Year: 2012 (Page 3 of 3)

D.C. Birthday Trip: American Art and Portrait Gallery

April 10, 2012 / Jennifer Coleman / 2 Comments

I spent my afternoon at the American Art and Portrait Gallery.

I enjoyed it far more than I expected. I thought I might see the whole thing

in a little over an hour.. but spent hours and hours there and arrived

just in time to meet Mike at Fuddruckers for dinner down the street.

I actually came up out of the wrong end of the metro.

And was surprise to find myself here.

Happy to see our meeting place.

All the China Town signs are in English and Chinese.

It wasn’t far to the gallery.

The building started out as the U.S. Patent Office in 1836.

They’ve done a beautiful job renovating it.

It has this beautiful enclosed courtyard where you can eat

lunch, hang out and listen to a live band playing.

Can you see the wave in the glass ceiling?

This Cadillac weather vain was my favorite in the Folk Art exhibit.

I expected the museum to showcase American artist and their art..

which it did.. but with an emphasis on famous Americans.

A portrait of Pocahontas.

Benjamin Franklin

Loved this little painting

Thomas Edison

See the writing to the left of the painting?

Each painting of a famous American had a short biography next to it.

Ronald Reagon

Will Rogers

Love the bears.

Angel 1887 by Abbott Handerson Thayer from Boston.

Elizabeth Winthrop Chanler

by John Singer Sargent

Cafe’ at Biskra, Algeria

by Frederick Arthur Bridgman

born in Tuskegee, AL in 1847

I loved this painting.. the little boy is reading the

Bible to his mother, who has her hands folded in prayer.

Sunday Morning 1877

by Thomas Waterman Wood from VT.

I like his other paintings too.. Google him.

Loved the movement in this sculpture.

George W. Bush

Laura Bush – I thought if someone were to paint

a portrait of me.. I’d like to look like this.

Loved this photo of Orson Welles

by Harry Warnecke – The first photographer to use

color photographs.. He worked hard to convince

the New York Daily News that it was worth the

expense to publish a color photo once a week

in their Sunday News supplement.

Lucile Ball

photo also by Harry Warnecke

Katharine Hepburn

Love this pose, too.

Then on the 4th floor there was even more art to see..

in the Lunder Conservation Center.

These three floors make up the fourth floor.. instead of rooms

of art they contain shelves and cases and drawers of art..

with just enough room to walk between and view the collection.

It’s like the attic of the museum. So wish I could see the NGA’s attic..

Then on one end there is Conservation Center..

Where you can walk down and watch their conservationist at work.

They have a room for everything from the frames (above)

to paintings and sculptures. Each room has a touch screen video

player in front that explains how they do the restorations in that room

and shows examples of wonderful before and afters.

What a fun job.

Love,

Jenny

D.C. Birthday Trip: Botanical Gardens & American Indian Museum

April 9, 2012 / Jennifer Coleman / 1 Comment

Monday I had all to myself to go anywhere

the metro and my feet would take me.

After visiting the NGA a second time I went to the Botanical Gardens.

I started at the side gate. Enjoyed the azaleas.

Love the color contrast.

View from the front.

Tulips for Mom.

Inside there was a orchard exhibit.

This one’s named for Princess Diana

Love the purple.

And wow!

Next I went to the National American Indian Museum.

The building was beautiful.

They do the coolest things with beads.

It took a family 9000 hrs.to cover this VW Bug with beads.

The horse exhibit upstairs was my favorite.

A chief.

Horse dancing sticks.

A horse mask..

And on another floor this amazing sculpture.

It was made to celebrate the friendship between

the Oneida people and George Washington (the United States).

Jenny

D.C. Birthday Trip: Natural History Museum and Library of Congress

April 8, 2012 / Jennifer Coleman / 0 Comments

On Monday, my good friend, Lee Ann and her family met me at the

Natural Museum of History. 🙂 While Chuck took their precious girl to see

the butterflies, Lee Ann and I went up to see the precious stones.

I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Their collection was

impressive and I wished that Josh could have been there.

You could probably spend half a day just looking at their rocks.

The Hope Diamond was the star of the show.

It’s blue color surprised me.

A sapphire and diamond necklace by Harry Winston – wow!

A diamond tiara and necklace

that Napoleon had made for Marie Louise.

In this room, the stones were divided up by mineral; some left embedded

in the rock they were found in and some made into jewelry..

They showed how different impurities give the stones their color.

Did you know that rubies and sapphires are made up of the

same mineral they just have different impurities in them?

And if they didn’t have any impurities they’d be clear?

All these museums have web sites where

you can see much of their collections.

http://geogallery.si.edu/

After lunch, we walked back up Capital Hill to the Library of Congress.

I thought I’d get to roam among the books.. but discovered

that only professional researchers are allowed in that part

of the library.. The part we did see was so beautiful that it was

well worth the trip. The hall is a work of art itself.

They have Thomas Jefferson’s Library on display.

Thomas Jefferson sold his collection of over 6,000 books

to congress after the British burned their first collection.

Most of his collection also burned in a second fire..

but his detailed log of books didn’t. So the library is

working on collecting copies of his original books.

D.C. Birthday Trip: Sunday Afternoon

April 7, 2012 / Jennifer Coleman / 0 Comments

After visiting the NGA, we walked up to see

if the Library of Congress was open.

When they say “up” on Capital Hill they mean up.

It’s quite a hill. Cherry blossoms everywhere.

A red bud tree and through the trees you can

just make out the Capital building.

We joined a group that was praying in

front of the Supreme Court for the nation.

Quiet a different group from the day before.

The following day was the beginning of

the Supreme Court’s review of Obamacare.

In the few minutes we were there, they prayed for Congress.

The Library is next door to the Supreme Court. It was closed.

We had a little time left, so we went back to the American History Museum..

the President’s exhibit had been so crowed the day before we missed it.

Martha Washington’s dress.

We learned that not every First Lady was married to the President.

Some Presidents weren’t married or their wife

didn’t want to be the First Lady.. so they asked someone

else in their family to play host in the White House.

A couple were as young as 21 years old.

We found some of Mike’s work in this display case;

President Clinton’s Budget. 🙂

Love,

Jenny

D.C. Birthday Trip: National Gallery of Art

April 6, 2012 / Jennifer Coleman / 0 Comments

My favorite place to visit in D.C. is the National Gallery of Art. It amazes me that they have all that amazing art on display free for anyone to come see.

I actually got to go twice this trip. Mike and I went together on Sunday

when it was pretty busy with all the Cherry Blossoms visitors.

Then first thing Tuesday morning, I went again by myself when it was quiet.

I actually had a few of the rooms all to myself for a couple of minutes.

It was so quite that I could hear my own foot steps on the wood floors and

thought how cool it’d be to have my own house full of beautiful art like that.

There were a couple of monks with a tour group there.

The younger of the two was walking around with the widest of eyes.

At first I thought that he must have been amazed at the beauty of the art.

But later, in a different room, I realized why his eyes were so wide

when after the older monk moved into the next room he took

a quick picture of a large painting of a naked lady.

He didn’t even glance at the smaller painting of

the nativity next to it that I was walking over to see. 🙂

I think he was amazed that men and women could look at

large paintings of naked women together in public and call it art.

Although my eyes weren’t as wide as his,

I am not sure it should be called art either.

I try to look past those paintings.

The monks wore a gray robes which made me curious

about what kind of monks they could be since

all of the monks I’ve seen wear bright orange robes

like the Buddhist monks we saw in Thailand.

I googled them and found an article about them

(the exact two monks from the Museum).

They are Korean monks who are visiting the U.S. as part of their

English Language and Buddhism in the Western World studies

at a South Korean university.

The younger one, “Great Wisdom,” is 21.

The older one, “Blue River”, is my age.

I hope they find Jesus in their quest for wisdom and peace.

The Smithsonian Castle.

Some of my favorite paintings from the NGA:

Two by Winslow Homer

The Dinner Horn

Sparrow Hall

Still Life of Flowers by Dietrich

The Cottage Dooryard by Adriaen Van Ostade

Workmen before an Inn by Isaac Van Ostade (brother of above)

A terrible “I was here” picture…

A Lady Writing by Vermeer.

And two by Rembrandt – amazing

Man in Oriental Costume

The Apostle Paul

The Adoration of the Shepherds by Giorgione

(the painting next to the one “Great Wisdom” liked)

A statue of David as a boy.

Ginevra de’ Benci

by Leonardo da Vinci

Did you know he left his finger print in the center of the painting?

He lived from 1452-1519

Can you imagine seeing art that old and older??

The Alba Madonna by Raphael

And the last two by Murillo –

Return of the Prodigal Son

Two Women at a Window

More art galleries to come..

Sorry,

Jenny

D.C. Birthday Trip: Cherry Trees

April 4, 2012 / Jennifer Coleman / 1 Comment

After walking through the mall, we walked by the Washington Monument.

Joel asked if we saw the crack in it from the earth quake.

We forgot to look. :-/

We tried this shot several times.. ha.

Its fun taking “We were here.” photos even when you blink.

We were just a couple of days late for the height of the cherry blossoms.

The rain and the cool breeze made it snow blossoms down on us.

It felt surreal to walk through so many pink blossoms; and baffled me how

the atheists could have their rally at a time when God was so showing off.

I got a new pin for my favorite Mickey Mouse back pack.

I am not sure why they chose a beaver to hold the

“Please, don’t pick the blossoms” sign.

A nice guy offered to take our picture.

I think he was there just hanging out offering to take anyone’s picture.

Doesn’t that sound like a fun way to spend an afternoon?

At the end of our cherry tree walk we stumbled across the..

They had numbered signs for each tulip patch that matched up with a guide.

We didn’t find where they kept the guides.

I think it would be easier and save trees if they just

put the names on the signs instead of numbers.

The tulips were beautiful even without their names.

Love,

Jenny

D.C. Birthday Trip: Crystal City and The American History Museum

April 3, 2012 / Jennifer Coleman / 4 Comments

For Mike’s Birthday, I got to go with him on a week long trip to DC. We had a wonderful time. I love visiting there. There is so much to see and do. I think I walked 100 miles. Loved the freedom of riding the metro around to wherever I wanted to go while Mike was in conference three of the days. And the icing on the cake: I got to see my good friend, Lee Ann, and her family.

We stayed in Crystal City in one of several hotels just a couple of blocks from the metro. The metro is key. Also near the Crystal City metro…

This gorgeous water park.

And a jogging trail that goes all the way to the Reagan Nation Airport.

Beautiful spring flowers.

And one of Mike’s favorite places to eat. Yum!

After lunch, we hopped on the metro and road into DC.

It was raining so we made a beeline for the American History Museum.

As did a bunch of other people.. we had to wait in line in the rain to get in.

One of the coolest things we saw there was a piece of the Berlin wall.

Abe’s Hat

The Gunboat Philadelphia from the Revolutionary War.

See the hole at the bottom left?

The ship was under water for 159 years.

It’s hard to describe how incredible it was to stand next to it.

It was almost like if you stepped into it you’d be stepping in to history.

And for the grand finale we got to see the original Star Spangled Banner.

The actual flag from the song. We weren’t allowed to photograph it..

but it looked pretty much like the photo above.. just much larger.

Just out side the museum there was this rally going on in the Mall.

We saw some Jesus Saves signs and thought we’d go check it out.

It was pretty intense. This small group of less than 100 people

were arguing that there is a God..and His name is Jesus

at the first national atheist rally called “The Reason Rally.”

I am sure it’s name “The Reason” was purposly stolen from Christians’

attempt to protect Christmas: “Jesus is the reason for the season.”

They used it in contrast to stand for:

“There is no Jesus; trust in science and reason.”

What’s really sad is that the science and reason they are

choosing to believe in is false.. and wide spread by our government..

in our schools.. and true science and reason are on their Creator’s side.

In reality, they are asking for the separation of “Truth and State.”

As we walked through the crowd of about 10,000 to the other side of the mall,

we mostly felt compassion for them. Most were really hurting. The reason

they decided not to believe in God was because they felt like

He or the Church had failed them.

A few that we walked by were not atheist..

one girl stood out.. she didn’t know what to believe.

She was there with a very angry boy friend.

Most were very young like they were.

Others were obviously under Satin’s rule. I wondered if they

could see I was a Christian as plainly as I could see who they were.

Judi said, “It must have been scary.” And it was a little..

On the other side Mike told me that he’d been praying in the Spirit

all the way through. I laughed a little.. because so had I,

but only a little because I was so thankful that we had that gift..

of knowing and experiencing the One True God.

I wished I could reach out and touch each one and have the

power of God touch them the way He has touched me

so they’d know He is real and loves them intensely.

We heard the main speaker speak as we were walking through.

He was sharing his testimony; telling how after he had children he decided

to try the church of the “kinder God of the evangelicals.” The crowd laughed.

“I asked Jesus in my heart many times,” he said. But that he had

many questions.. that he asked his Christian friends and pastor.

He felt like he lived as a Christian by day and a sceptic by night.

Then when the twin towers fell, he decided that there couldn’t be a God.

Their laughter, cheers, sadness and anger all tell me that

the church in America as a whole is not the bride God created us to be.

We are meant to really know God, to walk in His fullness,

in His wisdom, in His love, in His power, with signs following,

to share the Gospel of Grace of Love of Forgiveness of Healing

with the broken, hurting world around us.

My prayer lately has been “Lord show me your glory, so that I may

behold it and be transformed by your Holy Spirit into your likeness.”

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” 2 Corintians 3:18

Love,

Jenny

P.S. After finishing this post, I went to run errands. Halfway to the store,
I realized that I hadn’t grieved for the mass of people there.
I almost pulled over to weep.
Walking through that crowd had a profound effect on me.

God has been doing a great work in how I see others.
Showing me how inherently flawed and broken I am.
We are all in need of the Savior – daily.

All His judgement was poured out on Jesus at the cross.
When we receive the gift of His sacrifice, we are set free.
Hallelujah!

Be Strong. Be in Love.

March 23, 2012 / Jennifer Coleman / 0 Comments

My meditation this week.

I Decided

February 18, 2012 / Jennifer Coleman / 1 Comment

For Valentines Day this year, my daughter, Judi, decided that she wanted to make sugar cookies for her co-workers, her brothers co-workers, the youth group.. We made 4 batches of sugar cookies. They were so good.. so soft.. so delicious.

I have no business eating sugar cookies for one the sugar then the flour.. and the butter. There they sat on the middle of our kitchen island. I ate them like potato chips.. “just can’t eat one.” My hand reached over and grabbed one after another before I even knew what was happening. I ate some on Valentines day and even more the day after. I prayed for help. I needed serious help. They were so irresistible and accessible and plentiful. I was feeling pretty icky by Wednesday evening.

We studied the first chapter of Daniel at church that night. Two words stood out to me.. “the indulgence of Babylon” and “all things are lawful but not beneficial” I had been very indulgent and now I was feeling the effects of how unbeneficial those cookies had been to me. Ugg. I decided that I was no longer going to be indulgent and that I was going only eat food that was beneficial to me.

It was actually pretty good timing for such a decision. All the sugar cookies were gone, and Thursday was grocery shopping day. I spent most of the day asking myself “Is this food beneficial for me?” The only problem was that I was coming off of two days of indulging in sugar and my personal list of non-beneficial foods is very long: sugar, grains, starches, fried foods (love, love, love); feeling icky, thinking sad thoughts.. it was really, REALY hard to keep a cheerful attitude.

Around 8:30 PM, one of my kids who hadn’t done their chores in days started talking to me. I was feeling frustrated and was on the verge of spilling over into very angry about all the little stuff that happens everyday. I warned him, “Do your chores and don’t even talk to me.” He kept talking. I lost it (a sad, sad scene). My loving husband asked me what was wrong, “Is it that time of month?” It wasn’t. I honestly didn’t know what was wrong.

The next morning, I understood that it all started when “I decided.” The Lord has me in a place where I don’t get to decide. For me, it’s like picking fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and sticking it on the tree God is producing in me. It’s rotten fruit even when that knowledge of good and evil originates in His word.

He wants me to live by His Spirit, to allow the fruit of the Spirit to be birthed in me, to live in the revelation His Holy Spirit Gives me, to wait on Him to work the will and the do in me. No works of the flesh allowed. Not even ones that look good. I am to live totally dependent on Him and His grace working through me.

I realized my mistake pretty quickly because for the last few years a pattern of grace has developed: I try to do something on my own; I fall flat on my face. I guess it had been a while since I tried it though. Silly me. I am soooooooo thankful for this pattern in my life. So thankful that God is the Author and Finisher of my faith and doesn’t allow me to succeed at adding rotten fruit to my tree. Thank you, Jesus!!!

So, what about the sugar cookie problem? Friday (after realizing my mistake that morning), I went out and ate fried, starchy and sugary food and enjoyed every bite.. except the sugary food. It was too sugary. I didn’t finish it off. I am starting to not enjoy it as much. I see it as a sign that the Lord beginning a work of deliverance in me. By Friday evening, I knew what to pray, “Lord put a desire in me for food that is beneficial for me.” Amen. Thank you, Jesus!!

Galatians 3: 1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

Love,

Jenny