All week I kept picturing myself painting. And i kept seeing flashes of a composition personal to me. But i don’t really paint. I mean, I have in the past, but it was for projects or just friends and I being goofy.
I love art. Seriously it makes me feel like a huge geek sometimes the things I know about Jackson Pollock or La Pieta. I would have majored in Art History in college but unfortunately Texas A&M isn’t exactly a school known for its liberal arts program. So, I minored in it. And those classes (along with my religious studies ones) are what kept me sane and fed my insatiable passion for learning.
However, I can’t really put what I’ve learned into practical application and whip out an artistic masterpiece. The motivation is there, but the talent…well, that’s a different story. But Thursday I just knew that I needed to paint. I left my favorite coffee shop, where I’d been holed up all day, and went home. After taking inventory, I had a blank canvas, lots of paint, broushes, an easel, and a completely free schedule. The Lord really does provide!
My friend Sarah is one of the few people I have that “gets it”. She’s the one who, after training camp, I told everything to. And instead of looking at me like I had lost more-than-a-few brain cells in Georgia, she encouraged me and actually helped me process everything. We were in Zambia together last summer and she gets to go back in only a month!!! She had thank you letters to write to her supporters, so she came over and kept me company while I tried to figure out what in the heck I was supposed to do with a blank canvas. We put on some sweet Jesus music and jumped in.
The image of the painting in my head was glued there. So I took the little glimpses I was given, and reinterpreted them as best I could with the brush in my hand. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. It’s like I opened a floodgate to all these truths God wanted to remind me of. He just kept reminding me of His faithfulness at Training Camp and of all the things He’s taught me in just the last few weeks. I had been discouraged this week in so many ways but, according to sweet Sarah, the whole time I was painting my eyes were big with excitement and the smile she loves was a permanent fixture on my face.
I wasn’t going to show this to anyone. Ever. But in the last day, I’ve actually had friends inspired by this silly little act of obedience. So, maybe this will speak to someone other than me. I don’t know what anyone else could get out of a wedge of cheese, kingdom unity, and a tree house, but who knows. And I’m still working on this whole vulnerability thing and this is all me. Se here it is.
I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do with it, either. I’ve had suggestions to sell it for WR money, but it’s just too personal. Maybe I’ll hang it on my wall for the next 2 months so I’m constantly aware of who He’s made me to be and what He has in store.
If you want to know what anything on here means, I’d love to share the stories with you 🙂
