Sunday, December 28, 2008

Christmas

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! This is our first Christmas without Kellie's dad, so it was naturally a bittersweet time for us. It's been a long time since I've posted anything to my Blog; and what I have to show you today is not my work, but work of another area artist. We commissioned him to draw a portrait of Alvie (my father-in-law) to give to my mother-in-law for Christmas.

The artist, Bro. Wayne Williams, is what I would call extraordinarily talented! Not only for the beautiful work he does; but also for the incredibly humble man he is.

Bro. Wayne has been disabled in his body for many years; but his spirit and his talent is as "able" as it ever has been.


He and his wife, Sis. Gail, live on Lookout Mountain in Georgia and have been friends of ours and our family for a long time. I was fortunate enough to be able to capture a few shots of Bro. Wayne as he added some final details to Alvie's portrait.

The finished product is breathtaking; and of course, Vicky, my mother-in-law, loves it. It will have a very special place above Alvie's piano.


3 comments:

Simplicity By Christy said...

That is simply amazing. True talent!

Stephanie T said...

Only Br. Wayne's talent could do Alvie's talent justice! Priceless!

Anonymous said...

Almost 30 years ago, Bro. Wayne did a painting of Stephanie as a "going away" present when we left IN to come to AL. It continues to be one of our most cherished earthly possessions - if the house is on fire GET THE PAINTING! LOL

Seriously, Bro. Wayne was not handicapped at that time. (Except being colorblind! Sis. Gail had to serve as an "advisor" for the colors to be true. . .) Since then disease has crippled his body - but not his talent nor his spirit. :-)

Perhaps there is a lesson to all of us in that - Bro. Wayne is a prime example. Many afflictions and/or adversarial attacks may (probably will!) come to wound our body and/or spirit. The measure of a Godly man is his determination to be steadfast and keep trying in the face of that adversity. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. Wisdom is better than strength. May we all beg for wisdom to continue to use the talents He has given even in the midst of adversity. To still bring some joy to some soul along the way even though we feel broken. :-)

God bless you all.