it's not about the destination...

I am still moving down this new road.

There are times when I'm not sure that this is what God has for me. 

Like I have been driving down a beautiful scenic highway, and then I realize I haven't seen a road sign since ...I can't remember when.

But I am still moving.  I know that.

And every now and then, when my faith is just beginning to feel weak, or I just when I start needing a new burst of encouragement, a miracle like the one I am about to describe is choreographed by Grand Designer Himself.

Or at least it revealed to me so I can see it with my human eyes.  

Because the reality is there are always miracles being choreographed.  He is always designing.  Always working.  Always creating.  Always redeeming.

And I wonder why I ever doubted.

I wonder how I could even forget all that He has already done.

I guess what it comes down to is this: I begin to doubt because I didn't see it the day before.

But who's problem is that?

Not His.

The problem is that I forget to open my eyes.

Or I forgot to pray for a heart that seeks the Designer... 

...instead of always seeking to understand the design.



And so I paint.

Sometimes I paint things I don't understand.

Other times I paint things I wish I could understand better.

But ultimately I paint because I wish to be closer to my Father Painter.  I want to participate in Creation, and long to relate to HIM more.  And in doing so be closer to Him.

What takes place here is very real and something I believe God does all the time.

We just need to have the eyes with which to see.  Eyes like His.

So it came about that I was reading through James...

In his great mercy  he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power  until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Then, FIRE came to me as I listened to a speaker at our church, Donna, speak on "Living life with a heart BLAZING with love for God."  

I want to be on fire like this!

Moreover, I want to blaze!

Layers of charcoal and acrylic paint

I want the desire within me to be unquenchable.

"A fire shall always burn no the altar; it shall never go out" -Leviticus 6:13

I want to let go of sin, malice, deceit, envy, slander, hypocrisy, anything that smothers my longing for God's word.  

I've been offered a trade in the Cross.  So I accept.  

All my "junk" in exchange for LOVING DEEPLY, being filled with HOPE, and completely TRUSTING in God. 

The fuel source to my fire, is Jesus, the living "cornerstone". 

So I got out my canvas, and went out in the backyard - so I could get messy! I used warm colors and the word - BLAZE - as my foundation.  

After the paint dried I applied a charcoal sketch of a silhouette praying, soon it became a woman.

Now, I should explain once again here that every time I am commissioned with a painting, with every brushstroke, with every drying layer of paint, and every brand new wet one, I am soaking the canvas in God's Holy Word, and praying His Will over the recipient - as I have learned long before not to pray my own thoughts and mere wishes.  So everyone who gets a painting from me receives not just a painting, or a portrait but an "altar" of sorts that prayerfully reveals another part of who God is.

It is so amazing the way God places someone on my heart.  In this particular time, I wasn't working on a painting that someone asked for - unless you count it from God Himself.  But my point is that no human asked this of me.  And this where the miracle begins to take shape.

The woman became someone I know.

As I began sealing the charcoal into the canvas so I could apply another layer of paint, I began praying for her.  As the painting started coming together, I thought more and more about her sweet family.  I prayed for them; specifically, my friend, the woman in my church and her Holy calling as their mother.  I prayed for her two beautiful daughters and their hearts.  The Holy Spirit brought this woman to my heart and throughout the whole process of the painting I prayed for her.

As the colors begin to mingle, I put in light blue, yellow which turned to green for growth and continued with the warm tones.  I painted circles around the silhouette that resembled the Holy Spirit that is around and in us as believers in Christ.  

A cross emerged.

This is amazing....I posted the unfinished painting pics on my facebook page, I wanted to share it through the process.  Immediately, I received a message from the woman I had been praying for!!  

I etched into the paint cross hatches that resembled scars.

She shared that she was reminded of God's love for her and that we are as close as a prayer and that it really touched her.  

Now,  I don't need to explain the Holy Spirit and how God speaks to us to tell you this was ALL His work!  God's holiness and power is way beyond my comprehension...all I know is that God is amazing and works in each of our lives when we surrender to His calling.

I had several offers for the painting but I already knew that she was the one God was calling me to sell it to.  

"Blaze" 30 'x  40"  Acrylic on canvas