“ONE By The River”

God writes love stories differently than we do

“And the two shall become one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Mark 10:8–9

🎧 Song That Inspired This Piece:

“Goodness of God “

By CeCe Winans

🎶 Listen while you explore this piece:

“All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so, so good…”

“Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me”

Click here to enjoy while viewing:

https://open.spotify.com/track/59uuKDpLFhHtCWwMudospF?si=fd230a729b6f4480

❤️ The Heart Behind This Piece

This piece is a reminder…

That God writes love stories differently than we do.

He brings people together in His timing.
In His way.
For His purpose.

And when He does…

It doesn’t feel forced.

It feels aligned.

If you’ve ever experienced a connection that felt bigger than you…

That brought you closer to God, not further away…

That’s not coincidence.

That’s Him.

What God Taught Me While Creating

My Forever and I met in a season where we were both a little lost…

And yet somehow, deep down, we knew.

It felt like we had known each other before —
in other times, other seasons…
like our souls recognized each other before our minds could understand it.

As we both began diving deeper into our faith, something started to shift.

He was patient with me.
He gave me space to repent, to heal, to release my past…

And in so many quiet ways, he helped guide me back to God. 🙏

One day, out of the blue, he said he felt God nudge him:

“Come up to the river.”

He works near our mountain home —
a place I rarely go.

But that day… I did🙌

We sat by the river, talking, opening up, sharing our deepest truths —
the kind of conversation that goes beyond words…
where your heart is fully seen.💗

And then we looked up☝️

And realized something we hadn’t even noticed when we arrived…

We were sitting where two rivers came together as one💝

It wasn’t planned.
It wasn’t staged.

It was a moment only God could have created.🙏

What we felt in that moment…

Was more than connection.

It was unity.

Spiritually.
Emotionally.
Physically.

A kind of love that goes beyond explanation —
where two lives begin to move as ONE under Him.

And in that moment, God showed me something I will never forget:

👉 You don’t need a traditional wedding for God to make you ONE.
👉 When you surrender to Him… He does the joining.💕

And it is the most peaceful, powerful, and unexplainable experience you will ever feel.

⚓️ The Anchor — Faith

At the center of this piece is the anchor.

Because without God, none of this exists.

It is His love flowing through us
that brings everything together into one river.

And it is our faith that anchors that love. ❤️

🌊The Rivers — Two Paths, One Flow

The two paths were very different.

I grew up in a life that looked whole on the outside —
a country club world where the hardest thing I faced publicly was divorce.

My forever’s path was very different.

He came into this world fighting for his life…
with wounds that ran much deeper.

And yet…

Those very experiences made him stronger in his faith early in life💪

Two completely different journeys.

One place of meeting.
One moment of surrender.

And in the end…

One river flowing together as ONE.

🪨 The Rocks — Foundation of Family

The rocks represent family.

The foundation.
The grounding.
The people and experiences that shaped us.

☁️The Clouds — Surrounded by His Love

The clouds above are shaped like hearts…

Because even when we don’t see it,
we are always surrounded by God’s love.

Covering us.
Guiding us.
Holding us.

🪽 The Angel — You Were Never Walking Alone

There was a season where we felt deeply protected…

Like we weren’t walking alone —
like God was placing people, moments, and signs exactly where they needed to be.

One moment has always stayed with me.

I was walking along the railroad tracks in Del Mar with a friend who was going through a difficult time.

As we talked, she suddenly looked at me and said:

“You have been like a guardian angel.”

At that exact moment, we both looked down…

And there, between the tracks 🛤️ was an angel brooch.

We hadn’t seen it before.
We weren’t looking for it.

But it was there.

Right on time.⏰

That moment didn’t fully make sense to me then…

But looking back now, I see it differently.

It was one of the first times I began to recognize
that God moves through people, through timing, and through moments we can’t explain.

Some things aren’t meant to be explained.

They are meant to be recognized.

And when you start to recognize them…

You begin to see:

You were never walking alone.🕊️

❤️ The Heart — Love That Is Built, Not Just Felt

At the base of this piece is the heart.

Because real love — God-centered love —
isn’t just something you feel.

It’s something you build.
It’s something you surrender to.
It’s something you align with.

🙏 Final Reflection

This piece is a reminder…

That when you surrender to God,
He brings everything together in ways you could never plan.

Two lives.
Two paths.
Two stories.

Becoming ONE under God🙏.

One By the River — Symbol Key

Leading Symbol: 💧 River
Two becoming one under God’s design
Core Symbols Featured:

💛 Heart — Love joined and covered by Him
✝️ Cross — Covenant, truth, and spiritual union
🪨 Rocks — The individual journeys that shaped each life
🌊 Flowing Water — Surrender, cleansing, and divine alignment
🧵 Cord — The unseen bond God weaves between two hearts

Custom Symbols Introduced:

🔄 Converging Streams — Two separate paths becoming one
✨ Still Water — Peace that confirms God’s presence
🌿 Riverbank — The place where transformation begins
💫 Divine Timing — Moments that could only be orchestrated by Him

Collection Note

This piece is part of the Shout God Out Collection- where every painting carries a story, a lesson, and an invitation
to see how God is working in your life ✝️