All the prit-ty lit-tle horses

Right before the turn of the new year, I was studying a set of devotionals that spoke of when the Lord ordains  your "time of favor." It examined the whole idea of asking the Lord to help you understand your calling, accepting what it is, and then working fervently (with him) to answer that calling and carry out His plans. I thought long and hard about that devotional as it said thought He does want you to heed His callings but He also wants you to feel confident in doing that and be ready to do it whole heartedly. I thought long and hard about the suggestions of the devotional because it just happened to be steering me in the exact direction I just happened to already be going. (Imagine that! The Lord was poising me for His plans months before I ever realized what they could be! He's amazing like that, isn't He?)

Because I'm always up for taking on what might seem like the impossible, I prayed for the Lord to bring my own time of favor to me and I prayed for Him to help me realize the things He wanted me to do with my life in ways greater than I could ever imagine for myself.  Little did I know I would experience an abundance of blessings in volumes not unlike the current snowfall that is being recorded in Chicago in a matter of only weeks.

Want to know what God has delivered for me to carry out? Here's just a smattering of things but bear in mind that this list is not even close to exhaustive...

• Steering my school's student art club for the event decoration efforts of the most major fundraising event of the year
• Assisting a local boy scout troop (yes, the WHOLE TROOP!) to earn their visual arts merit badge
• Preparing for my very first ever fine art gallery showing (not solo but it's still a big deal and a whole lot of work)
• Redesigning and launching a new flash website for my photography business
• Booking events and shoots left and right for the upcoming Spring and Summer seasons
• Prepping for my first ever fine art gallery (not a solo show but still) where I will be showing with a local area faith-based organization promoting visual arts ministry
• Preparing bento boxes for both Miss A and D

*sigh*

I don't know how or where I'm getting the time or energy to do anything these days. The only logical explanation I can come up with for the things I've been able to pull off is that God alone has filled me with endless reservoirs of both energy and inspiration.  Sometimes though, I gotta sit down and just take a breather and the other night I was able to do just that. It's amazing the simple joy that comes from hunkering down with Miss A for a little bit to marvel at the little joys of life when they come in the form of the teeniest tiniest and prettiest little ponies you might ever see...