One reason I love the Old Testament so much is because it gives us so many glimpses into God's love of creativity, beauty, symbolism, and mystery. And, of course, as I've said before in other places we are made in His image, the image of the Creator! Which means every single person born is creative—not in the same ways, but we were all made to create.
One of my dreams and hopes for our little ministry at Ever Thine Home is to help you and all our readers see and appreciate the beauty and creativity of God, which is why for so many years we focused on creating beautiful, biblical products for homes and families. Though we are now more focused on writing beautiful content, we still can't let go of creating and offering some beautiful items in our Etsy store.
This spring and for this Easter season, and honestly for all year round, we are offering a limited number of a special item. The story behind it goes like this:
Years ago I was in our FamilyLife office with some of my favorite people from those early years of Ever Thine Home—Jim, Carrie, and Belinda. We were talking about Easter and how we could help families focus on its eternal significance and keep a reminder of Jesus as our Lamb of God in their homes all year long.
Either Jim or Belinda, during a long pause in our discussions, looked at me and said, “Why don't you paint us a lamb we can sell?” I was surprised, not at all expecting that as an idea that would pop to the surface. I thought about it awhile and said I might try.
When I got home I started searching for images of lambs, which in itself was a fun exploration. Who doesn't love little lambs? They are so soft and cuddly looking and innocent. I also searched in our photos because Dennis and I had been to New Zealand years earlier to teach for a week on marriage and while there we saw several large sheep ranches and lots of little baby lambs, some barely able to stand up.
I took dozens and dozens of photos of lambs. One of them stood out as it stared back at me while I snapped its picture. It was very still except for one ear which kept twitching back and forth. The photo I captured shows one ear facing forward and one facing to the side. And that's the lamb I painted because my friends encouraged me to try.
For several years we had both original size prints and smaller 11x14 prints that we sold year after year. I know quite a few people who have their lamb print framed and hanging year-round. My daughter Rebecca has hers up over their fireplace year-round. Recently, a friend of hers came by and, as she was leaving, she said, “If you come home one day and that painting over your fireplace is gone you'll know who took it! I just love it so much.”
A few days later Rebecca called me to tell me the story as a compliment, which it was. But as she told me I wondered if we might have one or two extra prints in our now semi-famous storage unit for all the treasures we keep finding there. Eventually, I found one and also 16 others, more than I remembered we had. Rebecca told her friend what the prints sold for originally and she promptly wrote Rebecca a check and we mailed her one.
So this year for the Easter season, and all year, we are making the remaining 16 available. They are printed on watercolor paper and in the original size of 22"x17", and signed and numbered. We have them in our Etsy store and when they are gone, they are gone.
I'd love for them to be hanging in 16 of your homes rather than hidden away in a storage unit.
Because they are large they will be a little extra pricey to ship so I know they are not for everyone's budget, but if you are looking for a special gift or a large print for your mantel or a big wall in your home I hope you scoop up one of these last exclusive prints of Behold the Lamb. They won't last long so order yours today!
There is an old hymn which says, “Who would have thought that a lamb could rescue the souls of men ...” Indeed. It is an idea beyond comprehension, a concept no one, but God could have imagined. Behold the Lamb reminds us of this wonder and the mystery of God who rescued us with a perfect spotless gentle lamb!