The Box

A little story for you this week..As I have said before sometimes a painting just doesn’t cut it. Only a poem or a story will do..Enjoy!

The Box – by Lisa Weller

She was burdened with sadness and hungry for some relief. This was not what she had signed up for. Years of listening to everyone else had left her drained and empty. She had been trying to cram her self into a box that would never fit. No matter how many times she re-packaged herself there was always a limb that would escape. But she had tried so desperately to shut down the lid and tape herself in. Because that was what ‘normal’ girls do. The voices of judgement echoed in an empty box.

God found her alone on the hill, battle-scarred and weary, with nothing in her pocket, but a gun in her hand. She saw emptiness and loneliness, struggle and fight. Again and again she asked the question, “Who will save me?” He reached into her heart and showed her His plan.

“I will”, God said. “Trust in me child. Let go. Give me your strife”.

So she let go and God took her on a journey. He took her to the ends of the Earth and left her there, in the remote, wilderness. And then he told her to start searching, for she would find what she had been looking for.

Moonbeams fell into her eyes and sunlight would land in her hair as she wandered blindly through the empty moorlands. The wind would tug at her clothes and sting her face. She had no one and nothing to comfort her. Nothing was familiar. How is this helping, she thought. I need people. I need a man. I need money. I know what I need. I have been told what I need.

And God persevered. Layer upon layer of her self would discard itself on the craggy paths as she searched for something. Empty desires, broken habits, worn out lies were left there for the birds to pick at. Onwards she stumbled. God I don’t know where you are taking me, but this is not it. This is not THE answer.

She got lighter and inhaled cleaner air. She stopped searching; she sat down, exhausted and opened her eyes.

The sun scalded her face and the silence seared her heart. But she dug deep into her self, scratching at the last remnants of a desire to conform.

She looked down. There was nothing of her previous life remaining. Old skin was gone and new layers were there instead. She found a dry pool, with a shimmer of water. And looked into her reflection. The sight that met her took her breath away. She was luminous. She barely recognised the image she saw. For looking back at her was a woman with dreams in her eyes and a flame burning deep in her heart.

So this was what she looked like; a woman who feared nothing and a woman who had found her soul. This was the woman that God had taken her to the ends of the Earth to find.

She turned and embraced her future and walked into it. And there by the side of the rock pool, empty, was a box.

Thank you for reading. Needless to say, this is the journey I went on when I came to Scotland. A transformative experience to say the least! But one that I wouldn’t be without.

Last week I completed a commission that was inspired by the customer’s travels around Australia. They are delighted with the finished piece. I love how my art can tap into other people’s experiences and be a permanent reminder to others of happy times…Here it is…

Please contact me for your very own commissioned painting :). See you next week xx