Beauty for the Broken

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

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As you work through your grief, you may have times when you simply need to get your mind off of what you're going through because you have done everything you can do about it. -Joyce Meyer


Healing from heartache and grief is hard work. Sometimes you just need a break from it all. That's why a few weeks ago I bought myself a simple set of watercolors and some watercolor paper. I am NOT a artist. Go ask my kids for verification on that! Or maybe you should ask my Spanish students about the drawings I do for them as I am teaching. They will validate my statement..."This girl doesn't have an artistic bone in her body!"


Playing with watercolor has been a release...a chance to make beauty, because when you have lived through the ugly you need something beautiful more than ever. That would be me...the non-artist trying to heal and create beauty out of the mess by painting. I am finding that by setting apart some time to learn something new and creative I am healing those broken places just a bit. I am thinking of colors and contrasts instead of conflicts. I am giving my brain a break from it all.


He has made everything beautiful in its time, {Ecc. 3:11} and He will give a crown of beauty for ashes {Is. 61:3}. 

God is the master {and unlike me a REAL artist} of taking the ugly and making beauty. When He allowed others to reject me He brought beauty in the form of kind words and affirmations of His love. When I have walked a lonely road He has walked beside me. When I felt beat up and scarred beyond repair He brought healing. God is in the business of bringing beauty to that which is broken.


So these days I am painting my way through heartache and learning about the healing process...creating beauty in the brokenness of a life. There are so many ways to go about this. It doesn't have to be watercolors. It could be...

Writing in a journal
Helping someone in need
Showing extra grace to a hopeless person
Walking in nature
Starting a gratitude journal
Reading a novel
Listening to music

There are so many ways to create bits of beauty in our hard lives. We just need to carve out the time to do it. I have discovered when we take the time to create or seek out beauty we come to realize that life isn't as dark as we thought it was. I have learned that maybe there IS a tiny artist inside of me...that the ugly I experienced wasn't who I am. It was just what happened to me. So how can you take time today to see the beauty that God is creating in your life?

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All the paintings in this post I created, but like I said...I am NOT an artist. I have basically used tutorials I have found online. Here is a collection of them on my Pinterest board.

To display some of what I have created I am making these photo holders. All you need are these larger binder clipsribbonpatterned paper, and UHU glue.


{Instructions here.}

So what can you do to heal? To bring beauty in the brokenness?

I am linking up here to Faith Barista...a great site that offers ideas on healing.

Beloved Brews Linkup

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for this. I am working through disappointment and heartache and never really thought of doing something creative. So, I am off to find my paper and glue, and I might just snatch my son's watercolors.

Debbie said...

Natosha- You're welcome! Thanks for stopping by and reading. I am praying for you that you will be able to work through the heartache.

Jen said...

I can identify with not being an artist. I find my release through writing...sometimes I share on my blog, and the more private and painful stuff goes into my journal. I have also kept gratitude journals at different times. And I love to lose myself in music!

Debbie said...

Jen- I love to write too, and I totally forgot about music. That is another way to bring beauty to our lives.