Sunset on the Beach
My favorite place to sense the presence of God is on the beach. The ocean gives me a visual image and reminds me of God's greatness. "God you are so BIG! I just want to serve You!" continues to ring in my heart from the first time I spoke those words to Him in prayer at 7 years old sitting in a beautiful Catholic cathedral. Now my cathedral is the beach.
After receiving a vision in prayer of my calling as a missionary to South America (that story is for another time) at 19 years old, I ended up working in a discipleship ministry being trained to minister in beach evangelism. I lived in the Sea Dip hotel on Daytona Beach, Florida working in the restaurant, cleaning rooms, or anything else the ministry needed me to do in the mornings. We would join the church groups in the afternoons and pass out tracts and lead people to Christ on the beach.
Both sunrises and sunsets were my time alone with God walking on the beach and praying. He would blanket me in His love and light as the sun hung low in the sky and painted beautiful colors that danced upon the waves. I could watch the colors and water rippling on the ocean surface for hours mesmerized at God's power in creation. I feel His presence just thinking about it!
Another thing I liked to do while walking on the beach was to ask Him to show me treasures. I would search the shoreline looking for different shapes of shells, coral, sandstone, driftwood and anything that caught my eye. It was a treasure hunt that we enjoyed together. I always returned home with handfuls of His creation. We have such an amazing God!
I believe those intimate times walking with Jesus on the beach helped to direct my steps into the next season of my life where I would step into my calling as a missionary. I was involved in that ministry for close to a year and then went to Bible school in Bradenton, Florida. It was there that I connected with an orphanage in Mexico across the border of El Paso, Texas, a little south of Juarez, where I served for a year learning Spanish and falling in love with the Spanish people.
That is also where I met my husband, Ron Thiesen, who came to volunteer at the orphanage in his senior year of college at ORU from Tulsa, OK. He was born and raised in the Amazon jungle of Peru. I knew that if I married him, I would live my life in Peru because that is all he could talk about. He loved Peru and the jungle where he grew up and God had already shown me the jungle in my vision. A year later we were married and after two weeks of honeymoon in Florida on the beaches, we moved to Peru. The rest is history... we will be celebrating 43 years on our anniversary this May.
Next time you are on the beach... or as you enjoy my newest painting, stop long enough to feel His Presence and know that He is so close to you all the time!
The original artwork is 18x24 quality watercolor paper, pan pastels with water soluble pencils and markers, sealed with spray varnish for lasting archivability.
Reach out to me if you would like to purchase this beauty or if you have a favorite beach scene you would like to hang in that special spot to remind you of your special moment on the beach. I would feel privileged to paint it for you!