(Week 10) New Art: What Do You See?

Really,

What do you see?

I would love for you to comment and let me know before reading the big reveal.

I think you will be surprised.

Sometimes the art comes before the deeper meaning, even to the artist.

I painted this one last week, having no idea why.  I just knew I was to use lots of color, paint a structure, and keep at it until the paintbrush stopped.

That probably sounds weird, because it is.  I didn’t even know I was going to write that until the words just spilled onto the page, but spontaneity and surprise seem to be a running theme with this post.

The more I look at this painting, that I painted, I see confetti and streamers; I see a party, a  spontaneous, surprise party.

But that is not all.

Why is there a party?   What is the celebration?  When will we break open this painted piñata?

Did you think it was a house,

a church or a shack?

Are  we looking at the front

or looking at the back?

What if I were to tell you,

it’s none of the above? 

It’s the entrance to the mansion,

Christ prepares in love.

The “Front Porch” represents

this life we live on earth.

The colors are the brushstrokes

we have painted since our birth.

The texture in the background

The light that surrounds

The invisible foundation

The mansion-Heaven Bound! 

**A photo from journal:

Would you have ever thought that?

I kept looking at my painting, thinking, “Is it half a house? Is it a shack? Is it a church?”

I was hearing a voice within me (not audibly) saying,”The best is yet to come. Wait for it.”

It was coming together.

This life we live on earth is just a prelude to an opera, a preface to a novel, the prequel to an epic and the front porch of our Heavenly Home.

“Don’t let this throw you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.” (John 14: 1-4 MSG)

So what does all this have to with a surprise a party, confetti and streamers?

Here is a clue:

My daughter, Virginia, is wet and wearing a “I Have Decided” T-shirt.

This past Sunday was quite the surprise, one that we obviously did not anticipate, but God did.  HE has had it on HIS calendar since before her earthly life began, over 17 years ago.

Salvation is the minute

we know we need a Savior;

we need a new heart;

we need new behaviors.

We’re helpless on our own,

But we believe what Christ has done. 

God did all the work;

HE sacrificed HIS SON.

Our heart breaks open

because we know we’ve broken HIS,

but that open heart is a perfect start

to ask Christ to come and live.

Now her heart is occupied;

Eternity is set.

 She wants to tell the world;

So she never will forget

A heart washed in grace

makes a  public display

Immersed in the water

This was her day! 

 We celebrated in Virginia’s baptism because God worked in her heart to bring her to repentance and faith in Christ. She was asked if Jesus was her Lord and Savior and we celebrated her personal relationship with the Son. Baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we celebrated Virginia’s relationship to the Trinity. When she was immerse in the water, we celebrated the death and burial of Jesus Christ for her sins. When raised up out of the water, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus and her participation in it. And when she walked out of the baptismal waters, we celebrated the new life in Christ she was embracing.

(A great article from Desiringgod.org on the celebration of baptism)

“For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.” (2 Cor. 5:1 MSG)

Below are the videos from Virginia’s “surprise party.”

**a video of our pastor explaining the significance of her baptism and

**a video of Virginia taking the plunge!

Needless to say, it was a really good day!

Virginia’s baptism was a beautiful brushstroke on her “Front Porch.”

 Although “compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack,” may we make the most of this one life we have here on earth.

“Here’s another way to put it:

You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine!

Keep open house; be generous with your lives. 

(*Your wide-open, keep the light on, colorful, inviting, FRONT PORCH life)(this blue line is my additon:)

By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16 MSG)

GoGod