The Shield of Faith

 

One of my friends emailed me after Christmas (hi, Michele!) and asked me if I had received a favorite or particularly meaningful gift that season. Well, I loved everything I received, but there was one that stood out above the rest, and I realized I never told you about it.

                Back when we lived in Bluffton, I somehow stumbled upon the Instagram account of Dawn McVey. I think I’ve shared about her before on the blog, but if you don’t remember, or you’re new here, let me recap. Dawn is a beautiful (inside and out) artist in Kansas City. Several years ago, she had a (rare) small intestine transplant that saved her life, but the months of IV nutrition she lived on ahead of the transplant left her with liver damage. I started following her as she began the journey of milling her own wheat, which ended up healing her liver. Though we have no reason to believe we have faulty livers, her journey of wheat milling inspired us to do it also, and we sure have loved our homemade bread adventures.

                Dawn creates art from a studio in her home and uses her Instagram platform to share encouragement and the hope of Christ. I love her account because I always scroll away from each post smiling and feeling encouraged in my soul!

                Several months ago, Dawn’s church held a women’s conference, and the theme was Flourish – based on the Armor of God passage in Ephesians. They commissioned Dawn to paint an actual suit of armor, and during the conference, they gave away those pieces to select women in attendance. They also asked Dawn to create an art print that they could mass produce and give to each woman in attendance.

                When I read the story, I thought that was one of the coolest ideas I’d ever seen, and I immediately put the art print (which she added to her shop) on my wish list. And it sat there for probably close to two years.

                Last fall, when I went through the process of applying for my job at the church, I went through some of the most intense spiritual warfare I can remember experiencing in recent years. It was, at times, gutting. I did a Bible study on the armor of God and kept my Bible close to my side for that whole journey. Sometimes reading Scripture was the only way I could breathe.

                Because that section of Scripture became so dear to me, I knew (when I got the job) that I wanted that shield of faith print to hang in my church office. I wanted to look at it every day and remember the hard that led to the flourishing.

                In describing the print on her website, Dawn said this:

                “The theme of the event was Flourish...how to flourish regardless of our circumstances, by putting on the Armor of God daily.  To represent that visually, they requested that I paint flowers all over a suit of actual steel armor.  And to go along with that, I also painted this "Shield of Faith" canvas painting for them to use for their print gifts.

I purposely chose to paint some of the greenery spilling out from the side of the shield, to show that when God causes us to flourish, it doesn't always look exactly like we might have expected!  And that often, flourishing in the Lord can take us well beyond our "borders" and way outside our neat and tidy little boxes!!  (And thank goodness for that!)

I hope this painting and the fine art prints of it that we're offering as well, will always serve as a reminder to put on the Armor of God daily, so we can flourish!  To pick up your Shield of Faith each and every day, so you can withstand the attacks of the enemy and truly flourish in your walk with the Lord!”

                I ended up receiving this print as a gift this Christmas – from my parents. (Ryan took care of ordering and framing it.) Spoiler: I knew I was getting it, and when I was ready to open it, I just knew in my heart that seeing it in person for the first time was going to be overwhelming in ways no one else in that room, except Ryan, would understand. Christmas swirled on around me, and everyone was eager to move on, but my own mental time stopped as I gazed at it, and it took everything in my being to not just sob right there. I knew I couldn’t get that important moment back, so I took the time to experience my feelings.

                For now, this piece sits in our home office, but when the church offices are done, it will move there and remind me daily of the battle I fought in that season. While today isn’t as intense as that day, battles will come and go, and each day requires the shield of faith – and the full armor of God – to walk forward toward flourishing!

                Thank you, Mom and Dad, for this beautiful, meaningful piece that captures the journey I walked with the Lord recently. I love it!