#6 How This Garden Grew: God’s faithfulness through grief

 Would you be surprised to know this vibrant Garden first grew in a season of grief? How could something so colorful grow from a place so dark? I want to tell you who made it possible, and in the process, radically changed my life in the most wonderful ways.

Then you will call upon me

and come and pray to me,

and I will hear you.

You will seek me and find me,

when you seek me

with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:12-13

I admit that for a long time, parts of my heart were hidden and guarded. I did not seek the Lord with all of my heart. I did not know how to lean on him…even though I went to church and sang the songs and prayed the prayers. I knew about him. Isn't that the idea? Truthfully, I didn’t know that I didn’t know him.

 But when my heart was broken, I turned to him in a way I had never turned to him before; with an open heart I turned to the person of God, not just the idea of him. When I could no longer bear the weight of it all,

I called on him,

I came to him and

prayed to him, and

I found him.

 I came to know him as a person which, it turns out, is so much more than just knowing about him.

I took his hand, and he helped me. I learned, in that season of sadness, that he has a hand. Our faith is not limited to facts and figurative language. It's not just about knowing the stories and memorizing the prayers. He's a Living God, mighty to save those who are crushed in spirit. When it felt like I could no longer keep my chin above water, I called out to him, and he pulled me from the cold creek of grief himself. But what came after that is the amazing part. 

While I was getting to know him as a Father, as a Friend, a Teacher, a Helper, I was also beginning to recognize him as a Gardener. The Almighty God personally led me through a series of seasons planting good things right there in the dark dirt. One on one. Just me and him.

The “Garden Work” painting is a visual illustration of all that grew in the months following the hardest time of my life:

Trust grew, and I began opening the eyes of my heart to him.

Hope grew, and I gained an elevated perspective of life.

Love grew as I basked in the relieving, warm light of the Father’s Love.

Rest grew, and I knew I was safe enough to let go of my own control.

Peace grew even in undesirable circumstances.

Joy grew because of gratitude.

Freedom grew in knowing his way is better,

 and with that… I surrendered. 

Not because I lost, but because I was found. 

This Garden painting illustrates what God is capable of planting in all of our lives when we turn to him with an open heart.

 Dig deeper and listen to this week's podcast episode linked below. 

"Looking Up" book

$56.00

Looking Up is a compilation of art and inspirations drawn from Sarah Otts’ work based on the wonder and spirituality found within the natural world, most notably around her home near Mobile Bay. This 8x10 book is a beautiful addition to your coffee table, and a heartfelt gift of encouragement. Within the painted hardcover you will find pages of original art as well as written reflections, photographs and inspiring quotes.

“This collection of art is a celebration of creation intended to inspire perspective, to lift chins and aim sights outward, to remind us to look up and keep looking.”

Available for local pick up or shipping.

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#5 Untangled from Hang-ups

Have you ever realized that the work of your hands is tangled up with some deeply personal stuff?…despite your organization and compartmentalization? Your productivity depends on the health of your roots. 

 Underneath it all, we have hidden stories, worries, hopes, fears and even secret pain. And we secure our insecurities the way we wear tight Spanx under cute dresses. But what's underneath won't stay hidden forever. At some point, the truth pops out. Like, if a plant has rotten roots, eventually spring time tells its truth. The blooms and fruits indicate if something is going on underground. And from time to time we all have something going on under there that needs tending to.

 Everyone wants the big blooms, the prized crop, but the true gardener knows that it takes time to properly tend beneath the surface in order to produce well. When the garden is well maintained and managed, bountiful blooms and fruits come through with ease; a natural flow that is not forced. (there is productivity without stress and force!?) 

In fact, it can't be forced. Growth happens, not because the gardener pulled on the stem, but because he trusts and knows: it needs time for tending. The plant can't force itself into natural productivity either. And it cannot produce fake flowers.  

But humans do it differently. We pull and tug on ourselves to get the good stuff out into the open. And we fake it as we make it happen. Even further, we call it hustling, and we honor that. Is it any wonder that work=stress? Maybe you don't work as a CEO. Maybe the work of your hands is raising children. Even more to the point, what happens when we force our kids to bloom?

What do the gardeners and their plants know about the productivity of a well tended, healthy root system? 

When a seed goes low into the ground in the right season, what follows is a delicate process:  its hard casing breaks open while something new emerges. This small yet dramatic growth comes with ease despite the dark of the dirt. In that season the gardener is near, even if he is out of sight, gently watering and watching. 

And then it happens. The plant emerges. And as it is growing up and out towards the light, the roots are growing too, continuing to get deeper and more secure. With a sturdy stance the stems extend and prepare to produce a harvest. The growth was slow and yet right on time.

What if we were to reject the world's urgency to be showy and productive in all seasons? What if we break out of the year round green house—the demand to force ourselves to be constant producers? 

 Is this metaphor realistic? 

 Well, in order to stop forcing our own growth, to stop pulling on our stems and producing fake flowers, we're gonna need a gardener. 

 What if we made friends with The Gardener who knows about timing; who knows us down to the roots; who knows our whole story since we were mere seeds? He knows that our roots get tangles and bitter twists in them, and he knows how to tend, too. This Gardener knows about seasons and resting and light and water. In His Garden, rest is a productive and essential time. 

Could we learn to trust even when we feel counterproductive in the ways of the world; when we go low rather than high? 

If you think about it, gardens and graves aren't that different— not until the growth happens. When the Light pulls a vibrant color from a place where no one saw it coming; that kinda growth can not be man-made or self manufactured. That plant doesn't look exhausted or dull like an out of season strawberry. It's radiant and vibrant. It is alive on purpose. 

It is evident when there has been a season of “tending before sending”; a surrendering to the one who knows his way around a garden. May we embrace the seasons of restoration. What grows in this Garden is right on time, and vibrant with good purpose. 

Dig deeper and  Listen to the podcast here!

stay inspired to come back to the Garden for the tending. Purchase prints of this art here.

#4 Identifying the Hang-ups

It can feel daring to do the next good thing. It is bold to step apart from the crowd to walk along a path of purpose. So, how do they do it, those bold to live bravely in purpose and adventure?

As it turns out, boldness is not an absence of fear. Instead, it is the refusal to be limited by it. If we allow fear to be the driving decision maker in our life, we won't experience exciting, new things. Honestly, we won't even leave the house! 

 “Do not fear”. God speaks it, Jesus teaches it, and Paul writes it. We do not have a spirit of fear. But rather, we, as believers in Jesus, have another Spirit:

the Spirit of

POWER
LOVE &
SOUND MIND

2 Timothy 1:7
 

You’re here. You’re reading this and not without reason. You are curious about something, looking for something. What is it? Direction, motivation? Truth, knowledge? Understanding? Courage???

 We want more truth and less deception, 

more focus and less chaos,

 more balance and less struggling to 

make it all fit and work together. 

We want a straight path to good places. 

In all of my creative endeavors, one thing I know for sure: fear does not lead me to creative breakthrough. It effectively blocks it. We are designed for purposeful creativity, whether you know how to make art or not! So we gotta learn to take authority over these fears in our ears, the whispers in the back of our minds because fear stops us in our tracks. Fear will distract and delay purpose. And, given permission, it will take us off the course in which The Good Shepherd has us walking. It will plant us someplace stationary and “safe”. The whisper of fear will be very convincing…because, after all, caution isn't necessarily a bad thing.   

 What stops you from walking down a bold but narrow road towards an abundant life of freedom? What's your hang up? Is it the fear of what people will think and say? Been there. Or the fear of failure and shame, a fear of getting it wrong, of looking foolish or naive? Been there, too. Honestly, hasn't everyone?

So how do those bold souls venture on knowing good and well these fears are actually pretty valid? Cuz I'm not telling you they aren't gonna talk about ya. Been there. And I am not telling you that you won't look and feel foolish when you try something new. Been there, too. 

I am telling you, it's worth the cost.

Boldness is not an absence of fear. 

Instead, it is the refusal to be limited by it.

I don't want to limit my life's purpose or exchange my long term legacy for feelin' and lookin' cool today. 

 Eternal significance

 or

 a momentary ego boost? 

When we trust our fears more than God's call, or our own understandings more than God's leadership we're doing more than hindering our own lives, we are agreeing with a whisper that traces far back in time; a voice we oughta be able to recognize by now…except it is just so deceiving…

In the Garden of Eden it was a simple and sly suggestion that took Eve's eyes off of what God had set before her. It may seem like a small suggestion, but that distraction had epic consequences. 

 Ask yourself, “What's my hang up?” 

What's pulling me off course? What's convincing me that what God has set before me isn't safe or smart or good? What/who am I agreeing with? And what are the consequences?

 May you have  the courage to answer your questions honestly with a sound mind. Because the first step to getting out of a deceptive agreement is knowing when you have been deceived. 
  

Listen here to dig deeper, and be inspired to overcome your “hang ups”.

#3 Tending Before Sending

You're invited to sit with the one who is mighty to save. 

Imagine yourself sitting at the table in this painting.

What would your concerns be? 

Mine would be that there are snakes and alligators under that lovely, white tablecloth, not to mention thousands of feasting mosquitos. And I'm thinking that river bed of mud, it probably would feel like it is going to swallow me whole. 

 At times, the places and experiences in life, which we have no choice but to sit in, feel impossible to endure and overcome. And, as if the present circumstances aren't bad enough, our imaginations run wild with potential future scenarios until fictitious fears are encircling like hungry reptiles. 

But what if you could look away from all of that, just long enough to see where you're seated. 

You are at a table with the one who is mighty to save. Now, the atmosphere is shifting. Something is different. I'm safe. I'm not alone. Are the surrounding fears and challenges vanishing? Well, we're still here living in a broken world, aren't we?

 Those famous words from Psalm 23 may seem poetic and metaphorical;  they may even seem like nothing more than a comfort blanket at times. But they aren't just poetic, empty sentences. 

 When you open the eyes of your heart to see that Heaven's Lifeguard is here to save you from drowning,  something changes:  it's you. 

 Despite all the present circumstances, you are keeping your eyes on him and only him, looking to him as if you are seated at a dinner table set on a muddy river bank with the Savior of the world because you are. 

 The word is, he prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies; an encounter, a personal experience, a relational moment, all while the world and its ways swirls on all around us. 

 He is not just far off in another galaxy absentminded and unconcerned watching me as I fearfully sit with the hard, scary stuff in life. His words are not a figurative safety blanket I hold just to make me feel better while I stand in knee deep alligator mud.  And he isn't idly sitting and expecting me to deal with it all in my own strength and know-how. No. He is present, within me, empowering me to overcome, strengthening me to endure, anointing me to do what is impossible otherwise. 

He is nearer than near…in all the hard stuff, the messy stuff, the unknown and the painful. No matter how minor or major. 

 (Ephesians 2:6, Matthew 11:28-30)

We look to the right and the left and see the ways of the world tempting us into believing that our circumstances are the most powerful force in our lives. But they are not. So we gotta shift our posture and our focus. Sit up straight and tall opening our minds and hearts to know who has invited us to sit at this table. We are invited to read the words of Zephaniah 3:17 and Psalm 23 and so many others, and believe what they say is true. To walk and talk like we know the words are true. And to live in the truth every day…in the wild.

Yes, we do sit amongst the wild darkness of this world, but we aren't obligated to give it a seat at this table. Fix your eyes on the King; the victorious Conquerer, who has personally invited you here, who delights in your company and speaks to you by name.

 Purchase prints of this painting titled, “Prepared”. Follow link to the podcast episode for more study.

#2 Why the Garden Matters

Why does the “Garden” matter? What does this analogy help us to grasp? For starters, this imagery reminds us that God invites us to operate within his order, and that’s something our egos wrestle with; we struggle to believe that his way is better than ours. Why would we want to surrender the control we have over our own lives? We’ve got our own plans and systems established. We know what we want, and we know how we plan to get there. We’ve read the books, studied the mentors, followed the leaders. We are familiar with the ways of the world in which we are living. How could it be any other way? How could anything else be realistic?

But the world and the people in it can only lead us so far. There comes a point in many of our lives where we realize how heavy a burden it is to carry your own plans and systems. There are limitations in our human strength and eventually that strength runs out.

I know this story. When I reached a certain point, when hardships and loss were stacked so heavy on my back, I discovered I had finally reached the bottom of the barrel of my own strength. There simply was no more. So what did I do? I fell to my knees for the first time in my life, and I asked God to help me. My heart was broken open and ready to receive the truth of his saving grace.

When we run out of strength, we have somewhere to go— someone to run to. We don’t have to wait until we reach the breaking point to come here. However, it tends to happen that way because many of us are not convinced it’s realistic until we get to a point when we are willing to go there if it means we may find relief. I don’t know about you, but that was my stubborn story.

“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:15

The Garden analogy helps us to recognize there is an order here, although it is very different than what the world teaches us. In God’s way, in his Kingdom, we begin by first seeking Him; seeking first the Kingdom of God, rather than the kingdom of me. (See Matthew 6:33)

“The Garden Matters”

This may be a difficult concept at first. It was for me. It helps to have a visual, especially when my eyes struggle to see this way being exemplified in the culture around me. This painting titled “The Garden Matters” illustrates the layers of this divine order. Now, when I find myself swirling in confusion or overwhelmed by the pressure that I have let myself take on, or when I am reaching the end of my barrel of strength, I simply recall that I have stepped out of order. I remember this painting, and I see that I went walking around in those outer spheres of my life before I spent time in the inner circle with God. When we begin every day in the inner Garden, we are prepared to go outward. I aim to make every decision, especially the big ones, by starting in the Garden, before venturing out with a plan. That concentration of color and light is the center from which I build my life. The Garden is where I meet with the Father— one to one. It’s where I experience the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23; where I receive restoration and care. It’s the place of refilling and strengthening.

When I attempt to fill up and strengthen myself, my stock is limited. But when I seek his strength, the flow is supernatural, immeasurable and without limits. Once I’ve gone low and slow there in the Garden, once I’ve been restored and prepared and filled to overflowing, only then am I ready to go out and make my way through the world.

The Garden Matters because we live in a world that sets a different example. It’s easy to get caught up again in the world’s order. A figurative concept like “The Garden” reminds us how it all begin, how it was his design to walk with us in the “cool of the day”, and how we are our best selves when we are seeking him first. (see Genesis 1-3)

As believers, we are not limited to experiencing him on Sundays. He is not compartmentalized into one day of the week. He isn’t sprinkled on top of the other days of the week, either, like a little added flavor to keep us looking “Christian”. He is the center, the beginning of everything. He is superior to all. Rather than adding a little faith on top, we are invited to build our lives on the Rock solid foundation. (Matthew 7:24-27)

Begin in the Garden before heading out into this wild world and its upside-down ways.

Dig deeper: listen to the podcast episode. (Apple Podcasts and Spotify)

Stay inspired at home: purchase "The Garden Matters” prints and products in the Garden Shop.

Music: “Communion”

#1 The Garden Gate: welcome

Are you a visual learner? I am for sure! It's no surprise that I truly learned about my faith once I let it get artsy and visual. What was once kinda boring and lost on me, actually became interesting. Beyond interesting, it's fascinating and life changing.

 Where has this been all my life? Oh yeah… on the pew, right where I left it.

Do leave what you get at church right there on the pew? Could you use some visual encouragement to help you hold on to the Truth out here in the wild where we need it most?

 Years ago, as I became familiar with God's creative nature, my art became entwined with my spirituality. While the busy, noisy world swirled around me, I was hidden in my art studio, day after day, year after year, slowly discovering the aged, ancient Truths we learn about in the Bible. An old, beautiful hymn describes it perfectly.

 “I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses. And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.” ("In the Garden" -C.Austin Miles)

In 2021, I named my art studio “The Garden” because it had come to represent what that song sings of: a personal place of Presence. Even though the roses and greenery were oil paintings, it was here among this “garden” in the wild that my faith began to truly grow. It was here that I came to know Jesus personally— and everything changed after that. 

A few years later, something happened which I'll never forget: The call to share what I had come to know and adore: this Garden of Presence. An intimate place of creativity, of trust, hope, love, a place to rest my mind, where I found true peace that exceeds my understanding and my circumstances. The Garden, where I discovered so much truth.

 I have spent the last three years developing this creative ministry designed to encourage you to experience the “garden” for yourself. If it doesn't seem anything like your church, well, that's good! It's not designed to replace your church; it's intended to fertilize your faith between Sundays. It's creative and whimsical, relatable and approachable, yet it is deeply rooted in the word of God. 

The experience of his Living Presence does something to a person. You might say it changes a person. Then, again, to grow is to change.

Welcome to The Garden. I pray that this unique ministry paints a bright and true picture of the Christian faith.

purchase print of “Fairest Among Ten Thousand”