Here we go...

Ain't technology grand!! I've been dreading these next few days popping up on my Timehop App, but here it is.

This is the start to the last full day my Mom was able to carry on a full coherent conversation. This was the day that the whispers that we were at the end invaded my brain. This was the day that my Mom said she wasn't afraid to die because she knew where she was going.

This was also a day of great laughter, of amazing family time. A time of healing of relationships that were bent and warped and twisted. This was a day of many prayers, and many praises.

I don't anticipate today, or the next couple days to be easy or tear free, there's just too many memories of these days last year that are too fresh, too real, not quite fully healed, however, these are memories that I never want to loose. I want to always remember these last few days with my Mom. They're too precious, too important.

So in the next couple days, if you should think of me, I would covet your prayers as we push past this final "first". I'm so grateful for a God whose love is bigger than any of our pain, I will cling to that always.

Learn to Dance in the Rain

So this is a snippet of a new painting I'm working on, not done yet, but it's been a painting that God has been talking me through. I love it when He does that.

When He gave me the idea for it I was listening to my Praise and Worship playlist on my iPod. Seems there are a lot of songs the reference "rain" in one way or another. All of them seemed to strike me to the core.

When I think about rain in reference to God I envision so much. His love raining down on me, His grace and mercy just soaking and drenching me. The joy of the heavens just spilling out all over me. All of these things I find to be healing, calming,soothing and cleansing.

When I think of the last 12 months, I've needed a lot of all of those healing things. January 21st marks the anniversary of the day my Mom went home. Lots of sadness and tears and moments, yet each time God covered me, He rained down on me one way or another.

There is so much Joy in all of that, all of those mental pictures, how could you not dance in it?? So that's what the quote on this says to me, however, in the secular world, or to others it could mean something else, all good things though.

Another thing that God spoke to me in this is how I've been neglecting my time in the word with Him. For many years I've used Bible pages in my art work. This is something that I feel that I have God's blessing in doing, He's not told me that it grieves Him in any way and I do it very respectfully and with great purpose. However, in doing this painting in which I've made the rain drops from Bible pages,(the Gospel of Matthew to be exact because I felt that it was the Good News of the Gospel that needed to be raining down,) God said to me "you'll use my Word in your artwork but you won't spend time reading it?".

Guess I need to take the time to refocus and get back on track. God never lets me down, yet so often I feel as though I've failed Him. I'm so grateful that He only sees me through the cleansing blood of Jesus.


Some Praise songs that mention rain, I'm certain there are many others:

Bring the Rain by Mercy Me
Grace Like Rain by Todd Agnew
Let it Rain by Jesus Culture
Rain Down by Delirious?
Healing Rain by Michael W. Smith
Sing in the Rain by Moriah Peters