A little art time... early in the morning

I just finished this piece as a gift for a friend who happens to be our pastor. However, it is not a Christmas gift but a Rebirth-day gift. December 23 is the date he came to know Christ over 20 something years ago. I will give it to him tomorrow. I wrote a letter to him explaining the piece, etc... so instead of me explaining it again here for you, I'll just post a copy of the letter and save myself some writing time! :) The scripture that has prompted this piece is John 17: 20-26 which says:

20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

On a more personal note, I'm pretty much finished shopping for Christmas with only a ocuple of details left. I still have several bags for the homeless to deliver. Sam just lost another tooth so he has one and a half top front teeth out! He looks pretty cute. I have also spent HOURS cleaning out my kids play area and rearranging things to make more room for play on the floor so they can stay off MY side of the room since we share a room for my studio/their play room. That was quite a project! I don't know why but I always get "spring fever" around Christmas... I guess it's all the extra chaos and clutter that just sends me in an organizing frenzy. I just can't stand all the "stuff" around.

Oh, now, on to John's letter and please know that John has quite the sense of humor so if any of the letter sounds kinda' weird, he'll get it:

December 21, 2007

John,
Over the past couple of years, God has been increasingly showing me and teaching me about “Jesus in me”. He has shown me things with my own eyes that I have difficulty even explaining to someone else! Now, He seems to be constantly running a tape through my head allowing me to ask the same questions over and over about what it really means that Jesus is in me.
I became a Christian when I was 7 years old and for most of those years as a Believer, I have imagined Jesus as “little”. You know, ‘Jesus in my heart’. Truthfully, I sorta’ pictured him much like the Plankton from Spongebob. And while Plankton is my favorite character on the show, I have found the Jesus is nothing like Plankton…. Jesus isn’t “little Jesus in my heart”, He’s BIG Jesus who is in every fiber of my being. He’s in every molecule of my DNA. He fully and completely embodies me and every Believer. WOW! This is HUGE! I am continually asking God to make me so aware of this every moment of the day so that my attitudes and actions can be completely turned over to Him to ‘act out’ or ‘speak out’ with me simply being a vessel. Oh how different I would be if I could truly grasp the magnitude of powerful love the lives in me! The creator of the entire universe lives in my body and wants desperately to be able to use me as a vessel. Yet, He patiently waits and never forces His way. My prayer is that I can be so aware of His presence in me that He just seeps out. I am awed as I come to know the reality of His presence and power IN me. Not beside me, in front of me, behind me, but IN me. How wonderful that He can be in all of those places for me but something happens in my heart and mind when I take in the fact that He dwells IN me.
For months now, I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to do some piece of art as a response to show what He has shown me and I could not figure it out. Then, two weeks ago, when you were speaking on Sunday morning functioning on only 2 hours of sleep, THAT’S when God showed me how to show it! On so little sleep, you may not remember saying this but you asked everyone to raise their hand for ‘something’ and then you said, “those of you who didn’t raise your hand are lying”! Well, I was so engrossed in this art piece in my head that all of the sudden I snapped out of it and thought, “what did I just lie about?!” I have no idea what you were talking about at that very moment but I do remember your heart. And what you kept saying over and over was the word “Remember”. Remember who God is. Remember who you are. Remember what He says. Remember the truth. So, as I sat there listening and creating in my head, I sensed that this completed art piece was to be yours. Not for Christmas celebrating Jesus’ birth, but a birthday gift for you celebrating your new birth in Christ over 20 years ago. Your re-birthday: A day of celebration to remember that He is living fully IN you for eternity!

So, while this piece is full of flaws in my eyes, being imperfect shows my humanness but the message is from Jesus and that is perfect. I pray that it is HIM you remember each time you look at this piece. Max saw it and said, “Wow mommy, you made a trophy!” Well, I hadn’t thought of it like that at all but when I looked at it, I thought, “Yes, I guess I have!” It seems fitting. Now, each time you look at this ‘trophy’, REMEMBER:
*He is fully IN you.
*He will never leave you.
*He is IN you for eternity.
*Because He is in you, He literally experiences everything with you.
*Since He is IN, He has bound Himself inside you and will never come out.
*He’s waiting to use your body as a vessel.
*When you acknowledge His fullness in you and allow Him to use you, HE is the one who permeates everything you touch and lives are changed including yours!
*He and the Father are ONE and He is ONE in you as well. Love itself embodies you. (Look up the scripture verse on the bottom of the trophy stand.)
*Now stand back, smile, breathe deep, and feel the Love, John!

So, John, Happy Re-Birthday! I pray that your heart will celebrate both yours and His birth this year in a new, life-changing way!

In Him,