Each of us is a unique creation by God, an intricate design from birth. However, the experiences we face in life can sometimes obscure our design. Kim King paints a picture for us by describing her own awareness and return to her original design.
With the passage of time, the original lines or images in a painting begin to emerge through the layers of paint later brushed on the canvas. The original design of the artist reemerges. The art world calls this pentimento.
Pentimento happens in our lives too. God designs us, but expectations and experiences cover those lines like broad strokes on the canvas. It was as though someone else was holding the brush, painting over those lines with a different image taking hold. Gloriously, however, the original lines and contours of the master artist with time. We can see again those lines, how He drew us, and be reminded of the joy in the drawing.
I see the pentimento now in my life. I find it in the things I am returning to that provide deep joy. I am drawn to my loves as a child. I am removing the labels that detoured me, such as “this is a waste of time.” The smell of new books, oil paint, and fresh mulch all smell like home now.
I see pentimento in my giving also. When I began my giving journey, I gave to those who fought poverty, illness, illiteracy, and lack of employment opportunities. I now find my heart drawn to encourage learning. My head tells me that education is one of the best means out of poverty, illiteracy, and lack of employment opportunities. All true, but God had put in my heart a love for learning. I was the nerd who started reading her schoolbooks before the first day of school. I would read the World Book Encyclopedia prompted by curiosity. I still have that set of books in my study.
Now I find I am in a place where learning is a joy again, learning for its own sake. I realize now that this was God’s design of me, present from the beginning. Only I lost sight of this. His original design now shapes my giving. I live now more out of who I am. I give more out of who I am.
