Mixed Media She-Art {Warrior Princess}...and a call to fight like girls...

Mixed media 5x5 original, entitled "Warrior Princess". Will be for sale in my Atlanta art show...




...inspired by the book Girls With Swords by Lisa Bevere...

Hi friends!

I don't know about each one of you, but I am certainly in a deep place...of birth...labor...transition...again. But this time? It feels good.

Oh, it hurts. Make no mistake about that. But whereas maybe five years ago, the pain felt like that of giving birth to a stillborn child, this pain comes with a deep knowing that I am pushing out the healthy life of many, many "babies". Multiple births. I am birthing relationally, creatively, spiritually, materially....manifesting grace on many levels.

So are so many of you.

For over a year now, I have been hearing The Lord calling out to our identity as warrior princesses in this day. Let me preface with this: I do not believe that in the natural realm, women should be put in combat roles. I do not. Okay??

You are free to disagree with me. (No hate mail, please. It makes me giggle, and that just makes you angrier. It's a waste of both our energy.) I do not think it bodes well for our nation, when we put our girls in combat.

But. At the same time, the natural reflects the spiritual. And it is a fact that in our nation, women have very recently been cleared for combat.

Girls.

Calling all girls. I have a word from The Lord for you!

You are cleared for combat. Approved. Backed by the full resources of heaven, to fight....not as a man, but as who you are...a woman. You have been given legal authority to kick some serious donkey.

So where are you? Here am I, looking like Annie Oakley in the Spirit....armed to my teeth...fighting my butt off....and I am wondering where YOU are! I see a few of you beside me, but every single one of you better get your sweet selves up here to the front lines, because there is no neutrality. Take captive every thought, or any thought will take you captive. Fight. Engage. Live free or die...

It breaks my heart to see so many of us live for nothing greater than raising daughters (or sons) who make it through high school or college with their virginity intact. As vital as that is, and I am not saying it is unimportant, it does not constitute purpose or calling.

Some live for nothing greater than to have a goat to show at a 4-H show...again, a fine secondary or tertiary thing. Some live to "go off the grid"...that goal consumes their time and resources. It might at the very least be a distraction. It can even be a form of idolatry. It keeps you from the battles that matter.

Milking a goat is not tied to my destiny. Planting a rich garden is a practice of mine...but it has nothing to do with the call of God on my life. The call of God on my life and yours involves His favorite creation...not nature...not livestock...but people. If we are using our resources to minister to people, then we are engaged properly in the combat between darkness and light.

Some of us are finding ourselves facing situations that are unacceptable. Our spiritual enemy has attempted to get us to compromise...reconcile ourselves...avoid declaring war, because war is exhausting.

Well, fight tired, then! Fight injured, then! But for God's sake, stop settling for a sweet little isolated life when there is a battle to be won. Stop setting goals that are beneath you.

This is the season to give up your right to sympathy...your right to hold a grudge (which you never had that right to begin with)....your right to be entitled to this or that middle age indulgement ("I've earned the right to take a break...look at what I have been through!")

hmmmmm. A king named David took on that middle aged entitlement attitude, and ended up undoing his kingdom.

I say we get up and get on with the business of fighting. Whether or NOT the men in our lives are with us. I say this very carefully, only in a manner of speaking. I can speak this way because I am one of the more submitted women you may know. I deeply respect male authority, even flawed authority, and always have - that is one of my God given strengths. I do not mock, disregard, or ignore authority.

Fight. With the boys or without them. Never against them....but with them or without them.

Stop treating life's difficulties as though they shouldn't be happening. This is war. This is training for reigning.

How do we fight?

By our worship.

With high praise in our mouth.

By being an integral part of church life.

With a smile.

By our prayer.

By enduring.

By holding our ground with the tenacity that only a woman can have....there is a reason WE give birth. We can endure.

By not carrying over yesterday's struggles into today. Every day we get to fight fresh. We get to be relaxed and refreshed and loaded with new ammo.

Patience is your weapon of mass destruction. Possess your soul with it.

Everything in your life...your family situation...your marriage....your church and its unique season...your place as a children's minister, nursery worker, musician, multi media person, greeter, encourager, meeter of physical needs....all of it is meant to train you how to be excellent, passionate, distinctly and amazingly feminine. An overcomer.

So go be awesome.

I will be looking and listening for my fellow girls-in-combat. Show up fresh. Show up ready.

Be ready to receive twice what you expect...battle spoils.

But know this: two times nothing is....nothing. You better figure out what it is you expect. Because God only commits His warriors to winnable wars. What would a win in your present situation look like? Strategize accordingly.


Written for you with love...
Sheila Atchley

All blog content is the property of the writer, including all "In the Middle" intellectual and visual art property...

Rock, Paper,Scissors, Key {Hint: Pick the Key}

In all my art, every piece, you will find hidden within it the image of a tiny key - or several keys.

Three groups of people tend to do things without fully knowing exactly why they do them: artists, poets, and prophets. I happen to be a quirky mix of all three, therefore half the time I am saying or doing things of which I have no clue why I am saying or doing them.

The key would be one of those things.

If you asked me, last week, why the key - I would have vaguely told you that understanding the grace of God, and the utterly Finished Work of Christ is the key to understanding all of life and Scripture.

And that would be true.

However, I always knew there was more to it. Artists, poets and prophets are comfortable with waiting on their complete clarity. It doesn't all have to make sense right away before painting it, imaging it in words, or proclaiming it boldly.

But clarity does come, eventually.

Today, the Holy Spirit spoke to me about the keys in my art. He said, in His own special way of speaking to me, "Are you ready to know what these mean?"

I said no.

Just kidding...I said, "A thousand times yes, Master!"

He said, "This is your season to find your keys. This year is your year to discover keys you never knew you had. Keys represent access to wealth and intimacy. Your keys represent the access granted to you, through the cross, to provision, favor, wisdom, authority, all that is Christ's is yours."

Then He said, "Let's play Rock, Paper, Scissors, Keys. Keys always win."

Suddenly...so suddenly...I got the download of revelation.

So you have a lot of cash.

I have the key to the whole vault.

So you have a rock. I have the key to the quarry.

So you have scissors. I have the key to...to JoAnn's Craft Store. ::cough::

So you have a gun. I have a key...to the armory.

So you have a book. I have a key to the Library of Congress.

So you have a cupcake. I own a key to the bakery, baby.

So you have the law. I have the key of David...blessed is she to whom The Lord does not impute sin. God has opened a door of salvation to me that no man can shut...let alone my puny attempts at sin or righteousness.

Keys win. Keys trump all.

I saw, in my spirit, The Lord with a large key ring, containing an unlimited number of keys. I sensed I was being asked...with a loving twinkle in His eye...

"Where would you like to go, and what would you like to see?"

Keys.

Now I know why they are all over my canvases.







Written for you with love...

Sheila Atchley

All blog content is the property of the writer, including all "In the Middle" intellectual and visual art property...

{Hope}

Sheila Atchley

All blog content is the property of the writer, including all "In the Middle" intellectual and visual art property...

I Dwell in Possibility

I am working hard, these days, to be ready for my first art show. I will be in the north Atlanta area on April 13th and 14th...if you live in the area, and want to attend this great art show...




I would love to meet you!


In the grip of His great grace...

Sheila Atchley

All blog content is the property of the writer, including all "In the Middle" intellectual and visual art property...

I Love...Change {February, the Month of Love}

{this home girl hates changing her mind about things}

You can experience troubles or trials without change, but you can not experience true, lasting change without some trouble and trial. In fact, trials are God's means of enlarging you. They carry within them the seed of new horizons, of territories gained, of increase and inheritance.

The essence of repentance is simply to change your mind. If all your dearly-held opinions have brought you to a place of isolation or misery, why then, you have the distinct and incredible privilege...and even the pleasure of changing your mind.

Try it.

I have found it to be even kind of fun. A few years back, I found myself with some life-long views of God that were so far beneath who He really is, as to be an insult to His Finished Work, His kindness, and His nature. Changing my mind was a privilege. I was glad to do it.

Change is God's way of lifting up your head above your enemy. You literally think at a different level than before, and grow bigger and stronger on the inside, than the giant you face on the outside.

Dude. Goliath is so about to become my little sister.

God has so enlarged me, using trials and my willingness to let those dang things change me, my Goliath (and he is honking big, if you could see him with your eyes) may as well be wearing Mary Janes and licking a lollipop. I am about to feed him to the birds.

Change is good. I rather enjoy being increased and enlarged. The bigger the battle, the bigger the spoil.

I invite you...if all your thoughts have led you to a place of anxiety, bitterness, or a critical spirit...

...change your thoughts. Change your mind.

It is one of our greatest privileges as saints of God.

Written for you with love...
Sheila Atchley

All blog content is the property of the writer, including all "In the Middle" intellectual and visual art property...

I Love...Godliness {February, the Month of Love}

THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us...

( Hebrews)

Oh, lovely women of God...of every age...I invite you to love Godliness with me. There is so much more to this life than what some of us are living for. Our heritage as Kingdom Daughters is so much more than we are actively experiencing. Some indulgences are too expensive...because they cost us our cutting edge.

There is nothing worth more to me than the Gospel, nothing worth more to me than learning "the art of losing myself in bringing Him praise". No glass of wine, no country song, no man, no extravagance, no job, no promotion, nothing is worth being even ever-so-slightly weighted down, or even a little entangled.

And everyone knows I love me an occasional Merlot, I love my red lipstick (toned down with a little nude color) and a good Rascal Flatts song. I love me a spa massage, a designer handbag, and being invited to show my art in art shows held in exclusive locations. My theme song can sometimes be, "All I Wanna Do is Have Some Fun" a la Sheryl Crowe.

But that is just a persona to compensate for the fact that I would toss it all overboard this moment, for one encounter with the Living God. There is an intensity in my spirit...a fire shut up in my bones...

I am all about leadership. Lead, follow wisely and well, or go sit down, out of the way. Some indulgences aren't worth my reputation as a leader.

I invite you to love Godliness. When you put it with contentment, you are a sloppy-rich woman.




Written for you with love...

Sheila Atchley

All blog content is the property of the writer, including all "In the Middle" intellectual and visual art property...

I Love...Process {February, the Month of Love}

So much going on, here at this cottage. Lots of letting go, where letting go is healthy. Lots of holding on, where holding on will make a difference.

Every once in awhile, I get a glimpse of a much bigger picture. I can clearly see, in these moments, how somany means are working themselves out towards a single end: that my life be an illustration of The Art of Bringing Him Praise.

No pain has been wasted...and no joy, either. Nothing wasted. All things truly do work together for good. I live my life at an unfair advantage, neck-deep in grace.

Not many strong or wise or even particularly, wildly beautiful are called.

And I revel in this fact. Me and my crazy-train family are vastly qualified to be His Ambassadors.

The process is the solution. Processes can be very long, and can seem to make nosense.

So often, we cannot find the forest...too many stinking trees. But there really is a greater, over-arching plan, right in front of our lovely faces. Problem is, it cannot, will never be found or discovered or discerned in any list of dos and don'ts anywhere. It is found in the daily monotony of process - when we, day after day, choose our point of reference according to the Gospel, and move forward, choosing to relate to God, people, and circumstances from that point of reference alone...no other perspective.

My point of reference these days is that of a cherished daughter, who, with open spiritual eyes, can see so clearly that "those that be with me are far greater, both in might and number, than those that be against me."





Written for you with love...

Sheila Atchley

All blog content is the property of the writer, including all "In the Middle" intellectual and visual art property...