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n March 30, 1989, my daughter, Joy, and I were in a tragic car accident. The Flight-For-Life helicopter was called and we were taken to the trauma unit of a hospital 30 miles away. The injuries and my near-death experience put new depth into all our lives.
Having a tremendous struggle to go on and not give up, gave me a new way to understand how close and dear God's love is. Nothing in this world could ever satisfy my need for peace. When it came to a
point of constant tears and drained me of any hope in "man," I was at the point of making a choice of either breaking or surviving.
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very dear friend, Lynda, whose life was shattered, came to me and said, "Julie, can you help me paint my feelings?" I am now helping very precious friends that
have had devastating sorrows in their lives using art as a tool for understanding. It's the only art class I know of where everyone brings their Bibles.
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"In February of this year my 15 year-old son died of a self-inflicted gun wound to the head . . ." Read the full story and see her paintings. |
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One day as tears and exhaustion overwhelmed me, a friend of ours said, "Julie, you're an artist, why don't you paint how you feel?" Now, this sounded crazy because I
have always painted what other people wanted me to, not how I felt. How would I do that?I pulled my thoughts together and decided to try. The project in itself kept my mind content to show the world that with God's love and care I could
survive and there is hope. The painting was finished and surprised or shocked some people. What surprised me was, it wasn't just the accident that I had to put on canvas, but also the loss of Brance, and my father's death from cancer three months after my car accident. All these things and more
were put in the painting.It was a real healing, as I put all of us . . . even the love of my husband, children and friends was included in this piece of art. Later on, I was overwhelmed with the need to paint only of
how I felt about losing our baby. It was in my heart and
flowed out onto the canvas so easily. I learned I not only had to give God the torn part of my heart, but along with my pain, I had to give Him my tears. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalms 46:1
"Ahhh . . . Art, a way of life; a life given to us by God,
not for wasting our time and talents. "Our time is short, what are we going to do with it?"
~ Julie Bergeron ~
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