The Art of Playing

I’m having connection issues….

That’s what my computer just told me, one of the cords from my modem is broken or something, but when you spend a lot of time around the people I do, you find that sometimes days just have a theme.

I’m having connection issues…. With God

See, there’s something I’ve heard about in church, written about it, talked about it, heard it from God himself, but I’ve never really gotten it. God is pursuing me…. God is pursuing me….. God is pursuing me…As a father, as a bridegroom, as a friend. Today He wanted to pursue me as a father, and I found something new about myself.

I don’t know how to be pursued.

I’m a go-getter, a battering ram, a force to be reckoned with. When I want something I go after it, I am a pursuer, and I pursue God. I pursue Him with my gifts, my heart, my worship, my life. It seems however that somewhere along the way, I never learned to be pursued. To sit back, relax, and accept the gifts, the love, and the honor, just because God cherishes me.

Weird really, I mean it sounds simple, being pursued. God is after me with His love, He’s after me with His heart. Honestly though, often… no a lot of the time I find that I am too busy trying to fix me, trying to give Him enough honor and praise, and fix the parts of me that need fixing (I mean come on, I was so disrespectful to that guy the other day, I need to figure out how to be more loving!). I need to figure out how to be more like Jesus!

....and that’s where I remembered what it means to be a child. A kid learns because they see, they experience, they hear from their parent. They get lavished upon by mom and dad, they get pursued. They get free meals and endless love and amazing gifts (By the way dad…. Thanks for the red Camaro I totaled…. Love you!! :D )

And to the ones who didn’t have that, who never got to see, and experience that in their life, whose dad never really tried…..I’m sorry, truly I am sorry. Some day, that dad will be sorry too, He will be sorry he missed out on raising such an amazing child, sorry he didn’t know how to tell you that you are loved, or that he is proud of you even in the midst of your mistakes, some-times people just never learn to love, but you have to realize that no daddy could measure up to God. Every parent makes mistakes. They won’t listen that time when you needed to be heard or understand what you are thinking. That’s why God wants to be a dad in our lives, because He knows when you’re having a bad day, and He knows just how to fix it, He affirms and adores you, He calls your stick figures works of art, He will sit there and be with you when you just need a moment to breathe.

That’s what I forgot, I forgot to look at my Daddy, my big strong God, and just be his little girl. If you’ve never tried it, you’re missing out because He knows how to kiss every wound and make them better. He knows how to come in where other people have said you are not enough, and tell you that you are enough for him, right now, in this moment, you are enough for him, and that will never ever change.

That's what this painting is about, being a child, being God's child. Remembering to play, dream, and believe and just have fun with God. Some times we forget that, we get too focused on the things to do and less on the fact that God is the one who created laughter, who created play, and He wants to play with you, He wants to make you laugh.

If you haven't figured it out yet, He loves you so so so much!

I have a new theory...

I've gotten back into painting for a little over a year now, not really "got back into it" so much as started to do art as a way to connect and communicate with God, which is a whole different animal. Thing is, the best part about this kind of art isn't the image, it's the part where God gets to communicate with you.

I think a lot of people miss this part, I think they look for the obvious message in the picture instead of diving in and really asking God "What are you saying?". They miss the part where they stop, or I stop talking and just let God speak..... It really is the greatest thing. 

It has a knack for turning the obvious things that a picture is showing into something that you get in your spirit (not your head), that Rhema moment, that time when you really "Get" what God is feeling/speaking/showing you. 

(maybe I have the word "Rhema" wrong but whatever, that's how I see it).

So I started a blog, for me, for you, to show how God can use a picture... in the best way I can. To show myself that He can do powerful things in my small little gifts.

My first painting is about God's love... simple, easy, almost something you can skip over.

"I know I know, God Loves me."

Yeah, that's true! 

Did you know He wants to say it every second of every day? Did you know He wants to show you in the smallest and biggest of ways?

Just give Him a few minutes, the same amount of time it takes to sit down and stare into a cup of coffee. He will fill you with more comfort than that warm cup in your hands, He'll make your heart flutter more than finding a rose from a secret admirer would. He'll tell you specifics, how He loves how he made you, how He loves your sense of humor, your smile, your desire to bring others joy.

How you really don't need to keep bringing up that mistake you made 5 minutes ago.

That was paid for, in His greatest display of Love, when Jesus took care of it on the Cross.

So stop mentioning it, I think God wanted to go back to telling you about your great smile anyways...

I think He wanted to keep showing you how much He loves you,

so maybe you can start loving yourself.

"Oh I love myself"

Really?

Do you love yourself as much as He does? Because maybe, just maybe, He has more things to show you about how cool you are, how "fearfully and wonderfully made" you are.

And I think one more time He wants to tell you, you have a beautiful smile......