February 2014
Pen and ink/Watercolors 
8" x 10" limited edition 
Large print 11"x14" $30
 
As a spiritual director and as a follower of Jesus I am often contemplating the spiritual journey. As I look back on my life and listen to the stories of others I am moved by the many seasons and experiences of our walk with God. This drawing portrays some of them. 
 
Often there is a place where we begin (although what has occurred before that invitation to "step out" is part of the journey as well). There are seasons of discernment where choices must be made; a fork in the road so to speak. There are autumn seasons when the colors are brilliant, and the harvest is abundant. But, there is a chill in the air and a grief draws near. There are also places where we walk through the woods and everything seems close and dark, mysterious even. Then there is the desert where we are thirsty and depleted from the lonely, arid conditions that surround us. 
 
When I started this drawing, "Seasons on the Journey", it was the misty, gray mountainside that drew my attention. At that time the uncertainty and the ambiguity concerning the unknown around the corner felt familiar to me. It seemed like a quiet place, and God was quiet. 
 
There is the winter season when all is still and barren. It seems as though life has ceased. If the snow has fallen one is not even sure where the path is any longer. But something is happening beneath the surface in the winter. This is fallow time, and God is at work. In contrast, there is the new beginning of springtime when beauty and life abound, and the path seems clear and direct.
 
There are so many seasons and experiences to the journey as we walk with God; these are just some images to sketch a few. But God’s hand works in all of the seasons to draw us deeper into His love and allow us to experience Him more fully. God is forming us into the image of Christ and bringing beauty out of brokenness (which is the image of the stained glass.) Christ our Living Water who sacrificed His life blood for us is portrayed through the cross and the blue and red droplets in the stained class design. And the rays of dark (suffering) and light (celebration) remind me that He uses all things to accomplish His purposes in our lives.