Julia Otterness
Kansas City, MO
I was born in California but grew up in New Mexico with a loving family who always encouraged me to be myself. At a very young age my parents realized that I had a talent for drawing and always found ways to help me and encourage me in my art. I always felt like art was a special thing from God in my life. We attended church all my life and I knew that Jesus existed, that He was born of a virgin, that He taught people how they should live, that He died on the cross and on the third day He arose again. I believed all those things but I never really thought about why all those things happened.
Later as teenager I got caught up in trying to be accepted and have friends. I found that the group of people that accepted me found entertainment in partying, drinking, drugs etc… and so that is what I did too. After some time I realized that going in this direction was not leading to a good life and I wanted to change. I thought I could take everything in my own hands and make my life better. This was about the time of graduation from High School and I headed off to Art School for Advertising Design in Colorado. I did pretty well there and although I still found myself partying at the clubs on the weekends at least I had a goal and I wasn’t experimenting with drugs or smoking like I had before so I felt like I was improving. When I graduated from Art School I moved to Phoenix, Arizona to start my great life! Within a few months time I had several different jobs that didn’t work out and found myself working at a fast food restaurant which I was so ashamed of that I quit within a few days. I also had gotten involved in an unhealthy relationship. I felt like such a failure! Nothing was working out.
I left Phoenix and went back home to New Mexico where I slipped into depression. I wasn’t eating and weighed under 90 lbs. I tried doing some art during that time but nothing inspired me, nothing was clear, everything was blurry. The doctor put be on anti-depressants for a while which leveled out my emotions enough to exist and start eating more. It was at that time that I was invited to visit some friends in San Diego and so I went and decided to apply for some jobs while I was there. On the plane ride home I started to pray and I remembered something my mom had told me. She said, “ God has always taken care of us.” A light bulb came on in my head and I realized that I could give my life to God and He would take care of me. I realized that the burden wouldn’t be on me but I could put my life in God’s hands and so I told God silently on the plane to take my life and do with it what he wanted. The next day I got a call about a job out in San Diego and moved there about two weeks later.
In San Diego I had jobs come and go but I didn’t worry about it. I put it all in God’s hands and He always took care of me. After a while through some Christians I met at a job I found out about a good church that taught through the Bible and I went there for a midweek service. The preacher shared about why Jesus died on the cross. He died to take away my sins, all the things I had failed at, all the things I felt guilty about, all the mistakes I had made. It was so that I could be forgiven! He took the punishment in my place! I finally thought about and understood why Jesus did what He did! I fell completely in love with Jesus, gave my life to Him and have never turned back.
Since then God has taken me on many adventures. I know I have a purpose and God always has a plan. I no longer carry around the guilt of my past. I am free to live as God intended. I have been able to be a missionary and travel to different parts of the world using creativity to share His love with people through dance, creative media and many other things. Through ministry work I have ended up living in Kansas city. God has blessed me with a wonderful husband who also loves the Lord and has a heart to share His love with others. I believe now is a time that God wants me to focus on using fine arts to share His love and help others discover who He is. Art has always been something that has helped bring me stillness and peace. It is something that God uses to speak to my heart. My inspiration comes from my Creator and any talent I have is to His credit!
Later as teenager I got caught up in trying to be accepted and have friends. I found that the group of people that accepted me found entertainment in partying, drinking, drugs etc… and so that is what I did too. After some time I realized that going in this direction was not leading to a good life and I wanted to change. I thought I could take everything in my own hands and make my life better. This was about the time of graduation from High School and I headed off to Art School for Advertising Design in Colorado. I did pretty well there and although I still found myself partying at the clubs on the weekends at least I had a goal and I wasn’t experimenting with drugs or smoking like I had before so I felt like I was improving. When I graduated from Art School I moved to Phoenix, Arizona to start my great life! Within a few months time I had several different jobs that didn’t work out and found myself working at a fast food restaurant which I was so ashamed of that I quit within a few days. I also had gotten involved in an unhealthy relationship. I felt like such a failure! Nothing was working out.
I left Phoenix and went back home to New Mexico where I slipped into depression. I wasn’t eating and weighed under 90 lbs. I tried doing some art during that time but nothing inspired me, nothing was clear, everything was blurry. The doctor put be on anti-depressants for a while which leveled out my emotions enough to exist and start eating more. It was at that time that I was invited to visit some friends in San Diego and so I went and decided to apply for some jobs while I was there. On the plane ride home I started to pray and I remembered something my mom had told me. She said, “ God has always taken care of us.” A light bulb came on in my head and I realized that I could give my life to God and He would take care of me. I realized that the burden wouldn’t be on me but I could put my life in God’s hands and so I told God silently on the plane to take my life and do with it what he wanted. The next day I got a call about a job out in San Diego and moved there about two weeks later.
In San Diego I had jobs come and go but I didn’t worry about it. I put it all in God’s hands and He always took care of me. After a while through some Christians I met at a job I found out about a good church that taught through the Bible and I went there for a midweek service. The preacher shared about why Jesus died on the cross. He died to take away my sins, all the things I had failed at, all the things I felt guilty about, all the mistakes I had made. It was so that I could be forgiven! He took the punishment in my place! I finally thought about and understood why Jesus did what He did! I fell completely in love with Jesus, gave my life to Him and have never turned back.
Since then God has taken me on many adventures. I know I have a purpose and God always has a plan. I no longer carry around the guilt of my past. I am free to live as God intended. I have been able to be a missionary and travel to different parts of the world using creativity to share His love with people through dance, creative media and many other things. Through ministry work I have ended up living in Kansas city. God has blessed me with a wonderful husband who also loves the Lord and has a heart to share His love with others. I believe now is a time that God wants me to focus on using fine arts to share His love and help others discover who He is. Art has always been something that has helped bring me stillness and peace. It is something that God uses to speak to my heart. My inspiration comes from my Creator and any talent I have is to His credit!