Dear Friends and Family:

How are you? I am recovering from a virus, it has been utterly freezing for months, AND we had to cancel weekend plans due to…yes, more snow! Not fun, but probably wiser for me to stay home and recuperate :). AND future plan!

I’m planning on finishing the large Icon commission for Saint Vincent’s in April, God willing. Just about to  get on the board – Dorothy Day. So looking forward to praying with and about her and the amazing woman of God she was. Just started teaching a new Icon writing class in Hillsdale, and will be leading an Introduction to Icon Writing Retreat at Saint James Episcopal Church in NYC in February. It got filled up in the first week of listing it!

So, working hard to get through the winter, God has blessed me with some lovely insights about who I REALLY am, and who He REALLY is. He is so good! Our identity is in Him, not our Self. Flannery O’Connor talks about the “True Self & The False Self”, “Thank You for changing me, Lord, enabling me to slough off the false self that prevents me from becoming a true follower.” From ” The Province of Joy-Praying with Flannery O’Connor.”

“I thank you for the continual opportunity for rebirth that you offer to me through the examples of Your Holy ones.

Even St. Paul, who counted himself among the gravest of sinners, was struck from his horse by the force of Your love and was taught through blindness to see the need for a radical remaking himself. So Saul became Paul through Your mercy.”

These quotes from O’Connor are so apt when praying about the world crises, about poverty, about the powers that govern this world, and about our own individual lives. We can pray that God gives us His insight, and opens our hearts to continual rebirth and the life that is the most exciting and satisfying in Him.

A couple of other events we would love your prayers to cover: The Artist Community Potluck Dinner we organized in Hudson at the First Presbyterian Church was very well attended. We continue this month on Feb. 27 and are following loosely the “Artist Way, Spiritual Guide to Creativity” by Julia Cameron. So far it has brought good people together and I’m hoping for some nice friendships and people getting closer to God’s creativity.

ALso, Michael is working on his new video- it’s under wraps but a hint is that it’s about Ephesians 6! So prayers are appreciated for that too:

Michael here: I just want to add that when God puts an unction on you to do something there goes with it an excitement to get it done, to be in the creative process of doing it. That is how it feels with this video. I am excited when I get some time to work on it, the fact that I am a beginner in the field of videography does not deter me because I believe God wants this video to go out and go viral. The bible talks of how news of Jesus went viral when he was ministering, the news went person to person through all the countryside so everyone in the community came to see him speak and heal. The news of Jesus and what he does is still catching when it is done in a real and exciting way. There is nothing more exciting than watch God heal someone and that news travels fast and far, even now. This video is not directly about healing but it about being on God’s side and being equipped to stay in the fight. Because we are in a fight but God has given us the equipment to come through and complete the purposes He has for us. This nation has so much at stake at the moment we all need to have on the ‘Whole Armour of God’.

We love you all so much and always look forward to your emails and comments. Let us know how we can pray for you.

Love and Prayers,

Christine and Michael