ART & POETRY BY PAUL & KATHY BOECHER©

I chose the above painting today because it depicts the darkness you can feel when you think you need to wear a mask or try to be someone you really aren’t. From a very young age, I have been an entertainer. I performed before my parents, family and friends because I thought it was my job. Being the first grandchild on both sides put me in the spotlight for the first few years of my life. After a while, more children entered the scene with their own brands of showing off. Still, being the actress I was born to be, I persisted. I spent most of my life hiding behind a different character on stage as well as in my relationships. I never felt the real me was good enough. I knew my parents and sister loved me. I knew my relatives loved me except when I made them join me on stage. As time went on, I found I had to try harder to become what they wanted me to be. I once heard that aging allows you to forget about pleasing the audience and it made a lot of sense. For all those years of trying so hard to please so many, I forgot who I really was. When we realize that God loves us in spite of our mistakes, our foolish choices and our sin, a whole new outlook can come our way. This allows us to be who we are and what God intended us to be. Not only is He our Father, our brother, our counselor and friend, but He has our back every day. We can count on that.

When we have the ability to walk the streets without fear,

To pad through the glory of the environment with wild abandon,

To soak in everything within our grasp with no ties or bondage,

To persist in spite of all the darkness which the evil one stirs up,

To breathe the fresh air of God’s creation and observe its magnificence,

To hold the things in life that we treasure as precious,

We have experienced deliverance from a world which has run amok.

We are free from the restraints of a sick society that dwells on self,

We are untangled and able to express our ideas, creativity and dreams.

Without fear of recrimination, but with freedom to stir the imagination,

We can fly to great heights, soar with the eagles,

Reach the pinnacle unknown, yet within our grasp,

While still feeling secure and safe,

Free from the tyranny of self-serving individuals,

Alive with confidence, assurance, determination and hope,

Knowing that we are saved eternally,

Simply by believing in the freedom already won for us,

By God’s own Son.

THANK YOU, JESUS, FOR ANOTHER DAY!