The Journey of Life

These are some drawings I did for the cafe at my church in Dundee.  The theme was to be "a journey" so I figured I'd go ahead and be ambiguous. =)

(The 3rd scanned better than the other two... but I no longer own them, so can't fix this. Sorry!)

I guess the theme is pretty self explanatory.  I may venture to scribe my thoughts down about them at some point when I have more time and don't have to feel guilty about being unfaithful to studying.
Enjoy =) 

 And now that I have more time than I know what to do with, some musings:


Childhood:
Pure innocence and curiosity; an endearingly simple outlook on life, time and love; a sweet naivety to danger; A longing to explore all that the world holds, and to discover how the most fun can be made of it.

Worms on fingers. Ladybirds on arms. Captured moths in triumphantly clasped hands. Dandelions blown. Daisy-chains made. Ocean waves jumped. Shorelines escaped. Sand running through fingers and toes. Forests explored. Fields ran. Hills tumbled. Trees climbed. Bubbles burst. Lips taste of soap. Bright painted hands and feet. Muddy legs. Holes in clothes. A scratched knee. A black eye. A bumped head. Cake mixture licked from "empty" bowls. Ice-cream left on the tip of your nose. Adventures found in everything. Make-believe, anyone or anything was who you could be. Dens in bushes, or hide-outs under blankets and books. Indiscriminate trust. A million hands to hold. Bedtime stories. A goodnight kiss. The warmth of an embrace, given so easily.

I miss those days, when everything was beautiful. A simple belief in all things good. Still, though, I take comfort in the knowledge that I will always be God's child.
  
Everything in between:
Time is passing...
                  Live
                         Laugh
                                    Love
                                            Learn
                         Pray
                                   Discover
                                            Wonder
                                                      Yearn
                                   Be
                                            Do
                                                      Go
                                                                See
                                           Hope
                                        Trust
                                               Obey
                                                   Believe

This is the time that is shaping me. My decisions and choices, even the ones I don't fully understand, are what will lead me to where I will eventually be. My choice, my biggest decision and desire, is to let God lead me there. Let Him be the centre of my life and adventures. Let Him be the purpose of my wonder and yearning. I pray that I will take every good chance given to me, stepping out faithfully in to the unknown.

Senescence:
Time is a funny thing; we rarely deem it to be right.
Days move too quickly
They don't move at all
The nights are too long
The daytime is fleeting
"It seems like forever..."
"It seems like just yesterday..."
"It seems like I've known you my whole life."
"I wish we'd had more time."

I remember in primary school, my teacher once asked our class to draw timelines of our lives. Mine seemed so empty then, so insignificant. I seem to remember that the most exciting point of my life that I could recall in that moment was 'that one time I got a bead stuck up my nose'... Tragic. I was upset with my timeline, dissatisfied with my lack of 'exciting' experiences. If only I had realised then all of the wonderful things I'd done; all of the love that had been given to me; all of the incredible people in my life who were changing me, and I them; all of the childhood memories that I then took for granted; all of the smiles exchanged; all of the laughter shared; all of the tears cried; all of the things that I never dreamed I would have remembered, seemingly transient words and moments that are now locked in my memory.

Though even through the nostalgia, it seems if I were to draw my timeline now, i would again be dissatisfied, though not for lack of excitement, but for its inability to express quite how unique my life has been. 

There are so many details that will never escape the deep reaches of my mind. Vague secrets that I may never think to share. Thoughts and memories that could never be expressed in words or even art. A suitcase full of forgotten photographs; sepia secrets. History hidden in cobwebs and darkness. One day, I'll forget them too. They'll become nothing more than dust.

The thing is,  the end will only be the beginning of something far more beautiful. A gateway to grand adventures. I'll be new, reborn in the full array of glorious colour I was first intended to be painted in, unblemished and unbroken. Free to fly.