“Renewed Heart”
From Brokenness to Peace Through Surrender
✨ Ezekiel 36:26
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
🎶 Song That Inspired This Piece
“Graves Into Gardens” – Brandon Lake / Elevation Worship
Because this piece tells the story of transformation…
of what was broken, heavy, and buried…
being turned into something alive again.
God doesn’t just heal what hurts —
He makes something new from it.What once felt like an ending…
became the beginning of a renewed heart. 💛
✨ What God Taught Me While Creating
This piece was born on the trail.
Long before paint ever touched canvas (or rock 😉),
my heart was carrying decades of wounds, wrong turns, and quiet grief I didn’t yet know how to name.
For 58 years, I lived without the Holy Spirit.
I believed in God…
but I kept Jesus buried — busy surviving, striving, providing, and pushing through life the best way I knew how.
Along the way came pain.
Divorce.
Loss.
Disappointment.
And arrows I didn’t see coming.
Each one left a mark.
🖤 The Wounded Heart
The dark, twisted heart on the left tells that part of the story.
Layered with arrows — not as symbols of blame, but of truth:
Life wounds us.
The longer we live without Christ,
the more those wounds accumulate.
The heart becomes heavy.
Guarded.
Misshapen.
Still beating…
but exhausted.
✝️ The Turning Point — Intentional Faith
Everything changed the moment I was baptized and received the Holy Spirit.
That moment didn’t erase my past…
it redeemed it🕊️
Above the center of this piece is the cross and the word:
Intentional
Because faith doesn’t drift us into transformation.
It must be chosen.
Daily.
Deliberately.
Intentionally.
🌈 The Covering — Redemption, Not Punishment
The rainbow arc represents the covering of Jesus’ blood.
Not something distant…
but something deeply personal.
A protection during the process of repentance.
Because repentance isn’t punishment.
👉 It’s restoration.
It is the slow, courageous work of surrendering
what no longer belongs in our hearts.
🧽 The Sponge — What the Heart Absorbs
This came from a moment on the trail…
I noticed an old sponge near the place where I once fell
and nearly lost my life.
And God showed me something simple — and powerful:
A sponge absorbs everything it touches.
So does a heart.
Without Christ, we absorb:
pain
bitterness
fear
shame
With Him…
👉 we are washed
👉 we are renewed
👉 we are made new
❤️ The Renewed Heart
The heart on the right is brighter.
Not because life suddenly becomes easy…
But because peace has entered.
🌼 The Flowers — Faith That Grows Anyway
The flowers growing from the heart represent faith taking root.
Some blooms come easily.
Others grow through cracks and hardship.
The mustard-seed flower is a reminder:
👉 Faith doesn’t have to be big
👉 It just has to keep growing
🦋 The Butterflies — Light Along the Way
Surrounding the hearts are butterflies — light-bearers.
They represent moments of:
encouragement
guidance
grace
They show up when faith becomes intentional.
Sometimes through people.
Sometimes through Scripture.
Sometimes through quiet nudges we only understand later.
🧵The Cord of Hope — Bridging Head to Heart
Connecting the two hearts is the Cord of Hope.
Measured at 18 inches — the distance from the head to the heart.
Because the greatest battle isn’t outside of us…
👉 it’s within us.
The tension between:
what we know
and what we believe
Bridging that distance…
is the work of surrender.
Woven into the cord are three hearts:
❤️ Father
❤️ Son
❤️ Holy Spirit
No longer outside us…
👉 but living within us.
Along the cord are the words:
Peace ☮️ and Joy
Not because life becomes easy…
But because when Christ lives in your heart,
👉 you are no longer walking alone.
🙏Final Reflection
This piece is called Renewed Heart because it tells the truth:
Transformation is possible.
Redemption is real.
And no heart is too worn to be made new.
If this stirred something in your heart…
You are not alone.
God’s love is everywhere.
All you have to do…
is seek Him. 💛
