Planted in the house of the Lord
Planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
(Psalm 92:13, NIV)
Psalm 92:13, 2022
Mixed media - pen, watercolor, and Adobe Photoshop
Every Sunday, my church begins our worship time by reciting Psalm 92:13. A large TV screen, behind the altar reads: “Planted in the house of the Lord, you will flourish in the courts of our God.” The whole congregation stands together and reads this verse aloud in unison; before announcements, before singing our worship songs, even before any prayers, this is where we begin. You would think that repeating one verse, week after week, would get old but there is something grounding (pardon the pun) and reassuring about this scripture. It is like a comforting promise - that if we come ready to be planted, that He will cause us to flourish.
The weekly recitation of this scripture has really cemented this verse in my mind. I have found myself pondering it all week long, and not just on Sundays. For weeks. So what does it mean for me to be “planted in the house of the Lord?” And what does “flourishing” look like? Even now, after this piece’s completion, I’m STILL considering the metaphor of being “planted” and expanding upon it in my mind. One particular thought that stands out in my contemplations, is how important it is to show up ready to “dig into” God’s Word. How if our “roots” and our desires for Him reach deep, beyond the surface layer of loose soil, we can receive “water” and “nutrients” necessary to live and thrive.
Psalm 92:13 with Green Splash, 2022
Mixed media - pen, watercolor, and Adobe Photoshop
The idea and importance of connection also has become prominent in my thoughts. Root systems are beautifully intricate and interwoven. Though the roots of a plant may begin by growing in different directions, in their search for nourishment, they often become interwoven. It is this process of seeking and interweaving that gives the plant strength and a firm grip into the soil. Plants with deep roots are better anchored and able to better endure changes. Consider trees. Trees are unable to move so when changes in their environment occur, say a storm or a drought, trees count on the strength and depth of those root systems to support them as they weather the storm. We work much the same way. In the process of showing up to church and seeking God we form relationships. Our lives become intertwined. And it it these personal connections that help us to weather the unavoidable droughts and storms of life. However, complex social networks alone are not enough. Just like trees what we are planed in matters. Even old established trees, with massive roots systems, will topple over in a strong storm if they are rooted in poor soil. We too need to make sure that our “roots,”our personal connections, are not only deep but that they are grounded in the rich soil of God’s Word and tapped into the living water of Jesus.
I closed my eyes and gave my imagination free reign to show me Psalm 92:13. In my mind’s eye I saw a beautiful tree. It was well established with a thick trunk and an umbrella of branches. These branches held lush dense leaves that were the color of flowers. The colors were vivid and not ordinary “foliage green” at all, but more reminiscent of tulips. Picture a Dutch tulip festival, the vast fields full of pink and purple blossoms, their colors flowing into one another like rainbow waves blanketing the countryside. I saw the tree’s roots too, as clearly as the growth above the soil and just as lovely, reaching down into the actual text of Psalm 92:13. The roots appeared to be both growing into the verse as well as sprouting out to it, at the same time. They twirled and curled about, not like actual roots but more like calligraphic embellishments.
When I draw inspiration from my imagination, my creative imaginings come in all different levels of completeness; sometimes they are basic outlines, where I have a general understanding but not a clear vision of the details; sometimes specific parts are super clear while other areas remain hazy (sort of like when you get a song stuck in your head but can only remember the lyrics to one line and wind up just humming the rest); and sometimes they are even more vague, like the impression of a feeling or a memory. This one, however, was crystal clear. I could see all the parts. I could see all the colors and I could feel the emotion behind them. All that was left to do was to render the piece. A task that seemed simple enough.
I began to put pen to paper at my friend Milly’s house. Milly is also an artist, as well as the mother of three adorable children who LOVE to paint. When I arrived, Milly’s kids greeted me at the door. Natalie, her youngest, squealed with excitement when she saw me: “Angela is here! Are WE going to PAINT TODAY?!” Her little ones’ enthusiasm at even the potential of painting is awesome. And I love that her kids just expect that we’re going to make art when I come over. :) We had a wonderful time of art and fellowship. Milly carefully crafted a blue green rose with Prisma Colors and brush pen, the kids gleefully painted away making rainbows on bushels of test strips, and I began my first pass at “the tree.”
I had attempted to identify the type of tree from my vision, prior to our art day. I sifted through hundreds of images online searching for “the tree.” Magnolia trees seemed close because of their colorful blossoms, however, the tree from my vision didn’t specifically have flowers, it was the color of flowers. I didn’t suspect it at the time, but the answer was waiting for me in the house of the Lord. How appropriate is that?!
At church the following Sunday, Betty our worship leader, took a moment in-between songs to share an idea, “there is a tree that grows in the deserts of Egypt where nothing else can grow. It called an acacia tree.” She continued to explain, “this tree has roots that go down 200 feet to reach underground streams so it can survive where no other plants can. And it grows 30, sometimes 40 feet! I want to be like that tree. I want to have roots that deep in the Lord!” I stood there in shock, my mouth practically falling open. This was beyond uncanny coincidence, this was confirmation! This had to be my tree! After service, I couldn’t get my sketchbook out of my bag fast enough, I had to show Betty my sketch and tell her about how her word from the Lord had dove-tailed with my vision. As you can imagine, we both got very excited and our conversation drew the attention of Dilan, who quickly Googled up an image of an Acacia tree on his smartphone. “You mean like this, the Acacia tree?” he said with familiarity and confidence in his pronunciation. That was it - my vision tree was an acacia tree!
From the moment I began sketching, I knew I wanted to construct this piece in separate parts and later bring them all together in Photoshop. Assembling the piece digitally would give me the ability to focus on perfecting the individual elements, without harming the original, and ensure that the final draft would match my vision. To me, there were three distinct elements to this drawing - the acacia tree, the script roots, and the splash of rainbow color.
The tree came fairly easy and the rendering turned out surprisingly realistic. The script, however, was another matter. Calligraphy is not my forte and rendering Psalm 92:13 to my satisfaction took A LOT of trial and error. Fortunately, God made me a persistent person. The repetitive process of rendering the root script was a kind of confirmation in and of itself that just because God has called you to do something, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be easy. But the end result is so worth the effort!
Once I had finally rendered the verse roots to my satisfaction I sat back to admire my work. It was in this moment that I noticed something wonderful in my piece that I didn’t even consciously realize I had done. The way the words connected had significance! The words: “planted,” “house,” and “you” were all connected! The words: “flourish,” “courts,” and “God” were also all joined together in a group. Then I noticed the last set: “in,” “Lord,” and “shall.” The connected words had their own hidden message. This is how I interrupted it - “You, be planted in the House (church). Flourishing comes from a connection with God. And what shall be comes from the Lord.” Wow! I was so caught up in trying to perfect the contours of my penmanship that I didn’t even realize what God was doing through me. He had literally written out an answer for me, in my own hand, but I was so lost in the struggle of drawing the words that I didn’t see the words! God is so good.
My last step was the “rainbow layer.” I decided to take a page from Natalie’s book to create this part. I tore several pages of watercolor paper into what were effectively large test strips and went to town! I began by wetting the majority of the surface of the paper and then applying my watercolors, so they would run and bleed together. The process of building rainbows was exciting, carefree, and just downright fun! I can see why the kids liked it so much. It was also the perfect mental vacation, refreshing my spirit, after all that intense controlled work on the script.
This week, art blog friends, I invite you come to The House of the Lord! Don’t just run in and dash out, but allow yourself to be planted. Grow those roots! Greet someone with a smile and say, “hello.” Make a new friend or reconnect with some old ones. Share a hug or share some tears. Pray with someone. It’s ok if you don’t have it all together or have all the answers, no one does. But we can find them together if seek Him together.
If you are going through a storm right now I encourage you to take a moment, take a breath, and step back from the struggle. God cares about you and the things you are dealing with. Don’t lose hope. Ground yourself in the rich soil of God’s Word and you will weather the storm. Who knows, maybe He has already given you the answer to your problem. Maybe it has been right in front of you the whole time, just waiting for you to notice.
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