Masterpiece Maker Presented by Makiavelli

Sit back, relax, and prepare to be inspired. :) Recently I have found some things that have been extremely uplifting to me and I wanted to share them with you. Let's begin with the following very short movie clip.


I love the message shared in those two minutes. ..."one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul."..."You might say, 'I am not the creative type,...think again."..."something that did not exist before"..."You are a masterpiece."..."You will make the world a better place."

With God as our Father, we can do remarkable things. Here is what Joseph B. Wirthlin has to say in a talk entitled “The Abundant Life”.
"The third quality of those who live abundant lives is that they, with the help of their Heavenly Father, create a masterpiece of their lives.

No matter our age, circumstances, or abilities, each one of us can create something remarkable of his life.

David saw himself as a shepherd, but the Lord saw him as a king of Israel. Joseph of Egypt served as a slave, but the Lord saw him as a seer. Mormon wore the armor of a soldier, but the Lord saw him as a prophet.

We are sons and daughters of an immortal, loving, and all-powerful Father in Heaven. We are created as much from the dust of eternity as we are from the dust of the earth. Every one of us has potential we can scarcely imagine.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

Me? Create a masterpiece? Hmmmmm.

What is a masterpiece by definition?

1. a person's greatest piece of work, as in an art.
2. anything done with masterly skill: a masterpiece of improvisation.
3. a consummate example of skill or excellence of any kind: The chef's cake was a masterpiece.
4. a piece made by a person aspiring to the rank of master in a guild or other craft organization as a proof of competence.

Food for thought--If I have the ability to truly make a masterpiece of my life, as do all those around me, how beautifully would all those masterpieces complement the masterpieces God has already shown to us all. If everyone had this goal, the results would be stunning.

God has given us wonderful blueprints to follow by looking at His masterpieces. Note the attention to detail, the vibrancy, the uniqueness, the design, the functionality, and the depth of every creation. Obviously our Maker poured heart and soul into every creative effort. Below are a few websites on which you can explore these ideas a little further.

Is not the Lord The Master of Masterpiece Makers? {I suggest right clicking on the links and opening in a new tab.}
Here are some beautiful pictures of things in nature.
Read about the creation from the scriptures.
Explore the world with Google Earth.

Oh, but you say--that is just for "amazing people". Let's take a look at some of the people that we think fit that category. How about-Handel, Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Leonardo Da Vinci, C.S. Lewis, etc.

Let’s take a closer look at one masterpiece maker…Michelangelo
This article shows how he picks marble specimens directly from quarry to match the project.

Here you can view his statue Pieta and then click on links on the page to view others of his great works. Look at the hand of the statue of David--you can see the veins, fingernails and lines of the knuckles!
In this article, it shows how Michelangelo just took away what didn't belong to reveal the masterpiece within.
Read about using Michelangelo's methods steps to make your own great design.

As I was reading about Michelangelo, I kept wanting to read more and more and more. It was absolutely fascinating. Michelangelo was definitely a masterpiece maker.

So, we can agree that the Michelangelo and many other well-known people are amazing--they are making (or have made) masterpieces of their lives. But, what about people that are not quite so famous? What about people that are masterpiece makers and yet their names may not be remembered 50 or 100 years from now? Here is one example.


Did that father and son make masterpieces of their lives? Was the masterpiece something we could touch? No. Could we admire it in a museum? No. Could it be performed on a stage? No. Could it still be considered a masterpiece? Yes.

What about you and I? Perhaps you can think of some people who are just regular everyday people you know who are creating masterpieces of their lives? People that are pouring heart and soul into their efforts. People who are using their gifts. Someone rearing a household of foster children? Someone anonymously serving others continually? Someone knitting sweaters by the thousands to give to those who have none? Someone who endures great suffering yet shows us all how to be cheerful? Someone who painstakingly and lovingly attends to a beautiful garden?

There are good examples all around us of people using different gifts to create masterpieces in their lives. Each of us is blessed with at least one wonderful gift that we can expand to the fullest extent possible.

Those who use the gifts that God has given them to the highest capacity are those that are creating masterpieces of their lives, just as the Lord intended for them to do. How do we know what God wants us to do?

Listen.

President Uchtdorf in the movie clip at the beginning counseled, “The more you trust and rely upon the spirit, the greater your capacity to create.”

You will change the world—now get out there and do it! :)

P.S. I turned this idea into a lesson for the whole family. I will be posting the lesson plan on www.fheplanner.blogspot.com soon. In the meantime, I will be posting later today, or tomorrow a post with edible "Make a Masterpiece Dough". This yummy clay is accompanied by many appealing add-ons to help all family members create a tasty little masterpiece! I'll include lots of pictures of our creations! :)

P.P.S. Don't forget to let me know of any Spring Clean for 5 tasks you got done. Time is short! And, of course you realize that there will be a new project coming up for May, so be prepared for that!

Makiavelli's Rock Garden OR What to Do with All the Rocks the Kids Collected!

I started with this (actually there were more weeds before I thought to take a before picture, but you get the idea).Some of the kids helped sort the rocks into distinct categories. Below you see pictured only the large, larger and largest rocks. In actuality there were lots more piles, all the way down to teensy tinsy.
Here is my $1.25 garage sale find that I used for the borders. Nice smooth,oval-shaped black rocks and white, slightly sparkly rocks of various sizes and shapes.

After getting rid of weeds, I rolled out a long piece of black-stuff-that-keeps-weeds-from-growing-in-an-area and cut it to the appropriate size. (Yes, that is what I asked for at Home Depot and they knew what I was talking about.)

I lined the outer edge of the rock garden with the black rocks and then did a second edge using the white rocks. When that was done, I sectioned off a shape and began to work on designs.

I started with a section for me. It is a treble clef and a couple of notes. Princess pitched in, making a small triangle in the upper right of the picture for all the pieces of mica and a few other rocks.

Down at the other end of the garden, I sectioned off a piece for the golf nut. We have plenty of random golf balls in varying colors around here, so they formed the basis for this section. Also in this picture you can see a design using some of the kid's painted rocks. In the section next to that, there are some sturdy white seashells that were granted admittance to this rock haven.

In this picture, the bottom left corner exhibits one of the largest rocks surrounded by various other rocks. The bottom right contains extra smooth, polished stones, including many teeny round shiny black rocks that I don't know what they are. The section on the right above the teeny black rocks houses shiny and sparkly rocks. On the left above are rounded larger rocks.

Then came Christmas. My very thoughtful Peanut gave me a present of blue glassy rocks. He bought them for the express purpose of them finding a place in my garden. :) Above the blue glassy rocks you will find a collage of other seashell and small rocks. At the top of those, there are some of the coolest, most interesting colored rocks we had. (Come on over and see them up close. It is even cooler that way.)

At the bottom of this picture you can see the seashells and cool colored rocks a little more closely showcased. Then, you have the granddaddy mammoth rock of unusual tones along with other rocks of similar themes. Next to them, you have more ultra smooth, polished stones.

The "Native American" style rock guy was the brainchild of Princess. She thought the facial features a good idea. I like the spiked hair. Then there are random larger stones with funky smaller filler rocks. Then you have the "flower" made from painted rocks. And finally you are back to where I started with the treble clef. Here you see the view walking out the front door.

And, what it looks like when we come home.

It actually took me months of doing this a little bit at a time, but it looks much better than the weeds, huh?

http://www.5minutesformom.com/

Fun and Exciting and Cool Things!

First, I would like to suggest to those of you that are getting this blog via email--go to the actual site for this post. I'm not sure if all the features will come through the emails. (http://www.completeleeblog.blogspot.com/)

1. I acquired a loom! Thank you! Thank you! I studied weaving in Sweden and also at college, but haven't had the opportunity to do anything with it since then because I have had no loom. So, here I go with a reawakening of something fun for me to do. Please feel free to bug me in the future to see if I have been diligent in playing with my new toy. (I need reminders to play.)

2. I created a YouTube account and have listed some fun (and funny) videos on there. Take a look to see:

*Dancing Dads Competition -- Kevin's big win. :)

*Cheerleading Competition -- Watch closely

*Amos 3:7, Mosiah 2:17 and John 3:5 as songs-- I put these and many more scriptures to music in order to encourage scripture memorization.

*Grains, Fruits, Vegetables-- This is a fun little song about eating in a healthy manner. The kids had fun being silly with it.

I'll be adding more videos on a regular basis, so check back or bookmark my channel!

3. If you don't mind... Please give my blog a ranking using the smiley buttons on the right sidebar. (I prefer green smiley to red frownie, thank you.)

4. My Chubby babes slept all night last night. I am blessed because I usually get at least 4 or 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep anyway. But there is something akin to bliss when one has been without a full night's sleep for a week or more and then such a luxurious thing happens.

So, there you have it. Fun and exciting and cool, right? Okay, if not, how about at least giving it an "uncommon" or "interesting" or a slightly animated "whatever", please. All these items earned the adjectives in my title according to me anyway. :)

If you want to, pop over to "Talk About Tuesday" to see interesting things from other people.

AAAAH!!

Sometimes God knows exactly what we need. Okay forget the sometimes on that statement. I guess it would be more proper to say that God always knows exactly what we need. Sometimes we agree with Him.

We were given the opportunity to get out of the summer heat and go spend a week up in the cool mountains in a beautiful cabin. We were surrounded by trees, greenery, wild flowers, great views of mountains and a partly cloudy sky.

The trip was refreshing and rejuvenating. How wonderful to have the opportunity to be outside and breathe the energizing mountain air. We took lots of walks and were outside a bunch.

We went to some parks.

Chubby got to play with some bigger kid toys. Obviously this made him very happy.

We played fun games like Uno...

And Go Fish! (I realize the picture is a little blurry, but look at how she is sitting--crazy, huh?)

The kids spent time playing video games and watching movies too. (Too much time according to worrywart mother.) Kevin and I got to spend some time refueling dreams and setting some new goals.

On a nature walk, we learned about Alligator and Utah Juniper trees. One tree has a bumpy, scaly type of bark. The other tree's bark has a shredded look to it. I'll let you guess which one is which. We also learned that if you scratch and sniff a Ponderosa Pine tree, you get a nice whiff of butterscotch. It is pretty cool, you’ll have to try it sometime. Here's three of the kids peeking out between two Ponderosas.

I am writing this on the way home while I still feel the euphoria. Once I get home, I am sure real life will rush up and smack me in the face! Hopefully I refueled enough to get a lot of “mileage” out of our rejuvenating trip.

(P.S. Now that I am home...Sigh! Reality was ready and waiting for me as soon as I got home. I am glad I have some pictures to serve up as fond remembrances as I try to relax and enjoy life even though life is usually hectic, busy, etc.)