"The Day of Small Things"

This painting is about Trust:
We can trust God in our calling.

Zechariah 4:10, "For who hath despised the day of small things?" Zerubbabel had been commissioned by God to rebuild the Temple. He is chosen for a task that he will be incapable by any human means to complete.
Yet, when he stood before the mountain, it dwindled before him. He stood in the power of the Lord, ignited by the Spirit of God. In doing the small things, he became great in the sight of the people and in the esteem of the Lord.

Every article in this painting tells of a busy woman, living a simple life, taking care of children, doing the ordinary chores, having an ordinary day--a day of small things. All of us as Christians want to do great things for our Lord. However, most of us live small lives. We wake up, prepare breakfast, pack lunches, buy groceries, make beds. This painting speaks to that life. How so? many small strokes, many small choices. What is life but the culmination of many small decisions? What is a journey, but many small steps? Since most of our lives are filled with seemingly trivial activities, how is it then that we are to count for God?

This is a fictitious setting. Never were these items in this arrangement. However, all are real articles. Each element in this painting is a tribute to the women of influence in my life. These are the women whom God has used to touch and mold me. The churn and hearth belonged to my Momaw Young; the egg basket was carried by Grandma Greear and was made by her father. (Although I never knew her because she died before I was born, her life story was a part of my childhood.) The apron belonged to my mother-in-law. The dolly was fashioned by my sweet eight -year old daughter, now a godly woman with children of her own.

Ah...but the empty chair, the quilt and the storybook wait for my mother. She will come from her busy day. She will lift me on her lap. She will wrap me tightly in the quilt. She will read to me until sleep outruns my imagination. She will place a value on me that will follow me through a lifetime. In her lap I learned songs, stories, and Bible verses. As I gazed into her clear green eyes, she prepared me for the pivotal decision of a lifetime. I was saved when I was seven years old. She, like Zerubbabel, had laid the foundation for a lifetime. She made the small decisions, to break away from the bustle of the day to invest her words and faith into my young life.