A vision...

On a recent trip to the art supply store, I purchased a white gel pen and a very large 9B pencil/crayon with the intent of trying a night sky.  My 13 year old daughter told me about a new technique they were learning in her art class at school- smudging with a paper stump.  We bought a package of them, and she showed me how to use the them because she thought it would make a nicer sky than simply using pencil strokes.

Soon after, my dear friend wrote to me about a vision she had seen.  She described hands reaching down from the heavens holding a wedding gown over a cityscape. She said she felt compelled to tell me about it so I could draw it, and she knew I had done a few pieces with hands in them recently.

As my friend described her vision, I saw it at in my mind as being at night, and knew I had to draw it with my new tools.

After I sketched in the hands, fabric and city lightly, I used the paper stump to shade in the darkness of the sky and the city.  Afterward, I used the white gel pen to dot the sky with stars, add the lights on the bridge and windows, and created the lace effect on the fabric. 

I sent this picture of it to my friend who said, "Wow. I can't believe how amazing that is!!!! Girl it's so gorgeous and sooo close to my vision that I think you saw it too."

Here is an image of the lace detail.

Editing to add this verse, though it seems to be in reverse;


Revelation 21:2 (NIV)I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

Daughter...

A woman from the congregation of my church that I am becoming friends with was speaking with me on a recent Sunday morning.  She is aware of the issues I've been having with fibromyalgia pain. She told me that she had now been having trouble with her left thumb- it was painful and wouldn't bend at the base joint. She demonstrated that it, indeed, would not bend at all.  We prayed for healing for both of our issues with widespread pain.

Later that week,  after a bible study session at our church, she told me an amazing story through tears welling up in her eyes. 

She said that during the service just days before, where we had sat with each other, she had a vision of Jesus approaching her and putting his hand on her forearm.  His robe draped over her arm, and he moved his hands downward and held her hand cupped in his.

Two days later, she was telling another friend about her issues with her thumb. When she attempted to demonstrate its refusal to bend, she was shocked when it suddenly had full range of motion and no pain!

I was overwhelmed by her emotions and her story, and I knew I had to draw a prayer for her next.

I always sign the back of the sketch with the recipient's name and the date of the prayer.  I gave it to her the following Sunday at service. As I approached her to give it to her, I noticed she was wearing a name tag, and I was disappointed to see that I had spelled her name incorrectly.  She had a fairly "normal" name, but I saw instead of an "a" she had a "y" in the middle.

I hastily found a pen to correct my error and gave her the drawing.  She immediately cried and we hugged.  She said she had goosebumps. I apologized for misspelling her name, and we laughed.  She said that she added a "y" as a teenager to jazz up her plain name.  That her true given name on her birth certificate is with just as I had spelled it... with an "a".  She said even her children don't know the real spelling of her name. We chuckled a bit and I told her God knows her by name and I guess He gave me her real name, and we laughed and hugged some more.

Later that afternoon, she sent me a text message with a photo of the drawing proudly displayed in a frame on the wall of her home.