I was terrified of art when I was in school. It paralyzed me. I was certain I would fail at it.
I would look around at my classmates’ beautiful creations and compare my stick figures to their realistic people. I decided that my artwork was no good, so why should I even try to create anything when other people’s art was so much better than mine.
Apart from (dreaded) art class in school, I had never tried to paint, watercolor, or draw. Watercoloring is something that I have only been exploring recently, since being on the World Race.
Over the last few months, God has been using watercoloring to open my mind. He is in the process of breaking open the box I have limited myself and my creativity to.
I have absolutely loved it.
The Lord put watercoloring on my heart in October, during the squad’s women’s weekend in Cyprus. Our alumni squad leaders, Alysa and Laura, encouraged all of us to take some time over the weekend to write intentional notes to women on the squad. We were encouraged to pray for Scripture or words that the Lord had for particular women.
For the women that I felt the Lord was highlighting to me, I watercolored and wrote personal notes for them.
I really enjoyed it, and I felt the Lord gently prompting me to continue doing it for the rest of the year.
At the beginning of December, my squad had its second debrief in Amman, Jordan. I wanted to make some Christmas cards, so I borrowed Laura’s watercolor set. When I finished, I tried to return the watercolors to her, but she said that she felt like I should keep them.
After debrief, my team moved into an Airbnb in Amman. One of the first things we did as a team was a listening prayer activity. We wrote each of our names on a slip of paper, folded them up, and put them into a cup. Each of us drew a name, but we set it aside and didn’t look at whose name we drew. Instead, we individually prayed and asked the Lord to reveal to us what He would like to speak over this person. Then, we each watercolored and wrote that person a note.
For my person, a passage from Isaiah was strongly impressed upon my mind. When we had all finished, we went around sharing what we got from the Lord and showing our watercolors. I read my note and explained it, then opened my paper to read the name. As soon as I read her name and passed her the watercolor, she said, “I knew that was for me!”
Then about a week ago in Batumi, we did the activity a second time. This time, a passage from Song of Songs stuck out to me for my mystery person. I looked at a few different translations of the passage, and there was one in particular that made my heart leap. When we finished, I read mine to the girls. I had a feeling I knew who it was for. I opened the slip of paper and I was right. I handed her the watercolor, and with tears in her eyes, she said that she had started crying as soon as I began reading the Scripture.
God is so cool.
He knows exactly what we need and He delights in lavishing us with His love.
It’s amazing what happens when we actually intentionally sit down and ask the Lord what He would like to say to the people around us.
The Lord has been revealing Himself to me and speaking to me in new ways. He has been blessing me through others’ notes to me, and He has been blessing others through my notes to them.
Now, the thought of watercoloring fills me with so much excitement. I am still learning and I make a lot of mistakes (which can be extremely frustrating), but the gentle whisper always comes:
Just keep trying, sweetheart.
I cannot wait to see what the Lord will do next.
