God's Gifts

"When a person stumbles through the day in a pit of despair, wishing to die, but refusing to die; when a person gets up the next day and does it all over again--well, that takes guts. That takes a kind of real, basic survival courage, a courage that can be put to good use if that person ever finds his or her way... (and) find new and beautiful ways to use it." A Day At A Time

I have been thinking a lot about the above passage since I read it yesterday and I realize that I have been given many gifts to use to live my life. The gift of art is obvious, but I have received other gifts during the trauma of the last couple of years: courage, wisdom, perseverance, bravery; maybe I have always had them. I have always thought myself as wimpy, but I realize that God doesn't give us this life to live without the necessary means with which to live it. He encourages us to use these gifts and doesn't mind if we tell others about them, maybe bragging a bit. So, I am brave and have courage and if I lived a few centuries ago, I might have been a dragon slayer-- in armor on a white steed; I like that image. How can I use this courage today? What dragons do I need to slay?

This picture is for my friend who likes landscapes. It is the first heating panel I did--acrylic 24 x 48 --big for me. I like the landscape, but I find the cloud a bit intimidating. I couldn't help it; it just grew and grew as I was painting it, much the same way cumulus clouds grow in West Texas; it seemed to have a life of its own, so I let it be. I imagine there is a farmer in the barn watching the cloud with concern, wondering if it will grow into a serious storm because, see? His wheat is ready to harvest. The title? Two Barns and a Cloud. Of course, what else could I call it?