Are My Experiences "Happy" or "Meaningful"






You can feel happy, in brief flashes and chance encounters, when everything is perfect, and you can feel that ethereal sense of happiness unconnected to any real meaning. The happiness comes, you get that new car, and then that happy feeling leaves, because of the law of diminishing returns. Your next encounter with feeling happy is contingent upon the next new thing you are sure you want, and how "perfect" the conditions are when you receive it.

But you can't pursue a deep sense of meaning in your life, and not feel a consistent, measurable happiness....eventually.

That girl up there, running...she is not "happy" at that precise moment. It's early and it's cold. The happiness comes from becoming clear on her "why" - the reasons that drive her to run pavement....perhaps to pray...or get uninterrupted time to sort out tangled emotions...to be alone with God...or to inspire her at-risk girlfriends to improve their strength and stamina.

In short, she must find meaning OUTSIDE HERSELF in her choice to run, a meaning that goes beyond being able to wear a pair of jeans that are a size smaller than her friend. If her "why" is deeply meaningful, the follow-through will bring a reliable happiness that comes with achieving a meaningful goal.

No cheap happies stick around, I'm afraid.

A happy life is different from a meaningful life; and a meaningful life is scientifically proven to be the only consistently happy lifestyle - because, paradoxically, those seeking true meaning are willing to delay the gratification of happiness...

...and they ultimately end up with happiness.

Imagine that.





Grace and Peace,

Sheila Atchley

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

My New Year's Resolution { #onlyGospeltunesin2014 }






Earnest Hemingway said,"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."

And that is why I made a New Year's Resolution to actively listen to only Christian music, all of 2014.

I, who have never made a single resolution since I was 19 years old. And I still don't believe in them, generally speaking.

I didn't make this decision because other kinds of music are wrong. I didn't make this decision because I think it is a spiritual thing to do. I didn't make this decision because I have a weakness for country music - even though I do.

I made the choice, because it will make me a better writer, and God has been calling me back to the typewriter, inviting me to bleed fresh, and bleed like never before.

See, last week I was tooling around my town in the Moxie Mobile - my little gold PT Cruiser, which I adore because it is 1940's reminiscent; I love that it sort of pegs me as a grandmother. I'm so cool with that.

My radio was tuned to the only decent Christian music station available - the syndicated KLOVE station. This fact was weird all by itself, since I am typically perpetually either tuned to my local country music station, or enjoying 1940's music on Pandora.

Suddenly, a certain song began to play. A song of failure and God and grace. The tears that sprang, unbidden and unwanted, reminded me of the reason I love country music: it is how I take a break from my own fervent intensity.

The song was lyrically rich and musically excellent...

...and the singer sounded almost exactly like my son.

And my heart yearns for my son to write those songs. I want him to sing like that again. He has it in him to write theologically and passionately. He has it in him to bring many, many to saving grace. He is called to be a Psalmist.

As a mother, my very nature intercedes for my children. I pray for them all like I breathe. Naturally. Easily. Constantly.

In that moment, my soul instantly stretched out, taut and vulnerable, to bridge the gap between my son and his calling; prayerful intercession and tears flowed abruptly - quick as thought and tender as a bruise.

My instinctive reaction was to....

...reach out and touch the country music button.

To escape my own intensity. To avoid the pain.

To not bleed.

Sweetly, God's voice halted fingers from changing channels. All at once, I knew that I have gained enough strength to lose some blood again - to feel this pain, yet not be destroyed by it, like I was back when my prodigals first began to squander their inheritance. All at once, I knew it was time to welcome a new leg of this journey...

...it is safe, now, to examine the aches. It is safe to explore the weakness of pain, and the way it makes me need salvation for my soul and new mercy with every sunrise.

It is now safe to bleed at the typewriter, so to speak.

Because I have this "all clear", I have consciously sealed all the exit doors I've typically used to run away, back when avoiding hurt was essential to healing (and initially, avoiding pain is very essential to healing).

And I will write hard, and I will write clear about what hurts.

And I will worship, leaning on my staff, favoring this hip put out of joint one very long night of my soul.

So that's why I am dialed in to Gospel music, and Gospel music only, not just for 30 days, but for all of 2014.

I want to be a better writer, and to do that, I have to feel joy, and I also have to linger with pain long enough to know how to speak healing words.

Sure, there is a lot of cheesy, low quality Christian music. My radio will annoy me from time to time this year. But there is a lotta-lotta cheesy, low quality country music (as well as rock, R&B, indie, etc.) and my radio has often annoyed me before now.

The only difference will be that my spirit will be forced into a continual posture of worship; my mind will be fed by words that turn my thoughts to things not of this earth; my heart will be challenged to feel again.

Join me, if you dare.

It won't be fun all the time. I will arrive at grocery stores and art supply stores and post offices in various states of emotional undone-ness, I am sure. And I hate that. You don't know how bad I hate that part.

His love makes it worth it. His love makes it worth it all.










Grace and Peace,

Sheila Atchley

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

I Hear Voices {...and so do you...}


Happy New Year!

If there is one thing that will have defined your 2014, this next late-December, after the gifts have all been opened, and all has been said and done and 2015 is what comes next...

...if there is only one thing I could tell you for sure will have been the single most important factor in your experiencing a stable 2014, that one thing will be which voice you decided to hear this year.





Because we all hear voices. In fact, it's all about the voices . All of human history - mine, yours, tribes and nations - can be boiled down to whose voice is heard, valued and followed.

"In the beginning", the voice of God generated the cosmos. In the garden, the voice of the adversary generated the chaos that has characterized every moment of every day since the first man and woman were cursed for heeding the wrong voice.

At the end of Scripture, we hear the voice of Christ promising "Surely I am coming soon", and it still boils down to whether we will heed that voice and stake our lives on what He said...

...and is still saying. The Holy Spirit is active and very real in His distinct personhood, and is constantly speaking to us today.

One of the most confusing things in all of life is to be torn between many voices, each one saying something different about something that matters. This will be our plight - yours and mine - in 2014,
if we don't decide today to bow our knees, plant our faces on the ground, and desperately search the Scriptures for a "now" word for our situation - His voice, as it addresses our circumstance.

See, I have this nagging fear that is trying to set the atmosphere...based on a few heartbreaks we've experienced with our sons, one in particular, in 2013.  What happened in the past is making it very hard to look forward with hope, and resist all unholy forboding.

Most do not know the painful year we have endured - others only see the happy, thriving art business,
 or our joy in our calling, or our passionate and respectful marriage, and can't imagine fear almost
incapacitating my days.

There is another fear-based-voice that intimidates me about my husband's health, and what could happen if something went wrong while he is in hot and humid Haiti this February. As I read my Bible today, I saw these words: "Do not be afraid of sudden fear, or of the ruin of the wicked one when it comes. For The Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being taken."

If I am wise, I will plant my feet on that verse. That word is a promised land as real as any acreage - living fearlessly is a way of life given to me as sheer gift. Fearlessness will define my 2014, because the voice of God can be radically trusted.

There are more examples I could share. I am a vessel in whom The Holy Spirit is pouring a fearless spirit in 2014, and promised me that my Father will be speaking clearly to me this year, and that His generous abundance can handle everything that will happen tomorrow, next week,next summer, next New Year's Eve.

So whose voice will it be? A colleague you admire in your business? A book written by someone who doesn't even acknowledge God in the face of Jesus Christ? The accusations of your very.personal.adversary.?   Trust me, the accuser knows all it takes to take you down is to inject a few cc's of cynicism into your thought-stream, and that cynical, sarcastic voice in your head will then mentor you right out of the inner circle of involvement, and into the peripheral.

Those who hear and value and pant after the voice of God will be the steady ones in 2014. They will be the joy-girls who are so confident in what God has said through His word and their spiritual advisors and authorities, the resulting happiness and serene trust will draw others to their brand of beauty - to that true beauty never asks for attention.  (Their brand of beauty gets noticed because true beauty is composed...peaceful...)

Which voices will you hear? If it brings positive change and challenge, if it places the emphasis on Christ, if it imparts faith and a desire to serve others and a will to win - listen. Value what you hear.

If another voice brings any sort of anxiety or fear - don't listen. You can't have a conversation with fear or cynicism or lies, and not come out of the exchange tweaked and affected, and not in a good way.

Guard your heart's counselors, and your 2014 will be a safe and sweet one.


Grace and Peace,

Sheila Atchley

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

Year in Review

January was art, art, and more art...preparing for my first art show in Atlanta in April...


February was art, art, and more art...


March brought the Preacher's 50th birthday, and some livingroom redecorating...


In April we planted gardens...




In May, the Preacher installed his own sunroof into the top of his truck...



June was so very special - my parents' 50th anniversary!


July brought sunflowers, and my twin daughters' birthday...


In August, my Aidyn Esther turned one...



In September, my art and jewelry began to be carried in a local shop!



October blessed us with a family trip to the beach...grandbabies and all!


November spoiled me with birthday presents and fall beauty...


December was achingly lovely...so many memories created, with intentionality.



And here we are, just now, with "faithful friends who are dear to us, drawing near to us once more..."




Looking forward to what 2014 has in store! A ministry trip to Franklin NC and a mission trip to Haiti, and hosting our dear friend Joe Ewen is allllll awaiting us in January alone! It is going to be a blessed, blessed year of His favor.



Grace and Peace,

Sheila Atchley

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

The Best Christmas Gift {...my marriage...}




{my preacher loves this, and said it took the words right out of his mouth...}


Can I put on my Preacher's Wife hat for a minute? I don't do that all the time, here. But if you will indulge me, I hope to share some perspective with you.

It's Christmas, and we are all trying to create a sense of peace and homey-loveliness.

What is it that gives a home that "homey" feeling? What makes a home an actual haven? We can say "a home should be a haven"...we can make sweet signs, calling our home a haven...




But if the grace of God isn't evident, if the people who live there aren't cared for properly within the walls of that home, if legitimate authority isn't honored there (oh, that is a big one!)...

...there will be no tangible, sweet peace there.

Because it isn't about a home's architectural style
And it isn't about the decor.
It isn't the color of your paint...
Or the quality of your home's materials.


It isn't about the view outside your window,
Or your square footage.
It isn't {even} the art that adorns your walls...
Or whether you're country or urban or suburban.



Honestly? A home is a haven when the one woman loves the one man and the one man adores the one woman. A home is a haven when authority is acknowledged, and honor flows upwards and downwards easily. In short? A home is a haven when no one wants to leave, and there is a sense of peace.

And all those things begin with a marriage filled with honest respect and secret passion....void of belittling sarcasm and unbelieving cynicism.

To borrow from the great F. Scott Fitzgerald, when two people love each other like that, that is the beginning of everything.

Angels sing over that home.


Grace and Peace,

Sheila Atchley

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

The End of a Blessed 2013 {...a review of the last couple of months}

I am down with a horrible flu. It went from a bad cold, that lingered for a month, into a flu, complete with 102+ fever! I have taken some medicine to bring my temperature down, and I want to use this little window of time (between uncontrollable napping) to be grateful for all that has transpired since I began my October {31 Days of Celebrating Middle Age} project.





The Preacher and I had the joy of bringing our daughters, their husbands, and our grandbabies to our old family vacation spot...




















Then we celebrated my birthday...



{two of my most cherished gifts - both the grandbabies and the sketches by son-in-love Jonathan Howe}

Decorated (late) for the fall...














Celebrated my wedding anniversary with my Best Beloved...











{We didn't write on the barn...this is a close up of a photograph-encaustic art piece that I created from one of The Preacher's camera shots from that day!}

Had a successful fall launch of my new jewelry and bag designs, as well as a successful local art show...



Celebrated Thanksgiving at my daughter Sarah's home {beautiful table setting, no?}





Went out the next day to get three Christmas trees...


















Took some of the family to our local Fantasy of Trees, benefitting East Tennessee Children's Hospital (money well spent, if you have ever had a child in the hospital, as we have...twice).

















Then, we took each grand baby out by himself and herself to ride the Christmas Train and have lunch...














Enjoyed a Christmas play by our church's drama group...













(Sorry for the blurry pictures...)


And was so blessed this week to receive a Christmas card from an art client I had done a commission for, at my first art show, way back this past spring, in Atlanta...





Somehow, I managed to be sick through almost all these pictures and events. Yet I still count myself blessed and highly favored...

(I know, right? "DUH!" Of course I am!)

I would appreciate prayers for healing - my immune system must be exhausted from the busy 2013 year! And I pray health and good tidings of comfort and joy to each of you, my friends.




{our 2013 Christmas mantel, with its 10 stockings}



{a beautiful nativity...hand made for me this year by a friend}



Have a merry, merry Christmas!


Grace and Peace,

Sheila Atchley

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