Creating From His Imprint
Creating From His Imprint
Lasana Williams Ritchie
Creating from His Imprint
Put me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm …
Many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it …”
(Song of Solomon 8:6a, 7)
This verse crossed my path in a time that my prayers seemed to travel only as high as the ceiling. As a potter, I use a seal to mark ownership, so the imagery caught my attention. I wondered about what the seal would actually see if it had eyes … only darkness, whether used on stiff clay or soft wax. From that came my prayer, “God, may the mark of Your ownership be what is left in this darkness when this heaviness lifts.” And, it did in that moment.
Life leaves its mark on us all, and many times that mark is a wound that affects how we live. We can choose to cling to the wounds because they are familiar, or leave the pain behind and learn to write a new story. New stories involve risk, and writing one can be the hardest thing we ever do but from personal experience, it’s worth it and there are tons of adventures in the new chapters!
“Though earth’s waters roar and foam, the Lord of hosts is with us, our stronghold.” I saw Jesus standing in the middle of that roaring, foaming water and inviting me to join Him, but the grassy bank where I stood seemed quite nice. It took a few years before I was willing to make that jump … to risk … to change my story and write anew. But He’s teaching me to swim, and I’m discovering God is far bigger than my wildest imaginings and safer than anything on that grassy bank.
Coded Prayer
Between You and God, Alone
Coded Prayer
Between You and God, Alone
The method of prayer that grew out of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder when I was young, in conjunction with a six-year dark night of the soul—one that allowed me to talk to God when words wouldn’t form. I was able to focus without distractions and spend hours talking to God this way.
Even though I no longer struggle with OCD, and the dark night has passed, I still often pray using this method. I also offer presentations of the method. Click on the CONTACT link to send me an email if you want to schedule.
Gift cards and book marks are available, while I am working on a youth version of the method.
To hear more about the method and how it originated, click the link below.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FssY5zL7RflXSV9-ksUMUP4jDmlOVJok/view
Pottery
Imperfectly Whole
Pottery
Imperfectly Whole
In Matthew 5, Jesus tells us to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. I thought that meant not making mistakes, but I was happy to learn that thinking was wrong. Jesus was saying we are to be whole and complete. Only He can make that happen, and only as we surrender in His good hands.
I create these vessels for those experiencing life’s trials, and as a reminder that as we relax in the Master’s hands and trust Him to mold and shape us, He creates His wholeness in us—even using the very pressures that are at work against us.
Click on the CONTACT link to send me an email if you are interested in purchasing one.
Writing
Called Yet Incomplete
The Bumbling Ballerina is a faith film taken from my original story about our dreams surviving even failure and abuse. What comes may not look exactly like we expected, and just might be more wonderful.
Of course a story changes when it reaches the hands of producers, as did this story. You may yet read my original story when I get that 3-book novel set finished! Until then, whatever your situation, know that God,“is able to do far more abundantly beyond all we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, (Ephesians 3:20).”
The film is available for purchase on DVD and for rent online.
Contact
Contact me if you’re interested in purchasing any of the featured pieces,
or if you’d like to discuss a custom design.
Inquiry from the Art Page
© Lasana Williams Ritchie, All Rights Reserved