Last Friday evening was really special. It was the opening of my “Jesus Speaks to Women: Poems and Portraits” show through the Arts Incarnate program in the beautiful gallery space at The Church of the Incarnation in Harrisonburg, VA. The display will be up for the month of June.

I barely have words to describe what it’s like to have worked on this project for two years and then to experience people taking the time to read each poem and ponder each piece of art. Dear friends and family showed up and shared in my joy. Others I met for the first time that night.

I love how other people (as you, my blog readers, have been all along) are a part of the project now, as they interact with it and share their thoughts with me and each other. Each person was drawn to different women or different lines of the poems–for as many reasons as there are personal experiences.

Some people commented that they never realized that Jesus spoke to and interacted with so many women. I think that’s one of the surprises of this project–just how Jesus spoke to women and how many accounts we have of those interactions!

I asked my daughter, Anna, to be my official photographer for the night and she did an amazing job. Here are a few of the photos she took:

I am praying about and imagining next steps for this project. I think there is something more I want to do with it, but I’m not exactly sure what, yet! Bible study, book, prints? Let me know what you think!

One more note–there are two more poems and pieces of art I haven’t shared with you yet! Remaining are the stories of Mary at the cross and Mary at the empty tomb. I will be sharing those on the blog over the next month, so stay tuned.

COPYRIGHT/USAGE: All writing, artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. Please do not repost or resell on another website. I’m happy for you to use my coloring pages and other printables for home, school, and ministry. If you share content, please link back to the original post. Thank you!

jesus speaks to women