“The art of being human can be found amid the nights that are just a bit too silent and the ones that contain loud car rides, singing music that makes you feel alive.
Between these two extremes lies a balance that keeps us in check with the actuality of ourselves. These moments only make up the smallest details of who we are.
Each day, I become more aware of how often I shuffle and scramble to reach my brush and hand it to God as He gracefully paints who I am. As He’s creating and educating me on this art, He has me hold the end of the brush and examine every stroke He takes.
He often paints pictures that I am unfamiliar with and I find myself wandering, not fully understanding His motives until His work is complete. After I step back and shift my eyes from watching God’s hands as they gracefully move to the greater image, I become fixed on it’s beauty. He used colors I had never seen and created things of which I do not know.
Each minor detail seems to make the picture complete. I recall watching those small moves being made with confusion and doubt, not seeing how the time taken on each one could effect the painting. I did not understand when He used grays, while I longed for blue. I did not understand why when He didn’t paint the way I had expected. Now, looking at the image, I see that without each detail, the art would lose it’s value. I see that during my wonder, He had a purpose in each mark He made.
The art of being human is a messy process, challenging me to look at the greater picture- rather than being frustrated with the smallest fragments. As I watched God craft, I asked Him, “Why did you make this mark?”, and He would just look at me and smile. In doing this, I learned from him. I learned to not only love His finished product, but each detail and to love the process. He hung that beautiful canvas up and so proudly stepped back and called it, “My Child”.
I am so thankful for a God that patiently teaches me the beauty in the art of being human.”
As I prayed about what to update you all on, the Lord pulled my heart strings towards what I wrote a year ago about self-love. As I read it, He whispered, “This, My Dear, is the art of being human.”
It’s a process of enduring the good and the bad, and still showing up. It’s pushing through confusion and doubt, and knowing in your heart that there is more. It’s being open about both the mess and the beauty within it. It’s being fully yourself in a world that says to copyright another image.
I think we all like to throw our unfinished canvases on social media and crop out the parts that aren’t quite there yet. We pretend that we are complete and we start to believe it. But if we don’t allow God to get messy with us and paint, we will never reach that point. He is too loving to leave us blank.
So here we are. Here’s the person that you’re supporting.
I’m going to be transparent with you all. I am far from perfect.
You’re supporting an over-analytic daydreamer who has this tendency to let nostalgia get the best of her, sometimes. You are supporting someone who has to remind herself to remain in the present; to let the past be the past and the future be the future. You are supporting someone who has known hurts and heartbreak like the back of her hand and had mistaken it for a tattoo. You are supporting someone feels hard to love, sometimes.
You are supporting someone who, despite what the world may throw at her, is redeemed by Jesus and pushes through. You are supporting someone who has a God that makes up for her brokenness and loves her so. Someone whose heart breaks for a world that doesn’t know this love, so she’s devoting a lifetime to make sure that His name is heard. You are supporting that dreamer who keeps her head in the clouds because that’s where the Lord whispers His dreams to her, too. You are supporting a missionary. You are supporting a sister in Christ. You are supporting a friend.
You are supporting a human.
God doesn’t require perfection in order for Him to use us.
He is the one with that paintbrush that whispers, “Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.”
He’s the author. He’s the creator. He’s the finisher. All we have to do is follow His lead. It doesn’t matter if we forget the steps that He taught us and He has to teach us over and over and over again. When we take our final breaths, He will not let our canvas go incomplete.
I am so thankful for this. I am thankful that we serve a God who isn’t afraid of our messes and who knows how to bring those messes to other messes, yet only allow the clean specks to make the impacts.
I’m expecting.
I’m expecting moments where I’ll ask myself if I’m really cut out for this and days where all I want to do is snuggle up on a blanket that’s stretched from end to end on Ohio soil. I’m expecting constructive feedback and growth to come alongside it. I’m expecting nights where I’m woken up by bugs and months where I’ll be tired of climbing into my tent. I’m expecting long travel days and homesickness, at times. I’m expecting conversations that pull at my heart and leave me speechless. I’m expecting awkward questions like, “Can I pray for you?” and the fear of rejection to creep in, causing wavering words. I’m expecting so much personal growth.
I’m also expecting nights where my team members and I tell the sweetest testimonies in a small circle. I’m expecting to hold the hands of strangers and Jesus to just show up where we’re at. I’m expecting deep connections to be made with people all over the world and sparks to fly around us. I’m expecting healings, miracles, and freedom. I’m expecting dance parties and an overflow of community. I’m expecting funny stories about those same bugs that woke me up the night before. I’m expecting moments where I look up at the sky and my heart sings, “I never want to leave!” I’m expecting people to come to Christ after I step out of my comfort zones to love on them. I’m expecting so much beauty and grace. I’m expecting one of the best experiences of my life.
The Art of Being Human isn’t the art of being perfect. It’s the art of living a full life.
This next year, I will be learning just that. I will be faced with challenges and joys that sneak in a lesson with every second. I will be receiving knowledge from each of these expectations that will combine to wholeness and I will be taking a step further each day to understanding the beauty in both the good and the bad. I will feel complete, even when expectations aren’t met and I will find joy when things aren’t going my way. I have never been more excited to learn about what’s to come on this canvas that the Lord has laid out before me. I am so thankful that He doesn’t call the equipped, but He equips the called. He makes up for our imperfections, our false expectations, and our weary days. He turns them to gold. Adventures in Missions is sending out a large group of sinners who God can use to change someone’s world. They are sending out people who are all in it together to further understand what the art of being human is really about.
Sometimes we don’t understand when challenges come, or even blessings, at times. We will find ourselves questioning our Creator and we’ll get lost in the details, when He wants us to focus on the bigger picture. We’ll stray away until He has to gently take our hands and lead us back to our little paint brushes. No part of Him worries about how many times He’ll have to clean up the paint that we spill or change our perspective on His work.
We will always, always be seen as masterpieces to Him, and any masterpiece can be used to good for those who stumble upon it.
