“You’d think with two photographers, and one who is also an artist, we’d have something on our walls.” My husband grumbled.
3 years has passed since we bought our home and still no wall décor.
“We’ve both agreed on a wine country theme for the dining room,” I added apologetically, “since we live in wine country. Maybe we need to lower our expectations for finding the perfect pieces of art or photography and use the best of what we’ve got so far,” I added as I was thinking, I’m a portrait artist and not a landscape artist. Geeze!
Every day we look at the empty spaces and sigh, maybe someday?
I don’t just have empty spaces on my walls, I have them in other parts of my life as well. Places where I can’t fill in the blanks:
- What will carrying for our aging parents will look like for my siblings and I?
Empty spaces__________________. - What will happen to my children and grandchildren in the future?
Empty spaces__________________. - What will happen to family members who have health issues?
Empty spaces__________________. - What needs will my husband and I have as we age?
Empty spaces__________________.
And then there’s those empty spaces in my creative life.
- What should I paint next?
Empty space__________________. - How will I sell my paintings post pandemic?
Empty spaces__________________. - What is my publishing path for my other manuscripts in process?
Empty space__________________.
When I think about empty spaces, those uncertainties in life and artistic giftings, I’m reminded of Corrie Ten Boom’s father’s advice when she was a child afraid of dying:
“Corrie, when you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you the ticket? She sniffled a little, and replied, “Why, just before we get on the train.”
“Exactly,” her father responded, “and our wise Father in heaven knows when we are going to need things too. Don’t run ahead of Him, Corrie.”
Corrie Ten Boom’s book, The Hiding Place, inspired me to become a missionary in the Netherlands. Her family hid Jewish people during the Holocaust, and it cost her father and sister their lives. I traveled across the world at twenty-years old because of her story.
From Corrie I learned that grace is like the manna God sent to the children of Israel in Exodus 16:14-21. Each gathered just what they needed for the day but couldn’t store it for the future.
So it is with the answers we long to fill our empty spaces.
We ask, and then we wait. In due season, God’s grace will fill in the blanks.
The direction will become obvious, the next painting will form in my mind, the pathway to publishing will unfold.
Whatever the empty space is, we will know the next step when we’re ready to walk the path.
I believe you have a unique destiny, and I hope to be a part of your journey!
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JoDee Luna Art 