Let God’s Beauty Inspire Your Holidays

(You never know, you may even have
a divine encounter with an angel.)

How I love this time of year and the holiday celebrations! It’s a time to gather around the table for meals or afternoon tea and scones with family and friends in fellowship and reflect on and share our heart stories, dreams and even, sometimes, divine encounters with angels from God.

From the first moment I feel a crisp autumn breeze to the sighting of an early morning frost upon the garden, my heart fills with such excitement! I know it is time to bring out the holiday decorations  -- starting with a harvest-inspired theme, followed by Christmas wonderland vignettes.

The dining room table is the focal point for our holiday gatherings. Holiday decorations dance across the table, accented by little treasures collected over the years from our travels and from family friends. I always have so much fun with creating vignettes and stories for our guests to enjoy while dining. As I was setting the table to prepare for a pre-Christmas dinner for our family fellowship gathering, I was reminded of one of my favorite bible verses Hebrews 13:2.  Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

After a glorious morning of decorating for the holidays, and before I began my art endeavors, I sketched out ideas for Christmas gifts. This year, my basket is overflowing with fibers and threads and I am inspired to create some hand-sewn ornaments. I took out my pen quills, ink and paper to create a captured moment for my husband of the Rhine River during our spring travels.

Before I started my creative adventure, I felt a tug on my heart to finish my study in the book of Hebrews. I am currently in Chapter 11 with my ladies’ prayer group. Some say this chapter is known as the Bible Hall of Faith letter.  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. Hebrews 11:1-2 (NIKJ)

Pastor and author Max Lucado writes in his book Lessons from Hebrews, how the author of Hebrews highlights some key figures from Israel’s history and the ways in which they put their faith in God’s plan into action. He adds that we find our stories in theirs. We find our hope where they found theirs. And in the midst of it all...hovering over them all is the hero of all: God.  As I read through the chapter, I found myself turning to the pages in the Old Testament to refresh my heart with stories of the great Bible heroes mentioned in this chapter. I began to wonder, why did the author choose these particular characters from the Old Testament? I began to pray and ask, what do I need to learn from this movement in the Bible? How is God speaking to me? What is God showing me?

What is my story? What stories from family and friends have inspired my life? How have they inspired my creativity with art?

While pondering these thoughts I turned to a new book by Russ Ramsey entitled Van Gogh has a Broken Heart, What Art Teaches us About the Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive. Ramsey writes about artists and their life stories in the hopes of inspiring the reader to discover the joy of beauty even when times may be challenging around us. The ways we can experience this joy and beauty is through the eyes of God.  We can see the beauty he has created in all beings, in his image, through their life lessons and stories. Eugene Peterson, Pastor and author writes, “Story is the most adequate way we have of accounting for our lives, noticing the subtle accents of color and form and scent that give texture to our actions and feelings, giving coherence to our meetings and relationships in work and family, finding our precise place in the neighborhood and history.”

As I read these words, I started to see the Bible stories as if the words were painted for us by God, with brush strokes of vibrant colors, to grow our faith and character in His word. The people and experiences around us throughout our daily activities influence our stories, our faith, our beliefs and how we view the world through the lens of God’s beauty or through the images of our ever-changing world.  I became excited to see what God was showing me through the study of Hebrews. I was excited to embrace the love He had for us with the new covenant of Jesus Christ, for us who believe, put faith into action, and carry forth His plan for generations to come -- as the heroes of the Old Testament once did.

These were the true heroes, commended for their faith, yet they lived in hope without receiving the fullness of what was promised them. But now God has invited us to live in something better than what they had—faith’s fullness! This is so that they could be brought to finished perfection alongside of us.
Hebrews 11:39-40 (TPT)

I put my Bible, books and journal away, and went back to my drawing board, paper, pen and ink to begin my new piece inspired from our travels down the Rhine River. As I started on my drawing, I began to think about Jerome, whom we met in the Netherlands at the beginning of our travels. He showed us around some treasured places in the Hague and Amsterdam including the Van Gogh and Rijks Museums, two of our favorite museums.

We shared in conversations throughout the day telling stories of our life experiences. 

Later in the day, we took a break for lunch. Jerome introduced us to one of his favorite restaurants in Amsterdam.  As we sat down in the large dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows over-looking a tree-filled garden, we took a deep breath simultaneously, remarking on how beautiful it was with the sun beaming into the dinning room.  It felt as though we were walking into a great masterpiece painting. We smiled and thanked God for this beautiful surprise!

After about two hours of conversation and delightful food, we finished sipping on our tea and coffee, sharing little bites of dessert. Jerome said,  “I have one more story to tell you before we leave.” Jerome had built an international travel company that created unique adventure tours for his clients. During the global shut down, he had to close his business, however, the time away gave him an opportunity to be home and close to his aging parents.  As things opened up for travel again, he decided to go on a personal bike tour through the rain forests of South America.

On one particular trip, he had chosen to go on his own as a preview for possible tour excursions he could offer in the future.

Before he started his morning bike ride, he stopped at a small village where he met a lady who told him of a recent miracle in her life. She looked at Jerome when she was finished and said,  “On your ride, always remember God is with you.” Jerome did not think much about what she said until later during his journey.

Several hours into his ride, in the middle of a beautiful rain forest, with not a soul around, he decided it was time to take a break to rest and drink some water. 

As he reached down to the side of his bike to grab his water bottle, he realized he had no water. He was so upset with himself. A seasoned long-distance bicyclist should know better, he thought. He began to yell and scream, how could this happen? How could I forget? He looked around and it was getting dark. He was tired, and began to think, I do not know if I will be able to continue to ride if I am tired and dehydrated.  He bent over in anguish and said I need help. I need water. How am I going to get out of here?

When he lifted his head, he saw an elderly man with a dog appear. The man reached out to him with a bottle of water and said, “Here, I think you may need this.”  Jerome grabbed the water and drank it down quickly as though he could not get enough.  After he finished the water, he jumped on his bike and began to ride away. A few moments later, he said to himself, wait a minute, I didn’t thank the man who helped me. He turned around and began to peddle back to where he met the man. As he approached the area, the man and the dog were gone. It was as though they had disappeared. As he thought about it more, he wondered where the man had come from. Where did he go?  There was not a home, car or village within walking distance. He got back on his bike and was able to make it out of the rain forest before dark.

The dining room staff began to say their goodbyes just as Jerome finished his divine encounter story.

He looked at us and leaned forward in his seat, and said in a soft whisper, “Do you think the elderly gentleman was an angel, a messenger from God? 

We smiled with glee shaking our heads saying, “Yes! Yes…we do!”

We gathered our coats and bags, took a deep sigh, and just stood for a few minutes in utter silence as the dining room lights were beginning to dim. We turned to Jerome and gave him a big hug and said thank you for sharing his wonderful story of God’s miracle during a very uncertain time for him. He thanked us for letting him share this story with us, as it changed his life. “I look at things differently. I feel God’s presence, he said. “I pray more and read my bible more. I am truly at peace more. I no longer feel the anger or hurts of the world.”

With tears welling in our eyes, we said, “Thank you for trusting us with your special story. You truly blessed us with your sharing—and what a wonderful way for us to begin our travels, as you have reminded us to always keep our hearts open to God’s love. One never knows when we will have a divine encounter with Him.” 

We exchanged our contact information before we parted ways.  We promised one another to stay in touch and share any divine encounters from God we may experience during our travels and life’s journey.

A few days later, Jerome sent a note sharing that our prayer for his mother’s health was answered and she was feeling much better and was released from the hospital.

I sat quietly for a few moments before I continued with my art project. As author Russ Ramsey also shared, I was reminded that our life experiences inspire our creativity. Seeing God’s beauty in all things-- as I am learning from Chapter 11 of Hebrews-- is really a reflection of our faith in the unseen that gives us hope for today and tomorrow, no matter what we face. As the lady told Jerome before his bike ride through the rain forest, “Always look to God for He is always with you.”

Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen.
Hebrews 11:1 (TPT)

As we all prepare for the wonderful holiday festivities with family and friends, may I encourage all of us to turn off the distractions, take time to truly be present with family and friends and in all you do…you never know when an angel may visit you with a blessing from God.

Let’s keep writing our stories with God.

Warmest Christmas and Hanukkah Blessings to all!