Details! One of the things that I enjoy about drawing is the detail work. My favorite tool is the micron pen which comes in several sizes. The finest tips allow me to do the tiniest details with precision. The larger tips allow me to fill in larger areas more quickly. Sometimes a paintbrush dipped in a bottle of black ink is helpful, too.
The sketch on the left is of a Nantucket gateway. I did the sketch several years ago as I dreamed about visiting Nantucket. A number of my ancestors once settled on Nantucket Island. You can read about them in history books. My great- aunt Sue was fascinated with the island and our genealogy and eventually bought a couple of properties in Nantucket. Her fascination was contagious. So, it was with great anticipation that I finally paid a brief visit to the island a couple of years ago. It wasn't enough! My second visit was a bit more extended and more visits are planned. What an amazing little place -quaint and nostalgic! It's an artist's haven. It is a place filled with details of history.
All of our lives are filled with details, lines of activity, shades of emotion from the darkest to the lightest. To each one of us, those details are important. They are part of who we are. Most people that we interact with can handle some of the details, but no one would have the capacity to handle all of the details of another persons' life. It amazes me that we have a God who concerns Himself with all of the details of our lives. Not one single detail escapes Him. Read Psalm 139:
1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
5 You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
19 O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
20 For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
He loves you more than you can imagine. Think about that!
We are at the dawn of a new year. Will you trust God with the details? Will you find comfort and peace in knowing that He is in complete control? Will you rest in His loving arms? I hope so.
Blessings,
~Ruth
