Creativity Comes From the Creator

In the movie Limitless, Bradley Cooper takes a little pill that gives him amazing clarity and the ability to do things he could never do before.  He instantly becomes hooked.  He came face to face with a version of himself he never knew existed, and he really liked it.

What do you think the version of yourself that God sees looks like?

You may need to take a break from reading this blog to think about that...

Really...

So, what does the version of yourself that God sees look like?

Have you imagined your potential?  The divine design.  The creativity that lies within you. 

How about those things that you may be responsible for fulfilling; things that only you can fulfill.

I've aspired to be a writer for so many years.  Blah blah blah.  My husband's been hearing my would-be writer musings forever.  So here is what has recently liberated me.  I don't have to try to be a writer.  I just have to get with the Creator.  I don't want that to sound trivial, as if it's my ticket to writer extraordinaire status. 

It's a paradigm shift.  If I've desired to be a writer for this long then it's probably a divine desire that was put there by the One who designed me.  And perhaps I've been shirking my responsibility all this time, using lame excuses, mostly centered around my own insecurities and temporary shortsightedness. 

I have to continually be yielded to the Source of all creativity, so that His ideas may flow through me to reach those that He intended to be reached by the things that I pen.  It is all intended to bring Him glory.

I'm grateful for those around me that pull me closer to what God has for me.  One of those people is author Karen Kingsbury.  I had the privilege of meeting her in 2010.  I asked her one question and was stunned by her answer.  I wanted to know how long it took her to write a book.  She told me anywhere from 48 hours to 3 weeks.  W-O-W.

I love how she explains her amazing gift on the FAQ section of her website (karenkingsbury.com).  She tells of how God drops the ideas in her head and from there she has the responsibility of writing it down.  What an amazing partnership.

See, I believe God has such purposes for all of us.  In your field of work, in your tasks as a homemaker, in your schoolwork, wherever it is that God has you. 

He can deposit in you all that you need, including creativity for the tasks that you face.

There is such FULLNESS in Jesus Christ... "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself..." Colossians 1:19

The End is Here

On November 30th we closed the doors to our business.  I played businesswoman for a little over three years and I close this chapter of my life saying that it was a great experience.  Even though we "went under" financially, the experience has grown me on so many fronts. 

I have to say that for most of my grown up years, even though I grew up in a Christian home, I could not comprehend God's love.  I remember flying to Rota, Spain when I was in the Navy, going on deployment, and I read an entire book on the flight.  It was a book about love.  The entire first chapter was the author trying to help the reader understand God's love for us.  The author had verses and even mantras that you could say to yourself in the mirror.  But yet I couldn't really relate.  It didn't feel personal. 

That was 10 years ago.

This year, God has revealed His love for me in astounding ways.  As children of God, when we grasp the extravagant love our Savior has for us, our whole life changes. 

Time and time again, He has shown up all throughout this year in ways that were absolutely and undeniably Him.  And to finish out the year, the Creator of the Universe showed up once again in such an amazing way.

It turns out that going out of business tends to drain you financially and as we closed the doors and cleaned out our space, our bank account got pretty cleaned out as well.  We owned a franchise and had been told that as long as we followed all the closing procedues the legal department would release us from our franchise agreement with just a minimal fee.  I had no idea what the fee would be but I figured I could work it out with them later.  The key word here is later.  I was ready to jump into Chriiiiiiistmaaaaas. 

Well, it turns out they weren't thinking along the same lines.  I got an email in mid-December stating that in order to be released from all the penalties that I should incur from breaking my franchise agreement, they would need to receive a certified check for $1000 by December 31, 2011.

Wo, wo, wo!  (If you haven't seen the Patty Cake Cats youtube video, you must! Then you'll understand my use of ...) Wo, wo wo!  I was not ready for that one. One thousand dollars in two weeks.  We didn't have that!  Panic set in.  And then my dear husband reminded me that I had just shared at church about God's favor and how we need to change the way we speak because He always has our back.

Then I was like, oh yeah.  That's right.  I went in my prayer closet(the bathroom this time) prayed(cried) about it, and completely and totally gave it to God.  I actually went from panic mode to not worrying.  I can do all things through Christ. 

Then, I reminded myself of the stone that Samuel set up.  Here's what it says in 1 Samuel 7 verse 12... "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up... and called its name Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us."

God had brought me this far in this life-changing journey and for that moment in time I ceased to believe that He would continue to help me.  Why would God leave me hanging at the very end?  Why would He leave me at all? 

He won't.

He never will.

He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Awesome song playing in the background - AWESOME SONG - "Always" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN7L3m9jIcc

Ok, where was I.  That song has a way of grabbing me. 

$1000 that I didn't have.  Right.

Well a few days after I got the email that threw me into panic mode, we received an unexpected check in the mail for $181.00.  I was like, "Sweet:) Alright, 181 down 819 to go!"

Then another week passed, one week before my deadline, and I was starting to "figure something out."

My figurings were about to get the best of me when last Friday we got another unexpected check.  Guess how much it was for?  $823.

Ha!

Please, do not forget.  When you are a child of God, there are no coincidences.

This, my friends, is a picture of God's faithfulness.


"For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." Romans 11:36

Conditions Permitting

We were driving back to my mom's house from the awesome Curves convention & training.  It's a two hour drive, so I had plenty of chances to see the speed limit signs, which kept bouncing around between 45, 55, & 65. 

What I like about these Jersey signs is that right below the big numbers is some fine print.  CONDITIONS PERMITTING.  As I was driving along I couldn't help but reflect on those two words.

Although the intent is to go 55 miles an hour on this road, conditions don't always allow for that.  The same goes for my life.  So I'm asking myself if I know when the CONDITIONS are telling me I need to slow down.  Being a mom to a 3 and 5 year old is definitely one of those conditions.  As I'm writing this blog, the conditions have already caused me to stop twice.  But stopping to tie my daughter's necklace and helping my husband find a nailcutter are important to me.  I don't want to run over my family because I am so focused on a goal: POST NEW BLOG.  By the same token, I don't want to run over any construction workers on the road!

I have to recount to you something I read in one of the books I'm currently reading.  The book is called Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God, by Mark Batterson. 

Two psychologists from Princeton University did an experiment that was inspired by the Bible story of the Good Samaritan.  In this story, a traveler is mugged and left for dead on the side of the road.  Several people walk past him, including a priest, but don't offer any help. Then came the Samaritan, who scooped the man up and took him to a safe place.

The setting for this experiment was a campus full of seminary students.  The seminarians picked for the experiment were first interviewed and asked why they wanted to go into ministry.  Most said they wanted to "help people."

Then, they were told to prepare a short sermon they would have to preach in a nearby building.  Half of them were told to prepare a sermon on the Good Samaritan, and the other half on other topics.  Then they were sent to give their sermons.  Along the way, an actor was strategically placed in an alley, portraying the traveler from the Bible story.  He was hurt, and groaning loud enough for passersby to hear. 

The researchers figured that those doing a sermon on the Good Samaritan would be more likely to stop than those that were preaching on other topics.  That wasn't the case.  The factor that was most prevalent was the final twist in the experiment.  Some of the seminarians were told, "You're late, you'd better hurry."  The others were told, "You're early, but why don't you start heading over there."

The results: Only 10% of those who were in a hurry stopped to help, versus 63% of those who were not in a hurry!  It didn't matter what their sermon topic was.  It only mattered if they thought the CONDITIONS were PERMITTING them to stop and help.

What an eye-opener!

"Hurry kills everything from compassion to creativity."- Mark Batterson

Here's a link to that book: http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Goose-Chase-Adventure-Pursuing/dp/1590527194/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288192573&sr=8-1

Live Long and Prosper!

Some topics are quite hard to grasp; to really wrap your mind around.  A few things I put in that category are heaven, the universe, and the human heart.  We know the heart mainly as an extremely vital organ.  Just 18 days after conception, the human heart begins its work.  In an average lifetime it will beat over 2 billion times, without ever pausing!

A good workout strengthens your heart and lungs, increases blood flow to your muscles, and ultimately helps your heart work more efficiently.  I definitely want to help my heart be more efficient!  I want to keep it pumping oxygen-rich blood throughout my body for a very long time!  "Please, how can I can help you?!" is what I'm thinking.  Well, if you asked your heart the same question, it would tell you, "Exercise, eat healthy, and stay away from things that make me work harder, like smoke, drugs, alcohol, anger, and bitterness." 

Well, ok, those last two I added in.  You won't find that listed in any mainstream publication.  But I would venture to say that "keeping your heart with all diligence" is just as important as those other recommendations, "for out of it spring the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23)

Did you know that the Proverbs were written by the wisest man who ever lived? Solomon wrote the Proverbs as a guideline to his sons for how they should live their life.  He was passing on what he thought was vitally important for a prosperous life. 

My favorite dictionary, Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, defines heart as "the chief part; the vital part; the vigorous or efficacious part."  When you see the word "heart" in the Bible, hundreds of times, this is what it is referring to, and this is what Solomon is referring to when he speaks of the heart throughout the Proverbs. 

As a side note:  Have you noticed how convenient it is that there are 31 chapters in Proverbs?  One for each day of the month.

Let us ponder what it means to keep our heart with all diligence.  The implications this proverb leaves us are many, both on a physical and spiritual level.

"My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands within you.  Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye.  Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart." Proverbs 7:1-3

Fresh Air

Well, we can almost open our windows again and stop dipping into the college fund to pay the electric bill.  It's one of my favorite times of year.  I love the newness in the air when fall is beginning.  It's so refreshing!  It makes me want to find a big field, skip around with my arms wide open, eyes to the heavens, exclaiming, "Thank you Lord!"

This season also means that Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  It makes me stop and count my blessings, literally.  Even with all the negative things going on in the world, and the economic forecasters claiming that things are only going to get worse,  "I lift up my eyes to the hills...

...where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." 
Psalms 121: 1,2