The Creative Cure

There is something about a change in scenery; something about showing up to create and being open to let The Holy Spirit, and your gift of creativity from God, lead you.....

Over the years, I have really made a conscience effort to get to know myself better. Instead of questioning my differences (because I sure feel like I have them); I have learned to lean into them and explore them. 

At one point in my life, when my anxiety was at an all-time high, I discovered that CREATING things was like fun and relaxing therapy. I do mean therapy. I felt SO MUCH BETTER emotionally, physically, spiritually. I was renewed....relieved from the burden of stress, and many times was able to look at situations differently - with a new lens.....or maybe a clean and refreshed lens :). 

I knew the benefit because I had taken some random paint classes, took friends and crew members to just go paint. However, when I REALLY understood and felt the long-term benefit was when a friend had a cute little DIY shop and boutique. If you know me, you know I live a busy life. I thrive in it, but I can get myself to a place where I JUST KEEP GOING. I learned to make it a habit to go do something quarterly AT LEAST. Sometimes I would frequent it more. Sometimes I would go alone. 

Life started taking me in a completely different direction geographically and she closed the shop and a new business is in there now. I've had to find other creative ways, but I have not been near as consistent with it. 

Well, this week I FELT the need to CReaTe. I'm on the cusp of a pivot that I have thought about and prayed about and second-guessed myself and prayed some more......cried a few times, felt completely lost/unsure/self-conscious, been tested in ways I saw coming and ways I didn't... AND now....through faith, prayer, and this journey God has taken me on - to determine what I really want. I am talking about the ACTUAL DESIRES of my heart. NOT....what it "should" be. NOT.....what is the typical approach to many people in my same field. NOT....what others think I "should do" or "could do" or "need to do.: I'm talking about what I want to do with my one precious life. Now that there are some CLEAR boundaries on this path and I'm not wandering in the wilderness, the enemy has really come at me. 

For me, the way I know the enemy is meddling is I experience a variety of events and situations that burden me, waste my time, or delay my work. The enemy exploits the weaknesses in me. He exploits the weaknesses in those close to me. Here are some of my examples: insomnia, caffine intake, decisions of family members that end up effecting me somehow, judgement of my weaknesses from others, surprise change in plans or schedule. There are times I feel the nudge, whoa, stop, slow downs of The Holy Spirit and then there are the deliberate hurdles the enemy uses.....that are purely to steal, kill, or destroy plans for God's kingdom work. 

As I reflect this evening, it is not surprising. It is hard to see it, in the thick of things, but: pausing, resting, and reflecting, and finding an opportunity to create helps you to see things differently. I went to my sister's tent at the Antique Show. She has her hat bar set up. (It is called Pink Poodle Patches.) She is in that first lot after the elementary school in Round Top and is set up under some big oak trees, wrapped in lights. I sat there for several hours. Our kids hung out, my oldest worked, and I made two caps for football games and a new bag to keep my religious ed books in for Wednesday's class.  I came home more refreshed and relieved than when I got there. I even got to help a few shoppers design and create and think. During this moment of creativity I realized a few things. There were moments (one in particular) that I allowed the enemy to get the best of me. I let his antics effect me TOO MUCH. There were other moments where he bested me, but through God's wisdom, I was able to recognize  and redeem those moments to some degree. I also remember that this is exactly why I would hard-schedule these creative opportunities AT LEAST once a quarter. It is solid for my mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional health. 

The other thing that I always find SO COOL about cReAtivIty is how God shares it with all of us and we share it with each other. Imagine all the JOY it must bring Him. He is SO good. He loves us SO much. I pray that everyone makes, even the smallest effort, to get to know our Maker. I'm SO grateful for His reminders, even if I have to work myself up in a tizzy to see them. 

These verses resonate with me in this moment: 

Exodus 31:3-6

Ephesians 2:10

Isaiah 43:19

1Peter 4:10-11

God Does Not Operate Under Man-made Rules

I am going to share my reflections from two Bible stories: "The Cure of the Man Born Blind" & "Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well."

When I head to my Bible everyday I'll either ask for guidance on something particularly on my heart OR ask to be led to the message He needs me to hear. I was led to both of these this week & I feel like the message is so profound that I had to share my reflections.

First, Jesus healing the man blind from birth: It can be found in John 9:1-41

There were several things that stuck out to me. The disciples...the very people that followed Jesus asked: "Who sinned? This man or his parents, for him to have been born blind?" Jesus replied: "Neither he nor his parents sinned; He was born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him." 

The way Jesus healed him....using his spit & mud. He healed people by simply speaking the words or touching them. He didn't NEED to make the mud to heal him. I knew THE WAY HE HEALED HIM was on purpose for a purpose.

I also imagined what it must have been like for a man born blind to see for the first time. Can you imagine the electrifying feeling? For the first time in his entire life he sees the textures that he could once only feel. The explosion of colors that lit up his mind... He could now SEE where a smell comes from or what makes the sounds he's heard all his life.... What the food looks like that he eats... 

Then, can you imagine the Pharisees trying to steal his joy? QUESTIONING if he was ACTUALLY blind? Going so far as to seek out the man's parents. 

Maybe the most profound part of the story.... Once Jesus learned what the Pharisees were saying & doing, He found the man. Jesus looked at him face to face & told him that He was the man that opened his eyes & that He was the Son of Man. Let me say it again. Jesus cared SO much, He found the man & looked at Him face to face & reassured him that He was The Son of Man. 

I needed a little help connecting the dots, so I found THIS BLOG by K. Corkins. GREAT one! In this blog it referenced "The Samaratin Woman at the Well" & how this instance with the blind man from birth and the woman at the well were some of the few instances where Jesus directly reveals His identity directly to the person asking. I knew I wanted to read about the woman from Samaria, see it in a new light, but had plenty to think on from the man blind from birth. Besides everything I listed, the only other thing that this blog made me think about is how many of us actually relate to the Pharisees more than Jesus these days. In the blog the author gives an example of his reaction to a homeless man. He referred to how he viewed him with different kinds of glasses. One pair was "Judgement." The other was "Disbelief." There was another pair for "Fear" & yet another for "Pride." We aren't supposed to wear ANY of them. Jesus didn't. So, going into the next day, that is what I reflected on. When you start putting those glasses on...take them off. 

I go on & carry my lesson into the next day & follow the same routine I had the day before & open the Bible to where I felt led. Again....to the Book of John, but Chapter 5.....about "The Woman at the Well." No joke. In this story, the things that jumped off the page at me was that the woman had been divorced 5 times. My mind automatically went to why? What could have happened? I did some research to find that in that time period, a man could divorce a woman for almost anything. So then I started thinking about the many reasons why this woman could have been divorced: Was she unfaithful? Could she have children? What did she look like? How did she act? How did she treat these men she was married to? How had she been marked? What was her story? I then also wondered: Why did she marry 5 times? Was she forced to? Did she feel like she needed to? Did she find her worth with a man? 

So then, as I thought all these things, I recalled her reaction to Jesus when He asked her to give Him a drink from her bucket. She couldn't believe that this Jew would even consider drinking from her bucket. She didn't know what to think of it. Her reaction was almost downgrading who she was, a Samaratin, by coming into agreement with the culture at the time - that a Jew was of higher stature than a Samaratin. Like....she had been carrying this SHAME about who she was....like it consumed her. 

So then....to get a little more insight I read THIS BLOG by  B. Graham Simpson. TOTALLY WORTH THE READ. I hope I forever remember this message. It doesn't say it quite like this, but it is how I interpret it. Jesus WANTS to drink from our dirty bucket. He wants to open up conversation with us. He wants us to consume Him: "The spring of life," so the world does not consume us. 

When she ran back to town & told everyone & Jesus came & ministered to them; I also thought to myself.... When she said: "He knows EVERYTHING about me..." Did He cleanse her from EVERYTHING? Did He take the SHAME she had been carrying...maybe her entire life....that which OBVIOUSLY had CONSUMED her. Yes. I believe so. I believe that she ACCEPTED Jesus. She already had the faith. She told Him that. When she chose to consume Jesus, "The Giver of Life", her old self died. Her old self died & the shame went with it. The shame that came from the sins of the world.

So what is the AWESOME that I take away from these passages? Why is it worth sharing? Our God is SO awesome. He healed the blind man the way He did to prove to the world that He does not operate by man-made laws. He was here to do the work of His Father. He used EVERY BIT of the time He was here for the will of God....even on the Sabbath...even when man said not to. 

He not only spoke to the woman at the well, but He drank from her bucket. He did not care that she was a Samaratin. He did not care that she was a woman. He did not care that she had been divorced 5times. He CARED that she NEEDED Him & was willing to accept Him. 

He broke through prejudice, racism, sexism, politics, judgement, condemnation.... He WILL NOT operate under the expectations of man. He WILL NOT limit himself to make man happy. He does not want us to diminish our spirit to please men. He wants us to take all that CONSUMES us in this world...all the sin & give it to Him, so He can give us the life that GOD calls us to have....not what man tells us we should have. 

He WANTS to drink from your bucket: failed relationships, bad decisions, handicaps, illnesses, shame, guilt, regret, fear, loss....ALL OF WHAT CONSUMES YOU.....& give YOU life. 

Buck UP Baby & Ride with Jesus! I mean....there is NOTHING more exciting. There is nothing more electrifying. He will open your eyes to ALL the things He wants to add to your life. God Bless!