Taratories Blog

He is the Forest

Last year I did a custom birds nest different than any I've ever done before.  Someone asked me to do a nest with eggs in specific colors that were unique to each child.  This family has a unique situation where they brought in 3 children into their family where they went from a family of 4 to a family of 7 just like that!  Today, as I was painting nests I received an email from this mother who ordered this nest from me last year.  It was so amazing and encouraging, I just had to share!

She wrote, "I love, love, love my birds nest.  I'm sure you hear that all the time, but I don't think I ever told you how perfect it is for me and I want you to know the very way you painted it is such a blessing to my heart.  You had no way of knowing, but the specific positioning is an incredible window to the dynamics in my home and after looking at it in awe for about a year, I decided I wanted to share it with you.  I don't know if it'll all make sense, but I hope I at least get the point across that God totally directed your hand as you created this piece and I am so grateful!

 

Above the teal egg is her little yellow sister, above the pink egg are her two brothers. 

The two on the bottom are the oldest girls.  They carry the weight of the sibling group and act both as a team of leaders and personal adversaries.  The way the eggs are situated it's like they are facing away from each other, but close at the bottom showing they have each other's back.  

Pink, standing nearly upright, points her chin up and stands strong to keep the others up.  

The blue egg nestled in the middle is our middle boy.  The richest color that you used, he is the deepest and experiences emotions the most intensely, he is in every way the epitome of middle child and is situated smack dab in the middle of all the eggs, just like he is at home.  The two blue eggs are nose to nose, and in real life those two are best friends, and sometimes yellow gets a little jealous.  

Yellow is supported by her big sister teal and they are super close, but yellow is leaning toward green, her same-age boy cousin who she spends most of her time with.  

Green, up there on the top, seems the most detached from the rest, supported by big brother but not facing each other, and distant from big sister pink. He struggles to fit in and feel accepted.  

The eggs opposite each other- pink and yellow, blue and green- are the kids who are the least bonded to each other.  

As I look at this painting it is so much more than a piece of art.  It is a gift from God.  I see the hand of God bringing our family together and weaving these kids lives together. I see that our situation is no unfortunate accident but a divine appointment.  It is a reminder that I am exactly where He has created me to be in this moment and that He's got them, on the days when I feel like the chaos is too much, I'm not alone, He's holding us.  I may imagine the eggs as the children and the nest as my home, but God has reminded me that He is the forest that the nest is in, so much bigger than I can even imagine and I find great peace in that."

 

Recently, God has been showing me a few things.

1.  He is showing me that art is POWERFUL, more powerful than we can even imagine.  

2. That He is using my art to SPEAK to others and bring healing and encouragement, when I least expect it to.

3. It is more important to have SUCCESS through God's eyes than the world's eyes, because his ways are higher than mine.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9