Do You Live to Give?

Hi my friends...you might have heard me mention at times that I love Joel Osteen...he is a young pastor and has a program on tv....well I am not what I would call a truly religious person...I do love God...Jesus...Mary mother of God...and I do pick and choose what I love from many other religions......ok...that said...

The holidays are a time to enjoy our families...give thanks for all we have and maybe remind ourselves of others who may not be as fortunate. Don't get me wrong..I am behind in my mortgage....have no idea of how I'm going to buy Christmas presents...and I am desparately trying to forgive fate for this truly shitty year it has given  me both financially and emotionally! But....every year around this time I try to give extra to the food pantry....and try to make gift bags for children with coloring books, crayons, and holiday pencils.

I feel bad because each year I feel as though I have less and less to give....which brings me back to Joel who stated " When you live to give you will have more joy than you dreamed possible!" How true this statement felt to me...I had just finished helping my daughter Mikki serve food to the homeless that night...and my heart was open and how perfect to come across a book I had by Joel and turned to the chapter on giving!

I would like to share a few things that I read that night:

*We were not made to function as self-involved people..we were created to be givers...we will never be truly fulfilled as human beings until we learn the simple secret of how to give our life away...

*If we want our dreams to come to pass...we need to help someone else fulfill his or her dreams...

*Don't feel like you have nothing to give....give a smile...give a hug...visit someone who is ill or alone

*Wake up everyday and say "I'm going to make somebody else happy today!"

*It is human nature to hold on to things we no longer really use...unclasp your sticky fingers...give away those baby clothes...books you already read...those duplicate gifts such as pots and pans...

*Giving is a spiritual principle....not necessarily a Christian principle...

*Somebody needs what you have to give...it may not be your money...it may not be your time...but it might be your listening ear...your arms to hug and encourage....your smile to uplift someones spirit...

*Your arm around someone might just let them know that you care and this can help begin to heal that persons heart...a rescue hug...

*You don't know what one word of encouragement might do...you don't know the impact just one simple act of kindness might have...

*Keep your heart of compassion open...be on the lookout for people you can bless...

My blog friends...so many of you have been there for me through my ups and downs...I haven't personally met any of you...heck I don't even know what half of you look like...and yet when I needed encouragement...you were there...when I needed prayer...you were there...and when I just needed to talk you listened!

So think...who can you bless today...please leave a comment on what you do around the holidays for others...or share if you have blessed anyone lately...or maybe you yourself has been blessed lately!

PAFA Winter Wonderland Giveaway

Whoa...I recently started following this blog and I have been so inspired! They are having an unbelievable giveaway...13 artists are giving away their pieces and many of them are giving 2 and 3 pieces each! One lucky person will be winning it all!

NEW ADDITION introduction!

CATALINA INEZ my granddaughter...my son David and my daughter-in-law did a great job don't you agree?!

"WARRIOR WOMEN" new series in honor of Anjelina

I truly hope you enjoy this ACEO series-it means so much to me

-on hold-

- on hold -

Here is a 4x6 original watercolor...it is the newest of my "Bruised and Broken Series"...this is my very first painting I did after Anjelina was assaulted...I saw some people look at her sometimes like she put herself in a dangerous enviornment.

...and last one is an ACEO original watercolor with a Hiaku I wrote!

1,001 Blessings to you all!

ANJELINA ANNOUNCES THE WINNER!

Congratulations Ann! Please send me your address to carterdealejos13@yahoo.com!

Thank you each and everyone of you for all the love!

It's Time To Smile Again!

Hello to all my sweet friends! I would like to give you all an update on my daughter Anjelina. As many of you know she was brutally attacked almost two months ago by a monster who will be charged with attempted murder. However, that is all I am going to say about him because he doesn't deserve my time....Anjelina is doing absolutely wonderful and she is so thankful to be alive to smell the flowers...enjoy the warm sun...have tea with me on the deck....lol....I could go on and on.

We both totally appreciate all the love, light, and prayers from everyone! Thank you to all of you who kept the prayers going by mentioning it on their blogs and lighting candles...I believe wholeheartedly that all of those prayers helped her to heal so quickly....she was in  the hospital for only six days....and that included 3 days in Intensive Care!

So....I painted a canvas for Anjelina about the power of prayer and wrote her this note on a piece of parchment paper...rolled it up like a small scroll and placed it the back of the canvas!

Dear Anjelina,

On July 7, 2011 your life changed forever but not in the way that most would believe. You didn't allow the monsters hand hold you down...you didn't allow the fear to immobolize you....no not my daughter...you were brave and bold and soon you rose above your circumstances. You found your inner "Women Warrior" and have the battle scars to prove it. You found your courage and now my daughter it is yours for life!

With all my love...Mom

I debated whether to show you what I wrote but so many of you were here with me from the beginning and I felt that you should know.

Now here is the surprize....I made a second 6x6 canvas painting and I am going to give all of you a chance to win it! Anyone can enter...this is for all of you that wrote on my blog....prayed silently...passed the word that Anjelina needed help...this is for anyone who has ever prayed for themselves or someone they loved...this is for anyone who believes in the power of prayer! Please just leave a comment and your name will go in the hat!

Good Luck....Anjelina will do the drawing on September 7th. Oh...I almost forgot...the words I choose for the letter to Anj were inspired by one of my favorite books..."WOMENS BOOK OF POSITIVE QUOTES"!

Thank You all for the love and prayers...

A very special thank you to http://rosepetalsfromheaven.blogspot.com/ for this beautiful picture of Mother Mary.

My dear friends....thank you so much for all the love, light, and prayers....for my daughter Anjelina who was violently assaulted two weeks ago....this experience has been devastating...it was a mothers nightmare...this man was a friend of a friend and Anjelina didn't know him very well nor for very long...he was a coward who attacked my daughter from behind...he tried to strangle her and she was going in and out of consciousness...she told herself she wasn't going to die and certainly not by this monster...she finally got the belt loose and he stabbed her numerous times from head to toe she had stab wounds including many defense wounds...the worse on her hands...he repeatly punched her in her face even breaking mirrors with her face....she said she just kept on telling herself to get to the door where the police were trying to get her out...she played dead and watched him walk away...she crawled on her elbows ....opened the door and literally fell out into the arms of police...Anjelina is only 100lbs. and she is only 21...I have always called her my little firecracker....she survived because she is a warrior...she survived because she loves life...she survived with the help of the many angels in the room with her ... she survived because she believes God has a plan for her...she is delighted to be alive and wants to thank you all for the healing prayers.

I choose the above picture because I love Mary...she understands what it is like to be a Mom...I always loved her but a few months ago I started to pray to her again saying Hail Marys before bed every night and asking her to help me be the best mother I could be...I asked her to protect my children and to allow the White light to surround and protect them....maybe Mary knew what was going to happen...I have a statue of her by my bed and she always seemed sad...when I received the phone call that something bad happened to Anjelina...I prayed to Mary all the way to the hospital in between my sobs...she had emergency surgery and when we were able to be with her I never left her...on the second night a kind nurse gave me 3 warm blankets while I leaned into my daughters bed holding her hand...I opened one blanket..then the second and I smelled a beautiful scent...I held the first blanket up to my face...nothing...then I brought the second one up to my face and I swear it was the fresh scent of Roses...I believe that Mary was telling me she heard my pleas and she was there with me and Anjelina...I felt at that moment a true calmness and I fell to sleep for the first time in days. When I came home after one week I held the statue of Mary and thanked her and I swear when I looked at her face it seemed like she was smiling..I can't explain any of this but then again...I don't really want to.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your concern and prayers...with special thanks to Stacey from Magic Love Crow for taking immediate action to ask for prayers... Mina,Shelle, Magaly, and Ann (who didn't even know me) ...and for all of you that kept the prayer candle lit.

Things to ponder.....

Hello my friends...I don't have any new pieces to put up today but I thought I would give you a few things to  ponder. Grab a cup of tea or coffee. Happy reading!

• What are the qualities you love about being human?
• Who and what are you going to pray about tonight?
• If you could become invisible where would you go and what would you do?
• Who is the last person you told off?
• If you could talk to animals..which one would you converse with and why?

Have fun with this...no need to answer them on my comments (unless you want to)...it is cool to ask your family, friends, and co workers!

TEA PARTY WINNER INCLUDING CONGRATS VIDEO!

CONGRATULATIONS TO DOGS MOM! Please contact me with your address!

IT'S TEA TIME!

Welcome to my Mad Tea Party! I love this scene and went to sleep last night still singing the song over and over and over...well you get the picture!

Here is some trivia you might enjoy...I really didn't have time to research all of it so I hope it is acurate.

• The movie took five years to complete, but was in development for over ten years before it entered active production.
• This movie is actually a combination of Lewis Carroll's two "Alice" books, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass".
• The Doorknob was the only character in the film that did not appear in Lewis Carroll's books.
• In the Walrus and the Carpenter sequence, the dates on the calendar are the same as they would be in March 2010, when Disney would release Alice in Wonderland (2010), directed by Tim Burton. 
• FIND MICKEY: In the scene where Alice grows and gets stuck in the White Rabbit's house, if you look closely at the DoDo bird's flame as he lights his pipe, there is a hidden Mickey flickering in the flame. 
• Every time the White Rabbit's watch is seen, it is always 12:25.

...and I have this 4x6 original watercolor and pen painting to giveaway...just leave a comment and if you are not a follower yet....please become one so you can be part of my future giveaways!

close up of Chesire

Alice

Alice and painted rose

GOOD LUCK ALL AND ENJOY THE PARTY

Wow I was the winner in two awesome giveaways...

Amy Powers from http://inspireco.blogspot.com/ had this as a giveaway!

It is a display box with compartments you can arrange/rearrange by Tim Holtz!

I added some of my fav little trinkets.

I am going to decorate it and get it ready to give to my new grandchild when she/he is born...please visit Amy's blog it is so awesome and she always inspires me...thank you so much Amy...this was sooooo generous and you wrapped it in beautiful wrapping paper...like a present!

I also won this! I can't wait to buy some material and play with this book...it was from Crafty Mishmash. She is putting her crafty self on the side so she can concentrate on her lingerie store http://www.kuhmillion.com/....I believe she is having a 25% sale right now!

So cute right...how lucky I was to be the winner of two awesome giveaways....I surely have to think about doing a giveaway very soon!