It’s August
July felt like a whole month of travel…
There was Jekyll Island, Georgia, where I spoke at Jeremiah Johnson’s Jekyll Island Grace Conference. The Preacher shared on “the sufferings of Christ” - there wasn’t a dry eye in the whole place. And I ended up ministering on my current-favorite topic: “The Trinity”…
I know. This is a spectacular image of me. I am nothing, if not photogenic when speaking, apparently.
The beaches of Jekyll Island were breathtaking. This was our first time to visit.
So we both ministered at this conference, and had the best time that we can ever remember having at a conference. We made so many already-dear friends.
And those sessions led to a spontaneous invitation to both of us, to minister to a smaller group, in the context of a larger conference, the following week in South Dakota. I wanted to say “no”. I never do anything spontaneously. I don’t even go to the bathroom spontaneously. This must be understood.
Normally, I would easily, unequivocally, oh-so-easily say no. After all, we weren’t being asked to keynote. We were asked to do a “break-out session” type of thing.
OF COURSE, NO. I don’t have time for that!
But the Lord said to go.
So we went.
To South Dakota. Of all places.
Aaaaaaand this was us leaving for home…but from COLORADO.
Let me explain.
We had such a good time in South Dakota, making more new friends (seriously, so many…and each one feels like a God-connection) and hearing new-to-us Gospel preachers. But while we were there (in South Dakota)…
…there was this little thing called the “Crowdstrike/Tech Meltdown”.
So when the conference concluded on a Sunday, what should have been a mere 7 or so hours worth of a flight home, to be in our own bed by Sunday evening, with one easy connection in Minneapolis, became a three day nightmare.
We hung in there, together, taking hit after hit. Delay after delay. Shuttle after shuttle. Day after day. Motel room after motel room. A drive from South Dakota to Nebraska, in hopes of a flight out of their airport.
To make a long story short, we ended up in Colorado. We had to switch airlines entirely, then fly out of Nebraska to Colorado, and from Colorado to Knoxville.
The only happy part to this story is that IN EVERY CITY (a total of FOUR cities in FOUR states) where we found ourselves stranded, there were people, some of whom we have not yet met in person, ready to take us into their very own homes and put us up for the night.
The other crazy thing is, we just got a phone call today from the organizer of the Sioux Falls event. She wants us to come to Tulsa, OK to speak in the spring of 2025
And your girl, here, feels like I’m supposed to say yes.
Me. Mrs. Travel-Hater.
Who even am I?!
These are my zinnias from Floret Flower - the dusky pink colors have my whole heart. Go get you some for next spring. Quick, before they sell out!
And so that brings me to August.
Let’s enjoy it, my friends. I have so much more to say. I feel a little like Jesus when He said, “…but ye cannot bear it now.” haha.
Until next post!
My Creativity Class, FINALLY Hosted Right Here
Join “Middle Makers” here
A few of you may remember that I launched a class on the Jeanne Oliver Creative Network called “Middle Makers”. I am delighted to let you know that - now and going forward - my own site will be the only place you will be able to receive my newest offerings, whether that be new creative classes/master classes/ courses/mini classes/ or what will soon become my signature “QuickClasses”.
Shew.
Friends, I did the work.
I did ALL the work. As in, nobody else. As in, no assistant, paid or free help. As in: just me.
(side note: consequently, please shoot me an email if you find any broken links or grammar-related errors. I need many eyes on my work. Thank you.)
I know how to build out a website and a course, from concept to upload, and all on my own site. As of now, you’ll be able to send your friends here to buy this beautiful class for an unheard of price. There will never be another class of mine (unless it is a QuickClass or a mini) at this price.
Here’s a little bit about Middle Makers:
“The Middle” is less an age-range, and more a state of being. The “middle” can feel like simply being scattered; you experience the pull, in all different directions, of this relatively new digital lifestyle. The middle can manifest as an unsettled feeling, a vague sense of dissatisfaction. There is often a degree of emotional pain, such as depression or anxiety. The result of these stresses common to midlife can be a whopping case of creative inertia.
The act of making physical things in the physical world is a powerful tool in your toolbox, for the care and maintenance of your midlife soul. After all, when your soul is well tended, you are better able to tend souls well. This world desperately needs women (and men!) in the middle, showing up in their full creative form, wielding their energy, sharing their wisdom, and revealing who they are and how they have been gifted.
We need you, as you, and with a flourishing soul!
Whatever your age, if you’ve encountered a little bit of “stuck-ness” in your middle, this course is for you. Through a series of spacious story-telling and doable art-making, Middle Makers will unfold a blueprint for blooming. This class is for the women who, for whatever the reason, may have put their creative lives on hold.
Until now.
Sheila Atchley is one who has known many of the deep challenges related to midlife. After a 20 year career in church ministry, home making, and education, she picked up a paintbrush for the very first time as a means of processing transition. The results have been breathtaking, in terms of the life and health that sprang up in her own soul. Her art is now found in every state in the United States, and most of the countries of the world! Teaching art has also carried her far and wide – as far away as Italy, and as wide as the coasts of the US.
Sheila has had to overcome overwhelming inertia to be sharing her stories, and more than that, imparting a sense of luminous possibility to the other artists and creatives she encounters. She is a firm believer in the fact that midlife women, after going through a seemingly isolated season of transition, can emerge as new, more creative than ever, “Middle Makers”…
…and then we all somehow find each other.
So whether you are a stark beginner or a seasoned maker, this course, with its encouraging and informative writing, as well as the art techniques taught in it, can be a powerful blueprint for your blossoming as a creative “difference maker” in midlife.
Techniques Taught in this Course
How to break out of making the “same old art, in the same old way”
Expressive figure drawing techniques
Sketch the female figure in an innovative way
How to choose “surprise” in your studio practice
Heirloom-type handmade journals
Work with dry pigment in new ways
How to conceptualize a piece of assemblage art
How to construct a piece of assemblage art
Integrate fragrance into your art pieces
How to create and use a “Commonplace Book”
Journal making techniques
Incorporate leather into your book-making
Create your own signature fragrance, using top, middle, and base notes
New ways of making mixed-media art
Explore water mixable oils
Add bits of your own story to your art
Discover powerful symbols for midlife, and how to incorporate them
Incorporate 3-dimensional story telling onto canvas
Learn to elevate your own “maker’s story”
Make beautiful gifts for meaningful giving
Here’s a few words of commendation about “Middle Makers”:
“Best class ever!” ~B.Andersen
“This relaunch has blown me away…all the goodness you added is WELL worth the re-purchase (since I had already taken this class elsewhere)…those devotional meditations are pure living gold and the surprise bonus and your commentary were the perfect chef’s kiss to it all. I felt so seen and nurtured and honestly…I felt mothered through it. Beautiful, deeply sacred work.” H. McFarland
“I would recommend this class to anyone and everyone, whether they consider themselves makers or not.” K. Adams
One more time, here is your link: