Watercolor Wednesday – but I believe this one my dad painted with oils. It’s fun to see this river picture, for it reminds me of my childhood – it hung in our living room for many years so I’d see it everyday. I’d always instantly pick out two faces – one on the right with the rocks on the ground, and the other in the rockface up on the left. What do you see?
I hear that bookings are starting to come in for the retreat I’m leading at the fabulous El Palmeral in Spain in June. Could you join us?
This retreat is one of my most favorite weeks. The setting is tremendous – Julie and Mike Jowett have set up a haven of hospitality in the desert. The dry heat envelops us as we feast on amazing Spanish cuisine and enjoy the company of the other guests. There is plenty of space for time on one’s own too – the gardens are lovely for quiet reflection, including a labyrinth. My favorite is sitting by the pool.
This year the theme we’ll explore is:
Finding Ourselves in God: We all face changes in life – we lose or gain a job, we experience a bereavement, if we’re parents our kids grow up – and these changes may lead us to wonder, “Who am I? With a different role, what’s left of me?” When this search for faith, home and identity lands on God, we find our true home and true self. Join Amy for inspiring sessions with plenty of time for guided prayer exercises.
To find out more, check out their website at El Palmeral, including contact details. Mike and Julie run other themed retreats, or you may prefer a time-out retreat on your own.
I love the starkness of this painting by Leo Boucher. Minnesota in the winter: the leaves stripped bare; a fresh layer of snow on the ground. All is still. May you know the peace of the Creator God who brings life out of what appears dead.
I’m cheating, for today’s painting by my dad, Leo Boucher, isn’t a watercolor but I think an acrylic. I love the vibrant colors and the expression of the woman in red (a favorite color). Is she chuckling over a special memory? Enjoying the breeze that’s ruffling her hair? Trying to work a crick out of her neck?
What do you see when you look at this painting?
Happy twelfth day of Christmas!
And Jesus will be born in our lives – a thought Adrian Plass observed in his book of the name. How is Jesus being born into your life in the early days of 2017? During this waning Christmas season?
For me, I hope he is being born into my life as I press forward with my writing projects – an MA essay due on Monday that I’ve been flailing around with and some other writing deadlines in the middle of the month. I hope he is being born into my life in my response to our youngest announcing at 2am that she’s been sick – and again at 3.30am and 6.30am. I hope he is being born into my life as I cling to him for meaning, love, and hope.
May he be born into your life this last day of Christmas, before we celebrate Epiphany.
Happy eleventh day of Christmas! I’m so heartened by the number of people who are enjoying my dad’s watercolors. Here’s another landscape – one he sent to me just last night, in fact, which he uses with his art students in the retirement community. For those of you in Minnesota, or able to get there, I think he’s thinking of making some of his work available. I said I want first dibs! 
Thanks Leo Boucher for the inspiration.
Happy new year – and happy eighth day of Christmas! On this first Sunday of the year, we wish you joy and peace and wonder. (Artwork by Leo Boucher.)
It’s the seventh day of Christmas, and the skies in Londontown are grey but not as foggy as yesterday. Thinking of the light of Christ who has come into the world, whatever the weather. Artwork by Leo Boucher.
Happy sixth day of Christmas! “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed” (Matthew 2:10). Does the sky seem foggy and dark, with no stars out to behold? Praying that the light will shine through the cracks; that the veil will be lifted; that our eyes can see the glory. (Artwork by Leo Boucher.)