Unexpected Creation

Family members have been asking me where the blogs have gone over these last weeks.  It seems that these blogs are for us all a good way to keep updated with one another as we are scattered in the various places we call home.  I am not good at expressing my feelings over the phone, and even though sometimes I feel my writing is cliche and repetitive, as one daughter exclaimed, she actually looks forward to her daily dose of cliche and sharing laughter with her mum!

This weekend I  got to spend time with another daughter in her art studio.  Amidst the clutter, pungent smells and stark utility of the place one large work of art particularly grabbed my attention and settled deep in my heart.  It was a unique creation of blue propped up against a wall in the studio, mysteriously eye catching because actually it was a huge home made tray, originally created to catch the paint drippings from other works of art hung above it.  In the process of the paint flowing down, paper thrown on top and bare feet captured in the drippings, an amazing work was created, completely inadvertently and by surprise in the process of working on other more intentional pieces.

I was deeply encouraged in my own heart in the process.  Most of my life is focussed on helping to let the beauty and unique attributes of others unfold in the canvasses of their journeys.  With my big family, I feel like I have a whole lot of canvasses hanging from the rafters that need attention.  I am that tray underneath, functional and full of all the drippings!  It was a gift for me to think that maybe without me even noticing, a work of art is being created in the tray of my life as well.  Part of that tray painting reminded me of the delight of finding fossils.  Even though we don't often consciously realize it, our lives are great beds of fossils that create beauty and story to be saved and discovered.  All of our lives work together to form those works of art that we may ourselves never really see or appreciate fully.  Still, they are often the most beautiful and wonderful creations of all.

Be encouraged in being who you are created to be.  Even those functional trays bring beauty and encouragement in the process of doing their ordinary work!  Look with creative and discovering eyes at the patterns and fossils left in your own journey.  We are all works of art created in the unexpected with surprising delight!