Wowza... what a mixed response you had to my latest journal page!
I appreciate your honesty and your LOVE!
Some of you loved her... bless you! But some of you are struggling with
the new style... some with her expression... some with both.
Oh Carol... my sweet friend... I get it.
Stepping outside the comfort zone... trust me... I understand.
I want to respond but I'm not totally sure how... it's seems complicated.
I want to tell you how hard it's been the last few years.
The world changed, the culture changed, the marketplace changed.
But I didn't.
It was a few years ago at a writer's conference where I first heard that
art-based gift books were out of style... and I thought.. no... not mine Lord.
So I kept writing and painting and, bless their hearts, my publisher printed.
A few die-hard fans kept buying. But sales dropped.
Licensing all but came to an end.
Someone said to me... "you need to reinvent yourself."
I said, "I don't know how... I didn't invent myself in the first place!"
And so I have struggled with being old and outdated... irrelevant and lost.
Painful.
But the Message is the same... God's Word never changes!
The world all around me may feel like sinking sand but I continue
to hold onto the hand of the only One who knows where we're going!
And so... I have been caught in my own personal time warp...
a transition that has seemed to last forever.
You see... I do love the old style but I've had to give myself permission
to play and be creative and not worry about if it would sell or not.
Can I do both? Stay tuned and we'll find out together.
I do know in my heart that God is writing a new chapter of my life story...
and part of me is really excited... knowing that He has written some
pretty phenomenal chapters thus far! But I still worry... not about me...
but about losing some of you along the way... you're more than fans...
you are my friends.
So maybe this journal painting... the expression of her face...
is more reflective than sorrowful... maybe it is a reflection of this season
of my life... I will love the Lord with all my heart... even on the days when
I am feeling rather melancholy... not knowing quite where I fit in...
or what the future holds... and I pray that even on those days...
there will be a sweetness about me... that I will still courageously hold out
the banner of God's love and my love for Him... and bring Him glory.
Are you going through a seasons of change and transition?
I hope my sharing... and vulnerability... has been an encouragement
to you... to keep on holding on to the One who's writing your story too!
Karla
