So many changes for me this year! My son, Cameron turned eighteen, got engaged and just moved away from home. I got married and my husband moved in. My nest wasn't empty for long! This is a picture of Cameron, covered in paint...guess he was my first art student! While he was homeschooled, he became very involved with Christian Youth Theatre. www.spiritualtwist.com and played Jean Valjean in Les Miserable in 2005! Here he is with his other favorite teacher, Mrs. Snapp, Director of Spiritual Twist Productions/CYT.

I grew up in Raleigh, but have lived in Apex since "93. I have seen so many changes!

All my life I have loved art, although I had no formal training, I started painting after I became a Christian. At the time, I was working for SAS Institute as an interior landscaper/floral designer...and I found myself constantly staring at the paintings. Something inside of me wanted to create art. So, one night, armed with 6 tubes of paint, I painted my first painting. When I showed it to my family, they did not believe I had done it. It encouraged me enough to continue to paint. Not long after I started painting, people began to commission me to do portraits. I started teaching several years ago, and fell in love with it. I taught at Wake Tech, Town of Garner, Town of Cary (Jordan Hall, Hemlock Bluffs) and for the City of Raleigh. I enjoyed teaching, but something was missing. I could not bring my best friend with me...Jesus. I began to pray for God to give me a place to teach art, where He was welcome. One night, as I was praying, I began to see an art school. I sketched it, and the next night at church, an evangelist was visiting and he said, "God is giving some of you visions...and you are drawing them and He want you to know, 'It's going to happen.'" Wow, that was many years ago, but I have held on to the promise. I believe these classes are the beginning of something God is doing, not just with me, but all over. He is reclaiming the arts for His Glory!!!

All my life I have LOVED rainbows!! It has been a special "sign" from God for me on numerous occasions. He often confirms His love for me through this precious promise He has given us in His Word. My hope is that this symbol will remain an inspiration to believers in a Holy God, and not something that represents impurity.

Not long after I was saved, I was led to write in my journal, that becoming a Christian was like seeing a rainbow. I wrote something simple...and was very proud of it : ) Well, the next day, I went to church, and my next door neighbor just "happened" to be singing as a guest at my church. She sang "Amazing Grace," one of my favorites! After church, I came home and started to work in my garden. Something that I love to do, it's a place I feel close to God. I noticed, as I was working, that a storm was coming up...so I gathered up my tools and went inside. It began to pour down rain and I was going about my business inside, when I noticed the walls became lighter. And, in that moment...I knew...God was up to something. So, I told my son..."C'mon, we're going outside. We're going to see a rainbow."

When I got to the door and looked outside the rain was really coming down...and the sun was shining so brightly. I could already see all the colors of the rainbow reflected in each of the drops hanging on the leaves and branches. I thought to myself, "your people are like this Lord, all different, reflecting your light in different ways, but they all are reflecting you. You are the source."

Next I went up my driveway. It is a steep incline, but when I reached the top, I noticed the water rushing over my feet as it was traveling along the curb to the gutter. It washed completely over my feet, it was muddy and warm. I thought to myself, "Just like that Lord, you washed my feet. You took away all my sins, and they are gone forever!"

A little girl came riding up on her bicycle, laughing and playing in the rain. This particular little girl reminded me so much of myself when I was young. She had the soul of an artist and eyes to see. I was reminded, "You must have the faith of a child."

I began to look for where the rainbow would be...and because of where the sun was situated, I could get an idea...I knew it had to shine through the rain. So much of our lives is like the rain, there is pain and suffering, but when the light, shines through it...there is beauty. God is Glorified.

When I first saw it, it was so faint...I rubbed my eyes, and I wondered. "Is it really there, or do I want it to be there so badly, I am imagining it?" But with each step, the colors became more prominent and sure. Like our faith. It just had to be walked out. We walk by faith, not by sight.

I wanted to knock on every door and say, "Come out, do you know what you are missing?" But I feared they'd think I'd lost my mind--they couldn't understand what it meant to me to see a rainbow. They wouldn't understand. Except, there was one house right beside me, on the corner, she might understand. She was a single mom of 3 kids, I knew, she'd have ears to hear!! (she's become a Christian now!!!)

My street is shaped like a cross. Two culdisacs with one street that dead ends down the middle. I was at the crossroads. At first I wanted to run towards the rainbow, to get closer to it. But, as I started to...I realized, the best place to see all of the rainbow was at the foot of the T-cross. I was reminded...when we humble ourselves, serving others, getting on our knees or sitting at His feet...that is where we can see Him best!

The little girl on the bike was so excited. Yelling to everyone, "Look, there's a rainbow!!" Her hair was wet, there was such joy in her eyes and she had no fear! Her family came outside to see the rainbow with her. Amen!!! Once I got to the foot of the cross I picked up my 5 yr old little boy and right in that moment, the rainbow turned into a double rainbow, and my son looked at me and said, "Look mom, one for you, and one for me."

I cried so hard that day. I was completely broken, once again...by His incedible ability to love each one of us in such a personal intimate way!

The last few years, the Lord has had me meditating on the Butterfly. What an amazing creature! While a caterpillar, it is unable to travel very fast, has limited vision and cannot reproduce. God created a caterpillar with 2 prominent goals, to survive and grow by eating everything in sight and shedding it's skin periodically. This is so representative of what it is like before you are saved...and of what we go through as Christians, when we are new believers, we feast on the Word, and go through times of shedding our old skin. We are changed from Glory to Glory.

But, there is an appointed time, when the caterpillar must hang itself upside down and shed it's skin one last time. In that still, dark, quiet place...of waiting on the Lord, the caterpillar is completely changed! Scientist cannot explain it, or figure it out. Not only is the shape completely different, but it is a new creature...with new purpose.

When it is time for him to come out, he must find his own way, or he will never be able to fly. The wings must fill with blood and he has to wait until they're hardened, before he can use them. Once he is able to, he flies from flower to flower, drinking nectar, he sees with incredible vision, he mates and all the while, he carries a beauty that reflects the Glory of God. 2Cor. 5:17 - "Old things have passed away; Behold all things are become new." Becoming a Christian is transforming, life changing like that! In Him you will feast on honey (the Holy Spirit), soar in higher places, receive eyes to see, have the ability to reproduce caterpillars and you will do it all as you reflect His Glory!