**NEW PAINTING**: PRAY FOR SURF: Painting No. 1 In A Series By Artist, Whitney Madison

Painting No. 1 in a new series by artist, Whitney Madison--"PRAY FOR SURF". Signature handcrafted frame (12"X12"), by artist, Whitney Madison. This painting is fully texturized in my signature style, and is in sherbet orange and raspberry tones. $75

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl

        

Satin ribbon lines the interior perimeter, and is embellished with Swarovski crystals.

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl



The waves are in a sparkle high gloss glaze that gives them a "shimmer". The entire painting is coated in a high gloss glaze for protection. 

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl

    

It is perfect for any room, and tempting to touch! Inspiration for any surfer. *Peace*Love*Surf* Pray for Surf!  $75

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl

Relationship v. Religion: Going Through The Motions

I'm not a big fan of organized religion. There are numerous things that rub me the wrong way about what some people do, or think they are REQUIRED to do to show love for The Big Guy and stay on the straight and narrow of eternal progression. Some of you are probably like, "Well goodness knows YOU'RE perfect, Whitney--tell us all about what we have to do, God Girl" (**insert eyeballs rolling** statements about being full of crap**and generalized heckling**). To those who think I'm here to give you the 411 on perfection that leads to the path to exaltation, you will probably end up disappointed by this blog.

GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS

Does your church service require you to get down on your knees? Do you pray with beads? Do you not drink coffee for God? Does your priest wear huge robes and have people following them up and down the aisle with candles and crosses? Do you go to confession? Do you get baptized with water via "the little dab'll do ya" method, or with the "Nestea plunge" method? Do you feel like you have to throw your hands up in the air (and wave 'round like ya just don't care) in order to praise God?

I grew up in the Presbyterian church. We used to recite all sorts of stuff during the church service. I think they were supposed to be prayers, but once you memorize a prayer, and say it 250 times, it loses a little somethin'. It starts to feel more like you should be living in a cage having people feeding you crackers and calling you "Polly".

How about communion? Is it a huge thing where you go to the front of the church with a bunch of people, get on your knees, and have your priest "pass the cup" around (Nurse Whitney disapproves of this "share-zees" method...I'm just sayin'). Does your church do the "pass the plate" and take the bread and the juice while simultaneously telling your neighbor that "this is His body/His blood broken/shed for you"? Do you go to the church where you get honest to goodness, for real WINE with your communion (rumor has it that it's Port wine...puke...why not Merlot?)? Or do you go to the church that doesn't want anything to do with wine, so they bless water instead?

How about going through the motions of life? Do you help old ladies cross the street and see who is watching your good deed? Do you work at the soup kitchen so you can put another check on your "To Do" list to secure your spot in heaven? Do you donate to your local charities so that you can lift weight off of your conscience and pat yourself on the back?

"OMG, Whitney!!!!! You have pretty much dogged on every single sect of the Christian faith, and good deeds done by man thus far!!!" I know. I'm a huge jerk. I'm not really trying to be, so much as I am trying to make a point.

We are continuing our series at church called, "Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working". Don't all those "Going Through The Motions" things that I just brought up seem kind of "normal" for church? Sometimes it can be a little annoying. Sometimes it can be a lot annoying. Perhaps it's the reason that some of us don't go to church altogether. It can seem like a well choreographed production.

You've seen the TV evangelists, right? I have a gal at work who always puts the God channel on at night--in every available hospital room. Sometimes I feel like I've secured my ticket to hell just because I can't stop laughing at the CRAZY idiocy that I see on some of those programs. We humans are pretty good at shooting ourselves in the foot religion-wise with some of our extremist behavior for "the sake of worshiping God" and recruiting others to "join His team".

Anyway, a lot of people go through the motions. And then if you don't go through the motions with everyone else you end up looking like an ungrateful dork who is too good to go through the motions. Like the black sheep among the sea of white sheep (sheep can swim?...hmmm). 

I get that. I struggle with it myself. I go to a very enthusiastic church where people throw their hands up in the air to praise God. I'm the one who sits there looking like a dork because I don't. Is it because I'm a rebellious punk? No. Is it because I think they all look goofy and I don't want to look goofy cuz I'm way too cool for that? No. I just have never worshiped that way, and I don't affiliate my praising God with that motion, so I don't do it. I have also seen a lot of people do it in the past just to fit in with the cool kids--because everyone else was doing it. "Whitney, I liked it better when we had the option of saying you didn't praise God this way because you're a big jerk." Ok. Fair enough. Fire away, my friends. Moving on...

"Um...Whitney...why did you title this "Relationship v. Religion" if you're only going to blabber at us about religion?" I'm so glad you asked!!!! Cuz  now I'm going to blabber at you about relationships, too!

**RELATIONSHIPS**

Ahhhhhh...LOVE.

 Love is something you can depend on.

It's undying--unrelenting.

It never fails!

It's a beautiful thing!

Ok...maybe these photos were not the best way to prove my point. As a matter of fact, our investment in human relationships can often lead to disappointment. WHY? I'm not really sure, but I am going to go out on a limb and blame a little bit of it on us simply being human. As a matter of fact, more often than not they are HUMAN based, and not GOD based.

We kind of "go through the motions" in our relationships, too. We see someone. We like what we see. Maybe they make us laugh. Maybe they are intriguing to talk to. Maybe we start to date them.

We go out on some dates. After going out on a few (or few million) of these, then we decide that we should get married. Why not? It's the natural progression of things, right? Life's too long not to have someone to do your laundry and listen to you gripe about your day, right?

Then you have kids. Some people have kids because they really want kids. Others have kids because they are married, and isn't that what you're supposed to do at some point when you're married? Everyone else is doing it! You don't want to stand out and be one of THOSE people who are actually married and don't have kids! They'll call you a DINK (Double Income No Kids)!! You won't fit in! You'll have nothing to talk about with your "married friends", because your married friends want to talk about how they put Cheerios in the toilet so that little Johnny could work on his "aim" with potty training by shooting breakfast cereal with his pee! And then there are those people who have kids but "weren't really trying to have kids" (minus the frivolous sex part that involves using your reproductive organs--hence the name). Whoops.

Relationships can be tough. They put a lot of undo pressure on us. It's hard when people actually EXPECT us to be a certain way, or do certain things for them. It's hard when people have built us up in their mind to be a certain way--a way that we struggle to maintain FOR THEM...not for us. We are people pleasers. Between going through the motions for life, and going through the motions for religion THIS LIFE CAN BE EXHAUSTING.

So why don't you stop? Stop living a life that looks like what everyone else thinks your life should look like.

HOW DO I DO THAT????

Take your focus off yourself and start living more for God. Sometimes that is easier said than done. Wait...NO IT'S NOT! THAT'S A TOTAL LOAD OF CRAP!!! Living more for God is actually one of the easiest things you can possibly do. Is work stressing you out? Give it up to God. Does your relationship suck? Give it up to God. Are you worried about finances? Give it up to God. The more you start inviting God to your party ( your life party), the more you will realize that he really doesn't care if you sent out Gucci invitations, or sneezed in a napkin and wrote, "Dear God, please come to my party" on it. He'll be there! Why? Because He is a people pleaser!

 I was reflecting on this today during our church sermon. One of my pastors had said, "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--imagine! Three beings in one!" It made me think. Then it made me OVERTHINK.

See, I grew up in the Presbyterian church, but at one point had converted to the Mormon church. To this day, there are still some things that make more sense to me from the Mormon church than ever did in the Christian church (and this goes vise versa, too). What my pastor had brought up was one of those goofy things I can't wrap my head around. See--in the Mormon church there is the concept of the Godhead. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Three separate, unique beings that work together as one--this sort of "synergistic" relationship. This makes perfect sense to me. I understand this. However, I have always struggled with the concept of the Trinity--Father, Son, Holy Ghost as one being split into three. It's like Voldemort from Harry Potter with the horcruxes. It freaks me out! I don't know why it bothers me so much. I think part of it is just that it's really hard for me to wrap my head around Jesus pleading with Himself (God) while he was hanging on the cross. Like celestial schizophrenia or something.

Then it was followed by a sermon given by my other pastor who made it very clear that THIS IS THE VERY POINT of the RELATIONSHIP V. RELIGION concept!!!! It's getting caught up in the logistics, and the motions of things, instead of the actual relationship with God. RELIGION dictates concepts, and motions. It deals out rules, and regulations. It deals out expectations, and things that you need to achieve to get into heaven. The RELATIONSHIP is where the focus should be. The focus should be on GRACE. The focus should be on LOVE. Some of you are probably like, "Um, Whitney...I don't have a whole lot of either of those things...does this mean I'm screwed?" The answer is NO! Why? Because there is actually Someone out there who has these two things in abundance!  This same Someone also happens to think you're worth showering with these things! And no...it's not Micheal Bolton. Sorry. Guess again...  

We get so caught up in the logistics of RELIGION that we forget why we showed up to praise God in the first place. I've kind of adopted the "whatever floats your boat" philosophy with respect to going through the motions of religion. When you truly believe in God, and in the grace of God, then all the other fluffy stuff just seems a little, well...fluffy.

DON'T BE FLUFFY! (well...you can lift your hands to praise God like Fluffy if that's how you roll...)

Make your focus and your priority what YOU do to maintain your relationship with God. Don't go through the motions. Don't be a lemming! Don't do what others are doing just for the sake of doing it! Be different! Be YOU for the sake of HIM. He made you! He already thought you were worth enough of his time to put you together the way that He did. Enjoy it!

And don't get so caught up in the fast pace of everything in this life that it ends up kicking your tail or else you'll end up like this guy. Give it up to God. Then take a breather knowing that the most important pieces of the puzzle are already in place.

**Peace**

*Ka-CHING!!!* Guess Who Just Fed The Pig?

I had a little bit of time on my hands last week. This is RARE for me (hecklers, this is where you insert a snarky comment about how much time I spend on Facebook).

"Well Whitney...don't keep us hanging here! We can't wait to hear what you did with your spare time!" I know, people. Try to control your enthusiasm. It's a comin'...

I made a New Year's resolution this year. Most of the time they are the biggest joke ever, but I've actually done pretty well with keeping the last couple that I have made. This year's resolution was TO SAVE MORE MONEY.

I realize that some of you are probably doubled over, rolling around on the floor laughing at me. Yes, I like stuff. I like to buy stuff. I like to shop. I love my pedicures. I love my waxing. I love my hair salon. I have a SICK obsession with shoes. I love Ralph Lauren perfume. I love Tiffany & Co. I love monogrammed RL bath towels. Oh!...and don't forget my mandatory two trips per year to Hawaii.

I am keenly aware that I'm really good at spending money. That is partially why I decided to challenge myself to go above and beyond this year to save more of it. It's pretty impressive, too. I've found ways to cut back on some simple things without feeling like I'm going to suffer major trauma from self deprivation. But I wanted to do something more...

Here's what didn't work: I tried my hand at extreme couponing, but after, I decided most of the stuff they give you coupons for is absolute crap that's going to make my butt big so that next year's resolution will have to be to lose weight (run on sentence). NO THANK YOU. 

What does work: eBay. I hate junk. Unfortunately, most of us have it in abundance. I am a neat freak, and I really, REALLY don't like having clutter around my home. I am meticulous about going through my/my kids' closet each season and weeding out the things that either don't fit, or should be on the TLC show, "What Not To Wear".

I'm also hyper paranoid about accumulating crap. Have you ever seen those commercials for that show, "Hoarding: Buried Alive"? I have. They scare the holy living crud monkeys out of me. They make my skin start to crawl. I feel like every time I accidentally "catch" one of those commercials that I become extremely OCD in the other direction. I clean house like a madwoman. After seeing one, I even freaked out at my daughter for dropping a Pepperidge Farm Goldfish on the floor. I went off about rats, and roaches, and all sorts of things that could possibly wiggle into my home on a mission to eat one flipping goldfish that was now residing under the coffee table in the living room.

I realize that this was probably overkill as far as emotional responses go, but go big, or go home, right? Back to eBay. 

I decided for kicks and grins to go through my house and start de-junking it. There's not a crap ton of junk to go through, but enough to experiment with on eBay. I decided that, if by chance it would sell, that I would open a savings account and sink all the proceeds into it from there. It seemed a little far fetched, but *meh* what the heck.

Some of you might remember the big closet cleaning I did last year after reading Lauren Conrad's book, "Style". I still had the entire pile of clothing in there that I had intended to take to the tailor to have re-fitted. There was great stuff in there--Ralph Lauren, Ann Taylor, etc. It was all stuff that had only been worn once or twice, too. Here we are nearly one year later, and they are all still in my closet--and my motivation to go to the tailor is nowhere to be found at this time. So what did I do with them? I took their picture. Then I put them up on eBay.

I followed this with posting shoes that I had purchased but never worn. Then I posted CDs that I was never going to listen to. I weeded out my winter and summer jackets, and posted the rejects. Anything I found in my house that stirred up emotions of mediocrity became fair game. I was on a mission.

I had a pretty good sized pile-O-stuff for my first auction posting. It took me about two hours to list everything and post photos. Then it was time to wait. That's when the magic started happening.

PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY BUYING MY CRAP! *WOOT*WOOT* HOLLA*

I came home yesterday and saw that I have over $140 deposited in my PayPal account thus far. All from simply taking two hours out of my life and listing my junk. If I look at it in terms of "work" and being paid, $70+/hr isn't too shabby! ;)

I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of my auctions pan out for me. It's kind of a fun way to save money. I also love that I can do all of this from the comfort of my own home. I'm getting paid to work in yoga pants, and a ponytail! Yeah, baby! ;)

Don't be surprised if you see me snooping around my local Goodwill store soon looking for killer deals. Once I'm out of junk, I may have to go buy some other people's junk and start experimenting with posting that junk on eBay. I love to shop, so it could be a fun adventure! We shall see.

If nothing else, my little experiment made my bank account grow a little. It was well worth two hours out of my life and a few trips to the post office. :D

**NEW PAINTING**: "SURF GIRL" by artist, Whitney Madison

This 16"X20" acrylic painting is perfect for any SURF GIRL! This painting includes my signature, handcrafted frame that has glass beads embedded.  

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl

The surfboards and wording are completely texturized in my signature style. They are also "blinged" out with Swarovski crystals on the surfboards, and the wording. Blue, satin, paisley ribbon runs along the perimeter of the interior side of the frame, and each corner is embellished with Swarovski crystals. 

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl

The entire painting is coated in a high gloss glaze for protection, and is ready to hand in any room of the house!

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl

Tempting to touch, and super fun to do so! This painting is a fun conversation piece that will be all the envy of your fellow fashionista SURF GIRLS! By artist, Whitney Madison. HANG LOOSE, GIRLS! :)        

To view this, and my other paintings, please visit my online art gallery, Ooooh La La Art Gallery by artist, Whitney Madison, by clicking the link below.

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl



**TwurlGurl Hair Accessories**: New At Ooooh La La Art Gallery By Artist, Whitney Madison

**TwurlGurl Hair Accessories**

Handcrafted by artist, Whitney Madison

Ooooh La La Art Gallery

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl

New to Ooooh La La Art Gallery, my handcrafted hair twirls are sure to give just the right amount of **bling** to all the fashionistas out there!

Inspired by my most recent trip to Maui, Hawaii, I bought hair twirls for my twin daughters at an art gallery on the island. After I returned to Colorado, and gave them to the girls, EVERYWHERE WE WENT we were stopped by people saying, "Where did you get those? Where can I get those?". I told them that I purchased them in Hawaii, and they were really disappointed.

I decided to learn how to make them--AND I DID! They are super cute, fun, and different. Everyone and their grandmother is sporting hair feathers these days. It's nice to have the option to add accessories to your hair without looking like the rest of the crowd!

Each TwurlGurl is adorned with charms and glass beads. The photo above features a Cross, a Dove, and a Star charm. $16

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl

Star, Seahorse, and Flip Flop charms (ideal for longer hair); $18

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Star, Sea Turtle, Palm Tree Charms; $16

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All Star (4) Star Charms (ideal for shorter hair); $14

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Sand Dollar, Dolphin, and Star Charms; $16

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl

Dress it up! Dress it down! Tons of fun for any fashionista!

To view TwurlGurl Hair Accessories, or my artwork, please visit my online art gallery

Ooooh La La Art Gallery by artist, Whitney Madison

at

www.etsy.com/shop/arcticbarbiegirl

GOT CRABS? A Blog About Striving To Be Different

Got Crabs?

I probably got your attention. No, this isn't some blog about Nurse Whitney educating you on STDs. Actually, that reminds me of a joke I heard once though.

A guy walks into an STD clinic and is sitting in the waiting room. He's feeling really self-conscious, and nervous. As he sat there twiddling his thumbs and hoping that the nursing staff would hurry up and call him to the back he looked up on the wall and saw a sign that said, "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade!" He sat there thinking to himself, "Shouldn't that sign say, "When Life Gives You Crabs, Make Crabcakes?". *Buh dum dum* You're welcome. I'll be here all week.

I just got back from church. I'm probably the only person who can lead into my Sunday sermon blog thoughts with a joke on STDs,  but that's just how I roll. It was there. I had to do it. I digress.

Got crabs? I'm not referring to funky monkeys down south here, people. However, after you read further into this topic, and if your answer to this question is YES, then you have a problem.You either need to seek medical attention, or you need to think about your life.

I just got done thinking about my life for a while. My pastor brought up this idea of crabs. I'm actually kind of embarrassed to say that I had never heard of this before. Did you know (cuz I didn't) that if you put crabs into a bucket, and one of them tries to escape by crawling out, that the other crabs will drag the other crab back down into the bucket? The other crab will literally reach up and haul their buddy back into the bucket, and will keep doing this until they all die. Un-frickin'-believable. I have two degrees in science. How had I never heard of this before?

Some of you are probably like, "Oh I know where this is going  Whitney's going to go all "God talk" on us now *eyeroll*...". Please keep in mind here that you have absolute power, Jedi Master. There's a red X up in the righthand corner if it's going to kill you to read all of this. If you click your mouse over it, then I miraculously disappear. And yes...I might get a little preachy, but it's good for you, so listen up.

Does the crab thing sound familiar? Do you ever try to do something you know is right, but get suckered back into doing things the way that the world is doing them? Do you do things a certain way intentionally because it's more "acceptable" and you don't want to stick out like a sore thumb?

We're going through a series at church right now called, "Weird--Because Normal Isn't Working". The premise is that in order to be a true follower of God you have to turn away from the ways of the world. Some of you are probably like, "But I like the ways of the world, Whitney. The ways of the world are "NORMAL". If we don't follow the ways of the world then we're going to end up like some retarded freakshow who has a blog and talks about taboo subjects like God on it. Oh wait, that's you..."

Don't worry. I get that blogging about The Big Man probably puts me in the weirdo category. I'm ok with it. I was actually already in the weirdo category prior to my God blogs. However, it doesn't mean that I'm a deluded, self-righteous person, either. I've got way too many things that are "normal" in my life. It's a problem. I should strive to be much more of a weirdo for the sake of God.

I am not a big fan of Dr. Phil. I have seen his show a time or two though. You get sucked in to watching it--like a fishing show. It's a little pathetic. However, I heard Dr. Phil once say something that I really liked--so much so that at one point I stuck it up on my refrigerator as a daily reminder to myself. He said, "You wouldn't care so much what people thought of you if you knew how seldom they did." Some of you are probably like, "Well, thanks for that Whitney. It's nice to know that nobody really cares about me." To you I say, "You just missed my point. PS I love you *warm fuzzy*".

Why do we care so much what other people think of us? I find the older I get, the less I care. I know that some of you are probably thinking, "Oh sure, Whitney. That's why you wear stilettos to the grocery store--yep...we see how much you don't care." Just FYI, I wear my stilettos when I'm cleaning my toilets--when nobody is watching. Why? Because I like the way I feel when I dress up. Contrary to popular belief, the reason I dress up is for purely selfish reasons--BECAUSE IT MAKE ME FEEL GOOD. I know that sounds weird, but it's true.

This blog is not about me and my high heels though. It's about being different. It's about being ok with being different, and being different for all the right reasons.

I love God. I'm not shy about it. I'm not going to beat it into people, but I found out something that was pretty cool once I started talking about God on a more regular basis to other people--OTHER PEOPLE FELT LIKE IT WAS OK TO START TALKING ABOUT GOD, TOO! People started to come out of the woodwork. It was like an infestation--only it wasn't nasty bugs!...it was my beautiful friends! I was stunned. I was like, "Hmmmm...I've known these people for a long time. How come I never knew this about them?" It was great to realize that I knew all these other people who felt the  same way about God as I did. But why didn't I know it before? Oh crud...it's probably because we feel like we have to be "Closet Christians". We don't want to say anything about God, because God forbid...people might actually think we're weirdos! We'll become freaky! We'll get all preachy! People won't want to hang out with us because "were one of those people"!

It's true. I get that weirdo "God Complex" sometimes. I grew up in a very bible beater family. It was super annoying. My sister would get mad at me, pelt me in the head with mascara, I'd get upset and yell at her, and then my dad would sit us down and be like, "Now girls, what would God have to say about all this." It was so tempting not to come up with a snarky answer like, "He'd probably say you should've gone with Cover Girl instead of Loreal--the tube flies faster, and hits harder. Force = Mass X Acceleration, right?" It drove me CRAZY. My dad brought God into everything...EVERYTHING. To the point where it actually drove me in the other direction--away from God. It was annoying. I decided back then that I would never cram God down people's throats. However, that doesn't mean I won't give people the option of reading a little somethin' somethin' about Him on my blog though. Open up and say, "Ahhhh". Just kidding.

 I lost one of my Facebook friends about a week ago. She actually left Facebook altogether. I was majorly bummed. I adore this girl. However, she was getting angry about some of the postings she was seeing on Facebook. I'm sure mine were included, though she never said anything directly to me.

My friend is a self-procaimed Atheist. I've seen her posts on Atheism that she puts on Facebook. I have never commented on them. I understand that people have the right to choose to believe, not to believe, or to believe in whatever they want to believe in. Far be it for me to stir the pot on someone's Facebook about it. She was upset that she would see people post things about God, and she felt like she couldn't comment on them because she would make people angry with her opinion.

I ended up writing her a message on Facebook. I told her that I knew we were 180 degrees apart with our beliefs, and that I actually really appreciated the fact that she never tried to start controversy on any of my posts that I made mention of God in.

I actually feel very sorry for her though. She's angry. The very mention of God makes her ANGRY. I get that some people don't believe in God. I know that the gist of Atheism is denying that any sort of "Godly being" exists. My logic is such that if you don't believe there is a God, then there's really nothing to get pissed off about--it just is what it is, right? However, she gets upset at other people believing in God. That is where I fall off and just plain DON'T GET IT. That would be like me getting mad at my kids believing in the tooth fairy. I have always wondered why she gets so angry about it though. Like I said, it's one thing not to believe. It's another to be chronically pissed off about something you don't believe in. Seems like a waste of time, effort, and energy to me.

Long story short, I wrote her. I told her I was sad to see her go, but that I understood. I did mention that my love for God brings a lot of comfort and happiness to my life, and I didn't understand why she would ever feel compelled to try to remove that from ANYONE'S life with negativity and disbelief. I also said that I felt strongly that, just as she felt compelled to post numerous posts on Atheism, I felt compelled to share my knowledge and love for God through my postings, and that I would continue to do so. I also tried to encourage her to stay on Facebook and just ignore the things that bothered her. But she couldn't. As a matter of fact, she wouldn't even respond to my message. I'm sure it's because my message made mention of my faith and my love for God and Christ. It did make me wonder though--if she is THAT angry about it, it's either because she's really struggling somewhere deep down, or she is just a hateful person. I'm more inclined to believe that she's fighting a pretty big internal battle right now.

 It felt weird to talk to her about God that way. I don't engage in a lot of 1-on-1 convos with people about God--let alone Atheists. Like I said, it got really old to hear it from my dad back in the day. I am assuming she probably felt the same way. Oh crap...I've become my father. Eeeek!

I'm actually ok with being different with respect to God. I know it's probably not "hip", or "cool" or "trendy". However, I don't really care. It's worth it. I fall short of perfection every day of my life. However, I will say that it feels amazing to know that I'm not trying to perfect myself ALL BY MYSELF. I am thankful for the way that God works in my life. He makes being a weirdo something to aspire to.

I love seeing the changes that God makes, not only in my life, but in the life of my friends. I've seen some pretty amazing things this year. I've seen God overhaul hearts, and lives. I've seen faith grow. I've seen selfishness put aside, while love and commitment embraced. I've seen prayers answered. I love seeing people rejoice in the simple truth--that GOD IS GOOD.

"Jeez, Whitney, could this blog get any longer?" Why yes it can, my friends! I'm so glad you asked!

What's the moral of the story here? Well, unfortunately we all have crabs. We all have that moment where we try to strive for great things, try to separate ourselves out, and somehow the ways of the world grab onto us and drag us back down into the bucket. It's a daily battle. This is where having a master chef like God on your side comes in a little bit handy. He's pretty good at making crab cakes! It's like Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength".

Cling tight to the side of the bucket my friends. If something is dragging you down, then it's time to change it. It's time to stand out. It's time to be different. It's time to realize that you weren't meant to do this all alone. There is a song I love that has the lyrics, "No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from." There is freedom in God.

I challenge you to literally take whatever you are facing and give it up to God. There is an amazing sense of freedom that comes from that submission. I heard someone say recently, "Worry about nothing, and pray about everything." Give it a shot. You might actually like what you find on the flipside.

*PEACE*

**NEW PAINTING**: drawing by my daughter Paige Madison: Painting by Whitney Madison

As stated in my previous blog post, my children have tendencies to create amazing artwork. I cherish the moments that I sit around painting, and all three of my girls are sitting by me drawing pictures. Their pictures happen to be AMAZING. I love the individual talent of each child.

I've decided to make all my kids' pictures into paintings. This has since been deemed, "The Mermaid Project". ;)

A few weeks ago, my daughter, Emma (age 9), drew a super amazing picture of a mermaid. I asked her if she would allow me to turn it into a painting. She agreed, and then collaborated with me on the colors she would like it to be, etc. Below is her mermaid drawing that I then turned into a painting...

My daughter, Chloe, has also drawn a mermaid for me to make into a painting. I will post it after I finish. I will also upload each child's drawings so you can see the originals. Super fun. I LOVE seeing the differences in their art, yet the unique individuality of each piece.

CHEERS!!! :)

**NEW PAINTING**: "Tear It Up": The Second in the Series, "Surf Like a Girl" by artist, Whitney Madison

This painting is the second in my series, "Surf Like a Girl", which is a tribute to women in the sport of surfing. 

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Fully texturized in my signature style, and in acrylic, this painting is sure to be a conversation piece, and tempting to touch (which is not a bad thing--it's fun to touch!)!! This painting includes my handcrafted, signature frame. It is ready to hang on any wall. It is 16"X20" in dimension.

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This bright, vivid, surf painting will inspire women everywhere to grab your board and just get to it! Protected with a high gloss glaze, and accented with a sparkle high gloss glaze (the waves).

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This painting will be a great way to express your inner Surf Diva. TEAR IT UP, GIRLS!!! :)      

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