“Pushing Pause” – Day 6 of “A Heart At Rest”
I’m a yes person in that it is hard for me to say no to things that are good, valuable opportunities. Will I volunteer for an event? Sure, because it would serve so many people. Will I lead a new group or organization? Sure, I can see so many benefits. Will I bring my kids to every possible community-building activity? Of course, I want them to have a strong community around them, right? However, I often find myself in the midst of these various activities not being fully present because my mind and my heart are pulled in a million different directions. Day 6 of “A Heart At Rest” has us reflecting on whether we are so busy FOR God that we are missing out on time WITH God. That phrase hit me right in the heart!
There are definitely times that I feel so busy with doing things for God that I miss out on simply being with Him. I rush through a devotional to get to the end product instead of soaking in the words. I plan a Sunday school lesson without consulting God on what He wants me to teach. I bustle my family from activity to activity without fully taking in the moments God has given me. I think we can push pause by taking a moment to reflect on the purpose God has for us in each activity. Not just in completing the activity, but by fully participating in it and getting to the real meaning. I believe God wants me to dig deeper in every part of my life, and the only way I know to dig deeper is to slow down!
For this faith journal entry, I decided to create a mixed media background on my watercolor paper. To begin, I added clear gesso to the background. I know that I don’t have to prep watercolor paper, but I really enjoy the texture and streaks that are created when gesso is in the background! I used a mix of blue, green, and purple watercolor to create a fun background with tons of depth and movement. A few metallic splatters added the perfect finishing touch to the background before I continued on.
The next step for this entry involved the We R Memory Keepers Freestyle Foil Quill, which is a new and amazing tool! It used heat to transfer foil to surfaces of your choice. If you use a stamped image to trace, you can transfer almost anything to your paper. I opted to attempt to mix different color foils on my project. There is definitely a learning curve to this tool, but here are a few tips I picked up along the way:
- Make sure your stamped image is SECURELY adhered to your page. Mine shifted slightly which made for a messy transfer.
- Go slow…no, really, go slower than you think you need to!
- Be okay with imperfection. This tool reacts to every wiggle of the hand, so perfection is hard. Enjoy your end product no matter what!
After I foiled the images of a coffee cup and cupcake, I filled them in with loose watercolor. They are definitely not perfect, but I am loving using this tool, and I am learning things with every new project. The finishing touches for this page involved laying out my title using the Elemental Alpha from BTW4G and adding journaling and a date.
This page not only allowed me to scratch a creative itch I’ve been having for mixed media, but the time spent reflecting on the daily busy-ness that rules my life really felt like an eye-opener. So many small and large events recently have had me reflecting on how I choose to spend my time….and, yes, most of how we spend our time is a choice. We choose our job. We sign our kids up for activities. We commit to volunteering. It’s a choice, and I intend to reflect and make a few wiser ones in the future.
Keep it creative,
-The Scrappy Wife
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