Keith's Voice
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There is symmetry to Christopher's life that is subtle in nature, yet remarkable in how he finds ways to express what he is feeling. He has always been very observant of the world around him as demonstrated in the playful make believe adventures he generated growing up. At an early age he discovered art and we often found him sitting for hours drawing and creating characters from his imagination and at times reproducing characters from stories and high adventures he read about or visualized from movies or television programs.
Christopher began to thrive in the environment of art as he discovered a world where he became the decision maker. With each piece of work, his confidence grew, with each approving gesture from us and everyone who saw his work, his belief in his abilities became stronger. At an early age the quality of his work was far beyond what his grade level would dictate.
I believe his art became his way of coping with what was happening with his brother and within our family. For hours, he would sit and draw until he had the exact image he was looking for. Artists by nature tend to be either very hyper, or very reserved and Christopher was no exception to this rule. As his depressed feeling began to take hold...it also brought to the surface the creative insights that God gave to him. I believe this was a special gift he was allowed to have for God knew just how special a young man Christopher was going to become when we were allowed to bring him into this world. He also knew something we did not...that a difficult time would penetrate our world and he would need something to grasp ahold of to help him through those dark days. Art allowed him to become someone other than who he was...gave him the heart of a lion to fill the void inside the sadness of heart he most certainly was experiencing. With each character, he became someone who was strong and brave...giving him that spirit of knighthood he needed to fathom the depths of the despair that threatened to overcome his world.
As his dad, it grieved me deeply to see him suffrer the way that he did, yet at the same time I was never more proud of a young man as I was of Christopher. All the prayers...all the talks...all the venting...certainly contributed to him getting throught a difficult time, but, it was the gift of art that God so inspiringly gave to him that carried him where we could not.
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Mom's voice. . .
Prodigalism doesn't just affect the one who leaves, more often than not, the pain is left behind and for a 13 year old boy who thought the world of his older brother, he didn't understand what had happened. His grown parents didn't understand, how could he? After Christopher was long out of his depression, he printed these pictures and explained them to me. What I saw as dark and menacing in some of the pictures a couple of years ago, now I see something totally different. They show a boy who was troubled, depressed and he reached out to the One he knew could help him from this dark period of his life. He was able to let out his feelings and deal with them in a positive way onto paper using pencils, ink, and colors. The more he thought and prayed, the better he became in his spirit and in his art. Here are just a few of the ones Christopher drew during this time at the ages of 14-15. He titled them. . .
Pain and Agony
Reaching out to Him
My Chains are Gone
He who strengthens me
The Holy Spirit
Stand Out. . .in the world but not of the World
Warrior in Christ
Christopher is whole and happy. He is 19 and going for a double major in Religious Studies and Art.
Thank you Father!
How are you using the gifts God gave you?
6 comments:
What talent, and what a beautiful story! I'm thankful God gives us what we need, even within our own personalities and talents, to deal with the difficulties of life. He truly does all things well!
I feel like a Momma here bursting with pride! I'm proud of your son and his extraordinary abilities and talents. I'm proud of you as parents who loved and nurtured all that God gave your son and were wise and sensitive to what was going on. And I have this crazy pride in how God works and how creative He handles things. You asked a question at the end. For me? The only expression of pain I could find was with a pen and words. LOTS of words. I couldn't speak my heart at all. But it would flow out like Niagra Falls if you put a pen in my hand and a notebook on the table. Thank you for sharing these intimate times of your family's life. Just so heart-wrenchingly beautiful!!!!
oh..these pictures are amazing...just like we pour our hearts out with words...he did with his art. what a lovely picture of the redemption of Christ. thanks for sharing these here...blessings~
Oh Kristin...I can;t eve imagine what you were going through. Those pictures! I would have been disturbed by them too, but what talent your son has! Praise God that Christopher had this outlet and such loving parents who sought their answers in Christ. I know of people who sent their child to a psychiatrist for similar drawings and the poor child wasn't really helped at all. My own daughter writes such dark things at times, yet I know its her outlet too...I've been there at some point myself. Thank God for His Grace which covers over all! Thank God for Christopher and thank God for the blessing that you and Keith are to so many with your testimony.
Love to you both
P.S...forgot one very special thing to thank God for... thank God that Tim is in His hands, He knows every hair on his head and He has a plan for him. Thank God that Tim is covered in prayer by so many and one day his prodigal status will be no more!
Such awesome talent.
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