I Am A Painter

I decided something the other day.

"I am going to be a painter."

That decision came after a strand of thoughts I've had over the years.

"I'm just not that creative." I've used that sentence before and have heard others say it.

Growing up, my cousin and Aunt were crazy creative and still are! My Aunt used to own a little shop. In it she sold her crafty things and other's crafty things. As long as I can remember, the both of them were always making & creating things; they still are.

When I was younger, my Grandma would send us birthday cards. She would draw and/or paint an animal or character we were in to. I loved Snoopy and Calvin & Hobbes.

I used to think, "I wish I could paint cards like that."

A few years into my marriage, Matt drew me a picture of a flower he found in a magazine. It's in Chloe's room.

My dad has drawn a bunch of gerbera daisy pictures. They are my favorite flower. Three hang in Chloe's room.

I would say, "I wish I could draw like them."

When Chloe was born, I wanted a way to creatively commemorate her birth and life. So I began scrapbooking. I would see others creations and say, "I wish I was scrappy like them."

Just before Cooper was born, I got my dream camera. I began learning, snapping and creating pictures. I would see others photos and say, "I wish I could take pictures like that."

Then, a thought dawned on me the other day.

If God created the Heavens and Earth, you and me and mosquitoes and the fish in the oceans and the air we breath, the child I call Chloe, the half- tailed squirrel, Charlotte and the crab spider. If he goes to the effort to make the skies look different every single night for you and I to see, if he tells the sun when to rise and fall, if he gives the butterfly its color...

AND if we are ALL created in the image of the One who can and has done ALL of the above and more....

... then I can paint, I can draw, I can scrap, I can snap and I am crafty.

Don't expect my stuff to look like Picasso. You will be lucky if you see it.