Nine Squares of Faithfulness, Painted papers, Marcia Carole
My grandchildren are visiting right now, so I am having all kinds of opportunities to give unconditional love. Even when melt downs occur. Don’t get me wrong; we have loving and kind relationships, but occassionally, little ones can get crabby. Sometimes, this happens right before bedtime. Makes sense, right? (I can be crabby right before bedtime, too, come to think of it.)
What struck me again tonight is the following. One grandson turned away from me, and didn’t want a goodnight hug after a lovely afternoon together with a big walk, trip to the playground, cheering for his basketball team and a long story book reading time. Hmmm, am I that way with God? I left the bedroom thinking to myself, “I will always love this little guy no matter what he does.” Then my next thought was, “God extends an even more profound, deeper love to me. Have I been crabby with Him, even after a lovely day together?” “Well, yeah.” I had to admit to myself.
God is faithfully there, loving and loving and loving some more. Talk about faithful love. One Bible verse says “clouds are flags of God’s faithfulness.” Marge, my collage/story/faith mentor shared this version of the verse with me when I was creating in her studio this past May. (margemalwitz.com) I wanted to try my hand at a nine square collage, so I put together nine painted papers that looked like sky, to me, to illustrate this verse.
When I look at this piece of art, I think, no matter what the sky, and therefore, day, may be like, God is faithful, and I can count on His love. He is reminding me in the clouds. That is really why, even when my grandson won’t hug me back and roughly turns away, I am OK, because my Maker loves me dearly. Even at bedtime, and even in my crabby moments.
The deeper your love, the higher it goes;
every cloud’s a flag to your faithfulness. Psalm 108:4 (The Message)