Sugah Snaps

I been pickin' sugah snap peas from da garden!

(And taking pictures while doing so…;)) 

Ah, can't you just taste the goodness? Sweet, crunchy, mouthwatering peas.

Mmmm.  

Roots: are they bitter?

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25) 

The other day I was working in the garden. (It's my grasshopper ravaged weed patch, really! Oh the irony!) It was so hot a day, that the mosquitoes were (thankfully) in hiding. While I was pulling weeds, I was thinking about roots. They are so interesting & complex! There are tap roots & fibrous roots, (among other kinds). Roots help anchor the tree or plant in the soil. As the roots penetrate deep into the soil in search of water & nutrients, the roots help to further secure the plant; anchoring it for the storms that will inevitably arise.

Do you have roots in your life? Roots from your past, from your family, or places you have lived? Most people have roots; ties that link us to a place or someone. Some roots go back far, they can be sweet or bitter. Usually deep roots are good, but occasionally, they are the worst kind. 

Take your average weed. It has deep roots & flourishing green leaves. It looks always looks healthy, but it is a weed. Weeds are always unwanted, just as sin is unwanted. Sin can & has unconsciously created deep roots within our hearts. We need to seek these weeds out & uproot them. However, it's a tricky business, because a weed can be mistaken for a real plant!

As I was weeding the bean plants, I purposefully didn't pull a rather sickly looking young plant; I thought it was a bean plant. A few days later I came out & was astonished to see the little runt of a "bean plant" had risen up & choked out the real bean plant! It was a fast growing & deceitful weed. (I pulled the weed out, but the poor bean plant hasn't really survived.)

There may be sin or bitterness growing in our lives, & we have deceived ourselves into thinking,"it's just a little sin, there's nothing wrong"or "this really isn't a problem - Or maybe the bitter weed has grown in your life so subtly that it is just plum unnoticed, save by those who are around you!

Just as bad as the weed's taproot can be, a weak root system on the real bean plant can be deadly. The leaves are lush, green & growing - but roots, the part hidden from our eyes is dead & decaying. The plant has fooled you into thinking it's doing well, even flourishing, when it's truly dying of thirst & want of nourishment.

 

Now ask yourself: Am I fooling others into thinking my life is good? Am I putting on a show, just to impress others? Our sinful hearts get satisfaction from the ego-boosts of accomplishing something in its own power. We will attempt to climb a high cliff, or take on extra responsibilities, or agonize through marathon - all for the satisfaction of conquering a challenge by the force of our own will & the stamina of our own body. (Doing those things isn't necessarily a bad thing; while doing these things, it's the attitude of our heart that matters.) It should always be God's grace that is the doer, inspiration & motivation for all our works. (1 Corinthians 15:10) 

But being sinners, we are all self-centered doers, whether we think so or not. We both need to look deep into our own gardens & examine all the plants & desires that are growing. A works-orientated heart may also express its love of independence & self-achievement by rebelling against courtesy & the Lord. (Galatians 5:19–21). We need to wait upon the Lord for all things, to be sober minded, to have quite & gentle spirits. Every ounce of our strength comes from the Lord! (1 Peter 3:4, Isaiah 40:28-31) We should never forget that. 

Be wary & diligently keep in step with the weeds that are growing in our lives. Just as we should keep in step with the Spirit that guides us. (Galatians 5:25) Let's evaluate our hearts. Is there sin growing under our very nose? Do we have hearts of "faith" or hearts of "works"? Are we angry or hardened because of what's happened in our lives? Sometimes the weed's taproot goes deep & it takes some pretty serious pulling to uproot it. 

Weeds of the heart - Are they stealing the water & joy from our daily life? We can't live without water & nourishment, but we try to fool ourselves into thinking that we can. 

Our souls are ever-thirsty for the true & living Water of Life. Turn to Jesus, let him love you. Let him feed your soul. Plant yourself in Him, grow deep roots in His Word.    

"That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."  ~Ephesians 3:16-19 

Words On Living

Summer Art Academy!

The classroom I had, was on the 2nd floor of an old unair-conditioned building.
I taught four 1.5 hour classes a day, I was also outside teaching too.

This past week, has been a wonderful blur of excitement. God's blessings are so abundant! It was my second year of teaching for the Summer Art Academy. There were 75+ students at the camp, 26 of them were mine for the week! I taught Basic Drawing & Urban Art - A fun class that covered the challenging basics of drawing, while working indoors/outdoors, using various tools to achieve detailed, realistic & stylized sketches. Students used ink, pencil & charcoal for their drawing mediums. We explored the campus grounds, sketching buildings and landscapes. I focussed primarily on teaching composition: good vs. poor, shading & dramatization,  developing a critical eye, learning perspective, being selective & creative, while having fun! 

I believe I had about as much fun as all the students did! Teaching to a group of kids aged 8-14 is fun & challenging. A lot of work too. I had a classroom to myself, were I did about 1/2 my teaching, the rest of the time I was outside on campus grounds teaching. It was truly amazing to be part of so many kid's lives, sharing the gift of art! 

Students working hard, drawing what they see: buildings, statues, landscapes, etc. exploring the beautiful campus. 

Talented young artists, sketching away! 

-GB

Ps. Here be a link to last year's post on the Academy. :)

Life Under the Beautiful Big Sky

Highlanders and their big shaggy heads. 

Misquotes literally ate me alive while I took this pic. 

The Beartooth Rocky Mountains, snowcapped during the summer. Lush foothills will turn brown soon. 

As the golden sun meets the horizon, rain falls from the sky. 

My good'ole dog of 14 years. 

    

A grand masterpiece painted across the heavens by the Creator. Words cannot express just beautiful this was. 

 

Busy bee in the garden. Macro lens. 

   

The Prickly Pear & my feet. Oh, happy, happy hot summer day!

Promise.

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

If “all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus],” then to trust him now in the present is to believe that his promises will come true.

Those are not two separate faiths — trusting him, and believing in his promises. Believing in Jesus means believing that he keeps his word. Being satisfied in the crucified and risen Jesus now includes the belief that at every future moment, to all eternity, nothing will separate us from his love, or keep him from working all things together for good.

Putting it all together, I would say that the spiritual beauty we need to embrace is the beauty of God that will be there for us in the future, certified for us by the glorious grace of the past.

Photo:  I took this after a thunderstorm blew through... It was gorgeous. The air smelled so fresh. 

We need to taste now the spiritual beauty of God in all his past achievements — especially the death and resurrection of Christ for our sins — and in all his promises. Our confidence and trust must be in all that God himself will be for us in the next moment, and in the next month, and in the endless ages of eternity — “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

It is he and he alone who will satisfy the soul in the future. And it is the future that has to be secured and satisfied with spiritual riches of glory, if we are to live the radical Christian lives that Christ calls us to live here and now.

If our present enjoyment of Christ now — our present faith — does not have in it the Yes to all God’s promises, it will not embrace the power for radical service in the strength that God (in every future moment) will supply (1 Peter 4:11).

My prayer is that reflecting like this on the essence of faith will help us avoid superficial, oversimplified statements about believing the promises of God. It is a deep and wonderful thing. -Piper 

Radishes of June!

A fistful of flavor. 

Today my awesome lil brother & I pulled up all the radishes! It was a rewarding & worthwhile thing to do.  Had to get out my camera. ;) Already the garden is giving back to us! We harvested many; they came in all different shapes & sizes. The majority of the radishes were ping-pong-ball sized, with the exception of a few that were smaller, & some that were oblong & misshapen. Radishes apparently grow well in pots too; they are kid friendly / low maintenance veggies. It's truly amazing how a single minuscule seed can grow into a ripe, red, spicy radish. Yum. 

-GB

Music - Park City Music | Save Us

Hey there, thanks for stopping by! Here's the latest cinematic track my brother Thomas has composed. Give it a listen & if inclined leave him a comment on the song. :)



Last year, Thomas Bailey, my brother also composed the cinematic score for the Jubilee award winning documentary Crying Wolf. Thomas has also done work for various short trailers & online cermercials, including the Kickstarter promotional trailer for the upcoming film, Axed: The End of Green.

Drawing: A realization & inspiration to do more

ART - It's everywhere, isn't it?! Some art is good, some is bad. I think good art is a work that truly captures what excites people, a drawing or painting that holds memory, an adventure! I saw this poster & had to share it. You can never sketch enough. Draw everything & keep your curiosity fresh. Ya never know when inspiration will strike you! Sometimes I'll be driving & have had to pull off the road to do a quick sketch, or take a photo to reference later. Seek out beautiful places. I almost always have my handy-dandy moleskine journal with a few pencils, eraser & ink pen buried somewhere in the depths of my pocketbook. We all should draw (& paint) more often. I sure know I need to! Make time for yourself. We need to see the beautiful creation God has made for us. Sketching is fun, & exciting. It's a way to truly capture a moment, an experience that can't be repeated. It creates something special. A little memory that will last. 

• When you draw something you spend more time looking at the raw beauty of the object. 
• Open your eyes!
• Observe the small things. 
• Create a journal with your drawings that says "Been there, drawn that!"
• A sketch captures a moment, an experience that can never be repeated. 
• In taking the time to see, look & create (instead of taking a photograph) a sketch has the ability to bring back stronger memories. 
• A good sketch has the ability to elevate even the least picturesque location into something worth looking at & reflection upon. 
• Draw what you see & not what you think you see! 
• Drawings tell stories of our surroundings, where we travel & where we live. 
• Always have direct observation. Get out in the streets, explore your world. 
• Urban sketching is a raw & pure form of art that requires drawing from life. 
• Life! It is everywhere, draw it, rather then drawing something from a photograph or imagination. 
• When sketching your skills will become shaper, you will notice your surroundings with a new appreciation. 
• Drawing something forces you to really look at it. 
• Capture relationships! 
• Drawing a building or place isn't just capturing in on paper, its about getting to know it, to feel it, to make it your own. 
• There is always movement everywhere. Draw what you want and dismiss the rest. 
• Be selective. 
• Be creative. 
• Think outside the box. 
• Translate what you see into something that communicates to you & teaches you about yourself & your reasons for creating art. 
• Draw what you witness firsthand, see what is around you. 
• Find the beauty in the ordinary. 
• Don't draw it if it's boring. 
• Sometimes vagueness of details & usage of lines adds depth to a drawing or painting. 
• People love to watch you draw, most of the them secretly want to be drawn. 
• Lightly plan out the entire drawing, before diving in & getting caught up in the details. 
• Keep it simple.
• Start shading with the darkest places first. 
• Dramatize things. 
• Always date your sketch.
• And have fun!  

-GB

Black & White Horse

     

B L U E     E Y E D

wordly wise

We ought to take more time to truly live, more time to really see the small things. 

I found this image on Pinterest, but couldn't find the original source. The words really struck me. Ha! I hope they strike you too. ;) Busy or slow as our lives may be; we should never forget to see the wonder of it all. The endless  blessings that God has given  us. The beauty that  surrounds us.  The  freedom  we have. We need to stop the glorification of busy. Business isn't necessarily productiveness or constructiveness, it  is  an  air,  not a  virtue. Driving our lives  without purpose  & filling  our  time  with "things" that fill our time, isn't good & gets us nowhere really fast. Slow things down. Think about life. Stay home & spend time with your family. Do less. Less can be more. Though we  shouldn't  be lazy or sloth with our lives, that's just as bad as being in a constant state of frenzy! Moderation is key. We should work hard, prioritize, & enjoy the simple blessings of daily life. 

Sometimes we won't know the value of a moment until  it's become a memory. So lets try to seize the time & take every moment captive. Let's make every moment, hour,& day count while we still have the time. 

-GB

My 3rd Triathlon: Skiing, Biking & Running —

I just raced in my 3rd Grizzly Peak Adventure Race! I skied, biked and ran 11.5 miles in 00:45:07. The race was a blast, I loved the excitement of seeing everyone out having fun. 

The very first race Griz Race in '11 was put on by amazing volunteers & fun people. It inspired me to run, race & do more with myself. It was the first race I'd ever really competed in. After the race I spontaneously ran through the summer of '11. I competed & placed in a couple little races.  Then I skied all winter, & continued to run. Last year in April 2012 I raced in the Grizzly Peak Adventure Race. I placed 5th in my age group, with a total time of 0:45:40. Overall took 99th place, out of 240 soloists. 

Through the summer (2012) I became an weekend warrior. September came, & I still was running some. My average time was slower, but if I really wanted to, I could do a 7 minute mile. When I was running a lot, my fastest miles were in the 6:30min family. During the 2011-2-12 ski season I injured my knee, during a ski race - tearing the ligaments that hold the kneecap in place and giving me a bad knee for life. My knee has since healed, but it's always gonna hurt, because it healed funky with scar tissue & muscle tension.

During the fall I became an every-other weekend runner. My miles taking anywhere from 7:45 - 10 minutes. Then when winter came again, I only went running (wearing a knee brace) whenever the roads weren't iced over, or in other words, not very often.

Bikes from this year's race! 

I skied this past season of 2012-13 about 20 times. Not as much as the 2011-12 season, but I had therapy for my bum knee or out was of town, 2 of 5 months for the season. I had a BLAST this season, even though my knee was weak & the snow conditions were kinda crummy up on the mountain. I love skiing! It's not just a sport, it's a passion.

I started running just a little February & found that after a couple months of not running, I was out of shape as far as stamina went. So I went running during the winter as much as I could, though not really very much. I got my average time to around 8 minutes. 

On the 2nd to last week of ski season in April '13 I badly sprained my right ankle (same leg as the bad knee). It was annoying - I while skiing only fell like 7 times all season. But I didn't quite land a jump & sprained my ankle… Had to end the ski day early, because it swelled up so much, & it was painful too. :P

But I went back up next week to ski, with an ankle brace on, & skied that last day of the season really easy & slow. Thankfully three weeks after spraining it, my ankle was feeling some better, but I was still hesitant about running…. But by then, the big race was upon me & I had no time left to train!

Somehow I managed to get 3rd place in my age group 20-29 females, with a time of 0:45:07 -for 2.5 mile ski, 6 mile bike, 2.5 mile run! Overall in the female division I placed 11th out of 71. Ultimately I placed 65th out of 173 soloists. (Top half, at least!) I might add that there were only 71 women soloists racing, the rest were men. 

For just the skiing part, I placed 9th out of 228 skiers, male/female. There were 173 soloists, but there was a large number of team racers, that raced as well. (With the team racers the total skiers numbered about 350. I placed 11th out of them!!)  I skied 2.5 miles in 0:01:50! My average speed was 81mph! 

My bike & run times were slower though. It took me 22min to run 2.5 miles, averaging 9 minute miles. If you have ever skied down a mountain, with the average speed of 81pmh, then ridden your bike as fast as you could for a number of miles, & then jump off to run up hill on a bum knee (or downhill for that matter) your legs will complain. My legs did, they felt quite heavy & jello like at the same time. My thighs were burning, and  I was huffing & puffing. ;)

Runners,  joggers and walkers racing their way up the hill. 

It was fun getting up on the mountain one last time for the season. Middle of April. Not too many people are still skiing then. The excitement of racing was great, I'm generally a pretty competitive person so getting through the race as fast as I could was fun. It's aways so beautiful & quite up there on top of the mountain. The views are amazing, I always feel so inspired & awestruck when looking down on the vast expanse of earth below.

I want to say just how thankful I am for good health! There are many people who don't have good health & are limited with what they can do. We should all be incredibly thankful for the abilities & heath that we all have. Talents great or small. Health poor or well. -Everything is ordained by God for our good, wether we see it or not. One day we all will see.

We can get out & do things, some things many people are unable to do. I love the outdoors. I love working hard. I love the feeling of the sun on my skin, dirt under my nails, an icy wind blowing in my face with the sent of pine in the air. To close one's eyes are listen to the sounds of birds singing their songs in the woods. Ahhh. We should all be thankful for our lives & for all that have & all that we can do. 

The time & freedom we have that allows us to get out & do the things we love, should never be taken for granted. The energy we burn running, cooking, skiing, gardening, biking, dancing, etc. is a blessing.  I'm thankful that I'm able to get out & take in the wonders of God's amazing creation! It's truly refreshing to know that we can rest in the strength & comfort that God will provide & sustain us through all things. Let Him have the glory & show Himself strong in your life. All strength comes from God - Remember your flesh & heart may fail, but God is the strength of your heart & our portion forever.  

So get out there & do what you love! Don't hold back. Stay strong, stay fit & remember always that Jesus is where your strength & life comes from. 

"He gives power to the faint & to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:29-31

"…Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might." Ephesians 6:10 

-GB  

Green Spring

Spring in Virginia (April) 

 May Apple's flower

May Apples growing in the woods 

~GB 

Resurrection Day.

Beautiful…. The ransom Jesus paid for us was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ the sinless, spotless Lamb of God! I'm SO thankful for Jesus' sacrifice. Happy Resurrection Day! 

The garden in March - prep work

Planning a garden is so exciting! I love working outside - Deciding what to plant, when to plant, where to plant, & how much to plan, etc. We're preparing our little patch of earth for what will, Lord willing, be a great season of growing. Our garden is about 32x56 feet in size. We are trying to use every inch of space for planting. Mapping things out, thinking ahead. I just planted all the cold weather seeds out in the garden today. Then I planted the "after danger of frost" seeds indoors, under grow lights. We bought a bundle of eighty-something red onions & I planted them outside with the chives, carrots, radishes, peas, lettuces. 

We live near a very large river & apparently our yard used to be river-bottom. The little rototiller we have, failed us miserably, because the ground is rocky. (It's like 70% rock with the rest being dirt.) So we shoveled, hoed, & broke the dirt by hand. Then we pulled & sifted the rocks out of the earth. Once that was complete, we had a lot of rock. So I decided to put some of the rock where the pathways were, the rest we wheelbarrowed out. The river rock that we are so abundantly blessed with, is always round, & anywhere from softball to golfball sized, with smaller silver-dollar sized rocks being the most popular.

In the spring of 2012, we fenced, de-rocked, landscaped, planted grass & installed a sprinkler system on our two & a half acres. It was a huge full time job through summer. We planted over 60 trees & bushes & lots of flowers. It was  backbreaking work. Working hours each day, we did everything ourselves, with the exception of a few dear friends - Who most graciously spared time from their busy lives to help us sift, dig, & move tons of rock & dirt. It was a tremendous blessing, & eventually we got it done. Sometime, I'll post a before/after pics of our yard.. Hmm. Anyways, I had a garden last year, but it was wild, because I didn't have the time to properly tend it. (I did a little  blogging about it though. hehe) 

So this year, I'm really hoping to have a productive, orderly garden… Wish me lots of rain, few grasshoppers, fewer rocks, & maybe a little luck for my green thumb. ;)  

-GB

Art Workshop with Loren Entz

Here's a pic from a workshop I took recently. Loren Entz was the teacher. If you don't know who Entz is, you should look him up! He's a phenomenal artist & really great person. I've been fortunate to be able to take a couple workshops from him. I'm the second from the right, painting on my Open Box M easel. The class was a lot of fun! Below are some of Entz' work! Enjoy ——

"A Helping Hand" by Loren Entz

"Lazy Days" by Loren Entz

"Shipping Day" by Loren Entz

"Solid Rock" by Loren Entz