Skip to main content

'Rounding Them Up' contemporary Equine Art Cowboy and Wild Horses Daily Oil Painting by Texas Artist Laurie Justus Pace


'Rounding Them Up'

18 x 27  Oil on Canvas


SOLD COMMISSION WORK FOR CHRISTMAS.
Someone will open this Christmas Morning...



Contact me for commission work, there is still time. Laurie


© Laurie Justus Pace     Graphics One Design 2009





FOR shopping today, Click on the name below for some fabulous with my painted ponies on them.
Try out a new mouse pad, a wonderful mug for coffee or hot tea, or my favorite, the bags! There are tote bags, beach bags and just junk bags. I put images on front and back of all of them.  I already own
several of them and use them all the time. They wash great too.

There are many neat gifts to consider!

The Painting:  Someone will open this Christmas morning and I hope they enjoy it as much as I enjoyed painting it.  I learned new technology sending pictures via phone to the gift buyer.  This took about 8 days to paint with layering of many intricate areas.


The Thought:  I promised on Facebook to share St Nicholas Day.  My family is of German heritage. We always celebrated St Nicholas Day on the sixth.  As I had children, we tried to keep St Nicholas the day for Santa totally separate from Christmas. St Nicholas Day is for the children in the family.
Christmas is for Christ and the celebration of His birth.  We do exchange family gifts and we trade names with a limit of $50.  That way we eat together and enjoy a simple time of sharing gifts.  When you have to shop for one person, it is a lot more intimate as you think it out to buy just the right things.
On Christmas Day we allow ONE gift in the stocking. A small one and that is a heart gift... our greatest gift of heart came with Him through the Father.  SOOO this morning is the beginning of St Nicholas Day.  When Crystal wakes up this morning there are some special gifts for her to open with candy and fruit in her stocking.

This is the second Sunday in Advent. I have run behind in preparation within my heart for the season. This week I was led by a wise friend to reorder my priorities and thoughts as well as my direction.  I was forced to throw out the "BUT'" and the "What ifs" and guess what, my life has been so much improved.  Putting God into everything from the simplest task to the most complicated really works.  Tossing out the song, " I did it my way." was a bit more difficult as I am a total control freak.  It was time for desperate changes.  I am not at liberty to share the whys to bring this about, but it boils down to the simple of letting go and letting God and recognizing HIM in every task, every thought and every movement.

My confirmation verse is from Proverbs. I have used it often, but here it is again a little deeper.

 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
  in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:5-6 

The first place we go wrong is leaning on OUR own understanding.  Some of us begin to worry about paying the bills or making it all work when the money is tight.  We worry about our car and the service it needs and not enough to cover it, or the tires that need to be replaced. We worry about covering rent or our house note.  That my friends, is OUR UNDERSTANDING...not His.   Man plans his own way while it is God that orders his steps.  It is not a roadmap that we need or a postcard or a direction on a decision that has to be made,  it is a relationship that must exist and be nurtured.  A relationship with God.   We are constantly taking back  into our lives things we need to give to Him permanently. 

His Spirit lives within each of us. The Spirit does not need a road map. The Spirit is there to impress upon us God's way, not our way.  LEAN ON HIM, TRUST HIM, HE will make your path ahead, do not try and clear the brush and find your own. You do not have to find all the answers. You do need to develop a concrete relationship with Him that is woven into your life as you speak, work, do and play.

This is a habitual thing that has to be nourished and encouraged and constant.  It will not be if you do not allow it to be. So as my friend shared simply with me this week, I have begun making major changes in my priorities. Life is passing me by as I try to do it all and he has reminded me of a simpler more delightful life that does not require so much work to make it happen. If the trust and belief is not there, it will not happen.  IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM.... today and always.


Abundance  is yours today.

Laurie

"He went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone." --Matthew 14:23

Labels:

Comments

Angie in AZ said…
Thank you for this reminder today. Love the painting too!

I love the idea of St. Nick's day! My boys are half German (father's side) and I wish I'd known about this tradition years ago!
9:47 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Bit of Wonder Contemporary Horse Oil Daily Painting Art by Laurie Justus Pace 24 x 30 x 2 inches of thick buttery oils! Contact me to purchase: Laurie "This is the day that the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it". Psalm 118:24 It was a day of celebration yesterday as Lauren Gracen was born. Stacey began her labor around nine in the morning and was ready to push by 12:15, but they held her off while getting things set up. Took four good contractions with multiple pushes and the baby was there! All grandparents accounted for to count the toes and fingers! My admiration is for my daughter and her bravery and calmness despite the tension and newness of what she faced. I was honored to be there as the baby was delivered seeing my granddaughter push out into the light and take her first breathe... and then cry... and that she did. Terry was able to participate and he and Larry helped with pushing and getting Stacey upright for the process and then Terry was hon...
3 comments
Read more

Arrival...Refrigerator?

© Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2024 Arrival Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the Lord whtever you do, and he will establish your plans."   Worrisome times laced with prayers.   The world seems like a scary place lately. Praying for everyone affected by the last two hurricanes.  My adventures today were the result of a dead refrigerator. I have loved my Kitchen Aid refrigerator very much. The first one in the 'French Kitchen' look died at 13 months. Hubby wanted the same refrigerator. Well this one made it four years and a few months. I cannot believe appliances are not made to last longer...but wait, is that because they make more money if we have to replace it in 4-5 years?  You replace your mattress at least every 7 years... and your washer dryer, you might get 7 years out of those... The stoves seem to make it closer to 10 years. We are Lowe's customers, and Robert ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Marsh... of our lives? Walking with God.

© Laurie Pace        Graphics One Design 2024 The Marsh 6 x 12 inches Oil on Canvas  SOLD   by Laurie Pace   I did two of these paintings about three years ago. They both sold immediately to a Florida Collector. Simple and elegant for a horse painting.  Ephesians 5:1-2 "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."  One of the biggest challenges in walking with God is trusting Him and not trying to out think Him or to do everything your way. It never works.  The Apostle Paul wrote of his own struggles in Romans 7 .  Romans 7: 22-23 “ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the ...
Post a Comment
Read more