Surely goodness and mercy...

This week was my last week of this summer session, it was busy. I had three drawings in my anatomy class and about 50 pots to finish for ceramics. The drawing class wasn't too bad. I spent a good bit of time on the drawing but not to excess. I wasn't pleased with the final drawing; I could have worked on it more, but the class is over, so oh well. The pottery class just took it out of me this week. I ended up watching the kilns Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night, to make sure our pots finished and were fired correctly. The kilns had to be turned up or down about every two hours, so I stayed at the school every night...so I didn't sleep much...all week. The pots all got finished, and for the most part they looked good. Everyone's pots were ready in time, and everyone was pretty pleased. So I take it as a success.

I'm working this weekend, twelve hour shifts. It makes for long days, but I'm taking the opportunity to draw...things I want to draw, not what I have to, so its good. I got through about half of a portrait today. Maybe I can finish it tomorrow.

Tomorrow night after I get off at 7, I'm driving to Van Buren. It is well overdue. I haven't been home since before my trip to Haiti. I am excited to spend time with Mom and Dad, and to go up to Fayetteville and Springdale and see all of my 'family' up there. It will be a packed week, but I'm going to try to rest some, too. I have three weeks off before classes start back, so I'm going to try to take advantage of every free moment.

I hope everyone has taken the time to read my last post and say a prayer for Tony. He is progressively getting worse, it seems, so the Collins' family needs all the support they can get. Just keep them in mind.

Also, my good friend Felisha had a beautiful baby boy last week almost three months early. He is tiny and still in the hospital, but doing well. I would appreciate the prayers for Baby Isaiah, too.

Thanks for reading. I love you all. It seems an encouraging verse is appropriate today (one I included in a letter to a struggling friend today, so its on my mind).

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23: 4-6

Prayer Warriors Unite

My three day work week has ended and my 5 day school week has begun. Drawing all morning and working on pottery all afternoon is actually pretty exhausting. It's the last week of this summer course, and I'm finishing up my last two drawing assignments and finishing all my pottery. Pictures of the final work will probably come before too long.

Mom and Dad and I all met in Conway at Allison's for dinner tonight. Mom and I went to Kroger (the Kroger here is amazing! The produce section is just beautiful. We love it!) and Dad put together Allison's new chest of drawers.

So, since nothing super exciting has been going on in my life the past few days, I thought I would blog about something that is a very important part of my life. That's the whole point of this whole blogging thing, right? Sharing your life?

I am sending out a request for as many prayers as I can get going up for a very good friend and brother, Tony Collins. Some of you know who he is. For those of you who don't, I'll give you a quick background. (If you want to get the whole story, you can check out their blog at tonycollinsstatus.blogspot.com) Tony is a friend I met at the University of Arkansas almost 4 years ago. His first year of college, was my second semester in Arkansas and my only marching band season at UofA. It's so funny to think back to that time. Tony was "Alaska" to most of us for months when we first met; he played piccolo in marching band, flute in concert, and was a music major. Over the years, Tony has become like a brother. A good bit of my music has been suggested by Tony [most of the hard stuff ;)]. We have spent many a day playing frisbee or working on volunteer and nonprofit stuff together or just hanging out. He even helped Em and I move on MANY occasions. He's just an awesome guy. Last year, in January, Tony ended up in the ER and found out he had an egg-sized mass in his brain. A few surgeries, a life time amount of radiation and many chemotherapy treatments later, here we are. Randi, Tony's younger sister, is now a student at the UofA, and I love her like a sister. Tony is in Alaska, with his mom and dad, who I also consider family. Tony is an amazing person and I absolutely love him and his family. The latest news from the doctors is that he is not eligible for any new treatments and the tumor is growing in an inoperable area of the brain. So, its in God's hands.

I have said "all I can do is pray" but I've realized that's not true. I know so many Christians who could be joining me in prayer, that not only can I pray, but I can ask everyone else to pray, too! So, right now, stop and say a prayer for Tony. Then, make a mental note to keep him in your prayers, and if you have one, add him to your prayer list. Prayer is our biggest and best and most powerful weapon against the evils of this world. So I'm gathering my army; let's take up our armor and go to battle. Prayer warriors unite for Tony! :)

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. --James 5:15-16


As always, comments are invited and welcomed. :)

I'm officially a blogger.

So, I friend suggested I start a blog--I'm not sure whether she thinks I talk too much or I might have something interesting to say-- either way, for some unknown reason, I listened to her, and here I am (Thanks, Patti).

I can not guarantee how good I will be at this, how often I will update, or how interesting anything I have to say will be; however, I'm going to give it a shot.

So, for my first blog, I thought I'd share some of my art, since that is what I spent my free time at work today doing...I am currently taking Human Anatomy in Art and Ceramics. The project I finished today was a pencil rendering of the Venus de Milo statue. I am quasi-pleased with it. Artists should never become content with their work, because when you become comfortable, you stop improving. I am the poster child for that statement. I am never content with my work, but I am always improving. This drawing is perfect proof of that fact. (If you've seen any of my past artwork, you'll know what I mean.) I love to see that I'm improving; I guess it is just proof that all this money I'm spending (slash borrowing) on school is doing some good!



I am going to leave you with a verse to contemplate:
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6

I love this verse, and the song is pretty much on the top of my favorite devo songs of all time, so there ya go.

Feel free to comment. Let me know what you think, if you like it, if you think my life is more or less interesting, whatever.

Thanks for reading!