The LORD Hardened Pharaoh's Heart

This morning I read this on Pinterest ... "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still."  (Exodus 14:14). Awesome scripture right?!  I love the idea that The Lord has my back ... I just need to be still.  BUT... That's all that was shown on Pinterest...and my guess is that few people bother to take the time to look up the verse and read it in context.They miss the lesson that way.

Before I went to the scripture I planned to draw the above words in some pretty way ...but ... Then I read it and "my plans" changed. 

God had just told Moses to position the people in the wilderness so that they were "boxed in" by the sea and the Egyptians that HE was going to cause to chase them down to kill them.   Hummmm... Think about the times in our lives that we find ourselves in a place that looks like we have been deserted by God and we think that we can't possibly be in "God's will" when in fact He has us right where He wants us. ... And it may have nothing to do with us...but it might be entirely for someone else's benefit or growth.  Unfortunately we usually do exactly what the Isrealites did, we whine and complain and of course, we are scared of what might happen...forgetting that God really is in control.  

I decided to draw God hardening Pharoah's heart today because He does that so often in Exodus and for me, that really was the message today.   I may draw a stone heart in the margin next to every verse where He does it.

Just think how often people have a "harden heart" towards us and we get an attitude towards THEM when their actions towards us are just part of "the plan"!   If only we could remember that... I'm pretty sure our responses would be entirely different.... If only....

Do YOU See What I See?

I have done this in the past but it needed to go in my Bible...next to the only mention of the shepherds... In Luke 2:1-20.

Can you just imagine how they must have felt when they saw the angel appear suddenly in their fields?!  I only drew the star and not the angel because I don't believe that they have wings.... If it is possible for us to "entertain angels unaware" how can they have wings?  Right?... Anyway, if I drew them the way I believe they are... Just like everyday men, then you wouldn't know it was an angel....so, there is just the star.

Proverbs 16:18

My New Coloring Book by Johanna Basford!

I got my new "adult" coloring book today.

Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book

by Johanna Basford.  ... for those times I would rather practice coloring without having to draw something first.

LOVE IT!   I love it because there is no thinking required...and you can doodle in it along with her. Like on the pages below...everything is completely drawn, ready to color on the far left, then in the middle the leaves and flowers are partially drawn so you can fill them in with a .005 pen...then there is the area to the far right that is empty allowing you to draw more flowers if you want.  In a sense she is teaching you how to doodle flowers ... 

  

I started coloring below.   

One of the complaints about the book (on Amazon) is the that people have a problem with marker bleeding through to the back side, and they blame the paper for the problem...my guess is that they are trying to use alcohol markers like sharpies or Copics...both WILL bleed through!  I used a combination of colored pencils and Tombow markers on the picture above.  Below you can see that the only bleed thru I had was where I got the color wet by using a blender pen once and then by accidentally dropping some water on it.... Because the markers are water based...made for easy blending:

PLUS... You get to go on a treasure hunt, looking for hidden insects and such ...  

AND, There are more than 80 pages to color! (I lost count)

I will definitely get another of Johanna's books when I finish coloring this one... Which could be YEARS from now!

New thing... I just got some new colored pencils that are actually associated with these books... they are MARCO ... And I actually like using them more than Prismacolor, and they are sooo much cheaper!