My new gallery at Artistically Social:
https://www.artisticallysocial.com/users/mjartscom/gallery/
Marty Jones’s Stock Media: http://www.pond5.com/artist/mjarts
I started this illustration career in order to tell stories…
From my 20 year old, unfinished children’s book, “The King’s Quest”
But life doesn’t always work out the way we plan… Rarely?
My own projects have almost always had to wait their turn until I take care of income-producing projects.
One of my favorite musical artists is Stephen Curtis Chapman, particularly in his recent, middle years…
“And it may feel like 40 long days in a hard driving rain
Or 40 years in a dry desert sand
But when He’s finished we will see a beautiful tapestry
And know that nothing has been wasted in the end
Oh, and God will, He will finish what He started
No thread will be unwoven
Nothing will be left undone
Every plan and every purpose
That He has will be accomplished
And God will finish what He’s begun”
From “Finish What He’s Started” Steven Curtis Chapman
The back side of a tapestry doesn’t always look the same as the front side:
Used without permission from
http://www.textiletextbooks.com/textilemania/u_4/u_4_3.html
Sometimes the story of my life feels like this:
I forget where I found this image; my apologies.
The story of our lives.
Bible teachers for a hundred years have talked about how here on earth, we only get to see the back side of the tapestry of our lives; when we get Home, we’ll be able to see the front side; and we will be amazed.
This has been an unpleasant ‘week’ for me [it started last week]; pain and weakness to the point where I haven’t been able to concentrate on work. The FEAR [False Evidence Appearing Real] is that I would be stuck in that state—still functional, still able to pass time; and pretty-well only being able to pass time. I’ve been either sleeping on my waterbed fully-dressed, or lying on our well-insulated couch under layers of clothing and blankets. My sensory nerves are mostly shot; I rarely feel warm, I feel the absence of cold. With enough insulation, I can feel what probably is ‘hot’ but to me is pleasantly warm. The ‘warm’ signal will drown out some of the pain signals. I soak through the inner layers of clothing with sweat, which I can’t feel until the dampness cools down.
I love watching movies, and our library is great—thousands of movies that I can watch for free. But I want to do more than watch movies for the next years of my life.
I want to do more with my life than merely pass time—this is one of the fears that most people my age and older come to. “Waiting for God” as one BritCom called it.
I want the story of my life to have meaning. I am coming to terms with the idea that my life won’t be the story I wanted it to be. When I’m more faith-filled, like right now as I’m typing, I can live in the hope that the mess on this side of the tapestry will look far different when I’m Home; and that the mess will tell a story. I believe that I am designed for Eternity, and that this life, even if it contains 40 years of pain, will only be an eyeblink in the span of Eternity.
…and that my reaction to the tapestry I will be shown will be more like this:
…without the dress. I’m a blue jeans kind of guy…
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Tags: artist depression freelance illustration neuopathy pain persistence, Christianity, faith, hope, Nerve Pain, Neuropathy, persistence, personal excellence, Polyneuropathy, surviving
Chronicles in Ordinary Time 