Does God like Glitter?

It’s too much. Too girly. Too feminine. I don’t wanna be “extra” like that. I’m not a glitter person. Teaching paint classes over the years, I’ve heard it all. Truth be told, I’ve thought it all! I remember the first time I used glitter on a painting. It was the classic red truck with an evergreen tree in the back that’s plastered on everything during the Christmas season. I chose the fine, clear glitter and cautiously spread it across tree. I stepped back and held it up in the light. “Not bad, not bad,” I thought to myself in approval. “The painters will love it.” Over the years I’ve broadened the expanse regarding my glitter collection. Not only do I use fine glitter, I also use chunky, red, blue, green, and silver glitter. Ok, ok, I use it all! 😂 And so do my painters. Some personalities chose to be moderate, not unlike me, with the sparkle approach, while others cover their entire canvas with shimmer and shine! Yet there are those skeptical few who just won’t touch it. I don’t push the issue, because I get it. For years I thought, ew! No thank you. Up until about a week or so ago, I hadn’t even dared to make a personal, much less, spiritual connection with glitter. But then, let me tell you what Yahweh showed me……

If you’ve kept up with my blogs, you’ll know I had an epiphany moment in Maybe the day had a shitty you. I sit outside with my coffee in the morning, weather permitting, and talk with God so I can start the day getting my head right. Well, here I was again, out on the porch with my coffee, facing the eastern sunrise. We just had sod laid right out our back door, and it was really starting to take root. The humidity was making a last desperate attempt to cling to the air, yet a chilly breeze indicated that it was about to push its way to the forefront of our days and stay awhile. The weather was getting ready to make a big shift from lukewarm to cold, so the dew on the grass was thick. I sat and watched it twinkle as the sun began to peek over the horizon. My mind was clear, which is extremely unusual, as I looked at the shimmer across our backyard. Then it hit me like a bolt of lightning, and I had to giggle out loud! I said audibly to my Creator, “You like glitter, too, don’t you?” I felt gloriously giddy and feminine! What a thing to create! A sweet gleam of joy to add to my mornings! I began to consider all the places and things I’ve seen God glitter. I started a list, and added to it each time it crossed my mind. The morning dew, a sparkling body of water, freshly fallen snow on the ground or atop a mountain, and even a starry sky. Twinkle twinkle little star….✨🎶 Even the gems, minerals, and stones beneath the Earth He keeps hidden for us to discover as gifts and treasures. “You ole softy, you!” I would exclaim to myself with delight each time a flicker of sparkle would enter my mind.

In my art, I used to feel almost apologetic for using glitter. Like it was a cop out to being a real artist. I began to incorporate it in my personal art about a year ago, when I created my Mountain Collection. I was a bit timid about what people would think, and about how it made me feel about being a true artist. Now, almost a year later, in a quiet moment alone with the one who created ME, I got a spectacular presentation of radiant, dazzling shimmer right in my own backyard. I’d seen it all my life, all around me a thousand times. Now, I see it in a whole new light. (No pun intended.) Each time the sun glistens across a lake, I see His glitter. When the night is clear and a million stars twinkle in the sky, I see His glitter. I see it across the rock collection my son has in his room. I see it on the snow. I see it in the morning dew. Why had I reserved glitter as a frivolous, silly thing all this time? Why did I feel the need to be hard and tough and strong? Yes, my Creator is all of those necessary masculine things. Like a mighty oak or a raging river! But He is also soft and quiet and shimmering. Like a sparkling white diamond or a dazzling blue sapphire. Both sides demonstrating his power and beauty. What an amazing expression of creation! 💎❄️

Now that I’ve come to the realization that the Almighty does in fact like glitter, I can freely embrace the metallic glows, and create “guilt” free, with less of a stigma around my art. If glitter is still not for you, don’t fret. I’m not trying to coherse you into jazzing up your taste if it doesn’t suit you. Simply take into account what you may have been missing out on all these years, like I was. God is sharing with us His softer side. Breathe it in and take notice of the light, because He created it in you, too.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place.” Psalm 8:3

“There were twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.” Exodus 39:14