Forever & Ever, Amen
A visual Christian poetry and prose book created by Elizabeth Bondarchuk for Cornish College of the Arts BFA '21.
A visual Christian poetry and prose book created by Elizabeth Bondarchuk for Cornish College of the Arts BFA '21.
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<strong>Forever</strong> & <strong>Ever</strong>, <strong>Amen</strong>. was designed to fulfill the BFA project criteria at<br />
Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA.<br />
Poetry, prose, and illustration copyright © 2021 by Elizabeth Bondarchuk.<br />
Cover and book design copyright © 2021 by Elizabeth Bondarchuk.<br />
All rights reserved.<br />
Printed in the USA in Centralia, WA by Gorham Printing.<br />
Printed on 80lb. paper.<br />
First printing 2021<br />
Dedicated to my best friend,<br />
Jesus.<br />
Typefaces used include Le Monde, designed by Jean François Porchez from<br />
Typofonderie and Corundum designed by Joshua Darden from Darden Studio<br />
found on Adobe Typekit.<br />
Cover designed by Elizabeth Bondarchuk using photo<br />
by Anna Shvets on Pexels.<br />
Hand lettering and illustration done by Elizabeth Bondarchuk.<br />
Photo credits located at the end of this book and were altered in<br />
Adobe Photoshop as well as the illustrations accompanying them.
CONTENTS<br />
6<br />
8<br />
10<br />
11<br />
12<br />
14<br />
16<br />
18<br />
21<br />
22<br />
24<br />
26<br />
28<br />
31<br />
32<br />
33<br />
34<br />
36<br />
38<br />
39<br />
40<br />
42<br />
44<br />
46<br />
48<br />
50<br />
52<br />
54<br />
56<br />
58<br />
GOD’S RECIPE<br />
PINPOINT<br />
TAKE WING<br />
INFINITY<br />
SMILE WHEN IT RAINS<br />
WALTZ OF FAITH<br />
TREASURE IN CLAY<br />
STILLNESS OF GLASS<br />
PRODIGAL<br />
JUST ONE TOUCH<br />
REFUGE<br />
BELOVED<br />
DANCING WITH THE KING (E FLAT MAJOR)<br />
CORONATION<br />
PARCHMENT<br />
“ARE THERE TOYS IN HEAVEN?”<br />
IT’S OK TO CRY<br />
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN?<br />
THE GIFT OF TOMORROW<br />
START WITH SPROUTING<br />
IF UNCERTAINTY HAD A FACE<br />
VICTORY ≠ EASY<br />
ABLAZE<br />
THE MUSTARD TREE<br />
ENJOY WAITING<br />
UNPLUG<br />
RELATIONSHIP RELIGION<br />
UNENDING JOY<br />
THE GREATEST OF THESE<br />
I TOLD YOU SO<br />
Elizabeth Bondarchuk<br />
5
GOD’S RECIPE<br />
Total: 7 days, leave one to rest<br />
Yield: The world<br />
Ingredients: Love<br />
Directions:<br />
Step 1<br />
Lightly tapping the rim,<br />
He sifted the light<br />
From the darkness.<br />
Step 2<br />
He pressed His fingers<br />
into the clouds as if they<br />
Were dimpled Focaccia loaves.<br />
Step 3<br />
<strong>Ever</strong>greens piped<br />
Around with the steadiest hand.<br />
Salty broth poured over it all.<br />
Step 4<br />
He cracked an egg and the sun<br />
Slid out. Like a heart that never<br />
Stops working, it shines.<br />
Sliced a sliver of the moon<br />
Like it was a white apple.<br />
Shook the stars out<br />
Like salt, seasoning the world<br />
with more flavor.<br />
Step 5<br />
Mixed in the scales and feathers.<br />
Folded them gently into the sea<br />
And blew them into the sky<br />
like flour.<br />
Step 6<br />
Footprints began sinking in<br />
From all the different animals<br />
Except for ones like His.<br />
So He bent down and scooped<br />
some dirt and out of that<br />
unconsolidated mess,<br />
every grain obeyed and went to where<br />
He commanded them to.<br />
He breathed His breath and the grains inhaled,<br />
transforming into cells.<br />
Soundly Adam slept, not having<br />
a single clue of just how much<br />
he would come to love<br />
the hands that formed him.<br />
Step 7<br />
God passed the world like a marble<br />
From one hand to the other<br />
And saw that it was good.<br />
He went to rest knowing<br />
There was someone waiting<br />
For Him come morning.<br />
Genesis 2:7<br />
Then the Lord God formed a man from<br />
the dust of the ground and breathed into<br />
his nostrils the breath of life, and the<br />
man became a living being.<br />
6<br />
7
PINPOINT<br />
I look above.<br />
The twilight sky globes me<br />
Showing off its grandeur.<br />
When Man is in the sky<br />
They are at the mercy of its<br />
<strong>Ever</strong>y sigh.<br />
Even further up<br />
I see a magnified moon boasting of<br />
its luminosity<br />
I drop my eyes to the horizon<br />
where the ocean is endlessly<br />
Crashing, violently,<br />
Shaking its misty mane<br />
As waves tumble round.<br />
I don’t start to fathom the sheer<br />
Depth of the big blue<br />
knowing, fear of the unknown<br />
will creep in.<br />
Genesis 1:27<br />
So God created mankind in his own<br />
image, in the image of God he created them;<br />
male and female he created them.<br />
How many ships has it shallowed?<br />
So deep, so high. so wide, so bright.<br />
What about me, why?<br />
What can I boast about?<br />
Such a small human being<br />
Like a pin in the middle of them all.<br />
The moon, the sky full of its stars<br />
and the deep remind me,<br />
“Oh, how we wish we could have<br />
been made in His image.”<br />
8 9
TAKE WING<br />
You set me free<br />
Gave me wings<br />
And now I can fly<br />
above the sea<br />
Highest of High<br />
You set me free<br />
Psalm 139:9-10<br />
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,<br />
if I settle on the far side of the sea,<br />
even there your hand will guide<br />
me, your right hand will hold me fast.<br />
Passing wave.<br />
disappear with every<br />
I can watch my transgressions<br />
Any other way.<br />
But I’m happy it hadn’t been<br />
And dissolve one into the other.<br />
I bet the two would tango<br />
The horizon<br />
Had it not been for that line,<br />
No end, no beginning.<br />
Glittering diamonds sparkle on the surface<br />
The line the water and sky make captivates me<br />
INFINITY<br />
Psalms 103:12<br />
As far as the east is from the west, so<br />
far has he removed our transgressions<br />
from us.<br />
10<br />
11
SMILE<br />
WHEN IT RAINS<br />
Just because the clouds cover the sun<br />
from shining, doesn’t mean the sun isn’t<br />
present. Just because it isn’t beaming down like it<br />
did yesterday with light pouring out of every window,<br />
warming your face, doesn’t mean it forgot how to shine.<br />
Just because you felt the sun so close it touched the tip of<br />
your nose and today only chilly winds caress you, doesn’t<br />
mean it will never kiss you again.<br />
God is always near even if we cannot feel Him somedays.<br />
The cloudy days remind us how good the sunshine is.<br />
Hebrews 13:8<br />
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday<br />
and today and forever.<br />
12 13
WALTZ OF FAITH<br />
Trusting you is like dancing with my eyes closed. Step by step, taking it real slow. Just close your eyes, close your eyes. Walk knowing, He hasn’t failed you yet.<br />
2 Corinthians 5:7<br />
For we live by faith, not by sight.<br />
14<br />
15
TREASURE IN CLAY<br />
Under a globe of<br />
glittery flakes.<br />
I’m in His embrace,<br />
The space in my heart,<br />
His favorite place.<br />
Romans 8:10<br />
But if Christ is in you, then even<br />
though your body is subject<br />
to death because of sin,<br />
the Spirit gives life<br />
because of righteousness.<br />
16<br />
17
STILLNESS OF GLASS<br />
Mornings are God’s glory,<br />
Who will rise to meet Him?<br />
Hurry, hurry, before the songbirds<br />
wake up and beat you to it.<br />
Who will meet Him at<br />
His rest?<br />
Pale blues and<br />
grays mimic<br />
the lullabies<br />
humming.<br />
Psalms 5:3<br />
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;<br />
in the morning I lay my requests before<br />
you and wait expectantly.<br />
I am<br />
rowing<br />
in a boat<br />
In the pond of<br />
my heart.<br />
Slowly drifting<br />
as God’s finger<br />
churns the water.<br />
Golden rays ripple<br />
From the white<br />
boat. I let go<br />
of the oars.<br />
I am being spun round<br />
And round gently<br />
Like flower petals<br />
downstream.<br />
I want to stay here<br />
<strong>Forever</strong> & <strong>Ever</strong>.<br />
18 19
PRODIGAL<br />
You know the ridges in<br />
my fingertips because you<br />
carved them yourself, just like<br />
you did with the Grand Canyon.<br />
You know me more than I<br />
know myself. If for a moment,<br />
I could realize this, I would<br />
have never left your side. If I<br />
could only see your face, I<br />
would’ve worked harder<br />
but, wouldn’t we<br />
all have?<br />
Where is the reward<br />
in that? Rusty knees<br />
weary from running, I<br />
stand up and return to<br />
the house of my father.<br />
In his arms, I find<br />
my rest.<br />
Luke 15:20<br />
But while he was still a long way off, his<br />
father saw him and was filled with<br />
compassion for him; he ran to his son,<br />
threw his arms around him and<br />
kissed him.<br />
20 21
JUST ONE TOUCH<br />
All she wanted was a touch of his heart<br />
Like the woman who touched the hem<br />
Of his robe and was healed<br />
What would happen if she held love<br />
In the palms of her hands?<br />
Felt it breathing and beating.<br />
She wanted a tangible love.<br />
In the presence of the king,<br />
Her only request…<br />
“Can I touch your heart, feel it beat?”<br />
Afraid she was asking for more than anyone<br />
Had ever dared to.<br />
Ephesians 3:16-21<br />
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen<br />
you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so<br />
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I<br />
pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may<br />
have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to<br />
grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of<br />
Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—<br />
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness<br />
of God.<br />
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than<br />
all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is<br />
at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in<br />
Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and<br />
ever! <strong>Amen</strong>.<br />
When she stretched out her hand<br />
She was so close,<br />
Felt the warmth within reach.<br />
Almost there<br />
He softly cupped her hand and<br />
Placed it on her own heart.<br />
This is my heart, can you feel it beat?<br />
In denial,<br />
she broke down in tears.<br />
No, no, no Jesus this is no home<br />
for you, there must be a mistake.<br />
In reply He said,<br />
“Your heart Is my favorite place.”<br />
22 23
REFUGE<br />
Pelts of darkness are hurled at me<br />
I see a sky of thick malevolent intentions<br />
It comes down with a swoosh<br />
Like a ravenous raven<br />
I cover my face with my arms<br />
Bracing for the wave that wants to<br />
Consume me<br />
But right before that thirsty wave<br />
Had the chance to pound<br />
And crush my bones<br />
I hadn’t felt a single droplet of darkness<br />
Touch me<br />
Leaving me in confusion,<br />
I looked up and saw a great wing<br />
Like that of a plane hovering over me<br />
I am in the softest crevice<br />
In the shadow of His wing<br />
Psalm 91:4-7<br />
He will cover you with his feathers, and<br />
under his wings you will find refuge;<br />
his faithfulness will be your shield and<br />
rampart. You will not fear the terror<br />
of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,<br />
nor the pestilence that stalks in the<br />
darkness, nor the plague that destroys<br />
at midday. A thousand may fall at<br />
your side, ten thousand at your right<br />
hand, but it will not come near you.<br />
24 25
BELOVED<br />
White roses turned to stone<br />
when the sun set.<br />
A haze of lavender,<br />
They said I do.<br />
Soft heels rub against brick roads.<br />
Bush mazes caught the hem of her<br />
Wedding dress.<br />
Slow down<br />
Her hand in his<br />
All the guests have left<br />
A dance under the gazebo,<br />
One only the garden statues would see.<br />
Song of Songs 6:3<br />
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.<br />
27
DANCING WITH THE KING<br />
(E FLAT MAJOR)<br />
There is someone I know who<br />
plays the piano like it is her last<br />
Day but also as though she<br />
Will play for eternity all the same.<br />
As soon as she learned how<br />
To talk, she asked for a piano.<br />
Her two little feet couldn’t<br />
Even press the pedals just yet.<br />
The song within her wanted<br />
to come out nonetheless.<br />
When you hear those<br />
Sweet honey notes<br />
And baritone wooden<br />
keys, play it’s strange<br />
to say but, in<br />
that moment<br />
You can hear<br />
one’s soul.<br />
Trials, victories,<br />
sorrows.<br />
It’s hard to imagine<br />
what a soul would look like,<br />
The colors and forms, unknown.<br />
If my soul were a painting<br />
What would I see?<br />
I am convinced,<br />
You can hear hers.<br />
If you listen intently,<br />
From the deepest<br />
Depths of her heart<br />
Cries, “this is me.”<br />
I bet for a moment,<br />
When she closes her eyes,<br />
She is not here.<br />
I bet you there’s a piano<br />
Waiting for her in heaven<br />
With her name<br />
engraved onto it.<br />
She won’t mind playing<br />
For the king<br />
Endless melodies.<br />
Psalm 47:6<br />
Sing praises to God, sing praises;<br />
sing praises to our King, sing praises.<br />
28 29
CORONATION<br />
James 1:12<br />
Blessed is the one who perseveres under<br />
trial because, having stood the test, that<br />
person will receive the crown of life that the<br />
Lord has promised to those who love him.<br />
The gown rippled on the effervescent floor.<br />
She knew precisely where to saunter<br />
Despite never wandering here before.<br />
Someone was waiting for her,<br />
Her feet feeling a pull toward the corridor.<br />
She glimmered as she walked.<br />
She was a stranger to feeling beautiful<br />
She didn’t feel it, she knew it.<br />
Her gown changed colors with every step<br />
A velvety deep rouge robe washed over her<br />
A line of noble people before her<br />
As she was approaching the throne room<br />
Her eyes meet with the king<br />
Me? He’s looking at me<br />
She bows, full well knowing<br />
the weight of His presence<br />
“Well done my good and<br />
faithful servant”<br />
She rises with a crown.<br />
31
“ARE THERE TOYS IN HEAVEN?”<br />
PARCHMENT<br />
I like when its quiet<br />
When it feels like no one<br />
Can hear us and it’s just us.<br />
Nothing in between except the<br />
Paper thin sheet of eternity.<br />
The little boy wasn’t supposed to be there.<br />
Somehow, he found himself on the other side.<br />
Here he was peeking over the golden gates<br />
Until the Master of it all couldn’t help but<br />
Ask if he wanted a tour of the place.<br />
He took him past the flowers that never wilted,<br />
The river that never stopped flowing,<br />
And the choir of angels that never stopped singing.<br />
The boy didn’t want to leave and asked<br />
if he could stay for just a smidge longer.<br />
Looking down below at his family, the boy whispered,<br />
“Someday, very soon, we will meet beyond the<br />
Sky where eyes never cry.”<br />
2 Corinthians 4:18<br />
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,<br />
but on what is unseen, since what is seen<br />
is temporary, but what is unseen<br />
is eternal.<br />
Isaiah 57:1-2<br />
The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the<br />
devout are taken away, and no one understands that the<br />
righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those<br />
who walk uprightly enter into peace ; they find rest as<br />
they lie in death.<br />
Revelations 21:4<br />
‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be<br />
no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the<br />
old order of things has passed away.”<br />
32 33
IT’S OK TO CRY<br />
I love feeling my tears<br />
tickle my ears when<br />
I’m laying down.<br />
My own tears<br />
hug me and<br />
comfort<br />
me.<br />
A droplet of<br />
vulnerability<br />
A reminder that I am human.<br />
But you know what?<br />
Even Jesus wept.<br />
John 11:35<br />
Jesus wept.<br />
34<br />
35
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN?<br />
What separates us from every living thing<br />
in this world?<br />
Oh that shell of a mind.<br />
The ability to thrive even though<br />
circumstances say otherwise.<br />
The ability to have a<br />
God-sized dream.<br />
To see a vision and execute it.<br />
To love even when we have<br />
been hurt.<br />
But, the single most<br />
important thing we all<br />
have in common<br />
Is that we are all<br />
loved by God.<br />
Luke 12:7<br />
Indeed, the very hairs of your head<br />
are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you<br />
are worth more than many sparrows.<br />
God knows the<br />
number of hairs on<br />
my head just as much<br />
as He knows yours.<br />
It’s God’s love that<br />
makes us human.<br />
Strip away the pursuit<br />
of a career, spouse,<br />
whatever the world<br />
squeezes from us,<br />
What are we left with?<br />
Remove that shell of a human<br />
you’ll find God’s love.<br />
That is the ultimate,<br />
That is the only<br />
Reality.<br />
Our very being at its core.<br />
You are loved, don’t forget that.<br />
36<br />
37
THE GIFT OF TOMORROW<br />
There are still words to be said<br />
There are still places your feet<br />
Have never stepped.<br />
There are still thoughts<br />
That haven’t been thought.<br />
Ideas yet to be birthed.<br />
There are still people<br />
you haven’t met<br />
There are still sunsets<br />
you haven’t seen<br />
There are still songs<br />
Yet to be heard.<br />
There are still paintings<br />
Yet to be seen.<br />
There are still seeds<br />
To be sown<br />
And harvests to reap.<br />
There are still people<br />
Waiting to meet you.<br />
There’s still so much more to you<br />
than you can see.<br />
There is still life to live.<br />
There is still the gift of tomorrow.<br />
START WITH SPROUTING<br />
Want to know why everyone is obsessed with<br />
the concept of growth?<br />
Because it takes courage to break through<br />
that heap of dirt that’s been weighing you down.<br />
To sprout your little self into the big world.<br />
And in that moment, you just feel so naked.<br />
No guarantee for safety,<br />
famished birds pecking systematically.<br />
Heavy rain pounding on the ground,<br />
the burning skillet of a sun radiating<br />
on your little seedling.<br />
We love growth because it isn’t something<br />
you see instantly.<br />
Overtime, through the rain and doubt,<br />
a bright green smile peaks from the ground<br />
as if to say “I still made it.”<br />
Emblematic for hope<br />
a fragile fight for life.<br />
Deuteronomy 30:19-20<br />
This day I call the heavens and the earth<br />
as witnesses against you that I have set<br />
before you life and death, blessings and<br />
curses. Now choose life, so that you<br />
and your children may live and that you<br />
may love the Lord your God, listen to<br />
his voice, and hold fast to him.<br />
Matthew 13:3-8<br />
Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his<br />
seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came<br />
and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang<br />
up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants<br />
were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among<br />
thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil,<br />
where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.<br />
38 39
IF UNCERTAINTY HAD A FACE<br />
Not a strand of her hair is out of place<br />
She takes long strides<br />
Slender arms sway from side to side<br />
5<br />
4<br />
Her pace quickens but she doesn’t run<br />
3<br />
2<br />
She skips onto the sidewalk<br />
1<br />
The red hand appears and cars close in<br />
Her pace doesn’t reflect how slow<br />
Her thoughts hover<br />
Legs glide on autopilot<br />
The thought caught up to her eventually<br />
Will this even work out?<br />
Matthew 6:34<br />
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,<br />
for tomorrow will worry about itself.<br />
Each day has enough trouble of its own.<br />
40 41
VICTORY ≠ EASY<br />
It’s much easier to take the open road<br />
Not a path that’s trying to squeeze you out.<br />
Branches in your face<br />
stumbling rocks<br />
Sliver cuts,<br />
deeper than skin bruises,<br />
This is the Way.<br />
Matthew 7:13-14<br />
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide<br />
is the gate and broad is the road that<br />
leads to destruction, and many enter<br />
through it. But small is the gate and<br />
narrow the road that leads to life, and<br />
only a few find it.<br />
Easier not to ripple the water’s surface.<br />
Easier to stay silent.<br />
What’s worth living for something easy?<br />
Where is the glory without trials?<br />
Victory comes to the ones who stand till<br />
The bitter end.<br />
So much easier not to take the baton<br />
Knowing, you won’t have to run with all<br />
Your might.<br />
Leg numbing, breath-paper-thin<br />
kind of race.<br />
Generations in the palm of your hand,<br />
You pass it onto the next runner<br />
Hoping they run just as selflessly.<br />
Much easier to stay in the hole<br />
than scrape your way out.<br />
Palms raw and burning<br />
Dirt plastered under fingernails<br />
You made it out.<br />
And honestly, that first inhale<br />
feels like only now you started to really breath.<br />
You fought for a life worth living<br />
Easier to let your dreams slip<br />
Through your fingers like water<br />
Than to dive right in after them.<br />
43
ABLAZE<br />
Take me to a place covered<br />
With light and darkness,<br />
Teeming with Life & Laughter.<br />
Take me where the sun<br />
Plays hide n’ seek with the trees.<br />
Take me to illuminated paths<br />
And secret gardens.<br />
Where it feels like I’m right<br />
Where I should be.<br />
Psalms 16:4<br />
You make known to me the path of<br />
life; you will fill me with joy in your<br />
presence, with eternal pleasures at<br />
your right hand.<br />
44 45
THE MUSTARD TREE<br />
A little seed curled up inside<br />
A little seed with nowhere to hide,<br />
Nowhere to go<br />
Curled up in a ball, head<br />
crouched between knees,<br />
I am so small.<br />
Feels like I’m ten feet under,<br />
Feels like I want to curl up forever.<br />
Matthew 13:31-32<br />
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven<br />
is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in<br />
his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when<br />
it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a<br />
tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.<br />
Covered in dark soil<br />
Feels like I might drown<br />
from the parchedness.<br />
In that moment, all in God’s time,<br />
The heavens opened.<br />
I could hear the rumbling of the rain<br />
as they fell like little soldiers to my rescue.<br />
Down there He found me.<br />
His love seeped into every vein,<br />
it pulsed my heart beat to life.<br />
No one asks the Mustard tree<br />
what it was like being a tiny seed.<br />
How could this beautiful tree that birds<br />
call home, ever feel small?<br />
No, not at all.<br />
So, no one asks what it took to sprout,<br />
to grow, to stretch its branches as close<br />
as they could to the Son,<br />
to sing Hallelujah.<br />
46 47
ENJOY WAITING<br />
Waiting is being content<br />
with what there is<br />
and knowing what will be, will be.<br />
Politely waiting for the world<br />
to stop talking<br />
just to hear you and listen.<br />
Waiting your turn even<br />
when it feels like it will never come.<br />
Knowing you are a king<br />
whilst tending sheep.<br />
Knowing it will all come to pass.<br />
Once you reach your destination,<br />
Oh how you’ll want the Waiting<br />
when the Finally isn’t fun anymore.<br />
Give me the thrill of the unknown.<br />
The adventure of getting there when<br />
I’ll get there.<br />
Psalm 130:5<br />
I wait for the Lord, my whole being<br />
waits, and in his word I put my hope.<br />
48 49
UNPLUG<br />
They won’t stop talking<br />
They just keep on talking.<br />
Bright screens flash like a mad<br />
Disco ball.<br />
Chronic swiping and clicking,<br />
It’s almost like we forgot<br />
what it was like<br />
to think for ourselves.<br />
They do a good job keeping us so<br />
preoccupied<br />
thinking their thoughts.<br />
Did we forget we have our own?<br />
Stop<br />
take a moment to<br />
Unplug.<br />
Listen to yourself<br />
because if you don’t,<br />
you’ll be caught in the<br />
eternal loop<br />
of someone else’s<br />
mind.<br />
Romans 12:2<br />
Do not conform to the pattern of<br />
this world, but be transformed by<br />
the renewing of your mind. Then you<br />
will be able to test and approve what<br />
God’s will is—his good, pleasing and<br />
perfect will.<br />
50 51
RELATIONSHIP RELIGION<br />
Not just pretty words<br />
on a Sunday.<br />
It is true.<br />
It’s a love that died for you.<br />
Not just pretty words<br />
on a Sunday.<br />
Love is action.<br />
His blood spoke.<br />
It says,<br />
I love you.<br />
Mathew 12:7<br />
If you had known what these words<br />
mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’<br />
you would not have condemned the<br />
innocent.<br />
52
UNENDING JOY<br />
Today I rejoiced and wept like a child<br />
All for these very honest simple truths:<br />
1. I am loved.<br />
I am loved by Jesus, a perfect king,<br />
Who, through all<br />
My imperfections left above<br />
Heaven to come<br />
to earth<br />
down<br />
below.<br />
Paid the unending debt of my sin<br />
Through His crucifixion.<br />
2. My name is written in the kingdom book of life forever & ever<br />
So that I may be with my king for all eternity.<br />
This alone stirs unending joy in my soul. Stirs a kind of<br />
shamelessness that just might make me leap like a fool and<br />
tell the world there is someone you need to meet because…<br />
He absolutely loves you.<br />
Luke 10:20<br />
However, do not rejoice that the spirits<br />
submit to you, but rejoice that<br />
your names are written in heaven.<br />
54 55
THE GREATEST OF THESE<br />
If love was a box, where would you put it?<br />
If it was in a box, would you take it out?<br />
If it was out there somewhere,<br />
Would you put it in a box?<br />
If love was an ingredient, would you mix it in?<br />
Would a spoonful be enough?<br />
If love was hiding, would you travel<br />
Across the pacific to find it?<br />
If it were a flower, would you water it, let it grow?<br />
If love were a concrete sidewalk, would you<br />
Walk all over it or learn to fly?<br />
If love was an endless blue sky,<br />
Would you turn into a dove and never leave?<br />
If love was greater than us,<br />
Would you still pursue it?<br />
If love looked like blood<br />
trickling from the cross,<br />
Would you deny it?<br />
John 3:16<br />
“For God so loved the world, that he gave<br />
his only Son, that whoever believes in<br />
him should not perish but have eternal life.<br />
56 57
I TOLD YOU SO<br />
<strong>Ever</strong>ything. The world given to you on a silver platter, or gold if that’s<br />
what you prefer. <strong>Ever</strong>yone knows your name, you are the wisest, most<br />
beautiful, most charming, the wealthiest, you have it all. Let’s just pretend<br />
for a second, that this is your reality. You live life exactly how you<br />
planned, accomplished all you’ve ever wanted to. You have the best,<br />
you are the best. Your family and friends love you unconditionally.<br />
You don’t worry about anything ever, not even for a second. Problems<br />
would flee from you as far as the east is from the west. Just keep up<br />
with me here, the thing is, you can’t help but feel like there should be<br />
something more. This is really it? You think.<br />
It’s not enough, it will never be enough. There’s something missing,<br />
something deep. It’s been feasting at you for a while. You can’t deny<br />
it’s the only thing that feels real. You know that deep down something<br />
is wrong, something is missing. All your life spent chasing after nothing.<br />
Here’s a secret: It’s the way you were designed. When you were created,<br />
a desire to know and love your creator was already instilled in you<br />
and you can’t run from this fact. Trust me, you can try but I’m telling<br />
you it’s true, I want to save you your time.<br />
There’s a love that is so pure and tender, the sincerest love you’ll ever<br />
know and it’s amazing but, that love, that love had to die for you.<br />
Blood was spilled for your every mistake, for your downfalls, for every<br />
tear you’ve ever cried. I can just see the same droplet but in red trickling.<br />
Life may be perfect for you or at least ideal, you might be living life<br />
right now without ever knowing this man Jesus and feeling like you<br />
would be just fine without him. Hear me out, He knew and loved you<br />
before you were even born.<br />
I want to tell you something that I know is a fact. I know Jesus would<br />
agree with me when I say He loves you and exactly you, the person<br />
reading this just as you are and to the person reading this, your life<br />
may not be what I illustrated an idealized life as or what even you<br />
think a perfect life is. It may be one that is similar to most with problems<br />
and pain only you’ve experienced and known.<br />
But, know this, there will be a day, God only knows when, you might<br />
remember reading this, you might not but, I’m telling you it’s all<br />
real, it was always real. On that day when you have to face him face to<br />
face as your judge you will know, I won’t have to tell you that He<br />
was real all this time. That all this time He was there.<br />
He was there.<br />
I’m just telling you now before it’s too late, and don’t tell me…<br />
I didn’t tell you so.<br />
Matthew 4:8-10<br />
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and<br />
showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their<br />
splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will<br />
bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away<br />
from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your<br />
God, and serve him only.’”<br />
58<br />
59
Perfection is in the Kingdom where God reigns,<br />
Stop looking for it here.
PHOTO CREDITS<br />
Pg. 7<br />
Pg. 9<br />
Pg. 10 - 11<br />
Pg. 13<br />
Pg. 15<br />
Pg. 19<br />
Pg. 20<br />
Pg. 22 - 23<br />
Pg. 25<br />
Pg. 26 - 27<br />
Pg. 28<br />
Pg. 31<br />
Vellum Pages<br />
between<br />
Pg. 32 - 33<br />
Pg. 36 - 37<br />
Vellum Pages<br />
between<br />
Pg. 38 - 39<br />
Pg. 41<br />
Pg. 42 - 43<br />
Pg. 45<br />
Pg. 47<br />
Pg. 49<br />
Pg. 51<br />
Pg. 53<br />
Pg. 55<br />
Pg. 57<br />
Pg. 61<br />
Photo of moon by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash<br />
Photo of cloth by MontyLov on Unsplash<br />
Photo of water by Andrew Neel on Pexels<br />
Illustration of dancers inspired by photo of dancers by<br />
Preillumination SeTh on Unsplash<br />
Photo of clouds by eberhard grossgasteiger on Pexels<br />
Photo of ballerina by Serei Gavrilov on Unsplash<br />
Photo of rowboat by Katherine Gendreau on fineartamerica<br />
Photo of boot by Oziel Gómez on Unsplash<br />
Photo of sweater by Puwadon Sang-ngern<br />
Photo of dove by M Sidarda on Pexels<br />
Photo of garden by Elizabeth Bondarchuk<br />
Photo of piano keys by Denise Jans on Unsplash<br />
Illustration inspired by photo of bees by<br />
Boba Jaglicic on Unsplash<br />
Photo of crown by Pro Church Media on Unsplash<br />
Photo of seed by engin akyurt on Unsplash<br />
Photo of sunflower bud by fotografierende on Pexels<br />
Photo of sunflower by fotografierende on Unsplash<br />
Photo of torn paper by Elizabeth Bondarchuk<br />
Photo of hands by Jenna Hamra on Pexels<br />
Photo of reflection by Florin Bică<br />
Illustration by Elizabeth Bondarchuk<br />
Photo of trees by Pixabay on Pexels<br />
Photo of tree shadow by Madison Inovye on Pexels<br />
Illustrations of birds inspired by photos of birds by Matthew<br />
Heneghan and maria dimmerling on Pexels and<br />
Lasse Nystedt on Unsplash<br />
Photo of man walking by Jeffrey Czum on Pexels<br />
Photo of disco ball by Regina Valetora on Unsplash<br />
Photo of stained glass by Pixabay on Pexels<br />
Photo of jeans by Jp Valery on Unsplash<br />
Photo of box by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels<br />
Photo of challace by James Coleman on Unsplash<br />
Title Page<br />
Front Cover<br />
Back Cover<br />
Photo of feather by Anete Lusina on on Pexels.<br />
Photo of doves by Anna Shvets on Pexels.<br />
Illustration of hands inspired by photo of hands by<br />
Jenna Harma on Pexels<br />
Photo of dove by M Sidharda on Pexels<br />
Photo of branches by Brysan Hanson on Unsplash<br />
I made adjustments in Photoshop to all the photos in this book such as, cutting the<br />
background out, adjusting the saturation, contrast, brightness levels, and more. To<br />
see the original photos, feel free to look them up. The lined illustration work done<br />
over the photos was illustrated by me, Elizabeth Bondarchuk Hope you enjoy the read<br />
and remember, Jesus loves you!<br />
62 63