I watch her paint and feel what she feels...I remember like it was yesterday.
I started oil painting when I was her age and it made me feel...alive!
She lights up with the same vibrancy and passion. The colors move her the same way.
She looses track of time and space, captivated by the creativity and it's so, so fun to watch!
But more than just her art, what I LOVE is Elka's heart.
She feels for people with deep compassion and is willing to get in the trenches with hurting souls. She acts upon her inclinations and forfeits herself for the benefit of others. She's not afraid or intimidated. She's just the girl for the job, especially when there is a need.
When I observe the freedom and willingness to follow her gut through the course of creating her art, what I notice are the similarities to the fruit of Elka's heart. She will go for it. She will risk it all. She's not concerned about getting dirty. She's available to take a chance. She listens to instruction and follows through with boldness. She doesn't take herself too seriously and mistakes are no big deal. She sees beauty in uncommon ways that to most people feel "out of the box" or uncomfortable...but to Elka the unusual makes perfect sense. To think of how these qualities will transfer to her role in the Great Commission is inspiring! To think of how the Lord might use Elka's art...Elka's heart to minister to people makes my own heart sing for joy and pray eagerly for my daughter.
Thank you, Lord, for Elka's art and thank you for her beautiful heart. May she use both to glorify you!
"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves,
which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
Philippians 2:3-8
"This is how we know what LOVE is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."
1 John 3:16
