Amy Lynn’s encounter with Akiane Kramarik’s Prince of Peace began in one of the darkest seasons of her life. In 2009, going through a divorce and going deeper with God, she met the painting through the book Heaven Is for Real — and later stood before the original at Belóved Gallery, not realizing it was the very painting whose lost-and-found story she had followed for years. In our latest #iam_beloved story of faith, Amy shares what it’s like to feel that unconditional love. Watch her story below, then read it in her own words.
“Jesus really is a real person that you can have a relationship with.”
— Amy Lynn
Amy Lynn first met Akiane Kramarik’s Prince of Peace in 2009, during a divorce and a dark season in which she experienced Jesus appearing in her home. Reading the book Heaven Is for Real to her young son, she recognized Akiane’s painting in its pages and went out and bought a print right away. Years later, invited to Belóved Gallery, she didn’t realize she was about to stand before the original — the very painting whose lost-and-found story she had followed. Her #iam_beloved story is about unconditional love, and about feeling the presence of God in Akiane’s landscapes and portraits, right in small-town Marble Falls.
I had had my own personal experience with Jesus, and that painting just really spoke to me. It was in 2009 — I was really struggling in my life, in a very dark season. I was going through a divorce, and Jesus appeared to me in my house. I was going deeper with God in my walk and really developing a personal relationship with Him.
I was reading the book Heaven Is for Real to my young son at the time, and when I got to the back of the story and saw that the painting in there was Akiane’s, I was so intrigued. I went out and bought the painting right away. The first time I was invited to come to the gallery, I didn’t realize it was going to be the original — and I knew the story, because I had followed how the painting was lost and then found.
That experience with Jesus is so hard to explain. You just feel the unconditional love. It’s easy to say that Jesus is all about love and that we’re supposed to love people, but when you really get to experience how much He truly loves each of us, unconditionally, there really aren’t words for it. You want everybody to have it, because it’s so amazing. Jesus really is a real person you can have a relationship with.
Coming to the gallery and experiencing all the different artwork she has — she does an amazing job of capturing the beauty of the earth that God created. You can stand and look at her landscapes, the universe paintings, the paintings with people, and you can’t help but feel the presence of God in them. Even if you’re not a faith-based person, it’s just something — like seeing one of the wonders of the world right there. I just felt so blessed that here in little small-town Marble Falls, we had something so amazing.
