The RANDOM Adventures of the Gabriel Gals.

My daughters and I enjoy Randomness.  We find humor in the most absurd of situations and we are very impulsive in the things we like to do. 

Saturday (which turned out to be a gorgeous day!) we decided to go to the 2nd Annual Cleveland Asian Festival downtown.  We were immediately greeted by the aroma of ethnic foods being cooked over at the food venue. We made our way over to one of the performance-stage tents to see what type of dance was being performed.  We were ecstatic to hear a song from one of our favorite Indian movies "Lagaan", so there we stood at the edge of the venue singing - fairly poorly - the song "Radha Kaise Na Jale".

Comically RANDOM!!

We watched performances from India, Thailand, China, and Japan. We ate Korean, Phillipian, and other Asian cuisine - Yum! I purchased some exquisite jewelery from Cambodia and a beautiful fringed Japanese shawl.

Beautiful Japanese traditional dancers.

The city of Cleveland has decorated sculptures located throughout the city, commemorating the

Year of the Rabbit.

This Rabbit is a punk rocker, located in the Asian Plaza.

As we left the festival and were walking back to our car, we had to cross a bridge over a freeway overpass.  We paused to watch the cars and trucks racing below.

Then we each began to wave at the drivers.

Nearly all of the drivers waved back at us! 

It was fabulously RANDOM!!

We decided to continue our Asian Adventure by picking up some Take Out from Tree Country Bistro

 on Coventry.  It serves Japanese, Thai and Korean food.  It was de-lish-shosh!! (although a bit pricey)

We ended up parking on the roof of the parking garage and decided to amuse ourselves by watching the crowds below, undetected.  We had a blast being RANDOM!

!!!!!

Of Rain and Rainbows

" I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,  I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind."
                                                                      Genesis 9:13-15


I love Cleveland. 

But sometimes I can get downright fed up with the long periods of foul weather.
It has been raining, about to rain or just finished raining for the better part of 2 weeks now.  My sinuses, my aching arthritic joints and by overall attitude has suffered as a result.

Gloomy, gloomy.
Sixteen shades of gray day in and day out.

Some years we skip spring altogether and go from 50's and cold drizzle right into 90's and humidity.

Well, this morning as I got my aching bones up and ready for the busy day ahead, the weatherman warned of heavy fog and periods of rain and thunderstorms - (again!!) throughout the day.  I emerged from my apartment expecting to see the gray pallette again, and was pleasantly surprised to see - ah - sunshine! 

As I rode the bus downtown, I realized the sun was shining - yet people had their umbrellas up and vehicles on the road had their windshield wipers going.  It was sunny, yet the rain was downpouring!

Well, that could only mean one thing.  There's got to be a RAINBOW somewhere!!!

I strained to see the sky over the top of the buildings in search for my rainbow.  Finally, as I disembarked from the bus and turned the corner through one of the quads on Public Square, I saw it...

A beautiful big rainbow, stretching over the square and out towards the lake!!!

"Thank you Jesus!!!" I said out loud (yes, I don't care who hears me AND I've been known to stop perfect strangers on the street to have them look at some of God's masterpieces... rainbows, full moons, and all!)

I knew I had to get a picture, but all I had was my cell phone. I'm not very techno savvy, but hey, go for it, I thought to myself.  Unfortunately my bus was just pulling up.  I struck up a conversation with the bus driver about the rainbow, on my short ride to my office - all the while trying to strain to see if I could see any remnant of it.  As I got off the bus, I saw the rainbow behind City Hall, only this time it was beginning to diminish into the lake.  I snapped this photo of it:

I was so thrilled to get a picture with my cell phone.  I crossed the street and 30 seconds later as I turned to look at the rainbow again, it had disappeared!!

I truly felt the Lord had allowed me to see this rainbow as a way to encourage me during such a dark, gloomly period and just to say "hi!" and let me know He was thinking of me!!

It made me smile all day just to think of it!

Meanwhile, it rained.  And thunderstormed. and rained some more.

Forecast for tomorrow;   showers and scattered Thunderstorms...

But, at least I know the Lord of the Universe is thinking about me!

 





Made Me Smile

Sometimes the most random-est things make me smile.
Take this evening for example.
I was sitting on the Healthline bus, listening to my MP3 player and reading the latest edition of Somerset Studios.  The bus was stopped at a light just before an underpass.  As I glanced up, I saw a train engine coming  over the over-pass, which was enough to make me smile, right there.  ( I love trains!)  But, what REALLY made me smile was the long line of bright green with yellow trim John Deere harvesters that followed behind it.  A virtual farm equiptment parade!


I guess it doesn't take much to amuse me...

Searching for Inspiration

In my quest to create a God-honoring art piece for Easter, I have spent a little time surfing the net for ideas and encouragement. It has been exciting and thrilling to see the vast number of artists who are Followers of Christ.

Very Inspiring Video! 

After thinking and praying and reading over Scripture, I deciding to start my project.  I have decided to create a collage  which will depict "Christ on the Cross".  I've begun decoupaging the background with slips of the local White Pages.  This represents "the world" that God so loved that He gave His only Son... (John 3:16a).  Below are pictures of me beginning my project.

On Faith and Art

Oh, Hello there!

So much has happened in the past 4 months that I feel were blog-worthy, but I am still trying to develop the discipline to maintain blogging... so bear with me!

Last week I was asked if I'd like to contribute an art piece for an Easter project for my church.  Several artistic members of the congregation were each asked to portray an aspect of the Easter account from scripture.

My assignment:  Jesus is nailed to the Cross.  Luke 23:33-38. 
"33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”[a]
And they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”
36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”
38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:[b]

THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS."



As I sat in prayer and meditation during the week I asked God to enable me to glorify Him by creating an artistic expression which would help the viewer reflect on Jesus' sacrafice and love for us.

As I searched the internet for ideas, I came across a website (one I'd placed in my favorites probably a year or so ago)  It is called "Create By Faith"  http://createbyfaith.ning.com/

The following video has inspired me to forge ahead with boldness in merging my faith with my art.
Hope you too are inspired by it;

Makoto Fujimura - The Art of "The Four Holy Gospels" from Crossway on Vimeo.

30 Days of Thankfulness; Days 6 & 7

DAY #6


"God thunders marvelously with His voice;
He does great things which we cannot comprehend.
For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’;
Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength.
He seals the hand of every man,
That all men may know His work."
~Job 37:5-7

                               Cara took this picture outside our apartment

Lake effect dumped a foot or more of snow on Cleveland, making it an adventure getting home.  Traffic was gridlocked and many commuters sat in standstill traffic for hours trying to make it home. Most of the agencies in the Federal Building (except mine) began sending workers home at 1pm.  As I looked out the window at the MESS on the roads, I knew I didn't want to be a part of THAT, so I was happy to stay in and work.  By 5:30 the snow had not let up and the traffic was still standing. Long story short - I made my way to Tower City where I picked up a couple of calendars at Borders and hopped onto the Rapid Transit.  I ended up only arriving home about an hour or so later than I normally would have. 

I am thankful for the snow!
Yes, I know - people in Cleveland seem to hate snow - and they certainly don't seem to know how to drive in it (I've always wondered why they didn't pull up roots and move somewhere south!)
But...
If you don't have to drive in or shovel snow, you can find it to be most beautiful.  As my bus headed up the tree-lined hill, I couldn't help but smile at how beautiful all of the trees were with their snow-laden branches.
The real challenge was navigating the snow on foot.  I had to walk in the street until I came to the front of my building. I reached out for the fire hydrant and climbed through a foot and a half of snow to the unshovelled steps, trying to feel where each step began and ended through the deep deep carpet of snow.

And then,

at last...

The door opens

Cara laughs at my snowy appearance

as the warmth of the apartment hits my frozen face

and I am finally...

HOME!

DAY #7
I am thankful for my big clunky boots and my long, heavy coat!
And my nice warm apartment.
And a cup of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.

She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
~Proverbs 31:21

~thank you Lord!

30 Days of Thankfulness Day #5

DAY #5

"Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
~Psalm 126:2

I'm thankful for 2 crazy daughters  who make me laugh..

Last night, Cara and I decorated the Christmas tree.  Christmas tree decorating isn't complete without turning on the traditional Christmas Carols - Nat King Cole, 13 versions of O Holy night and some Chipmunks mixed in. 

Not last night.

Cara had her own "playlist" of let's say, NON-conventional Christmas songs.  "Santa Claus is Thumbing to Town" by Reliant K, Family Force Five's rap-version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas", a Scream-O version of Jingle Bell Rock by Thousand Foot Crutch and my favorite, Pumpkin Jack singing "Making Christmas" from the movie "Nightmare Before Christmas".  We had a ball rockin' out while putting the ornaments on the tree.

And we ended the evening with a cup of hot chocolate. With marshmallows!