ridicule or a situation that might bring such pain to them. So difficult it is to put your own feelings (NOT NEEDS) behind and protect your child's feelings (NOT NEEDS) first. The children did not ask for this, and they do not deserve it. Parents all across this great land are still "cutting that child in half".

When I taught public school and had divorces happenings occur to my students, I always suggested to the parents that the child's home stay 100 percent in tack. The parents both needed small apartments. The parents needed to go back and forth, NOT THE CHILDREN. The child's home should be preserved and their lives protected until they are of the age of understanding what has occurred in their lives. I had two sets of parents actually do that and you can only imagine what a gift of life they provided keeping the children in the original home with friends close by and everything they had grown up with.

Wisdom is only effective when it is put into action. We all gather knowledge through our lifetimes of experience. The most important thing is to USE the knowledge. That is wisdom. You can gather knowledge all day long and ignore it. That is unwise. I will forever remember Sesame Street when my kids were little and they did the little skit on "If I do this, this will happen, oh and then that will cause this to happen, and if that happens it will cause this to occur." What happened to adults thinking things through before they do things?

We only receive wisdom when we seek its source, God. I think during this season there is a massive amount of confusion between God and Santa Claus....God will provide all we ask for if our hearts are His. (needs, not wants) Keep Christ in Christmas. I am not for deleting good ol' Saint Nick, but educate your children to the priorities of the season. It is God that can heal the sick, provide abundance when we need it, or move that mountain that seems to be in the way. Santa cannot do things like this. Santa is man-made. Read more at Wikipedia, CLICK HERE.

My three children grew up with Saint Nicholas coming in early December. We tried to keep Christmas separated and with Santa it was small stocking stuffers. All gifts that were exchanged centered around family giving on Christmas Eve. It is hard to take a stance when the media pushes Mr. Claus to the front of a religious celebration.

God's word is an unending source of wisdom for those who apply themselves to study.

Joy and Abundance,

Laurie

"God offers wisdom to all who desire it." Proverbs 1:23

I HAVE TO INCLUDE THIS: FROM fellow artist WILLIAM HAWKINS BLOG, to visit him click: or just watch this WONDERFUL YOUTUBE of him making music with his kids. CANON IN D, my VERY VERY FAVORITE!!!