Bringing Our Own Flair

Last week, 12 women from the Hope family met for an evening of color and light at Painting with a Twist in Winter Park.

Our own Sarah Allen, a professional artist, led our class -- teaching a roomful of novices how to engage a blank canvas without fear. Several people who've seen images like this one note that while we painted the same object with the same instruction & same color palette, each of our "Dawn of a New Day" paintings was distinctive.

For me, this became a lovely metaphor for following Jesus Christ. Each Christ-follower looks to the same model -- our leader, Jesus -- who shows us how to engage the world with grace ... colored by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And while an observer should quickly recognize the pattern we're following, God uses our individual personalities, gifts and weaknesses to shape these efforts into a unique offering for the world. 

Thanks be to the creative God, who allows us to bring our own flair to his good and beautiful purpose!