hope

Sole to Soul in Vietnam

My visits to Vietnam with Hope's Promise deeply impacted me (click the link to read the story of the painting above). I painted Sacrificial Love after one of these trips. Recently I had the great privilege of interviewing Dennis Pringle after his trip to Vietnam with Hope's Promise. I wrote the following article for the Hope's Promise…Read more Sole to Soul in Vietnam

The Wings Are Mine

Like a dense, winged creature draped across my chest, it caws over charred dreams, disintegrating into ashes. But still the fire rages. What is left to burn? The bird's merciless wings fan flames hotter and heavy. Until a moment of inexplicable release. Rescue. A force of goodness beating the creature back, forcing it to lift.…Read more The Wings Are Mine

I Am Still Here

Cruel winter winds too fiercely blow. They drive me deep beyond where I can speak. Everything silent except a heart beat, my own. Waiting, listening, I survive. Until the day harsh winds scamper away, tails between legs, ashamed, chased away as the liars they always were. All that was frozen, drop by drop, slides into a…Read more I Am Still Here

Strange how hope swells…

  Strange how a lantern can appear out of nowhere. Walking barren tracks, and suddenly there's a light in your hand. Sincerely Danielle Shunk (SDS) plunked into my grasp like that. A friend knew a friend, who told her about SDS, who told me. I stepped foot in that magic space and before I knew…Read more Strange how hope swells…

The Power of a Single Flame (Part 2)

When she picked up that first dying man from the gutter, there was no possible way she could foresee the masses across the globe whose lives would be saved. She only knew the fire in her bones could be alleviated no other way. And so she started rescuing, one-by-one, the last and least of the…Read more The Power of a Single Flame (Part 2)

Four Chairs, Part 2 (Magic)

I've always believed in magic. I suppose it isn't surprising when I think about my Irish grandmother, Margaret (O'Laughlin) Ferguson, known to many as “Mickey.” Whenever I visited her home, brightly colored kitsch-art gnomes peered out from shelves scattered around her living room. Who knows but that they came to life at night and followed her…Read more Four Chairs, Part 2 (Magic)

Out of Flames… Wings

For this series, I have no words. Sometimes art expresses the innermost longings of the heart, born of personal reflection and world-wide influence, a place beyond the reach of words. Such is this series. ................................................................. Just in case you are interested, I've added some originals, including this series, to my Etsy store inventory: FragmentsOfLight.

Hope In Fearful Times

Flags fly at half-mast in my lifelong hometown, Colorado Springs after two mass shootings in a month. I drive almost every day through the intersection where my family almost stumbled into a late October shooting; and yesterday I forced myself to return to a shopping area we usually frequent, ravaged less than a week ago by another shooting. And…Read more Hope In Fearful Times

Battle Cry (Inspired by “A Beautiful Exchange”)

Sometimes the promise of beauty rising from ashes seems impossible. Sometimes it all feels like losing; and finding appears marred beyond recognition. This is my battle cry: even if I don't see it, the promise still stands. And I still believe it.  Someday, there will be a beautiful exchange. Matthew 10:39 "Those who find their life…Read more Battle Cry (Inspired by “A Beautiful Exchange”)

Knee Deep in Ashes

I'm standing knee deep in ashes. The shards of shattered dreams now crumble over scorched earth. Years ago, I dreamed, I yearned, I claimed. I clutched my heart's desire. But sometimes challenges twist into diagnoses, early tremors quicken into full-blown quakes. I stand here, not at all sure I remember the heart once beating strong…Read more Knee Deep in Ashes