Zooming In - IF

After taking the plunge and posting something for Illustration Friday last week, I thought I'd give it another try with this week's topic. 

The word was "zoom". Easy, right? Not so much for me....

Do you go with zoom like "zoom-zoom" for a car? That's what I thought at first and sketched and water colored a little car.....Meh.

Or how about zoom as in "zooming in" on something? Well, maybe, but nothing really came to mind. No inspiration. Zero. Zip. 

So, I gave up. IF just isn't for me. 

Then this weekend, I picked up a book I'd had on my nightstand for a while by J.I. Packer - Growing in Christ.  (My book's cover art isn't nearly as pretty or inspiring as the current edition on Amazon, btw.) In this book, Packer takes the Apostle's Creed, baptism & conversion, the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments and drills down (i.e. zooms in on) into each with short, readable essays. Starting with the Apostle's Creed, I've made it through the "God the Father" portion. While reading, I was reminded of this pin a friend had put on one of her boards and I thought I'd try it with this part of the Creed. So - here's the black and white version:  

And here's the colored version via Photoshop Elements. Doodling this while reading Packer's essays (not at the same time, of course!) definitely made me "zoom" into what these words really mean when recited. 

There was so much I liked about Packer's essays. The view that "Almighty" speaks of God's sovereignty and how "men treat God's sovereignty as a theme for controversy, but in Scripture it is a matter for worship." Or in the essay on "Maker of Heaven & Earth" and his view on how Genesis 1 & 2 "tell us not how the world was made, but who made it" and that "Rather than criticize these chapters for not feeding our secular interest, we should take from them needed rebuke of our perverse passion for knowing Nature without regard for what matters most; namely, knowing Nature's Creator."

But, finally, the part that has stuck with me most from my reading is from the very first essay on "I believe in God." Packer says the more literal translation from the Greek would be "I am believing into God" which means "I am living in a relation of commitment to God in trust and union." "When I say "I believe in God," I am professing my conviction that God has invited me to this commitment, and declaring that I have accepted his invitation." 

And I even like it printed! So, here's my IF submission - "Zooming in on the Apostle's Creed."

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Down Time, IF and the Kitchen Project

Today started out with taking Mary to an early morning swim practice (for those who know me well, can we all say "deja vu" together?) and then about an hour of quiet time at Panera, sipping a latte, eating a very good (but very fattening) cranberry orange muffin, working on a new doodled Christmas tree, and scooting around on the internet visiting some lovelies from AEDM. Ahhh....

And guess what? I clicked over from somewhere to Illustration Friday which I've looked at before but never been brave enough to submit to. And who would have thought it but the topic for this week was "Tree"!!! Ha - sweet serendipity! That gave me the courage to submit my tree from yesterday's post. So, here it is posted with IF under pen-and-ink for the medium and cartoon for the style. I wasn't sure at all how to categorize it.... digital? traditional? Dunno, but I'm sure it doesn't really matter, the important thing is I did it! Yay, me! And maybe I'll give it a try again next week.... Here's a screen shot of my tree on the IF page:

Back at home it was time to start THE KITCHEN PROJECT. This involves a 15-year-too-late redo to remove floral wallpaper and orange Formica. (Secret: I actually like my orange Formica.) Today was a big step - removing the wall that separates the kitchen and one of our living areas. Gulp. A couple of friends came to help. Here is buddy John pulling off the wallboard. (Sorry for the poor quality picture.)

And here's the view into the living area with the wall gone.

And another from the living area into the kitchen...Sitting on the counter with his face hidden is The Boy home for the weekend from Savannah! So good to see him!! We always seem to have a lot of belly laughs with him around. 

This has been a long time in coming and - true to our typical form for home projects - probably will be a long time in finishing. But, you know, I'm so thankful for my home, for a husband who is willing and able to tackle almost any project, and for friends who will help him along the way. Next step: the plumber is coming Monday to relocate pipes from the upstairs bathroom. Hooray! I can tell I'm going to like this wall being gone so very much already!!

Here's the look we're going for but with yellow walls. I'll keep you posted, bloggy friends!

A very full day and still not over yet! Hope your weekend has been as good as mine so far!

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