Fruitland girls use chalk art to share message of hope; assistant publisher performs on piano an Easter classic

The Abernathy girls pose for a photo with their chalk art message in Fruitland, Missouri. The exhibit is one of two the girls created to share positive messages of hope during the COVID-19 quarantine.

Submitted photo

There are numerous angles to the chaos of COVID-19, ranging from health to financial to education. But there's also an emotional toll that each of us copes with in different ways.

Consider children, now home and missing time at school with their friends. How does a child cope?

For three Fruitland girls, they channeled their energy into a message of hope based on the foundation of their Christian faith.

The Abernathy girls -- Mallory, 8, and twins Chloe and Adelyn, 9 -- pitched an idea to their mom where they could be outside and use chalk to write the message: Pray For Our Country.

"The girls just really wanted to get that message out," their mother Michelle Abernathy told me in an interview this week. "We've had extra time to open up their Bible, and they've been reading their devotional a lot more religiously. Pretty much every morning now."

When neighbors honked upon seeing the message, Michelle said it made the girls' day. Of course they also wanted their mother to share the photos on Facebook. In their mind, Michelle said, every share equaled a prayer. Another added morale boost.

When the recent rains washed away the original message, the girls returned with another exhibit. This time the message read: We're All In This Together.

Between two different posts, the chalk art photos have been shared more than 500 times.

In an unrelated exhibit of chalk art talent, Easter messages were shared on the sidewalk near First Presbyterian Church on Broadway. Photos below.

Sidewalk artwork is seen Wednesday, April 8, 2020, outside First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau.

Jacob Wiegand ~ jwiegand@semissourian.com

Each of us is coping with COVID-19 in different ways. And art certainly has a way of conveying a message. For me, playing piano is therapeutic.

I started playing at the age of 3. Both of my parents are piano teachers, so there wasn't much choice in that decision growing up. In fact, at age 12, I told my mom that I was going to quit. She said, "No." And that was the end of the story. Now, I'm thankful I didn't quit.

Playing piano at church is one thing I particularly miss during this coronavirus quarantine. But like other forms of art, you don't need a certain location in which to perform.

The song I would have performed this weekend is "Via Dolorosa," which translates in English to "Way of Suffering." The song is a reference to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's the message of Easter that the Son of God died for our sins so we could have eternal life. A video of me performing the song can be viewed here:

Here's wishing each of you a blessed Easter. May the hope of Christ fill your hearts and minds as we celebrate our Risen Savior. As we say at my church: He is risen. He is risen indeed.

Lucas Presson is assistant publisher of the Southeast Missourian.

Sidewalk artwork is seen Wednesday, April 8, 2020, outside First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau.

Jacob Wiegand ~ jwiegand@semissourian.com