The Art of Life
Photobucket I'm so glad you're here! "The Art of Life" is where I share my journey as an artist & Momma. It's a place where I hope to encourage other women that they are artists too. In this small little space I seek to share, document, and be reminded of God's wonderful grace, all around us. ....And I would be so happy to have you journey alongside me! So grab a cup of coffee and linger for a while. I hope you leave feeling refreshed. Photobucket

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Thankful

~~A lot of things have been trying to knock me out of my groove lately.
Trying very hard.
But I'm just not going to give in.
Through it all I still have an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the fact that God Is Good. (Even when people and situations aren't.)
~Someone hit our truck in the middle of the night a few weeks ago, left major damage, and then drove off. (We suspect that they were drunk. How else do you hit a parked car that hard?!)
~Someone stole my debit card information and went on a shopping spree.
~My bank treated me like a criminal and acted like it was my fault. I was so insulted and embarrassed and now I'm in the process of changing banks.
~I had to take Sierra to the doctor Monday for a condition she's been having for a while. (My poor girl!) It was a long afternoon and she had to have an x-ray but thankfully we learned that it's not too serious and is treatable.
~Uggg. I could go on but I'm going to stop there.

Because you know what?

My list of blessings is much, much longer:
~Our car insurance company was very nice and helpful and we've already received the check. The fact that my husband is an Autobody technician is also helpful. :)
~Sierra's problem was treatable and should be cleared up by school-time. So many families have children with untreatable or very serious conditions. They deal with struggles and difficulties every day. I'm so thankful that we have two healthy children.
~We found out today that Sierra got the teacher we were really hoping for. I've heard only great things about her. We also learned that her cousin will be in the same classroom which will be fun for them both.
~God has been opening up new doors and opportunities for me with my art. Dustin and I have had the blessing of meeting someone who is very knowledgeable in the business and he's been so helpful and encouraging to both of us.
~And I could go on...
So I will choose to look at the blessings and muddle through the frustrations. It's just been hard to know what to write on here lately. My art time has been very sparse, which always gets me a little down and even though I've done some sketching and prep-work, I don't really have anything that's worth posting. It can be so difficult to balance art and family but my girls always come first to me. We only have 2 more weeks left of summer and I want to enjoy the time I have so I'm not going to be so tough on myself. I had been trying to stay up late to work but then was paying for it later. I know that I'll be able to get more done once school starts again and we're all back in a routine.
~~Here are a couple of pictures from our trip to the children's museum a week ago. We all enjoyed it. I'm so thankful for these two little blessings in my life!



~Okay. I just re-read over this post and I realized that it makes me seem like I'm a better person than I am, lol. I'm so not perfect. I wrote about being thankful as a way to remind myself of my blessings. My human nature would rather just curl up in a ball and cry sometimes, lol.

10 comments:

hbedrosian said...

Kasie,
I'm sorry to hear about the trials you've been through recently (someone stole my credit card a little while ago and I know that can be very frustrating). However, your positive attitude is an inspiration, and I'm sure it will help you continue to power through anything that comes your way.

Anonymous said...

It would be fun to hang out with you for a day, and with the kids. Your girls look like they have so much fun with you! I remember pushing a small cart like that around when I was shopping with my mom!

Don't beat yourself up. We all have our years or months. When we moved to Miami in a month time period Chris' wallet was stolen when his car was broken into in the keys, and they charged our debit card an amount of which we didn't have. Three weeks later someone broke into our apartment while we slept and stole my purse. It was our fault, we left the sliding door unlocked, but it taught us you won't always hear someone breaking in. They stole my truck keys as well, and luckily I changed the keys because a week later they tried to come back and take it...I found the keys sitting in the ignition one morning before work. *compeltely freaked me out*

It took awhile to recover, but we did!

Anonymous said...

Why do things happen all at once? I don't know, but I know that they do. When you feel ready to take on the world, full of strength and energy...all is calm. Then, suddenly you get blind-sided by a sea of turmoil. I sympathize with you. I really did have a very similar time in my life when my kids were about the same age as yours. I hope you get thru it ok.
I was just telling my kids yesterday how little saplings shouldn't be too sheltered from storms and wind with braces and shields, for they don't have a chance to get stronger by living through storms and deer, etc. We feel like little saplings getting battered by the wind sometimes, but God has us safe in the palm of His hand, waiting for us to grow stronger.

Elise said...

Hi Kasie

You have had a rough run of late and I am sorry to hear about this. You made such a beautiful choice to focus on the postive and the blessings in your life. Your post reminds me of that popular quote: life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

I hope the rest of your week is filled with blessings and beautiful things.

Lots of love and hugs
Elise

Peggi Habets Studio said...

Great post! Focusing on the positive is so important. We have a tradition at the dinner table. We all say one thing we have gratitude for that happened that day. Sometimes it takes a LOOOONG time to think of something, but it does help get you out of the "why me's". Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry to hear about the rough time you've been having. I hope this is a better week for you. Thanks for the reminder to think on all the good things God has done. I tell my girls, being grumpy never makes you feel better or anyone around you either, unfortunately I need that reminder myself sometimes. :-) God is so good to us...aren't you glad we have Him in times like this? :-) And just for the record...sometimes a good cry gets it behind you so you can get back to life. :-)
Love,
Angela

mornin'lady said...

"Christ in us, the hope of glory"
Thank you for reminding us where to set our minds Kasie!
May the Lord continue to make you mindful of Him and may you continue to share, being abundantly blessed because of it!

Rose Welty said...

Hang in there Kasie, you've got the right perspective. My neighbour's son has a normally fatal brain cancer (in remission now). It really changed her perspective. She just said last night, I clean what I can, but I've given up really caring about it - I want to be outside enjoying the children now.

So enjoy these last few weeks of break. The school grind is fast approaching and you'll have time then. :D

Chin up with all the discouragements too, they too will pass. And if they happen again to you or someone you know, you know what to do and how to help! :D

Michal said...

kasie,
thanks for stopping by my blog. thank you for this post, reminding yourself (and us) to count our blessings instead of wallowing in our trials.
you have a beautiful family and blog!

Jo Castillo said...

Just caught up and read this. You reminded us to think positive and be thankful. Thanks. :)