Some of you may already understand the topic of this blog, to others it might make sense of what didn't before, and the rest may just say this is too long to read all the way and I wasn't asking in the first place. Regardless of which category you are in, time has come to explain some of what we are up to and why, simply to clarify the point again.
A brief history
Peace in the Pieces was originally founded in a desire to continue something that was already occurring. In a time of life that things being created were being seen, shared, and enjoyed by other people brought an increasing number of requests to make things. This was very enjoyable but began to strain the family budget more than I could justify. At the place of decision, a strange thing came into existence. A piece of artwork was commissioned with minimal guidelines as to what it should be, it was created and purchased, thus beginning the process of imagining that this could become self supporting.
The bigger picture
Art has not always been high on my list of priorities. For the majority of adult life it wasn't even something I desired to do, and I firmly believed it wasn't a skill I possessed, best left to the creative artsy crafty people. I'd stick with more rational logical things like numbers and fixing things. Through time I've recognized that I've always been creating something in some way.
Over the last couple years some of this has been shared more openly with other people, very slowly. Mostly because what I was creating was for my own growth. It wasn't being done for other people. It was simply my way of understanding the world we live in.
What changed?
This question for me almost holds more mystery than answers, and can only be explained by a long story, that any of you who know my family has already heard a hundred times.
In April of last year my daughter got sick. Within a very few days it became abundantly clear that it wasn't just a normal sick. To make a painfully long 5 week story much shorter, I'll simply say that within a week medical tests and increased symptoms grew to at least every other day. By the end of 5 weeks her pain was so excruciating that she was in bed almost constantly. Her vision was failing to the point that she was no longer able to read. Her ears turned every noise into pain. She became unstable to the point that she could no longer walk unaided. The pain was so acute that we could not even hug her. From a mother's perspective it was the hardest thing in the world to push her toward painful medical tests that only ruled things out but never led to an accurate treatable diagnosis. I know that 5 weeks does not sound like a long time but it felt like eternity. We were running out of ideas and she was continuing to get worse. Waiting time to see specialists just wasn't going by quick enough. We had to find another way.
With desperation at an all time high, we fervently prayed for a new idea, something, anything to try. The doctors had resigned to the waiting on specialists to have appointments available, but this was not their kid or where they lived on a daily basis. We made a decision to drive her to northern California, to a healing rooms at a church in Redding. We had heard miraculous stories of things happening there and we needed a miracle badly.
The night we got there we attended a church service. She was prayed for but remained significantly worse from the long travel. Hope was hard to hold on to.
We went to the healing rooms the following morning as soon as they opened. Through the duration of the day things began to change. The how was truly unexpected and unexplainable. In the middle of a large room there were art easels set up with people painting, there was music being played on the stage, there were people dancing with worship flags, and all sorts of things happening that were not in my typical experience of church.
It truly was a place for me of seeing things I'd never seen before. My daughter was invited to paint which apparently isn't typical even in this setting, but as she did, her feet became steady under her. I'm not going to detail out the entire day, but the afternoon also included painting when all of us were invited to participate in what was called an art sozo. By the end of the day my daughter was 100% healthy.
I cannot explain why art. All I know is that in one day everything changed. Had I not seen this with my own eyes, my own skeptical nature would likely try to find some sort of more logical thought. One doesn't exist, my daughter was healed by God through art.
My daughter left her first painting there, we didn't understand why until later. In researching stories of other people healed in a similar manner, we came across a very strange phenomenon. There are a myriad of similar stories to hers with additional details of other people being healed of the same malady that was healed just by seeing the painting made during the process.
The point is...
This changed my own thoughts on sharing artwork with other people. This intriguing new knowledge left no room to claim that other people have nothing to gain in seeing what was being made during my own learning and growth process. I began to understand that just as I am created in the image of God, that I am creative by that very nature. That in acts of creating art I'm becoming more like who I am. In stepping into this I've been just as surprised as many of the people around me that I have been given a gift in this area. I have no formal art training or schooling but a God given ability. God shows me new things in each piece of art that is made.
What now?
Art continues to be made and shared. Which brings me much joy, but there is more. This journey of understanding why it matters has grown a passion in my heart to help other people see a bigger God. The beginning of my daughter's healing was simply painting during a time of worship. My previous life experience confined acts of worship to singing songs. My small God box was shattered forever, by understanding that there is so very much I've missed out on in keeping God single-faceted.
There has been a growing intentionality in much of this that has finally matured enough to bare fruit. Over the last four months good ideas have become plans. Plans have been revised several times but the intention had never shifted.
I'm not doing any of this with ideas of financial gain or noteriety. I could care less if my name is ever known. My intention is simply to share with other people what I've found. The unfathomable love of God that is bigger than I could ever imagine, and the freedom and joy that can be found outside of the safely contained box sized God.
A brief history
Peace in the Pieces was originally founded in a desire to continue something that was already occurring. In a time of life that things being created were being seen, shared, and enjoyed by other people brought an increasing number of requests to make things. This was very enjoyable but began to strain the family budget more than I could justify. At the place of decision, a strange thing came into existence. A piece of artwork was commissioned with minimal guidelines as to what it should be, it was created and purchased, thus beginning the process of imagining that this could become self supporting.
The bigger picture
Art has not always been high on my list of priorities. For the majority of adult life it wasn't even something I desired to do, and I firmly believed it wasn't a skill I possessed, best left to the creative artsy crafty people. I'd stick with more rational logical things like numbers and fixing things. Through time I've recognized that I've always been creating something in some way.
Over the last couple years some of this has been shared more openly with other people, very slowly. Mostly because what I was creating was for my own growth. It wasn't being done for other people. It was simply my way of understanding the world we live in.
What changed?
This question for me almost holds more mystery than answers, and can only be explained by a long story, that any of you who know my family has already heard a hundred times.
In April of last year my daughter got sick. Within a very few days it became abundantly clear that it wasn't just a normal sick. To make a painfully long 5 week story much shorter, I'll simply say that within a week medical tests and increased symptoms grew to at least every other day. By the end of 5 weeks her pain was so excruciating that she was in bed almost constantly. Her vision was failing to the point that she was no longer able to read. Her ears turned every noise into pain. She became unstable to the point that she could no longer walk unaided. The pain was so acute that we could not even hug her. From a mother's perspective it was the hardest thing in the world to push her toward painful medical tests that only ruled things out but never led to an accurate treatable diagnosis. I know that 5 weeks does not sound like a long time but it felt like eternity. We were running out of ideas and she was continuing to get worse. Waiting time to see specialists just wasn't going by quick enough. We had to find another way.
With desperation at an all time high, we fervently prayed for a new idea, something, anything to try. The doctors had resigned to the waiting on specialists to have appointments available, but this was not their kid or where they lived on a daily basis. We made a decision to drive her to northern California, to a healing rooms at a church in Redding. We had heard miraculous stories of things happening there and we needed a miracle badly.
The night we got there we attended a church service. She was prayed for but remained significantly worse from the long travel. Hope was hard to hold on to.
We went to the healing rooms the following morning as soon as they opened. Through the duration of the day things began to change. The how was truly unexpected and unexplainable. In the middle of a large room there were art easels set up with people painting, there was music being played on the stage, there were people dancing with worship flags, and all sorts of things happening that were not in my typical experience of church.
It truly was a place for me of seeing things I'd never seen before. My daughter was invited to paint which apparently isn't typical even in this setting, but as she did, her feet became steady under her. I'm not going to detail out the entire day, but the afternoon also included painting when all of us were invited to participate in what was called an art sozo. By the end of the day my daughter was 100% healthy.
I cannot explain why art. All I know is that in one day everything changed. Had I not seen this with my own eyes, my own skeptical nature would likely try to find some sort of more logical thought. One doesn't exist, my daughter was healed by God through art.
My daughter left her first painting there, we didn't understand why until later. In researching stories of other people healed in a similar manner, we came across a very strange phenomenon. There are a myriad of similar stories to hers with additional details of other people being healed of the same malady that was healed just by seeing the painting made during the process.
The point is...
This changed my own thoughts on sharing artwork with other people. This intriguing new knowledge left no room to claim that other people have nothing to gain in seeing what was being made during my own learning and growth process. I began to understand that just as I am created in the image of God, that I am creative by that very nature. That in acts of creating art I'm becoming more like who I am. In stepping into this I've been just as surprised as many of the people around me that I have been given a gift in this area. I have no formal art training or schooling but a God given ability. God shows me new things in each piece of art that is made.
What now?
Art continues to be made and shared. Which brings me much joy, but there is more. This journey of understanding why it matters has grown a passion in my heart to help other people see a bigger God. The beginning of my daughter's healing was simply painting during a time of worship. My previous life experience confined acts of worship to singing songs. My small God box was shattered forever, by understanding that there is so very much I've missed out on in keeping God single-faceted.
There has been a growing intentionality in much of this that has finally matured enough to bare fruit. Over the last four months good ideas have become plans. Plans have been revised several times but the intention had never shifted.
I'm not doing any of this with ideas of financial gain or noteriety. I could care less if my name is ever known. My intention is simply to share with other people what I've found. The unfathomable love of God that is bigger than I could ever imagine, and the freedom and joy that can be found outside of the safely contained box sized God.
The plan.
We designed and built a prototype of a narrow transportable two sided art easel a while back and as finances allowed began putting together a systematic way for up to twenty people at a time to participate in a time of worship in art form. Tonight the last easel was constructed and the time has come to extend beyond what we do alone. All of what is needed to proceed has been prepared, canvases, brushes, paint and such. The hope is to partly fund replenishing supplies through the sale of the art that will continually be made and or by contributions from those participating in the time of worship, solely to be able to continue doing this.
So this is the history, the purpose, the plan, and where things currently are. Here's to a life of purpose, joy, love, mercy, healing, freedom, and worship of the God who holds back no good thing from His children.
We designed and built a prototype of a narrow transportable two sided art easel a while back and as finances allowed began putting together a systematic way for up to twenty people at a time to participate in a time of worship in art form. Tonight the last easel was constructed and the time has come to extend beyond what we do alone. All of what is needed to proceed has been prepared, canvases, brushes, paint and such. The hope is to partly fund replenishing supplies through the sale of the art that will continually be made and or by contributions from those participating in the time of worship, solely to be able to continue doing this.
So this is the history, the purpose, the plan, and where things currently are. Here's to a life of purpose, joy, love, mercy, healing, freedom, and worship of the God who holds back no good thing from His children.