Abundance // January
I’m really excited to kick off this new project, and I hope that by keeping to a monthly cadence, I can establish some consistency in my creative process! Does anyone else only work when they feel a fresh, creative wind? It’s how I end up with a lot of started projects…and not a lot of completed ones. This year, 2024, I wanted to be more intentional about finishing what I started. So I decided to do a year-long series called “Poem of the Month.”
Each month, I’m going to write a poem with what I feel God is speaking. Alongside the poem will be a painted piece to help expand the story beyond just words into visual expression. By the end of the year, I expect there will be a very creative tapestry of where God took me on this crazy journey we call life.
So without further ado, here is what I felt God speaking into January—and 2024 as a whole.
About the Poem
I had a friend come over in December and ask me what my “word” was going to be for 2024. I honestly hadn’t planned on asking God for anything like that—has never really been something I cared about. Before I could respond to her, suddenly the word “abundance” sprung into my spirit. I guess God answered for me! I’m not really one to hold onto words as an anchor or banner over my year, but I got several confirmations later from the Lord, so it felt appropriate for the first poem of the year.
2023 was really a year of warfare and growing pains for me. So the idea of abundance, which made me think of rest, peace, and harvest, seemed quite foreign. January, I imagine, will be that awkward transition from a constant warfare mindset to that of peace and tranquility. (At Garden Theology, I share a little more of my thoughts for 2024 as a whole and the Isaiah 66 season I think we are entering.)
Towards the end of last year, I felt very drawn to the story in 1 Kings 18 about Elijah and the drought. God is always encouraging me and reminding me to look for my own cloud of faith, even if it’s only the size of a fist. So to me, this is what January is, a transition from drought to abundance. Elijah prayed seven times in faith for what he knew God was capable of. And he made his servant check each time. He knew God was faithful, even when it didn’t look like it.
This month, I find myself looking toward the sea like Elijah. I can pray for a cloud and believe for a cloud, even if I can’t quite see it yet. The Lord’s rains are worth waiting on.
About the Art
I started creating a Spotify playlist as I pulled paint colors together. I felt drawn to songs about rain mostly. Abundant rain, the kind spoken of in Deuteronomy 11. I always seem to be waiting on God’s rains in my spiritual walk with Him.
When I started painting, I went with a bunch of blues, planning a neutral scene featuring clouds and some abstract browns. But this is what happened instead…
In the same way, I believe January will go much differently than imagined. A quiet cacophony. Some rough transitions. But always a light to guide us. I’ve been drawn to brighter colors lately, and charcoal smudge, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised by the outcome. It does feel like an abundance of color, which I could honestly use moving forward. The dullness of winter is over.
It’s a New Season
I do believe for us, it is a new season, even if it still somewhat resembles the last for a while. Time always reveals all things. We’ll see how January, and the rest of 2024, lines up with the fabric of “abundance.” See you in February!
e.
