Hinds Feet on High Places

My passion for the Shepherdess painting began back in 1996. My close girlfriend, Selina, and I went to a women's retreat put on by our church at a retreat center called Forest Home. It was a beautiful place nestled in the San Bernardino mountains. That year I had been asked to speak at one of the sessions. The theme for the retreat was "Hinds Feet on High Places" and our notebook had the Shepherdess painting printed on the front of it. I immediately fell in love with it! My topic for my message that I shared was "Children of Promise." I spoke about Sarah, Hannah and Ruth. They were all women that had waited on the Lord for a child of promise. At the time I was 36 and was still waiting for my beloved and the promise of a family. When I returned home from that retreat, I matted and framed the front of the notebook and I told myself that if I had a little girl that I would hang this picture in her nursery. It was special to me as it shows a young girl being very tender with a lamb and it's mother. It made me think of the Lord and how gentle and loving He is with us. I thought how beautiful that would be to have a daughter who had a heart for the Lord and loved people like He loves us. We are His flock and the sheep of His hand. Little did I know that it would be 10 years before I would hang that picture in my sweet little one's room. There it is today!

This theme of a young women and a lamb has continued in my home. Last Valentines Day I was in a Hallmark store in the mall looking for cards for Rich and Mary. There was a display of Willow Creek figurines. They were lovely. Down at the bottom, in the corner, was one of a young girl holding a lamb. Again, I fell in love with it! It cost a little bit more than I would usually pay for a decorative item, but I just had to have it. I thought it would be a wonderful Valentines Day gift for my little girl that she will learn to appreciate when she is older. So, I placed it on a high shelf in her room when I got back while she was napping. A few days later, she came running out of her room, pulling on my hand and saying, "dolly, dolly" and lead me to her room. Now she is a girl through and through and has quite a few dolls in her room. She stopped in front of her shelves and lifted her little hands up as high as she could and looked up the top shelf and said again, "dolly, dolly." That warmed my heart. I held her up to see it but I told her she could not play with it because it was special. She seemed to understand and did not get upset when I didn't give it to her to play with. A few weeks later, we rearranged the furniture in the living room and with the move we ended up leaving one wall empty. I thought, "Hey, a wall hanging would go so perfectly there." So, I looked online and I found a tapestry of the figurine that I had bought Mary. Again, I was delighted!! The wall hanging was entitled, "Peace on Earth." I ordered it and when it came, Rich hung it for me. I smile each time I gaze at it. It is like a small window into the future, where I see my Mary girl as a young woman with a tender and loving heart. She is embracing the Lamb, the Savior of her soul.

For more show and tell treasures and the storied behind them go to Kelli's blog.