ive been commissioned to paint...

so painting is one of the things i love to do. but when im asked to paint something, i tend to be dramatic about it and wait, and wait, and wait till the very last minute. case and point: my boss asked me to paint a set of 4 canvases for her daughter's room, this was in may...its july and i have finished one of the 4 (but im still waiting for my boss to give me the other canvases) so here is the first of 4 and i hope to be finished with them all by the end of the month.

with all that being said im just reminded of the parable of the talents:

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.”

His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

The man with the two talents also came. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.”

His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

Then the man who had received the one talent came. “Master,” he said, “I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.”

His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

- Matthew 25:14-30 (NIV)

so God, i just pray that I would be faithful with whatever you have placed before me, that i wouldn't be selfish or fearful with my talents/gifting and that I would walk them out with confidence. and i pray that over everyone, that there would be a level of trust, a level of integrity, and a level of ownership that goes far beyond who we are and that there would be a measure of recognizing the sole purpose of why we were in trusted with these things in the first place. so yea, God do it, over and over just have your way in each of us.

my painting: the first is what i had to work off of...