It was a slowdown Sunday after a fabulous set up Saturday. (a rambling post about the weekend)…

Sunday was of course a blessing to give a sermon at our church. However small a group, I pray the message resonated. The Word moves and is alive. And I always have the thought in the background that my sermon that day also becomes my writing – and it is not 2 birds with one stone – but 2 missions with one message. And there is a double mission in writing – these emails go out to 73 people personally and then the posts that I make on DebbieUpper.blog go out to many people unknown – sometimes they “like” the page and I think my readership is at about 75 people. Again – no one HAS to read these but just know that I HAVE to write. It is social in a silent way. And with this month – I cross into the 3000th writing blog – yeah 125 chapters done (printed too in duplicate) – and Lord knows where this goes – or just simmers – it is social silent spiritual specialness.

It’s the People!!!

An Sunday post message, I went to the thrift store to find my costume for an upcoming event for scouts – a mystery dinner – for the older girls – and yes, we had a fun read-through on Friday night – people who love people – and we loved it… and I was quietly social with messages as I got my stuff and sent pics… fun to have companions who are not even with you… And then the cashier – I was able to encourage him with his discussion for finding a new job – and referred him to a local job helping agency! ENCOURAGEMENT!

It’s the People – and encouragement!

Sunday also found me catching up with finishing a great movie – “9 to 5” – I had not remembered most of it and I think it stands up with such a creative movie…. Sunday was then completed with a bible study by zoom and the concept that I had not heard – that the story of the adulterous woman in the book of John was kinda just stuck in there and the teacher pastor said he does not believe it is “canonical” – meaning once it got put into copy (predating the KJV) it stayed in – but it distracts from the whole of the chapter 7 – so interesting and so we discussed that section first – still so meaningful as a story and not saying it was not true but that it didn’t belong in that middle section from the crafting of the translations… Interesting gluing…

GLUING! I continued during my bible study and after to make these collages of photos for my cousin for his birthday in October – they are 80’s 90’s 2000’s photos (and I found a couple to reprint from real young childhood to add in) – and I know he will love it = as much as I loved putting it together – it is silent moments of loud memories in fading colors – and they glue together nice as collage pages.

It’s about the People – and this is about my cousin and the fun we all had as a family.

SO – social was good in some silence and solemness on Sunday – social media brought me quickly to the farm I had been meaning to go to – just the store and social media showed the last of the BIG peaches and I ran up there and got one and got a pretty photo too  – and we all were grabbing peaches from the quick thinking “run” up there after their Facebook post – and then I sat at the table and organized some items including my thoughts – and then someone called me to say they had rice pudding for me leftover from a picnic – and yum – and gave them some corn on the cob ($3 a dozen – so gave them half) – yum… Today the farm itself is open and I many go there just for the wagon ride…

It’s about the People! The people stopping for the picking up of pleasant experiences (and peaches)…

And Saturday I enjoyed being social in a non-silent ways too – and yeah Saturday was fun… I helped my friend at her art studio space – well I don’t think I did enough helping at her table but did try to help clean up when it was done… I was busy too – TALKING – no surprise… I had a great interaction with all the people coming in for both projects = yes they were there to look at art but honestly the people who sat down to make art (or craft art) gave us the gamut of great interactions – really was a blessing to be with them all – in a joyous manner. (And I loved the crafting and the art – they blend for me – and it is the art of people interactions which is a God-given gift I appreciate).

SO – as the people came in – they sat – and this was the tip and trick I had for sucess that day – I SAT DOWN TOO – and yes I did get up too – but I did not stay on my feet all day…  There were lots of stools and chairs – and sitting “to take a load off” was a welcome time for many…  The invitation was to come make a gelli print (at my friend’s station) where paint is dabbed on a piece of gelatin and then rolled (less is more) to blend colors – and then maybe marked up with stamps or lace or whatever – and then a piece of paper overlayed to absorb the imprint and then peeled off. BEAUTIFUL and every one was unique (the prints and the people)…  The color combinations were fun and it was a great way to tell each person: “GREAT JOB”!!!  Perhaps this is why the sitting down (or standing) is so therapeutic – you use your hands, let your mind intermingle, and then voila you get art…  

It’s the People – It’s the People!!!

Another people interaction was with the other artists at the show/event – the three other women in our studio were treasures of folks – interesting and talented and giving – and smiles smiles smiles…  We were all happy to be there. And the woman accross the hall did these amazing huge collages – like of glass and mirrors – like of other objects – it could be both an obsession and a lot of time – and she told me that the one of glass which I loved – that the glass pieces had sat under her desk for a long time before she finally got to making it… I loved both the art and the interactions – and of course taking photos.

It’s the People – It’s the People!!!

PHOTOS!!!! 

I know something about photos – especially recently – and sat down at a table to glue photos to cardstock folded cards (that came with envelopes, a great deal at the Michaels craft store! with coupons!) – and welcomed the people to come sit down – and craft some memories into a card that could be shared. It was neat to see the young men who came first – of special needs but of special talents – special abilities… One was so vocally thrilled when I mentioned that I had photos of racecars. I can still hear him – “Racecars racecars!!!” – and with all the children who sat down it was a joy to see them thinking – and for this one racecare affecianato, well I watched him make a glue stick square or rectangle that was just right for the photo – even though I had recommended to others to glue the photo back first rather than the paper – this young gentleman just went full steam ahead at gluing and his way was right – because he had the visual perception to make the template glue the right size = LIKE I SAID IT IS ALL ABOUT ABILITIES – and I love watching brains think…

The photos of cats? well they went fast – to young and old alike – we probably had like 30 or 40 people who came and did projects over the course of 6 hours – and one mom was taken aback at how her young daughter showed such an old soul in a moment of picking a photo of a dilapidated barn and pairing it with a pink card background – and yes it worked! And I can still see the mom with an amazement at where that came from her daughter’s soul… And then there was set of people who organically fed off each other – strangers but then became collage-rs having to share scissors – well they loved the creating and we did share the scissors and beautifully they crafted – with a eye of art – one gentleman sat to “take a load off” while his partner was doing the gelli print – and I invited him to craft a card – and he took the mini photos of things that his 20 month year old would recognize – a cat – a helicopter – a train – and he was so precise in his gluing and layout – cool – and then another gentleman (they were about 30) came and sat down and he beemed at the photo of the McDonalds arches – and yeah it was from the 80’s – and wow – this was fun – and then the woman next to him started cutting and collaging a farm scene – so awesome and I had let her borrow my reading glasses and even though I became anxious for their return, I was patient (tried hard) and she did – and we both loved the finished product as well as the producing…  A woman from the other room came in and marvelled at the young (mid-aged) men sitting and crafting and it just sparked her thankfulness for such a sight! FUN… And the woman who came to do the gelli print – she asked if she could take some cut outs home – and I said sure – she does an art journaling at home – cool….  (and some folks did give some money which I id not force or enforce which took care of the funding for the paper and glue – and it all works out in joy as priceless in my opinion…)  And although I enjoyed making some cards myself in a silent social setting previously – this cemented how blessed it was that I loved the vocal social sit down for these activities…

It’s about the PEOPLE!!!

One woman (a friend of a friend) saw the Macy’s parade photos from the 80’s and she mentioned that she was a balloon handler for like 8 years – marvelous chatting and enjoyed seeing the photos – art therapy is talk therapy too – reminishing is remembering and reframing thoughts into processed parts – joys and everything in between.

It’s about the PEOPLE PROCESSING !!! (thus this long post, lol)

I wanted to re-write mention about the cutting out of things, my aunt (who took these photos) did that a lot, from glossy newspaper coupon pages she would cut pictures of cats or random jars of peanut butter or whatever- we would laugh finding the pics in games or puzzle boxes. And when I was keeping my kids busy as little ones – scissors and gluesticks or elmer’s glue was a great project – we made giant collages of photos of halloween or flowers – love me some arts and crafts – but yeah also good to keep the kids busy – and I always tell people that when my oldest was about 2, I let her sit with safety scissors cutting out paper – and she just cut and cut and I called it “making confetti” – and she now (over 20 years later) is an architect – made the cut! Awesome!

It’s about the people and learning what makes them tick – and learning about ourselves too – and some people are not people people – but they all want to be heard – that I am sure of – our social nature is just wanting to be known – and God gave us the Proverbs to talk about us wanting wisdom – and the best wisdom is sometimes knowing ourselves… I love meeting people this weekend to know more about myself – I appreciated my alone times to reinforce what I was learning and relearning about myself and my motivations in this season – sometimes life is alot to process and we are unique in processing….

I think that the Lord has made us so unique and intricate and also given us times of downtime which heal our souls – soak our souls in saturating peace – and rest our feet too – yeah – art is the eye of loving how God made people so unique – we are His ultimate collage of collection of children – ready to bless each other – ready to be filled with His Love of knowing we are blessed to live…

Amen

from Proverbs 2:2-3 “So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding….”

Proverbs 2 NKJV

The Value of Wisdom

My son, if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.

When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
Discretion will preserve you;
Understanding will keep you,
To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things,
From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
Who rejoice in doing evil,
And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;
To deliver you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words,
Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.
For her house leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
None who go to her return,
Nor do they regain the paths of life—
So you may walk in the way of goodness,
And keep to the paths of righteousness.
For the upright will dwell in the land,
And the blameless will remain in it;
But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.