Sketching it out

It’s not that I haven’t been writing, it’s just that drawing has been my focus recently, trying to visualize my characters from my Walking by Faith post : Walking By Faith. Here are the sketches

Faith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aaron

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been trying to capture the personality of my characters in these sketches and so you will see that the drawings aren’t complete. The focus is more on the facial features or recognizable features like the hint of the straw hat Faith wears or the look of anger/sadness/despondence on Aaron’s face.

Please do keep visiting the site as I work on finishing my stories and novels. Thanks!

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Walking By Faith

Where do we go, nobody knows. We go wherever the wind blows.
~Faith – the spirited Adventurer ~

Faith hoisted the large, heavy backpack higher up on her shoulders, placing it in a more comfortable position on her back. She gripped the backpack’s dark straps firmly; they came across the front of her mud stained blouse, the blouse no longer a sunny yellow in colour but fading into a shade of yellow and brown. Her large straw hat hid her from the scorching heat, and the flow of long, light brown hair coming from it covered her ears, framing her demure face and reaching her shoulders. She looked ahead, her clear hazel eyes sparkling with excitement as she gazed across the empty, ridged landscape of the desert; there was a large tower ahead. It stood erect, rising from a sand dune that covered the bottom quarter of the immense structure. There was an eagerness within her. It seemed to bubble right through her as a large grin spread across her face and she began to rise up to her toes and drop back down to her heels in an energetic rhythm. She glanced down at her partner and snorted softly.Unlike her, young Aaron sat crossed legged on the coarse ground; despondent. His short golden brown hair lay matted to his head from sweat. The heat had taken every ounce of his energy, regardless of the short swim he had taken, at the oasis Faith had managed to direct them to. The mud had helped cool them off too but the prospect of traversing the sandy terrain with mud baking on their skin did not appeal to him at all, even if that would have cooled him down. He gazed up at the tower in the distance, shielding his light brown eyes from the sun so he could look at it without going blind. He sighed dejectedly; that was the last thing he wanted to do.

The travelers, completely unrelated, had been making their way across the desert for a week and a half now, each with their own personal goal. Faith sought adventure, yes, she lived with almost eccentric motivation that had led her to many different parts of the world. Yet this journey had become spiritual more than adventurous as she trekked through aesthetic landscapes varying from mountains and valleys to forests and jungles. Each region she traversed filled her with awe and wonder, a deep longing as well as a desire to know not only about its creation but also about its creator. Aaron on the other hand was an orphan, abandoned as a young boy by his parents claiming they were not ready for a child; he was pulling them down. He’d met his parents again later on and they had rejected him again. In his sadness and anger at his parents and a deeper bitterness for his unfair life, he lost all will and purpose to live. At the apex of the apartment building where his orphanage was located, he’d found himself on the edge of the building and gazing glazed eyed at the inevitable below him. Had Faith not appeared at that moment, Aaron would not have been alive this day. He found a new desire at that moment, a desire to figure out his purpose and know more about this ultimate Being that Faith spoke of so reverently yet so mysteriously about. Who indeed was the creator of those marvelous places Faith had traveled to? Where was He now? What purpose did He have for him? This journey had to have answers, just had to.

“Come now, enough rest let’s go!” Faith exclaimed as she grabbed the younger boy’s arms and pulled him up to his feet. Aaron grunted his disapproval but let himself be pulled up to his feet.
“Are we seriously going to climb that?” Aaron asked, unable and unwilling to alter his despondent tone of voice.

“Of course! This tower will challenge you beyond anything you have ever faced!” Faith exclaimed, falling back into her excited rocking, “In fact, there is a historical record of a young man, a little older than me, who not only climbed the tower but leapt from its top!” Aaron had a moment to remember his once strong desire to jump from his own high tower; so much had changed since then that the idea disturbed him.

“Not only did he jump, but he landed safely on a bale of hay at the bottom…he called it…the Leap of Faith. Exhilarating!” Faith’s face seemed to glow under her straw hat, her lips unable to contain the large grin that filled her face. Aaron, however, was skeptical…and fearful. It was as though Faith had saved him from one jump only to propel him towards another only this time…he was not looking forward to it. Not at all.

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I hope you enjoyed the little excerpt from one of my short stories called Walking by Faith, playing around with that theme of walking by faith by having a character named Faith. The basis of this story is the idea of self discovery and also how God reveals himself in nature. Within the course of the story itself you will see that outworking of revelation through the eyes of energetic, optimistic Faith and the skeptical, despairing Aaron.

As always, please feel free to leave a comment, message etc. Thank you for taking the time to read and visit my blog. May you have a blessed week!

Leap of Faith

I find myself on the edge, falling forward in what those who know of Assassins Creed would call, a Leap of Faith. It is while the balls of my feet still feel the solidity of the ledge and my toes dangle helplessly over the nothingness, do I understand the implications of such a leap. I flail my arms around trying to somehow push myself back, my toes push down on nothing but air and my heart catches in my throat as fear shoots through my whole body, paralysing me. I look down at the ineviatble and begin to wonder where the faith that had led me this far had disappeared to. Had it seeped out my pores in an increased adrenal rush? Had it escaped through my sudden gasp for air as I realized I would be falling head long into the unknown.

“Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?”

Little faith is what I indeed had in that moment of fear and trepidation. It was not uncommon to have scripture suddenly overwhelm me in moments such as these and Matthew 8:26 went straight to the heart. I of little  faith…who lacked trust in the Almighty, Sovereign Provider. Was it not my faith in Him that led me all the way up this tower, trusting in His unfailing love, in His faithfulness, in His guidance! Indeed it was! So why then does my faith fail me now, in these last seconds when I need Him most. Why does my fear make weak my faith.

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance”

Endrunce. It was with endurance that I had begun to run…feeling weightless and free, that is, until I arrived at this tower.  A dark presence, stretching  to the sky, looming over me with a menacing overbearance that immediately put my trust and faith in turmoil; and yet I stepped forward towards it. With great perseverance and a strength that came not from myself, I found myself climbing upwards over perilous broken beams, edging across millimeter thick ledges and reaching only half way, my faith began to waver. However, even during those trying moments I trudged on, climbing ever higher to reach the apex of this perilous dark tower. With a motivation that surpassed all earthly incentives, I arrived at the pinnacle of the tower, exhausted yet fueled with a deep desire to…to…to live by faith. I realize that my eyes have been closed; I see light penetrating through my eyelids to illuminate the darkness and I feel the rush of wind pushing up against me.

I open my eyes to see the ground rushing up at me. For a second I panic again, but a certain calm also rises in a deep warmth. It begins on the left hand side of my chest, seeping down into my abdomen and up into my lungs; spreading. Radiating. I spread my arms out like an eagle spreading its wings, feeling a grin stretch across my face and the refreshing gust of upward wind as gravity pulls me towards the ground. I exclaim a shout of ecstasy as I tumble my body forward, watching the ground below transition from the mud-caked earth to the dark stone of the tower and finally to the blue of the sky. There is but a second to grasp the true height of the tower before I land into the softness of hay. Safety.

I lay within the warm confines of my hay sanctuary, wondering why I had lost faith right at the end of my perilous climb when all I had to do was trust. Indeed it was by faith that I had climbed the tower, reached its apex, stood at its ledge and fearlessly began to lean forward. It was by faith that I knew I would be safe even when I knew I would be falling headlong into the unknown. Indeed my faith was in Him who provides, who watches over His own, who is Sovereign over all. Indeed it was in Him that I walked by faith.

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This tower represents challenges, obstacles and sin that overwhelm the body and mind, causing a weakness and wavering of faith and trust in God. I found myself climbing up this tower, reaching the top and thinking that I had made it. Then I was told I need to jump and that if I trust, I’d find safety at the bottom. Guaranteed.I  am currently free-falling down my tower and awaiting to land in the safety of whatever lies at the bottom. I’ve had moments of pure fear and moments of pure faith. Indeed my mind and heart has been in turmoil however the Word of God has been pulling me back up to my feet and pushing me along to run with endurance. I will end this post with this:

Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.