How Much More?

Some time elapsed, and on a hike with a sister in Christ, God moved mountains for me...  At the top of the waterfall, we met an artist with an easel and a beautiful painting of the falls before us.  My friend mentioned that I enjoyed painting, and he gave me his card and offered to take me painting and even teach me some things!  We kept in touch, and that day came to pass: he happened to have an extra easel and began to teach me the art of plein air painting.  Slowly, I grasped the concepts, perspectives, and colors…

Each time, I’d return home with a painted canvas that I could not believe was my own!  God was using this talented artist to give me my heart’s desire!

As time passed, we kept in touch, but life soon got busy, and our lessons got put on hold for a while, but this was not the end.  Each walk or bike ride caused my heart to yearn for more moments matching His brilliant colors and orchestrating them in such a way that brings life onto the canvas. I found myself imagining the downward, diagonal strokes to create the hills of a field or the progression of the layers of mountains.  I got lost imagining the colors that I'd mix to match the autumn foliage on the next pallette…

While in a craft store one day, I decided to check out the easels, in hopes of finding one similar to the one he allowed me to use with him. To my discouragement, the easels were cheaply made and rather expensive.  As I turned into the next aisle, I reminded God of how much I wanted to worship Him in this way and if He’d be so kind as to somehow give an easel to continue what He’d begun.  Then leaving it in His hands.  

A few weeks later, at a church fellowship, another sister in Christ mentioned to another artist about how I also enjoyed creating art.  She quickly mentioned that she had an easel that she never used.  It had a bench built-in for painting outdoors and wheels for easier transport.  She then preceded to ask me if I’d like to borrow it!  Almost in tears, I said, yes.

An important step is preparing the canvas with some type of primer.  The first artist who instructed me shared the trick of finding ‘oops paint’ that someone did not want. I went to a local paint shop and was led to the back room of a large shelf with all of the 'oops paint.' Many colors were dark, in large paint cans. But there was one smaller canister with a lid that screwed on/off; it was a perfect color!  I brought it to the cashier with an opened wallet, but again was speechless when she said, “no charge, you can just take it, we have no need of it…”

The next time I saw the second artist, she brought the easel to church and showed me how to assemble it and said that she knows where it is if she ever needs it…  Once again, I was amazed at my Savior's care for my small, insignificant desires. 

It was as if God made it SO evident to me that all of this came directly from His hand, just like the brilliant sunsets.

The leaves began changing, and once again, I went to my heavenly Father, requesting an opportunity to a paint His beautiful creation before the trees were bare.  At the peak of the season, He granted me a cloudless sky on a Saturday with the trees at their peak colors, in addition to an inspired heart to attempt to capture His brilliance with my paintbrush.