Timothy J. Pruitt's Blog, page 159
June 5, 2021
Drawing Day 2021 – Nicholas Toys
A quick still life of Nicholas Toys for Drawing Day.
June 4, 2021
iPainting Dean Martin Later Portrait
I’ve always appreciated older people, even when I was a child. It reminds me of how each of us has value regardless of age or circumstance. This is a portrait of an older Dean Martin, classic at any age.
June 3, 2021
June 2, 2021
National Tailors Day 2021
Today is National Tailor’s Day, and I didn’t know it. It just came to mind to look up today’s holidays. Separately I was looking at pictures, and I found this story I had written at least fourteen years ago. God’s timing is perfect.
The Father and his adult Son stood in front of where their shop used to be. It had stood for years, Guiseppe & Son, but had been destroyed in the earthquake. Silently they began to survey the damage.
The Father remembered how he had taught his son at the bench in the corner. It was also where his Father had taught him, and his Father before that. The shop went back for seven generations. All he could think about was his Grandson, who had not yet been taught the Family business.
His Son searched for something to comfort his Dad. He remembered the many times people had offered to buy the shop and make them rich. But his Dad refused, the shop was more than just a business. It was a symbol of Family. They didn’t always have much, but they loved each other.
His Father always said, “GOD has made us therichest Family in town!” The Son put his arm around his shoulder, hugged him, and the two turned to leave. It was then when they saw it laying in the rubble. Everything else was marred, scarred, and destroyed.
Yet this was untouched, as if GOD’s Angel held it while all else was falling. It was the only gold they owned, the first Guiseppe had worked a year just to afford to buy it. In the rubble was a golden sign, “Guiseppe & Son Tailors: A Family of Tailors & A Family Tailored By The Hand OfGOD.”
“Come on Dad, we’ll rebuild, it’s gonna be fine. Only the building was destroyed. The shop is in good shape.” Trials come, circumstances crumble around us, but when you’re founded on GOD, the important things outlast the storm!
May 31, 2021
Recipients Of Bravery
For generations, men and women embraced the idea of freedom. So much so, they championed liberty in fox holes, behind enemy lines, in submarines, and in jungles. When freedom needed warriors they had no shortage of heroes.
Today we honor the hearts of the brave, and the tenacity of their spirit. Our freedoms bought with days of commitment, hours of hardship, and moments sacrificed. These lives will ever have Lincoln’s words as their narration, and Washington’s admiration.
A hero does not choose their course, they simply answer the call. Whether that call was in the frost bitten air of Pennsylvania, or the sandy dust of Afghanistan, they met danger and defeated it. May we never forget the lives who gave all, so we could have all that liberty purchased for us.
From our first celebration of victory, to walking on the moon and beyond, we honor those who paid the price. The riches of freedom, purchased by warriors, and gifted to every American. In a very real sense, we all are heirs of legends, recipients of bravery’s fortune.
May 28, 2021
May 24, 2021
Faith Bought The House
John 20:27 (KJV)
27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
I am living in a house that I could not afford to buy. It’s a four bedroom, two bathroom house with a garage. It’s on basically a flat lot. That in and of itself is a list of miracles, because the first house I had had only a small segment of flat land. Let me tell you how Faith Bought The House.
We lived in a two bedroom, one bathroom duplex. My wife Ashley felt we needed something bigger. I looked at the budget and thought, there is no way. I told her, “You find us a house”, not believing at that point it was possible.
Notice, the title is Faith Bought The House, not TJ. In the process, we saw some clunkers, and then we saw the home we have lived in for, going on 11 years. I already told you it was bought so no spoilers there.
What I hadn’t told you is, we didn’t have the money to buy the house. We didn’t have the money for a down payment. I told my realtor that, and they kept coming back wanting money, and I kept saying no.
This is where a Man Of God is so vital for your life, even in areas people don’t necessarily ask for counsel in. I walked away from that deal, at least, fifteen times. He told me he believed that God was working, and so I went back. We moved in, no down payment, paying a little over the same amount as that two room duplex.
Faith moves God, and in this case my wife Ashley had faith, and I didn’t at first. Yet, there are times when God will do whether you have the Faith for it or not. Please note, that doesn’t mean He will do it in your life, but He will do it in someone’s life.
So here’s my question for you. If God is going to do it anyway, for someone who has Faith, shouldn’t it might as well be you? If He is going to fulfill someone’s dream, why not it be yours?
In my case, it wasn’t that God was so concerned about my lack of initial Faith for the house. Instead, He was using the house to prepare my Faith for the house God wanted to build our family. You see, my concern was a physical house, and God’s concern was a Spiritual and Generational house.
It’s a whole lot easier to believe God for a baby when you wake up in a house that looked impossible. Maybe that’s why Abraham could believe for Isaac. He left Haran without a lot, and now he had so many servants he had his own army.
That house I didn’t have the Faith for, heard a baby cry. The house that I thought cost more than we could afford to pay, heard our child’s first words. Moreover, the house I didn’t think we could afford, was approved by the caseworkers as a place to raise a family.
There are times in our life, Faith will buy on credit, what you’re not ready to Yet. The keyword is Yet. Jesus spent three and a half years with Disciples who had doubts, but He was sowing their Faith. By the time they were Apostles, all of them had Faith to move mountains.
All of them had Faith to pray for God to raise the dead, and see it happen. All of them had Faith to see the blinded eyes smile back at them, and hear the deaf speak His Praise! You see, God said I’ll take you with what you got, but I’ll produce more in you to get you to where you need to go.
Ashley, Nicholas, and I have seen enough to know, God can do more than what you can dream. He can do more than you can understand, and that is where God excels. We’ve determined to always to make room in our lives for God of Faith that built a house for us. I would encourage you to do the same!
May 22, 2021
Unseen Blessings – The Carrot On The Road
The rabbit crawled from his burrow, saw the carrot, grabbed it, and went back inside. That’s what the rabbit saw. The carrots journey was somewhat longer.
The carrot was planted, grew, was picked, washed, and packed on a truck, until the bump happened. That’s what the carrot saw, the bumps story was longer.
The bump happened one day when the rock was jarred, and rolled down a hill onto the road. It was quietly covered with dirt as the months past, until the farmers truck hit it, and disturbed it. That’s what the bump saw, but his story, and the farmers were longer.
The farmer woke up early during the planting season, planted carrot seed, watered, watched, and harvested it. He packed it on the truck until hitting the bump blew a tire, and knocked the vegetables off the truck. That’s what the farmer saw, and what the bump felt, but God’s story was longer.
He caused the carrot to grow to feed the rabbit. God caused the bear to jar the rock, to roll it onto the road. He caused the truck to hit the bump, and blow the tire. God answered the farmer’s prayer for safety on his journey, by causing him to be delayed. This was just long enough to be kept from the accident a mile ahead.
What we see, is only a small part of the picture. Our story interacts with others, but God orchestrates our safety, and our provision. He positions us at the right place, for the right time for our good.
The rabbit crawled out, the rock rolled, the carrot fell, the man had a sudden jolt, but each was an unseen blessing. I pray that I’m as thankful for what I didn’t see Him do, as for what I have. The seen is great, but often the unseen is even greater.
