April 18, 2025 • 54 mins
Text Brian & Shawna (Fan Mail)
Sharon Collins never intended to become an artist or author. Yet her remarkable journey from sketching on cocktail napkins to publishing devotional books with accompanying paintings reveals how God works through our most unexpected talents to address our deepest struggles.
The New Horizons podcast welcomes Sharon to discuss how unwanted thoughts—those persistent worries, anxieties, and mental distractions that rob us of peace and joy—can be transformed through creative expression and spiritual practice. Her story begins in 2017 when two friends made suggestions she initially resisted: "You should take art lessons" and "You should write devotionals." Those reluctant beginnings evolved into a divine calling that has touched many lives through her "Becoming His Masterpiece" series.
Sharon shares profound wisdom about gaining perspective on our thought lives. Just as she sometimes places her paintings on the mantle to view them from a distance, we too must step back from our problems to see them clearly. "Sometimes you're so into whatever's your problem that you can't seem to solve the problem. You need to regain perspective," she explains. This practice of mental distancing allows God's truth to reshape our thinking.
Sharon's artistic process offers a beautiful metaphor for personal growth. Using acrylics and collage techniques, she creates works with multiple layers—some messier than others. "Our lives have layers of hard times, good times, all sorts of things that happen to us," she explains. "Those layers give us authenticity." Rather than presenting ourselves as perfect Christians, acknowledging our struggles makes us relatable and real.
For those feeling called but unqualified for new endeavors, Sharon offers reassurance: "God typically doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called." Her own journey proves this truth. The woman who once laughed at the suggestion of writing devotionals now has multiple published books. If you're wrestling with unwanted thoughts or feeling drawn to an unexpected path, this conversation reminds us we're all works in progress—masterpieces still being painted one layer at a time.
You can learn more about Sharon, read recent devotionals, view artwork, and find links to booksellers if you are interested in buying books at https://becominghismasterpiece.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sharon Collins (00:01):
I'm the type that I lay down and all of a
sudden I'm thinking all of thesethings and it's like, well,
what about this?
Or I start, you know, worrying,but sometimes it's hard to let
go of those.
It robs me of sleep thoughts,like you know.
Anxiety or worry, but alsoprideful thoughts, any of those
(00:24):
things can just they rob us.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (00:26):
Welcome to the New Horizons podcast.
I'm Brian Curee.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (00:30):
And I'm Shauna Curee, also known as Mr
and Mrs Killer Bee, in virtualreality.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (00:34):
So this podcast is recorded live from
the metaverse at the Killer BeeStudios.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (00:39):
Where real life stories and experiences
are shared in a way only themetaverse can offer.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (00:44):
With that, let's go ahead and dive into
today's episode.
You know our topic tonight isgoing to be on unwanted thoughts
.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (00:54):
Yes.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (00:55):
So that's going to be.
You know that's our topictonight that Sharon's going to
come out and talk about.
What are your thoughts aboutthat?
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (01:01):
You know, I find it really interesting
that a lot of our talks latelyhave been coming back to mental
health, and I think that isshowing us that, like you know,
a lot of people are dealing withthis.
Almost everybody, really, inone way or another, are
struggling just to be like ourvery healthiest selves, and you
(01:22):
know, what's going on in ourmind is a big part of that.
And so when I heard aboutSharon's story, I was so excited
to talk about this with her andshe's got a really neat twist
to her story that I can't waitto talk about as well.
But I wanted to ask this isgoing to seem like an obvious
question but have any of you, bya show of confetti, dealt with
(01:43):
any unwanted thoughts before?
I know I certainly have.
Yeah, so you might think likewhy in the world would you ask
that it's so obvious?
Part of the reason I wanted toask it is so, you would see,
almost everybody does.
At some time or another you'regoing to deal with thoughts that
you do not want, and it's.
It can be embarrassing, it canbe scary, you can feel out of
(02:08):
control of your own thoughts,and I wanted you to see like
everybody deals with this atsome time or another and Sharon
has some really great things totalk to us about it and you
think we should bring her outnow.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (02:19):
Yeah, I think this would be a good time
to bring her out.
So this is now Sharon's brandnew to the metaverse.
This is her first time beingbeing in here, so I don't know
how long it's going to take herto get out here.
But we always like to reign ourguests with confetti so they
can get the full effect of whatit's like to come out here.
So you guys ran her through forit with some confetti.
So, Yvonne, can you go aheadand hit the guest music and
let's bring in our guest here tothe killer bee.
(02:41):
Please welcome out SharonCollins, author and artist.
There she comes, she's coming.
I told her I was like you gotto make it to that mic, that's
all you got to do.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (02:53):
That's the finish line right there.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (02:54):
That's all you got to do Sharon.
You're almost there and she'slike look at her.
Sharon Collins (02:59):
See there you go .
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (03:02):
Like a pro.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (03:03):
No problem whatsoever.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (03:05):
So how do you feel now that you made it
here, Sharon?
You feel good.
Sharon Collins (03:08):
I feel very accomplished.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (03:11):
I love it.
Awesome, awesome.
Well, we're so glad you're herewith us.
Sharon, and she was concernedthat she might trip on the way
here.
You guys know what it's like onthe headsets for the first time
, how of you would say okay.
So, sharon, this is somethingyou can learn in here.
We always ask people what'syour meta age?
That means like how long haveyou been in here?
So who here would say theirmeta age is less than one year?
YattaYatta (Live Q&A) (03:34):
throw some confetti oh wow, no newbies
in here.
Who's?
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (03:40):
age.
Oh oh, blue, blue, all right.
Well, welcome blue.
Who's met ages is, uh, belowthree years.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (03:47):
Throw some confetti oh, me definitely oh
okay, nice, okay, all right,who's?
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (03:53):
I guess everybody else is three and up.
So uh, three and up, throw someconfetti oh wow, all right, all
right, well not me, I'm justcelebrating you guys.
Sharon Collins (04:21):
Well, we're so glad to hear you here, sharon.
We Houston, texas, and I am anauthor and an artist, but you
know, I never wanted to be anauthor or an artist.
When I'm not doing that, I'mwell.
First of all, I'm a child ofGod and I'm also a wife, a
(04:46):
stepmom to four no, three, sorry, three adult children, and I am
the nanny or grandma to fourwonderful grandkids, have a very
(05:08):
full life and, um, I've, uh,you know, never expected that
God would call me to, um to dowriting devotionals and um,
certainly not to be an artist.
Um, because I do paintings togo with each devotional I write
and um, yeah, so that's.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (05:22):
I can't wait to get into your, into unpack
your story and uh and talk aboutyou know unwanted thoughts and
how that plays a role in thistoo.
I would okay.
First off, I got to ask youthey say everything's bigger in
Texas.
Are your books bigger in Texas?
Sharon Collins (05:40):
You know, I don't know, the biggest painting
I've ever done is four foot byfive foot which is big, that is
big, but I do all sizes and so,but the books, my books are, you
know, eight by eight or nine bynine, kind of coffee table size
(06:00):
books, and yeah, Wow that'sawesome, I had to ask it, so no
problem yeah, I really I want toencourage, like we should
definitely find a way to likeshare um her website and
everything, because yourpaintings are so beautiful and
they are so not what I wasexpecting.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (06:21):
They, they're, I mean they're so cool
and they're I mean, guys,they're like, they're abstract,
but not like so abstract thatyou have no idea what's
happening on the canvas, which Ireally enjoyed Like, and I
think it's really neat how youhave a way of it.
Almost it's like there's lightcoming out of the painting.
Sharon Collins (06:43):
It is so beautiful, I mean you are too
kind and you know I always tellpeople that you know I'm not
really the author or the artist.
God is, and he just uses myhands, and when I try and do it
on my own without his help, Ican make a big mess of both
(07:07):
things.
So, yeah, he's taught me a lotabout dependence, being
dependent on him so well, that'sbeautiful.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (07:16):
Did you know that?
Well, you wouldn't know this,sharon, but there's actually a
painting app on these headsetsthat uses mixed reality, which
mixed reality means like you canyou know?
Like when you power up thatheadset, there's menus were
floating in your like yoursitting space where you were.
It can actually bring in apaintboard and you can actually
grab brushes and paint and youcan feel and it teaches you how
(07:40):
to paint, like I was doing, likea tutorial like Bob Ross, and
it's pretty amazing.
Does anybody else in here everuse that before else tried that
painting thing?
I think starts with a v.
Oh, Yvonne, do you know whatit's called?
Do you remember what it'scalled?
I?
I keep saying vanilla, but it'snot vanilla it's, it's called
vermilion, vermilion vermilion.
See, yeah, it's really cool.
So like if anybody's interestedin learning that that's really
(08:00):
cool.
So, like if anybody'sinterested in learning that.
That's a cool thing to start ifyou guys have headsets to try
out, but, yeah, well, ok.
So, sharon, can you share a bitabout your this unexpected
journey that you're into writingand painting devotionals?
That seems very interesting.
So maybe you could kind of takeus back to the beginning.
How did this start?
(08:20):
And yeah, yeah, let's go thereall right.
Sharon Collins (08:24):
Well, you know, it started about seven years ago
, in the fall of 2017, and I wason a girl's trip with I have
three girlfriends that we go ona trip every year, and we were
in santa fe, new mexico, and oneof my friends she took up art a
number of years ago, and so shehad us going up and down a road
(08:49):
called Canyon Road, which isjust lined with art galleries,
and normally, after about two, Iwould have gone oh, let's find
something else to do.
But for some reason, I wasstrangely intrigued.
During that and later on duringthe trip, we were at dinner one
(09:13):
night and I was doodling on acocktail napkin and she said you
should take art lessons, and Iwas like and normally I don't
respond really well to shoulds,but this time I was like, ok,
and she helped me find a placeto start taking art lessons, and
(09:35):
my first art lesson was onNovember, the 17th, no, the 7th
November 7th of 2017.
We remember dates that arereally important to us and about
that same time, I was a smallgroup leader in our women's
Bible study at our church and Iwould always just write a couple
(09:57):
of sentences in an email aboutwhatever the next week's study
was going to be, and about thatsame time one gal responded to
me you should write devotionalsand this is a should.
I didn't respond all that wellto, I was like ha ha ha.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (10:15):
No, you don't say it, so you don't
really get along with theshoulds, huh.
Sharon Collins (10:20):
No, I know.
But so about five months laterI was taking a walk and these
two things were rolling aroundin my head devotionals and the
artwork, and of course God hadplanted that there.
And I just felt this I meanit's not an actual voice, but
(10:46):
you know, I just felt he wascalling me.
He's saying Sharon, I want youto start a website and write
devotionals to go along withyour paintings.
And I was like, well, I don'tknow how to do a website, and so
I mean, but it was a reallystrong, clear message and I went
(11:09):
home and I told my husband andhe said, well, you should do it.
And um, six weeks later Ilaunched my um website but, the
should, the shoulds weren't donewith me yet.
Uh, after a while, my husbandstarted saying well you should
you should do a book.
But the shoulds weren't donewith me yet.
After a while my husbandstarted saying, well, you should
do a book.
(11:29):
And I was again not veryresponsive to that.
I was like, no, absolutely notToo much work.
And so I, you know, just keptworking and he was fairly
persistent.
I wouldn't say he nagged, buthe, you know, every once in a
(11:54):
while would just say, well, Ijust think you should do a book.
And I finally told him, ok,when I get 52 devotionals and 52
, you know, when I have 52 donepostings on my website, then
I'll look into it, two donepostings on my website, then
I'll look into it.
(12:14):
And so I did.
And you know, here I was a, youknow, not a youngster, didn't
have a huge social media, anunknown, and so I started
looking up getting published.
Well, if you're ever having anice day and you think, oh, I'd
rather be discouraged, wellthat's the thing to look into.
I was like you know, how is thisever going to happen?
(12:37):
Because I knew I was tooignorant to try to self-publish.
I needed help to try toself-publish.
I needed help and I found thiswebsite called I think it was
christianbookproposalscom, andit's a place where Christian
literary agents and Christianpublishers look when they're
(12:58):
looking for new material.
And you pay $99, or at leastyou did back then and your book
proposal would sit out there forsix months.
So I prepared my proposal, andyou know, which took a while,
because you know there's a lotof work that goes into this,
even that and I so I told myhusband when I was pushing the
(13:22):
send button, I said here's $99down the drain.
And you know, god is still inthe miracle business, because
two days later I heard from thepublisher that I ultimately,
ultimately published my firsttwo books, and so yeah, so, yeah
(13:46):
, totally, totally, totally aGod thing.
And but one of the lessons I'velearned is and that when I speak
to groups I talk about is youknow, when God calls you to do
something, doesn't matter ifit's going to take you five
minutes or five decades, youjust say yes, because there's so
(14:08):
many blessings that come whenyou say yes to the plans that
God has for us.
I mean, in Joshua 29, he says Ihave plans for you, plans to
prosper you, and, and it's true,but we have to say yes to those
plans.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (14:24):
So, that's sort of my story in a nutshell.
That's good.
I love that.
It's gotta be hard to say yes,sometimes, too, when you really
don't know what the plan is.
You're just like you, you,you've, you've getting these
nudges, but it's like I don'tknow where this is going to go.
I don't know where this isgoing to lead.
Sharon Collins (14:47):
So what are some of those challenges you've ran
into in that area?
Well, you know a lot of the.
A lot of you know I always feellike God has a plan for every
devotional that I write andevery painting that I do.
But I tell you, it is hard forme to stay tuned in and listen
(15:14):
because I can go off and do myown thing.
I can pray before I startpainting and then I just start
relying on my own strength ownstrength instead of relying on
him, and so I have to be inprayer a lot when I'm painting.
But one of the things that I'vereally learned through all of
this is listening is soimportant, and I think most of
(15:39):
us find listening to be really ahard thing, and particularly in
our busy, noisy world with allthe distractions just to find
time to for listening and Ilearned I had to I had to paint
(16:00):
in silence and I have to writein silence so that I can hear
him.
And one of the best, one of thebest ways that works for me, and
you know, everybody has theirown.
God has their own way, thatunique way.
That is good for you to listen.
But we, we have a pool and, um,I like to exercise in it.
(16:25):
Um, you know it's boring.
You go back and forth, back andforth, back and forth, and I
used to listen to music, um, andall of that, but, um, but now I
swim in silence and I meanthat's the most fertile time for
me where God gives me ideas forfor devotionals, ideas on how
(16:48):
to fix paintings that have goneastray, because I've been doing
my own thing.
It's it's just, and you know,sometimes it's just like even on
a devotional who give me like awhole paragraph and I'm like I
gotta remember this when I getout of the pool, but but yeah,
and that works for me, but thatdoesn't necessarily work for
(17:10):
everybody.
But, that's my special time isin the pool, and sometimes my
husband comes out and I'm likeyou need to go back inside.
This is my time with God.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (17:23):
You don't like it?
Take it up with him time withGod.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (17:33):
If I can ask a quick question, more, I
guess I suppose about logistics.
Sharon Collins (17:37):
How often do you paint?
Oh, I wish I could.
I had a norm on that the wholelast year because I've had a
third book coming out and with anew publisher and I haven't had
much time to paint at all.
But you know, I just kind ofhave, I have a bedroom upstairs
where I paint and I just try andsneak it in when I can.
(17:59):
Same thing on writing, becauseI'm busy otherwise, Because I'm
(18:27):
busy otherwise and but I alwaysfeel like I'll know, and I think
God's.
Let me sort of get involved insome other things right now and
concentrate on this book comingout and he's taken quite a bit
of my time, but I'm almost done.
good for you, I don't have a youknow, it's not like oh, twice a
week I go paint.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (18:36):
I just don't have a formula I like, I don't
always conform to that totallyget it I think that makes sense
too.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (18:43):
if you're following the Lord's leading,
then you know it's not going tobe on a real tight, like you
know exactly what day you'regoing to paint and what you're
going to paint.
So it makes sense, yeah.
Sharon Collins (18:53):
Yeah.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (18:53):
Yeah absolutely so I meant to ask,
like do we have anybody in theaudience throw some confetti?
Anybody in the audience thatdoes any painting or drawing or
anything like that, or ordrawing or anything like that.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (19:07):
Or uh, okay, yeah, iris.
Oh, yes, I remember iris.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (19:09):
Yes, yes, awesome, awesome Arcane really
good at at drawing.
Yes, yes, he is, he is reallygood he's.
He's really good at fonts andstuff like that.
We've seen that and well, okay,so I have a question, I guess.
First, I love that you sharedthat about the time that you
find silence and and be able tolisten.
Uh, me and mrs killer Bee werejust talking about this, because
I like to spend go out and doon Fridays I try to do
(19:30):
reflection time where I'mreflecting, and I just shared
with her I was like you know,I'd been struggling getting back
to that because business, youknow, stuff happens.
You get busy and I'm like, oh,I feel like if I go out there,
for me it's walking on nature,because I'm by a computer like
almost well basically all day,so to be able to turn off all
notifications and go and walk,it's very it can feel like
(19:52):
you're doing nothing Right.
It's like, oh no, that's notproductive.
And I was telling her during mylast reflection that it just
was a reminder for me that youknow, pressing, being willing to
press pause, is sometimes themost probably, if not probably
most of the time probably one ofthe most productive things to
do these days, because bypressing pause.
It reminded me, like that'swhere I find clarity, I'm
(20:15):
spending time of God, I'mreflecting, I'm talking to him
and then I'm listening.
But, mrs Killer Bee, I neverasked you what is.
How do you unplug and do thatLike?
What is that for you?
I know we don't have a swimmingpool.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (20:27):
No no.
But it is interesting because alot of times creative people
need to be around water.
It has some effect on yourbrain that makes it more
productive when you have quiettime, especially to kind of tap
into that part of your brain.
But for me, yes, I like to bearound water, I like to go for
(20:49):
walks on the beaches, but moreoften what's the word?
More consistently, it's goingout in the garden.
So I go out and we have acourtyard and I have a hanging
chair, like a hanging rope chair, and I go out there a lot of
times too, in the bathtub.
Um, and that kind of comes backto the water too, like you know
, right before four hours Iwon't say no, I don't.
(21:14):
I definitely two hours, though.
Yes, I really like baths, soyep, but um, yeah, so that's,
that's it for me that's okay,all right, yeah, I love the
water.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (21:26):
Uh, yeah, okay.
So I have a question for you,sharon, that kind of goes along
with similar to mrs killer bees,about painting what has been
the longest time you've spent ona painting?
Sharon Collins (21:39):
oh gosh, you know that's a really hard
question to answer because Iseem to um, you know, I kind of
have to do it in just dribs anddrabs.
You know, it's not like I canusually spend a whole day or
anything.
I don't know, I have no idea.
(22:01):
You know, I don't count theminutes while I'm doing it.
Sure, you know, and there's alot of time that and it's kind
of there's a spiritual lesson, Ithink, in this that you have to
, in this that you have to, um,we have a mantle and I have to
(22:21):
put the painting up on themantle sometimes and just sit
and stare at it a while, andbecause I've been too close to
it and I need to regainperspective and I think that's a
lot of what we have to do asChristians.
We need to sort of step back andgo to say God's word, to regain
(22:46):
perspective or spend time incontemplation or listening or
even seeking counsel with others.
But you know you, sometimesyou're so into whatever's your
problem or that you can't seemto solve the problem.
You need to regain perspective.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (23:06):
I love that picture.
That is so interesting youshould write a devotion about
that, because that's deep.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (23:12):
That's deep, yeah.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (23:13):
Well, maybe I will.
I don't think I have that wouldbe.
Yeah, Well, maybe I will.
I don't think I have that wouldbe really.
I mean, I think that's a big.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (23:18):
I think that's a big challenge in in
today's culture, cause when wehave problems, we feel like we
got to fix them right away orand to be willing to, to find
the strength to put it on amantle and step back from it,
and get a different perspective,yeah, and listen for God.
I mean I mean, wow, that's,yeah, that's.
You should definitely writethat.
(23:39):
That would be really.
I would definitely want to readit, that's that's well talking
about your writings, and I thinkit's so interesting too that
you're doing these paintings anddoing devotions with it, so so
unique.
I love that the I was readingwhen we're.
We had you scheduled for awhile now to come out and, uh, I
was reading some of your blogsand one of the blogs that I read
(24:01):
on your site Can you telleverybody what, what?
How can they get to yourwebsite?
Let's go ahead and leteverybody know that first.
Sharon Collins (24:06):
Okay, my website is becoming his masterpiececom.
YattaYatta (Live Q&A) (24:13):
Um, so it's becoming his masterpiece.
Sharon Collins (24:16):
All one word and surprisingly, all of my books
are becoming his masterpiece, sonow they're kind of a series.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (24:29):
That's got to be coming from Ephesians 2.10
.
Is that right?
Sharon Collins (24:32):
That's exactly where it comes from.
Yes, it's one of his favoriteverses of all time one
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (24:38):
of my favorite verses.
Yeah, yeah, it really is.
There's a lot of personalstories behind it, but yeah, as
soon as I saw it on your website, I'm like ah, yeah, yeah, we
could be friends yeah, and therest of that is you know he has
plans for us good works for usto do so absolutely so you?
(25:00):
one of their blogs that I readon there was talking about
taking captive.
Take captive touches on the.
It was really basically touchedon like the reality of dealing
with unwanted thoughts.
So, uh, can you tell us whatinspired you to even write about
that particular topic?
Sharon Collins (25:19):
Well, you know, I'm one of these people.
I'm married to a guy who, youknow he's asleep 30 seconds
after he hits his head, hits thepillow.
I'm the type that I lay downand all of a sudden I'm thinking
all of these things that I havemanaged to push away all day
(25:43):
and it's like, well, what aboutthis?
And or I have something comingup and I rehearse oh well, maybe
I should say this, or I start,you know, worrying, you know, oh
, well, you know, and then yougo on a downward spiral and you
know, and then it's like, oh,and you know, it robs me of
(26:05):
sleep.
And you know, just theseunwanted thoughts, and I can get
them, not just then, you know,and I'm thoughts like, you know,
anxiety or worry, but alsoprideful thoughts.
You know, I like to fix thingsand I'm always in a hurry,
(26:25):
bigger hurry than God is to, andI might have a different idea
of what the fix should be thanhe does.
And so I mean any of thosethings can, um, can, just they
rob us of our, our peace and ourjoy.
And, um, and you know, uh, justlast week, I, um, you had
(26:48):
mentioned to me that you wantedto talk about that, and so I, um
, I go on, um, uh, wednesdaymornings early to two schools
and and these are public schools, astonishingly enough and I do
devotional time with teachersand staff that want to
(27:10):
participate, two very braveprincipals who do that in their
schools, and um.
so I took that devotional and itwas funny, uh, at the middle
school that I go to, um, thisone guy sat down and he was like
(27:30):
, oh, he had me at the firstsentence, which was do am I the
only one that has these kinds ofthoughts?
And you know if we are all sovulnerable and you know it makes
us miserable, but it makesSatan happy.
He is never happier than whenhe's trapped us into those kinds
(27:53):
of thoughts and um, and we havea trouble shaking them of
course we have a helper theadvocate, our comforter, the
holy spirit is in here, um,waiting for, waiting to help us,
but sometimes it's hard to letgo of those yeah, that's so.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (28:13):
That's so, so true, I I would.
I would love to get yourthoughts on something, because
you know earlier we're talkingabout, you know hearing when god
asks you to do something andyou're like, you say yes, and
now we're talking about unwantedthoughts.
So, uh, what are some ways thatyou've learned that we can
share with people here and ourlisteners on the podcast to
(28:36):
recognize when a thought is isfrom god and when it's not from
god?
Sharon Collins (28:41):
oh well, I think if it has to do with worry or
fear, you can be sure it's notfrom god.
Um, I mean, jesus told us don'tfear.
Not, you know, don't be worried.
You know there's.
There's plenty of worry in eachday, but I've got it taken care
of.
(29:02):
So I think we can turn to God'sword.
And you know, to me, if we have,you know, I'm not, I'm a
terrible at memorizing scripture, but I remember.
You know Paul says, you knowyou, you know we're supposed to
take captive every thought andmake a conform to um, to christ.
(29:24):
And you know, just knowingthose scriptures, um helps, um.
But you know, and sometimesI'll sing a hymn or a song, you
know, just to get my mind off myworries.
But sometimes I, if it's reallyI, can't kind of get rid of it.
(29:45):
I have been known to.
Sometimes gesturing or posturehelps, and I make sure my
husband is sound asleep and I'lljust throw my hands up, not
with confetti though, and justsay and just say you know, I'm
giving this to you, god, youknow, take it away from me.
(30:07):
And I even sort of visualize,you know the the issue that it
goes up through the ceiling, upthrough the roof, out past the
moon and into God's hands.
And you know, sometimes thatworks when I just can't
otherwise you know, get thosethoughts to go away.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (30:31):
You know, when you, when you shared that,
it just brought to me thatvisual visualization.
Is that a real word?
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (30:38):
that is my new word visualization that's a
real one, that's real that onethat's a win for my today.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (30:44):
That's a win for today.
Yeah well, it really helped mevisualize what we were just
talking about earlier aboutputting it on the mantle you
know, you're, you're putting itand hey look, if we could throw
a confetti.
We could throw a confetti whenwe put things on the mantle,
right when we're yeah, we shouldbe up and saying here that's
that's such a a beautiful thingthere to to wrap that mind
(31:06):
around, and I think you're right, you know it's like looking at
what god's word teaches us andeven made me think about for
myself.
I'm like you know.
One thing that I can fall in atrap of easily is comparison,
and I'm like you know, if weeven look at just the way Jesus
walked out his life here, hedidn't say, well, if you were
more like them.
He didn't compare people topeople, he was focused on you.
(31:31):
You know, one at a time.
There's a book we read.
Do you remember what it wascalled?
Was it called one at a Time, orwhat was that?
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (31:37):
Oh my gosh , we talked so much about it.
Now I can't remember the titleof it.
YattaYatta (Live Q&A) (31:42):
I don't think it's.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (31:43):
One at a Time.
But that's the idea Is thatJesus just focused on who was
right in front of him in thatmoment.
You know, no matter what wasgoing on around him, no matter
what he was on his way to do, hejust focused on that one person
and how.
How we can make such a bigdifference in the world, acting
like that you know.
Sharon Collins (32:03):
Yeah, yeah.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (32:05):
So it's like even like looking at the way
Jesus walked out his life andhow he treated others and, uh,
what he did and didn't do likecause, when we could look at the
religious leaders and they didcompare and didn't do Like cause
, when we could look at thereligious leaders and they did
compare, never set well.
So it's like, like you said,like that's a good thing to use
as judging that too.
Like, is this from God or isthis from the enemy?
(32:25):
Like, is this to steal that joyaway from you?
So I think that's a beautifulway that you said it.
So thank you for sharing that.
I thought that would beimportant to talk about there.
Um, because I think has anybodyhere, would you like?
Oh, I know we asked earlierhave you ever struggled with
unwanted thoughts?
And we everybody was throwingconfetti.
We have, we've all dealt withthat.
We're not alone and I love thatwe can come in this place and
(32:47):
talk about it.
Um, do you would you say?
Okay, let's go back to your,your devotionals, your
devotionals and paintings, wouldyou say.
Or how has I guess let me askit that way how has your, your
process of writing devotions and, uh, and creating art, how has
it helped you work throughunwanted thoughts personally?
Sharon Collins (33:10):
well, um, gosh, gosh.
Well, number one, you know, Ithink I'm convinced that God
called me to do this because heknew I needed remedial work and
I was a little bit slow, a slowlearner of spiritual truths.
And so, you know, when you Imean when you have to, I have to
(33:39):
, I have to be in the Bible, Ihave to, you know, be in the
word.
You know, and I've, you know, Igo to Bible studies and you
know, and that's helped me a lot.
But you know, for this I reallyhave to, it's, it's deepened my
knowledge and my faith and justit's made me grow up.
(34:03):
I think not that I have it allfigured out.
I still, you know, haven'tmastered anything.
I, you know, still stumble andfall every day.
But you know, I've benefitedmore than anybody else, I think,
(34:24):
from the devotionals and Ialways feel like what I'm
writing about is what God knowsI need to work on and that I
need to be doing better, or atleast to be aware that I'm not
where I should be on thatparticular thing.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (34:46):
So you know that makes me think about
oh, I'm sorry, Did you havesomething?
Sharon Collins (34:49):
else no go ahead .
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (34:50):
It makes me think about a principle that
we are learning about, aboutsomething else right now, but it
really applies to this too,which is, you know, I?
I think we're setting ourselvesup for failure If we think we
are ever going to get to theplace where we're never going to
have a thought we don't want tohave, but if we can learn to
catch it fast and then, you know, change what we're thinking,
(35:14):
you know, take that thoughtcaptive and and you know,
captive and set it loose orfocus our brain elsewhere.
The faster we can do that, theless it has a chance to affect
us.
And I think that's the point,isn't it?
Is that we can learn.
We can just know ourselves,know what's going to trigger us,
or be able to recognize thatright away and be able.
(35:36):
I think that's the goal, isn'tit?
Sharon Collins (35:39):
It is.
And you know, I think one ofthe places you know to me go to
scripture, the, the Psalms.
I love the Psalms because youknow David particularly.
I mean he would just pour outhis heart, he would just lay it
(36:01):
all out in front of God and sayyou know, I want to do this and
I want to do that.
But he always came back andsaid, you know, but you know,
you are God, you know he alwayscomes back to I love you, you
know you're in charge, I loveyou, you know you're in charge.
I'm not, or words to thoseeffects, and it just, it just
(36:23):
always reinforces to me thatGod's not going to be surprised
by anything that we bring to him.
He's, he already knows it.
And you can just, you know,wish bad things and say, oh, I
wish so-and-so.
Would just, you know, I meanDavid certainly did that and for
(36:43):
a long while I just didn'tunderstand that.
But now it's sort of like.
But he came around and a lot oftimes the word but's in there,
but you're God, you're God,you're in charge.
You know, and and you knowDavid was a man after God's own
heart, and so you know we can,we can be people after God's own
(37:06):
heart if we're just willing tolay it in front of him and then
humbly ask him for help.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (37:13):
Yeah, I love that.
I love that.
Well, I want to let everybodyknow.
Don't forget, if you have aquestion or thought, click that
kiosk, we'll bring you up.
I know I got a few morequestions to ask you, sharon,
and would love to go into, butif anybody has any questions or
thoughts, make sure you clickthat.
Oh, there we go.
We got Yatta Yatta, so let's goahead and bring up Yatta Yatta.
Yvonne, let's bring up that micand Yatta Yatta.
(37:34):
Welcome to the Killer BeeStudios.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (37:37):
Hey, Yatta , good to see you, thank you.
YattaYatta (Live Q&A) (37:39):
Good to see you too.
So, gosh, and I'm going to trynot to take up too much time
here.
I'm just amazed at how Godworks.
I also have a podcast that Irecently started and it's called
BibleHabitsvr.
And it's called BibleHabitsvr.
20 minutes before I had justposted, I did a segment called
(38:06):
Real Talk, and it was justsharing some of the mental
struggles that I have been goingthrough for a while.
And as soon as I posted that, Igot the text from Killer B about
you coming tonight and talkingabout bad thoughts, and so the
Holy Spirit just said you haveto be there, and so God is going
(38:30):
to speak to you through thisguest tonight.
And so what I've gotten fromthis number one was when you
said you had to step back andput it on the mantle and look at
it to gain perspective.
And that is something that I'mgoing to use from here on out,
because sometimes it's just soclose to us and it's so in our
(38:52):
head so constantly that you losethe real perspective of the
situation or whatever you'regoing through.
I also am a remedial learner ofspiritual truth.
Sharon Collins (39:07):
That is why I started the Bible.
YattaYatta (Live Q&A) (39:09):
Habits podcast, so that I would be held
accountable to having to be inthe Bible at least once a week
for my podcast, and so thank youfor that that resonated with me
as well, and it was even astruggle just to come up here to
even kind of give this sort oftestimony because the accuser
(39:31):
was like well, don't go up thereand make the show about you,
it's not about you.
But I just want to for people toknow what God has done through
this, through this tonight forme, Not about me, but God is
always doing so much for me andfor all of us.
So thank you.
Thank you so much, I love yourstory and it is you've been an
(39:54):
inspiration tonight, so thankyou Wow.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (39:57):
I'm so glad that you didn't listen to
that voice that told you not tocome up here.
I'm so glad because that reallyencouraged me, and I'm sure it
encouraged Sharon too, becauseit's so cool when you get to
hear yeah, that's really neat.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (40:10):
I would say that most of the times when I've
learned, when I've struggledand dealt with voices like that
and the thoughts of like nobodywants to hear what you have to
say, You're making this allabout you.
And whenever that's happened,I've learned that if I step out,
it's a blessing.
It's like all of a suddensomebody else comes up to me and
says are you serious?
Like I've been struggling withthe same thing, or it starts
(40:32):
building stronger relationshipswith people.
And it really is those.
Those thoughts steal our joythat we're.
God has, like, placed peoplearound us that can help us grow,
help us see more of the truth,but when we are afraid to step
out, it's actually onlyhindering that.
So, you know, applaud for you,Yatta, for stepping up, because
(40:54):
that is.
I know it's not easy, but we'reso glad you did, Because I know
there's other people that'slike that too, Like you know, to
be willing to step out.
Sharon Collins (41:02):
We were not made to go through life trying to do
it all by ourselves.
We are made for community and weneed community of like-minded
believers that help us and canhold us accountable and, can you
know, encourage us.
One of the reasons the onlyreason I can figure out why God
(41:25):
well, other than I'm needingremedial work is I do feel like
he called me to be an encourager, to just encourage others.
You know, we all have ourstruggles as we go through life.
There's not one of us thatdoesn't have hard times of some
form or another and and we justneed, we need each other to to
(41:50):
get through life.
Just to encourage, to support,to walk alongside.
It makes a huge difference.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (42:01):
So true, you know I want to ask you.
You know I talked earlier aboutthat painting app and I would
tell you, like I don't paintreally well, like I used to draw
when I was younger and MrsKiller Bee knows that I've
shared that with her.
Like I said, arcane, he's ourson.
He's amazing at drawing and allthat stuff Very detailed.
(42:21):
He writes so tiny.
Sometimes I'm like man, youlike magnifying glass, read that
.
It's like all these, likelittle details, like what the
heck.
But when I sat down to dopainting, like I don't use my
hands as much to paint or towrite, so my hand medicine, like
my handwriting, is terrible,because I'm doing everything
typing, you know, and using amouse.
But I sat down and did thepainting and the VR, which I
(42:42):
loved and I found time to really, it really was relaxing to do
that.
You know, it was so relaxing.
But I have to say, though, itreally requires you to have some
patience Because, like you said, like some of these paintings,
(43:04):
you don't really you can'treally get the time of how long
some of these have taken.
You got to really learnpatience.
Sharon Collins (43:07):
If you're going to pick up painting, well, you
do have the ability to walk awayfrom it for a while if you're
just totally frustrated that'sone thing, that's nice.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (43:17):
I think that's so interesting, because I
think I don't know for sure,though, but I know like there
was a time, like we're inschools, they were talking about
taking away some of thecreative art stuff and realize,
like, just with what you'resharing and the way our busy
lives are, I'm like man.
That's a gift in itself that youlearn through creative arts
(43:37):
like that, like taking time topaint, and walking away and
saying you don't have, you can'tjust expect to get it done
right now.
Uh, cause everything right nowis like you got to get it done,
done, done, keep moving, keepmoving, keep moving, keep
hustling, keep grinding and keepgoing.
And uh, the patience is kind oflike losing it.
We're losing that, and I don'tknow if that's because of some
of the creative arts stuff, butuh, I I don't know if that's
(43:58):
because of some of the creativearts stuff, but I think there's
a lot of things fighting for ourattention.
We've talked about that before.
Everything our attention iswhat's for sale.
But is that patience somethingthat came natural for you, or is
that something that you learnedthrough?
Sharon Collins (44:10):
time as well.
I don't.
I have not gotten patiencemastered by any means.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (44:21):
We know now what the word should.
Sharon Collins (44:32):
I yeah, I'm always in a bigger hurry than
God is.
You know, we all, I mean, we'reso used to things and we can
get things quickly.
You know we want microwave God,where you put in your order and
you know, 30 seconds laterthere's the answer.
Well, life doesn't work likethat and you know, one of the
things I use acrylics, acrylicpaints, and I do a lot of
(44:55):
collage as well and one of thethings I've learned is and
life's kind of like this I canmake the biggest mess in the
world, but you know, I'll putanother layer on, and part of
what ends up being beautiful ina painting is those layers that
(45:17):
you can sense the layers, isthose layers that you can sense
the layers.
Um, and it's like our lives.
You know there's, we havelayers and, um, you know, some
of them are prettier than others.
Some, you know we have yeah, and, but you know, god scrubs us
clean, you know, and um, but uh,I can't always do that with a
(45:40):
painting, but I can't add layers, and uh, but you know, he's a
redeemer and he redeemspaintings for me, he redeems
devotionals where I'm just like,ah, and you know he, he redeems
us in all kinds of ways becauseof his grace and his mercy.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (46:02):
Wow, I'm going to look at painting so
much different now becausethere's so much depth in that,
just like with what you'resaying about with layers,
because I think that you know we, we live as you, as you're.
You know you're experiencingthis new technology.
You know you're experiencingthis new technology.
You know this digital uhtechnology here and with you
know we talk about with music,like I learned.
(46:24):
You know, I grew up listeningto vinyl records and eight
tracks and stuff like that, andI remember when the turntables
came back, the record players,I'm like I'm gonna get vinyls
and they started, and now I havea kind of addiction with
collecting vinyl records.
But what was really cool was I'mlike you know, the music's just
different on that.
And we have a friend that is waymore of a collector than than I
(46:47):
am, uh, but he he was talkingto me about music and he said
you know, when they write music,the artist wrote music to be
played in that order to tell thecomplete story.
Uh, he's like that's, that's whywhen you put on a vinyl record,
you listen to it all the waythrough, so you really
understand where the artist iscoming from.
These days, with digital, youdon't get that because people
(47:09):
are skipping around to what theywant to hear, so they don't
hear the complete story and itmade me think about that when
you were talking about withpaintings.
Even with like, if I'mdesigning something on a
computer, I can easily hit undo,or you know and, or just you
know, delete it and start allover.
But as a painting it's probablyharder to hit delete and start
all over from scratch whenyou're like you've already
(47:31):
poured this time into it, canvasaway yeah, you're just gonna
throw it away, but layers likethat's, that's a beautiful thing
to kind of really process andthink on.
Sharon Collins (47:42):
One of the things I think, because you know
our lives, we have layers ofhard times, good times, all
sorts of things that happen tous and to me.
That's what makes those of uswho are Christians makes us
authentic.
That's what makes those of uswho are Christians makes us
(48:02):
authentic.
And you know, because somepeople think, oh well, you know
you, you have a rose coloredworld because you're a Christian
and you're protected.
No, we're here with the samethings as everybody else.
Those layers give usauthenticity and that we're not
coming off as phonies and youknow Pollyannas or you know
(48:27):
perfection people that areperfect, far from it, and so I
think it makes us more relatableif we acknowledge you know, gee
whiz, I struggle with this.
I still struggle with this.
I'm a little better because ofyou know those sorts of things
(48:52):
to me make us more relatablebecause we're all.
I have a friend that says we'reall just stumbling after Jesus.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (48:57):
Oh, that's beautiful.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (48:58):
Cool, that's a beautiful way to say it.
Wow, well, sharon, I want tothank you for coming out and
braving this new environment,and I hope you've enjoyed it.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
It's been fun, good, good, good.
I know that next time, if wemove into a house because we're
going to buy a house at somepoint, something we're preparing
(49:19):
for Remember, we move into ahouse because we're going to buy
a house at some point.
So when we were preparing for,remember, like sometimes we go
someplace and start scraping offthe paint and you're like, ooh,
who painted?
YattaYatta (Live Q&A) (49:24):
that color.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (49:25):
We can know that's a layer that they
probably don't like of theirlife.
You know, like when all theworlds were bright, purple, and
you know man.
I'm going to be yes, I got alot to process tomorrow, but
this has been an amazingconversation and I thank you so
much for coming out.
How can people connect with youand get a copy of your books?
(49:45):
What's the best?
Sharon Collins (49:47):
Well, yeah, so I have three books the first one
Becoming His Masterpiece they'reall have that title, which was,
you know, it's 52 devotionals.
The second one I just took thefirst book and expanded it, and
it's a reflect and pray editionof the first book.
(50:08):
So I added study questions andlots of scripture references,
just so people could dig intothem a little bit more.
And then the third one is againBecoming His Masterpiece.
The Journey Continues.
You can get all of them onlinewherever you normally buy books
Amazon, barnes, noble ChristianBooks, places like that and
(50:31):
where can we get your artwork?
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (50:33):
Is that on your website available?
Sharon Collins (50:36):
Yeah, I have a gallery there that has the
paintings.
So yeah, and the informationabout them, sizes and so forth,
all right.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (50:46):
Awesome, awesome.
Well, I always like to ask ourguests before we leave, just
like a takeaway.
So I would like to ask you,sharon, if you don't mind,
sharon, that was pretty good, Ijust thought about that.
Okay, that was pretty good,would't mind?
Sharon, what would you say toany of our listeners that's
(51:06):
listening to the podcast, orpeople that's here tonight live
and that's here listening towhat we've been talking about?
What would you say to peoplethat are feeling?
Sharon Collins (51:21):
unqualified.
But since God calling them intosomething new, I would say if
God's calling you to somethingnew, well the answer obviously
is yes, but that he will equipyou um you know if he's calling,
he will equip you.
God typically doesn't call theequipped, he equips the call.
(51:44):
So it's a process he's prettygood at and the key, I think, is
just stay in the word Listen,listen, listen, listen, listen
and um.
And you know there are dayswhere I go oh, I totally, you
know, did not spend enough timelistening.
(52:04):
You know he's available thenext day, so just keep, keep at
it, keep at it.
That's my advice.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (52:12):
Well, yeah, I'm gonna ask you one more
question, sharon, because, uh,because I just thought about
this and I'm like man, I reallywant to ask her this as an
artist and a writer, and we youtalked about your website, which
is, again, it's the.
What is the website?
Sharon Collins (52:29):
again, it's becoming his masterpiececom.
Brian (52:33):
Becomingismasterpiececom , define what, to your mind and
what you've learned in thescriptures is a masterpiece,
because I know a lot of us mightthink masterpiece is like I
gotta be perfect, hybridingtogether.
So what is that?
What does that mean?
Sharon Collins (52:49):
uh well, I think .
Um, none of us is going toreach masterpiece status in this
life.
It's's the next life, when wego home, to our eternal home,
then we will be completedmasterpieces.
We're all just works inprogress this side of heaven.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (53:10):
I love that.
It's just kind of a reminder oflike the way we see ourselves
is not the way that God sees us.
That's right.
Sharon Collins (53:19):
He's closed us with robes of righteousness
already.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (53:24):
If you enjoyed this episode don't
forget to follow this podcastand leave us a review.
I'm the type that I lay down and all of a
sudden I'm thinking all of thesethings and it's like, well,
what about this?
Or I start, you know, worrying,but sometimes it's hard to let
go of those.
It robs me of sleep thoughts,like you know.
Anxiety or worry, but alsoprideful thoughts, any of those
(00:24):
things can just they rob us.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (00:26):
Welcome to the New Horizons podcast.
I'm Brian Curee.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (00:30):
And I'm Shauna Curee, also known as Mr
and Mrs Killer Bee, in virtualreality.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (00:34):
So this podcast is recorded live from
the metaverse at the Killer BeeStudios.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (00:39):
Where real life stories and experiences
are shared in a way only themetaverse can offer.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (00:44):
With that, let's go ahead and dive into
today's episode.
You know our topic tonight isgoing to be on unwanted thoughts
.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (00:54):
Yes.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (00:55):
So that's going to be.
You know that's our topictonight that Sharon's going to
come out and talk about.
What are your thoughts aboutthat?
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (01:01):
You know, I find it really interesting
that a lot of our talks latelyhave been coming back to mental
health, and I think that isshowing us that, like you know,
a lot of people are dealing withthis.
Almost everybody, really, inone way or another, are
struggling just to be like ourvery healthiest selves, and you
(01:22):
know, what's going on in ourmind is a big part of that.
And so when I heard aboutSharon's story, I was so excited
to talk about this with her andshe's got a really neat twist
to her story that I can't waitto talk about as well.
But I wanted to ask this isgoing to seem like an obvious
question but have any of you, bya show of confetti, dealt with
(01:43):
any unwanted thoughts before?
I know I certainly have.
Yeah, so you might think likewhy in the world would you ask
that it's so obvious?
Part of the reason I wanted toask it is so, you would see,
almost everybody does.
At some time or another you'regoing to deal with thoughts that
you do not want, and it's.
It can be embarrassing, it canbe scary, you can feel out of
(02:08):
control of your own thoughts,and I wanted you to see like
everybody deals with this atsome time or another and Sharon
has some really great things totalk to us about it and you
think we should bring her outnow.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (02:19):
Yeah, I think this would be a good time
to bring her out.
So this is now Sharon's brandnew to the metaverse.
This is her first time beingbeing in here, so I don't know
how long it's going to take herto get out here.
But we always like to reign ourguests with confetti so they
can get the full effect of whatit's like to come out here.
So you guys ran her through forit with some confetti.
So, Yvonne, can you go aheadand hit the guest music and
let's bring in our guest here tothe killer bee.
(02:41):
Please welcome out SharonCollins, author and artist.
There she comes, she's coming.
I told her I was like you gotto make it to that mic, that's
all you got to do.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (02:53):
That's the finish line right there.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (02:54):
That's all you got to do Sharon.
You're almost there and she'slike look at her.
Sharon Collins (02:59):
See there you go .
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (03:02):
Like a pro.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (03:03):
No problem whatsoever.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (03:05):
So how do you feel now that you made it
here, Sharon?
You feel good.
Sharon Collins (03:08):
I feel very accomplished.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (03:11):
I love it.
Awesome, awesome.
Well, we're so glad you're herewith us.
Sharon, and she was concernedthat she might trip on the way
here.
You guys know what it's like onthe headsets for the first time
, how of you would say okay.
So, sharon, this is somethingyou can learn in here.
We always ask people what'syour meta age?
That means like how long haveyou been in here?
So who here would say theirmeta age is less than one year?
YattaYatta (Live Q&A) (03:34):
throw some confetti oh wow, no newbies
in here.
Who's?
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (03:40):
age.
Oh oh, blue, blue, all right.
Well, welcome blue.
Who's met ages is, uh, belowthree years.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (03:47):
Throw some confetti oh, me definitely oh
okay, nice, okay, all right,who's?
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (03:53):
I guess everybody else is three and up.
So uh, three and up, throw someconfetti oh wow, all right, all
right, well not me, I'm justcelebrating you guys.
Sharon Collins (04:21):
Well, we're so glad to hear you here, sharon.
We Houston, texas, and I am anauthor and an artist, but you
know, I never wanted to be anauthor or an artist.
When I'm not doing that, I'mwell.
First of all, I'm a child ofGod and I'm also a wife, a
(04:46):
stepmom to four no, three, sorry, three adult children, and I am
the nanny or grandma to fourwonderful grandkids, have a very
(05:08):
full life and, um, I've, uh,you know, never expected that
God would call me to, um to dowriting devotionals and um,
certainly not to be an artist.
Um, because I do paintings togo with each devotional I write
and um, yeah, so that's.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (05:22):
I can't wait to get into your, into unpack
your story and uh and talk aboutyou know unwanted thoughts and
how that plays a role in thistoo.
I would okay.
First off, I got to ask youthey say everything's bigger in
Texas.
Are your books bigger in Texas?
Sharon Collins (05:40):
You know, I don't know, the biggest painting
I've ever done is four foot byfive foot which is big, that is
big, but I do all sizes and so,but the books, my books are, you
know, eight by eight or nine bynine, kind of coffee table size
(06:00):
books, and yeah, Wow that'sawesome, I had to ask it, so no
problem yeah, I really I want toencourage, like we should
definitely find a way to likeshare um her website and
everything, because yourpaintings are so beautiful and
they are so not what I wasexpecting.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (06:21):
They, they're, I mean they're so cool
and they're I mean, guys,they're like, they're abstract,
but not like so abstract thatyou have no idea what's
happening on the canvas, which Ireally enjoyed Like, and I
think it's really neat how youhave a way of it.
Almost it's like there's lightcoming out of the painting.
Sharon Collins (06:43):
It is so beautiful, I mean you are too
kind and you know I always tellpeople that you know I'm not
really the author or the artist.
God is, and he just uses myhands, and when I try and do it
on my own without his help, Ican make a big mess of both
(07:07):
things.
So, yeah, he's taught me a lotabout dependence, being
dependent on him so well, that'sbeautiful.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (07:16):
Did you know that?
Well, you wouldn't know this,sharon, but there's actually a
painting app on these headsetsthat uses mixed reality, which
mixed reality means like you canyou know?
Like when you power up thatheadset, there's menus were
floating in your like yoursitting space where you were.
It can actually bring in apaintboard and you can actually
grab brushes and paint and youcan feel and it teaches you how
(07:40):
to paint, like I was doing, likea tutorial like Bob Ross, and
it's pretty amazing.
Does anybody else in here everuse that before else tried that
painting thing?
I think starts with a v.
Oh, Yvonne, do you know whatit's called?
Do you remember what it'scalled?
I?
I keep saying vanilla, but it'snot vanilla it's, it's called
vermilion, vermilion vermilion.
See, yeah, it's really cool.
So like if anybody's interestedin learning that that's really
(08:00):
cool.
So, like if anybody'sinterested in learning that.
That's a cool thing to start ifyou guys have headsets to try
out, but, yeah, well, ok.
So, sharon, can you share a bitabout your this unexpected
journey that you're into writingand painting devotionals?
That seems very interesting.
So maybe you could kind of takeus back to the beginning.
How did this start?
(08:20):
And yeah, yeah, let's go thereall right.
Sharon Collins (08:24):
Well, you know, it started about seven years ago
, in the fall of 2017, and I wason a girl's trip with I have
three girlfriends that we go ona trip every year, and we were
in santa fe, new mexico, and oneof my friends she took up art a
number of years ago, and so shehad us going up and down a road
(08:49):
called Canyon Road, which isjust lined with art galleries,
and normally, after about two, Iwould have gone oh, let's find
something else to do.
But for some reason, I wasstrangely intrigued.
During that and later on duringthe trip, we were at dinner one
(09:13):
night and I was doodling on acocktail napkin and she said you
should take art lessons, and Iwas like and normally I don't
respond really well to shoulds,but this time I was like, ok,
and she helped me find a placeto start taking art lessons, and
(09:35):
my first art lesson was onNovember, the 17th, no, the 7th
November 7th of 2017.
We remember dates that arereally important to us and about
that same time, I was a smallgroup leader in our women's
Bible study at our church and Iwould always just write a couple
(09:57):
of sentences in an email aboutwhatever the next week's study
was going to be, and about thatsame time one gal responded to
me you should write devotionalsand this is a should.
I didn't respond all that wellto, I was like ha ha ha.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (10:15):
No, you don't say it, so you don't
really get along with theshoulds, huh.
Sharon Collins (10:20):
No, I know.
But so about five months laterI was taking a walk and these
two things were rolling aroundin my head devotionals and the
artwork, and of course God hadplanted that there.
And I just felt this I meanit's not an actual voice, but
(10:46):
you know, I just felt he wascalling me.
He's saying Sharon, I want youto start a website and write
devotionals to go along withyour paintings.
And I was like, well, I don'tknow how to do a website, and so
I mean, but it was a reallystrong, clear message and I went
(11:09):
home and I told my husband andhe said, well, you should do it.
And um, six weeks later Ilaunched my um website but, the
should, the shoulds weren't donewith me yet.
Uh, after a while, my husbandstarted saying well you should
you should do a book.
But the shoulds weren't donewith me yet.
After a while my husbandstarted saying, well, you should
do a book.
(11:29):
And I was again not veryresponsive to that.
I was like, no, absolutely notToo much work.
And so I, you know, just keptworking and he was fairly
persistent.
I wouldn't say he nagged, buthe, you know, every once in a
(11:54):
while would just say, well, Ijust think you should do a book.
And I finally told him, ok,when I get 52 devotionals and 52
, you know, when I have 52 donepostings on my website, then
I'll look into it, two donepostings on my website, then
I'll look into it.
(12:14):
And so I did.
And you know, here I was a, youknow, not a youngster, didn't
have a huge social media, anunknown, and so I started
looking up getting published.
Well, if you're ever having anice day and you think, oh, I'd
rather be discouraged, wellthat's the thing to look into.
I was like you know, how is thisever going to happen?
(12:37):
Because I knew I was tooignorant to try to self-publish.
I needed help to try toself-publish.
I needed help and I found thiswebsite called I think it was
christianbookproposalscom, andit's a place where Christian
literary agents and Christianpublishers look when they're
(12:58):
looking for new material.
And you pay $99, or at leastyou did back then and your book
proposal would sit out there forsix months.
So I prepared my proposal, andyou know, which took a while,
because you know there's a lotof work that goes into this,
even that and I so I told myhusband when I was pushing the
(13:22):
send button, I said here's $99down the drain.
And you know, god is still inthe miracle business, because
two days later I heard from thepublisher that I ultimately,
ultimately published my firsttwo books, and so yeah, so, yeah
(13:46):
, totally, totally, totally aGod thing.
And but one of the lessons I'velearned is and that when I speak
to groups I talk about is youknow, when God calls you to do
something, doesn't matter ifit's going to take you five
minutes or five decades, youjust say yes, because there's so
(14:08):
many blessings that come whenyou say yes to the plans that
God has for us.
I mean, in Joshua 29, he says Ihave plans for you, plans to
prosper you, and, and it's true,but we have to say yes to those
plans.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (14:24):
So, that's sort of my story in a nutshell.
That's good.
I love that.
It's gotta be hard to say yes,sometimes, too, when you really
don't know what the plan is.
You're just like you, you,you've, you've getting these
nudges, but it's like I don'tknow where this is going to go.
I don't know where this isgoing to lead.
Sharon Collins (14:47):
So what are some of those challenges you've ran
into in that area?
Well, you know a lot of the.
A lot of you know I always feellike God has a plan for every
devotional that I write andevery painting that I do.
But I tell you, it is hard forme to stay tuned in and listen
(15:14):
because I can go off and do myown thing.
I can pray before I startpainting and then I just start
relying on my own strength ownstrength instead of relying on
him, and so I have to be inprayer a lot when I'm painting.
But one of the things that I'vereally learned through all of
this is listening is soimportant, and I think most of
(15:39):
us find listening to be really ahard thing, and particularly in
our busy, noisy world with allthe distractions just to find
time to for listening and Ilearned I had to I had to paint
(16:00):
in silence and I have to writein silence so that I can hear
him.
And one of the best, one of thebest ways that works for me, and
you know, everybody has theirown.
God has their own way, thatunique way.
That is good for you to listen.
But we, we have a pool and, um,I like to exercise in it.
(16:25):
Um, you know it's boring.
You go back and forth, back andforth, back and forth, and I
used to listen to music, um, andall of that, but, um, but now I
swim in silence and I meanthat's the most fertile time for
me where God gives me ideas forfor devotionals, ideas on how
(16:48):
to fix paintings that have goneastray, because I've been doing
my own thing.
It's it's just, and you know,sometimes it's just like even on
a devotional who give me like awhole paragraph and I'm like I
gotta remember this when I getout of the pool, but but yeah,
and that works for me, but thatdoesn't necessarily work for
(17:10):
everybody.
But, that's my special time isin the pool, and sometimes my
husband comes out and I'm likeyou need to go back inside.
This is my time with God.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (17:23):
You don't like it?
Take it up with him time withGod.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (17:33):
If I can ask a quick question, more, I
guess I suppose about logistics.
Sharon Collins (17:37):
How often do you paint?
Oh, I wish I could.
I had a norm on that the wholelast year because I've had a
third book coming out and with anew publisher and I haven't had
much time to paint at all.
But you know, I just kind ofhave, I have a bedroom upstairs
where I paint and I just try andsneak it in when I can.
(17:59):
Same thing on writing, becauseI'm busy otherwise, Because I'm
(18:27):
busy otherwise and but I alwaysfeel like I'll know, and I think
God's.
Let me sort of get involved insome other things right now and
concentrate on this book comingout and he's taken quite a bit
of my time, but I'm almost done.
good for you, I don't have a youknow, it's not like oh, twice a
week I go paint.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (18:36):
I just don't have a formula I like, I don't
always conform to that totallyget it I think that makes sense
too.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (18:43):
if you're following the Lord's leading,
then you know it's not going tobe on a real tight, like you
know exactly what day you'regoing to paint and what you're
going to paint.
So it makes sense, yeah.
Sharon Collins (18:53):
Yeah.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (18:53):
Yeah absolutely so I meant to ask,
like do we have anybody in theaudience throw some confetti?
Anybody in the audience thatdoes any painting or drawing or
anything like that, or ordrawing or anything like that.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (19:07):
Or uh, okay, yeah, iris.
Oh, yes, I remember iris.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (19:09):
Yes, yes, awesome, awesome Arcane really
good at at drawing.
Yes, yes, he is, he is reallygood he's.
He's really good at fonts andstuff like that.
We've seen that and well, okay,so I have a question, I guess.
First, I love that you sharedthat about the time that you
find silence and and be able tolisten.
Uh, me and mrs killer Bee werejust talking about this, because
I like to spend go out and doon Fridays I try to do
(19:30):
reflection time where I'mreflecting, and I just shared
with her I was like you know,I'd been struggling getting back
to that because business, youknow, stuff happens.
You get busy and I'm like, oh,I feel like if I go out there,
for me it's walking on nature,because I'm by a computer like
almost well basically all day,so to be able to turn off all
notifications and go and walk,it's very it can feel like
(19:52):
you're doing nothing Right.
It's like, oh no, that's notproductive.
And I was telling her during mylast reflection that it just
was a reminder for me that youknow, pressing, being willing to
press pause, is sometimes themost probably, if not probably
most of the time probably one ofthe most productive things to
do these days, because bypressing pause.
It reminded me, like that'swhere I find clarity, I'm
(20:15):
spending time of God, I'mreflecting, I'm talking to him
and then I'm listening.
But, mrs Killer Bee, I neverasked you what is.
How do you unplug and do thatLike?
What is that for you?
I know we don't have a swimmingpool.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (20:27):
No no.
But it is interesting because alot of times creative people
need to be around water.
It has some effect on yourbrain that makes it more
productive when you have quiettime, especially to kind of tap
into that part of your brain.
But for me, yes, I like to bearound water, I like to go for
(20:49):
walks on the beaches, but moreoften what's the word?
More consistently, it's goingout in the garden.
So I go out and we have acourtyard and I have a hanging
chair, like a hanging rope chair, and I go out there a lot of
times too, in the bathtub.
Um, and that kind of comes backto the water too, like you know
, right before four hours Iwon't say no, I don't.
(21:14):
I definitely two hours, though.
Yes, I really like baths, soyep, but um, yeah, so that's,
that's it for me that's okay,all right, yeah, I love the
water.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (21:26):
Uh, yeah, okay.
So I have a question for you,sharon, that kind of goes along
with similar to mrs killer bees,about painting what has been
the longest time you've spent ona painting?
Sharon Collins (21:39):
oh gosh, you know that's a really hard
question to answer because Iseem to um, you know, I kind of
have to do it in just dribs anddrabs.
You know, it's not like I canusually spend a whole day or
anything.
I don't know, I have no idea.
(22:01):
You know, I don't count theminutes while I'm doing it.
Sure, you know, and there's alot of time that and it's kind
of there's a spiritual lesson, Ithink, in this that you have to
, in this that you have to, um,we have a mantle and I have to
(22:21):
put the painting up on themantle sometimes and just sit
and stare at it a while, andbecause I've been too close to
it and I need to regainperspective and I think that's a
lot of what we have to do asChristians.
We need to sort of step back andgo to say God's word, to regain
(22:46):
perspective or spend time incontemplation or listening or
even seeking counsel with others.
But you know you, sometimesyou're so into whatever's your
problem or that you can't seemto solve the problem.
You need to regain perspective.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (23:06):
I love that picture.
That is so interesting youshould write a devotion about
that, because that's deep.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (23:12):
That's deep, yeah.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (23:13):
Well, maybe I will.
I don't think I have that wouldbe.
Yeah, Well, maybe I will.
I don't think I have that wouldbe really.
I mean, I think that's a big.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (23:18):
I think that's a big challenge in in
today's culture, cause when wehave problems, we feel like we
got to fix them right away orand to be willing to, to find
the strength to put it on amantle and step back from it,
and get a different perspective,yeah, and listen for God.
I mean I mean, wow, that's,yeah, that's.
You should definitely writethat.
(23:39):
That would be really.
I would definitely want to readit, that's that's well talking
about your writings, and I thinkit's so interesting too that
you're doing these paintings anddoing devotions with it, so so
unique.
I love that the I was readingwhen we're.
We had you scheduled for awhile now to come out and, uh, I
was reading some of your blogsand one of the blogs that I read
(24:01):
on your site Can you telleverybody what, what?
How can they get to yourwebsite?
Let's go ahead and leteverybody know that first.
Sharon Collins (24:06):
Okay, my website is becoming his masterpiececom.
YattaYatta (Live Q&A) (24:13):
Um, so it's becoming his masterpiece.
Sharon Collins (24:16):
All one word and surprisingly, all of my books
are becoming his masterpiece, sonow they're kind of a series.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (24:29):
That's got to be coming from Ephesians 2.10
.
Is that right?
Sharon Collins (24:32):
That's exactly where it comes from.
Yes, it's one of his favoriteverses of all time one
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (24:38):
of my favorite verses.
Yeah, yeah, it really is.
There's a lot of personalstories behind it, but yeah, as
soon as I saw it on your website, I'm like ah, yeah, yeah, we
could be friends yeah, and therest of that is you know he has
plans for us good works for usto do so absolutely so you?
(25:00):
one of their blogs that I readon there was talking about
taking captive.
Take captive touches on the.
It was really basically touchedon like the reality of dealing
with unwanted thoughts.
So, uh, can you tell us whatinspired you to even write about
that particular topic?
Sharon Collins (25:19):
Well, you know, I'm one of these people.
I'm married to a guy who, youknow he's asleep 30 seconds
after he hits his head, hits thepillow.
I'm the type that I lay downand all of a sudden I'm thinking
all of these things that I havemanaged to push away all day
(25:43):
and it's like, well, what aboutthis?
And or I have something comingup and I rehearse oh well, maybe
I should say this, or I start,you know, worrying, you know, oh
, well, you know, and then yougo on a downward spiral and you
know, and then it's like, oh,and you know, it robs me of
(26:05):
sleep.
And you know, just theseunwanted thoughts, and I can get
them, not just then, you know,and I'm thoughts like, you know,
anxiety or worry, but alsoprideful thoughts.
You know, I like to fix thingsand I'm always in a hurry,
(26:25):
bigger hurry than God is to, andI might have a different idea
of what the fix should be thanhe does.
And so I mean any of thosethings can, um, can, just they
rob us of our, our peace and ourjoy.
And, um, and you know, uh, justlast week, I, um, you had
(26:48):
mentioned to me that you wantedto talk about that, and so I, um
, I go on, um, uh, wednesdaymornings early to two schools
and and these are public schools, astonishingly enough and I do
devotional time with teachersand staff that want to
(27:10):
participate, two very braveprincipals who do that in their
schools, and um.
so I took that devotional and itwas funny, uh, at the middle
school that I go to, um, thisone guy sat down and he was like
(27:30):
, oh, he had me at the firstsentence, which was do am I the
only one that has these kinds ofthoughts?
And you know if we are all sovulnerable and you know it makes
us miserable, but it makesSatan happy.
He is never happier than whenhe's trapped us into those kinds
(27:53):
of thoughts and um, and we havea trouble shaking them of
course we have a helper theadvocate, our comforter, the
holy spirit is in here, um,waiting for, waiting to help us,
but sometimes it's hard to letgo of those yeah, that's so.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (28:13):
That's so, so true, I I would.
I would love to get yourthoughts on something, because
you know earlier we're talkingabout, you know hearing when god
asks you to do something andyou're like, you say yes, and
now we're talking about unwantedthoughts.
So, uh, what are some ways thatyou've learned that we can
share with people here and ourlisteners on the podcast to
(28:36):
recognize when a thought is isfrom god and when it's not from
god?
Sharon Collins (28:41):
oh well, I think if it has to do with worry or
fear, you can be sure it's notfrom god.
Um, I mean, jesus told us don'tfear.
Not, you know, don't be worried.
You know there's.
There's plenty of worry in eachday, but I've got it taken care
of.
(29:02):
So I think we can turn to God'sword.
And you know, to me, if we have,you know, I'm not, I'm a
terrible at memorizing scripture, but I remember.
You know Paul says, you knowyou, you know we're supposed to
take captive every thought andmake a conform to um, to christ.
(29:24):
And you know, just knowingthose scriptures, um helps, um.
But you know, and sometimesI'll sing a hymn or a song, you
know, just to get my mind off myworries.
But sometimes I, if it's reallyI, can't kind of get rid of it.
(29:45):
I have been known to.
Sometimes gesturing or posturehelps, and I make sure my
husband is sound asleep and I'lljust throw my hands up, not
with confetti though, and justsay and just say you know, I'm
giving this to you, god, youknow, take it away from me.
(30:07):
And I even sort of visualize,you know the the issue that it
goes up through the ceiling, upthrough the roof, out past the
moon and into God's hands.
And you know, sometimes thatworks when I just can't
otherwise you know, get thosethoughts to go away.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (30:31):
You know, when you, when you shared that,
it just brought to me thatvisual visualization.
Is that a real word?
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (30:38):
that is my new word visualization that's a
real one, that's real that onethat's a win for my today.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (30:44):
That's a win for today.
Yeah well, it really helped mevisualize what we were just
talking about earlier aboutputting it on the mantle you
know, you're, you're putting itand hey look, if we could throw
a confetti.
We could throw a confetti whenwe put things on the mantle,
right when we're yeah, we shouldbe up and saying here that's
that's such a a beautiful thingthere to to wrap that mind
(31:06):
around, and I think you're right, you know it's like looking at
what god's word teaches us andeven made me think about for
myself.
I'm like you know.
One thing that I can fall in atrap of easily is comparison,
and I'm like you know, if weeven look at just the way Jesus
walked out his life here, hedidn't say, well, if you were
more like them.
He didn't compare people topeople, he was focused on you.
(31:31):
You know, one at a time.
There's a book we read.
Do you remember what it wascalled?
Was it called one at a Time, orwhat was that?
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (31:37):
Oh my gosh , we talked so much about it.
Now I can't remember the titleof it.
YattaYatta (Live Q&A) (31:42):
I don't think it's.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (31:43):
One at a Time.
But that's the idea Is thatJesus just focused on who was
right in front of him in thatmoment.
You know, no matter what wasgoing on around him, no matter
what he was on his way to do, hejust focused on that one person
and how.
How we can make such a bigdifference in the world, acting
like that you know.
Sharon Collins (32:03):
Yeah, yeah.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (32:05):
So it's like even like looking at the way
Jesus walked out his life andhow he treated others and, uh,
what he did and didn't do likecause, when we could look at the
religious leaders and they didcompare and didn't do Like cause
, when we could look at thereligious leaders and they did
compare, never set well.
So it's like, like you said,like that's a good thing to use
as judging that too.
Like, is this from God or isthis from the enemy?
(32:25):
Like, is this to steal that joyaway from you?
So I think that's a beautifulway that you said it.
So thank you for sharing that.
I thought that would beimportant to talk about there.
Um, because I think has anybodyhere, would you like?
Oh, I know we asked earlierhave you ever struggled with
unwanted thoughts?
And we everybody was throwingconfetti.
We have, we've all dealt withthat.
We're not alone and I love thatwe can come in this place and
(32:47):
talk about it.
Um, do you would you say?
Okay, let's go back to your,your devotionals, your
devotionals and paintings, wouldyou say.
Or how has I guess let me askit that way how has your, your
process of writing devotions and, uh, and creating art, how has
it helped you work throughunwanted thoughts personally?
Sharon Collins (33:10):
well, um, gosh, gosh.
Well, number one, you know, Ithink I'm convinced that God
called me to do this because heknew I needed remedial work and
I was a little bit slow, a slowlearner of spiritual truths.
And so, you know, when you Imean when you have to, I have to
(33:39):
, I have to be in the Bible, Ihave to, you know, be in the
word.
You know, and I've, you know, Igo to Bible studies and you
know, and that's helped me a lot.
But you know, for this I reallyhave to, it's, it's deepened my
knowledge and my faith and justit's made me grow up.
(34:03):
I think not that I have it allfigured out.
I still, you know, haven'tmastered anything.
I, you know, still stumble andfall every day.
But you know, I've benefitedmore than anybody else, I think,
(34:24):
from the devotionals and Ialways feel like what I'm
writing about is what God knowsI need to work on and that I
need to be doing better, or atleast to be aware that I'm not
where I should be on thatparticular thing.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (34:46):
So you know that makes me think about
oh, I'm sorry, Did you havesomething?
Sharon Collins (34:49):
else no go ahead .
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (34:50):
It makes me think about a principle that
we are learning about, aboutsomething else right now, but it
really applies to this too,which is, you know, I?
I think we're setting ourselvesup for failure If we think we
are ever going to get to theplace where we're never going to
have a thought we don't want tohave, but if we can learn to
catch it fast and then, you know, change what we're thinking,
(35:14):
you know, take that thoughtcaptive and and you know,
captive and set it loose orfocus our brain elsewhere.
The faster we can do that, theless it has a chance to affect
us.
And I think that's the point,isn't it?
Is that we can learn.
We can just know ourselves,know what's going to trigger us,
or be able to recognize thatright away and be able.
(35:36):
I think that's the goal, isn'tit?
Sharon Collins (35:39):
It is.
And you know, I think one ofthe places you know to me go to
scripture, the, the Psalms.
I love the Psalms because youknow David particularly.
I mean he would just pour outhis heart, he would just lay it
(36:01):
all out in front of God and sayyou know, I want to do this and
I want to do that.
But he always came back andsaid, you know, but you know,
you are God, you know he alwayscomes back to I love you, you
know you're in charge, I loveyou, you know you're in charge.
I'm not, or words to thoseeffects, and it just, it just
(36:23):
always reinforces to me thatGod's not going to be surprised
by anything that we bring to him.
He's, he already knows it.
And you can just, you know,wish bad things and say, oh, I
wish so-and-so.
Would just, you know, I meanDavid certainly did that and for
(36:43):
a long while I just didn'tunderstand that.
But now it's sort of like.
But he came around and a lot oftimes the word but's in there,
but you're God, you're God,you're in charge.
You know, and and you knowDavid was a man after God's own
heart, and so you know we can,we can be people after God's own
(37:06):
heart if we're just willing tolay it in front of him and then
humbly ask him for help.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (37:13):
Yeah, I love that.
I love that.
Well, I want to let everybodyknow.
Don't forget, if you have aquestion or thought, click that
kiosk, we'll bring you up.
I know I got a few morequestions to ask you, sharon,
and would love to go into, butif anybody has any questions or
thoughts, make sure you clickthat.
Oh, there we go.
We got Yatta Yatta, so let's goahead and bring up Yatta Yatta.
Yvonne, let's bring up that micand Yatta Yatta.
(37:34):
Welcome to the Killer BeeStudios.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (37:37):
Hey, Yatta , good to see you, thank you.
YattaYatta (Live Q&A) (37:39):
Good to see you too.
So, gosh, and I'm going to trynot to take up too much time
here.
I'm just amazed at how Godworks.
I also have a podcast that Irecently started and it's called
BibleHabitsvr.
And it's called BibleHabitsvr.
20 minutes before I had justposted, I did a segment called
(38:06):
Real Talk, and it was justsharing some of the mental
struggles that I have been goingthrough for a while.
And as soon as I posted that, Igot the text from Killer B about
you coming tonight and talkingabout bad thoughts, and so the
Holy Spirit just said you haveto be there, and so God is going
(38:30):
to speak to you through thisguest tonight.
And so what I've gotten fromthis number one was when you
said you had to step back andput it on the mantle and look at
it to gain perspective.
And that is something that I'mgoing to use from here on out,
because sometimes it's just soclose to us and it's so in our
(38:52):
head so constantly that you losethe real perspective of the
situation or whatever you'regoing through.
I also am a remedial learner ofspiritual truth.
Sharon Collins (39:07):
That is why I started the Bible.
YattaYatta (Live Q&A) (39:09):
Habits podcast, so that I would be held
accountable to having to be inthe Bible at least once a week
for my podcast, and so thank youfor that that resonated with me
as well, and it was even astruggle just to come up here to
even kind of give this sort oftestimony because the accuser
(39:31):
was like well, don't go up thereand make the show about you,
it's not about you.
But I just want to for people toknow what God has done through
this, through this tonight forme, Not about me, but God is
always doing so much for me andfor all of us.
So thank you.
Thank you so much, I love yourstory and it is you've been an
(39:54):
inspiration tonight, so thankyou Wow.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (39:57):
I'm so glad that you didn't listen to
that voice that told you not tocome up here.
I'm so glad because that reallyencouraged me, and I'm sure it
encouraged Sharon too, becauseit's so cool when you get to
hear yeah, that's really neat.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (40:10):
I would say that most of the times when I've
learned, when I've struggledand dealt with voices like that
and the thoughts of like nobodywants to hear what you have to
say, You're making this allabout you.
And whenever that's happened,I've learned that if I step out,
it's a blessing.
It's like all of a suddensomebody else comes up to me and
says are you serious?
Like I've been struggling withthe same thing, or it starts
(40:32):
building stronger relationshipswith people.
And it really is those.
Those thoughts steal our joythat we're.
God has, like, placed peoplearound us that can help us grow,
help us see more of the truth,but when we are afraid to step
out, it's actually onlyhindering that.
So, you know, applaud for you,Yatta, for stepping up, because
(40:54):
that is.
I know it's not easy, but we'reso glad you did, Because I know
there's other people that'slike that too, Like you know, to
be willing to step out.
Sharon Collins (41:02):
We were not made to go through life trying to do
it all by ourselves.
We are made for community and weneed community of like-minded
believers that help us and canhold us accountable and, can you
know, encourage us.
One of the reasons the onlyreason I can figure out why God
(41:25):
well, other than I'm needingremedial work is I do feel like
he called me to be an encourager, to just encourage others.
You know, we all have ourstruggles as we go through life.
There's not one of us thatdoesn't have hard times of some
form or another and and we justneed, we need each other to to
(41:50):
get through life.
Just to encourage, to support,to walk alongside.
It makes a huge difference.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (42:01):
So true, you know I want to ask you.
You know I talked earlier aboutthat painting app and I would
tell you, like I don't paintreally well, like I used to draw
when I was younger and MrsKiller Bee knows that I've
shared that with her.
Like I said, arcane, he's ourson.
He's amazing at drawing and allthat stuff Very detailed.
(42:21):
He writes so tiny.
Sometimes I'm like man, youlike magnifying glass, read that
.
It's like all these, likelittle details, like what the
heck.
But when I sat down to dopainting, like I don't use my
hands as much to paint or towrite, so my hand medicine, like
my handwriting, is terrible,because I'm doing everything
typing, you know, and using amouse.
But I sat down and did thepainting and the VR, which I
(42:42):
loved and I found time to really, it really was relaxing to do
that.
You know, it was so relaxing.
But I have to say, though, itreally requires you to have some
patience Because, like you said, like some of these paintings,
(43:04):
you don't really you can'treally get the time of how long
some of these have taken.
You got to really learnpatience.
Sharon Collins (43:07):
If you're going to pick up painting, well, you
do have the ability to walk awayfrom it for a while if you're
just totally frustrated that'sone thing, that's nice.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (43:17):
I think that's so interesting, because I
think I don't know for sure,though, but I know like there
was a time, like we're inschools, they were talking about
taking away some of thecreative art stuff and realize,
like, just with what you'resharing and the way our busy
lives are, I'm like man.
That's a gift in itself that youlearn through creative arts
(43:37):
like that, like taking time topaint, and walking away and
saying you don't have, you can'tjust expect to get it done
right now.
Uh, cause everything right nowis like you got to get it done,
done, done, keep moving, keepmoving, keep moving, keep
hustling, keep grinding and keepgoing.
And uh, the patience is kind oflike losing it.
We're losing that, and I don'tknow if that's because of some
of the creative arts stuff, butuh, I I don't know if that's
(43:58):
because of some of the creativearts stuff, but I think there's
a lot of things fighting for ourattention.
We've talked about that before.
Everything our attention iswhat's for sale.
But is that patience somethingthat came natural for you, or is
that something that you learnedthrough?
Sharon Collins (44:10):
time as well.
I don't.
I have not gotten patiencemastered by any means.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (44:21):
We know now what the word should.
Sharon Collins (44:32):
I yeah, I'm always in a bigger hurry than
God is.
You know, we all, I mean, we'reso used to things and we can
get things quickly.
You know we want microwave God,where you put in your order and
you know, 30 seconds laterthere's the answer.
Well, life doesn't work likethat and you know, one of the
things I use acrylics, acrylicpaints, and I do a lot of
(44:55):
collage as well and one of thethings I've learned is and
life's kind of like this I canmake the biggest mess in the
world, but you know, I'll putanother layer on, and part of
what ends up being beautiful ina painting is those layers that
(45:17):
you can sense the layers, isthose layers that you can sense
the layers.
Um, and it's like our lives.
You know there's, we havelayers and, um, you know, some
of them are prettier than others.
Some, you know we have yeah, and, but you know, god scrubs us
clean, you know, and um, but uh,I can't always do that with a
(45:40):
painting, but I can't add layers, and uh, but you know, he's a
redeemer and he redeemspaintings for me, he redeems
devotionals where I'm just like,ah, and you know he, he redeems
us in all kinds of ways becauseof his grace and his mercy.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (46:02):
Wow, I'm going to look at painting so
much different now becausethere's so much depth in that,
just like with what you'resaying about with layers,
because I think that you know we, we live as you, as you're.
You know you're experiencingthis new technology.
You know you're experiencingthis new technology.
You know this digital uhtechnology here and with you
know we talk about with music,like I learned.
(46:24):
You know, I grew up listeningto vinyl records and eight
tracks and stuff like that, andI remember when the turntables
came back, the record players,I'm like I'm gonna get vinyls
and they started, and now I havea kind of addiction with
collecting vinyl records.
But what was really cool was I'mlike you know, the music's just
different on that.
And we have a friend that is waymore of a collector than than I
(46:47):
am, uh, but he he was talkingto me about music and he said
you know, when they write music,the artist wrote music to be
played in that order to tell thecomplete story.
Uh, he's like that's, that's whywhen you put on a vinyl record,
you listen to it all the waythrough, so you really
understand where the artist iscoming from.
These days, with digital, youdon't get that because people
(47:09):
are skipping around to what theywant to hear, so they don't
hear the complete story and itmade me think about that when
you were talking about withpaintings.
Even with like, if I'mdesigning something on a
computer, I can easily hit undo,or you know and, or just you
know, delete it and start allover.
But as a painting it's probablyharder to hit delete and start
all over from scratch whenyou're like you've already
(47:31):
poured this time into it, canvasaway yeah, you're just gonna
throw it away, but layers likethat's, that's a beautiful thing
to kind of really process andthink on.
Sharon Collins (47:42):
One of the things I think, because you know
our lives, we have layers ofhard times, good times, all
sorts of things that happen tous and to me.
That's what makes those of uswho are Christians makes us
authentic.
That's what makes those of uswho are Christians makes us
(48:02):
authentic.
And you know, because somepeople think, oh well, you know
you, you have a rose coloredworld because you're a Christian
and you're protected.
No, we're here with the samethings as everybody else.
Those layers give usauthenticity and that we're not
coming off as phonies and youknow Pollyannas or you know
(48:27):
perfection people that areperfect, far from it, and so I
think it makes us more relatableif we acknowledge you know, gee
whiz, I struggle with this.
I still struggle with this.
I'm a little better because ofyou know those sorts of things
(48:52):
to me make us more relatablebecause we're all.
I have a friend that says we'reall just stumbling after Jesus.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (48:57):
Oh, that's beautiful.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (48:58):
Cool, that's a beautiful way to say it.
Wow, well, sharon, I want tothank you for coming out and
braving this new environment,and I hope you've enjoyed it.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
It's been fun, good, good, good.
I know that next time, if wemove into a house because we're
going to buy a house at somepoint, something we're preparing
(49:19):
for Remember, we move into ahouse because we're going to buy
a house at some point.
So when we were preparing for,remember, like sometimes we go
someplace and start scraping offthe paint and you're like, ooh,
who painted?
YattaYatta (Live Q&A) (49:24):
that color.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (49:25):
We can know that's a layer that they
probably don't like of theirlife.
You know, like when all theworlds were bright, purple, and
you know man.
I'm going to be yes, I got alot to process tomorrow, but
this has been an amazingconversation and I thank you so
much for coming out.
How can people connect with youand get a copy of your books?
(49:45):
What's the best?
Sharon Collins (49:47):
Well, yeah, so I have three books the first one
Becoming His Masterpiece they'reall have that title, which was,
you know, it's 52 devotionals.
The second one I just took thefirst book and expanded it, and
it's a reflect and pray editionof the first book.
(50:08):
So I added study questions andlots of scripture references,
just so people could dig intothem a little bit more.
And then the third one is againBecoming His Masterpiece.
The Journey Continues.
You can get all of them onlinewherever you normally buy books
Amazon, barnes, noble ChristianBooks, places like that and
(50:31):
where can we get your artwork?
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (50:33):
Is that on your website available?
Sharon Collins (50:36):
Yeah, I have a gallery there that has the
paintings.
So yeah, and the informationabout them, sizes and so forth,
all right.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (50:46):
Awesome, awesome.
Well, I always like to ask ourguests before we leave, just
like a takeaway.
So I would like to ask you,sharon, if you don't mind,
sharon, that was pretty good, Ijust thought about that.
Okay, that was pretty good,would't mind?
Sharon, what would you say toany of our listeners that's
(51:06):
listening to the podcast, orpeople that's here tonight live
and that's here listening towhat we've been talking about?
What would you say to peoplethat are feeling?
Sharon Collins (51:21):
unqualified.
But since God calling them intosomething new, I would say if
God's calling you to somethingnew, well the answer obviously
is yes, but that he will equipyou um you know if he's calling,
he will equip you.
God typically doesn't call theequipped, he equips the call.
(51:44):
So it's a process he's prettygood at and the key, I think, is
just stay in the word Listen,listen, listen, listen, listen
and um.
And you know there are dayswhere I go oh, I totally, you
know, did not spend enough timelistening.
(52:04):
You know he's available thenext day, so just keep, keep at
it, keep at it.
That's my advice.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (52:12):
Well, yeah, I'm gonna ask you one more
question, sharon, because, uh,because I just thought about
this and I'm like man, I reallywant to ask her this as an
artist and a writer, and we youtalked about your website, which
is, again, it's the.
What is the website?
Sharon Collins (52:29):
again, it's becoming his masterpiececom.
Brian (52:33):
Becomingismasterpiececom , define what, to your mind and
what you've learned in thescriptures is a masterpiece,
because I know a lot of us mightthink masterpiece is like I
gotta be perfect, hybridingtogether.
So what is that?
What does that mean?
Sharon Collins (52:49):
uh well, I think .
Um, none of us is going toreach masterpiece status in this
life.
It's's the next life, when wego home, to our eternal home,
then we will be completedmasterpieces.
We're all just works inprogress this side of heaven.
Brian (Mr.KillerB) (53:10):
I love that.
It's just kind of a reminder oflike the way we see ourselves
is not the way that God sees us.
That's right.
Sharon Collins (53:19):
He's closed us with robes of righteousness
already.
Shawna (Mrs.KillerB) (53:24):
If you enjoyed this episode don't
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