Near Me

Philippians 4:5 says, "Let your gentle spirit be know to all men. The Lord is near." Wow, do I need this verse! Many times gentleness is far from me. Ask my husband. I want to be gentle and loving, understanding and patient but sometimes these things live in another world--a world far away from me. When I remember that the Lord is near, I call on Him to fill me with the gentleness I need, but, unfortunately, I don't call often enough and I let my way be done instead of the Lord's. I think the picture of the little girl looks gentle. It looks like she's asking the Lord to be near her. I found that the words of this old song fit this thought. Interestingly, the second stanza had the word "tarry" underneath the first stanza's "near me." The Lord does "tarry," an 1800's word for "stay," with us. Some days I don't know why He would want to stay with me but I'm glad He does. The same would go for my husband.

I used a playing card, 2 1/2" x 3 1/2," for the base. I painted the background, added old lace, a copied photo, other paper ephemera including old music, buttons, ribbon, measuring tape and I etched a little rose in gel medium and tinted it with paint.