I have a very special story to share with you today… the story of a wonderful miracle that has occurred in my life… and I am very grateful to share it with you.

If you know me, you also know that my only son Brian Michael passed over six years ago in 2003.

A few years ago I met a woman online named Diane Overcash.  She lives in North Carolina and at the time we met onine I was living in Michigan.  Diane is an artist and she teaches people to paint also.

When we met I always said I wish I was in North Carolina so I could take classes from Diane, and over the years we kept in touch.

In 2007 we moved to the North Carolina mountains and lived in our RV while we had a new custom log house built.  In January 2009 we moved in to our new home.

We took pictures of the progress of the building of our log home and posted them online and we had lots of people following us, which was great fun, as we are living proof that we can create our dreams.  We are living in our dream home.  Pictures here:  http://nebo.shutterfly.com

A few month after we moved into our new home, I saw a message from Diane on Facebook, and we exchanged a few messages.  One day she wrote on Facebook, “When are you going to be ready for company?” and I replied, “NOW!

The next day she called me and we made arrangements for her to come and vist the following week.

On the day of Diane’s visit, she was to arrive at 9 am.  At 11 am she was not here and I had no way to call her.  Finally she called from a little gift shop in another town and said she was lost. I gave her directions and she was on her way again.

A few minutes later the phone rang and it was the owner of the gift shop where Diane had called from.  She said Diane left her purse there, so I said I would tell Diane when she got here.

As it happened, my husband Dennis was running some errands, so I called to ask him where he was and he happened to be near the gift shop Diane had called from.  So he agreed to go by and pick up Diane’s purse.

When Diane got here I told her about the purse and a few minutes later Dennis arrived with the purse… and all was well.

We had a great visit, sitting on the back porch, and Diane asked if I wanted to paint.  Did I want to paint?  Of course!  So she went to her car and brought in all the supplies we need to paint… and she taught me how to get started painting, which I had wanted to learn for years.

We sat on the porch for hours and painted the mountain that is behind my house.  It was my first painting and I was so excited!

Now, here comes the real miracle…

I gave Diane a tour of our house and we walked up the stair to the loft where I have my office.  On the wall going up the stairs we have a lot of family pictures, including several pictures of my son Brian Michael.

Diane stopped and stared at Brian’s picture for a long time and we didn’t say anything about it.  I just noticed that she stood there for a long time.

A few days later she called me and asked me how I would feel about her painting a PORTRAIT of Brian.  What?  I got so excited at the possiblity of having a portrait of Brian and I agreed to send her some photographs that she could use as reference for the portrait.

I actually sent her Brian’s memorial website that I had created shortly after his passing.  It was great therapy for me.  You can see it here:  http://BrianMichaelGuthrie.com

Less than two weeks later Diane called and said she had finished the portrait of Brian and wanted to bring it to me.  A few days later she did just that.

When she walked in the door with that portrait, I was lost for words.  It is so life like and such an amazing likeness of Brian that I was simply speechless (and that is saying a lot for me)!

When I asked Diane why she wanted to paint Brian’s portrait, she said that she felt like she was “supposed” to paint it, and that she felt Brian was directing her.  She said she almost felt like Brian was painting through her, asking her to create this portrait as a gift for me.

When I hung that portrait on the wall, I cannot even tell you how it made me feel.

You see, I know Brian would love this log house here in the mountains and I know he would be here very often.

This portrait makes me feel like he IS here, or at the very least like he was recently here.

And the interesting thing is… Brian was 26 when he passed over and I think he appears older in this portrait much as he may appear today.  Isn’t that amazing?

I am so very very grateful to Diane for painting this portrait of my Brian Michael.

Now, because it meant so much to me, Diane is thinking of offering to paint portraits for other people who have “lost” a loved one.  I think that is a wonderful idea and many people will be blessed by Diane’s talent.

You can find Diane Overcash on Facebook.  Let her know what a wonderful job she did on Brian’s portrait and pass her name along to anyone you know who many want to have a portrait painted of their loved ones.

Thank you for reading my story of Brian’s portrait.  It is a miracle to me and I hope that you feel inspired as well.

Many blessings for your prosperity and well being.

Linda Miller
828-652-4714