Anyway, she was giving me new insight into the 23rd Psalm... how the green pastures aren't just clean, cool, and refreshing, as I'd imagined, but for sheep they're also sustenance/food. And since these life necessities are offered, we don't need to worry so much, and can rest in that promise. I was staring off, thinking about this new idea when I brought my gaze into focus, and saw this counter. Not happily, I realized it was a vignette representative of my life right now...
First of all, it's messy, disorganized, and like many areas, rooms, and surfaces of our home, there are things there that don't belong.
Other things evidenced in this scene:
- We have medical and dietary issues going on in the family that often mean different meals for each person. For this, I am sorely unprepared (I keep not thinking ahead and having to 'punt' at each meal time), as well as the whole individual meal situation being frustrating, inefficient, and expensive.
- Unpaid bills and pieces of mail with which I know not what to do taunt me. I am in charge of mail, bills, and all things paperwork around here. I've done it for 32+ years, but it's not my strong point, and it's all catching up with me. The balls I used to juggle so well, to keep everything up-to-date and to know where everything is, even if not filed neatly, are all falling around me.
- A box from a charger symbolizes our (over)use of technology.
- Pet care items remind me one dog needs grooming and all our pets need shots.
- Food items and gadgets show the projects my family starts, but leaves me to clean up.
- The stack of books represent all those I mean to read but haven't, and the notebook is full of lists and project ideas yet to get past the 'write-it-down-before-I-forget' stage.
After stewing in frustration and overwhelm for a moment, uncharacteristically, I decided not to let that counter view define my day. I decided to unfocus from that, and, instead, "be present" for myself and my art today...To let my soul breathe...thank you, Emily P. Freeman! (You don't know Emily, her blog, or her books? I highly recommend any.)
THIS is the type of vignette I'd prefer to represent my life...
...A closeness to God and His Word, and letting my creative projects out of the notebook and into existence!
Today, I decided to take a Bible verse Prince Go-for-It and I had briefly discussed earlier, and make it into the wall canvas that had drawn itself in my mind. 
Unfortunately, my mind didn't create a background for it, so it is an example of my long-fought weakness in reaching design 'completeness' in my projects. But I was pleasantly surprised that my rusty lettering skills still served me pretty well, and I'm attempting to be less 'neat' and less of a perfectionist, so this project certainly fits that bill!
I enjoyed myself and it was relaxing. A win for today. --Not that it made the pile of bills disappear or the countertop properly organized. Somehow, I want to simplify to be rid of that first vignette and live more often amongst the second.
It doesn't seem like accepting a gift should be so difficult, but worry, busyness, and living in constant crisis distract us. Taking time to let my creative ideas come to life is a way of accepting the gift offered in Psalm 23... a version of 'lying down in green pastures and restoring my soul.'
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