I finally hung these four frames above my bed this past week. Isn’t funny how things just “come together?”
When I first started going through all of my pictures and wall art options, I will admit I just divided these out by style - "these will all look good together"! It was not until I saw them all on my wall that I noticed the significance of them hanging side by side. I want to tell you why.
I’ll start with the oldest, in the bottom left corner - a sketch from the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) in Firenze, Italy. From the time I was a little girl I had a fascination with all things Italian. I dreamed of going to Italy, cooked through many Italian cookbooks, read all about the history, and of course loved (and, much to my families’ chagrin, practiced) Italian opera.
My senior year of high school, God provided a way for my parents to send me on a 2-week tour through several cities all over the boot-shaped country. An older couple on the trip bought me this sketch from my favorite part of the trip-Florence- and sent it to me when I graduated High School. This picture reminds me that God is kind and generous.
The bottom right picture is an original sketch from my dear friend Valerie - given to me on my 31st birthday. Valerie is one of my 3 best girlfriends from my NYC days. We met at Trinity Baptist Church in Manhattan and became fast friends.
Each Friday night we met at Soleluna - a local Italian restaurant down the way from my Sunnyside apartment in Queens. Soleluna was like “Cheers” where everybody knew our names. We had a reserved seat even though we never made a reservation and we rarely paid for much of what we ordered thanks to Valerio, the owner. We talked and laughed and cried together over handmade pasta and tiramisu. This picture reminds me that God provides.
The piece on the top left is a product of my covid hobby, embroidery. This reminds me that God is always working, always in control. He is pulling a thread throughout my life-from my Gramma who taught me to embroider when I was 5 and the way she pointed me to Jesus, to all He is teaching me in the midst of a pandemic.
He is in control and He is good.
But this last picture on the top right - this one is special. This watercolor is another original from Taylor Jackson (Find her on Instagram @canvasandkind) and was given to me by Jessica upon moving into my new house. It was done as part of a hymn series Taylor did where she painted as she listened to a hymn. Guess which hymn inspired this beautiful piece….”Great is Thy Faithfulness”.
As I stood looking at this collection of artwork, tears filled my eyes and I started singing the hymn out loud, in my quiet house. It was one of those moments I just had to stop and thank God. And cry. And praise Him for His faithfulness.
What are your moments? The moments that remind you He is kind and generous? That He provides and is in control? That He is good? That He is faithful?
The poem was written in 1923 by Thomas Chisolm and was set to music by his friend, William Runyan, to give us the hymn we sing today. Chisolm was inspired by Lamentations 3:22-23. I invite you to read it as you call to mind all of these moments that remind of His faithfulness. I invite you to sing the words or play the music and just say “Thank You. For Great is Your Faithfulness, Lord unto me.”
Then teach it to your children.
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