Photography Fun

Recently, I stopped to pick a couple of wildflowers, because from a distance they are beautiful; then up close, they are unbelievable!  There must be a thousand or more little tiny perfect flowers with four petals within this one massive flower with a single stem and no leaves.  I brought them home and could not stop looking at them, then I thought, I've got to take pictures, because these aren't going to last forever--in come obsession...I must have photographed these flowers for an hour almost, shooting from every angle you can imagine!  I couldn't help myself, and I kept thinking, "how can some people believe there is no God, when I'm holding in my hand living proof that there is...no one else could create something of beauty with this magnitude!"  I love His handiwork, and I stop to admire it often!  Simple things, like wildflowers, remind me of how precious I am to Him and how well I am taken care of!  Of course, as I'm photographing and playing with them in Picasa 3 (not a bad little photo editor for free, I must say) floods of ideas and inspiration for art quilts streamed in....no telling where this may end up.  Enjoy some of the photos I enjoyed if you'd like, and please, let me know what this is, if you know...

Then, I started playing with the Picasa elements to see what fun could be had with these little beauties...

"Inverted colors" filter

"Heat map" filter

"Neon" filter

"Inverted Colors" filter

I think these are pretty sophisticated for free software, looks very close to my Photoshop renderings.  If you want to pick a wild flower and try this, get your free Picasa download HERE.  This was tons of fun, send me your shots, I'd love to see what you do with it!

The Key to Eliminating Abortion

I firmly believe that the key to eliminating abortion is to find out what the woman who is considering it is most afraid of, and then help her to overcome that fear without having the abortion, in other words, show her the options that she cannot see in that moment.  What is the fear that is causing her to believe or think that abortion is her only option?  Is it that she won't be a good mom, or is it that she feels she won't be able to financially handle having a child, is she alone in her pregnancy and needs assistance, is she afraid of what others will say, or afraid of disappointing and making her parents upset, is she afraid of losing her boyfriend/husband?  There could be a million different reasons, but I am absolutely convinced that if we could figure out what that fear was and assure her that she can overcome that fear, we would be extremely close to ending abortion as a viable option.
I remember the fear so vividly.  It was definitely the strongest and most powerful force in making my abortion choices.  The first time, I was in the middle of a separation from my first husband, and barely able to care for myself and my infant son that I already had, physically, emotionally, financially, and mentally.  Every coping skill I had was already burned beyond recognition, I had used them all up trying to save my marriage and being a mommy, when I wasn't ready to be a mommy yet, and being so far away from my support system also didn't help.  I was so naive, I didn't understand about it being easy to conceive after having a baby ( an many other things), and I couldn't take birth control pills, because they turn me into a raving lunatic.  I was so afraid that I couldn't do it all, that I wouldn't be able to survive having another child at that time.  Abortion seemed like the only option, the only way for me to survive.  It wasn't about being inconvenienced, it was about survival for me.
The second time, I remember overwhelming fear of what my mother would say, of how angry she would be, and how disappointed my father would be, how I would have "shamed the family name," by being pregnant and unmarried.  I was raised in a very conservative, religious home, and always taught that sex outside of marriage was wrong.  I was also worried about what my fellow teachers would say about me, not to mention my students, after all, I was the one in the front of the classroom talking about abstinence to them.  I had always been taught to fear what others may think about me, as if it was the end of the world if one of the neighbors thought poorly of you.  I must have heard, "what would the neighbors say," a thousand times growing up in my home.  I was taught not to have thoughts and feelings of my own, but to believe what others thought and believed and to go along with it, and "not rock the boat..."  I was in a committed, loving relationship, but my boyfriend at the time, my husband now, did not ask me to marry him, and in fact was thinking about moving to a nearby county around this same time to be nearer to his two young children, whose mother was moving them away.  I felt so alone, and so afraid for the same reasons again as the first time, with all of the other reasons added on the top of that. 
I DID NOT want to have the abortions that I had.  I did not want to do it either time.  I was so afraid for so many reasons, I can't even name them all, but I remember the fear being overwhelming, suffocating and gripping that I felt paralyzed to do anything else.  I thought it was my only option.  I could not see another way, either time, no other way.  It was as if I was tied up, bound and gagged.  I felt I had no other choice to make, even though now, I see clearly that I did, both times.  I needed someone there to tell me that I could do it, to help me see the route to take, to support me in keeping my babies.

This is why I say, if we can eliminate the fear, we can eliminate the terminations of unplanned pregnancies.  For me, fear is the crux (defined by the dictionary as: something that torments by its puzzling nature; a perplexing difficulty) of the issue.  I would guess that it is the single most decisive factor in abortive women.

A late Mother's Day Post

This was the best Mother's Day I can remember in a long time, in terms of not grieving so badly for my lost children.  If you asked me, "why," I'd probably say it has to do with healing.  For the past several years, I had been going through the ritual of going to get my children each a balloon and writing a message to them and sending it away as if to heaven for them to catch and keep.  It was a beautiful ritual, a true tradition, and it helped me immensely.  This year I planned to do the same, and thought about it a couple of times.  But then, when Mother's Day came, I just didn't feel it was necessary this year.  A simple whispered prayer, shared between me, them and my heavenly Father was comforting enough.  I didn't even cry.  I was surrounded by my husband who loves me dearly, and two beautiful boys who adore me and a precious step-daughter who cherishes me, and I felt more whole this year than I can ever remember in my post abortion healing.

I believe this means that I have truly released my children to Jesus to watch, care for and keep for me, until we are joyfully reunited one day.  I'm no longer clutching on to them, as if I can change things and save them now, 19+ and 16 years later.  It was, I believe, when I attended my retreat in 2009 that for the first time, I truly released them to the Lord.  Until then, I had been trying to release them and hold on to them at the same time.  After all, I didn't want to end their lives in the first place.  It was never easy, or simple, not then, and not now, and rightfully, never will be.  That said, I do not believe God wants for me or any other post-abortive, sorrowful woman to punish ourselves and live in misery for the rest of our lives.  What is done is done.  We can go on with living our lives.  We can enjoy the blessings we do have, and do not have to mourn forever.  Jesus said in John 16:20, "I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.  You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy."  That's as plain as you can put it, isn't it?  I did weep, I did mourn, I did grieve, and now it is turning to joy, as I surrender to the fact that the clock never goes backward, only forward.  I'm reminded in writing this of Anna Nalick's song, "Just Breathe," it's like she says, there's no rewind button, girl...

Another reason I think this Mother's Day was the best one for a long time, is because of my coming to terms with the relationship I have with my own mother now.  We are estranged, and have been for the past five years.  I don't ever remember a time that I didn't wish my relationship with my mother was different, and I still do; but things have changed now.  This year I was able to send her a card, and tell her that I pray for her and that I wish things were different and that I love her.  And then something amazing happened, she responded with kind words in return.  I felt blessed and at peace for the first time in a very long time, probably the most at peace with our relationship moving forward in life, than I can ever remember feeling.  I am accepting, have accepted, which remains to be seen; that we cannot have a close relationship--no matter how much either of us may want to.  My mother has never and will never be able to love me in the way that I need her to, that is not an insult, it is not a complaint, it is a fact, a real, honest to goodness fact that I have had to accept somehow, no matter how many nights I went to bed crying because my heart physically hurt for the mother I have always needed her to be.  Some may not think exchanging cards on holidays is very much of a relationship, but if it means I don't have to go on being hurt over and over and over emotionally, it's going to have to be enough.  I used to think, no matter what issue people had between them, there was no reason that they couldn't sit down and come to some type of compromise or amicable agreement of some kind, I was dead wrong.  Some times some tragedies and traumas are too harsh, too radical, too damaging, and there is no going back, there is only left the shell of what you wish things had been, and you have to grieve that too.  I had to grieve the loss of my mother and the loss of the mother I wanted and needed her to be as well.  That's no easy feat.  I don't know how people who have no relationship with my Lord Jesus Christ can survive such circumstances, I cannot fathom it.  My faith is the singular gift that has carried me through a time that I couldn't not stand up in.  I pray that you can pray, and that you realize, like I have, it's not about "church" or being a "christian" or about "religion," it is about a real, living, breathing relationship with Jesus, with the real, true Healer and Counselor.  It's about saying, "I can't get out of bed, please help me," and then turning around years later to see that you have not only survived, you've thrived in the end of a time that you thought would bring about your actual death on this earth.

"Free"

     Today I realized this little piece that had been hanging around for so long had more to say than I thought it did.  Today I realized it had a story to tell, well, a poem at least.  From the beginning I kept having the word "free" pop into my head when I was working on this piece, reminding me that I feel like a free bird now, not a caged one.   So today, I thought of pulling out one of my favorite poems to become part of this piece.  Maya Angelou wrote, "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings," and the first stanza fits this piece so well:

                                            "The free bird leaps on the back of the wind
                                              and floats downstream till the current ends
                                               and dips his wings in the orange sun rays
                                                          and dares to claim the sky."

     Have you ever been in an abusive relationship that left you feeling like a bird trapped in a cage?  And then one day some kind of catastrophe happened, like a hurricane, and your cage was knocked down and the door flew open and you knew you had to escape, or it would be the end of you?  But you didn't want to leave, because that cage was the only thing you had ever known, and you very much loved and needed and wanted the person keeping you in the cage in your life?  Knowing you could never, ever replace that person made you not want to be let go.   But then, against your wishes, you were freed from the cage by some awful thing, free to be all that you were created to be, but the freedom was scary, and you desperately wanted to be back where you felt comfortable or at least knew what to expect, but you knew you could never go back there?  It was a dark place to be until one day, you pulled back the curtain and felt the sun on your face and realized at last that you really were FREE, could really see the freedom right in front of you!  Free for the first time in your life, unfortunately it's bittersweet, because you didn't want to be free from the person keeping you in the cage, you just wanted to be free of the cage.  You just wanted the person keeping you in the cage to stop trying to keep you bound, and just let you be free WITH them...

"Free" 12" x 12"

Detail of "Free"

      This was a blog entry from my fiber art website, which is very meaningful to me.  You may want to check out my art site at kimberlyollis.com  Much of my artwork is therapeutic, and I use it to work through my own issues of grief and loss.

Perception and Reality

  Sometimes our perception of reality and the actual reality are two different things.  Sometimes if we had the knowledge that we needed to take two steps to one side or the other, we could do that, and afterwards, we very well may see things completely differently.  But, if we don't know there is another perspective, if we don't know to take those steps away from our perceived reality, we very well may not see the forest for the trees, so to speak.  I am convinced that many times women in crisis pregnancies cannot see options and alternatives right in front of them, because they don't know they need another perspective.  They can't see options that may be available to them, because they can only, in that crucial time, focus on their unexpected pregnancy.  Many factors influence a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy.  Many factors can cloud the perception and thinking of a woman in this position.  Factors such as relationships, hormones, money, self-image, resources, fears, time and the sense of urgency that accompanies pregnancy to name a few can keep a woman facing a crisis pregnancy from seeing the full reality of her options.  So many times I hear women say they felt what I felt, "I didn't want to have an abortion, but I thought I had to, it was the only option I could see at the time."  That is a terrifying place to be in, let me tell you.  It's as if you're between a rock and a hard place literally.  I watched a movie a few months ago called 127 Hours, which was a true story about a guy named Aron Ralston who was rock climbing in Utah, when a boulder dislodged and wedged his arm between it and a wall of rock.  After waiting and trying for days to survive and to get his arm out of the deadly place that it was in, he finally resorts to cutting off his own arm in order to live.  If you watch this movie, you will come close to understanding the desperation that some women who have abortions feel inside their bodies and minds and spirits, when they feel forced to do something that is seemingly impossible and unthinkable to them.  These are the women that Oaks Studio seeks to minister to, seeks to help and work with in a non-judgmental, empathic and caring way.          
 

What Power is in this Reassurance!

     One of my very favorite verses is Psalm 32:7, "You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."  It makes me feel such a sense of peace and gives me a true understanding of what my Heavenly Father wants for me every single time I read this verse.  Have you ever noticed how beautiful this verse and others sound when you read them aloud?  I can feel the presence of God around me, through me and in me, when I read His word out loud!  

     I know He accepts me just as I am.  He meets me right where I am.  He sees me for who I am and accepts and loves me for it.  He folds me into His arms just as I do my four year old son.  No reservations, no hidden agendas, no "yeah, buts," no fears, just love; pure, holy love.  He will protect me from trouble, and I know that no matter what comes, no matter what I do, He will never leave me or forsake me.  Through Him I can face any obstacle, any force, any fear, and any situation.  What a feeling of assurance to realize the very nature of Him; that He is everywhere all the time, and never falters, never fails.  That He will be steadfast until the very end, and even beyond.

     I believe He is and will surround me with songs of deliverance!  No matter what I've done in the past, no matter how unforgivable I have thought I was, He will deliver me from it!  He does forgive, and does forget, and does heal us and delivers us from the dark places we sometimes go.  He is for us, who can be against us?  You may think/feel/believe that deliverance is fine for everyone else, but not for you; however, I'm hear to tell you deliverance is for EVERYONE!  Every single one of us needs forgiveness and needs deliverance from some evil thing, every one of us.  All we have to do is ask for it.  Ask with a clean heart, with a humble spirit, with a mind set of never doing that horrible thing that you did, whatever it was, again, and deliverance will be given to you.  You will be able to see signs of it in your everyday life.  You will begin to notice beauty in the small.  You will begin to see "God winks" everywhere.  You will begin to hear Him speak in your heart, in your mind.  Your life will change.  He doesn't want his people to be bound by any stronghold whatsoever.  If we've confessed our sin to Him and asked for forgiveness and know that we intend to try our best to never do it again, then He is faithful in forgiving.  He is able and willing to deliver us from our pit of self-loathing, self-destruction, and pain.  He doesn't want his children to be bound up constantly looking backward, holding our heads down, feeling ashamed of who we are or what we've done; these things are the opposite of what He wants.  God said David was a man after His own heart.  David knows what he is talking about here in this verse.  Believe it today, and your life will change.

Praying for the Pieces to Come Together

My friend, Debbie, and I are hoping to partner together in providing Interdenominational Rachel's Vineyard Ministry retreats twice a year.  We visited a facility the other day, that we both feel would be the perfect fit for the retreats.  It was absolutely beautiful!  It is an old, country manor that has been updated and turned into a retreat/conference center. It sits out on private acreage that has fabulous views of the mountains. It has nine rooms, each with their own bathrooms; and two of the rooms have two queen sized beds, perfect for two friends, or a mother and daughter couple that would like to come.  I was so filled with excitement after seeing the facility that night that I could barely sleep at all.   

I believe in these retreats so much!  My retreat was such a blessing to me!  It was the icing on the cake of a lot of very hard emotional work that I had been doing for years before I went.  Through the activities that we participated in, I was able to find the closure that I had been needing and looking for.  I will always remember my retreat as a life changing experience, and it feels good to be working toward providing the opportunity for the same types of experiences for other women in a bigger way.  I love working in the group that I co-facilitate in, and would like to continue that.  And, I would love the opportunity to have an Interdenominational site as well.

If you can donate to help us secure this conference center, so that the charges for the attendants could be reasonable, please do so on the Rates page in the site. Also, please send me a quick email with your donation information at kimberly.ollis@hushmail.me. We would greatly appreciate any donations that you could provide!  If you are not able to donate money, perhaps you would be willing to pray for us to receive the funds that we need to provide these much needed services.  Also, if you knit or crochet, or quilt, we need people to donate lap quilts, small blankets or prayer shawls for the retreats.  Each participant will receive one during the retreats.  Perhaps you live in Western North Carolina and feel lead to donate food to the retreats, that would be appreciated as well.  Please, call me at 828.919.8020 to discuss any donations that you can't send through the website. 

May God bless you as you give according to your heart!  Thank you in advance for your help and for your prayers!