West Main Arts Festival

Hello All.

It has been a while. I’ve been recovering from surgery, which has gone well. Praise the Lord. As I’ve been recovering I’ve realized a few things and I thought I would share them with you now.

First of all, you may be wondering, how did the West Main Arts Festival go?

In the end, it was okay and I made back what I spent and then some but I did not go as planned by any means.

On May 8th, my husband and I arrived at the festival to set up, with 2 hrs or so to get everything ready. Great, plenty of time. We got to our assigned area, had a little issue with the tent but once that was fixed, we were ready for tables and art works.

Great. Everything was going fine. I had bought a craft display rack to use just for the festival so we started to set that up. Once it was set up, I realized that it was so windy that the display rack was going to roll around. So we put some things around the wheels to solve that issue. However, once I started putting my wood pieces and some canvas art on it, the wind would pick it up and slam it against the rack until they fell off. So we elected not to use it and just used the tables instead.

I put the table clothes one table and laid out my bottle lamps before moving to the next table to fix up the table clothes. I took a quick look around and checked the time.

Great. Everything is going well.

Then a huge gust of wind came threw as I was putting my canvases on the table. I had to nearly lay on top of the table to keep my paintings from blowing away. And as I stood there, 10ft from the opposite table. I watched as the wind picked up the table cloth with all 4 of my lamps and send then tumbling to the concrete.

Crash!

Great!!

It took everything I had to keep from crying as other artists, who were getting ready themselves, watched for my reaction. It was all I could do to pick up the pieces, throw them away and put canvases in their place.

The wind kept up and my canvases kept blowing away. It was suggested to put rocks on them to keep the stable. Several people ran quickly to get some for me as did my husband. It worked for a while until a huge gust of wind came through. I managed to hold most of them down but one rock got picked up slightly, which allowed for the wind to pick up my painting of Midnight Moon. As the wind picked it up, the rock tore through the painting.

Finally, everything was set. I’m time for the start of the festival. Everything that had just happened had happened with in 2 hours and nothing had started yet. I was already feeling defeated and I wanted to pack up and go home. I felt very much attacked and I wondered if God was telling me to stop what I was doing.

As I sat there at my booth, ready to give up and stop using my art to minister to people, a man came up started looking through my stuff. He looked at what I brought with me and went through my portfolio. He spoke about his own faith and how much of my art work spoke to him and resonated with him about how Christ had worked in his life. He then started ministering to me. Saying that I had a really great ministry going and a wonderful message. His words were so encouraging to me and while I don’t remember them exactly, I remember the assurance and peace that I felt as he spoke.

He didn’t know what I had just gone through. He didn’t know how defeated I was feeling as I had put my game face on. Yet he said exactly what my heart needed to hear.

That was a God moment. A moment where God was choosing to speak to me through someone else. Which happened several more times with different people through out the day. Any time I started feeling frustrated or defeated again, someone else would come and speak to me about what my art says to them and really encourage me to keep the faith.

The lessons that I learned from this crazy day were: 1) God has called me to use my art for Him and spread His word. Regardless of the challenges that I meet. 2) I can’t be so dependent and so worried about making money that I forget lesson #1.

God provided me with exactly what I needed. Actually, He provided me with more, financially, than what I needed. Through this, He reminded me that I have to rely on Him and keep my focus on Him. Otherwise, all of this is for nothing.

While I am still disappointed I how May 8th went, it helped me to see the lessons God was teaching me and made me realize I needed rest. I had been going non stop with teaching and running my art business and I hadn’t stopped to take care of myself. Surgery forced me to stop.

Now that I have rested for these last 2 months, I feel rejuvenated and am excited to see what God has for me moving forward. I have so many ideas to share with you in the future and I hope you will enjoy them.

Until then,

God bless.

20
Nov, 2019

Never Alone

Have you ever walked into a room full of people and just felt completely alone. Its the kind of feeling that you could walk into a stadium of people and feel like you are the only one there. Have you been there?

That is exactly how I felt this past Sunday.

I work with the youth at my church on Sunday and Wednesday nights. This past Sunday, we were all gathered around talking, like we usually do but I felt completely alone. There were probably 10-13 people in the room talking and laughing but I felt invisible. It didn’t matter who I talked to or how much I was involved in the conversation, I felt like I was totally alone.

I also felt like I was totally alone in how I felt too.

My chest felt tight and at times it felt hard to breath. I tried to keep up conversation in order to not let on to anyone about how I felt. Sometimes I’m good at hiding it. Other times, I’m not. Depends on the situation and the people around me. 

All I wanted to do was curl up and cry. I wished I was back in bed, hiding from the world and going back to sleep. 

After church, my husband was driving and asked me to put on “God Only Knows” by For King and Country. We had heard it a few times the previous days so I wasn’t sure why he wanted to listen to it again. (Check out the version with For King and Country and Dolly Parton!) So I found the song and played it. After listening to it for a moment or two, I realized why he wanted the song to play. 

He was wanting me to listen to it. Not just sing along with a song that I know fairly well but to actually listen to what the message of the song is. 

This song speaks to those who feel alone and feel as if no one else understands what they are going through. 

One part that stood out to me as the end of the first verse “Nobody, nobody, nobody sees you

Nobody, nobody, nobody would believe you” 

Hearing this part resonated with me on how I was feeling. I felt like no one saw me Sunday. That I was invisible and didn’t matter. ( I know that is not true but that is how I felt) I didn’t think anyone would believe how I felt. It seemed like people might try to dismiss how I was feeling instead of trying to understand it. 

The first part of the chorus says: 

God only knows what you’ve been through

God only knows what they say about you

God only knows how it’s killing you

But there’s a kind of love that God only knows

God only knows what you’ve been through

God only knows what they say about you

God only knows the real you

There’s a kind of love that God only knows

The most powerful part of this whole song, for me anyway is when it starts talking about the love that God knows. Only God can love us the way He does. Even when we feel totally and completely alone, He is there with us. He was with me Sunday, regardless if I knew that or felt it or not. He is a loving God who will never leave you. 

He knows everything you have been through. 

He knows everything people say about you. 

He knows who you really are. 

Psalm 139:13“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” 

He is the One who created you. He created me. He knows the number of hairs you have on your head. He knows you better than you know yourself. 

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

No matter what is going on in your life, cling to this one truth: He will NEVER leave you! Even if everyone else around you does, He won’t. Whatever He brings you to, He will bring you through it. This is what I had forgotten Sunday. This is what the song reminded me of. God used the song to remind me of His love and how much He cares for me. 

Another song that God brought up this week is “Another in the Fire” by Hillsong. The basic message of the song is that no matter what you are going through, God will be right there with you. There is actually a line that says you are never alone. This is is what stood out to me in this song. But also the part that is the title of the song “There was another in the fire standing next to me.” 

This song is based on a story of three friends in the book of Daniel 

 In Daniel 3, three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, refused to bow to the idols of the king in Babylon. The king gave them another chance and when they refused, the king had them thrown into a firey furnace. While they were in the furnace, they saw another man in there with them. 

(Daniel 3:24-25) 

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

No matter what happens, God will be right in the fire next to you. He will comfort you, guide you lead you. Psalm 23:8 says “You prepare a table before me    in the presence of my enemies.” 

We are never left on our own to defend ourselves. God is always there helping us and protecting us. The times when we feel like we are completely alone are the times that we need to cling to these truths the most. Satan likes to use our emotions to make us think that God is not there and that He does not care about us. That is so far from the truth and is a lie from hell. 

The next time you feel completely alone, talk to God. look up any of these verses or listen to these songs to remind yourself that you are never alone. 

God is always with you. 

I pray you remember that this week. 

I pray you have a wonderful and great Thanksgiving. 

Please let me know how I can pray for you. 

Until next time, 

God Bless. 

13
Nov, 2019

One thing at a time.

Life lately has been so crazy and chaotic. I feel like I have said that a lot lately but it is still very true. I’ve been so busy with work and church and my own personal life that I have not had a moment to breath yet alone work on anything for the art studio. It will probably only get worse once the holidays start.

Lately I have felt depressed. For the better part of a week or so, I woke up feeling frustrated and depressed and the feeling was with me all day. I would go through my day to day routine but I was not enjoying any of it. I was simply going through the motions and trying to “fake it til you make it” but that generally did not work.

I struggled with this for about about a week and a half before I was finally able to put my feelings into art. It always seems that when I can show how I feel in art, that I finally start feeling better. This particular piece was done digitally.

(I am starting to play around with digital art more but traditional is still my favorite.)

I started off by drawing the girl, who in this case is me. Generally when I am drawing a woman in the picture, she is representative of me. If the piece is for someone else, I make it representative of them. I think it means more that way. For someone to be able to connect with my art because I placed them in it.

When I started drawing, I honestly didn’t know what I was drawing or where it was going to go. That is really how it starts most of the time. I start by drawing a few shapes and it becomes something completely different than what I originally thought it would be. Sometimes I completely surprise myself. I like to think that this is how God ministers to me sometimes. By using my hands to draw an image that He knows will speak to me on a spiritual level.

The girl took me about 2 hours to get right and then the thought bubbles took me about 30 minutes to complete. Once the whole thing was finished, I sat there looking at it and finally realized how I had been feeling.

I was burnt out.

I felt as if I had a million things to do, not enough time to do them, and no one to help me complete any of them. It felt like my responsibilites were caving in and I had no where to go. So I emotionally, mentally and spiritually just sat down and put my head down praying that everything would just somehow go way.

This is not the case of course. My responsibilities are still there and sometimes I still feel burnt out and like everything is caving in. I have to learn how to say no to certain things when I can or how to delegate things to those around me. But most importantly, I need to learn how to rely on God. When we try to take on the whole world and try to do everything on our own or all at once, we get burnt out. We get overwhelmed. We are not meant to do anything on our own. In fact, we can not do anything on our own.

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:5

God is who we need to find our strength from. He is the One who provides everything for us. He gives us peace, courage, love, joy and all the other Fruits of the Spirit. (See Galations 5:22-23) If we are not walking with Him on a daily basis, then we will fall apart. We will be like fruit that has fallen off a vine too early and wither away.

God has so much more for you than that. God desires you to walk with him daily. He longs for a relationship with you. If you walk with Him, He will provide everything you need in order to face this world. Does that mean that your life is going to be perfect? Far from it. In fact it may get harder at times but you will have a loving God with you every step of the way.

I pray you know Him like I do.

I pray you find strength in Him if you are feeling burnt out lately.

I pray someone leads you to Christ if you do not know him.

How can I pray for you?

comment below or send me an email or message. I would love to pray for and with you.

Until next time,

God Bless.

3
Aug, 2019

In The Middle Of The Storm

This week, I completed a project I have had in my head for at least a month. A while back I heard the song, “Eye of the Storm” by Ryan Stevens. I had always wanted to draw something that pertained to being in the eye of the storm but could never figure out what it looked like. The song is about giving control to God even when there is a storm all around you. Its is a great song but it didn’t really sink in with me until I heard “Raise a Hallelujah” by Bethel Music.

I raise a hallelujah, in the presence of my enemies
I raise a hallelujah, louder than the unbelief
I raise a hallelujah, my weapon is a melody
I raise a hallelujah, Heaven comes to fight for me

written by Jonathan David Helser, Melissa Helser, Molly Skaggs,
© 2018 Bethel Music Publishing (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved. 

The verses of this song are wonderful because it says that I will raise a hallelujah no matter what is going on. God will protect me and I will praise Him in the presence of my enemies. The part that stuck out to me the most from “Raise a Hallelujah” was the chorus. It essentially sums up the entire song.

I’m gonna sing, in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, you’re gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes, hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive

written by Jonathan David Helser, Melissa Helser, Molly Skaggs,
© 2018 Bethel Music Publishing (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved. 

I first heard this song at youth camp a little over a month ago. I may have actually heard it before then but it wasn’t until camp that it actually spoke to me. To me, the chorus is the most powerful part and the embodiment of the painting. No matter what is going on around us, we are still to praise God. Even if everything seems to be loud and screaming and happening so fast, we should be louder.

When I started this painting, I wasn’t sure where it was going to go. I wasn’t even sure I was going to like it. It is the first time I’ve painted a person and it made me nervous to even try it. But even as I just started off drawing the woman, this song stuck in my head. It was in my head each time I came back to paint on it.

I started to wonder why God had placed this on my heart so much this week. Then I realized that it is because He is preparing me for something. He is showing me how I should be, no matter my situation. No matter how anxious or depressed I am, I should still praise Him. Even if I am being attacked from all sides and feel as if I am drowning, I should still praise Him. There are so many times that I forget this. That I feel as if i am swallowed up by my situation and can’t find a way out.

This is when I have to remember who my God is. I have to remember that He is the God of the Universe, who not only cares for the birds of the air but for me as well. (Matthew 6:25-27) He will not leave me to be on my own and deal with a situation alone.

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

Hebrews 13:5

Matthew 14:22-33 is the story of Jesus walking on the water. He walks out onto the lake towards His disciples who were on a boat. The disciples were scared, except for Peter, who called out to Jesus asking it if was him. Jesus told him to come onto the water with him. Peter obeyed. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Christ, He stayed on the water. The moment he took his focus off of Christ and on to the storm around him, he began to sank and called out to Jesus to save him.

The same is true for us today. Anything is possible through Christ (Philippians 4:13) and we can face any storm with God by our side but the moment that we start focusing on the situation at hand and not on Christ and what He has done for us, we start to feel like we are drowning. Everything suddenly becomes harder and seems impossible because we are relying on ourselves to get us through the storm and not Christ.

“In the middle of the Storm” reminds me to stop and praise Him no matter what is going on. No matter how I feel or think. God is in control of my life. He knows exactly what will happen and has much more of a picture that I do. I do not have to know what tomorrow brings. All I have to do is trust in Christ. To trust a God who loves me so much that He sent His Son to die for me. So when I am feeling anxious or depressed, I will stop and praise Him.

I pray you can praise him in the middle of your storm. He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7) You may not hear him or feel him but He is there and is reaching out to you. I pray you know him as I do. If you don’t, I pray that God will put someone in your life to lead you to Him.

If you would like to know the art side of this painting and the techniques I used, let me know and I can do a blog about that as well.

Until next time, God Bless.