Making: Our Makings vs God's Makings

I recently gave a talk on being creative. Along this line of thought: "we, having been created in the likeness of God, are mini makers/creators which leads to us being creative" and since God's first order of business (at least mentioned in the Bible) was Him creating, and the last order of business mentioned Revelations is also Him creating, we also are compelled to make.

And so, I have been rolling this idea around in my head.
Pondering how the two look (us making vs God making), how they're different, and how God intended them to be.

Here are a few of my observations, which by no means hold any authority or even wisdom but just my thoughts.

In an unusual moment of solitude I was sitting outside while the sun was setting and the sky was a brilliant orange and the clouds were a powdery violet and all the trees were becoming silhouetted and just simply marveling at God's handy work. I was moved with how breathtaking it all was, and in hindsight, I am incredibly thankful that I used those moments to just sit and watch and be.

When I think of God making in the physical world, I am struck by the fact that HIS work is alive, and living and organic and growing. It's not 100% self sufficient but it was designed with inner workings to exist through seasons and the environmental changes.
               For example: A tree still needs soil, water, sunlight, air, etc (all things that God also made) to thrive but it knows what to do when the season changed. It was designed that way. It doesn't need the level of upkeep say a house does. Houses collect dust, and don't know what to do when they get that way. A house needs to be cleaned. And even our most complex inventions aren't alive. Take technology, one drop into a bucket of water, and bye-bye smart phone or fancy computer. Look what happens to abandon buildings in this Detroit photo series.


It's eerie. Those walls weren't made to sustain such extreme temperature changes. It was built with the thinking it would be properly heated and cooled in the appropriate seasons. So the paint is peeling and the walls are falling. Trees don't need that. Sunsets don't need our help to happen and don't require our "upkeep" to be AMAZING!

On a more personal note, I've been thinking about my paintings. Their purpose, I hope, is to allow the viewer to ponder ideas that relate to God. But they will fade, become damaged, and possibly even be forgotten forever. And that's okay. It doesn't make me making them less significant. It just shows the gap between the marvel and magnificent quality of God as Creator and me as creator. Eternal vs Finite. My making was intended for worship. I will continue to think about this...probably for the rest of my life.

Here are some portions of scripture that came to mind as I was writing this:

Isaiah 55:8-9

⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and My ways are not your ways,” says the Lord. ⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. 

Matthew 6:19-21
¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What's been Man"Happenin"?

Wyatt's little miniature snowman since we had hardly any snow this winter, he worked with what was given to him. 

Our sweet little Claire Pauline. Almost three months old now!

A suiting winter coat since we call her "Claire Bear".

The Valentine's Wyatt took to school this year...we had fun making them :)

Confession: I've been a horrible blogger. (surprise-surprise!)

But here are a few quick pics from the last few months. With no real thread of unity other than being from our daily lives :)

Speak 'Friend' and Enter

Recently I've been trying to "create" a more inviting environment for our guest room. I started with painting a headboard for the room (my camera isn't capturing the true colors but it's close enough). Then I painted an old table to put beside the bed (don't have a picture of that). I sewed the dressed runner early for a Thanksgiving runner and decided to move it guess room afterwards because it matched. One of the last decorating things I did was make the cloth/light garland to hang above the bed to create fun mood lighting for our company. Then it just came to rearranging things we already owned. I had so much fun and am still adding things here and there.

Do you have any hosting advise or resources that have helped you in your pursuit of creating an inviting, fun, and comfy place for your honored guests??

Because I 'Felt' a Little Hungry

Shown above: Sandwich with two slices of bread, lettuce, cheese, two tomatoes that double 

as meat balls, bow-tie pasta, egg, taco/pizza, carrots and sugar snap peas. 

I tried my hand at making some felt food a few weeks back. Got online and looked up a few references from Etsy and Pinterest to see how the pros do it. I was blown away at how intricate you can get. I mean,  I wanted to bust into my computer and eat some of the adorable/delicious looking  cupcakes I saw.  I used what I had and just played around. Most pieces I just used all purpose glue to double the thickness and add durability. I added a few little embroidery details (as many as I had patience for). Some foods I ran out of time to make that also look very easy were: bacon and cookies (now that sounds yummy together).

What I learned: 

• Sugar snap peas don't deserve that much embroidery...two was my limit. 

• But in all seriousness, it was a lot of fun to make these playful morsels. The best things in life just take a little time. 

Let's Begin Again

I tend to feel like the year should start over the day after Christmas. I'm ready for a new beginning after all the hustle and bustle.

I'm ready to begin my year of "Creating"!!!

Last Fall I picked up the brushes after a long time and did this commission piece for our babysitter (painting for free babysitting for a month = pretty sweet). She picked out a photo of what she wanted and this was my interpretation. I'm so thankful she asked me because it reminded me of how much I love to create. It reminded me that all endeavors have their sweet moments but also their times of drudgery and require perseverance. It has inspired me to paint, draw, and make more.

AND I'm look forward to connecting with the original Creator in the process. 

Goals so far: 

• I booked my first "art show" at a local coffee shop (not until August so I have some time). 

• Playing around with the idea of doing the 365 project which is basically taking a photo a day (Claire could be a big incentive for this one). 

• To do a study in scripture explore the ways God has displayed creativity (so excited about this one...our redemption story is SUPER creative).

• And to not be afraid of failure for it's far better to start than fear the finished product.

YEEE HAW! What a fun weekend!

This weekend was such a blast! We had a barn dance (that was actually in a gym but it still had a country feel) with The Navigator students. Wyatt was so excited to go to his first barn dance and cut a rug. He even wore a cowboy hat (he's not a big fan of hats as a general rule).

Then on Sunday we had some of our dear friends from college come visit so I could take their family photos. It was a hoot and we got some good pictures out of the gig. I can't remember the last time I laughed that much. Love these three!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! It's hard to believe Thanksgiving's a week away...crazy!

Wyatt's FIRST TIME EVER trick-or-treat Adventure

 At our front door...getting all JAZZED

 This was his look as we walked up to the first house.
It says "Am I really going to do this!?!" But you know what folks? He TOTALLY rocked it! It couldn't have been a more gorgeous evening. The neighborhood we went to was over flowing with adorable babies all the way up to "I-still-want-my-candy-so-I'll-dress-up" teenagers. Nothing was too scary. And by the end he was telling us "I can do it myself!!!"

He was a roley-poley for those of you who were wondering. It's an outfit I made for him when he was around 18 months and apparently I made it SUPER BIG. Thus, it still fit (minus me having to sew him into it -- HA!!).

And the sunset that night was UNREAL!!!

Those two cuties!