As shared on my instagram March 23rd, but felt the desire to share here as well. (With our recent listing on our home and an offer on another fixer upper, the painting of the next one will probably be moved back a little longer than I had hoped, but I already have what I want to do in mind, and I'm excited to someday share it with you all!) I have been working on this piece for the last 3 weeks & finally finished 2 days ago.
I grew up in an environment where it was consistently communicated how weak & limited women are & always felt the need to prove myself as a girl stepping into womanhood. I often didn’t see any benefit in being a woman & felt more comfort in acting like one of the guys. When I got filled with the Holy Spirit, I started seeing a different narrative. I saw a God who loved & cherished women, One who chose men & women to express His divine image together. Yet, I had such a hard time experiencing the nurturing & feminine side of God.
As much as I have always sought to be like God & please Him with my life, I never really felt like I could truly reflect Him as a woman. Being shown only the patriarchal side of God, I feel like that is a gift so often denied to women. This gift that a woman who fears the Lord could ever reflect His/Her image. (Some excerpts from my book “Re-Creating Me”)
Dr. Myles Munroe said, “Where purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable.” With the world reducing women to their sexuality & the church reducing women to their duty, the world is suffering from the devastating effects of seeing women for a small part of who they are & in turn not seeing or worshipping the Creator in His totality.
This collection called “The Essence of Woman” will be a celebration in who God created women to be. While men might have some of these attributes, I am trying to choose attributes that pertain predominantly to women. This first piece is called “Devoted.” I found out that honeysuckles & lavender mean devotion, & made the woman slightly pregnant as God has made women devoted to whatever His Spirit has birthed within her-whether it is in devotion to God, to her husband, to her baby, to her children, her pets, to a garden, a craft, or an idea. It is a strength that is so often overlooked & so needed in this world.
*****
If you'd like to read more from the excerpt in my book. You can read it here:
