As a christian and an artist, I believe it is my purpose to use my talents to glorify my Lord. We are all designed to serve a specific purpose. I have spent a large portion of my life here on a common quest that over time has channeled my wide range of talents towards this one purpose. At age twenty-one, I joined the Air Force because God told me to. Since I had never been in a fight in my life, the sudden command to do a job in which my actions decided the fate of many lives was an unnerving one. In spite of my parents' obvious objections, I went to the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) in Jackson, Mississippi to take my tests and see what I was capable of. I passed in the top ten percent and was offered any job I wanted. Since I have always loved airplanes, I chose in-flight refueling. I spend the next six years of my life doing a very dangerous job and loving it. It gave me the opportunity to travel the globe. While I was in the Air Force, God used the isolation in the Saudi Arabian desert to begin molding me. I learned to sacrifice myself for others, hold up under pressure, and glorify my Lord as a soldier. Unfortunately, I injured my spine and legs in an in-flight accident over the desert that grounded me for six months and pretty much ended my career as an aviator.
I went through a dark time after the loss of my wings, since at the time flying was all I thought about. I should point out that I have always created in one fashion or another. My mother can attest to that. I am not sure how she has managed to hold on to items I created when I was a little boy, but she has. Even though my creativity and purpose has always been clear to her, I never thought that I would make a living as an artist because I considered myself without talent. It amazes me to think of how many things we are capable of doing if we only believe. It is clear to me now that satan has never wanted me to create because he has spent endless hours trying to convince me that I am no good at art. It was not until I got married in 2003 that I went to art school.
At the time I started going to school at William Carey College on the Coast, every candidate had to be accepted to the art school by either an art teacher or the Dean of the Art Department. It was a cold day in Febuary when my time came. I went to the gallery on campus with a lump in my throat and an armful of poorly drawn cartoons I had managed not to destroy. I was met by Mrs. Beth, the Art Department secretary. She told me to lay out my work in the gallery and the dean would be along shortly. I sat in to the gallery with my sad little collection spread out and my underbelly exposed to almost certain criticism and rejection. In walked a man who looked like the Marbolo Man in the commercials. With little more then one glance at my work, he told me and tells me that I was in. Apparently, I was better artist than I though. That was only a few years ago, and with God's guidence, I am becoming a great artist. I am almost finished with my Bachelors degree in Fine Arts and plan to attend Georgia State University to complete my Master's in Fine Arts.
I do not know where the road ends for me, but it does not really matter. I am more interested in the trip. The most important thing that God has shown me in this adventure is that we are all designed to do a specific thing. In the world's eyes, some of these tasks are great and some are insignificant, but I can tell you that everything we do to glorify our Lord is great. He sees every little thing we do, and as a loving and forgiving Father, He cheers when we triumph and tends to our wounds when we do not. If I can live my life to glorify my Father and Lord, then I have served a purpose. Everything I do right is worth doing because it makes my beautiful Father smile at me. I look foward to seeing my Father smile at me face to face. |
