This last month on our social media platforms, we have been sharing the love of our partners, donors and followers. The team behind Community of Hope is incredibly thankful for each one of you that has been here, following the process.

Whether you've been praying for us, sharing and engaging in our posts online, supporting through donation of time or money, or even just opening our newsletters, we want to say THANK YOU! Thank you for supporting COH and helping us change the narrative behind homelessness. Thank you for helping us bring hope to those who have experienced a loss of hope.

This month we wanted to take a moment to share a story that is bringing that Hope. Community of Hope was asked to participate in an Art Auction at Summit Crossing Community Church. Local artists created works of art inspired by the Psalms that was beautiful and moving. Through the auction, COH was able to raise $4304.41!

Below you will find some of the photos of the works of art as well as the stories behind the inspiration.

Psalm 121 "I Lift Up My Eyes" (Latin: Levavi Oculos Meos)

Jenna Hurt 

@jennajane.art 

Linocut Block Print 

JennaJaneArt.com 

"We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labour is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to remain awake." C.S. Lewis 

I recently gave birth to a beautiful son. I delight in watching over him as he sleeps. I fixate on every noise and breath. How often I want to communicate to my son that he is safe and loved by me. I deeply desire his trust. If he could just continually reside in his trust in me, he would be content and satisfied. This is how I imagine the Father watching over us and keeping us, as depicted in this Psalm. The Father who does not sleep or look away applies this perfectly. He desires our trust for our own good. We can sleep well because He doesn't sleep. Our anxieties, great or small, can be handed off safely to Him. This Psalm proves that he alone is our Helper. Anyone or anything else the world offers will fail us and "sleep on the job." 

This Psalm also illustrates to me that nature is intentionally set before our eyes as God's reminder to discover Him. It is all a mystery waiting to be uncovered. So, I have chosen elements of nature to visually represent truths from this Psalm. The figure in the left corner gazes upon mountains that are encircled by a ring of hands to represent God as the Creator, Helper, and Protector. Flowers at the bottom also communicate specific meanings. Coneflowers represent our trust in God by their shape with centers looking upwards and petals in a posture of submission. They are surrounded by heather, which represent God's protection, as historically worn by Scottish warriors entering battle. Chamomile stretches toward the lefthand figure as a sleeping herb to communicate that she can sleep well; God stays awake for her. 

This print was created by hand carving the image in two linoleum blocks. I applied ink to the blocks and pressed on paper to create the image you see. I also painted the frame to complement the print. 

Psalm 39 Jenna Hurt 

This piece is a prayer of lament. 

God, may this art help us lament our sins. For the moments of trusting my own desires more than my Creator's. If my sin is not mourned, how else will I taste true redemption from it? How else will I look upon the cross with appropriate posture? God, may this art help us express our grief, born not from personal sin, but from the brokenness of the world. Sometimes hopeful words aren't fitting. 

God, may this art help us comfort the mourner. For the call to "weep with those who weep." I realize that I often allow a society that values convenience and ease to overshadow this call. 

The Process and the Meaning 

The process of this piece was deeply intertwined with the symbolism found in Psalm 39. I painted shadows formed by plants in the sunlight ("Surely man goes about as a shadow" vs. 6). Then I took weed-like plants and printed them directly on the piece by rolling them in ink and pressing them down. I created a linoleum carving of a thistle to represent bitterness and a decaying moth for verse 11: "You consume like a moth what is dear to him." I wanted this bottom area of the piece to represent fragility and empathize with the mourner by visually representing how lament feels to the spirit. 

In the upper portion, I used plaster to represent flourishing in a more tangible way than the fading nature of the lower portion. Verse 10 illustrates that when we suffer, we can feel a sort of weight from God's sovereignty ("Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand"). We don't know what to do with God's goodness in the midst of a troubling world that He created and controls. It may feel like He is bearing down and caging us in. His goodness is glaring to us, as shown by the effect of the gold leaf. Yet, when we trust our "seeds" or tears into the presence of God, we find these emotions are actually safe and welcomed by Him. 

"His holiness is not fragile... Give Him your pain and watch it overwhelmed, burned away by the joy He takes in loving." N.D. Wilson

"I went into that exhibit with a certain amount that I was gong to give to Community and Hope and if I got a piece then I did. If not then that was okay as well. I was expecting to get a painting, but Holy Spirit had other plans. This piece brought me to tears not just about what the piece looked like but what the artist wrote about it.

'There are seasons in life when we feel most like what is broken, hopeless, and depleted; God is with us in those places, rescues us from the isolation we feel when we turn to Him. And then redeems our lives for our good and His glory. When you are weary, abide in the Lord. When you feel shattered, come to Him.. because even what is broken is beautiful when in God's hands.'

The piece hit home because I truly try to be as real and honest and raw as I can with anyone and everyone, because I grew up portraying this perfect life while on the inside I was shattered like the left piece of this vase. I try every day to have the eyes of Jesus when I look at everyone no matter the outward appearance, because I don't know what that person may be fighting, the battles they are fighting and going through. I admit I am not perfect, I judge people on actions and appearances but I truly try to be aware when I do and lean on the Holy Spirit to keep my butt humble. I've been judged from my age to my tattoos to the life I lead. I just try to see the heart of someone, see them as Jesus sees them. This piece reminds me to do that.'

- Words from Jessica who attended the auction night