"An Artist's Walk with God"

                          “Survivor”

Painting my Cheryl Wilson

When I painted this picture I called it “Survivor.” On my last brush stroke on this canvas, I cried. I have never felt the feeling of such deep connection to my own emotions and yet I was not even sure at that moment what the feelings meant? How could a painting I did created make me feel so emotional?I think God many times wants us to stop and listen and be emotional and ask: “what are you wanting me to hear, feel, and know and how to you want me to change? Do you want me to listen to you about something?”

This painting is in honor of two VERY special women in my life. Two women that have overcome struggles but through God’s intervention have overcome and survived to accomplish great things. I believe God makes NO mistakes.

In my personal journey, I am very passionate and emotional about many things in my life. I also am an introvert, but I am a strong woman. That might all sound like a huge contradiction, but it really is not. Through my life as a passionate and emotional woman, people have mistaken my emotions sometimes as a weakness. I think sometimes people mistake passion for a weakness because this world seems to have gotten so hard.

As I am 58 years young, I have experienced tragedy, sadness, loss of my family, along with joy, happiness and at times success. I have had to learn how to overcome thing I wanted to share with you in case my experiences might help you become stronger.

I believe in having mentors in your life. I have one now. I always have had a personal mentor and a professional mentor. The personal mentor is for the spiritual and personal side of me and I have always had a Christian woman in this role. My professional mentor is separate as I want a different person as the focus is different. My business mentor is a male.

I wanted to share with you something that both my personal and professional mentors have taught me and is has taken me YEARS to master and I am still mastering this.

“ACT and do not REACT!”

No matter if my pain is from a personal relationship, an emotional situation, or even a health issue, if I react to it I could let the event overcome me and eventually emotional drain or drown me. If I give the situation its own control then the situation (or person) has control over the event.

I have had to learn to be the one in control. I have the personal walk with God and want to be still and let Him talk to me. God uses my passion and shows me the way, whether it is with a small voice or a stroke of my paint brush, I want to know I am in control of me.

I hope this makes sense.