New Work & The Restoration of My Heart - Trusting God with All of It

“Tanner’s Snowman Kiss”

 - created from a photo I took when my oldest son was about 3. 12 x 18”” - Not For Sale

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Innocence. Wonder. Magical moments. Those things we hold so close after the years fly by so fast. What if we could go back and take it all in knowing what we know now?

Would there be fewer regrets? Would we be more present; less worried about things that matter so little in the long run? I sure hope we would.

But there's no going back. Only this moment and what's ahead to make a shift that changes our trajectory. Maybe it’s to tell our worries to take a hike because we have more important things to attend to. Or to nourish our relationships in ways that heal brokenness and grow us closer. Maybe we explore the possibility of generational trauma and seek to heal so the effects don’t continue to affect our children and our children's children. Or we might decide to address the chaos that attempts to disrupt our lives & destroy peace in our family. Whatever it is, it’s worth dealing with, NOW, so we can love well with less regret.

That might be overwhelming to consider - if you’re like me. How on earth do we go about implementing needed change? In my experience, ONLY through faith AND the incredible grace of God.

I’ve tried all the self-help books and expert podcasts which can be great to illuminate but NEVER result in meaningful change; especially if I think it’s all up to me.

I’ve found that when I finally give up & surrender all of it to God, allowing Him full rein to change me & my circumstances, the solutions come in ways my striving could never achieve. Miracles, truly. And obviously BETTER than I could have imagined or planned myself.

That surrender thing…it’s is the KEY. Then TRUSTING God to do what He does best & waiting, expectantly. God’s restorative plan will start working all things for good in the most unexpected ways if I can stick with surrender. (But I usually go kicking and screaming because His ways are definitely NOT my ways.)

Ann Voskamp explains this well, I think…

“The Word Himself is the Author of our stories, the only One who has all the authority to re-story and restore us, and the Word keeps writing our stories right into eternity, till the last word is a good Word.” (Excerpt from “A Lent to Reflect, Part 2” - read it here)

That is where I must constantly return as I go through life (return, because I forget surrender, often). The author of my story is working THROUGH all my mistakes & circumstances to restore and re-story it all with His infinite grace. If I can hold on to THAT, then all the fear and worry that keeps knocking on my heart can take a leap off the nearest cliff because I won’t forget that my God is bigger than all the failures and fractured places. And THAT, friends, is when the PEACE comes.

I wish I could say I’ve mastered this practice but I haven’t. The past few months my kicking and screaming have been full-on tantrums and my peace is certainly NOT present, much. This new work is my reminder that it’s going to be ok, no matter how it FEELS because

   

    the God of grace

      will restore & re-story

                      all of it.  

                            YES! And AMEN!

Creating “Tanner’s Snowman Kiss”

I had wanted to create this piece for a very long time. I snapped the reference photo of my oldest son when he was about three or four years old and have treasured it, ever since.

Thursday evening, after working, (start to finish) for 3 days, solid, I finished in the nick of time. I wanted to enter it in the Idaho Watercolor Society’s Annual Juried Exhibition, if it worked out to be something I was proud of. And I couldn’t be happier with it. So whether it’s juried in or not, I’m absolutely thrilled to have created it and just in time for the opportunity to be in the annual show.

Why I Do this WorkTo be able to create works that speak from AND to my heart feels so important and also SOOO opposed. So much comes against my creativity when it’s just for me or from my vision. I enjoy doing commissions but I also know it’s important to pursue this kind of creativity. It’s part of my purpose and I plan to be much more intentional about it.

I’d truly love to hear back from you and how you experience it. Just hit reply or the button, below and share your thoughts.  It is so much better, in person.

I hope spring is springing in your neck of the woods, like it is, here! The chance of building anymore snowmen in my area is not likely till November or so, so I’ll just enjoy this new piece and the hope spring brings, till then.

Have a blessed week, friend!

    Warmly,

       Kayla