Blessed Assurance
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| Blessed Assurance, 20x20, oil on canvas |
~I began this painting of my daughter, Natalie, during the summer of 2014. I asked her to put on this old, satin dress that I wore to a high school banquet, oh... about 25 years ago (give or take a little). I can't quite fit into it anymore (popped a seam trying), but Natalie fit into it like it was made just for her. After she piled her hair into a bun, she stood before me and I had to hold back the tears. I had saved the dress for so many years, not really understanding why. But when I saw Natalie standing before me, I finally understood. I thought of my precious mother who made sure that my sisters and I had beautiful dresses to wear to our high school banquet- Kelly wore gold, Mindy wore light blue, and I wore ivory. I loved my dress! I loved how it flared out when I twirled. I loved the delicate lace. I loved the simple lines. My mother always made sure that my brother and sisters and I were taken care of. She always sacrificed for us... and still gives so much! I value how Joann Webb showed me what it means to be a giver. She makes giving look so easy... it's just who she is.
And now to have my grown daughter standing before me in this very special dress was like looking into a mirror frozen in time from 1988! I thought about how I felt as a 17 year old wearing the dress, and now how Natalie was feeling. So young, free, and filled with hope.
Natalie and I walked on a path through our woods to the edge of an open field. Carefully crossing over the rusty barbed wire fence, we found a pretty place in the field to have our photo shoot. The field reminded me of one that I used to visit when I was a young girl. It was always an adventure to steal away from my siblings and journey to this magical place where I could run through fields of tall grass and daisies! I remember one particular day sitting cross-legged on the hillside, staring up at a bluer than blue sky and singing, "Blessed Assurance". The words to that old hymn have always transported me to a celestial place where the beauty of Heaven comes alive in my mind. Phrases like, "lost in His love," "echos of mercy", "whispers of love", stirred within my soul a vision and hope that so needs to be stirred more often. The veil of Heaven is sometimes thin, if we only take time to look.
Natalie and I walked on a path through our woods to the edge of an open field. Carefully crossing over the rusty barbed wire fence, we found a pretty place in the field to have our photo shoot. The field reminded me of one that I used to visit when I was a young girl. It was always an adventure to steal away from my siblings and journey to this magical place where I could run through fields of tall grass and daisies! I remember one particular day sitting cross-legged on the hillside, staring up at a bluer than blue sky and singing, "Blessed Assurance". The words to that old hymn have always transported me to a celestial place where the beauty of Heaven comes alive in my mind. Phrases like, "lost in His love," "echos of mercy", "whispers of love", stirred within my soul a vision and hope that so needs to be stirred more often. The veil of Heaven is sometimes thin, if we only take time to look.
- Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.- Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
- Refrain:
- Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels, descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. - Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. - Frannie J. Crosby, 1873