My heart has been totally inflamed recently by Kanye’s conversion! As a mom of 2 young adults, i get to hear and witness all kinds of pop culture stuff so i have known Kanye and his music for sometime. While I’m not a fan of his older music, due to lyrical content, i am a fan of people who are just full on, that is, they own their stuff and they are who they are. They don’t follow the crowd, they bring the crowd because people respond to authenticity. Kanye is authentic, he is a true original and a free thinker. I dig that.

So for the last 6 months, as I’ve been catching his interviews and seeing his new clothes lines come out, I thought…whoa, now he’s using God as the trend. When he first started having his Sunday services, i thought… oh my, he’s trying to BE God now! Shamefully, i just put him in that box of sin. And then i started to really listen to his music,  i realized that God had a hold on him. He went from rapping about whoes’, to telling his wife it hurts him when she dressed promiscuously. This man was being transformed.

At the end of October, i caught this video…

And sure enough… just like that, Kanye has had a conversion!

As a Catholic convert, i know about conversion. Personally i have found that most people, myself included, are converted through lot’s of kicking and screaming. I wish i could claim it was an easy thing  for me to die to self, but it’s been tough. I try and offer just a little bit more of myself to the Lord each day, and God faithfully stays with me. One thing He’s shown me is that it’s not my job to fulfill His purpose in my life, it’s just my job to surrender, He will do the fulfilling part.

Conversion is surrender.

When God opened a door for me to join my artist friend, Katie Sahm, in her studio, i wasn’t on board at first. I have my own home studio and just never had the desire to go someplace to show or create my work. I felt so blessed to be able to have this place in my home and a website for orders, this was mostly due to cost and convenience. But, when Katie invited me to join her in a studio she had, i immediately was reminded of a mission that the Lord had laid on my heart in March, “to go after the hardest of hearts.” He showed me right away, that this was a door to that mission and my Saint icons would lead the way to conversations about the faith and love of one another.

Last Friday was my 4th, First Friday event. First Friday is when all the artist in the complex open up their studios and welcome visitors with food, wine and conversation. It’s been so amazing to see God slowly at work in these monthly events.

The August opening was SLOOOW. Many people came into the building but most, due to the sacred art, would glimpse in and walk on by.  Lord, i asked, what can i do? He said, you will serve the best wine and the best food. Ok…hospitality, YES! I can do that!

In September, just a week before First Friday, the Lord prompted me to walk around to each studio door with blessed salt, and ask Him to bless each studio. So i did and the day after i did, the entire first floor of the building had a water break and flooded and i realized i was right where i needed to be and the Lord was guiding me. That Friday,  i had a nice array of food and wine and i stood outside the studio and invited people to come in for a glass of wine. Many did and my friend showed up with a box of 50 blessed Miraculous Medals, and we were able to pass some out and have good conversations w people about the Saints and God.

In October, using the same tactic of hospitality, my friends showed up to help me to evangelize and share the Good News to people who walked into the studio. Many more visitors started to came through and we were on a roll, so to speak. By the end of the night, the Lord sent a young man in who started to quote scripture and claimed we don’t need Jesus, we have God and can go straight to “the Man” . We  patiently listened and, through the Holy Spirit, we challenged him on some key things he was missing the truth about. By the end of the night we all prayed with him and he shared that just 2 days ago, he asked God to show him if Jesus was real after an argument he had with his mother.  Not only did he find the answers he needed, he came and shared his testimony ( talk about radical conversion, this dude had been through some stuff)  to a room full of Catholics at our Wednesday night prayer group. Wow God. The Lord was fulfilling this mission He gave me!

Just days before the November first Friday, i catch Kanye’s video and my heart was truly inflamed! I quickly created the poster you see at the top of this post and knew that we needed to celebrate RADICAL CONVERSION as our monthly theme and reflection.  I show up that Friday morning to set up the exhibit and i see this in the main exhibition hall…

 

This was their All Saints day exhibit! A real mockery of this holy day in the Church and a truly sad and confusing representation of what this day was all about, visually it wasn’t much to look at either.

The readings on this First Friday happened to be the Beatitudes… and the Holy Spirit rang His song in my ear, “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” as we prepped for our monthly event in our studio, blaring christian music on our i-tunes. 

Our gallery door sits only feet away from this featured exhibit, and the Kanye poster was plastered right by the exit sign. As people stopped to stare at the poster, i invited them in for a glass of wine. Gotta love that hospitality!

By the end of the night, the Lord sent another man who had lot’s of concerns and issues about Mary, Mother of God. We talked with him and prayed together and he took a miraculous medal and his heart was OPENED to get to know Mary more. Open hearts, open doors= conversion!

I don’t share all this with you to say, look at how great i am. Just the contrary, it’s look at how great HE IS! Only God can take a sinner and make Him a saint. Look at Saint Peter, Augustine, Angela of Foligno! Look at me… a sinner, truly nothing else. Yet, He loves!

When i started sharing my art and conversion story, many people fell away from my life. They just couldn’t believe that i had been transformed, they held me in my box of sin, much like i did Kanye.

Jesus, i pray i never hold someone in a place of sin, confined by their past and defined by their mistakes. I know the enemy is already doing that to them. Let me not be an instrument of evil, but rather, help me to lift up those who are being converted, and those hardest of hearts to YOUR RADICAL LOVE. Help me to see all with the potential of radical conversion and how their unique gifts contribute to the Kingdom here on earth. You leave no one behind! We are one in You and when i hold down my brother or sister, i hold down only myself. Forgive me. Amen.

Pray that Kanye becomes a great Saint… this guy’s conversion can influence millions and even change the course of history by helping a generation turn Pro-Life.  Again, we are ONE and we belong to each other! Pray for him!

“sing til the power of the Lord comes down” Kanye West