I DO! – Charcoal Art – June 23rd

I DO
June 23, 2021

Charcoal Art

Jeremiah 31:3, ‘The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, with lovingkindness have I drawn you.”’ (NKJV)

On the day I was dreamt about, He pulled a canvas from the air and stretched it flat across a flower-filled meadow. I heard the birds of the air; I swam with the creatures of the deep, while He laid back and rested. His hands became entwined across His chest and His legs crossed at the knees, and a warm smile pulled loosely over His lips. His eyes twitched in dreams and the smile lines crinkled on His forehead. I knew He was dreaming of me because I was dreaming of Him too.
At just the right moment, He pulled Himself from His dream and clamored to His feet. The breeze played softly with His hair and there was music on the wind. At once, He stretched out His hand across the blank canvas, and with magic in His fingers, a shape appeared as He traced an image of me.

Clouds gently billowed throughout the sky and warmth of the sun appeared where there had been an empty page. The meadow rolled across the paper and flowers grew up from the void. Sweetness was so palatable it could be tasted, and the love was thick that drew my being. Wisps of hair and long tapered fingers, knobby knees and skinny toes, materialized from the charcoal in His hand, and those knees knelt at His feet and the hands reached in worship for the skies. A smile wafted from the page; eyes blinked in the brilliance of the sun. A thought formed from the depth of my mind. Suddenly I could imagine, and I witnessed His patience with my very own eyes. So very cautiously, His strokes slowed when He reached my chest, and kindly, He painted my heart and filled it with love, and into my soul, He sculpted worth. He put His lips to mine and breathed breath into my lungs and my heart began to beat for Him.

I searched for words so I could express to Him my gratitude, but only silence filled the space between us. His eyes twinkled, and immediately, a sound fell from my lips like a song. My personality raised from the canvas where His charcoal rested, and I sensed a depth of passion deeper than the sea I had swum in and denser than the air I could breathe and higher than the sun in the sky. I experienced newness of life but felt the oldness of my soul within me. We had known each other for a very long time, a lifetime and longer, I suddenly fathomed. And on that day, I whispered ‘I Do!’ On the day I was born, I heard Him say, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn you.”

Psalm 139:13-18, ‘For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows full well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in the secret place, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your Book, they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious are Your thoughts for me, o God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.’ (NKJV)

What a promise ‘I Do’ is! Whether we are committing to a person or simply being intentional in life, our word should be a cherished commodity. This month, journey with me in ‘I Do’ moments which are an oath, a vow, a pact, a pledge, an honorarium.