H O P E

A bad day

Meds are stuffing me up. I feel so down, helpless and out of control. Then I find an email in my box and it leads to a link which gives me a glimmer of hope.

Thank you Ann Voskamp, for your insight, your complete devotion to God and Christ Jesus, and words of encouragment and hope.

This is taken from one of her posts.

Father Affirmations

You need these everyday. Whisper them aloud, who you really are if you are IN Christ:

I am complete in Christ. Colossians 2:9-10

I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:14-16

I am free from condemnation. Romans 8:1-2

I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances. Romans 8:28

I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God. Romans 8:31-39

I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me. Philippians 1:6

I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

A Life Plan When You’re Overwhelmed

Posted: 26 Jan 2013 07:24 AM PST

So I’m a mess and we’re all failures — at least all the honest of us are.

And the truth is, no one ever runs before they take baby steps.

So I scratch down these 25 points, like my own sanity manifesto, and there are a thousand ways in a thousand seasons to make a life glorify God.

I scrawl out mine, which would be different than yours, and make a place for it on the fridge and it’s not a law, but a scaffolding for the shaky, struggling days.

I don’t write it as a checklist, like these are things I have to do, one after another, but I write the manifesto, fluid, like limbs on a tree, to reach for just the next one I need right now.

And I write it in big letters, right at the top, what I need to whisper on the days when I don’t know how to keep going because everything’s going wrong: Forward!

Because I keep bungling the day and what that piano adjudicator said when Hope-girl muddled through her piano piece:

“So you forgot some notes! Fear and old habits and people pressure and your own interior playlist can do that — to all of us. But! When the piece started to fall apart?

You fell forward, Hope. You didn’t fret about the music behind you — you focused on the next bar.”

Hope had nodded slowly, like a dawning, smiling.

The adjudicator looked down the row of girls and budding pianists and said it with this steady beat.

“We are all going to botch it somedays. We all sometimes get the notes wrong. But the song only goes wrong when we keep thinking back to the wrong notes.”

“When a piece starts to fall apart — fall forward. Fall forward into the next bar. Moving forward is what makes music.“

And I sit there at the end of the year, on the end of the bed before the sock drawer with a lapful of holey, mismatched socks, and I can hear it, these notes that I might wear like a habit —

Failing? What feels likes losing is really gaining experience. Forward!

Falling apart? Fall into whatever. comes. next. Forward!

Fearful? Fear is always the first step of faith. Forward!

Whenever you are lost, forward is always the way Home.

So, it’s there on the fridge for all the days when I just need some kind of a map, and for all the days in between, my 25 Point Sanity Manifesto.

Forward!

1. First things first: Word in. Work out. Work plan.
Open your eyes every morning and just do three first:
Word in: Get into God’s Word and let it get into you.
Work out: Work out. Even 5 minutes of moving is better than nothing. (baby steps! together we can do this!)
Work plan: Write out the work plan. And then work the plan.

2. “What a heart knows by heart is what a heart knows”
Write your memory verses on a sticky note, on a chalkboard, for your pocket.
Because when you are memorizing Scripture, quiet time with the Lord — becomes all the time. (Who doesn’t want that?)

3. Flame first.
Light a candle first thing in the morning.
So you remember: You are the light that is put on a stand so that it gives light to everyone in the house.

4. Your work is art: it needs a soundtrack.
Find your music.
Play your music.
Sing your music. This is profound.
Vincent van Gogh said: “When sailors have to move a heavy load or raise an anchor, they all sing together to keep them up and give them vim. That’s just what artists lack.”

5. Step on the Snake Before Breakfast
Before breakfast, crush one hard thing that is tempting you to think there are impossible things.
Before breakfast, crush that one thing and prove that all things are possible with God.

6. Stay in the pool
Michael Phelps said it in an interview: “You’ve got to stay working in the pool longer than others.”
Set the timer. Get in the pool. Stay in the pool. Do your work. Don’t get distracted. Don’t flit from one thing to another and back.
Don’t get out of the pool, don’t leave your work, until the timer goes. The way to win is to stay in the pool.

7. Clean a space = clear headspace
Keeping the workspace clean, clears your headspace to think.

8. Go Slow. Life Zone.
Life isn’t an emergency. It’s a gift.
Life’s so extraordinary it warrants going slow, held in reverential awe.
Only the slow see their lives. Which makes it seem longer and richer.

9. Take your Laughter vitamins
The more you laugh, the longer you live. You can’t afford not to laugh more. Watch this. Make laughter your chocolate.

10. No songs without rhythm
Every song needs a rhythm; every week needs a routine. Tie certain tasks to a day or another activity.
Always memorize after breakfast or always make a double batch of soup on Saturday.
Your life makes music when you play a string of tasks always together.

11. On 25, Take 5
For every 25 minutes “in the pool” working – take 5 minutes off. Live by pomodoros. Really. Life-changing.

12. Unplug to plug into your purpose
Only if you want to plug into peace and purpose and your big picture – then unplug for certain hours everyday.

13.Watch Your Nos & Your Yeses will take Care of Themselves
Everything you say yes to, you say no to something else.
Are your yeses forcing you to say no to what really want to say yes to?
Don’t have guilt over a no – because every no is saying a better yes.

14. Daily Stillness Appointment
When is your 5 minute stillness appointment everyday?
Write that midday time in stone. No cancellations allowed. For 5 minutes midday, be still and cease striving.
Know He is God and the day looks very different.
Slow down: You only pass by this way once.

15. If the Heaven’s Declare, get out there.
The whole of the sky and the world is speaking endlessly of His glory.
When you step outside and listen, your soul revives. You need that.
You really need one walk outside a day.

16. Work on your Wall before Noon
Before noon, work on your wall; lay three bricks down before 12.
If you don’t intentionally work on your wall, the tyranny of the urgent can make your life a rubble heap.
Like Nehemiah, build your wall, building what God has called you to, 3 steps everyday before noon

17. Envision the End Goal
Like God gave Abraham a vision of the stars of the sky and told him he would have that many children, hang up a picture so you always have a vision of your goal.

18. Consistently be Consistent
Random acts of greatness pale in comparison to habitual acts of faithfulness.
It’s not what you do every now and then, but what you do everyday, that changes everything.
Do something at the same time everyday and you find yourself a new person.

19. Hard Stops
The only way to get anywhere safely is to make complete stops.
Make hard, complete stops at set times throughout the day to pray. Otherwise you’re risking a crash.
9, 12, 3, on the hour, might be times to set an a gentle, chime alarm for – and just stop and pray.
Praying at set times throughout the day is how both Jesus and the early church lived their days: God marking time.

20. Do the Holy, Happiness Habit
Write down 3 things a day you are grateful for. Hunt for His glory. Look for the beauty. Count 1000 gifts.
All research says that giving thanks is guaranteed to make you 25% happier. Who. Doesn’t. Want. That.?
Thank Him for this is definitely God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Take the Joy Dare! Make right where you are your happy place.

21. Ebenezers for the Efforts
Mark little milestones! Celebrate the little things!
A treat at the end of the day, end of the week, end of the project, end of the term.
Hang a bunting. Taste something sweet. Take a happy, thumbs up picture to mark your progress!
Make an album of a year, of the process, of the overcoming.

22. Father Affirmations

You need these everyday. Whisper them aloud, who you really are if you are IN Christ:

I am complete in Christ. Colossians 2:9-10

I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:14-16

I am free from condemnation. Romans 8:1-2

I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances. Romans 8:28

I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God. Romans 8:31-39

I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me. Philippians 1:6

I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

23. Breathe
Breathing in and breathing out like this will radically change the quality of your life. Breathe.

24. Hard and Bad? Hot Bath
An evening routine of a hot bath at the end of the hard and bad days?
Yes.

25. Rest so you can have the rest of God.
Sleep is more than your friend — it’s your God-given fuel.
Tomorrow always begins with the night before, so turn in early so tomorrow can turn out well.

http://www.aholyexperience.com/

After vewing my post on the Bunbury Cathedral, Liam, one of my sons, mentioned a Macedonian Church in North Perth, where an Icon artist has been painting murals on the walls and ceiling of the church for 20 years.

Cannot wait to visit!

Below are photos and an article about Stefan, the artist.

Macedonian Orthodox Church

The first thing people say when they enter the unassuming Macedonian Orthodox Church of St Nikola in North Perth is 'Wow' according to Reverend Father Stanko Jovanovski.

The plain brick exterior gives the impression that Perth's Macedonian Orthodox Church is just another, traditional place of worship.

Iconographer Stefan Adamache has been painting the interior of Perth's Macedonian Orthodox Church since 1996

Brightly painted Biblical figures with gold halos adorn every wall depicting scenes from the Bible in a larger-than-life scale.

It is the lifelong work of iconographer Stefan Adamache that leaves believers and non-believers gobsmacked. And he is not finished yet.

"Maybe two to three years but probably more like five more years until I've finished," Mr Adamache says.

Iconographer Stefan Adamache still has a long way to go

Stefan's paint box at the Macedonain Orthodox Church

The impressive part is he started the project almost 20 years ago and has painstakingly hand-painted every single image, layer upon layer.

The first part of the commission was to paint the main dome of the church in 1995, which took about five months, and it went from there.

With the exception of two breaks a year when he visits his wife in England, Mr Adamache has been painting the North Perth Orthodox Church ever since.

"I live at the back of the church in a little room they organised for me, which is helpful because sometimes when I'm in a good mood I can work for 10 hours a day and just lie down for an hour and work again."

Chandelier in Perth's Macedonian Orthodox Church

Born in Romania, Mr Adamache always had a love of painting but it wasn't until the fall of the Soviet Union that he had the opportunity to leave the country and pursue iconography in Macedonia.

He learnt much of what he knows about the Orthodox religion while painting the stories of the bible on the walls of the North Perth church.

The ceiling of each dome is painstakingly hand-painted in Perth's Macedonian Orthodox

Mr Adamache says he wants to expose the belief that the artist must lie on their back to paint dome ceilings.

"That's a myth, you can't work like that."

He's right too. Michelangelo actually constructed an elaborate scaffold system, not unlike Mr Adamache's, but didn't lie flat on his back to paint the Sistine Chapel as is portrayed in the movie starring Charlton Heston.

"You have to have what I call the 'necklace', which is a chickpea tin, I hang it around my neck and then I put a jar of paint inside so I have to dip the brush probably thousands of times a day... So Michelangelo wouldn't have done it differently."