My passion for God’s Word

It was also during this time that I began to be involved in an in-depth Bible study for the first time in my life. Through a study of the life of Joseph, I realized that God allows trials in our lives but can use them for our good and His glory. Growing up I had what I now call a “Santa Claus” version of God; that as long as I was “good,” He would be good to me. So realizing that God allows trials in our lives seemed like I’d been punched in the stomach and had the wind knocked out of me. Everything that I thought to be true was being challenged and turned upside down. During this time, another friend came alongside me and kept talking to me about grace. Grace this and grace that until finally one day I asked her what she meant. She gave me some Bible verses about grace, namely Ephesians 2:8-9. Finally God showed me Himself what He meant and I realized that I had been trying to earn my way to Heaven by being good rather than understanding that Jesus died on the cross for all my sins and that there was nothing I could do or couldn’t do to earn His grace or His love. It’s been a long process since that time in 2000. But it has been a wonderful journey. I’m happy to say that the Lord held back our divorce papers and worked in both my husband’s and my life to the point where we reconciled six months later. Coming back together was hard and was definitely an act of extreme faith but now we are so blessed. I can truly say I never thought our marriage would ever be as good as it is now. When we married we said we were never going to have children. But God had a different plan for us. We now have a beautiful daughter born to us in 2005 when we were stationed in Bangkok, Thailand for two years with the Navy. We have both grown so much individually and as a couple and it has all been through our study of the Bible. God’s Word can change lives. It has dramatically changed ours. My passion is to share His Word – even if it is just one verse at a time, by pairing it with my artwork. I realize that all along God has prepared my life for this purpose – those hours of creating miniatures and drawing have not been wasted. He has a purpose for each of our lives. The key is to trust Him completely.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11