Imagine my surprise the first time I saw the Bird of Paradise flower. My foster family in Colombia, South America, gave me a bouquet of these while I was an exchange student. I loved their shape and vibrant colors. Now in Malaysia, I see them planted in hedge rows! They are very common, though they look so exotic.
At this time, most of us in Malaysia have to stay home most of the time and elsewhere the weather is mostly shades of grey. I have delighted in painting these gorgeous flowers to remind us there is still beautiful color around us and there’s plenty to cheer our hearts.
Why not look today for bright and beautiful things to focus on and share a spark of life with someone who feels down?
Do you ever wonder why we do what we do? All around us we see the poisoned fruits that grow from diseased decisions. People hurt; lives ruined; abounding disillusionment. Yet we, who choose to follow the Bible’s ways, may be seen as beings from another world. (In truth, we are!) Yet even in the face of criticism, incredulity, and sometimes animosity, we continue doing what we know is right.
I like the British command for horses to get moving. They simply say, “Walk On.” Somehow that seems so appropriate. Not, “Giddy up!”, but “Walk on!”
The following words were found in Robert Griffin III’s locker when he left Redskins Park. He was a star footballer whose career ended due to a string of injuries. He was known as a strong Christian, but he was tested by the collapse of his dreams. These words are also attributed to Mother Teresa.
“People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. FORGIVE THEM ANYWAY. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. BE KIND ANYWAY. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends, and some genuine enemies. SUCCEED ANYWAY. If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. BE HONEST AND SINCERE ANYWAY. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. CREATE ANYWAY. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. BE HAPPY ANYWAY. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. DO GOOD ANYWAY. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. GIVE YOUR BEST ANYWAY. In the final analysis, it’s between you and God. IT WAS NEVER BETWEEN YOU AND THEM ANYWAY.”
I was thinking . . .
What do we do anyway, caring only for God’s approval?
Why do we give our time, our strength, our money?
Why do we do battle with our fears, be they many or few? Some fears are constant battles; some are short, tough skirmishes. But we face them and go on. Anyway.
There are hundreds more, “Why do we . . .?” questions we could ask.
But our answers come down to this:
Our deepest desire is to love, honor, and serve our Father.
Our lives are not lived to do as we please. Our hope and goal is that our lives will lead many more to follow God and His plans for their lives.
The world will not understand us. Even some of our friends and relatives cannot understand our passion. Some, misunderstanding our passion, get quite angry at our choices. And, wherever we are in this increasingly hostile world, trouble or persecution can break out at any moment.
But at the end of the day, at the end of this life, we want to hear, “Well, done good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.” We do it for Jesus.
As Paul said, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” — Galatians 6: 9
Don Harris and Marty Nystrom wrote a great song about that. Here are the words.
Don’t grow weary in doing well, Don’t surrender in the fight; Keep on storming the gates of hell, Keep on doing what you know is right.
For there will be seasons of testing And there maybe weeping for a night, But soon we’ll be reaping the blessing If we keep pressing on towards the prize.
Keep on praying in the Spirit, Keep on walking in the light; Don’t be fearful or discouraged, Keep on doing what you know is right.
I wanted to learn techniques I could use to paint a Chinese New Year orange. This is just an average orange. Chinese New Year oranges are Mandarin oranges. There are other techniques I’ll have to learn to paint one of them. But this was great practice in the rough skin and the juicy sections.
That pitted skin is thick and really protects the inside. If you drop an orange, you probably won’t be able to see any damage done to the inside. If you drop an apple with its smooth skin, you will definitely see the damage to the fruit of the apple.
This made me think about what kind of a skin do I have. Am I thin-skinned and easily bruised by any little bump I receive? Or am I more like the orange that can take pretty serious bumps without being bruised inside?
I used to be thin-skinned. Although I didn’t show my bruises as much as some apples, I was hurt inside. I thought because no one else could see the bruises, I was OK. Eventually, I needed help. God sent me help in the form of my mom and dad and their prayers for me. When the bruise was exposed, God was able to do His healing work in me.
I think over the years I’m more like the orange now. I get bruised from time to time, but don’t usually have much internal damage from the hurt. I allow God to work in my heart much sooner and the center of my life is not much damaged by the bruise. I realize the analogy doesn’t work completely, but maybe it will give you some insight into how you deal with hurts.
If you are hurting from some ‘bruise’ you have received, why not tell God and allow Him to begin giving you the help you need to not allow that hurt to damage the center of your life?
Psalm 139:23-24 – “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
This first week of 2021 I was practicing brushstrokes and textures. Then I was itching for color! This is a White Throated Kingfisher. Since living in Malaysia, these have been one of my favorite birds. They like to perch on the top branches of trees that overlook a water source. When they are backlit, they look dark gray, but they are still easily identified by their posture and beak. When the sun shines on them, their gorgeous blue and reddish brown feathers shine and their beak catches highlights.
When we are backlit, our colors might look muted, but our posture and our words will identify us anyway. But when the Light shines on us, that’s when our colors will shine and catch highlights.
In this new year, it is more important than ever before that we spend time solo with our God and learn His ways and His words to correct our posture and words. Then when the His Light shines on us, we will shine with His colors and highlights for all to see.
These are Hickory leaves. This is the second time I painted these this week. The first time, I did not get the curves correct and as a result the left-hand leaf made no sense. I tried to ‘fix’ it a few different ways, but it was not going to work. So, because I loved the shape and the colors, I tried again. I used that first attempt to practice some other techniques. I learned some things that work and some that don’t. It wasn’t wasted.
I am so thankful we serve a God who gives us a second chance, and a third and a fourth, if we need it. He does not just ball us up and throw us away when we fail. He doesn’t berate us and belittle us.
So, what do we do when we have done it wrong? We humbly admit we failed and ask our Father what He wants us to learn from it. There is no experience in our lives that is wasted. He makes all things work together in our lives to help us fulfil His destiny for us. He is right there beside us, urging us on, and helping us wherever we are just too weak.
Are these the last Hickory leaves I’ll ever paint? I doubt it! Will I more carefully look at the shape and curves? You bet I will! Am I a step further in my walk with God as well as in my art? I’m sure of it. How about you?
