I was so honored to get to display my art in TWO local shows. One was at The Church of the Incarnation here in Harrisonburg. They have an entire Arts Incarnate program dedicated to platforming local artists and celebrating the arts with monthly art shows and musical and dance performances. My First Friday opening was shared with a local basket weaver and a performance by a local band. It was so fun! I am displaying the large landscapes and...
Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a conference for women leaders. The founder, Cherelle Johnson, formed her organization with the goal of empowering Christian women to achieve their goals and offer their unique gifts and talents to the world. Several of the speakers, including Pastor Chris Johnson, spoke of the importance of the words you speak to yourself and encouraged the practice of daily affirmations. I was really inspired by the potential of that practice. I think...
I don’t know how God speaks to you. For me, it’s often in the form of repeated themes from a variety of sources. I hear something in a counseling session. I hear it again in a sermon. I read it in Scripture. I hear it on a podcast or in a book. I talk it over with a friend. Slowly, a truth begins to reshape me. A theme for me lately has been inner wisdom. I think of this...
I am creating a series of art and poems based on the words Jesus spoke to women. This poem is based on the account of Jesus’ conversation with a Canaanite woman with a demon-possessed daughter found in Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30. my fragile daughtera frayed sail in endless squallsme, her anchor casting hopeon every idolcrushed by idle indifference a foreign woman in a border townis unmoored, useless as a stray dog I hear the healing Teacherhas come to townand I go...
I don’t know what you’re going through. I don’t know what hopes have been dashed in your heart. I don’t know how desperate and confused you may feel. I don’t know how thin is the hope you’re clinging to or how obscured your view of God has become. Maybe you have forgotten what it feels like to experience peace. Maybe the tide always seems too high. And I’m so sorry. But I am confident of a few things for...
I was having trouble focusing. I was worn out, feeling desperate. So last weekend I booked a hotel room and took myself on a retreat to the town of Winchester, VA, about an hour from here. I explored local thrift stores, watched some movies, and tried some small local restaurants (this Peruvian chicken place was the absolute best). I needed quiet. I needed rest. I needed to hear from the Lord. Does anyone else have a hard time admitting,...
