Self Improvement

Who of us has not heard Debbie Boone singing “You Light Up My Life” on TV? The advertisement begins “Light Up Your Life, give yourself a lifestyle lift” as the before and after plastic surgery middle-aged women’s photos are flashed on the screen. One testimonial says, “If you can do something to make yourself better, then go do it.” The ads proclaim this surgery is affordable and that it will wipe the aging off your face.

 
A funny story I heard when a wife asked her husband for $3500 to have plastic surgery on her eyelids and the circles under her eyes. His reply was, “What do you plan to do with the rest of your face?” A funny story but a lot of truth in it. What do we do with the rest of our body?

 
There are people who do not grow old gracefully. They try to hang on to their youth instead of joyfully entering each stage of life according to God’s divine plan for us! Then, there are those who go where growth of life takes them, and they have the courage to let go of the past and embrace life with vibrant anticipation for whatever is to come!

 
Let’s take another look, a different viewpoint on how to improve our lives. There are other ways to light up your life and live above and beyond ego driven solutions!

 
You are a creation of God! Be thankful for the light of God! Give yourself a permanent lifestyle lift by thinking and doing something to make yourself better, through developing the fruits of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.

 

“You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.” – Matthew 7:16-17

 

Old or young, male or female, the smiles on your face will give you a beautiful spiritual glow from doing God’s work! Become obsessed with what you are doing for the love of God from the inside out!! A lasting lifestyle lift like no other!
Jean Swick, 7/2013

Yarn Bombing and the Warhol Bridge

Through the initiative and participation of our church fiber arts group; as well as Steve’s kindness, I had the pleasure of viewing the yarn bombing of the Warhol Bridge from a wheelchair. I witnessed panel after panel of crochet and knit pieces— strung out over the bridge—truly an explosion of color and design!

 

As I watched people crossing over the bridge, my first thought was how many folks were actually taking the time, like our group, to thoroughly examine this beautifully bedecked bridge in all its colorful splendor!

 
How many passersby even gave a thought to the vast number of artists coming together with their individual works of art to achieve this glorious bridge adornment of monumental proportions? Certainly, it was a work of art that far out scaled anything produced by the man the bridge was named after!

 

It was indeed a glorious transformation that required full commitment, dedication and the cooperation of 100’s of workers! The purpose of the Fiberarts folks “was connecting and bridging communities”, and this purpose came to full blown fruition here on this project.

 
All this effort surely proved something about our community and its spirit! There was a Higher Power at work here in this amazing creativity and huge achievement.

 

There is no question our talents are gifts from God, and thankfully God was guiding these fiber artists and their helpers through the good spirit that was in them. A spiritual endeavor it was and a faith beyond what might have seemed insurmountable at the onset. I had nothing to do with the work involved, but I surely felt the spirit of the worker’s accomplishment that day on the bridge, some of them down on the hard concrete floor securing the panels so as not to come loose in the wind. I was so impressed with this wondrous project full of spirit that I will never forget my experience!

 
We thank those who bestowed this triumph of making the largest bridge bombing in our hometown of Pittsburgh and the entire USA, as well as our very own fiber artists who gave their time, talent, and very hard work toward this uniquely beautiful display!

 
The beauty of spirit is in the expression of our own personality that single spark of the Divine that sets us apart and makes us
different from every other living creature! Our creativity, no matter how great or small, is our contribution to the world and each new day, is reason to celebrate the gift of God’s spirit within us!

 
Jean Swick 8/2013