Each quarter, our friend Clare McCallan (a talented poet and writer) interviews each of the creators featured in the box. Here is her conversation with Lindsay:
Lindsay of “Pen and Paint” is a testament to slow faith, slow love, and slow growth. The theme of “slowness as a virtue” is perhaps best demonstrated in her and her husband’s love story, which started during her senior year in high school, at a Bible study. This youth group proved fertile ground for what began as a friendship and would in time blossom into a faithful Catholic marriage - which is funny because at the time, she was Baptist and he was agnostic.
But in a way that was slow like time and slow like God’s plan, their friendship grew into a romance and they married in 2002. After seven years of marriage though, Lindsay and her husband felt the Lord calling them to become part of the Catholic church. But that was a complicated call to receive because at that time, they were part of a protestant church plant and Lindsay was even employed by a protestant church.
But that small voice persisted - slowly but intently - and her husband gave in to the urge to research Catholicism more deeply. Once they had begun to read the history of the church and apostolic succession, they made the switch and officially became Catholic. While this was of course an incredibly exciting and catalytic time in their lives, it also required a lot of sacrifices. Lindsay had to quit her job at their old church and also, they lost a lot of their social outlet when they left their protestant church since there are very few Catholics in South Georgia.
But as seems to be the pattern throughout the entirety of their story, God grew what could have been an obstacle into an opportunity. And He did so slowly.
Lindsay left her job and was able to refocus on her creative gifts. She began with large canvasses, but as their family grew, she switched to creating digital prints. With time, the business grew so much that her husband left his job as a teacher so he could homeschool the kids, while Lindsay went full-time creating Catholic art. Soon after, she was even signed by an art agency. As Lindsay describes her journey: “It has always taken time and there’s been lots of learning, but we’ve never been without.”
And while God was moving slowly but surely in her creative life, He was making similarly steady progress in redeeming Lindsay’s lack of Catholic community. Through her business, came the creation of an online Catholic mom community that soon manifested as in-person community too.
Lindsay told me of this growth: “It really means something when you have other Catholic women to talk to. My goal as we grow is to provide a place for new moms.”
These days, she has her own art studio, where she employs young mothers who share in the faith and the pursuit of the kingdom. Lindsay’s story is a gospel sort of story - the type where only faith will get you to where you want to be, even when it seems impossible. The type that moves slowly, but moves well. The type that ripples beyond those in its center and lifts up all those lucky enough to be caught in its waves.
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