Blank Canvas

There is something mysterious, even hopeful about a blank canvas. At first glance all you see is a boring white rectangle. But step back and take a broader view of it. Yes, it still looks like a white rectangle, but one that has possibilities. I like to think that my life is like that blank canvas, not just yet, but it soon will be. Clean, white, flawless and ready to be revealed. After I finish this school year at the end of May, my life as I know it now will be a fond memory. I'm starting over....a blank canvas.

Starting over both excites and terrifies me. On a good day, I am excited about the possibilities of a new career and making new contacts. On a bad day, I am terrified about the job search, the interviews, the waiting and hoping, the uncertainty, and the effort on building new relationships. Most days I am excited. And that is what I am focusing on...the possibilities that await me. What will my life look like a year from now? I have a vision in my mind, but will it be painted that way? Am I in control of the paintbrush of my life? No, not really. I leave that to God. Of course I let God know what's in my heart and I hope that it will be painted that way, but I am not the artist or the creator of my life, God is and I must trust him to paint my life as he wishes.

This week I will paint my very first art piece. I have the blank canvas, the paints, the brushes, and the vision of what I want my work to be. It will portray what I see when I look through the windows. While I will have the brushes in my hands, I will rely on the master artist to guide my strokes to reveal my vision. Debbie Winkfield, the art teacher at SCS, has agreed to "coach" me on bringing my vision to the canvas. The literal and figurative blank canvas excite me. The possibilities are waiting.

Will my own life as a blank canvas be so easy to paint? Lord, may it be so.