He called her Hephzibah

  "Taste & see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him." -Psalm 34:8 TASTING "Taste & see that the Lord is good..." The fruits and veggies that our earth produces, taste best when they are "in season."  One of the things I love about summer is the fresh fruits and veggies from a garden or farmers market. Bible scholar Kristi McClelland talks in her podcast Pearls about how Jewish children are introduced to the word of God.  The Rabbi will take honey from the honeycomb and go visit kindergarten classes.  The children will dip their finger in the honey and raise it to their mouth.  As they are tasting it, the Rabbi will tell them "this is what the word of God tastes like." (She tells it better than I do, so I encourage you to listen to it here .  She starts talking about the honey around minute 10). The word taste in Psalm 34:8 literally means to "taste or perceive." Like the other times it is used in the

  "But when you ask, you must believe & not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown & tossed by the wind."  - James 1:6 For my Gran & Paw Paw, The ones who demonstrate love so well & encouraged my love of all things ocean.   This painting might be my favorite one in this year's calendar.  I'm a sucker for all things ocean.  When I was a child, these precious grandparents lived on the Marshall Islands.  I wanted to be like them when I grew up, so around age three I made up my mind that I was going to be an ocean scientist.  I stuck to that throughout high school until God let me know He had something else in mind.  Even in college I waffled back and forth between my love for water with the calling to minister to children. I ended up with a teaching degree, but even today I still say still say that my first love was always the ocean.     Our verse this month comes from the letter of James in the New Testament.  It is packed ful

  "...ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you..."  -Matthew 7:7 This sounds like a candy machine formula if I ever heard one.  Yet, I also know that God is not a vending machine.  So what in the world was Jesus saying?  The best way I know to answer that question is to let scripture interpret scripture. If we look at the original words: ask, seek, knock.  The Amplified Bible provides a footnote about these verses which says this:  Matthew 7:7   Here the use of Greek present imperatives (asking, seeking, knocking; vv 7, 8) emphasizes persistent, constant prayer. Continue to ask Continue to seek Continue to knock Do not grow weary in your praying. I must confess (and may God forgive me if this is wrong to share on this platform),  I am weary. I don't know what to write to you because I'm struggling to find my next breath.  Life is hard.  It was hard for Jesus and His disciples and it is hard today.  It has been hard

  "...blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him." - Jeremiah 17:7 For my Aaron, You've been my bestie since birth & I am so grateful for you.  Your life reflects this verse so well.  You have trusted in the Lord and kept your confidence in Him.  Your faith encourages and inspires me every single day.  I love you, big brother.   I painted this picture with the lake in mind.  The lake during that in between part of spring and summer.  Aaron and I have been to the occasional lake house or houseboat together, so his verse felt appropriate for this picture.  When he sent me the verse I didn't bother to look at the context.   But now as I read it in context, I'm blown away.   Verse 8 reads "He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." I knew this picture w

  For Katie, a most faithful friend who hears the voice of her Shepherd.  I love you like you were my own sister.  Thank you for being such a precious friend to me.  You've been with me and prayed for me through some really hard days.  I am so grateful for you!  Your love for Jesus radiates through you. "My sheep know my voice; I know them and they follow Me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand."  -John 10:27-28 There is SO MUCH that can be said about sheep being used in scripture.  I've had a hard time narrowing it down, so I'm just going to include as much as I can and trust the Holy Spirit to guide you to what you need. The Shepherd's Voice I remember being a kid and going on a field trip to a farm.  We learned about sheep and how they only respond to the voice of their shepherd.  We all took turns trying to call the sheep.  The sheep completely ignored all of us.  And then the shepherd stepped for

WELCOME   If we have not met, my name is Emily and I am a survivor of a traumatic brain injury.  I am honored to be a featured artist alongside fellow survivor, Jeremy, for the month of March at Huntsville Hospital.  March is TBI (traumatic brain injury) awareness month.   For more about me and my personal journey with a TBI, click here . If you are interested in hearing the story behind any of the paintings, please see the links below.  Feel free to explore this little blog and also check out my shop and portfolio !  If you are interested, I would love to add you to my subscribers list.  I send out an email on the first of each month with a devotional link attached.   Email me  if you would like to be added to our group!  Thank you for being here!  Thank you for your support!   "Connections" I did not paint this one alone.  Click here to read the story. "Peachy Keen" I haven't been able to write the story behind this one yet.  Maybe someday soon.  For now I wi