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I have been blessed to share beauty with truth-filled words of encouragement through my artwork for more than twenty years. But in all honesty, this monthly Encouragement Kit — Lemonade Reminders — was born out of a stress-filled big batch of lemons!
The Kit became the beautiful result of a big stack of misprinted calendar art pages + a LOT of prayer + a calling to encourage women with scripture reminders + an open heart to try something new!
Throughout the six years at Bluebelle we have been able to service hundreds of our local friends and customers, and also gain many new followers from across the country that found us while shopping at this local mercantile!
But... Change can be hard! Even a “good” change can feel hard because of the uncertainty of what’s ahead. I have a peace in the midst of the uncertainty. A peace that the world does not give. I can sense the Lord redirecting my attention and burning it deeper into my heart to continue moving in the direction of teaching women how to use their creativity to strengthen their faith, to tell their story and as a form of stress relief. Pray for me to hear clearly and to have the courage to obey each step!
When I asked Pam about this design, she recalled painting the bird first, then searching for a hymn to go with it. The black and white bird resembles a black-capped chickadee, which is in fact a songbird.
She then researched the backstory of this particular hymn and after reading about it, just soaked in the fact that suffering and sorrow is not new! People have been walking through it since the Garden. There have been countless people who God has worked through in the midst of great sorrow as they used words and songs to process their pain and write of His faithfulness in the midst of their storm... and there are countless more people who have come after them and are continuing to receive the blessing of their honesty and obedience. God continues to use their stories for our good and His glory! This gives tremendous HOPE!
Just like the bird keeps singing with hopes of his future days, and just like Bridgers wrote in his hymn, we can keep singing knowing Jesus is always with us! In all of life's ebb and flows!
