Wonder Woman

Courage is “the ability to do something that frightens someone” (according to google). Who doesn’t need some of that? My husband likes to say that a ship is safest in the harbor but it was meant to sail. Taking off for the open sea takes courage! Another friend recently shared an inspiration she holds onto – you might not be able to wait for the fear to pass, you might have to do it afraid.

So, I recently did something courageous. There’s a new blue “shop” button at the top of the page because the website now has a store to sell my art pieces and prints. Becoming an artist is an interesting journey. It feels like each canvas contains a piece of my heart and healing. It’s a vulnerable thing to put it on display.

In the Bible, Joshua was afraid to enter the promised land as the leader of his people and without Moses. As the book of Joshua begins, Moses his mentor has just died. A natural reaction to grief is anxiety and Joshua is full of it. God encourages him personally. Wow, what it must have been like to literally hear God’s voice, especially with these words, “be strong and courageous” (Josh 1:6) and again, “be strong and very courageous” (v. 7), and yet again,”be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (v. 9).

I hadn’t noticed before that God’s encouragement to Joshua was repeated so many times. I can relate. When faced with something I’m afraid of doing, I can avoid with the best of them. We lost a good friend and neighbor in 2008. Afterwards I struggled with intense bouts of anxiety. It was then that I did research and discovered it was one of many normal reactions to loss. This helped lessen the intensity but didn’t make it disappear. That took time and healthy grieving.

Over the last few years our family has had a lot of loss and change. Moving beyond it, growing because of it, is taking courage. I’m grateful for these words above from the book of Joshua and for their repetition. I’m not alone in needing to hear the encouragement more than once as I set sail for new waters in life post cancer.

This week I’m taking off for Georgia to spend time with family. My sister passed two years ago on 9/30 from Covid. I’m heading to spend that anniversary with my nieces, and grand nephews and nieces. Little Diana is just a month and 1/2 old. We call her little Wonder Woman 😍

Wonder Woman as a fictional character is inspirational. I mean who doesn’t want to take on the world AND always have amazing hair? 😆 (guys think Thor) My friends and family started giving me Wonder Woman swag during chemotherapy. It was great- I’d wear my Wonder Woman earrings to infusion. They reminded me to have courage. I even got a long dark haired wig to wear while I didn’t have hair on days I needed to feel more like a Wonder Woman.

I came up with a saying to keep me going which I still find encouraging; “You are a Wonder Woman, Strong and Courageous.” It was a reminder to be like Joshua, receiving God’s encouragement to not be terrified or wait until I’m not afraid to do hard things. I was so blessed to have a friend of a friend send a photo recently that showed that my little sign was still up in the radiation dressing room, hopefully encouraging others.

I can’t wait to hold this newest member of our family. I hope that we can by example show little Diana where true strength comes from. I’m grateful it’s not from deep inside of me because I’d come up empty handed. Instead the God of the Universe in His personal way gives me the courage and strength to do what He wants me to do.

Right now, that was learning how to build a store on the website- no easy task for this 52 year old brain healing from a plethora of life saving drugs. Also it’s traveling through the Atlanta airport this week – ug! I’m so grateful that I don’t face any challenge alone. Just like Joshua, I know God is with me wherever I go.

My hope is that you too can take this encouragement deep into your being. You don’t have to “pull yourself up by your boot straps” (what does that even mean??). God wants to be your strength and courage today for whatever hard things you face. May that bring joy to your heart 💗

P.S. The store contains all the artwork I’ve had captured that can be reprinted in high quality on canvas and stretched over a frame. Giclee prints are hard to distinguish from original paintings. Originals will be coming too, but many of my initial ones were gifts for family. I’m also working on getting boxes of cards of the images ready to sell before the holidays. I’d love to hear which paintings you’d really like to see available as a note card ☺️