This song, I'm listening by Chris McClarney, is reaching me today.
I "heard" some encouragement today that made me feel that I am on the right track with God's will for me.
Firstly, I seriously worried about how I handled the prayer presentation for the comfort drawing that I delivered tonight. I was worried that I might not have said the "right thing" in the card, or have chosen "the right" verse in Isaiah 40:11. God allowed me to hear a clip on the radio after I left the wake that focused on Isaiah 40, and I knew it was Him telling me I had chosen well.
Secondly, I attended a Worship Night concert at my church tonight. (Side note: I LOVE Worship Night at church! I always leave energized and uplifted, and after attending two wakes today, the emotional boost was even more appreciated than usual.) Our worship leader prayed that we would BOLDLY go forth in faith, and I brought that prayer deeper into me. I prayed that as "real life" people around me begin to learn of my drawings that they will be touched by the Word and that I will boldly proclaim the Good News to those around me.
Lastly, the recipient of the Holy Spirit drawing told me that she continues to be blessed by drawing, nearly two weeks after I gave it to her - that she has set her cell phone wall paper to the drawing and it continues to speak to her daily. What better validation than that? To hear from the person you prayed for that your prayer literally has blessed them with such an impact?
Dear Heavenly Father,
You are so incredibly generous with your Grace. I am humbled and overwhelmed to consider the fact that you love me so much and have a will and a plan for me. You have blessed me with these skills that allow me to draw visual representations of your Word and these drawings are reaching and blessing those around me. I ask that you continue to bless me with opportunities to pray for and draw for people in need. I ask that you continue to help me see your will for me - continue to speak to me in ways that I can recognize, whether a song on the radio at the perfect time, a well timed sermon message, or a social media message to encourage me when I am unsure. You know your plan for me, Lord, and I know it is a plan for good and not harm. I will continue to seek you out wherever you send me to look. Thank you for all you have done for me. My life is not my own, I give it all to you. Amen
I completed this pencil piece tonight. It's larger than my usual 8.5" x 11" sketchbook page at 11"x14".
I wish that there was a happy prayer associated with this drawing, but that is not the case. My heart is heavy today as I learned that a colleague and mentor of mine lost her adult daughter unexpectedly last night.
As a parent myself, I cannot fathom the loss of one of my children. I can only imagine the level of heartache she is feeling, and I wanted to draw an expression of comfort for her to show my support for her family at this most difficult time.
Isaiah 40 spoke to me and I was inspired by verse 11 specifically. In my bible app the NIV version chapter is labelled as Comfort for God's People.
'He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. '
Isaiah 40:11
I understand that "gifts" are not a tradition for the mourning, but it is my prayer to the Lord that His word and this drawing of the verse bring her, her remaining daughter, her husband, and all who knew this beautiful young woman, a sense of peace and comfort in their time of sorrow. The photo has been framed and will be forwarded to the family with a card expressing my condolences and the significance of the drawing and the verse.
Dear Lord, I come to you tonight to ask you to gently carry the mother who has lost her precious daughter. Lift her up and carry her close to you, as you carry the little lamb in your bosom. Embrace her with your love and allow her to feel your presence with her so that she may be comforted with the knowledge that you are not only with her, but you are with her daughter and caring for her, as well, as she walks by your side. The faith is strong in their family. I pray that their faith is strengthened during this season of sadness. I pray specifically, Lord, that this drawing you allowed me to create reminds the family to lean into you for support in their time of need. In Jesus' name... Amen.
Side note:this will be a significant step outside of my "comfort zone". In an earlier post, I mentioned that I am feeling compelled to remove some of the anonymity of this blog and my drawings. The anonymity gives me a sense of safety, a sense that people close to me won't judge me for my beliefs, or try to attack me because of them. This will be the first drawing that anyone outside of a very select few in my "real" life have seen. (Perhaps only 5 Christian friends have seen these drawings in person. My parents and siblings have seen a few, but not all.)
To step out in public faith - in front of my coworkers and a respected mentor at my place of employment - will be a real demonstration of my willingness to be more public with my faith, to share the Good News, and to minister the Word to others around me as I study the bible more and more deeply each day.
Take Number 2 for attempting to draw a wedding gift for young friends getting married in September. I decided to use a verse that is a bit more passionate and less preachy for my young friends. (My first attempt turned out to be destined for another couple, see my previous post called "Wives...")
I wanted a hand written look to the wording, but was able to admit to myself that my calligraphy skills are a bit rusty, so I "cheated" and used the laser printer to print the verse. I then set out with my handy waterproof drawing pens to draw in the flowers. I specifically chose two flowers and positioned them "leaning on" each other, or embracing each other.
This verse is from the Song of Songs (the Old Testament) which was the first Old Testament book I studied thanks to a Pastor Craig Groeschel / Life.Church series called Love Song. You can find the series on YouTube.
I used watercolor pencils to add color to the piece, and then a water brush to blend away the pencil strokes and blend the shading.
As I impatiently waited for the watercolors to fully dry, I considered what wisdom to write on the back of the piece... I decided to write a single, simple, heartfelt sentence, and framed it up.
I'm really pleased with how this piece came out. This drawing feels more right for the couple I had in mind when drawing it. The bright and sunny Brown-Eyed Susans make me smile, like the bride to be, who has the most beautiful and contagious sunny smile. The groom has deep, dark, kind, brown eyes, so the flowers are a perfect fit for them both.
I had considered making them pink, like echinacea, at first. But yellow kept calling to me. Turns out an alternative name for Brown Eyed Susan is Golden Jerusalem... coincidence? I'm learning that there is no such thing! According to a flower symbolism website, they also represent happiness, so that's a bonus, as well.
I wish my friends all of the love and patience in this world. I know that they both have an amazingly strong foundation and focus on Our Heavenly Father, so I know that their marriage will be blessed, long, and happy, and that they know where to turn to in times of trouble or sadness. Their bond will be truly blessed. I can't wait to watch them grow together in Christ and surround themselves with a family.
Some friends are getting married in September. I wanted to draw a prayer for them as a gift. I drew a bouquet, using three orchids to represent the Trinity, with a red rose in the center to represent the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians 3 kept coming to me, but I wasn't fully sure of it. I kept asking myself if I was letting my bad marriage influence my choice of verses for this artwork...
I also really wanted to hand ink the lettering since it had been literally decades since I had used my old calligraphy supplies. I'm surprised that the inks weren't dried up, honestly!
In full transparency, I was very unhappy with the result of this artwork. I am my own worst critic, and it wasn't speaking to me and felt wrong, but I couldn't tell exactly why. I wrote to my good friend and told her how disappointed I was with the artwork, and how I actually was considering tossing it, and I hadn't tossed a piece yet.
Well, the reason it felt wrong was that it WAS wrong for the particular couple I had in mind!
My friend told me that SHE actually loved the artwork, and I realized it was better suited to her and her husband. They had recently experienced a year-long long distance separation to try to figure out how to save their marriage. She prayed faithfully for her husband and herself and invited the Holy Spirit into their lives to save their marriage, and they are reuniting THIS WEEK. I am told that he is a fully changed man, who has accepted Jesus as Savior, given himself over to the Spirit, and comes back to her full of tender love.
I will fully admit that I was skeptical that there would be a change in him, but GOD is so GOOD. I was so thrilled to hear her good news and so utterly humbled to realize that despite praying all year for my dear friend, I did not *really* believe that God would change her husband. I am ashamed to admit that I thought he was beyond reach, but of course, no one is ever outside of His reach!
I pray that this artwork (which she plans to display in her home prominently) reminds them both to submit to each other and treat each other with love and kindness as they learn to love the new people God has made both of them into.
I don't work in color a lot yet, but I wanted this one to be in color, the light surrounding the woman had to be blue, to match my vision.
At a prayer night a few nights ago, we were prompted to pray and reflect on who God is, what he's done in our lives in the past, what he will do in the future, and lastly, on how he is omnipresent, he's always been with us, and will remain with us.
I felt a vision, as though the Holy Spirit was swirling around me in the form of bright blue light as I prayed and reflected on His goodness to me.
I just recently read through John, and John 15 specifically felt connected to my previous post The True Vine. In the previous chapter (14) and again, later in chapter 15, we are told of our Helper, the Holy Spirit. These verses were fresh on my mind during prayer night...
John 14: 15-17
15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
John 14: 26
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Update: Sunday July 14:
I thought the original intent of this image as I said above, was that the Holy Spirit was swirling around ME as I prayed.
The following morning when I woke up, I was having trouble deciding whether I should go to church services or not. You see, I drive approximately 40 minutes to church, and I was very low on gas, and I didn't have money to put into my tank.
Around 9:30am, I looked at the picture and felt that I needed to go to church and give this to our worship leader. I felt very strongly, and immediately, that this picture was of her and had a message for her. It even looked more like her than myself... In fact, I don't even own a green shirt, but I *do* have a recent video clip of her leading worship at our evening baptism ceremony where she is just exuding joy and dancing while singing while wearing a green shirt.
I marked the two scriptures above on the back of the drawing, signed it to her from myself, got myself together and headed to church for our 11am service.
I waited until after the service, sat with her aside and gave her the picture. I explained to her that I recalled her saying a couple of weeks ago to one of our pastors some comments about how she thought she sometimes struggled with knowing exactly what to say when leading the church in prayer.
I told her to remember that when she prays, the Holy Spirit will come upon her, swirl around her like blue light and tell her exactly what to say. I reminded her of some prayers she has offered up that have been amazingly and inexplicably perfect for me at the time.
She was very quiet and seemed a bit stunned as tears welled up in her eyes a bit. She told me that during the first service, she was unsure of the prayer that she had led, and was praying with one of our pastors about it during the sermon, to seek guidance to "do it better" at the 11am service I attended.
The time of her prayers with the pastor that morning would have been around 9:30, when I was at home and realized the picture was of her and that she needed it.
We hugged a few times and I headed home. She headed to the store and bought a frame for the image. She told me it blessed her immensely right away.
Later that afternoon, at home, another of my friends sent me the sermon online that he was watching as he could not make it to church that day. He was listening to Dr. Charles Stanley talk about Walking in the Holy Spirit, shown below. I decided to listen to the sermon while I mowed my lawn. (Side note: I love Charles Stanley's voice and way of teaching. It is easy to understand, and full of scripture, and I think he voice is so soothing! If you've never watched him, you are in for a treat.)
I was driving the lawn tractor with my headphones on, and just a few minutes into the sermon when Dr. Stanley mentioned some scriptures referring to the Holy Spirit and His role in our lives... THE EXACT SAME SCRIPTURES I posted above and that I had written on the back of the drawing.
I immediately stopped the tractor and wrote to my friends, both, to tell them of the news. Both were overjoyed and amazed to hear of the news.
This was a clear sign to me directly from the Holy Spirit, confirming for me that I am on the right pathway, that I am hearing Him speak to me, and I am acting in the manner He is pleased with. I still cannot fathom how or why He would choose to be near to me... A "nobody". The answer I always come back to is LOVE, and I am overwhelmed.
Dear Heavenly Father, You are so good to me, Lord, though You know that I do not deserve it. You are generous with your Grace with me every day, and I am humbled to think that the God who made Heaven and Earth made me, and made me for a purpose. Thank you for the gifts you have given me- especially the previously unknown skills to create art that reaches out and speaks to those around me. Thank you for showing me how to draw the words I can't find to say to encourage and uplift those in my life that need uplifting. Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me in wondrous ways; for providing me with the "coincidences too big to be coincidences" that let me feel you are with me and confirm for me that I am hearing your desires for me. Please continue to bless my hands to create more works of art that glorify You as I explore different techniques and styles in art. Please help me to learn to be more bold in my testimony and my ministry as I continue on my path to spiritual maturity. All Glory and Honor to You, Lord. Amen.
A final thought - I'll close the update with the new Casting Crowns song (with Matthew West) because it says a lot of what I'm feeling right now.
