Meet Valerie, and win some art!
Posted on October 28, 2013 in Uncategorized
I am so excited to introduce everyone to Valerie, a brave and wise young woman with amazing passion and talent. Read her story, and then make sure you scroll all the way down to see details on how YOU could WIN a beautiful piece of her art! Trust me, you don’t want to miss out!
photo by Shannon Richardson; reprinted with permission of AGN Media
“Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” Psalm 34:5
I’ve always had a love for art…ALWAYS! The earliest memory I have of my love for it is waking up early in the morning when it was still dark out & watching a curious man paint “Happy Trees” & the trying to recreate them. When the show was over I would move into our kitchen, open up my pint-sized water color box & begin painting the early morning sunrise. Every day was a new, beautiful creation & I was in awe of the colors that appeared! To say that art has been a constant for me when everything else was chaos is an understatement. I often found myself using it as an escape while growing up.
Throughout Middle School & High School I battled low self-esteem as well as a whole slew of eating disorders. At the age of 20, I was raped & that led to my drug & alcohol addiction which resulted in an overdose the day before my 21st birthday.
I was sent to a Christian Rehab program far away from home & was furious because of the environment I was being thrown into. I didn’t understand that if there was a God, why did so many bad things happen to me? I soon began to realize during my treatment that these “Jesus People” had a certain “Glow” to them even in their trials. I decided that I wanted that glow & began to search where it came from (“You will seek me & find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13). Each person pointed me to our Creator & I soon decided to give my life to Jesus, although I wasn’t quite sure what that meant. I made progress & went home after 45 days in the desert. Once I left that “safe bubble” I found myself struggling again and in August of 2009 I relapsed one more time & realized I couldn’t go down the path of destruction again.
Not long after I made the decision to stick with my desire to stay clean, I met a girl at my church named Carissa who took her time to invest in me & to show me who Jesus really was & what the truths where about Him. I soon got involved in teaching preschool kids, leading High School Bible Studies & eventually leading a “Celebrate Recovery” group at my church. I found a job as a preschool teacher at another church & really found out how much I loved being around “little humans”! They have such cool imaginations, unconditional love, uniqueness, & curiosity about everything! They loved that I could draw & do cool crafts with them & I actually think they thought I was one of them! As I began looking through the materials each day, I noticed that all of the worksheets & coloring pages were dated. So, I decided to create coloring pages & alphabet worksheets for them to work on. The kids loved them & looked forward to them every week, but I think their parents loved them even more! And because of that, I haven’t stopped creating them!
My goal through art is, & has been, to encourage everyone to see the beauty in everything & inspire creativity! Everyone has a different gift & I love sharing mine with you in hopes that I would point everyone back to Jesus, The Greatest Artist of ALL!!! I still struggle with knowing who I am in Christ & what my true identity is, but I’m getting better at it every day. He truly does change, redeem, restore, free, heal, forgive & transform even the hardest of hearts! I’m living proof of that & I thank Him every day!
~ Valerie
“But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him & receive eternal life.” 1Timothy 1:16
Website: http://valeriewienersart.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ValerieWienersArt
Instagram: http://instagram.com/valeriewieners
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Valeriewieners
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/valeriewieners/
Valerie is generously gifting some of my amazing readers with her work! Enter to win a 4X4 canvas or coloring page!
To Enter:
Option 1: Blog about it! If you have a blog, write about this awesome giveaway and then post a link to that blog in the comments below.
Option 2: Share this post through facebook or twitter through clicking the link below this post. Make sure to add a line about why others should enter as well!
Option 3: Visit Valerie’s website and leave a comment here about why you love her work!
Good Luck, we can’t wait to announce the winner on Friday!
Can’t risk the chance of not winning, purchase something on Valerie’s website and enter CARENET into the coupon code. 15% of your order will be donated to CareNet! get great art and bless an amazing ministry, what a win-win!
