"The Story Behind the Healing Heart"
"Can you make a sculpture from a photograph?" I turned to face the person who spoke these words and looked into the faces of a 3 generation family. As we spoke, one of the women opened an envelope and began spreading the photos of a young boy across the table in front of me.
"Could you take some photos from the side so i can have a profile view?" I asked. The woman quickly uttered a statement that had probably been rehearsed a hundred times in her mind. "This is our 3 1/2 year old grandson. He drowned 2 weeks ago in our backyard." Tears streamed down her face as she said, "We were in your gallery last month and Malachi was with us. After his funeral my husband said we should come see if you could sculpt a bust of Malachi."
She shared that they were having a very difficult time, they loved Malachi so very deeply. I heard how their faith in God was supporting them, how they were finding strength in His presence each day, and in one another. There had been many heartaches in their lives, but nothing had broken their hearts like the drowning death of Malachi.
During the process of sculpting the bust of Malachi, the Lord inspired me to sculpt the HEALING HEART. Psalms 147:3 says "HE heals the brokenhearted, HE binds up their wounds". The HEALING HEART has scars upon it to represent past losses that have healed. This family had suffered many other losses over the years. The HEALING HEART has a break to symbolize a tragic event that breaks the heart. Malachi's death was the event that broke the hearts in this family. The HEALING HEART has a bandage placed over the break to represent the healing power and presence of God.
My prayer is that God will continue to use the HEALING HEART sculpture to comfort and strengthen the brokenhearted with His presence. "HE heals the brokenhearted, HE binds up their wounds." Psalms 147:3
Bob Willis, Sculptor
(405) 330-4910