I’m excited about a new book I’m going to illustrate this fall, and thought I’d warm up on watercoloring again (I guess April was the last time I painted!) and so I made this for a friend’s charity event:
Be Still and know that I am God
(For the best results, download and save to your computer before printing. Don’t print from your internet browser.)
(Click the downloadable link under the picture to get a non-watermarked version.) And since I’m still far too busy and lazy to set up an etsy shop for these, you can just have it to add to your collection. It is a favorite verse of mine: “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10. So many times in my life, I see a problem and I work and work and work to fix it. And then I worry worry worry about not working hard enough or doing the right things to fix it. Sometimes I’m just spinning my wheels just adding stress to my life when I really need to just ‘be still’ and know that God is in control of all things.
How about you? Do you have a hard time just being still and trusting God? Do you get worked up trying to solve all your own problems (and other people’s problems), when you really just need to step back and know that God is in control?
This spring when we were trying to find a place to have our Catholic Schoolhouse Chapter, and we were being turned down by all the local Catholic Churches, I saw this scripture stuck in the back of my notebook, from a retreat I had been on and it just clicked. I was allowing myself to worry excessively about everything that needed to happen that was also totally out of my control. Would we find a facility to use? Why do all the Catholic Churches not want Catholic Homeschoolers? What do we tell all the parents who want to be part of this program when we can’t find a place to meet? What if we end up meeting in a Protestant Church? And the worries kept going on like that, keeping me up at night. After I saw this verse, I decided to just do my part, and quit the worrying ‘after hours’ about it. I contacted churches, let them tell me ‘no’, and moved on to the next church, expanding our search radius after every ‘no.’ But I decide to ‘be still’ and know that God is God, and his ways are so much higher than my ways. If a Catholic Schoolhouse Chapter was indeed part of his plan for me, and for this region, surely it would happen, sans all the anxiety.
Sure enough, we ended up with not just one location but two, which meant we ended up with two Chapters of CSH! Even now that we have started in our beautiful facility, we are a bit on egg shells after a small mishap involving a beautiful glass lantern that is displayed only a foot off the ground. I pray that our new home will continue to welcome us, and that we can avoid any future property damage. But the reality is, that God was the one who created the 1yr old, 2 yr old, and 3 yr olds of the world, and put their sometimes-destructive-curiosity in their little hearts. And I just need to ‘be still’ and know that he’s got this and I’m just along for the ride. And maybe keep a closer eye on those 1 year olds… and maybe move some of the breakable stuff for when we’re there?
Oh yea, my friend’s charity event! My awesome friend Kim (who I look up to in so many ways) is part of a local group of breast cancer survivors/warriors called “The Rack Pack.” Every year they host an auction to raise funds for organizations that support and provide services to women with breast cancer. They take donated artwork for this auction and I thought it’d be a great purpose for this painting, and hopefully this verse will speak to whoever chooses to bid for it. Kim is also an author (Joy is Contagious, Cancer Isn’t), previously a radio DJ (I love her voice), and now I believe she runs a magazine? Anyway she’s pretty amazing and I’m so grateful I have the chance to donate to a cause important to her.
Please DO NOT copy and paste on your own website, copy and sell, or distribute these pictures without permission. They are for your personal use. I painted them, and want you to have them, but please don’t take advantage of me. If you want to share them with your friends, please send them a link to this blog post! Thanks!
If you’re still with me, thanks for reading all of that lol!
Kristen
