"By Faith, Not Sight"

This collection was painted in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during what felt like the coldest winter of our lives. My daughter Kit had just undergone her bone marrow transplant, and after more than a month in the hospital, we were finally discharged.

Leaving the hospital was one step closer to returning home to Mississippi, but the months that followed were some of the most mentally draining and difficult I’ve ever endured. There was a constant, heavy concern for Kit’s health. Life after a bone marrow transplant is unpredictable—things can change in an instant, especially in those first fragile months. On top of that, we were cooped up in a small apartment, thousands of miles from our family and friends, unable to be around people or even go outside in the negative temperatures.

We stayed at an apartment right across the street from the Mississippi River. We had managed a few walks across the bridge and down a nearby neighborhood street, but after a couple of months we noticed a stairway that led down toward the water. We hadn’t realized it was there the whole time.

The weather was too cold most days to even attempt to go out, but one afternoon the temperatures finally rose high enough so we could.

It had been a really rough week, and we all really needed to get out and get some fresh air. We decided to venture down the stairway to see if there were any other walking trails we could go on.

To our surprise, the trails were alive with people enjoying a rare break in the bitter cold. It felt like stepping into a different world—far removed from the busy city streets above us.

The views were breathtaking. Everything around us was blanketed in snow. The sun glowed through the hazy snowy clouds. The mighty Mississippi was frozen solid, covered in icey snow.

That beautiful place had been right under our noses the whole time, hidden just out of sight.

I immediately thought of 2 Corinthians 5:7: “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Now, six months later, I’m writing this, and I just read that verse again in its full context—and I’m even more encouraged.

"For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord."

2 Corinthians 5:1-8

That season was by far the hardest I've walked through, but I know that it was not for nothing. I know that although God doesn't cause the suffering we walk through, He is in absolute control of all things and can use our suffering for His glory. I know that in that hard season, He was further clothing us—not stripping us down but wrapping us more deeply in His grace.

And just like the beautiful view that was just out our sight, He is working all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, even if I can't see it right now.

This suffering is temporary—for Kit, for our family, for anyone who repents and believes in Jesus. We await full redemption, and that hope is what I will cling to.

And so, this collection of paintings was born out of the views I saw that day—frozen river, glowing sky, snow-covered paths—a reminder that even in our darkest seasons, God is at work just beyond what we can see.

This collection will be available September 18th with The Scouted Studio.