Don't Be Prickly...!

Hi friends,

I remember when I first read and really registered Philippians 2:14 - it was rather convicting!

Do everything without complaining or arguing

As someone who is pretty argumentative by nature, I found it quite staggering to comprehend doing everything without arguing! And then I had to admit that I wasn't exactly a non-complainer either, so there was quite a way to go in living out this verse...

When I was creating this page I started meditating on this verse and two main thoughts came to mind. Firstly, complaining and arguing come from a place of selfishness and pride ultimately. It is pride that insists on having its own way, being right, winning arguments and moaning when things don't go its way. I don't know about you, but that's really not the person I want to be. I don't want to be a prickly person who is difficult to get along with! Gayle Bond gave me the idea to use 'don't be prickly' text for this verse - totally perfect for this scripture!

The second thought that I had while creating this page and meditating on this scripture was that the opposite of complaining and arguing is gratitude and humility. One of the ways I can begin to live in obedience to this scripture is to cultivate the qualities and practices of humility and gratitude in everyday life, choosing to give thanks rather than to complain, and to listen humbly to others, valuing their opinions even if I don't agree with them. That's the kind of person I want to become as I seek to follow Jesus' perfect example.

Here's a step-by-step of how I created this page:
1. Draw the top of the brick wall then paint underneath with pale grey/beige acrylic paint and above with blue acrylics (I used three shades to achieve a variety in the sky).
2. Stencil bricks on the wall using dark grey paint, then clouds in the sky using white paint. Add some shading to the top of the wall with a grey pencil.
3. Stamp the cacti from Refresh My Soul using Stazon ink so they sit on the wall, then stamp again on watercolour paper.
4. Cut out the watercolour cacti then colour with Inktense pencils and an aquabrush.
5. Stamp the words using Bitty Minnie Alpha and Refresh My Soul (I used Versamagic black ink).
6. Glue the cut and coloured cacti onto the stamped images on the page, lining them up.

Here are the stamp sets I used:

I hope you've been encouraged and/or challenged by this short but powerful verse (I know I have been!). May we all make daily choices to walk in humility and gratitude as the Holy Spirit helps us to be 'un-prickly'!

x Amy x