The Penny Dropped - 1984

Continuing my career saga.....

Well, after a year of weekly Bible study sessions, my understanding was sufficient to give me the confidence to  surrender to Jesus' will for my life. I was baptised to my new life in August, 1984.Joy and I also realized that we were well suited to a life together, appreciative of our common interests including our religious faith. We felt that the way may open to a life together if we left the matter in God's hands and if it was His will.

It was a very short time afterwards that the penny finally dropped! Suddenly one day, mindful of the enormity of my baptism and it's life-changing significance, a panorama appeared before my mind's eye. I was reminded of my plea that night in my Bauple caravan. I had asked God ("if there is one") to take over because I could not handle things. I also asked that, if this bible was God's book, "why could I not understand it?"  Now, in this flash of insight, it became clear that God had, indeed, taken over. I was shown the sequence of events which followed what I now understood to be my prayer:

1. I was led to that newspaper ad for a full-time job as an artist and was accepted for the position. I had achieved full-time employment in my field of talent (well before the 5 years target I had set),
2. A timely buyer for my Bauple property approached me, prepared to pay 150% of my purchase price,
3. My modest but worrying credit card debt was paid and Gympie accommodation afforded, together with a car for transport,

4. I had been led to an explanation of His book and I accepted it as truth and relevant to my life,
5. He had brought me to a life partner who shared all my interests,
6. He had revealed Himself, something which was now obvious, in hindsight, that He had been attempting to show me for years before.

I could not stop my spine tingling for days after!

Personal development continued in and out of church and in December, 1985, Joy and I were married and began a wonderful life together - with God's guidance and Blessings at every turn. I was less than 4 years into my 11 years in Gympie and 49 years of age.

As far as my Art career was concerned, there were interesting years ahead at Murray Views while The Gympie Times and yet another dimension of my career was to unfold.

This following cartoon sequence depicts Pr. Maurice Woods and his passion for bread-making, failures and all. I also like to think of it as symbolic of his work in helping me and others through the Christian learning experience, complete with our "flops" along the way, crafted and aromatic - NOT perfect by any means but changed by the knowledge gained from God's Word, the Bible. I was to find that the process continues in line with the desire to know more of Christ- through more Bible reading, prayer and willingness to allow God to lead. Acknowledging that God is Creator of all things, yet intimately concerned for the individual, has provided me peace of mind, convinced that He has my best interests in hand. It has been awesome to find that my saddest experiences have been followed by revelations of  great joy!

Sizing up the transformation task ahead-

The hard yards...

Not easy but look how it's changing!...

 turning up the heat....

Sometimes.....

But eventually..

The baker has earned his satisfaction.

I am reminded that my weekly lessons were always followed by days of "assimilation stress" as I compared my new knowledge with the old ideas I had accumulated, testing both and each time finding the new was truth. So, each week, there was a "flop" followed by a successful, "new loaf!"

Next: After Gympie - Live Caricaturing.