At The Heart Of It

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was going to an online Art workshop   along with a load of other Ministerial Spouses. This was run by my mate Chris Duffett, Baptist minister, artist and more [ check him out here ] As instructed I had a canvas and some acrylic paints and brushes at the ready. I've never used these before, in fact I haven't really done 'art' since O level in 1971 ...

First Chris asked us to read some selected verses from Psalm 18.

I love you, Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
    and I have been saved from my enemies.
The cords of death entangled me;
    the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me…
 In my distress I called to the Lord;
    I cried to my God for help….
From his temple he heard my voice;
    my cry came before him, into his ears.
He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me… He brought me out into a spacious place;
    he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Then we had to select a verse which really spoke to us and sketch something [an image, not words] about. I was drawn to v19, where it talks about being rescued into a spacious place. I envisioned a dark and stormy night at sea - but at the heart of it, God's love and peace. We only had 45 minutes, and this is what I painted

When we had all finished, we were each asked to show our picture and give any explanations. I said that in recent weeks, there had been some difficult issues but even in the darkest moments, I knew God was there for me.

Then Chris said that we were not to keep our pictures, but ask God to show us who we should give them to. 

I decided to pass mine on to Bob. Recently he has had chest pains, and the GP acted really quickly [Bob has an ectopic heartbeat, and 2 years ago had a TIA] She sent him straight off to the cardiac unit in Norwich for further tests. They were so efficient and kind, and tomorrow at 7.15am he will go into hospital for an angiogram, and if necessary, an angioplasty procedure, and stents fitted immediately,  depending on what the angiogram reveals . He has been told to expect everything to take between 3 and 4 hours.

This is run-of-the-mill, everyday stuff for the medical team. But it is not so for us. It is a huge, unknown experience. To be honest, it is quite scary, when I think about what is involved. 

The picture is on the table in our study, so we both see it when we come in here to work on our computers. 

It is a reminder that nothing can separate us from God's love. And that is what is keeping us going right now ...