Trash or Treasure?

      I am on an adventure to seek-out Glimpses of God’s Glory in a 30 day/30 paintings challenge. It is joyful anticipation to find a subject to paint on a small canvas each day. Some of the “scenes” so far have been obviously beautifully inspiring like: clay flowerpots kissed by the rays of the warm spring sunrise, or photos taken last Mother’s Day of table centerpieces of red roses and pink tulips in green glass mason jars, or my neighbors abandoned, rusty, vine covered, metal mailbox. Some days it has been more challenging to find subjects to paint though, due to the many everyday housekeeping tasks that beckon outside of what I have come to refer to as my “Pandemic Confinement Therapy Painting”. But believe it or not, even drudgery tasks like dishes, laundry and trash can make for some interesting subjects to capture on canvas. 
    I recently posted 3 of these daily paintings on Facebook just for fun with the hope of bringing some giggles and lightening the air a bit. A close friend commented that “…you can take laundry and garbage and make it beautiful with light, now there is a devotional.” She speaks Truth! 
    These everyday tasks (as well as being quarantined in our homes for extended periods of time) can be anything but beautiful when they are viewed or experienced in darkness, or drabness. It can all weigh us down. But catch a glimpse of sunlight streaming in through a window falling across a laundry basket piled with soiled clothes and instantly they are worthy of capturing with oil paint. Likewise, when we seek God in the midst of things that aren’t so pretty, even ugly sometimes, He will always show us something beautiful and it is as if He has shined a bright Light on the grayness. Bestselling christian author and motivational speaker,  Ann Voskamp, puts it this way, “The secret Joy is to keep seeking God where we doubt He is.” (One Thousand Gifts, 2010)
     The “secret Joy” can be that laundry means your children are safe at home, dishes can mean you had enough to eat, and taking out the trash could mean your chores are completed for the day.
Seek His Light in all things and He will be faithful to Shine even in the darkest places.
​The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5
​janefnewman.com

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