Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Fall & Onward ...Prayers for the Future!

 




Even on Halloween, the Son still shines and is in control!  

Everyday can be begun anew with promises of a brighter and better future.  The joy is in the moment, as C.S. Lewis stated, "for the present is the point at which time touches eternity".    My prayer for all is for contentment this during this season and may each of us encounter the creator of the universe this holiday!


'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.      Jeremiah 29:11 NASB

Friday, October 29, 2010

My Manifesto of Insignificance

Knowing that my physical death is certain, but the time of death is uncertain;

Knowing that my life and work does matter, but also will not last;

  • I will seek to love and worship God in each act
  • I will slow down and live in the moments of today
  • I will love unceasingly; my family, friends and others
  • I will strive to create beauty within and without
  • I will acknowledge the wonder, live deliberately and laugh often
  • I will believe in the ripple effect that if I touch one life, I have touched the world

"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. 

This is to have succeeded."  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 ("An Angels Travels" - Copyright 2010 Maleko, Watercolor pencils on 

watercolor paper, approx. 4x6 inches, Paint Shop flood fill and border)

 

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Life is found ...


Life is found, 
in moments both tender & tragic; 
in moments both mundane & magic! 
 ~Maleko


"Brun Cheval"



"Blanc Cheval"
 (The top drawing is the original done in black sharpie marker on white paper, approximately 4x6 inches
and the border was added in Paint Shop Pro.  The lower image is a negative image of the original.  The 
stark of black on white or white on black portrays the dramatic conflict between opposing forces in our
lives as captured in the words of the poem above.)                                                ©Maleko 2010
                                                                         
 

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Look Back - Halloween 2009 & Forward!


Pictures to remember 2009! Muppin & Pumpkins!


A carving of our MalekoArts logo that was 
carved into a pumpkin by a dear friend.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Check out more designs on many everyday products at the
online store - MalekoArts - Cafepress 

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Seize the Moment! (Carpe Diem)


There are times in life when you must lead the 
pack and other times when you must sit on the 
wheel and wait for that moment to move in faith.

Waiting is hard but wisdom is knowing the difference! 


(The above is a photo of my daughter and I riding our bikes together.  The thought occurred to me that this is a good representation of the times in our lives when we need to know when is it the right time to make our move and seize the moment and the other times when we must wait on God.)

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Rearing Stallions in Color

"Blue Majesty"
"Flames Reign Down"
"The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears".
-Arabian Proverb

Three stallions rearing show the raw power and strength of the horse, the colors portray the beauty of the scene.  

(These drawings were done using colored pencils and pastels on white paper and measure approximately 14 x 11 inches.  The 
border and black outline was added using Paint Shop Pro.)

Copyright 2010 Maleko

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Seeking Permission? Ramblings ....

"To live is Christ, to die is gain", what?  How is that?

It seems to me that death often takes me further away from God not closer.  Death throws a silence over 
my faith.  So many verses seem contradictory as they seem so unreal.  God is good? 

Can you truly say that when you have faced death, tragedy and the destruction of your world?  
Can you say that and believe it when you have a never faced the end?  
Your own mortality?
The death of someone you love?

With no one to blame, is evil the easy answer for the cause of so much pain in the world?  The violence,
the hate, the addictions, the lust, the greed, continue on unabated and good people get hurt because of it.  

But what about illness, a sickness and death with no concrete cause?  Was there a cause, an action that brought about the effect and the consequence?  What is the grand design in that if there are no coincidences?

Do I blame God?  Am I angry at God?  My life has been irrevocably altered.  I say I still believe and I 
go through the motions on the outside, but inside...do I believe?  The face I show the world is that the truth of me?  Do I truly believe what I say I believe?

What am I left with?

Total utter silence from God?  No words from beyond except for a faint whisper of  "Trust me", but faith is the evidence of things unseen, right?  Then I should have a lot of evidence.

What remains unanswered is why?  That is the question that still haunts my waking and sleeping, but no answer ever seems forthcoming. "Trust me"

Do I only have faith in the finality of that?  What is next?  The next life?  Is it there? Heaven?  Hell?

Time to give yourself permission.  Feel the fear and accept that loss and devastation may come again. "Trust me"  It all makes me tired, so very tired.

Life should not and is not meant to be lived waiting for the 'hammer to fall'.  The days and the years go by
and the hole remains.  You learn to laugh and love again.  The moments of joy you so desperately longed
for returns, but failing to be fully present and to live in that moment because of the fear.  Juxtaposing the past, present and the future. "Trust me" whispers through my mind while I feel a -
  • Fear of God
  • Fear of loss
  • Fear of happiness
  • Fear of guilt
  • Fear of forgetting
  • Fear of hurting
  • Fear of love
"Trust me", time to give myself permission to fully live, to be happy and fully love again.  Permission to enjoy, to delight, to cherish.

"Trust me", you are permitted to love God, to accept your destiny, your life, your fate, "I have come so that they (you) may have life and have it more abundantly". 


(This was originally written in October 2008 and updated in October 2010 as I contemplated the previous seventeen years of life? ~Maleko)

Thursday, October 7, 2010

My Manifesto of Grace & Mercy

Knowing that the world and all peoples desire grace

Knowing that sometimes there is no justice only mercy

  • I will be kind to myself and family
  • I will strive to see the hurt and offer comfort
  • I will forgive those who have hurt me
  • I will seek forgiveness from others and God
  • I will trust in the grace and mercy of God
'The Light Always Shines Through'  copyright Maleko 2010