This is the last of 100+ trees to post. I wrote the words below while Ed was still alive. It’s right to close the series with a painting he loved. He wanted to see every picture I painted and eagerly read every word I wrote to publish —and always encouraged me.
When a painting is finished, I show it to my husband. I’m glad I didn’t tell him how dissatisfied I was with this one—I was thinking about doing over it or throwing it away. The instant he saw it, the deer and light delighted him. He asked me to frame it and hang it in the sunny nook where he reads his Bible and devotional books each morning. It’s now hanging beside the window where he looks up from his books to watch the goldfinch, nuthatches, woodpeckers and sparrows at the bird feeder. When he raises his eyes and looks beyond the bird feeder he sees this pine and and scans for deer. We see them as a sign of God’s love over the land.
I evaluate my work by my standards. My husband’s measures aren’t my own, nor or God’s measures mine. If you’ve followed this series of 100+ Trees, you know that many paintings are full of faults and imperfections. They are like you and me at some stages of our life— seeking, bumbling, experimenting—working, playing and occasionally being discovered by light and joy—
“Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing.” Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
I find it strange that Oswald Chambers, who was a skilled artist, felt led to lay down his art for the Lord, but that often God blesses my paint-times with His presence and joy. I often worship and am filled with praises and prayers. Since I was created to love God and to allow Him to speak through me just as I am, and since God shines His light through very imperfect vessels, I’m hoping that all who see my trees and read the words I’ve given for them will be enlarged by an insight, inspired by a thought, and delighted by a glimpse here and there of lasting insight. Maybe you’ll even get a hint of Jesus, or His Father, our Creator God, coming through an imperfect person, artist, and vessel of the Holy Spirit.
