.
God is the Almighty Creator. From the smallest particles like electrons and quarks to the red supergiants, His work is magnificent! Since man was made in His image, it is not surprising that mankind has produced so many beautiful pieces of art and other wonders.

I am far from a master of anything, but I do like to create. I love making something out of nothing. Ok, it really isn’t out of nothing, but we can make something that didn’t exist before — in a way. A blank canvas becomes a painting. A blank page becomes a poem. Drawing, painting, and poetry are creative pastimes that I have enjoyed. While I haven’t picked up a brush in a while, the urge to create continues.

In recent years, most of my creative energy has gone into writing. It has contributed to saving my sanity while being mostly housebound for almost twelve years. Writing for my ministry here has been a win-win. I want to serve the Lord and His people, and I like to write! My writing takes longer than it should these days, but I keep plugging along.

While writing is a delight, I still feel the urge to create something more canvas based. One outlet that I have found for this desire also involves this ministry. It comes in the form of creating images to be shared on Chapter 3 Ministries’ social media accounts. These images are just pixels, but their colorful, visual nature satisfies my desire to create in a way that writing doesn’t.

My images usually contain Bible verses or Christian quotes. Even though they are fun to work on, I consider them to be just as much a part of my ministry as my writing. They are another means of sharing God’s word and biblical truths. Posts and images can travel around the world. I love to see God’s word going forth.

When the desire to create visually strikes, I put my writing down for a bit and open Photoshop. I’m grateful that this creative option is available because it gives the word machine in my brain a break. Also, my ill health can take a toll on me, and making images is an easier and fun way to produce.

Mona Louise Creations

The designs I come up with are usually simple. I’m not my sister Mona. She is a graphic artist and creates images (see slides below) using various software, and they are beautiful! They have a surreal quality and a softness that I really like.

While my images are not fancy, I do enjoy the process of picking out the backgrounds, fonts, and colors. For the backgrounds, I visit websites that have free images available. If you are ever in the need of images like that, you could visit the sites that I’ve linked to below.

Sometimes a background image that I’ve chosen needs retouching. That doesn’t bother me at all; in fact, I enjoy it! My husband, a professional photographer, has taught me a lot about Photoshop. I like using it, but I’ll never know as much as he does. There is often a cry of “Hey Hun, how do I….?” when I am working on a project.

Latest Project

“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31

Recently, I was reading Matthew 10 and verses 29-31 stuck out. At first, I was going to just post the verses on my ministry’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. Those simple Bible verse posts are well received. But, then I decided to do more. I wanted to make an image with the verses on it and share that instead.

The first thing I did was look for a photograph of sparrows. After I found one that I liked, I used the Emboss filter in Photoshop on it. That embossed look is cool! Then, I placed the embossed image on a bigger background, picked out the font and colors, and put everything together. I aim to be visually appealing; but more than that, I pray that when people see the image, the verses it contains are received with faith and joy. Jesus’ words are filled with love and compassion, and we can hold them near to our hearts.

I’ve shared the finished image that I made for Matthew 10:29-31 below. I also shared a couple of others that I’ve made. After the images is a link to Chapter 3 Ministries’ Image Gallery. The gallery contains images that I have made over the years. Whenever I post an image on Chapter 3 Ministries’ social media accounts, I also post it in my gallery. The images are shareable from there too. Until now, it never occurred to me to share a link to my gallery in a blog post. Well now I have! I hope that you enjoy the images. Please share them if you see ones that you think might minister to others. When you do, you extend the reach of my ministry, and for that I am thankful.

Do you have a creative pastime? Do you have a gallery of your work? Have you found a way to apply your talent or skills for the glory of God? I’d love to hear about what you do and see your work if possible. If you’d like, please share about it in the comments.
.

.

.

.

.

.

Visit Image Gallery: Shareable Images: Bible Verses and Quotes

Free Image Sites
PublicDomainPictures.net
Pexels
Pixabay

.

Speaking about writing, the process of getting my online study “A Zero Fluff Bible Study for Women on the Deity of Christ” into print is complete. It is now available on Amazon in print and for Kindle. If you have done the study online or purchased a copy on Amazon, I would be grateful if you could please take a moment and leave a rating or review. This helps potential readers gain more insight into what they can expect. Thank you.

Here is the link to Amazon to leave a rating or review: A Zero Fluff Bible Study for Women: The Deity of Christ

 

 


Sharon Lareau

  1. Very nice and very interesting ! I thought about suggesting putting your sparrows image and your quote of Matthew: 10:29-31 together until I read further and saw how nicely you did that ! You are Way ahead of me. Best wishes !

    PS: Today is the second anniversary of my sister’s passing. I know she would have loved this too.

  2. Eleanore Mannuzza

    God has gifted you in so many ways, Sharon. Thank you for sharing your strengths and wisdom with us.

Please See Comment Guidelines