I took a class in oil painting once. I signed up for an adult session because I was in the city for my son’s art class and had nothing else to do. Art had always enchanted and intimidated me.
In the first lesson, we were told to draw the still life before us with a permanent black marker. I was stunned and horrified. How could I erase all of my mistakes? I was sure to make many of them and would need to hide them immediately!
My teacher just smiled. She didn’t entertain my fears for a moment. The next week I was standing before an easel and canvas dabbing colored oils into shapes like radishes. Each time I called to my teacher for help, she whispered over my shoulder, “You’re doing fine.” I decided to allow myself to enjoy and trust the process. Soon my fears melted away and in their place was love and pleasure.
I cherished my moments in that attic above the city. Each week I’d run up to the room like a parent returning to her baby, find my canvas, situate my easel and tools and settle in to an hour of nursing and cooing at my creation. At the end of the year I won the award for the best beginner and was delighted with my work and my victory over fear and negativity. When I approach my life with love I will create a masterpiece.
And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:14
Meeting God at the Park 