Artist's Corner
This is a creative space for artists in our community. From survivors to volunteers, we want to create an opportunity for women we work with or walk alongside to express themselves through their art.
Possessions
Bella Summers
Possessions: I had them or did they have me?
Trips, cars, clothes, and designer bags all created a façade. A hole formed in my spirit as deep and as wide as the Grand Canyon. Money is not evil, however when it becomes an idol, it is. And just like a sperm cell that fertilizes an egg, I had conceived the concept that I had to have it at all cost. I ignored the deep decay that began inside me, and inside of me was trick after trick after trick after trick. I lost a piece of me after each date I turned. As time progressed there was no more me: only She.
Possessions: I had them or did they have me?
Carmen stood in the mirror admiring herself, camouflaged in a 30-inch weave, long fake French manicured nails that danced with Swarovski crystals, and let's not forget the mink lash extensions, all the while breastfeeding and nurturing an addiction to fast money and losing myself in the process.
Possessions: I had them or did they have me?
Then one fretful day, our world collapsed underneath the psychological pain and agony of self loathing. My alter ego, also known as Carmen, had abandoned me leaving me raw and bleeding like an open wound from an AK 47 rifle. The wound in my soul was gushing bright, red blood.
Possessions: I had them or did they have me?
We found ourselves in a very familiar position, on our knees once again, but this time, it was quite different. We had hit rock bottom, and the only way to look was up. At the end of the narrow dark tunnel, Jesus appeared, extending his nail-marked hands to us as we cried out for help and restoration. He immediately rescued us from the modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah, also known as the sex industry.
Possessions: I had them or did they have me?
That old serpent, the trickster, also known as Satan, reared his ugly head and taunted me, saying, "How can a prostitute by forgiven?" Head held high, with the new identity I've found in Christ, I looked him square in the eye and confidently quoted Ephesians 1:7, "In him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." No longer are we bought by men or immobilized by our carnal sin because the blood of Christ has paid the full price.
Possessions No Longer Have Me.
The Things We Carry As We Go
Tiffany Moeller
This painting, "The Things We Carry As We Go," is built off the idea that we all, as individuals, have an innate sense of the unseen things we carry inside ourselves that are not apparent to others. We know our own childhood, our cultural or family background, the places we've lived, the people we've loved and our personal pain, hopes and dreams. We all know our own fears, inspirations and motivation as we walk through the day - but someone encountering us in the street will not be able to physically see those things about us. Instead when they look at us, they may, even unconsciously, only see some broad category that they assume we fall into. But what if the Lord gave us eyes to see those things in each other? What if all people we encountered on the street or read about in a newsletter were physically adorned with these unseen things they carry around every day? How would that extend our compassion, understanding and empathy as we see pieces of our own story in someone else's?
