I can so relate to Hayley with wanting a posed image of her family! My boys are almost exactly the same age as hers, and if her’s are anywhere as busy as mine (and it sounds like they are!!), there’s no wonder she has so few photos of the family sitting together and smiling. One day, I tell myself, we’ll look back on these days and remember them with such tender affection.

Here’s Hayley’s entry:

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What a sweet family, no? One tiny (though not readily noticeable) detail I had to include in the piece was the house plants. They weren’t in there at first, but she said they are from Louisiana originally, and so, I don’t know… it didn’t feel right without throwing in some fun plant life that looks more like I imagine Louisiana than I do Texas. Just a subtle addition, I know… but sometimes little things make a difference.

I hope to post again in the next week or so with some oohmoon updates. I hope this finds every single one of you doing well and not going crazy this busy month of May! We like to act crazy, but we aren’g going crazy. Yet, anyways. It helps that we don’t have kids that are finishing the school year… only this mom, and she’s already done! Woo hoo!

It’s amazing how often I still think of all of you. I surely do miss you. Well, hopefully we’ll all catch up very soon. I’m putting it down on my calendar to post a “general” update next Monday. And since I am putting it down here, it will officially happen. (I think.) Until then, too-da-loo!

xox,
Katie

I have to tell you all: after taking a month and a half off from work, creating this illustration was a breath of fresh air. I really do love to illustrate! I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed it! I miss all of you!

Say hello to the Creamer family! Adrienne (remember the Willich HappyFamily?)  purchased this illustration for the Creamer family as a gift over a year ago. (What a sweet friend, no?) And now I finally got to illustrate this lovely family. It’s a fun change of pace to create a family with older children. I don’t get a lot of these, so it is truly fun for me. And how about the concept? Oh my! I had such a blast creating the sea life and the pier! Not to mention the dogs! SO FUN!

Here’s their story:
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Can’t you just imagine the memories those kids have growing up going to their Chesapeak Bay home? How cool!  I hope this illustration will be a wonderful reminder of many happy memories for them!

Y’all, I will be back again next month with another HappyFamily! 7 more to go until they’re all wrapped up. I’m toying with the idea of a couple additional posts between school semesters (between May and June). We’ll see how timing works out. But I surely do miss you all! Hope you are all enjoying your spring and this finds you well! Until next time…

Much love,
Katie

It was the night after Thanksgiving. I don’t remember the exact date. Just that Thanksgiving was the day before. It was around 9pm. We had just gotten the kids down. Judah had just turned two the month before, and Finnley was 3.5 months old. I was sitting on the grey rug on the floor, and Garrett was sitting on the orange couch. We were talking about work. Garrett was in the fledgling stages of starting a business. Todaymade was about 1.5 months old at the time. We were discussing what I could do with my line of work to keep me more busy too. To spare you the nitty gritty of the convo, out of nowhere popped the idea of “an illustration a day for a year” from Garrett’s mouth.

I remember how I responded too. My first reaction was fear. I remember not saying anything at first. But my mind went spinning. At once I loved the idea, but was also petrified. It seemed too huge to accomplish. To unreasonable to expect. Yet, I was intrigued. I would get the chance to work on a children’s portfolio—something I had been wanting to do. I would complete the year with quite the portfolio of work. And I would be able able to write. Not that I thought I was good at writing. But it could be an opportunity to share some good. Intrigued, I was. Excited, I was not. I was totally daunted. I had a two year old and a new baby. God’s timing was immaculate as always though. Finnley had just started sleeping through the night, and that made it possible for me to get a full night’s sleep… which was essential to the year-long process.

Well, you know the story. The year came and went. 365 illustrations were completed. More joy came with that year than I ever could have fathomed. More hard work too—and character strengthening took place than I could have imagined too. I learned a lot about having discipline. I learned I am not a morning person, but I CHERISH early morning quiet and productive hours. I learned if I slept in, everyone paid for it! If I slept in, I’d have to work during family or other commitment time. Not good. I learned (again) that my identity isn’t in what I do, but Whose child I am—the God of the vast galaxies beyond our little planet is my Father. I learned that with God, ALL things are possible. And I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me.

With a month off, I jumped right back on board for another intense year. Foregoing the one-a-day-for-a-year plan, I thought the next year would be a piece of cake. I proved myself wrong when I was only 1 1/2 months into it. Suddenly I was drowning far worse than I ever had the previous year. Turns out that creating custom work for clients was way more intense than only having to answer to myself for approval on a piece. Of course I had done plenty of client work before this, but nothing so constant. And not that ANY of you were hard clients! I have been SO BLESSED to work for such incredible people over the past year. The issue was the pressure I put on myself to be sure that my clients would deem their money well spent. Not that I would ever change that…

Most of you were with me along the way. It was a JOY again. But more walking, running, stumbling, fumbling, limping, and so on took place. I am amazed that any of you kept up with what I was doing or the new time schedules I was constantly coming up with.  I learned to set some ground rules for myself this year. I learned what my limits were, and what was a healthy balance that would please the Lord and keep my family from killing me. When life started cycling out of control again, something had to give.

This time around though is a bit different. Yes, I had too much going on through the Christmas season, as we all do. But that isn’t what brought on this final farewell. All the while I was doing all this, my husband was starting and running and growing a business. Imagine what his world has been like! In these two years, he’s moved into and remodeled an office space, added 4 employees, traveled, been in hundreds of meetings, and more. Somehow we still live under the same roof and still love each other fiercely. It’s a wonder to behold! There have been days I’ve been so thankful that my husband is THE hardest worker I know. If he hadn’t had something else MAJOR to do this whole time, I cannot imagine how WE would have gone. Even now that I’m taking classes, we work side by side through the evening, quietly, with our headphones in. But we’re content and we understand what the other is doing is important, and is what God has called us to in this season. (Disclaimer: We definitely make sure to spend time together, and even have an every-other-week date night when we hire a sitter.)

And did I mention I’ve been raising two kids too? And starting a new church? I mean yeah… I was sorta stepping back and taking a big look in, praying a lot, seeking God through His Word (the Bible), and listening to HIm in my heart… Yeah… it is time. Time to let go of oohmoon. It has been one SWEET adventure!! It is a season of life that has impacted me profoundly and will continue to for the rest of my life. This is one of the “majors”. Like when you look back over your life you see a bunch of peaks. There were ups and downs between them, but the peaks stick out. They’re engraved on your mind—in  your soul—forever.

YOU are part of that “major”. You are a significant reason why oohmoon has been so… significant! God challenged me early on that this wasn’t about ME! This was about YOU! And YOU are THE biggest, HUGEST, reason why this is so hard to say ‘goodbye’ to. It’s not the illustrating… it’s you!Thank you for being part of this. Thank you. Deeply.

I have thought and thought and prayed and prayed about what final words I might bring you today. There is just one thing that continues to come back to mind. And you already know it if you’ve been following for very long. It’s the Gospel… the good news of Jesus. If there is one thing I could leave you, it’s this good news. Will you give me a few more minutes to tell you the news just one. more. time?

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I’ll start with a question. If you died today, would you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’d go to heaven? If you cannot answer that with an “I absolutely DO know this”, I want to encourage you that you CAN know that you know that you know that you WILL go to heaven if you died today!

The Bible contains bad news and good news. The bad news is something about YOU and ME. The good news is something about GOD.

The bad news is that we are all sinners. Romans 3:23 in the Bible tells us that, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” “Sin is a term that means we have “missed the mark”. When we lie, hate, lust, gossip, and so on, we have missed the standard God has set. You can think about it like throwing a rock to the North Pole. No matter where we are now, even if in NORTH DAKOTA (where I am!!), we wouldn’t come close to hitting it. You might throw it farther than me, but we’d all miss it. When the Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short,” it means we have all come short of God’s standard of perfection. In thoughts, words, and deeds, we have not been perfect.

And the bad news gets worse! The penalty for sin is death. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” Suppose you worked for me for one day (I’m imagining you changing diapers and coloring my hair and cooking supper—haha!) and I paid you $1000 (since the work was so taxing!). That $1000 would be your wages. That’s what you earned.

The Bible says that by sinning we have earned death. In the most simple terms, that means we deserve to die and be separated from God forever. No matter how hard each of us has tried—and some may have tried very very hard—just like that rock thrown to the North Pole, our striving for goodness, still falls extremely short.

But this is where the GOOD NEWS (“Gospel” means “Good News”) comes in! Since there was no way we could come to God, the Bible says that God came to us! Romans 5:8 tells us, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

It’s like cancer… Suppose you are in the hospital and dying from it. I come to you, while you are still very very sick, and say, “Let’s take the cancer cells from your body and put them into my body.” IF that were possible,

What would happen to me?
What would happen to you?

I would die in your place.
I would die instead of you.

The Bible says Christ took the penalty that we deserved for sin, placed it upon Himself, and died in our place. Three days later Christ Jesus came back to life to prove that sin and death had been conquered and that His claims to be God were true.

Just as the bad news got worse, the good news gets better! YOU CAN BE SAVED THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace [undeserved favor] you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one should boast.”

Faith means trust. What must you trust Christ for? You must depend on Him alone to forgive you and to give you eternal life. Just as you trust a chair to hold you through no effort of your own, so you must trust Jesus Christ to get you to heaven through no effort of your own.

You may know about Jesus (indeed this is crucial—click on these links to read about His humanity, His diety, His death, His resurrection), but that’s not trusting Him. You may accept that He was a real person who actually lived and breathed and worked—even miraculously—in history (just like you may or may not accept that I live in North Dakota), but that is not trusting Him. The Greek word translated “believe” or “faith” includes the idea of “trust”. This means “reliance on” or “dependence on.” Like that chair. As I go to sit on a chair, I trust and depend on the fact that it will catch me and hold me up without any effort of my own.

We might say, “I go to church,” “I don’t steal,” “I’m a good person,” “I help the poor,” “I’m spiritual/religious.” These are good, but good living, going to church, helping the poor or any other good thing you might do cannot get you to heaven.

If salvation was based on works, then Jesus’ death was unnecessary. If salvation is based on Christ + works, then Christ’s death was disappointing. If salvation is based on trusting Christ alone, then his death was SUFFICIENT!!!

You must trust in Jesus Christ alone, and God WILL give you eternal life as a gift!

Would you take time to consider another question? Is there anything keeping you from trusting Christ now? If so, why don’t you write them down.

Now think carefully. Are the hindrances you considered or wrote down… are they really good reasons to not trust Christ? There is nothing more important than your need to trust Christ.

Would you like to tell God you are trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior? If you would, why not pray right now and tell God you are trusting His Son?

REMEMBER!! It is not a prayer that saves you. It is trusting Jesus Christ that saves you. Prayer is simply how you tell God what you are doing.

Dear God, I know I’m a sinner. I know my sin deserves to be punished. I believe Christ died of rme and rose from the grave. I trust Jesus Christ alone as my Savior. Thank You for the forgiveness and everlasting life I now have. In Jesus’ name, amen.

What has just happened? John 5:24 from the Bible explains, “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

Did you “hear” God’s word?
Did you “believe” what God said and trust Christ as your Savior?
Does “has everlasting life” mean later or right now?
Does it say “shall not come into judgment” or “might not”?
Does it say “has passed from death” or “shall pass”?

Eternal life is based on fact, not feeling. Really consider memorizing John 5:24 above today!

WHAT do you do now?

Having trusted Christ as your only way to heaven, here’s how to grow in your relationship with Him:
-Tell God what’s on your mind through prayer (Philippians 4:6-7).
-Read the Bible every day (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Start in the book of Philippians.
-Worship with God’s people in a local church (Hebrews 10:24-25)
-Tell others about Jesus Christ (Matthew 4:19).

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Ya’ll, I have no words. How do you follow up the greatest news ever told? I think you don’t, that’s how. I have loved this journey with you. Thank you for each day. I pray you’ll each respond to the Good News with trust. That’s what this final free illustration is about. The chair motif really displays how simple this is. The chair is the Gospel. The Gospel is a meer 10 words: Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead. Trust the chair to catch you, my bet is it will. Trust that Jesus died for you and rose from the grave to prove it, and He WILL save you for all eternity. It takes trust to receive eternal life… and nothing more. We don’t deserve it and it’s free…. that’s why it’s called G.R.A.C.E. It may seem scandalous—it IS scandalous—but isn’t it beautiful?

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

For God so loved the World that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).

xox,
Katie

Do you all remember the Simmon’s family? How fun were they?! Well, I got to do ANOTHER piece for this fabulous family because Angie (the mum), won the coloring contest back in November. Remember the contest? And I made her wait until February to get her piece!!! Oh Angie, I’m so glad you won the coloring contest and thank you so much for your patience! Oh what FUN this pieces was!!! I LOVED this concept! I had so much fun imagining Ireland  and your family there.

Here was Angie’s request:

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We are sooo excited to be doing another piece of art with you!

We already have something in mind!  We are Irish and our son’s name came from Ireland– the movie Quiet Man…Cohan’s Pub– means green country side…and Emma is Emma Colleen an Irish Las…Matt has been to Ireland and loved it…it’s one place on our bucket list that we want to take the kids as they get older.

We thought it would be really cool if we could have an illustration with the 4 of us (and LuLu the bear) in Ireland…green rolling country side…castle in the background…sheep grazing with the rock walls, or cottage with a thatch roof..church on the hill and of course clovers/shamrocks in the grass…I hope this idea will be fun for you to create!?

I was thinking about putting the piece in our bedroom over our bed.  What do you think about using vintage colors….my home has a french country look to it…. So maybe various shades of green..not dark or too bright….golden colors….tans….soft brown…

P.S.  Emma’s hair has grown…it’s now past her shoulders…lol!

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What do I think? Well, as you ALL know, I LOVED this concept! And the colors were lovely too. (Green is my favorite color!) And what a great item on their bucket list, no? I would love to go someday too.

Angie, thank you for being such a joy of a woman! LOVED working with you!

xox,
Katie

p.s. This is the last “HappyFamily” illustration I’ll post until March. Then I’m down to the once-per-month schedule. Check back in NEXT week for my official “farewell” post. Much love to you all!

Soooo…. I was supposed to post this week…. and the only reason I didn’t is because my brain is fried.

Whose isn’t, right?

Well, it was like senioritis kicked in. I realized I was about done, and I shut down. Like completely. I have hardly even looked at my computer this week, let alone woke it from sleep mode. It’s been so bizarre.

THAT SAID… I want to let you all know that there will be TWO more posts before the official “shut down” of Oohmoon. Next week, I will complete the final “January” HappyFamily illustration. Our lovely coloring contest winner STILL hasn’t received her illustration (I’m SO sorry Angie!!), and so her’s will be the final illustration you’ll see for a while. On a once-a-month basis, I still WILL be completing HappyFamily illustrations for those of you who bought your illustration in late 2011 or early 2012 when I first started doing these custom pieces… and before I changed to the application process and changed my prices. I didn’t put an expiration date for getting that info in to me, so I still have a few to complete. Again, you’ll see one of those a month until all those orders are filled.

The week after next, I plan to write a <bottom lip is quivering> farewell post. Again, you’ll still be hearing from me from time to time, but that will be the official “end”. I’ve been praying about that post and what to say, and I’m nervous/scared/sad to write it. So you can pray for me too. I believe it’ll be done the week of Valentines Day.

For now, this girl has to sign out. Have to finish last week’s homework, so I can move on to this week’s. Thank you for your grace with me! So sorry I left you hangin’ this week!

Over and out!
xox,
Katie

How CUTE is this family? I love these girls! I love that Rita wants to freeze time right now. I know that feeling. I bet you do too! I love how  Pete is so affectionate with Rita and how the girls interact. I love that their dog thinks he’s human! What a great family.

Here is their application:

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Oh I hope I’ve done this family justice! I am SO glad I got to illustrate this family before I finished up on HappyFamily illustrations. Thank you Ontiveros family for sharing your family with the rest of us! You are beautiful!

Happy Weekend all!
xox,
Katie

This is such a sweet family. I loved loved loved working on this piece today. I was thrilled to read Candice’s color choices. And one look at this family had me practically in a puddle. How CUTE are those kiddos! And I love candice’s red hair! And just reading her entry, you KNOW this momma loves her family!!
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Candice, it was my pleasure to crop your image into a square! I hope this will be a wonderful addition to your new home! Congrats on such a momentous year! And thank you for the JOY of creating this illustration for you!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

xox,
Katie

How were your weekends? Ours was so relaxing and we had so much fun snuggling in the warm house while temps were around zero this weekend. We didn’t mind the indoors time one bit. It was family time, and we cherish that time these days! I did run and get my son a pair of second-hand ice skates this weekend, so we do look forward to the warmer temps that are supposed to be coming tomorrow. I can hardly wait to teach him how to ice skate!

Guess what! Today I have a big monumental announcement to make! It’s not the kind that is going to make us jump up and down with glee! But it is good news. Or “right” news.

January 2013 is officially my very last month creating Custom HappyFamily illustrations for your lovely lovely families!

WHEW!

That’s the news.

It’s out.

I can hardly believe I’m saying this. Out loud.

My MOM doesn’t even know this yet. Few do. (I’m calling her today!)

And now a lot know.

Why. Yes, why. I’m so happy to tell you why.

This has been no small decision. Not only has this contributed to our family income, Oohmoon.com and the HappyFamily illustrations have been an enormous source of joy and fulfillment to me! It has been life-giving on so many levels. And YOU ALL get much of the credit! God gets the rest.

When I wrote my Christmas letter that I sent out to our friends and family, I had explained that I had new ideas for Oohmoon in 2013. I did. And I fully expected to implement them in the New Year. But God has since spoken other words to my heart for this coming year. And my man agrees and supports this decision, which is further confirmation its the right thing. He’s been such a supporter and encourager of all things oohmoon, I have to say I was surprised when he whole-heartedly supported this decision.

He knew, as well, that it was right. The right timing. The right reasons. Just right.

Last winter I sat down and after doing some journaling I came to realize that there are 3 things I can do well each day (during the day-time hours when hubs is at work). If I add a 4th, then I pretty much do none of them well, and I’m a frazzled wreck. Last winter, I whittled my daytime-life to these 3 things: mothering, oohmooning in the early morning hours, and learning (taking 1 night class a week).

Very long story short, while the 3-thing rule still applies, the three “things” of 2012 no longer can remain the same. God has been gently molding and shaping and turning my heart and passions. First and foremost, I need to give more energy to my family. My husband’s business is taking off like crazy. I need to be more “there” for him. I need to be every bit as present, or more, for my children as well. Second, I believe God has been leading me to sink into my school studies a bit further. Nothing crazy. But its enough to tip Custom Illustrations off the table. God has a plan with these classes of mine, and I believe He plans to use them for the good of other people… And thus, for His glory. I don’t know what that really looks like yet, but that’s ok. For now, I follow His lead one step at a time, believing He knows, and that He is good.

Oh He is oohmoonies! I could burst with excitement over this turn of events. I long to discover the end result of this. But I wouldn’t give up the faith-journey for anything. It’s where thrill, relationship, and hour-by-hour dependence exist—and, Lord-willing, grow.

I want you to know that Oohmoon.com will remain live. We’re still working out the details, but it’s focus will go back to the weekly illustrations I did in 2011. It will be more of a store than an ongoing blog. I don’t plan to get rid of the blog, but I don’t plan to update it regularly. As inspirations strikes I’ll post a new illustration or just whatever may be on my mind. I’ll be sure to send out an email when I do update it. So if you haven’t signed up to receive emails, be sure you do! They’ll be few and far between, so I promise they won’t clog up your inbox.

I am not going to say ‘good bye’ to all of you yet! It’s certainly not yet time for that! Nor am I ready for it! So for now, for the next couple weeks while I fulfill a couple more orders, I’m going to enjoy every bit of this work and every one of you! I am not done creating art. I don’t suppose I ever will be. It’s so in the fiber of who I am. For now, it’s going to go on the back burner. But I would not be surprised AT ALL if God eventually brings it back to the front burner.

Only time will tell.

Until then, I hope to make the best use of my time, following behind a wise, good, and gracious Savior… one step at a time. Doing what He asks. Not perfectly. Never perfectly. But entrusting myself to Him. One day it’ll all come gloriously together.

And for journeying through this season of time with me: thank you. Words cannot express my gratitude.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all… (Philippians 1:3-4).

xox,
Katie

This is a family of TEN ya’ll! Wow! I have no words! You just have to read their story:

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Wow! Thanks for sharing your story Robert and Kate! It seems like you have such joy as a family! I can only imagine how BUSY your house is! And noisy! But oh the bliss it must be to your ears and hearts! It was an honor to illustrate your family. Thank you!

xox,
Katie

As I write this, it is the 7th day of 2013. I haven’t written a blog post since December 19th! I think it’s been like 19 days since I wrote a post. WOW! I think that is the longest time of silence EVER on this blog! I had anticipated getting back on here last week, but because of my still-unfinished final paper for class, I had to crack down and get it done before I could think about getting back to work. I took several days to think about nothing but celebrating Christmas, and so that didn’t help with getting school work done. Fortunately my instructor has so much grace that I didn’t even receive a late grade deduction.

With paper writing and 2012 behind us, what has been on your mind for 2013? Have you made resolutions? Set goals? Made plans? Thought about what you won’t do or say again? What you’ll do new? Who you hope desperately to become in the coming year? If so, boy have I ever been thinking the same things! 2012 was a momentous year in the Moon household. So rich with God’s grace. He did things He didn’t have to do. Provided in ways, tangible and intangible, He didn’t have to. Guided us one faithful step at a time. Things happened in 2012 that we never could have imagined at the start of the year.

So that has me thinking about this following year. What is going to happen in 2013 that I cannot fathom right now? I’m sure much! I pray desperately—maybe more than anything—that so much would change in this heart of mine by the time we ring in 2014.

Oh I wish I could dive deep into the topic of heart changes right now. But the time needed to do so has genuinely escaped me. I am back to the drawing board of another HappyFamily illustration. And for now, I must head to bed in order to make the best use of my morning hours. Check back on Wednesday night or Thursday morning for the newest happy family piece!

Happy New Year everyone!

xox,
Katie

Download these free Christmas Bible Verse Place-cards by clicking here.

A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Is. 40:3-5

The Bible verses written above are words written about John the Baptist, many hundreds of years before he was born. In his life, John’s purpose was to prepare people for the One who was coming—Jesus the Christ, the chosen Savior. He told people to soberly consider their ways—their words, actions, and thoughts. And then to repent (turn from) their ways that were not consistent with God’s ways. In other words, they were to clean up their hearts, because Someone VERY important was coming. Much like we clean up the interior of our houses before company arrives, the people in those days were to clean up their hearts because the most esteemed Person to ever live was coming. They were to be ready for Him. Ready to listen to Him. Ready to declare Him the true fulfillment of all the Scriptures regarding the “Promised One”. Ready to believe in Him.

You see, the Jewish nation had a promised Messiah. They were promised a Savior that would take away their sins once and for all and make them new in their hearts. The Old Testament is full of words about the Promised Savior to come. He had been promised through all the ages of the world before He came as a baby. And when John the Baptist—a man who studied and knew the Old Testament Scriptures well—burst onto the otherwise silent scene, he came with the message that their Promised One was about to show up in real flesh and blood. This was quite the proclamation! This was the Lamb of God, the Bright and Morning Star, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, the Savior of the world that they had been awaiting!

The verse above talks about lowering mountains, and filling in valleys. About making rocky terrain smooth, and uneven terrain a plain… You see, in ancient days, an entourage would go before a king and smooth out his path as he travelled. It helped him arrive at his destination sooner. The faster one could travel, the better. I think we’d all still agree with this.

John the Baptist was telling people to make their promised Christ’s (the Greek word for the Hebrew Messiah) arrival both physically and spiritually an easy one. He was telling them to get rid of anything that might hinder their readiness and belief in Him—because belief/acceptance of Christ as their Messiah was and is the only way salvation is gained. If there were any obstacles in their hearts that might keep them from accepting this Jesus as their fulfilled Messiah, they were to get rid of them immediately. And know what? Some did! And some didn’t. The ones who didn’t, were the ones who ultimately called for their promised Savior’s death. And the ones who did, well, they are in heaven as I write this.

This is a message that hasn’t changed in over 2000 years. Jesus is still the only One who can save us. Our good deeds, or good behavior has no power to buy us a spot in heaven. Jesus bought us a spot in heaven when He paid the most expensive price anyone has every paid for anything by dying for us. Rather, belief in Jesus as the Promised Savior is our only means to everlasting life with God in heaven. If you’ve never felt certain you’ll go to heaven when you die, you can know for certain you will! The Bible tells us this is so. We don’t feel certain about this when we depend on our own efforts to go to heaven, because we’re not sure they’ll be good enough. But when we depend on the efforts Jesus made for us, we CAN be certain that He DID do enough to get us to heaven. (Romans 6:10, 9:12)

This morning, my children and I did a little advent activity. In preparation for Christmas, we do a few things to help us all prepare for our celebration of Christ’s coming to Earth. One of the things (along with a piece of chocolate for fun) we do is a little activity illustration each morning. This morning, we got prepared! We actually had plans to go to the post office and library, and so I had them go and get all the things they’d need in order to go. So they went and took off their jammies and then brought me the clothes I had taken out for them. I helped them get dressed. And then, because we were going to play in the freshly fallen snow once we came back home, we got our snow gear on right away too. So then, they had to bring me their snow pants, boots, hats, mittens, coat, etc. We talked about how we were preparing to go out in the cold. And how it’s important we are prepared. If we weren’t prepared, and neglected to get dressed in snow gear, let alone regular clothing, we’d be “up a creek without a paddle” once we stepped outside! It wouldn’t be good.

Just as my children and I needed to make sure we were dressed appropriately for cold air and snow, each one of us needs to be “dressed properly” to go to Heaven. We must “put on” Christ, by believing in Him. We don’t want to come to the point of death, without having “put Him on”—without having believed in Him. If we would forget this vital step, we’ll quite truly be “up a creek without a paddle”. God tells us He cannot lie (Titus 1:2). If His Word, the Bible, tells us that the only alternative is hell, then we know it is so. We each must consider this reality.

This week, if you haven’t prepared the way for Christ in your heart, take a look at the muck in your heart that might be standing between you and salvation. Between you and eternity in heaven, is a great divide… a great bottomless chasm. Much larger than any canyon on this earth. But Christ is the flat bridge between the two. If you believe in Him today as the only Savior of the world (who He says He is in the Bible), you have just crossed over the great divide.

God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Believing in Jesus won’t make us perfect. That’s not the point. We have the rest of our earthly lives to move on to mature believers in Jesus by reading, studying, practicing, and memorizing the Word (the Bible) that He so generously has given to us. But believing in Jesus does secure your eternity.  In fact, the Bible tells us that you can never ever lose your salvation (Ephesians 1:13-14). You can’t ever be bad enough again to lose it. You might loose blessings in heaven for living counter to how God calls you to live, but you cannot ever lose your salvation. You truly are secure. Praise God! Hallelujah!

For those of us who have believed in Jesus, whether just now, or long ago, lets spend the next week preparing our hearts to worship and celebrate the all-powerful One who came from eternity past in heaven, to this lowly earth as a helpless baby for such a great salvation! Set aside whatever may hinder your worship. Let’s not come to Christmas Day so distracted by externals, that inwardly, our hearts forget WHY we are doing the outward celebrations. Please know I speak this to myself, maybe even more loudly than I’m writing it to you.

Last year I created these place settings, in another color scheme and look, to be printed off and set around your table, on top of the dinner plates. They are for reading aloud around the table. They contain the Biblical account of the Christmas story. I pray they will bring the whole evening or day home. I pray this will be so special for you and yours. I pray that they’ll make way for true celebration of the One and Only Savior, born to us at Christmas. And reborn in us when we believe in Him. Gloria indeed! Glory to God in the Highest!

Merry Christmas precious Oohmoonies!

Very warmly, and overflowing with love,

xox,

Katie

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:16)

p.s. If you have believed in Jesus today, please let me or another believer you may know know about your decision. We’d be abundantly joyful to help you get started on the journey and thrill of your entire life! Peace and purpose and mission and joy await you! Just go to the contact page, and send me a message. Consider this a HUMONGOUS squeeze from your new sister-in-Christ!

I loved working in Nicole’s color palette! So cool and calm. Which seems just like them. Look at their beautiful little girl. I just love her smile. I think its so great that this family loves to hike together too. How fun for little Kelsey to grow up spending time with her family on outdoor adventures!

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Thank you Nicole. I loved working on your piece! What a sweet family you are.

I wanted to let everyone know that this is my last HappyFamily piece until after Christmas. It is finals and term paper writing time for me, as well as Christmas preparation time. I’ll still plan offer free downloads… maybe taking the week of Christmas completely off. But Happy Family illustrations will see you in the New Year!

Hope you are all enjoying this Christmas season!

xox,
Katie

This is going to be tough. I want to tell you every detail of every moment of this trip, but I’m going to try to think of you dear reader, who does not want to be stuck reading a blog post for the next 4 hours. (Though, you know I’ve thus tried you in the past!)

Day 1:
-Wake up 2:30 a.m. (Didn’t go to sleep till 12:00… was so excited I couldn’t fall asleep!)
-Arrive at 10:30 a.m.
-Wait for everyone else to arrive from their home towns.
-Eat late lunch (one of the best meals of the trip!)
-Head out to walk around and ultimately shop. Ended up at a fantastic Christmas –Bazaar at Union Square where I made most of my trip purchases. It was so great!
-Dinner (Fantastic homemade Italian place. To DIE FOR tiramisu!!)
-By the time we got home from late dinner, it was crash time. 11pm-ish? I had been awake for 21.5 hours!

Day 2:
-wake up 7:30. Wow! 8.5 hours of sleep. This does not happen to me.
-Run in the work out room… this only happened once!
-breakast at hotel with the goal of finding french pastries later that day (this was never realized!!)
-leave hotel to spend the day SHOPPING on and around 5th Ave. Made several purchases this day as well… My big sister and I found a moment to ourselves and found Sprinkles Bakery mid-day… The lemon-coconut cupcake was NOT what I would have ever ordered, but my sister did, and life as I had always known it was over.
-We did get to spend some time touring the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew and the Cathedral of St. Patrick. WOW! Amazing the time and labor and creativity and reverence that went into constructing these old church’s. I love art history and I love the Church, and being in these old cathedrals brought literal tears to my eyes. On another trip to NYC with my husband, we’ll visit all the art museums and go on an architecture tour of the city, and appreciate all the artistic beauty of this city… This trip was all about Christmas. And I am happy to wait for an art trip with my husband. THAT will be an amazing trip too!
- Most of the day was spent shopping. My aunt and sister-in-law got make-overs at Bloomingdales on 5th avenue. This is NOT your normal Bloomingdales, either. My sis-in-law got her make up done by an international make-up artist from Paris. I was a lot  somewhat green with envy. She looked amazing!
-late lunch at Irish Pub. Yum again.
-More shopping. So many stores, so little time. Must have walked 7 miles this day!
-RADIO CITY SPECTACULAR SHOW this evening. If you’ve never been, and you ever get a chance… GO!!! It really, genuinely, truly IS spectacular!! And MORE! It was WAY more than I expected! WOW!! The high kicking, the adorable costumes, the 3D effects!!, the tour of NYC and the figure skating scenes… WOWOWOWO!! the look through the years of Rockette’s costumes… so fun! The ending nativity… so beautiful. What a thrill this was! This was DEFINITELY a childhood dream come true!!
-another late dinner… least favorite of the trip… we all laughed so hard though. Especially when they brought out “german chocolate cake”. This group of bakers knew that German chocolate cake does NOT have raspberries and no coconut in it! We had so much fun with the waiter over it.
-Crashed!

Day 3:
-Woke at 6a.m. to go early morning skating at Rockefeller Center! It was sure tough to wake up… but it was a HIGHlight of the trip!! It was tied with the Rockettes and Nutcracker as the best experience of the trip. I hadn’t skated in several years, so it took a little getting used to skates again… but wow!! SO FUN! I’m goign to try to upload a short video of me and one of our “aunts” skating… it’s really pixelated as I received it on my iphone, but you’ll still enjoy it I think! This was so fun, it was so hard to leave the ice. I so love to skate. And skating THERE was such a dream come true! Now I’m just determined to teach my 4 year old this year!
-Went looking for a pastry shop… got distracted again… Went to Apple Store (look up the Manhattan one if you aren’t familiar. Cool building!) and FAO Schwarz… Made several purchases here too!
-Double Decker Bus tour (yes we sat on top on the coldest day of the trip! Brrr…). This was a hop-on, hop-off tour. You could get off in any neighborhood to look around or shop, and get back on every half hour. We were going to ride the whole tour and then on the second time around make our stops… but we never got to making those stops. I’m glad we did this though. Otherwise we wouldn’t have seen all the other famous neighborhoods… Tribeca, Greenwich Village, SOHO, Upper East Side, etc…  We did do the whole tour. But afterwards, we grabbed lunch and then the largest Macy’s in the world (and the original) caught our attention. This was short lived though. There were MOBS of people in NY and in Macy’s at this time. I had never seen so many people in one spot ever, in my life. Thousands and thousands in the store and on the streets… It was Saturday during Christmas season after all!! Unreal! We couldn’t stay. Had to leave. Us midwesterners like wide open spaces… and not so many people! So we went and found some food.
-Ate Brazillian this night. YUM!
-This is where my memory is foggy a little. I think we went back to the hotel for a clothes change and then headed up to Central Park for a carriage ride. On the way, my sister and I introduced the other girls to Sprinkles and we tried several other cupcake kinds. My fav is still the Lemon Coconut. I so thought I’d prefer dark chocolate. It was good… but Lemon Coconut was ahmaaazing… There are 10 other locations world wide… find one if you can!
-Carriage Ride. This was magical! We even played old Christmas music on my iPhone! The carriage driver informed us that was a first for him! He did surely love us! My mom and “aunts” rode in one together, and me, 2 sisters, and 1 sis-in-law rode in another. We got to see all the different places movie scenes were shot, got a breathtaking view of the city, and saw all the lights reflecting on one of the ponds… so pretty. So magical.
-Walked back to hotel, crashed yet again.

Day 4:
-Up at 7:30. Mom and I took Subway to Brooklyn to go to church at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. It was a special time for us. (Some of us went shopping, some went to see ground zero this morning. Our fam splits up sometimes on trips. Keeps everyone happy. )
-Met up near SOHO at Bryant Park with my big sis to head to Grand Central Station. Quick stop at Starbucks on the way. Went to two more Christmas bazaars this day… but a fabulous sweater at the Grand Central station one on this day… fav purchase of the trip… ate nummy gelato there too… it is so pretty inside. Then after everyone joined us there and made lots of fun purchases, we went to the Christmas Bazaar at Bryant park. This is where I found mouth watering CHOCOLATE truffles. We later had a debate on whether they were mass produced and sold under other brands too or not (they tasted too familiar to some)… but either way, they were SO good, and several boxes came home as souvenirs! Found a painting here I wished I had enough money left to buy… it may inspire my next painting however… I think I’ve told you I paint, right?
-Had lunch at a reasonable time this day… can’t remember where at the moment.
-headed to hotel around 3:30 to get dressed for the Nutcracker Ballet.
-Tried to hail a cab… found out at 4:45 cabs are already full by the time they get to you. Half of us hoofed it the next 10 blocks and arrived there sweating, but having worked off our chocolate, and half of us made it there at the same time, hair still intact!
-Ballet… you already know… exquisite!
-Ate at a chinees place this night. FAST service, really delicious. Had a spicy garlic pork and spring rolls. Yum!
-SLUMBER PARTY NIGHT! We went back to hotel, got into jammies, and played a slumber party game made for girls 8 years +! And we laughed so hard the guy next door had to pound on the wall to shush us. This was a night I cherish. Just as lovely as anything else on the trip!! Spending TIME TOGETHER… visiting and laughing and planning our next trip together!
-Fell asleep very late again, but with a huge smile on our faces!

Day 5:
-2 “aunts” fly out early
-The rest of us didn’t have to leave till 11 or 1… so three of us hailed a cab and went to the upper east side to eat the famed New York cheese cake of Two Little Red Hens Bakery. WOW! We discovered why its been voted best cheese cake in Ny! On our walk back to Union Square Bazaar, we stopped at a TRUE French pastry shop (FINALLY!!) and bought 2 chocolate croissants to share… divine! Still dreaming about them… this was my fav food purchase of the trip I think… I have a thing for chocolate croissants. Then we hoofed it yet again through Central Park, past musicians, and the Met, and joggers, and fun neighborhoods, to Union Square. Bought a few more special items.
-practically jogged to the hotel, got a cab, and off to the airport we went!

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That is our trip…. so many special and FUNNY memories! It really was a trip of a lifetime! All women. Christmastime. Shopping. Food. Shows. Sigh…

With that, my children have woken from their naps, and I must get back to normal life. The reminiscing has been fun though! Hope you don’t mind!

Next week (hopefully!) I’m going to post about a Christmas gift I came home to from one of YOU!! TOTALLY AMAZING!!! Can’t wait to share!! Till then, stay tuned for tomorrow’s HappyFamily!!

xox,
Katie

My sisters and I!! LOVE these girls! L to R: Sarah (with her baby Dillon), Laura, me, Emily

This is a duplicate of the start that sits on top of “THE tree”.

L to R: Karen (“aunt”), Alison (my brother’s wife), Amy (“aunt”), me, Mom, Emily (my one older sister), Laura (baby sister). For the record, we were all supposed to have a knee raised! Amy and I had no idea we were the only ones doing it. Lol.

Almost the same pose?

I had to send this photo to my husband. His name is Garrett, and he’s a popcorn fanatic! (It’s a popcorn shop.) I think this may be his next calling in life! I’m good with it. I’d love the popcorn and living in New York!

There she is… original Macy’s!

I hope she won’t mind… but, i don’t know why, I just LOVE this pic of my sister Laura! Here we’re sitting on top of our double decker bus. She was so brave without a hat! Us North Dakota girls don’t bat an eye at cold!

Seated straight ahead is my sis Em in white hat, and Alison in teal headband. (By their expressions we must have been mid-discussion.)

Our surrogate “aunts”, Karen on the left (sweetest/kindest/most selfless/caring lady you’ve ever ever met!!) and Amy on the right (most vivacious/fun/funny/generous/outgoing lady you’ve ever met!!). I love this photo of them.

My mom was sitting right next to me, so I don’t have a pic of her. My sister Sarah sat downstairs to keep Baby warm.

Grand Central Station

Inside of it.

The booths at the Christmas bazaar. The one straight ahead, on the left side is where I bought my fabulous sweater (which I sadly don’t have  a photo of ).

We had to pay this guy $2 to have our pic taken with him! What we do for our kids! I told Judah I was going to Elmo’s town… so HAD to show him this was true! (sister Sarah-just under me in age-on left, then Emily-2 years older than me, Elmo-older than me by ??, Mom, Laura-5 years younger)…

Hard to see, but this is some of the “mob” that came out of the wood works on Saturday. We were thankful we were there 2.5 weekdays. Note to self: don’t trave to NYC on the weekend at Christmas time.

YUM!!

Carriage ride!! Very soft/cozy seats and VERY warm lap blankets! MUCH better ride than the bus! (blurry pics taken with iPhone.)

The whole crew after the Nutcracker! (L to R: Karen, Sarah (baby Dillon), Emily, Mom, Laura, Alison, Amy, moi)

Best cheese cake in NYC!! YUM!! (Don’t be fooled, we EACH got our own piece!!)

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And that is all for now! These were just a drop in the bucket of the photos we took! We took hundreds and hundreds! Wish I could share more! Hope you enjoyed your tour of New York at Christmas! Thanks for letting me share! We had SOOOO much fun!!!

Love you all!
Katie

p.s. What kind of traveler are you? Do you like to pretend you are a local and not stick out? Or do you just openly admit/act like a tourist? I love this question. I used to tend toward the first… but I don’t care as much anymore… I just be the tourist (naive as i may be) that I am. We had a mixture in our group. Some wanted to blend in, some didn’t care to the point they (nearly) embarrassed the rest of us. Lol!!

This week I took a brief hiatus from HappyFamily illustrations to create a Custom Oohmoon piece for talented (award winning!) flower boutique Just-Bloomed in Minneapolis, MN. I had the privilege to work with Jackie last year, so I was so excited when she contacted me again this year to create another illustration for her business’s Holiday Card. YAY! Don’t you want Jackie to pass by your home and adorn it with beautiful Christmas flowers too? I know I do! Nothing like fresh beautiful flowers. And well-designed ones no less!

Thanks Jackie! This was so very fun! I loved putting our heads together.

Doesn’t this put you guys in a cheerful Christmassy mood? It does me!

xox,
Katie

p.s. Is she not the cutest thing?!

I am hopping on very quick to say that there won’t be a free download this week, only because I just got home last night and was not able to work when I got home. And today, I have to get right to work on a custom illustration, hopefully to be posted tomorrow (though, it may possibly be posted on Thursday as I’m a couple days behind schedule due to my travels).

In short, the girls Christmas trip to NYC was phenomenal, fantastic, wonderful, spectacular, beautiful. BEST. TRIP. EVER. I’ll tell you all about it next week!

But for now, I better get to work on this week’s new illustration!

My love to you all. And thank you for your patience this week with my special schedule! And thank you for your prayers for safety for my family while I was away and for our travels!! The Lord kept us all safe.

xox,
Katie