“It is finished”

Tonight, I finally think I am finished with my painting.  I had several close calls to messing it up.  Once, I got turpentine drops on it, and I was able to fix it.   Then turpentine splattered all over the background for the sky.  It was the best background I had painted yet.  Still, I was able to fix the painting.  I felt Satan was trying to deter me from accomplishing my goal.

Lauren and Ashton came down to the basement where I was painting to tell me goodnight.  Lauren was in a silly mood.  As she went back upstairs, she said, “Good night Mom.  Good night Jesus.”  She knew I was trying to paint my painting.

Everything was all starting to come together.  Before I painted, I prayed.  I asked Him to help me see Jesus in the clouds, and I also listened to praise music as I painted.

I had a few things I wanted to do differently this time.  I knew I was painting Jesus too much like a figure and not like a cloud.  I was trying to not make it so “perfect.”  I tried to put more blue on Jesus and tried to get his face just right. 

When I finished, I stared at it for a while.  I did not look at it immediately and say, “It is finished.”  I polished it up and fixed the imperfections.  As usual, I took the painting to Paul for him to see.  It wasn’t his typical response, which up until this point did not show any real enthusiasm.  He really liked it a lot and said it was more what he imagined it would look like.  I was pleased with his comments and went back to my drafting table and stared at it again for a while.

As I stared at the painting, I noticed as a tilted the painting back and forth, Jesus winked at me.  At one angle, Jesus’ left eye looked open.  At another angle, His left eye was closed.  It was really neat.  That to me was Jesus saying, “It is finished.”  I offered it up to Jesus and gave it to Him.  I told Him I hoped it honored Him and would bring people to know Him.  As I was praying, tears started to flow down my face.  Then I started crying.  It was a big release because “it is finished.”

It also means my book is finally finished unless God wants me to add something else.  Now I have to be patient until it is the right time to get the book published.  It has been very hard since I got the green light almost a year ago to publish my book.

U Do you personally know the Jesus I saw in the clouds that day?  U