It's been almost a year since I first posted about my idea of wanting to paint a mural on a public building.  This was the idea I had originally wanted to do. 

It was back in April when I had brought it to the attention of the Chamber of Commerce, who had been seeking ways to increase tourism in our city, and I pitched my mural idea to them by asking 'what better way to do that than to have a large local themed mural painted on one of the buildings in town?'   (And for me, what better advertisement could there be for your artwork than a huge public mural?  So I wasn't going to charge anything for labor- only for the paints- I thought that the end result would be well worth the effort).  

I had been met with many positive responses, and they told me that they definitely wanted me to paint the mural- the only problem was being able to get the funding together to pay for the paints, which will cost thousands of dollars (because it is a durable paint that will last for centuries and the wall is so big!).    So they told me to just wait until they could get the funds together.

For months I waited, and it seemed like nothing was going to happen...then I found out I was pregnant, and realized that I was going to need them to hurry if I was going to be able to paint this mural!     I let them know that I was pregnant, so there wasn't much time if they wanted it done. I also told them that if they just wanted to wait until the next year rolled around, or another year...that would be totally fine with me. 

They said, no, they certainly wanted me to do this building...no question about it!    I decided that if I was going to be painting something while pregnant, it needed to be on  flatter ground than the building I originally had decided on.  So I asked about that, and the head of Tourism gave me another building, in a more prominent spot, which was perfect.   I can use a scissor-lift there (I wouldn't have been able to do on the other building because it is on a slope- so I thought that would be much safer if I was going to be painting while pregnant).   She also gave me a totally different picture to paint, which is actually much simpler than the other idea that I had- a "Welcome" sign for our city, with an image of the city's founder on the left of the image.    Made my job a little easier!

Months went by again and I just ended up forgetting about the whole thing, except when someone would ask me how things were going with the mural idea.  I just figured that they had decided not to go ahead with it since I was going to be so far along by the time they got their money together.

It turns out I was wrong!   Tonight, out of nowhere, I got a call from from the lady who is the head of the tourism dept., saying that she was so sorry it had taken her so long, and  that she knows it's way too cold to start on the mural right now, but if there was any way I could possibly try to get it done before the baby arrives (April), she would still love to have it done- and they have the funding ready for it!     What a surprise! 

I was excited and intimidated at the same time- I am 6 months pregnant now, and am getting pretty big. I could have said no, it will have to wait till after the baby is born and a lot older....but how could I possibly do that and miss out on such a great opportunity?  I believe that God can give me the strength to handle this, just as He has come through for me in the past with so many other things. 

I have all of that "pregnancy energy" that I usually get around this time, and I think I could actually do this!

My husband believes in me also, and that to me gives me all of the confidence that it will work out! 

So now I have a lot of thinking, planning, and preparation to do.... and I still have to finish my book before April too, if I am going to meet my deadline. So I'm going to be busy, busy, busy!