One of the amazing things about the incarnation of God – the moment of God made man – human and divine – is that He was showing us the true nature of God. Jesus taught us that God is not sitting on a throne wagging His finger at me, but is actually a participant in all of His creation. He beckons me to be a part of the body of Christ, and in turn, uses me as a capsule of His love in the world. He is fully with me in my joys and my sufferings. He is with me in all that I do, and I must connect on a daily basis to His outpouring of love.
Let me be your feet, O Lord.
In 2010, I went to Brazil as a volunteer with Heart’s Home for a year and a half. Our charism is to bring compassion and friendship to the poorest of the poor, which we believe to be those suffering and alone. My feet carried me to an unknown land that was not my own. It was Christ in me who walked on those dirt roads into the homes of little old ladies at the end of the railroad tracks who had no one else to visit them. It was Christ in me who hugged all of the children who had been left behind.
Let me be your heart, O Lord.
They told me before departing for Brazil that my job was to be a heart – nothing but a heart. I was a human being, not a human doing, after all. All of my actions had to come from a place of love. When I started my design company, I used the name of the blog I had been writing about being a heart in a world so often lacking love. It challenges me daily to remember that all my work must flow from love.
Let me be your hands, O Lord.
We are co-creators with the Creator. As an artist, I get to participate in creation in a very concrete way. Every day, I get to use my hands to make beautiful things – wedding invitations for couples joining in holy matrimony, prayer journals that thousands of women hold in their hands, prints for people to hang in their homes.
Let me be your eyes, O Lord.
Beauty will save the world, they say. Beauty elevates us to the divine. I try to translate the beauty that I see with my eyes to awaken it in others. It may be in setting a beautiful table for friends to gather around, decorating my living room to be a place of rest for all who enter, or gazing into the eyes of a forgotten one.
Let me be your ears, O Lord.
Life can get so busy, and I can get wrapped up in my little world, but one of the most important things to do in a day is answer the call from a friend who just needs someone to listen. I open my ears to hear the quiet plea of someone in need.
Wherever I go, you go, O Lord.
Photography by Scott Stemke and Erica Tighe.
