My 2021 Mastermind

“Your testimonies also are my delight and my advisors…”

~Psalm 119:24

364 days of 2020 are now officially behind me. There’s no option but to face forward into a New Year. (…please, God, may 2020 never, ever be repeated…)

In every area of life, I need advisors.

In my business, I hit an important goal that I’d been keeping secret: after 3 successful art collections launched and 2 of those 3 sold out, between commissions and consistent online original art sales (even with no in-person shows!), I made more in 2020 with nothing but my paintbrush than I made in past years teaching online art classes. Not only that, but much of what I sold this year was with oils as the only medium! This was a quiet goal of mine, not shared with anyone, because it was a simple, personal benchmark.

I realize this was not necessary, per se. I realize it is also counterintuitive to the prevalent creative business mantra of “Diversify, diversify”. I actually narrowed - dramatically - my offerings to that of only what came out of my paintbrush.

But I determined not to write another online course until I could honestly say that my paintbrush and my favorite medium was the lifeblood of my business. {Not prints. Not courses. Not books. Not retreats. Not in person classes. Not stuff. Not affiliate gigs. Just fine art.}

Paintings.

And knowing that about myself - that I can make more in one collection (or even one painting!) than I can in one average online class, or from any other thing I do - is lovely. In a way I can’t explain, it is game changing.

That doesn’t have to be anyone else’s goal. My brain is quirky, and I felt such a need to establish legitimacy as a painter before anything else. And not just any painter - an oils painter.

Now, I can write more art courses from a clean, clear place in my soul. I’ve long since known I’m an artist. (So are you…) Finally, I can also know I’m a painter, who can create an income with nothing but a brush and some pigments.

Oh, how I need a good advisor! There’s a next step for me, and it is a big one!

In my spiritual life, I have a deep and settled knowledge that in 2021 I am going to encounter God in ways I never have before. There’s an intimacy that I’m standing on the cusp of, wide-eyed and yes, a little breathless.

The King is my friend.

And I am already aching to form language around what I see, and to paint from what I see, because nothing God does in me is just for me. He blesses me so that I can be a blessing. Oh, how I need an advisor. I want to say it all, and be faithful to properly teach supernatural realities in a manner that is passionate, responsible, enraptured, and tethered to sound doctrine.

My marriage is going places it never has before. We are growing deeper, truer, better, and it is not easy. I’ve heard it said, and this is true - we are only as healthy as we are willing to have uncomfortable conversations. The Preacher and I both want the same thing: a marriage that mirrors the delight that Living God has in Trinity community, and the delight He has in His bride.

We long to apply what we have learned about the finished work of Christ, and what we are learning about the practical impact of the doctrine of the Trinity, to our marriage. We can’t accomplish something that profound all by ourselves! We need advisors.

Introducing my “2021 Mastermind”: the same Mastermind who advised King David, King Solomon, the great apostle Paul, and many others. It’s elite, man.

Being part of this Mastermind is free, but it will also cost me everything I have.

This Mastermind is made up of the testimonies of God. (And a handful of humans, who are only as wise as they too have God’s testimonies as their advisors!)

Every single thing He has done in my life? Every story is an advisor to me of where He wants to increase me. Every single thing He has done in others lives? Each one, my advisor. (So please share what the Lord has done - do not deprive me of a necessary advisor!)

Every miracle inside the pages of Scripture? My advisor.

Every parable? My advisor.

Everything I know to be true about the Living God? Advisors, all.

Question: who are your advisors? Do you even have any? Who are their advisors? And does what they advise line up with the words, ways, being, and personality of a supernatural God? Do the boldest stories in Scripture stand as your readiest advisors? Are you looking to the Big Thinkers of the Bible?

The humans you turn to for counsel - are they creative doers? Do they live ordinary life beautifully and wisely, honestly and obediently?

I know (and know of) people who are, this year, paying $14,000 and $10,000 and $20,000 just to be on the inside of a Mastermind Group.

Who is your 2021 Mastermind?

Assembling My Cute Little Amazon Store

You’ve seen a lot of blog posts titled “My Favorite Things”. Those types of posts are among my very favorite things to read or to talk about. I guess you could say that one of my favorite things is to talk about your favorite things and my favorite things.

Why not make a few dollars or cents from sharing my favorite things with you?

Because I hope I’ve built a certain level of trust, here in these interwebs. I’m sure I have. I have been blogging since ‘08 (click here to go down the rabbit hole of archives of my old blogspot blog…you’re welcome.) and have been making and selling art for about 7 years by now. I have taught art both in person and online from Tennessee to Alabama to Vermont to Italy and back. I get almost daily private messages and emails with questions about my hair, products I use in my health, my current reading list, etc.

While I am not one to bandwagon, typically, I have been watching the trend of social media influencers opening Amazon affiliate pages, and decided…

…what a great idea!

So. So, I’m hard at work assembling my own Amazon store. I plan on populating it with the things I reach for first, in home, health and beauty, business, art, and hospitality.

I hope you love it, and know that anything I share is something that hasn’t just “worked” for me . The litmus test has to be “I Reach For This First.”

Here is a test run.

How many of you are already playing Christmas music? For those of you who are NOT, but still want all those fuzzy, nostalgic feels without straight-up hours of Christmas jam, “I Reach For This First”:

The very last two tunes are Christmas. The first tunes are various vintage Vince Guaraldi - and it all feels so nostalgic and so festive without being saccharine sweet, over-the-dang-top, “Christmas too soon”.

Every year, come late October, early November, “I Reach For This First”.

I can’t wait to share with you some other really useful, beautiful things. Hope you stay tuned and hope you enjoy this feature! It will soon have a page all its own.