Be INSPIRED: A Benefit Art Fair

INSPIRED is a benefit art fair that gives artists, art enthusiasts, and would-be collectors a chance to come together for two days of art appreciation. It's for art's sake and a good cause.

This benefit art fair is our way of raising funds for our good friend, Jonathan Nambu, who has recently been diganosed with lymphoma. Jonathan is the founder and the current executive director of Samaritana, a non-profit organization involved in helping women caught in prostitution.

More information on this organization can be found at http://www.samaritana.org

If you fee overwhelmed, tired and weary...

Revelation 2:2-5

I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

2 Timothy 2:2-5

You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.

Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules.

Isaiah 40:29-31

He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.

Lamentations 3:25-26

The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord.

Psalm 27:14

Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;

stop and smell the flowers

For the past few weeks I've been feeling like I'm always in a race. I always have the urge
to run or type very fast. I tend to speak very fast also and get very impatient when people
talk slow. I stopped taking pictures of events or get togethers because I feel they make things
slower and that they are not that important. But I love taking pictures and I love looking at them
over and over.

For the past few weeks everything has been a task for me, a "to do" in my checklist.

- Go to work.
- Greet someone on their birthday.
- Have a foot spa. (Wahhh I badly need this!)
- Attend Art Expo meeting.
- Deposit downpayment for hair and make up artist.
- Research on reception decorations.
- Meet the caterer.
- Scheudle first session of pre-marriage counseling.
- Go home.
- Attend late night conference call.
- Breathe (yes I sometimes catch myself forgetting to this.)

I know some (or most) of the things in that list should not be there. And it's frustrating especially
for me to see those there also. But that's what I've been feeling lately. I feel like my life has been
ruled over by a checklist.

But I know also that life should not be lived like that. I need to slow down. I need to enjoy living life.

I need to stop and smell the flowers.