Wellness Journal 3: Dreaming Godly Dreams For Your Life

I doubt that there is a single person who has not known disappointment in life. We are fortunate if it does not take on overwhelming proportions in our lives. When it does, as we so often see demonstrated in the lives of others, it can have devastating results on marriages, families, and even lives lost. For today's journal entry I sat down and simply started writing and this poem emerged in no time at all. It probably has very little literary value, but I hope that it has the ability to add value to your life in coming to terms with those lost dreams you used to have when there was still hope. Perhaps, not unlike myself, you too can learn to find new dreams and hope in God.

I wrote today's poem in my mother tongue, Afrikaans. The original draft is always written in pencil so that I can make the necessary changes with an eraser afterward. I will publish the original as well as a translation for the benefit of my readers:

Drome

Ons droom van jonkwees
Ons droom van trou
Ons droom van menswees
Maar ons droom nooit van rou

Ons hoop op geluk
Ons mik na liefde
Maar onder die lewensjuk
Word ons laag afgedruk

Ons hou op om te droom
Ons verloor alle hoop
Dit word 'n oorlewingstryd
waarin ons mekaar uitbuit

Vergeet van jouself
Vergewe die ander
Hou jou oog op jou God
Hy kan jou lewe verander.

Miekie

I made the necessary changes to the poem and rewrote it in pen. Here is the English translation:

Dreams

We dream about being young
We dream about getting married
We dream about finding ourselves in humanity
But we never dream about grieving.

We hope for happiness
We aim for love
But when life's yoke presses down
we loose ourselves under its pressure.

We stop dreaming
We loose all hope
Life becomes a struggle for survival
in which we strive for advantage over the other.

Forget about yourself
Forgive the others
Keep your eyes fixed upon God
He's the One who can turn things around.

Miekie

An essential element to art, is to be able to erase the unwanted pencil lines when we are done with them. I find this very cathartic in the journal process as well. We truly need to learn to erase those unwanted and discarded lines from our lives as well.

With the poem written, it is time to start adding some illustrations. I draw a bride next to the first verse of the poem.

I redraw her in pen once I am satisfied with the sketch, and then proceed to erase the pencil lines.

For the second verse, I focus on the line that says we aim for love. I draw Cupid's bow and arrow aimed at a blood red heart. The original drawings is once again done in pencil, then redrawn in pen, and lastly the pencil lines are erased. I follow these steps throughout the journal process.

For the third verse, I choose to draw two figures on a seesaw. The one at the top is delivered onto the actions of the one at the bottom. He has no control over his own destiny and the figure at the bottom has no sympathy for him. Curiously, I decided to draw the fulcrum, or the pivot of the seesaw, as a tombstone. Too often we build our own happiness on the tragedies of others. This picture is a bit of a social comment. You will also note that I have opted to draw the figures as stick figures. They have lost some of their roundness when they gave up their humanity and have become but a glimmer of what they used to be.

Finally, I draw the last verse. This time I show a broken stick figure crawling on hands and knees towards the cross of Jesus, the only place where salvation can be found. The foot of the cross is littered with discarded baggage from previous visitors who have come away released from the burdens pressing them down. Finally, I have a jubilant figure walking away, praising God. This is no longer a stick figure, but has once again become a rounded human being.

Once hope has been restored in Christ, He gives us new dreams for our lives and I am now ready to add some decorative flowers to my page.

I choose to colour the illustrations with Derwent Aquatone Pencils, using my Pentel Aquabrush to paint the colours onto the illustrations.

The pencils can be used in a variety of ways, but I opt to take the paint off the pencil, using the brush, and to then paint the illustrations on the page.

I paint some jubilant multi-colored flowers.

My bride is painted light blue and white with a yellow crown and shoes. Her bouquet is red and green.

Cupid's arrow is painted green with the heart a brilliant contrasting red.

My arguing figures on the seesaw is painted a monotone cold blue.

Finally, the figure approaching the cross and the bags scattered at the foot of the cross are painted pitch black. The cross is painted a sedate wooden brown and my emerging figure a brilliant lime green, depicting new life found in Christ.

An overview of my page in the journal.

A close-up of the completed page.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
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