It's Not the Beginning but Rather the Ending that Counts

Sometimes when I start a painting, it looks sooo ugly. lol. But then, over time, I begin to see God revealing things to me as I paint. Ideas come to me in process. It doesn't matter how a painting starts out, only how it looks when finished. That's the way it is with us as well. We start out as Christians, and we're not too pretty. We're a mess!! But God, over time, begins to reveal and bring out something very special in our lives. It's the work of the Holy Spirit. Satan wants us to focus on our past messes. God wants us to see our future, beautiful, amazing, and wonderful. David said to the LORD: "I praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Each one of us is fearfully and wonderfully made. So don't be discouraged if your life looks like a mess right now. God knows what He is doing. Just keep trusting Him, keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith!!!

Christian Talk Radio

On January 15th at 1PM, I have been invited to be a guest on "Daily Call", a Christian Radio Show on Arizona's Christian Talk, 1280 KXEG and 1010 KXXT. Annie Vaugier, the station manager will be the host! Be sure and tune in. It's gonna be exciting!!

A Special Version of Hallelujah With a Christian Twist

[Official Video] Little Drummer Boy - Pentatonix

God Gave Me Permission to Paint

     As I lay in my hospital bed at St. Joes Hospital in Phoenix, AZ, I had a lot of time to think and pray. That was 5 years ago.
     Something was terribly wrong, but I couldn't really figure it out. I was cleaning out my turtle tank, and I started feeling weak, so much so that I barely got the tank back to it's place on the boxes in my bedroom. I felt like passing out. I stumbled into the living room and felt like throwing up. Sweat began pouring off me and I was soaking wet. Yes, I felt like my life was slipping away from me. Fortunately, I was able to dial 911, and within minutes the paramedics were there. I was rushed to the hospital, which was only a block away, where they found that I was bleeding internally. Yes, I didn't know it but I had over-medicated from ibuprofen that I was taking for my bad headaches due to extremely high blood pressure. I had to have blood.
     Fortunately for me, i did not die that day, and I'm so thankful to God for that, because I felt that my purpose on this earth was not completed yet. And as I lay in my hospital bed, I began to visit with God. LORD, why does my life feel so empty? I'm stuck, with nowhere to go. I have a dead end job that's killing me, literally, and my dreams are fading away into the background. I knew I would die if I lost my dreams. "What do I do with my life, Lord?" I asked. At that moment I felt the Lord answer me back;
"What do you want to do?". And I answered, "I want to paint, to do art, to be creative the way you made me. You've given me all these ideas and dreams, and their just bottled up inside me."
It was at that moment I felt the Lord unleash me. He said, "Well then, paint! I give you permission." I felt him downloading creativity into me. I felt so much freedom!!!! I was excited!! 
     When I got out of the hospital I still had my dead end job, but I didn't care. I just started painting with passion, and I haven't stopped since.

God's loving Light

Good Day Everyone!!!! I was up early painting my sister's entryway. I painted it the other afternoon and marveled at what a great job I did. But this morning, as the bright light of morning streamed through door window, I began to notice many areas that needed touching up. Amazing what a little light will do!! A lot of times in life, we can think that we've overcome this or overcome that. W...e look back and think what a great job we did. But then, God shines his light on those things in our lives, and we begin to see that we still have work to do on those things. God doesn't do it to point out our faults; He does it out of love, because He knows that our desire is to completely finish the job. LORD, as you reveal things in our lives that still need work, we're excited because our desire is to be like you. We rejoice in our futures. We thank you for your patience, and persistence, and your perseverance with us. We love you, LORD!!! Let's have a fantastic day my friends. You were Designed with Greatness in Mind.

Refuse to give up!!

Good Morning Friends. I pray you had a good night's sleep last night. A number of years ago, as I was driving down one of the back roads through the Bear Paw Mountains of Northern Montana, I looked up and saw an old twisted pine tree that seemed to be growing out of a solid rock cliff. It was sort of an ugly little tree, not too appealing to the eye, not large or tall or majestic like the trees... down below in the valley. And I marveled at the tree, not because of it's beauty or stature, but because of it's resilience, and it's refusal to give up, and it's determination to grow in spite of it's circumstances. I didn't see any evidence of the tree complaining to God that it was born in the wrong location, or that it was too difficult to grow out of solid rock, exposed to the frigid winds that blasted the cliff face, or lack of water that ran off to the valley below.
No! Among all the trees I saw that day, that little crooked thing caught my eye and amazed me above all the other trees. I think God wants us to be like that little tree. Will we be complainers about our situation in life, and live the life of victims, or will we, against all odds, thrive and grow with God's help. Let's defy our life situations, and rise up, like that little tree, grow as God created us to. That little tree was filled with pine cones, perhaps a father or mother to some of the giants that grew down below. God is AWESOME, and He created each of us to be unique and wonderful in our own way!! Blessings for a great day!!! :))

Safe In His Arms

  10/29/13  Safe in His Arms.  There is no better day than today to be thankful for everything that God is doing in our lives. When I was a little kid, if I started misbehaving at my grandparents house, instead of spanking me, my grandpa would pick me up and hold me tight. I would squirm like crazy and fight to break free, but to no avail. Finally, after sheer exhaustion, I would give... up and fall asleep in my grandpa's arms. Sometimes I have found myself, in life, fighting and squirming against God. When we are in the arms of the LORD, we are in the safest place we could possibly be. And, when I learn to surrender, then I can relax and find peace and rest in the security of His embrace. Let's have a fantastic day my friends!!

About Worry

Worry is a bad habit. I've noticed that I've worried about money when I had plenty of it, and I've worried about money when I've had little. So the issue isn't money or the lack of it. The real issue is trust. Do I believe God is going to meet my needs or don't I? Worry steals our ability to enjoy the present moment. Lord, as we keep our eyes upon you, we trust you to meet our every need, to accomplish in and through us every single thing you've put on our hearts. And when the need arises, we trust that the solution will be at hand and within our reach. Thank You, Father.

Corey Couturier

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"I Am Loved" by Corey Couturier. 2013 on plywood. 4ft by 5ft.

My first painting done in Chinook, Montana. Painted live at the Blaine County Fair. Looking for a great piece of wood to paint on when my dad told me he had an old piece of ...plywood out at the farm that had been sitting there for years. At first I hesitated, but then, I decided to take a look at it. It wasn't very impressive when I looked at it. It had been tossed over the fence and left for some future project that never came. And so the plywood sat there, unused year after year. But when I took a look at it, I didn't see an old piece of plywood, but rather a wonderful painting to bless people with. I didn't look at what I saw, I looked at it's potential. That's the way God is. He doesn't look at us in our brokenness. He looks at us and he sees our potential. He's sees something great, something redeemable, no matter how worthless we feel, or how cast away we view ourselves. God wants to make a masterpiece out of each of our lives and it's all possible through Jesus, who made a way for us to have a relationship with God. How awesome is that!!!See More

 I Am Loved

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