I don’t know how many times we’ve been told that we have picked a place that’s not cultured enough to appreciate art and even if they did, they’d never be willing to spend their hard earned money on it. Some people have gone out of their way to be negative about our dream of creating an opportunity to use the gifts and talents that we have been given by God to give back to a community that seems to hunger for something more than it has.
My greatest gift, I believe, has always been that I take broken things and make them beautiful. It’s what I do and it’s what I’ve always done. I used to call it “making something out of nothing,” but that’s not really accurate, because you can find value in just about anything if you look hard enough. I guess it hit me like a bolt of lightning today–why all this time I have tried so hard to do something different with my life. It’s not for me. It was never for me! I don’t need anything. I have eternity with Jesus. God blessed me with the perfect family. I am happy with myself, content with my husband and my life. But it’s not enough. Because I have been broken. I have been defeated. I have been trampled, bruised, beat down, kicked around, abused, devastated, almost completely destroyed. I have been a broken thing, and God made me beautiful. He sees me that way even when the rest of the world thinks there is no place for me and what I have to offer. He sees me that way even when I don’t see me that way. I want to use what He gave me to help put other people back together, the way He used it to help put me back together. Not the same, but still valuable, strong, bold, and beautiful. I don’t need the world’s permission to do that. Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m gonna let it shine.
