My life is a work of art. A collage of images. A complex working of light and shadow. A tapestry of colours, from the dark tint of suffering to the bright hues of joy. I am an artist, but this is not my work. It is the work of The Master.

The tears I shed now are from a thankful heart for what Christ has done in my life. He has carried me through the trials, blessed me with the talent to paint and given me eyes to see and ears to hear His truths. I would have given up, but His love was always there to lift me up.

When I was nine years old, a girlfriend invited me to go to church with her. It was there, for the first time, that I learned about God and His love for me–how He sent His only begotten Son to live and die on a cross for me that I might have eternal life.

I was the oldest of six children, and I was a confused child. Both of my parents worked hard and my father drank–there was a lot of fighting in our home. But I learned that God loved me, so I asked Him to be my Lord and Savior.

God gave me a new heart and a desire to follow Him. I loved going to church and brought my sisters, brothers and my mother. Those were happy days, singing songs with my mother in the car–my favorite was “In the Garden.” But those days came to an end when a neighbor, who was like a mother to my mom and a grandma to me, went to be with the Lord. My mother stopped going to church, as did my sisters and brothers. With the gossip from the girls in my Sunday school class, I also stopped going to church. But God was not done with me.

I have always loved drawing and painting; it was something I could do well. I started out with the enamel paint my father brought home when I was a little girl. I continued painting through high school, where my art teachers encouraged me to try for an art scholarship. I didn’t feel I had what it takes to make it in college, not realizing that there were colleges that were just for learning art, so I took my mother’s advice to marry.

My marriage to an unfaithful husband brought many tears, but it also led me into friendship with a Christian sister, Sarah. She invited me to go to church with her and we prayed together. She encouraged me in my walk with the Lord, and I thank God for placing her in my life.

In 1968, Christian, my baby boy, was stillborn. He was taken up to heaven before I was even able to hold and love him. This caused me to seek answers.

I knew the answers I wanted were in the Bible and, if I would seek with all my heart, God would show me. I learned to listen to Him and something beautiful happened that changed my life. I knew God in a deeper way. I saw that many suffer from the loss of loved ones, but I have a relationship with God that can never be taken away.

The longing to have a child to hold and love was still there and I would cry my heart out to my Lord at night. In time, though, I was able to pray, “Whatever Your will be, I am willing.” To my surprise, the next month I became pregnant.

In 1969, I gave birth to my daughter, Rachel. I never knew I could shed so many tears of joy as I did at her birth. In 1970 I gave birth to a healthy, happy, baby boy named Claude. He was very special, with us for only eight months. I came to realize that the children we are blessed with belong to God and are placed in our care. In 1972, God gave me another son, Isaac. I loved my children with open hands and I’m looking forward to seeing Claude again in heaven.

But the situation in our home was very unstable. Drugs and drinking had come into my husband’s life. God used this time in my life to teach me humility. I had to live day to day leaning on Him.

It was during this time that I started doing art shows. The Lord convinced me that I needed to tell others what the Bible says. There are so many lost and hurting people who need to hear that God is alive, loves them and that His word is applicable for today as it was when it was written. I did not have any great talent, but God took what I had and put His word in pictures from experiences in my life for me to paint. I would place the verses beside them to be read.

I was thirty-eight years old when my marriage ended in a divorce. I was a mother of two teenagers in search of work, not having work skills other than that of a mother and a freelance artist. I applied for a scholarship at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, California, and received it to study as an illustrator. God provided all our needs and more.

Active in singles at church, I had felt God wanted me to remain single to encourage other singles in their walk with the Lord. I didn’t know that in 1992 the Lord was to bring me into a closer relationship with a special man.

I had known Steve for years as a brother, the son of my best friend, Sarah. There was no deception, I knew where he stood in his relationship with God. It was his love and commitment to God that attracted me to him. We went for marriage counseling and were married.

My husband has encouraged me in my painting and in getting them made into prints and cards. We call them ministering cards and prints as they are to be used to encourage, lift up, heal, and open eyes and hearts towards God. My deepest desire is that hearts will be stirred towards God. I want God to get all the glory; He’s the reason I paint what I paint. He gave me the talent. My love for the Lord and who He is are my life. My prayer is that I may grow closer to God. That when others look at me they won’t see me, but Jesus living in me.

My story is about a faith in God that grows stronger through trials; it’s about the love relationship between God and me. I don’t regret the experiences I went through. It is because of them that I am who I am today.

What I went through may be different than what the Lord is taking you through, but God is the same.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, God has given you His Holy Spirit to help you live life according to His perfect plan.

Why not pray this simple prayer and by faith invite Him to fill you with His Spirit:

Dear Father, I need you. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you by directing my own life. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I pray this in the name of Jesus. As an expression of my faith, I thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit. Amen.