Feb. 19 – “He who tills his land will be satisfied with
bread.” Prov. 12:11 “When you reap your
harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back
and get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that
the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” Deut. 24:19
March 6 – wow, how can I put into words what all has gone on
the past couple weeks? I’ve probably had
around 50 people come in and so many stories, so many new people. I am so blessed to get to talk with, become
friends with, and do art with so many different people of different ages and
cultures. I’m constantly blown away by
how God is using me to touch so many lives.
Who would have thought? Open an
art gallery/studio, give away art lessons and all of a sudden, we’re the local
‘church’ or rather, what we like to say “fellowship”…. The place everyone now
goes to for a taste of heaven. That is
how one lady put it today. I’ve become
mentor to many young people, sounding post and confidant to many, one who they
know will give them the truth and to be challenged. Like the new one who came in today, due to
have her first baby anytime, spent 4 hours painting and talking with me and to
others who came in during that time. Or
the one who came in who lost her job, or the old lady who is just learning
about forgiveness and redemption. The
Kingdom of God in action! Wow, so fun.
I was just re-reading the verses I put in on Feb. 19th
… I was going to expand on that, but got busy somewhere else and never got back
to it, but now I see it all in a different light from what I intended … I am
reaping a harvest in this art gallery! I
find that I’m preaching on a daily basis; not how one views traditional
preaching, but as I interact with each person, I find that I am being used by
the Holy Spirit to say just the right thing to bless these people! Wow, it all blows me away. William is finding a similar thing at his
work … as he goes through the day, he is sharing his praise and worship music
with everyone, preaching (again untraditional) and interacting with the people
that come and go, and finding that he is touching people in ways he never
expected.
There are so many, but this one really blew me away last
week. A group of ladies (and a young
man) had come in, none knowing each other prior, but just happen to come in
around the same time. So we all decided
to sit down and paint a certain landscape.
We all get to chatting and they decide they all want to come in again
the next day for drawing lessons. The
next day, most of them show up and we start learning to draw eyes and
faces. They find out that the next day
is my birthday, they ask a few questions and decide to all meet here again the
following day. So, last Thursday, my
birthday, they all show up again bearing gifts, Chinese food, and cake. So we ended up with an impromptu birthday
party, when more people show up and join in.
Then we all drew faces again and painted. Who has this much fun?!
Then on Saturday, not only did William get me roses and a
real cool vase, but he took me out to lunch at this German restaurant in town –
very good place! Then we went to his
brother’s and they threw a birthday party for me (they brought me a balloon earlier
in the week and it’s still floating around in my studio) … I got this cool tea
cup and saucer that I took to the studio and when people come in (if they come
in one at a time) I’ll offer them tea (which I do anyway) in my special ‘blessed’
tea cup and they feel extra special … it’s been real cool to see their
reactions.
This week, the same ladies show up again and again we draw
and sit around chatting. Wow, who says
retirements boring! Anyway, it just
reminds me of how God works … I’ve been praying for each and every person that
goes by my shop or comes in. As I learn
about each person, each story, I pray more and more for each person. So I’m being blown away by how I get to see
answers to those prayers, when the
people come back in and tell me ‘the rest of the story.’ It is so cool to be a blessing to others.
Anyway, while I’m talking to these Hispanic ladies, they
tell me they would love it if I would teach an ESL class … they said that if I
announced I was teaching English, not only would they come (they go to some
class in Colorado Springs), but they were sure I would have a dozen easy right
off the bat. Wow, who’d of thought … my
master’s degree is in reading and literacy, I didn’t take the ESL classes or
get the certification, but what if I use the old timey McGuffy Readers and teach
them … wow, what a concept; they would learn the REAL history of America AND
read the bible within AND learn to read and write English … I just might be
doing this soon!
Anyway, a couple weeks ago, the owner of the Pony Espresso
Coffee Shop asked me to paint a mural on her outside wall, to attract
customers. It was to be a 10’ x 6’ mural
of her logo. So I asked Ryan to help me,
since he is an expert on horses and people, and we basically got the mural done
in a week. I don’t have a final copy of
the picture, but here we are in action (my camera went caput, anyone have a
spare I can have?); we were even written up in the paper this week. While we were painting, several people
stopped by to chat, including a biker dude (vet of Vietnam) who wants me to
paint his bike this summer! I told him I’ve
never worked with enamel before, but he insisted that I could do it …. Always a
new adventure.
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| Yes, someone on Facebook spotted that I forgot the 2nd 'S' at the end, so the next day I had to go in and correct my spelling!! |
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