Praying through creative art form
WHEN our country was forced to go on total lockdown in 2020, I discovered praying through art.
It was an ordinary day. I was under pressure WFH because it was my first time. Everything was uncertain, my employer announced salary reduction, our house was a disaster after a flash flood, and the pain of not being able to see my family in Tenom was just overwhelming for me.
Working from home added the stress of having my supervisor micro managing me. I was constantly being checked on by my boss. The anxiety made me very restless.
So it was, after I have settled work and everything, I sat down and got my makeup brushes and started to paint my face with my eye-shadow set.
It was the first time that I was surprised by makeup, something I have loved for years, and now it has helped me to connect to God deeply.
My heart was restless, yet after putting those colours on my face, and drawing out an image, I saw on the mirror my emotions – not just feeling it, but seeing it.
I remembered feeling liberated and safe, protected, embraced. It was like therapy for me, a personal space of solitude and reflection.
God was affirming me that He is constant and never changing, and it was alright to give Him my restlessness. In times such as this – that was out of my control, I was invited to trust and hope in Him.
I do change my ways of talking to God from time to time. In 2020 it was makeup, last year it was using stickers. I bought these stickers at the beginning of the year and started using them while I journaled my prayer time every day.
It is also surprising to see how stickers helped me to express what I wanted to say, and saw how God spoke to me through those stickers, which are cute and adorable.
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Debbie Rose works as a nutritionist and gets excited over makeup and food.
