#defiantjoy

[timothyhasletartist]

New installation complete! At the Oak Harbor Library through the end of this month. . . . #whidbeyislandartist #whidbeyart #whidbeyisland #whidbey #oakharbor #landscapepainting #westbeach #defiantjoy #nocturnepainting #coupeville #deceptionpass #localart #hasletstudio https://www.instagram.com/p/CZfP-2xv3Ws/?utm_medium=tumblr

[shellyelyons]

MY identity is not based on or limited to my highlight reel. #CandaceParker #DefiantJoy #IAmRuthProverbs31Woman #BlendedBrokenRestored #love #thursdaythoughts . . . . . . #adjustyourcrown #iammybusiness #positivevibes #innerpeace #beautyishername #security #melaninpoppin #sheready #selfcare #melanin #affirmation #girlboss #seeher #becoming #womenempowerment #innerpeace #onairpersonality #womeninradio #411radionetwork #loveyourself #faith #blackexcellence https://www.instagram.com/p/B60ewGrpOnh/?igshid=lm2jjavir9v3

[mykidsdisneymom]

This is why is #choosejoy. #hope #joy #simplejoy #defiantjoy #429life #laughitup #candacepayne

[tabrownwv]

I just signed up for the #defiantjoy #biblestudy by @candacepayne & hosted by @mandisaofficial 😃 #excited #defiantjoy🥊 #candacepayne #mandisa https://www.instagram.com/p/BmOc1uEH-1Z/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=80bj0gwfbl9c

[alicethebrit]

#3 !! - BOOM! In < 24 hrs 〰️ ✝️ 〰️ ✝️ 〰️ ✝️ 〰️ ✝️ 〰️ Alba & I went to the same church over 15 yrs ago, and were BOTH doing this online Bible study! She is getting this for a friend of hers who needs it for her Mamma. 〰️ ✝️ 〰️ ✝️ 〰️ ✝️ 〰️ ✝️ 〰️ God will always present opportunities, one needs to be earnestly looking for them, recognize them and act on them without hesitation. 〰️ ✝️ 〰️ ✝️ 〰️ ✝️ 〰️ ✝️ 〰️ #SeeANeedFillTheNeed #ItsBeenPickedUpAlready #DefiantJoy #SimpleJoys #JoyYear2018

[lauralzielke]

Happy Turkey Day! 🦃🍽🍾 Thank you for who you are and for being part of our lives. . The Zielkes . ❤️ #thankful #defiantjoy

[robotandturtle]

Dance with #defiantjoy. Thank you @joycedidonato for the inspiration. #globalodetojoy #joyceodetojoy #Robot #Turtle #robotandturtle #dance #graffiti https://instagr.am/p/CHwp1wmHcCe/

[brelyn]

Seaglass

As long as I can remember, I have searched for sea glass.  Family walks on the beach growing up quickly turned into the 5 of us with our heads down, combing the beach for the biggest, unique-est, and most colorful piece of glass we could find.  And after miles and miles on the Maine Coastline - we would head home to drop our latest finds into the big glass jug that held our many year collection of countless hours of searched, broken glass.  

I don’t know what started it in my mom, but she passed the love along to me, and as you can probably tell - its clearly a genetic trait and like my left-handedness, Emma got the glass gene too.  

After our last trip to the beach, where we came up with fists full of sea glass, we sat on the beach wall looking over the treasures.  We had big pieces, round pieces, flat pieces, different colored pieces and to my hereditary-trained eye, (and her dismay) - some sharp pieces.  We sat and made sure we kept only the “ready” pieces of sea glass.  I picked up a shiny, slightly sharp piece we had found and tossed it back toward the shore and as I did she looked up and gasped, “MOM! NOOOOOO!”  

I started to explain why we couldn’t keep that piece at the same time she started to explain all the reasons why we could.  “It wasn’t TOO sharp mom, and it wasn’t TOO shiny mom, and it reeeeeeally looked like it had been in the water, just long enough, mom.”  (While she was distracted talking and reasoning and begging me not to throw that piece in, I threw back 3 more. #sorrynotsorry) They were just not ready.

It wasn’t until much later when we were again examining each piece, preparing to put them in our own (dramatically smaller than my mom’s) container of collected glass, that she leaned over and said, “So mom, can you teach me about sea glass? Like, how it’s made...?”   In my (limited) knowledge on the subject, I told her simply of glass broken - waves and sand and rocks, the slow rubbing away of the rough edges and the smoothing of sharp points.  I told her of the process - which was not quick, and perhaps the glass we found could have been many years old.

My answer seemed to suffice and she went back to organizing and examining - and I was left, once again, with an object lesson.

I am like the piece of sea glass.

Depending on the day, I might be blue or green, or even brown. Sure feels like I have been in that salty ocean water for a long time.  Sand has rolled over me, time and time again.  Every once in a while a wave will hit hard and I am slammed up against the rocks.  I have made it to the shore, a reprieve if you will, and then just as quickly been pulled out to sea again - for more tossing, more smoothing and more refining.  There have been times I have wanted to be the piece chosen, the one found, but unbeknownst to me - I already am. I am chosen, wanted, found, and carefully hand crafted - I am just not ready yet.  And back to the water I am lovingly tossed.  It doesn’t always feel good when I land back on the rocks, and I can hear the waves getting closer, knowing what that means --

But this time, I know what to expect; more refining is to come, because I have more still to learn, edges left to smooth, refining left to endure and more becoming -- so I wait. I have been here before, so I am prepared -- maybe not prepared in knowing exactly how the refining will go, but knowing it will be worth it. 

I wish I could say I am excited at the waves - but I can confidently say I’m learning to welcome them. I wish I could say I enjoy the tossing of the waves - but I am increasingly and daily thankful for them. I wish I could say I have gotten used to the waves; I have not – but even though some of them still surprise me and catch me off guard, I love that my first instinct is to reach out for my Anchor and hold on for dear life. I wish I could say I am “ready now!”, “I am done ‘enough’ ” - but I know I am not, but I’m learning to embrace the process.

I wish I could tell you a lot of things, but what I can tell you is: I am the sea glass. And I am becoming.

Unlike the piece of glass, I am safe in the hands of my Father, daily being tossed and molded and created and recreated; in His control.  All things new.  He is taking who I was on my own, every jagged, broken, rough piece of me and daily making me who HE intends me to be.  This breaking of me - is the making of me - the making of you.

I can sit here and name every wave, countless over the past 15 years, a handful of big ones in the last few months.  I could sit here and tell you stories of each wave - and maybe someday I will.  But only because I know that each wave that came, hit me hard, knocked me down and pulled me under -- did so filtered through God’s hands.  And when I surfaced, I looked a little more like Jesus having met Him, brushing up against Him in the storm.  

[thereallesbiansocialite]

Talking #fatherhood #friendship & #DefiantJoy with the one & only @theperezhilton @galpalapp #launchparty Photo credits: @ildkmedia @galaxiegrl #producer #TeamSocialite (at Santa Monica, California)

[timothyhasletartist]

Finished! "Defiant Joy" 30"×40" plus 24"×30" oil on canvas. This final season has come about in the bright golden-green of our home studio's back woods among supportive friends. Grateful for community! . . . @thevelveteenhippoproject @erikaraeheins @katyleighartistry #whidbeyislandartist #expressionistart #expressivepainting #landscapepainting #popartlandscape #whidbeyart #whidbeyisland #whidbey #westbeach #defiantjoy #hasletstudio https://www.instagram.com/p/CRQMD_rsJr3/?utm_medium=tumblr

[sarahchannersculpture2-blog]

Some direction of concept

In week 1 or 2 I was contemplating what direction I would take with my concept. I knew I wanted to take a psychological or sociological investigation or approach to my work but about what exactly was where I got stuck….for about 10 weeks :L  Nevertheless, In an attempt to problem solve my way out of this artists’ block, I made concept maps. I wrote down different feelings and thought about emotional and mental health and how that affects people in society. I’d recently seen the film, ‘Inside Out’ and was touched by it’s sensitivity and detail about human thought and emotions with all it’s complexities. I still can’t believe they made a film about this. Blew my mind. I began investigating people in relation to feelings, thoughts and the differences between us. I thought perhaps I should do this through documentation, although I wanted to avoid the Q&A approach of last semester’s work. I also thought that this direction would be far too broad without a specific focus e.g. one particular emotion.  I was recently in discussion with a friend who had been through a serious health battle about the concept of ‘defiant joy’. That being, it was her goal for this year and onwards to be joyful and content, despite the obstacles thrown at her. Simply put, it is to be grateful and hopeful in times of adversity. I continued to get quotes about being sustained through adversity. Charles Stanley said, “Often times God demonstrates his faithfulness in adversity by providing for us what we need to survive.  He does not change our painful circumstances.  He sustains us through them.” I found this inspiring, but again, I was unsure how to execute this into a body of work.

[guatemalanglobes]

When #prickly people enter your life, prickly circumstances, or your life feels prickly, find #defiantjoy 🙋🏽🌟🙋🏽 in your world. 🌎🌎

[mykidsdisneymom]

Finding joy in the midst of pain can be difficult, but it does exist. It’s easier to see it after the pain has passed. This #verseoftheday reminds me that there is always joy at the end of trials. So go ahead and ugly cry, because joy will surely follow. #simplejoys #choosejoy #defiantjoy #joy #tears #youversion #jesusalways

[justjamey-blog]

Defiant Joy: The Remarkable Life & Impact of G.K. Chesterton by Kevin Belmonte

Alison and I wrote the jacket copy for this really cool biography of one of the greatest Brits of the last century.

Published by Thomas Nelson, 2011. 336 pages.

[alicethebrit]

#DefiantJoy #SimpleJoys #JoyYear2018

[lauralzielke]

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A post shared by Laura Zielke (@thezwomann)

#Repost @candacepayne (@get_repost) ・・・ Behind the scenes from my interview with Inside Edition. Never underestimate the power of YOUR story. •••••••••• #LaughItUpBook #DefiantJoy