"You Stand" - a Commission for Angela

 My friend Angela asked me to do 2 paintings.

 One with Ecclesiastes 3 and another  with her standing, being supported by two angels and one angel behind her. That was a bit of a challenge.  Then she decided they should be combined. CHALLENGE!!! * a little note - I made then video then added  the music. I didn't adjust it so that the angels  would appear during the angel part of the song.  Pretty cool, don't you think?

 

At first I dreaded conveying all of the “there is a time” 

images but as I began, I got so excited with the images the 

Lord showed me. Most of the images are straightforward 

and don’t need an explanation. 

Here are some stills of the work in progress

 I actually started backwards and started with war.   

The images of the twin towers seemed so personal,

 an attack on our land. Wars sometimes are so

 distant but this hit us to our core. The dove is for peace.

The torn and mended fabric is the same piece of fabric.

 I chose pink to red for the color of our heart and

 our relationships. Some relationships are torn away from us 

and some just need to be mended. 

The mending thread is red for the scarlet thread of redemption.

The Angel behind is bigger and brighter.

More like a warrior angel. The 2 angels 

supporting Angela are transparent, unseen ministers.  

 I told Angela, "You are just you. In your bright running shoes,

 you are ready to run the race that God as set before you". 

I thought, “I wish we had been inside where the lights 

and shadows were not so vivid”. 

But that is life. Seasons of light when God is obviously present 

and seasons of shadows and darkness when you wonder 

“God, where are you?”

I told her, "Your hair was the last thing I painted. 

The wind was blowing your hair and I thought,

 this is perfect. The winds of adversity, 

the winds of change, and the wind of the Spirit. 

To sum it all up: 

Whether tall and straight, 

YOU STAND!

 Bent and broken, 

YOU STAND!

In the midst of the wind, 

YOU STAND!

In the middle of all that life brings, 

YOU STAND!

In the middle of time, 

YOU STAND!

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

 …Stand and see the salvation that I bring!