Sibbie's something or another

So I thought that we were set when we found a website that mapped out free campsites. We loaded up the pickup truck and headed out for adventures to the beach in Atlantic city, NC.

After enjoying an old military fort, we pulled into a grocery store parking lot to find somewhere to put the truck overnight. It had a nice camper shell on the back for one of us and the cab was spacious enough for the other.  But lo and behold, the closest free campsite was on the Neuse river in Havelock: Sibbie's something or another.

We shrugged, voiced our motto: "adventures," and headed that way. The sun went down and turned the sky from blue to orange as we harmonized old hymns together and relived the music of our childhoods. After civilization had turned to back roads and ramshackle houses, and then to empty fields and the thick forest of the Croatan, we found the gravel road that led to the "campsite."

There was no sign, no information board, and no facilities at all. I don't even remember seeing a trash can. It became apparent that the small clearing with fire pits was really all there was. Ed was particularly found of reading information boards, so the lack thereof was disappointing. He is one of those who likes to know all of the rules for any given place or situation. Which I guess is good because I am not. I usually just go about my way in whatever manner I think is safe and not disruptive.

We got out of the truck to walk around and noticed a pallet torn apart to be burned and a whole tree lying across a fire pit. Broken corona light bottles glittered the ground and no one had picked up trash here for a while. It had a nice northern view of the Neuse, which meant that we could neither see the sun set or  rise. Ropes hung from the trees, probably to hang food out of the reach of bears. The trail was flooded and a huge tree had fallen across it. It was pretty much inaccessible.

Disappointed, we bailed on it and went in search of a better arrangement. I wonder about some of these free campsites. They seem unappreciated and so they become these trashy beer bottle graveyards. We enjoyed the rest of our evening elsewhere but it kind of seemed as if "Sibbie's something or another" had been forgotten a long time ago.

God Directs Our Paths

I know that God guides and directs me, provides for me and loves me. Over the past couple of weeks this has been incredibly apparent. In the overwhelmingly large city of Raleigh, I had one job offer. I searched for over a week for a place to live. Over that week God gave me sign after sign that I needed to be in New Bern. The happy truth that I was afraid to hear. I didn't have a job offer in New Bern.

But I had a gallery that wanted my art. My dad called to say that my pastor had wanted me to be involved in the new Children's ministry. Cost of living was about half of what it was in Raleigh. Every door I knocked on in the huge city was slammed shut. Except two things: a friendship forged with a Christian over the course of the week, and the job offer at a bakery/sandwich shop.

I walked away from the job offer and went back to New Bern. The next week, a friend from Indiana came for a visit (and potential move) and we went job hunting all week. We filled out 30+ applications.

One evening I stopped in to my grocery store to pick up a couple of things and saw a car I recognized in the lot of a pizza chain. Timmy, a friend I met though my college friends at Craven, had just started working there as a driver. He explained that it was a great job and he enjoyed doing it. Encouraged, I popped into a similar pizza chain the next day and inquired if they were accepting applications.

I could tell immediately that I was at the right place at the right time. The manager was in need of drivers because of the upcoming football season and holidays. I knew my Indiana friend and I would get the job.

We did. Although He decided to continue his search, I jumped in right away and I was on my way to an orientation by the end of the week.

I also got a response from a shot in the dark job I had applied for at my local YMCA. I didn't know enough about the job at the time to be able to tell if I was qualified for it or not. But the interview went well and I was hired part time at both jobs.

I admit that trusting God is a conscious effort for me. But even as my savings dwindled away and fear of unemployment gnawed at me, I ran to the scriptures for comfort and encouragement. There is no greater comfort.

Its easy for someone who has worked as an art teacher for so many years to look at pizza delivery as being a kind of nuisance of a job. But I haven't felt that way about it. I have been really excited about this job, and I know that God can use it just as well as an art teacher job to bless people and minister to them. I have had a very positive experience there over the past couple of days.

As for pottery....I have been throwing more pots than I did when I was working at the studio. I am excited to say I am on number 125 and still shooting for 1000.  I'm done with mugs for a while and working on jars and bottles.  I will post pictures soon.

Doors

We know that God opens doors and closes doors and has his sovereign hand over our lives. He directs our paths and his will comes to pass. I know that because i have read how God has done this in the lives of others, in the Bible, and how it is. Consistent with his overall nature.

What I don't know is what that looks like for me right now. I often have a hard time seeing what doors are open, which are closed, and where he is directing me. I know that no matter where i end up, it will be the place he wants me to be. But i don't know how to choose a path.  I am in prayer and others are in prayer for me. My worries are subsiding. I know it will be alright.

A new place

Just got into Raleigh tonight. I'm still not used to the idea that i may be living here for a while. I'm thinking of my own place with the little gravel driveway and the vines growing up through the wooden stairs. I like everything about that place. But enjoying life is a choice and my joy is not dependant on my circumstances. I will find ways to love whatever place i am in.

Scary Adventures

Everyone dreams of an adventure. I have wished all my life for that moment when all of the sudden, I become free from all possessions, all responsibility, and I can just take off and go. I don't know where I would go. I don't want to know. The point of an adventure is that each step you take is a surprise.

But when that actually happens, I don't feel the ecstatic sense of freedom and joy that I thought I would. The moment I am uprooted from my comfortable little treehouse apartment, my job, and my cozy little town, I panic!

It's like I want to let go of it all, but I want to do it on my own terms and in my own timing.

But God doesn't work that way. He does things on His timing, and He does them on His terms. And that should comfort me. But because I don't see immediately what He has in store for me, I don't trust His plan.

Every time I find myself feeling that way, I remind myself of these things. God is Good. God is all powerful. God has perfect timing. Never once has my life spiraled out of His control. Each step I take is meant to draw me closer to Him. I have nothing to be afraid of.

It's only by this kind of preaching to myself that I can get past all of the fear and uncertainty that exists in my future. I literally don't know where I am going to be living next week. I have a job offer in Raleigh, but no housing. I have an apartment here that I need to sublease, and my sister and I are going to try to move in together by the middle of the month.

I a praying that God will let me keep up my pottery wherever I go. I have three galleries in North Carolina and one in Savannah, GA. I need to produce a lot of artwork in order to maintain these galleries and eventually make a living as an artist. I also really want to finish my 1000 pots mission. I am on #115.

Right now I am rushing to finish all of my pot sponsorships before I go. I have a wheel and I can buy clay wherever. But I don't know where I can fire yet. And I secretly hope to get a job in another art studio once I get settled in.

Prayers please!

First twelve pots out of the kiln

I just moved into my first apartment today, so it's funny that today I would unload my first batch of wheel thrown pots. Some of them are relatively good, but most are obviously beginner pots. But now I don't have to buy dishes for my place, so that's great! I like the white bowls with the blue the best. That's great white clay, glazed in alabaster, with oasis splatters. The ancient Casper splatters are pretty cool too
But the light Shino (white that breaks brown)  doesn't speak to me. It makes the texture stand out though. I am going to try and use the white clay more often, that looks the best, and its a dream to throw. I have about 20 more cups and bowls in the making that are pugged clay, so I guess I will have to get creative with my glazing.

Piano box in the making

This morning I got another commission. Someone saw a piano box that I made and came to our store to find it, only to realize it had already been sold. Thankfully, he contacted me and asked me to make another. I am making this one out of white clay so that I don't have to worry about rubbing underglaze off of the keys!