My husband brought me a surprise from his Boy Scout excursion to Gettysburg, PA.
He brought me. Bottle of Monkees Banana Nut Soda!!
Am I a believer? You bet I am!

I LOVED the Monkees when I was a little girl!  While other girls were playing house, my friends I were playing Monkees. I always wanted to play Mike. I loved Mike! He seemed so deep. He was quiet and the calming influence of the quartet. Not always, but sometimes.

I always went for the quiet ones.  With the Beatles, I loved George!
Of the bubblegum pop, when everyone else was screaming over David Cassidy and Donny Osmond, I was home mooning over Bobby Sherman.  

On the TV show, “Here Come The Brides” Bobby Sherman was so quiet and shy he stuttered! I found out years later that he actually suffers from Agoraphobia.

But I digress. I now listen to a pod cast called “The Many Moods Of Ben Vaughn” that sometimes features Mike Nesmith singing songs that aren’t Monkees. Did you know he wrote, “Different Drum?” One of Linda Ronstadt’s first hits. And his song, “Some of Shelly’s Blues” is a great song I can really get into.

He had a very folkrock aesthetic and the first song that was released was a folk song.  Too bad it tanked! He was great! The song, not so much. 

Remember that green hat with the four white buttons? Did you think it had some deep seated meaning? Was it an homage to someone who wore a similar hat?  Did he wear it for religious or political reason?
Nope! The day he had his audition to become a Monkee he rode his motorcycle

He rode his motorcycle to the audition and wore the hat to keep his hair out of his eyes. He wore it into the audition for some reason the producers liked it and told him to wear during recordings.

Mike also had his own record label, Countryside Records and Countryside Studios.

He passed away recently.  I know many people thought he was snob. I just really liked him. But, then, I always go for the silent, deep kind. 

Who was your favorite Monkee? Why?

Do you remember bubblegum pop? Who was your favorite singer or band?

Tom was driving his scouts home from Gettysburg this morning. My daughter and son in law were meeting me at church.

By the time I left for “Church in the Park” it was raining lightly so I brought along a sturdy poncho. All of the fifteen minute drive was the same slow steady rain.

When I got to the park it was raining slightly heavier and I was glad I had the poncho.  There were several canopies set up in front of the covered stage and Bill was praying for communion.  Pastor Jen was standing in the paved area in front of the stage with her rain jacket and her full worship on. As the second worship song began to play she stubbornly stood her ground and let the rain pelt her. She was not going to let a little rain stop her! But by the time the second worship song had begun we could all hear the thunder rolling in and I began to pray for protection.

I was sharing Jimmy and Taffy’s canopy and I leaned over and whispered in Taffy’s ear, “Remember the Iron Dome over Israel? We have an Iron Dome here.” “That’s good to hear!” She answered.

Taffy, Jimmy and I, with several others from Shore Life Church, had traveled to Israel in 2016. We learned that there’s an all weather air defense system designed to identify and destroy all incoming short range rockets. That’s the Iron Dome.

Soon the thunder was right over head and we could see the lightning flashing all around. Then, suddenly, GIANT hand came out of the clouds and pushed all our canopies over! (Well, not a giant hand per se, but it sure felt and looked like it!) People started jumping up and hanging onto the canopy poles but Mark was yelling, “Don’t hold onto the canopy poles!” as the thunder and lightning intensified.

And then… someone unzipped the sky and it rained SO HARD that nobody stayed dry! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it rain harder than that! I was so relieved to have that poncho as. I was other struggle with being soggy! I think Pastor Jen and I were the only women to escape with dry hair!

Mark’s announcement from the stage was, “Church is over! We can’t go on with this wind and rain. Please drive carefully.” And just like that, we all bolted for our cars!

By this time everyone, under a canopy or not, was drenched to the bone! And I could not get my chair to fold up so I grabbed a corner of it and dragged it to the Jeep that was parked waaaaaay too far away!

So much for wearing the pretty dress I’d embroidered! It was so heavy on me! And although I was wearing that poncho, my full length dress, to the knees was dripping wet and even up to the neckline was wet!

I spent meany years going to summer Christian festivals in PA and Va and knew all about sitting in the rain in an open field. My first festival, Jesus ’75 was a slippery, muddy quagmire almost from beginning to end! So I didn’t mind the rain. I kinda saw it as an adventure.  You know, it’s so important to have a sense of humor!

I'm always looking for ways to serve God better.  And every time I step up and submit to Him my whole body cries out,  “NO!! Don’t go there! It’s new! It’s scary! You won’t be able to do it!  It’s too hard! You’re gunna fail! 

But I do it anyway.

Stepping out in faith. Climbing out on that limb.  Jumping in with both feet. It’s becoming a pattern with me. And although it’s a scary pattern sometimes, it’s also intensively beautiful, deep in rich colors and gorgeous in design.

Since 2004, when Jesus was finally able to break through my walls of self protection and show me how He loves me, how He sees me, how He has His best set aside for me, I have been full and wanting to share with others. My capacity for joy seems endless!

During the pandemic of 2020 I started an online Art Mastery course. It changed my life in ways it would take me hours to tell!  I stepped out on that limb. I was rewarded!

So, now that my life as a professional artist is established, what next?

I saw an ad on Facebook for an online course for becoming a “Destination Retreat Leader”  Since my reawakening in 2004 I have wanted to find a way to share what the Lord has taught me about myself and Him and the relationship that we share that no one else shares.  

So I jumped in with both feet and I’m learning how to find really, really nice locations to offer retreats on How to build “Intimacy with Jesus Through Prophetic Art”

I think this is the scariest thing I’ve ever done!  I know that it’s a whole lot more work than I’ve ever done! I’ve been at it since March 2023 and I’m taking my time, to make sure I get every nugget and understand every point. 

​Little did I know that leading a retreat meant building a clientele. I have to have an email list of people who are willing learn to trust me even if they don’t know me personally. (Even if they do!) So now I have the beginnings of an email list, (14 at last count) and a newsletter and my website with this blog on it and the sales page that is already made and waiting for people to look at and salivate over!
https://www.judygoddardart.com/intimacy-with-jesus.html I also will beginning to add Youtube videos.  All of this is intended to give prospective retreat attenders a chance to know me, to see for themselves that I mean what I say; that my objective is to help them see themselves in a different light and delve deeper into an intimate relationship with Jesus, deeper than they’ve ever known before, deeper than they knew they could!

My dream location is Skyland Lodge in Shenandoah National Park, in Virginia. It’s a place I know very well and long to share with others. I can’t wait to show them all the places I have loved there.

So, even if I sometimes hear myself screaming in my head that this is scary and I should stop RIGHT NOW, I’ll continue to build my retreat.

The farther into the process I go the less I feel like,
“NO!! Don’t go there! It’s new! It’s scary! You won’t be able to do it!  It’s too hard! You’re gunna fail! 

It’s gunna be a blast! And I’m going have such a good time! And I’ll get to help people with the knowledge and wisdom the Lord has given me!

Have you ever "Jumped in with both feet?" Have you done something daring and scary and were glad you did?  Tell me about it! I'd love to hear!
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