Meet Kenzie Lugenbeel

There is this piece of art in a museum in Arkansas that really held my attention the first time I saw it. It’s a very large canvas painted gray. People don’t like this piece of art because to them it doesn’t look like art at all. It looks like a blank canvas. But to me, this was one of my favorite pieces in that entire museum.

I didn’t see a blank canvas. I saw a large amount of paint all mixed to the exact same shade. I saw every stroke of the paintbrush. I saw the smoothness from a distance but the texture up close. The art was in the details and said more about the artist than the canvas.

In my senior year of college, when people asked me what my plans were after graduation I told them “I don’t answer that question.” After graduation, my life, like this canvas, was a giant blank space. I truly didn’t know where I would be or what I would be doing and I wasn’t in a hurry to find out. Unlike this canvas, my life had different shades, tones, and hues being thrown at it. And by that I mean other people’s opinions and a world of options. The strokes are not even, they are huge hills and valleys. But much like this canvas, it had potential. And when I looked at that blank space that followed graduation I saw the opportunity to make my life the art I want it to be.

Thinking of that canvas now, it’s not me who makes my life art, it’s God. He is the artist. It’s by His grace and faithfulness that I am where I am today. I am the canvas that He paints upon and He is painting a beautiful picture, one that is still a work in progress.

After I graduated I didn’t try very hard to find a career, yet somehow it found me. The plan was to visit friends in The Woodlands for two and a half days. My friend told me about a job opening at Faith, but she also told me, don’t apply and interview if I wouldn’t move. I remember thinking I was fresh out of college with no interviewing or real-world experience, the odds they hire me are so slim, so I’ll just interview for the experience. The next day they offered me the job and I moved three weeks later.

That choice was met by so much fear but also so much wonder. What would it look like to give God my yes in the decision? God was so faithful and I believe very intentional in moving me to The Woodlands. My life is anything but a gray canvas. There are colors, shades, tones, hills, and valleys that make my life the adventure it is. Through Faith Bible, I have experienced such a rich community through my small group, the areas I serve in our church, our staff, and friends who have walked alongside me.

God has met me in every "YES" I have given him. Throughout these last two years, I have been so amazed by His continuous faithfulness. The best thing I can keep doing is giving God my yes and letting Him show up.