n my first year at college, I walked into a Christian (adjective, not the noun) bookstore for ideas to decorate my dorm room. I noticed the art on the walls. So this is what Christian art looks like. I didn’t disagree with the truth displayed, I just wasn’t into quaint scenes with cottages and deer, or moments that are precious. I had a vision. “It would be sweet to create art of my faith that was formatted differently.” Everything starts with vision, but remains incomplete without obedience. I had some talent because my Dad was a artist, but hadn’t painted since I was a junior in high school. To this day I’ve never attended art school or taken a post education art course. That moment was like when God told Sarah she was going to give birth to a son. I doubted (Genesis 18:12). I didn’t rush out to buy art supplies and years passed while I searched for a vision that had already been given. After we graduated from North Central University, my wife and I worked corporate jobs in Minnesota. We worked, and we worked hard. We moved to California as I continued to get promoted and soon was clearing a large income in my early twenties. It has been the forgiveness of others, ourselves, obedience, and complete brokenness that led us to the next chapter. We returned to Minnesota, slept on my brother-in-law’s floor while trying to find a place to live, and what God was doing in my life. We found a house, and I worked mudding drywall, which is an art in itself. Exhausted, one evening I locked myself in the basement and told God I wasn’t leaving until He told me what I was to BE with my life. I said I would die in the basement rather than leave not knowing. Hours passed and finally He spoke through my tears. “I already told you.” Instantly I remembered when I stood in the Har Mar Mall off Snelling Avenue in Roseville MN and had that vision, “It would be sweet to create art of my faith and format it differently.” This time I didn’t doubt, but like Joseph, I proclaimed (Genesis 37:5). Telling my wife was fun. “Hey honey, I’m going to be an artist.” “You’re what?” I rushed out and bought art supplies.
Date Recorded: 10312013
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