One day, the Lord put on my heart not to draw what I saw realistically, but to capture the essence of the subject being drawn. This sounded wonderful, and I was excited about receiving insight from the Holy Spirit. But then the realization came, that I had no idea how to do this.
Four years later, at the one of the Karitos Christian Arts Conferences, I attended a class about capturing the essence of what we draw. It was so eye-opening and marvelous. I sketched a rose with charcoal in a new way and the result made the flower look more alive than if I had drawn every detail.
This was a miracle! The Lord had provided a way for me to grasp the wisdom HE had given me. It took my art, and the way I view art, to a whole new level. Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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My shoulder starting hurting as I packed books, art and other things to use at a presentation at Cyrus Ministries. Did I re-injure the shoulder? There was no time to think about this question. It was time to leave. So I hopped in the car and set off to share what the Lord had given me.
As I drove out to the ministry center, excitement and anticipation rose in my heart. I wanted to see what the Holy Spirit would do. God was the person in charge, and Jesus had given me the calling of encouraging people and showing them His Love through art and words. I love seeing how the Holy Spirit touches people’s hearts. This is my favorite part. But this time there was a greater excitement in my heart. At the end of the presentation, I would be doing something new -- leading the attendees in declaring God’s Scripture promise aloud. When people stand on God’s Word, something always happens. So I was asking for and expecting to see a physical healing in someone.
The presentation went well, and a few people shared that they could feel the Holy Spirit doing something deep within them as they prayed Scripture. Another person shared that the Lord placed hope in her heart. But no one mentioned any physical healing.
After I got home and unpacked the car, I discovered that Jesus Christ has a sense of humor. My shoulder no longer hurt. The Holy Spirit did do a physical healing -- HE had healed my shoulder! Praise the Lord!
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A few weeks ago, during the sermon at church, I could feel cool air blowing on my right hip. At first it didn’t bother me, but then my hip started to get stiff and sore. I tried to cover it with my lightweight jacket, but that didn’t help. By the time the sermon ended, the hip was getting painful.
Then the pastor did something different. He asked us to stand up and agree with God’s Word in Isaiah 53 that says by Christ’s stripes we are healed. He told us to place our hands anywhere on our body that needed healing. And then he led us in a beautiful praise and proclamation of Scriptural truth. With excitement he asked, “Did anyone receive a healing?” One lady raised her hand excitedly, and with tears of joy, gave a testimony of being healed.
Then the pastor asked, “Did anyone feel improvement of any kind?” My hip felt less stiff and less sore, so I raised my hand. He asked every person who felt some kind of improvement to step forward, even if it was only a little bit better. We did, and he told us to claim God’s promise of healing in Scripture and walk around. And as I did the pain in my hip disappeared and all stiffness vanished!
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The month of March was wonderfully exciting, but extremely hectic. Three events, outside of my normal busy schedule, took place, and all of them required hours of preparation. By the time they were over, I was physically exhausted. Even though I rested on Sunday, the three days that followed it required a slower pace and resting in-between activities.
When Wednesday evening arrived, I didn’t even set the alarm clock. I had reasoned that my body would need more sleep. But God had different plans. Early Thursday morning, I woke up feeling the gentle peace of Jesus Christ in the room. HE placed an image in my mind of two interlocking rings that represented HIM living in me and me living in HIM. Then HE invited me to ponder on this mystery. As I thought about it, I could sense the sweetness of HIS Love. So I got up, went into the other room, drew two interlocking rings and wrote down what came to mind. It was a beautiful way to start the day by dwelling on Christ and then resting in the knowledge of HIM being near.
Later that day, I realized a miracle had happened. All the exhaustion that had plagued my body was gone! And I was able to attend a special event that evening – a Seder Dinner and Passover Celebration. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for healing my weary body.
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For several months, my knees ached during the night if I slept in one position too long. I would feel the pain in my sleep and then roll over. One morning, the left knee felt particularly odd. I had no problem walking across the floor. But when I placed my weight on the leg to go down the steps, it hurt like crazy, and attempting to come back up the steps was even more painful. This was a problem because most days I go up and down the steps frequently, from the kitchen to the upstairs bathroom, and from my computer and work area downstairs to the supplies stored upstairs.
I praised the Lord, because HE had work for me to do and because my work required using my knees, and then tried to go through the daily routine. But it soon became clear that the knee needed no pressure on it from tackling the steps. So I sat, stood or walked gently as much as possible.
The knee slowly improved over the next few days, but still gave me problems on Sunday. So after the church service ended, I approached the prayer team. Two wonderful ladies prayed not only for the sore knee, but also for both knees and against the bone spurs that showed up on an x-ray of a sprained ankle a year earlier. One of the ladies said she saw an image of me leaping for joy! How exciting! My bones would be rejoicing in Jesus!
Over the next two days, the Lord healed my sore knee completely, and also enabled me to sleep with no ache in the knees during the night. Alleluia! Praise Jesus Christ! By HIS strips we are healed.
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Taking a class in paper collage opened a new door for me. At first, I found it fascinating, but wasn’t happy with the piece of art I created. So at home, I experimented with making different effects from small pieces of paper that I tore out of magazine photos. Transitioning one set of colors into another became fun, and the more I played with the paper and glue, the more I saw the potential for this technique to become a fun workshop to share with others. So in January I offered a “Growing your Faith through Art” workshop using torn paper.
One of the local galleries was offering a paper competition in March. It was a juried show, and I wondered if I would have time to create a piece of art before the deadline. My schedule was too tight, so I asked the Holy Spirit to help me create something beautiful during the workshop that I would be teaching in January. The workshop started, and I showed the attendees various ways to work with torn paper. They dove into the project with eagerness. Then I started making a piece of art, along with them. After they finished their art and went home, I was surprised at the way my picture was turning out, and decided to continue working on it – refining it, redoing sections, and adding new things.
After it dried, I showed it to my husband, and he liked it. Different people who stopped by the house also made positive comments about it. So I decided to enter it into the paper competition. Two weeks later, I received an email saying it was accepted! Thank you, Holy Spirit, for enabling me to come up with an acceptable piece of art during the only time slot that I had to work on it. To me, this was a miracle!
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Three wonderful, unexpected people stopped by our house. We offered them something to eat and drink, and a lively discussion began between two of them. The third person felt left out. She looked like she was getting ready to leave. I invited everyone to stay and listen to my husband, Paul Lloyd, read from his novel, “Fulfillment.” He is a professional author and speaker, so I knew our friends would enjoy his reading.
We migrated from the kitchen to the family room, and Paul began to read part of the first chapter in front of the fireplace, where a nice fire was warming up the room. Immediately, the guests noticed that Paul knew when to place emotion into the story and how to emphasize sentences that tickled the listener’s ears. Peace and joy descended upon the room as Paul read his unusual and delightful scenario of how a teenage girl might respond, when Mary encountered the angel in the Christmas story.
When he finished, an interesting dialogue ensued. Everyone shared their thoughts, which then led to further discussions. Soon, our company realized they had a lot in common not only with us, but also with each other. We had a marvelous evening together, and no one was in any hurry to leave.
Thank you, Holy Spirit, for the miracle of being united in Christ’s love, as Paul shared the love of God in his novel. Thank you for bringing people together who thought they had nothing in common, only to discover they shared the same deep concerns, and experienced some of the same trials. Thank you for expanding circles of friends, and the joy that emerged when we honored your name.
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