I was listening to a sermon on YouTube, and the speaker suggested reading the book of Proverbs with a notebook. He said to make a list of the ways of a fool, and one for the ways of the wise, in order to learn how to discern one from the other.
I thought about this for a couple days, and then grabbed my Bible and a journal to get started.
Both lists grew longer. I learned the ways of the foolish and the ways of the wise. But God wanted to refresh something completely different in my mind.
As I read, again and again I saw sins followed by the words "will not be unpunished." Sin cannot go unpunished.
I'd heard the resurrection story before. I believe it is true. But, I suddenly felt a renewed sense of gratefulness. There is hope for those who are guilty of sin.
Sin cannot go without punishment, but God will forgive because of the blood shed on the cross.
Jesus, the sinless Lamb, took all our sins as His own. Jesus was sacrificed and died an excruciating death on the cross as the final blood sacrifice to atone our sin. In our repentance and acceptance of Jesus as Lord we are innocent.
Then get this: Jesus rose from the dead. He left the tomb and appeared before thousands. He fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament and proved that He is the Son of God. God loves us so much that He sent His son to take the punishment for all inexcusable sins, so that we can be made righteous. This is incredible.
I just imagine the words in the Old Testament "can not go unpunishable" painted over with the blood and love of Jesus. Through Jesus, we can be forgiven. This is why I am joyful when I celebrate Easter. There is hope for us. God will forgive. God will give us life.
I have been collecting a bunch of small, random things for many weeks, so here I am with a Random Post!
~ PHOTOGRAPHY ~
This is one of my kitty cats :)
I saw this on the street and thought it was really sad, so I took a picture. I also think it's kind of gross...
This is a beautiful peach colored sunset I saw in the middle of February.
I was using these three pencils and I just loved the colors together XD
I don't do flat lay photos very often, but this one just fell into place (atleast the pencils did).
I didn't even realize the connection between these two items until after I took the picture??
We made heart and strawberry cookies on Valentine's Day :)
Tea from Starbucks!
My orange kitty-cat! He's such a model :)
~ GOD AND FAITH ~
If you have ever watched Adventures in Editing on YouTube, then you've seen Tracy who makes these videos and plays all the characters in them (acted out versions of Adventures in Odyssey episodes). She recently started a new YouTube channel called "Candid Christianity" where she just talks about things related to Christianity.
I haven't watched them all, but one of her videos is called "The Lamb of God" and she talks about the importance of Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice and the history behind it. I think it's really important to understand why Jesus' crucifixion is so important and how it atones for our sins. There's probably videos out there that explain this in more detail and more directly, but this is just something I came across in my normal life and wanted to include it here!
~ MUSIC ~
I got to see the jazz singer Mandy Harvey perform, which was cool! She sang a lot of original songs, including "Try" and "Mara's Song", which she performed on America's Got Talent last season. She is d/Deaf, and it was really interesting to see her use American Sign Language while she was singing. It added a dramatic visual element to her performance. I didn't take my actual camera, so this picture was taken on my iPod :p Also, I reviewed her book here.
I came across the song "Scandal of Grace" by Hillsong on Spotify and I think the words are great. Have you heard it? If not, it's right there ↑ :)
~ Other ~
I put up the painting that I made in my last post, and redid my wall a little! The hexagon in the center had mini clothespins at the bottom, so I could attach special cards or notes I've received. There wasn't a lot of space though, so I decided to take the clothespins off.
To create a new place to hang the notes, I used jumbo popsicles sticks, glued together and painted to attach the clothespins to. I painted the clothespins gold, and glued them to the popsicle stick contraption. It's more spread out and looks much better this way, I think.
Well I think that's all the random things I have for you today!
What did you think of the dropped ice cream cone? Do you ever take flat-lay photos? Have you seen an of Tracy's videos? Have you heard the song "Scandal of Grace"?
After watching a few YouTube videos, I decided to attempt an acrylic fluid pour Having never heard of it before, it was a complete experiment. Now, with the correct materials, fluid pours should look something like the picture below (which is not mine), with "cells". You're supposed to mix hair oil or liquid silicone and paint medium to make these cells...
via YouTube
But I didn't have any of those supplies, so I just used water. That is probably why my painting didn't exactly turn out. Anyway, I'll show you how I got the painting I ended with!
I use paper cups to dilute the paint. I used three colors, one of which was glitter. I used the plastic fork to mix the paint with water.
I didn't have a lot of the green or glitter paint so I had to make do.
Then I alternately poured the paint into a small measuring cup.
Here you can see the layers of separation.
I found a big piece of cardboard to protect my workspace. I put the canvas on top of the cup and turned it upside down, then moved the cup to spread the paint. After much dripping and moving the paint around the canvas, I set it on one end to dry overnight.
And this is what I ended up with! Although it doesn't have cells or look like a fluid pour, I will accept it as it is and I think I will still use it on my wall.
And maybe I'll try a fluid pour again in the future when I have the right supplies!
The other day for breakfast I decided to skip my daily cereal and try out a couple Pinterest breakfast in a mug recipes. I took pictures along the way to document the process!
image from Pinterest of what it will look like if you don't stir it.
For the first one, I used this recipe called "Coffee Cup Scramble", but I used half the ingredients to make less.
So, I just used one egg and one tablespoon of milk and whisked them together. It was in the microwave for a total of 90 seconds, and stirred after 30 seconds. I mixed cheese and salt into the mug when it was done.
And these are the scrambled eggs I ended up with! They were pretty good, y'know just scrambled eggs. For a three minute project, it's not bad! (Plus I don't have to actually like use a stove or anything, which I am naturally inclined not to do).
What it should look like, according to Pinterest
The second recipe I used had a bit more ingredients, so I cut it in half again. I had to also use vegetable oil instead of coconut oil, because I didn't think we had that in the kitchen. So this is the recipe I used. I also only had the ingredients pulled up at the time (I had screenshotted them), so I didn't really follow the steps. I had to add a lot more milk than the recipe to get the mixture from being dry. I also just mixed the brown sugar and cinnamon into the batter... which might have something to do with the appearance indescripancy since it's only supposed to go on top. Eh.
I ended up with this consistency of batter. Then I put it in the microwave for 85 seconds.
This is what it looked like?
Out of the mug, it was wet in some places and quite rubbery. It tasted like vanilla with a hint of cinnamon. Maybe I used too much vanilla? I don't think I did. So, this one did not work out. At all.
Have you ever tried a mug recipe from Pinterest? Did it work?
