to the Glory of the Lord….

Sometimes I create things.  Art pieces, doodles, stencils.  If anyone has ever traveled with me they know that I love to stick things in my journal and turn my little 4X6 space into a traveling masterpiece!  Even if only viewed by a few.  I know my kids are going to love it one day!!

I have landed in Taurunga, New Zealand for the next 3 or so months; you know what this means!??!  I am here long enough to get some paints, canvases and see what happens.  The last few days have been filled with some color and it feels good.  I often do not begin a piece with the end in mind.  Sometimes I do brainstorm beforehand and get a vision for something, but often it simply starts with putting some paint on the canvas and see where it goes from there.
Often I feel art it is simply an act of worship to God.  If you look back at the cathedrals of old they were decorated ridiculously to the GLORY of the LORD.  Sometimes, in our humanness, it was to the glory of the pope or political leader of the day, but the heart behind it was to the GLORY of the LORD and WORSHIP to the FATHER.

We are created in the IMAGE of GOD (the latin term is IMAGO DEI), described in Genesis 2:26-27.  It is a beautiful thing to dwell on the beauty of being created in the very “likeness of GOd.”  He is a CREATOR God.  All He had to do was SPEAK and the heavens and earth came forth.  HE holds the heavens in the palm of his hand.  O how beautiful is our CREATOR GOD.  I want to create with the God whose IMAGE I am made in.

ART is fun.  People often hold back from art because somewhere along the line someone told them they were not good at it, or that ART is not valuable.  But if you ever hang out with little kids at all you will see that they are doing art all the time!!  Drawing masterpieces that end up as trophies on mommy & daddies fridge.  Maybe Daddy in heaven puts my little scribbles up on this massive heaven sized fridge?! (ok theology friends-I know there is no mention of a fridge in Heaven and that God doesn’t really need to eat or keep anything cold….but you get the point) That is actually a cool thought; thinking of the Father like that.  Realizing that He loves what I do, even if I think it may be crap!  He is up there bragging about what His little boy created. HA!!!  One thing I learned somewhat recently is that parents may brag to others before they actually verbalize to you that they are proud of you.  Or maybe then again it is just hard to actually hear it from them when you have heard if from them for years!! (love ya ma & pa)

ART!!  To the GLORY of GOD.  WORSHIP is bigger than words, than songs, than music.  Maybe one day I will have a big warehouse with paint supplies of all kind all over the place and I can make a great big mess and have tons of fun and there will be a little brush washer for me (I hate cleaning up after a paining session)…. so go create something!

Painting above: I made this piece last week.  It is acrylic on canvas 70cm x 90cm = 2.2ft x 3ft entitled BATTLEoftheCROSS.