Open Arms

Congratulations to our Rebecca!  At this final art show at the end of your four years of university we celebrate your hard work and this creative expression of your heart and soul.  Here your creations are displayed in a big open space where their full impact can be felt.  To me they speak of God's creation  in the elemental realities of earth, wind, water and fire.  They speak to  Daddy of the electrical activity in the neurons of God's brain;  the God particle!

For both Daddy and I, you are the great joy of God's creation in this photo.  We are delighted that after a long and challenging four years, you are able to stand with your arms fully extended in great joy and delight!  We celebrate who you are and we are thankful for your hard work and for the great gift that has been entrusted to you.

Your life has not been easy.  You started painting as a way to express your own feelings at a time when our family was bombarded with unique and unusual challenges through growth and adoption.  At the same time,  you have struggled with significant chronic illness.  In these last few years you have often been lonely and isolated and far from home.  Even these paintings have not been created with ease.  You have shed many tears and have known deep discouragement and disappointment.  It takes time for the paint to dry in these huge works and you have never quite known if all your work will ever be completed or done.

It is my heart prayer that we all will be able to open our arms fully with joy and delight in our lives.  Each of us people have unique and special gifts and are ourselves wonderfully and fearfully created.  We  face  discouragement and challenge, and it certainly does take time for the paint to dry in all our life creations, big and small.  I personally find it hard and vulnerable to open my arms wide in life.  I hold this image of my Rebecca in my heart and am inspired.

Today in those quiet moments with God, practice being alone in the big white rooms of your soul.  Open your arms with delight in full acceptance of God's love for all of who you are, wounds and creations both.  Let God's bright light shine through you.    Rejoice with thankful delight as you let the paint dry.  Open your arms in vulnerable acceptance of all that is.