Living a Better Story in Christ

About 8 years ago, I was commuting to work in Atlanta from our home 100 miles away. The drive was miserable, averaging about two hours each way. On a really, really good day, I might make it in a bit more than an hour and a half. On a really bad one, three or more hours easily. One. Way. Needless to say, it was awful. But something good came out of that experience. I started listening to Scriptures and spending more time in prayer while on the road. I began attempting to really remain in an ongoing interaction with His Spirit. I only managed to sustain that commute for about six months, but it changed the course of my life.

One day, I can't remember the exact date, Jesus met me on that road and, like the disciples on the Emmaus road, he opened my eyes, ears, and heart to His Word. In an instant, the Scriptures shifted from pages of rules, suggestions, collected stories, and long, boring lists to the most amazing book ever written, for me. The pages suddenly started coming alive, and I began to see many of the ways in which Jesus was active throughout Scripture. I went from wondering if the Scriptures really were inerrant to knowing that I could trust Him in this matter beyond any shadow of doubt. This change happened about ten years into my quest for understanding, and about twenty years into my life as a Christian. Sometimes it really is just about waiting upon the Lord. I couldn't have made that happen for myself. I don't think I even asked for it when I prayed. It was just a gracious gift of God that He bestowed on me though I didn't deserve it.

The Scriptures testify of Him, certainly, and I began to slowly understand that aspect of them, but what really excited me was the occasional glimpses in which Holy Spirit revealed Christ actively dwelling in His Word. It was about that time that I began to better understand the ways in which the stories in the Bible echoed and/or reflected Christ our King. What's more, things that had really baffled me about life before that day suddenly began to make a lot more sense. I desired to share those insights with others in the hopes that it would encourage them and help them to better navigate stories of their own. I began looking for ways to share what I knew.

I spent the next four years after that writing a book on this very subject, but it was long and complex, and not many people bothered to read it. I found this very discouraging, and began searching for another way to help people with the knowledge I'd been given. During those years, I also worked on improving my art skills and prayed many times for God's help. Then one day, someone who knew me pretty well asked to post some of my works at Wallpaperfusion.com to share with others for free. I thought it was a good idea, but afterword I pretty much forgot about it. A few months later, I noticed an uptick in visits to my webpage. After checking about, I came to the conclusion that people were actually downloading my art and seeking out my site in conjunction with that experience. I was astounded to learn that my wallpapers had been downloaded several hundred thousand times. God gets all the glory for this!

To-date (as of 11/16/2017), my art has received over 455,000 downloads. I'm really thankful that God has given me something that I can share with others for their enjoyment. I'm glad that so many like my work. I hope to keep improving and keep delivering art that others will like. I have been blessed in this, and so I've re-envisioned my website in hopes that some might actually want to stick around. I'm doing this as part of my personal ministry because I know that my life has improved greatly since Christ touched me on the Atlanta road, and I want others to benefit from the same things He has shown me. Not everything is perfect, but I have greater understanding and continue to grow in Him. I find myself more at peace with the things that come our way, and I also trust Him a lot more.

I am currently at work creating new works of art and revising the book that God gave me. I'm also still working on living a better story in Christ myself. I hope you will stick around and find something of use in my work. Maybe you will benefit from the book when I finally am able to re-release it. Perhaps you will have or have had a "road" experience of your own. I'd love to hear about it if you do. God bless!

Please note: Sometime during the last four years, I discovered Donald Miller's Storyline, and taking inspiration from his words that we ought to live a better story, which I've referenced on this site, I've set out here with that ultimate goal in mind: To help others live a better story in Christ. Unfortunately, I haven't seen Donald Miller doing much with Storyline lately. I have not taken the course he offered, but some of what I've read seems fairly helpful and insightful. I like his ideas about finding our subplot in God's Story. I think my work and his might complement each other, but since I haven't been able to take that class, this is really only speculation on my part. Well, thanks for reading.