Marydean Draws: screensaver

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I've been thinking on these verses for months now. They nudge me, convict me, and give me a vision for how to navigate a divisive political and religious landscape here in the US, a landscape that desperately needs the work of peacemakers.

"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." (James 3:17-18 ESV)

These verses tell me that peacemaking isn't a passive work. It's more like farming than hand-holding. I'm not a farmer, or even a good gardener, but I know it takes a lot of effort, care, patience, and oversight.

In the same way, peace is wrought from the resistant soil of injustice and oppression and contention.

Making peace is fervently praying for God's Kingdom to come and God's rightness to reign. It's not of this world, so naturally, it doesn't into a particular political agenda.

Peacemakers don't please everyone. Even Jesus didn't do that. Peacemakers are friends of God, first and foremost (James 4:4).

Even when they confront, peacemakers honor the image of God in all people without partiality.

Peacemakers don't assume they're always right, so they can listen patiently. They also know they need God's mercy just as much as anyone else, so they're quick to give it.

Peacemakers know the story they are a part of and how it ends. The Kingdom of God is an ever-present reality.

Father, give me wisdom that is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. I pray that I would be a planter of peace in all the places I go today.

You can download the coloring page HERE or by clicking on the image below, and the screensaver by clicking on the image below and saving it to your phone.

Look for a second blog post coming to you later this week introducing you to one of my favorite peacemakers!

*I'm so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use! Use for Bible studies, church groups or events, school, and Sunday school classes are all fine! If you're in doubt, I'm happy to answer any questions. All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, thank you (!), and as a courtesy, please link back to this post and not the PDF file.

If you like this, you can get these posts in your inbox by signing up HERE!

February 3, 2020

Plant Peace James 3:17-18 Coloring page and Screensaver

There are moments when all of us feel alone and forsaken, burdened "beyond our ability to endure" (2 Corinthians 1:8). Life can feel like way too much fo us. We cry out with the Psalmist:

"Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help." (Psa 22:11 ESV)

In this Psalm, David goes on to vividly describe how he feels surrounded by attackers, how his "heart is like wax," and his strength is dried up "like a potsherd" as God lays him down in the "dust of death."

I recommend reading through this whole Psalm. As David laments, he cries out to God for help:

"But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!" (Psalm 22:19 ESV)

As David experiences God's comfort in response to his cries, David's lament turns to praise:

"For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!" (Psa 22:24-26 ESV)

What do you do when you are so pressed you can hardly breathe? God provides the model right here in this Psalm and throughout Scripture:

lament > cry out > praise

God does not despise your suffering and demand you ignore it so you can praise Him. God hears your cries.

He delights to rescue you. In fact, He rescues you because He delights in you! (see Psalm 18:19)

You will be able to say to the next generation "that he has done it" (Psalm 22:31)

I have cried out many times recently, and God has shown up in so many ways.

I have seen His help in:

an encouraging Scripture

The balm to my soul of the Holy Spirit's presence
Meals from friends as I recover from surgery
A friend's encouraging words
A prompting to action helping me navigate a difficult situation
A friend who shared what she's been learning at work
A prayer app helping me with my practice of prayer

I am two weeks out from a successful surgery to remove endometriosis. Thank you all who prayed for me and checked in. I am doing well and slowly regaining my strength, but there have definitely been times of lament and crying out along the way.

Friends, praise Him, but lament what you need to lament. Cry out for the help you need. He will not despise it.

In turn, don't despise the lament of others around you. I am so thankful for all those who have entered into my suffering in such a Christ-like way.

I made this screensaver of Psalm 54:4 for you to use this month. You can download it in English or Spanish by clicking on one of the images below to save to your phone. And please share this post with a friend who might need some encouraging words!

Also, if you are looking for more ways to share Scriptures on this topic of God's help with friends, I have a whole set in the shop called "comfort and hope." It is full of Scriptures that are dear to my heart and have shaped the way I see God. You can purchase them as a printable, printed set, or in coloring book form.

*I'm so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use! Use for Bible studies, church groups or events, and Sunday school classes are all fine! If you're in doubt, I'm happy to answer any questions. All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, thank you (!), and as a courtesy, please link back to this post and not the PDF file.

If you like this, you can get these posts in your inbox by signing up HERE!

October 4, 2019

The God who helps + Psalm 54:4 Phone Screensaver in English and Spanish

My sweet neighbor and friend, Lila, died from complications from lung cancer this week. She was in her late seventies. She read this blog, encouraged me, and told me stories about her life and her grandchildren. She even came to my art opening last month at a little local shop.

The first week we moved into the neighborhood, she came over with some roses she and her husband had grown in their backyard. She was a beautiful person and I enjoyed getting to know over the years we lived across the street from each other.

I watched her (and her husband) suffer this last year as they treated her lung cancer, an aggressive disease. She lost her hair and often her breath, but not her faith or her hope in the Lord's kindness. She and her husband grieved the loss of the future they had imagined together. She grieved not getting to watch her grandchildren grow up. She grieved for the pain she knew her husband would feel when he lost her.

Her beautiful black hair peppered with white began to grow back in the last few months. She started to try to walk the neighborhood that she had walked nearly every morning for years.

And then she was gone so quickly this week.

"It is better to go to the house of mourning

than to go to the house of feasting,

for this is the end of all mankind,

and the living will lay it to heart."

(Ecc 7:2 ESV)

Here in the house of mourning, we, the living, should take heart.

Do you know how very precious your life is as a creature of God's imagining, made in His image? Do you know that you were made for eternity? That you are not a passing jumble of dust, that your soul is eternal, made of the stuff of His?

Do you know that your worth is based on His design, not any standard pressed in on you by your culture? Do you know you can build a whole life around the worship of Him?

Do you know that you are beautiful and dear to Him and that He prepares a place for you for all eternity, the way opened to you freely in the Son, Jesus? That He delights to be with you?

Lila, my friend, what glory fills your eyes and heart now that you behold Him fully?

What work will He put in your hands to do that will fill you with joy and creativity?

Are you singing now with lungs full and expanding, a voice at times trapped in your soul as your body faded, but now free? The harmonies there must be beautiful.

Friend, I hope we can be neighbors again in the new heaven and new earth. The crazy pack of deer that roams our neighborhood won't eat your roses anymore.

Maybe you'll knock on my door again and bring me another vase of flowers from your glorious garden. I'll marvel at how beautiful God made you and at how much you reflect Him. And we'll talk for hours about how good He is and how good He was.

For now, I'll miss you.

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you."

Psalm 16:1-2

I made this screensaver for you, dear readers, to use on your phone to remind of God's goodness this month. I hope you enjoy it. Just click on one of the images below and save it to your phone.

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September 6, 2019

The house of mourning + Psalm 16:2 Screensaver in English and Spanish

Today was the last day of school for my girls! They've both grown so much this year, and now I'm excited to spend the summer going to the city pool and being off our routine. I also plan to work on a series of watercolor paintings for a First Friday art show at a local shop downtown in August (The Lady Jane if you're local). If I get really productive, I may offer some paintings in the shop, too!

Because of all this, I'll be taking the summer off blogging. In the Fall, I plan to continue the series on anti-racism. I have a few posts in the works about how racism works (the systemic aspect) and another about learning to see my white culture.

In the meantime, I have a little challenge for you, my readers. I'm sensitive to the fact that I'm talking about race as a white woman. I think we all have a place at the table no matter our backgrounds, but I want to take the chance and promote voices of color right now.

So here's the summer challenge:

LISTEN TO or READ people of color.
Comment here on the blog or send me an email about what you read/listened to and what you learned!

Daniel Hill, in his book White Awake, recounts a mentor who challenged him with a simple exercise:

"he organized the exercise around four groups of voices: my closest friends, the mentors I looked to for guidance, the preachers/teachers/theologians I relied on for spiritual guidance, and the authors of the books I was reading. The instructions were simple: comprehensively list them. Take note of the cultural backgrounds they represented."

Hill quickly realized that his biggest influences were all white. The same has been true for me most of my life, and it has shaped my culture and how I see both myself and others. My cultural identity then has profound implications for how I follow Jesus!

So, I challenge you to listen to someone who stretches you. I don't mean abandon your convictions. If you embark on reading after people different than you, you'll find you agree with them on some issues and disagree on others. For me, that's okay. I'm learning to be okay with this discomfort that inevitably comes. Practice godly discernment. Return to Scripture. Talk it over with friends, with your church community, with your pastors. Pray and ask God to show you the truth.

I'm going to list a few books and podcasts if you need suggestions (these are affiliate links**). You can comment below with your own suggestions! Also, you can check out a longer list specifically about racism on the anti-racism page here on the blog.

BOOKS

Gay Girl, Good God by Jackie Hill Perry

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown

The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church's Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Hermanas: Deepening Our Identity and Growing Our Influence by Natalia Kohn Rivera, Noemi Vega Quiñones, Kristy Garza Robinson

How to Fix a Broken Record by Amena Brown

The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Western Church from Western Cultural Captivity by Soong-Chan Rah (also Prophetic Lament)

Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion, & Truth in the Immigration Debate by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang

Healing our Broken Humanity: Practices for Revitalizing the Church and Renewing the World by Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Graham Hill

A Sojourner's Truth: Choosing Freedom and Courage in a Divided by Natasha Sistrunk Robinson

PODCASTS

Truth's Table
Midwives of Culture for Grace and Truth (built by Black women and for Black women)

Pass the Mic by the Witness

Dynamic Voices For a Diverse Church

United? We Pray by Isaac Adams

taking churches' racial struggles to the throne

BLOG

Black Coffee with White Friends by Marcie Walker
"I am usually the only black person in the room. That is what this is, what this blog is all about: me being the only one, most days, in most of the places I go."

Trillia Newbell blog

PLAYLIST

And just for fun, here's my summer Spotify playlist.

I want to hear what you learn and what you read/listened to! Comment below or send me an email!

Happy Summer! I made a screensaver for you from a recent painting and a favorite Scripture from this season of life. Download it by clicking on the image below.

**affiliate link. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

If you like this, you can get these posts in your inbox by signing up HERE!

June 7, 2019

One practice that has been helpful in my spiritual life in the past few years is to increasingly pause in the multitude of my thoughts and anxieties, and ask, "God, what do you want to say to me right now?"

"Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David." (Isa 55:3 ESV)

It's a discipline that I'm growing in. It is not independent of God's Word, but flows out of it, as God applies it to my specific situation and thoughts. That's why consistent study and growth in God's Word bears so much fruit, even if it doesn't seem to be relevant at the moment of study or learning.

Richard Foster, in his book, Celebration of Discipline, talks about the practice of meditating on Scripture. He writes, "Whereas the study of Scripture centers on exegesis [interpreting the text], the meditation of Scripture centers on internalizing and personalizing the passage. The written Word becomes a living word addressed to you."

I think of this Scripture:

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16 ESV)

As I talk to my girls about situations they are experiencing, I'm trying to teach them to listen for God's voice too.

"God speaks to you? What does He sounds like?" they ask.

"He speaks to me through His Word and through the Holy Spirit that lives in me and you, but you have to practice listening to Him. I'll pray that He speaks to you too."

After encouraging one of my daughters to pray about a situation recently, she excitedly recounted later that God had given her a picture of a particularly truth that comforted her.

I can think of no greater comfort I could offer anyone.

❤️

Today's screensaver from Isaiah 55:3. I didn't have time to get the Spanish version, but I'll try to add one soon (drop me a line if you're interested)! You can click on the image below and save it to your phone.

If you like this, you can get these posts in your inbox by signing up HERE!

May 1, 2019

Hear, that your soul may live + Isaiah 55:3 Screensaver

As some of us celebrate Lent and as Easter Sunday approaches, I want to meditate on a few verses and share a screensaver image for your phone.

"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." (1Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV)

"If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:31-39 ESV)

Today's screensaver from 1 Corinthians 11:24 (KJV version) is available in Spanish and English. You can click on the images below and save to your phone.

PRAYING the Word

Can it be? Make it a reality to my heart,

That no one can be against me when you are already for me.

That you have already given me everything precious and good.

That nothing has been withheld from me, your dear child.

That no one can condemn me, because the judge has already justified me.

That nothing I could imagine, no pain or distress or trouble, present or future, could ever separate me from your love.

That, in you, victory is assured. And not just a close victory--a decisive, overwhelming one.

If you like this, you can get these posts in your inbox by signing up HERE!

April 3, 2019

Broken for you 1 Corinthians 11:24 phone screensaver in Spanish and English

I don't know the season you're facing today. When it's not one thing, it's another, right? Waiting.
Despairing. Doubting. All the various kinds of suffering possible, and there are many.

The gospel writers don't skip around this reality: "For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too" (2 Cor. 1:5 ESV).

We may not be able to sort out all the intricacies of God's plans in our suffering, but we do know one clear goal: to be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (Jamess 1:2-4 ESV)

Honestly, I'm not really comfortable with this verse. If you're like me, I want to say: "That's really nice, God, that you want me to be perfect and complete, but I'm pretty happy with who I am and I just want to do cool stuff for you and be really useful in the Kingdom. Isn't that enough?"

Dallas Willard, in The Divine Conspiracy**, wrote something that has been rolling around in my head for a few weeks now. He lays out what it looks like to be an everyday apprentice of Jesus and then he says, "What they [apprentices of Jesus], and God, get out of their lifetime is chiefly the person they become."

The lesson for me in the last few years has been that who I am becoming is way more important to God than what I do. And that's not because His Kingdom and His work are less important than the kingdom of me. It's because my ministry in the church and in the world flows out of the person that I am in Him. That's just how effective ministry works.

The hard, internal work of conforming us to the image of Jesus--not just at the level of our actions, but down deep to the level of our thoughts, our emotions, our will, our reactions--is what God is committed to. It's what yields the spiritual fruit that changes the world and brings Him glory.

Now let's be honest here. Knowing this goal of God's doesn't make trials easier. In some seasons, every second of every day can feel pained. But, when we trust that even in this, that God is good and that He is for us and our good, then we can persevere in hope.

I hope this encourages you today. The screensavers below are to remind you of the good God is doing in you and then through you as you go out and be the person God has and is forming you to be.

You can download them be clicking on the images (one on Spanish and one in English) below and saving to your phone.

James 1:4 Bible verse screensaver from Marydean Draws

Santiago 1:4 Bible verse screensaver in Spanish

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February 6, 2019

God's goal for you + James 1:4 screensaver in English and Spanish

Sometimes, I think it's important to take a big step back out of the busyness of life, and ask the big picture questions. What is God doing here? What am I doing here?

When we frame life in God's big picture, then the day-to-day takes on a different color, a deeper joy, and a rediscovered purpose--without changing our actual circumstances one little bit.

Here's a big picture truth: God has a kingdom and he's calling you and me to be a part of it. It's not an inaccessible kingdom. It's not a kingdom under threat (no matter the current political climate). It's not only a future kingdom. It's here and now, and you're invited.

What's our role in this kingdom of God's?

Genesis 1 tells us he entrusted us rule to over the earth (see Genesis 1:26-30), but it would be a rule over which He would graciously reign and sustain us.

Dallas Willard (who fully fleshes out the ideas here) writes in The Divine Conspiracy**:

"The human job description . . . found in Chapter 1 of Genesis indicates that God assigned to us collectively the rule over all living things on earth, animal and plant. . . . However unlikely it may seem from our current viewpoint, God equipped us for this task by framing our nature to function in a conscious, personal relationship of interactive responsibility with him. We are mean to exercise our 'rule' only in union with God, as he acts with us. He intended to be our constant companion or coworker in the creative enterprise of life on earth."

God invites us to be Kingdom men and women involved in His work on earth, full of His Spirit, abiding in Him.

But we easily get that confused. We say:

I will reign over myself. God. You are not to be trusted, so I will trust myself.

Or, maybe this:

So as long as I've got my ticket to heaven, I'm good, and can't wait for your will to be finally done in heaven (but certainly not in this crazy place, God!).

(This is the "it's all gonna burn" theology, as in, "it's all gonna burn so why try to fix it?")

Or, this:

There is so much work to do on this earth, and it's all up to me. I'm not sure God cares as much as I do. Really loving Jesus means doing all the good stuff (secondary or divorced from a relationship with God).

I wonder if confusion about the nature of God's kingdom accounts for why people argue about the relationship of social justice and the Gospel and debate the value of faith versus works.

I wonder if Jesus just shakes his head, and says, "You really don't know how my kingdom works, do you?"

God says,

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5 ESV)

and

"No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." (Jhn 15:15 ESV)

Will God call you to big work or small work? Will you run for office or will you run an office? Will you disciple your own kids or someone else's? Will he call you to social action in the city or Gospel proclamation in the Amazons?

I don't know. But I do know that you're His friend, and He will tell you what He's doing and how you can be a part.

These are the things I'm thinking about today.

I made this coloring page to remind you that God wants to be YOUR God, and that He calls you HIS PEOPLE, and that just as he walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, He wants to walk with you today and do Kingdom work through you.

You can download the page in English HERE and in Spanish HERE or click on the images below:

PRAYING the WORD

Jesus, teach me what it means to be part of your Kingdom. Show me the big picture of your work and my life. Show me the work you have for me. Thank you that you promise to be my God.

QUESTIONS to consider:

In what ways have you misunderstood your human job description?

*I'm so happy for you to enjoy my coloring pages and printables for your personal (not commercial) use. Use for Bible studies, church groups or events, and Sunday school classes are all fine! If you're in doubt, I'm happy to answer any questions. All artwork and photos are copyright Marydean Draws. If you share this, you're awesome (!), and as a courtesy, please link back to this post and not the PDF file. Thank you!!

****affiliate link. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

September 19, 2018

Plant Peace James 3:17-18 Coloring page and Screensaver

The God who helps + Psalm 54:4 Phone Screensaver in English and Spanish

The house of mourning + Psalm 16:2 Screensaver in English and Spanish

Hear, that your soul may live + Isaiah 55:3 Screensaver

Broken for you 1 Corinthians 11:24 phone screensaver in Spanish and English

God's goal for you + James 1:4 screensaver in English and Spanish

Garden Living + a 2 Corinthians 6:16 Bible Coloring Page in English and Spanish