New Life, New Hope, New Beginnings...

Easter is coming... and with that comes new life, new hope, and new beginnings... 
Share the story, share the hope... He is not here, He is risen! 

Share the love, 
M.

LostBumblebee ©2016 MDBN
 He is Risen
Personal Use Only
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LostBumblebee ©2016 MDBN
He is Risen
Personal Use Only
8x10

Monday.

my incomplete versions of this hummingbird :)                  

Was your Easter Amazing?  Sometimes holidays are hard for me, especially my favourite holidays. I feel the older I get the harder it is to enjoy a holiday, I look forward to it so much, and then it falls flat, it doesn't live up to the expectations I have placed on it.  Easter is one of those holidays. I love the idea of a new beginning, of celebrating the resurrection, of spring in the air... a new dress, something that looks like a breath of fresh air... family photos in the sun, church together... dinner... conversation.  When we were little, Easter always happened at my Grandparent's house, I remember all of us cousins eating in layers sitting up the central stairs of their home, all dressed in our Easter outfits... with a 1 pound chocolate bunny waiting to be eaten. It was loud, still too cold to play outside, filled with smoke, and usually a race of some sort, or a sporting match was on the tv. My Uncles would turn up the volume, my Grandma would come in from the kitchen and turn it down, this was the routine of the day. Sneaking the volume back up, and out She'd come and turn it back down. The kids would just giggle and sit closer to the tv.

My own family is split all over the country, sure, my hubby's family is near, but they don't celebrate Easter and never have. I want so badly to create some traditions of our own, I try, it ends up not happening... No family photos, no new dress... no celebration. One thing that did salvage this Sunday was going out to dinner with a friend of ours, and her whole family- eight of us. It was awesome. Sure, it wasn't my family, but almost. It was probably the highlight of my weekend. Does it make me sad my family is not together on the holidays, yes... but can I go back to being eight years old when the world made sense? no...

Next year, I will have to write down my expectations, and try to create new traditions, and follow through... This past Christmas, I wrote out my expectations of Christmas, (what are you looking for, what is most important, what would you like to happen)... I wrote down exactly what I wanted to happen, I wrote out how I wanted to feel (calmness, joy, reflection), and what was most important (time with our families, a time of relaxation for my hubby, quiet time with my hubby)... and then made it happen, it was wonderful, the only thing we didn't do was our annual puzzle... But I was ok with that - I  had no lingering feelings of unhappiness, of incompleteness. I had no sadness when I went to sleep... I knew that my expectations were clearly written down, and they had happened.

Yesterday,  I was working on my print for today, a stylized humming bird... I see them floating and flitting around, I see them as beautiful and graceful darting about... but what I never see is their little wings flapping at over 50 times per second... I only see the beauty, I don't see the work. I have to remind myself of this when flipping through Instagram during the holidays- I see all of these perfect beautiful families, dressed up in new duds for Easter.... I have to remember that Momma is flapping her wings more than 50 times a second, holding back tears of her own, be it happy or sad, trying to create moments and memories for her family, creating traditions of her own... Her feelings are probably not far from my own...

The amazing thing about Easter, is it's a NEW DAY... a new beginning, a new time of year, filled with Hope, and expectation, and awesomeness... so today as I am up very early typing this... I feel a sense of peace, calmness and hope. Last night, not so much...but today. Yes.

How about you? How do you go through the holidays?
Have you ever written down our expectations? If so, did you find it made a difference?

Share the love,
M.


Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”  -C.G Jung

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Spring, Easter, Amazing Grace + Jesus.

It's spring. I write this and giggle a little as fluffy white snowflakes swirl softly to the snow covered ground. It's Spring. I tell myself. It's Spring! My heart believes it, because Easter is coming, that special time of the year when I celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

You may not believe in this, and that's ok... I do. And it is a heavy, exciting time of the year for me. It's filled with hope and expectation, anticipation and gratitude. I try my hardest to follow the words of Jesus. Even if you see Him only as a man- He was a great man, who spoke of love, and love, and more love. His mandate is to love. So ya, I love Him.  (do I fail miserably at loving (amongst many other things)? yes-daily,  and not just once, but more times that I have fingers and toes to count on).
But am I ok with that... yup... most days.

Share the love today,
M.

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Incase you ever wondered what Jesus did say about love... here is a great place to start :)

Matthew 5:43-48 

As Found in:The Message (MSG)

43-47 “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

48 “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

Mark 12:28-31The Message (MSG)

The Most Important Commandment

28 One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?”

29-31 Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”

More Fun Spring Prints? Okay!

>>More SPRINGY PRINTS Click here << 
>>Spring has SPRUNG<<
>>HOPPY EASTER<<
>>THE OLD RUGGED CROSS<<
>>LENT CALENDAR ETSY <<
>> MATT REDMON 10,000 Reasons Song ETSY<<
>> Hip Hop<<

On a Hill...

It's Good Friday here, and we are so blessed...
If you celebrate Easter, the death and resurrection of Jesus-
this is for you...

Take a moment to reflect on this awesome day...

Share the love,
M.

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Springy Prints!

Here is the full collection of my Easter prints, including last year :)
Take a peek... click the image below to go directly to the post to download the print!

Share the love,
M.

Hip Hop. Uh-Oh, I Just Went Ol'School Gansta

Try not tapping your toes.
Hippi Hoppi Easter!

Share the love,
M.

http://youtu.be/tUqvPJ3cbUQ

-this print is for the Big Kid in You ~ the lyrics are not really for the littles :)

If you are gangsta Click here :)

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Spring has Sprung!

Spring has Sprung, or has it? You tell me :)

This print is very springy - but it also has a Do It Yourself (DIY) side to it too! I've created a white overlay (transparent( PNG file so you can overlay it over any photo you'd like- :) It's a 5x7 on transparent background, resolution is 400dpi- which means you can even go slightly larger than 5x7. I've made an example for you to check out.  Have fun with this! I'd love to see what you create!

Let me know if you like this idea, I have lots of prints that could be used in DIY projects, let me know what think!

Share the love,
M.

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5x7 WHITE LAY-OVER 400DPI
Trust me, it's there :) you just can't see it
until you overlay it !

5x7 example of WHITE LAYOVER
on a blue background.

I used the Layover PNG to make this print using a stock file
from online. You can use it to spruce up any of your spring
photos :)