God Gave Me Permission to Paint

     As I lay in my hospital bed at St. Joes Hospital in Phoenix, AZ, I had a lot of time to think and pray. That was 5 years ago.
     Something was terribly wrong, but I couldn't really figure it out. I was cleaning out my turtle tank, and I started feeling weak, so much so that I barely got the tank back to it's place on the boxes in my bedroom. I felt like passing out. I stumbled into the living room and felt like throwing up. Sweat began pouring off me and I was soaking wet. Yes, I felt like my life was slipping away from me. Fortunately, I was able to dial 911, and within minutes the paramedics were there. I was rushed to the hospital, which was only a block away, where they found that I was bleeding internally. Yes, I didn't know it but I had over-medicated from ibuprofen that I was taking for my bad headaches due to extremely high blood pressure. I had to have blood.
     Fortunately for me, i did not die that day, and I'm so thankful to God for that, because I felt that my purpose on this earth was not completed yet. And as I lay in my hospital bed, I began to visit with God. LORD, why does my life feel so empty? I'm stuck, with nowhere to go. I have a dead end job that's killing me, literally, and my dreams are fading away into the background. I knew I would die if I lost my dreams. "What do I do with my life, Lord?" I asked. At that moment I felt the Lord answer me back;
"What do you want to do?". And I answered, "I want to paint, to do art, to be creative the way you made me. You've given me all these ideas and dreams, and their just bottled up inside me."
It was at that moment I felt the Lord unleash me. He said, "Well then, paint! I give you permission." I felt him downloading creativity into me. I felt so much freedom!!!! I was excited!! 
     When I got out of the hospital I still had my dead end job, but I didn't care. I just started painting with passion, and I haven't stopped since.