Creation.

One of my favorite parts of creativity is restoration.  Making something fun or beautiful or exotic is fine in and of itself, I guess.  But if there isn't much meaning behind it, it is really pretty lifeless.

When you pour your heart and your soul into creativity, though, it has great purpose and eternal meaning. It's kind of like restoring furniture.  You find this old and tattered couch in need of Stanley Steemer, a detox, and new fabric. Some people might look at it and say "just throw it away".  And then there are those creative few, who can look at it, and see the Future.  At the moment, I'm currently working on a similar project. It's my first big Pinterest one! We were so graciously given the most comfortable loveseat in the whole entire world for Ella's nursery. The only problem was, it didn't really match her room. It worked ok, but I really wanted to re-upholster it.  Not having any clue how to do so until Pinterest came along, I'm now working on a loveseat cover for it as we have placed it into Baby Red's room--and I couldn't be happier.  David asked me if it was too much for me to do while I was pregnant and that we could just buy one, but I said "no". I really wanted to do this; it's part of my nesting.

Because Restoration is part of my DNA.


Every time I wake up in the middle of the night to nurse my baby girl, I will sit and rest in this chair--with the beautifully made chair cover--and I will be full. I will have seen God's hand at work.


One of the most wonderful phrases that I've ever heard came right out of the mouth of Jesus. "Behold, I make all things new." (Revelation 21:5)

When it came out at the theatre, I remember going with a very hurting and angry friend to see the Passion of the Christ. Our relationship had really gone through the ringer. Throughout the movie, he was having a hard time seeing the screen. A little before the part in the movie where Christ is carrying the Cross while being whipped and mocked, He falls to the ground.  His mother comes running toward Him, and He holds her face and says "Behold, I make all things new." I remember praying so hard that my friend would see this part--not because I wanted to change him, or because I wanted him to follow my agenda, or because I wanted to fix him--even though he had pulled some whammies on me.  I just wanted him to see.  I wanted him to see his potential and his worth. About five minutes before this scene came on, he found his glasses in his pocket.  And I cried as we watched this very scene together....HERE.

Jesus can redeem anything--even the most hurtful and traumatic situations in our lives.


That movie was just a beginning. As I let go of my own offenses and bitterness, I saw this friend blossom.  He started to become who he was created to be. He believed...in his own way...that Jesus could make all things new.  And I did nothing to make it happen, except give him an invitation to a movie.


God is gracious enough to include us in the process of restoration. We get to be partakers in His divine nature--if we want to.

But if we really want to see transformation in our lives and in our cities, we have to let our agendas go. We have to drop our politics and also our struggles for power.  When we do that, we can truly create lasting change.


This is why I love creativity so much. It is full of power if used restoratively.  I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said "Make Art. Not War." My thoughts exactly.  If we are humble enough to lay our own lives down, just as Jesus did, we can see Him make all things new in and through us.  We can watch Him raise us to new life; we can be resurrected with Him.

Oh, there have been many times I have been whipped and mocked while carrying a cross. In fact, it happened yet again this week.  The very person I was laying my life down for--spit on me.  And it wasn't the first time.

At that moment, I had two choices. Get angry and offended--and snarl back.  Or choose to see the best in that person--and ask God how I could speak life in response. For a second, I got angry. I thought to myself "We're not past this yet? Really?" And then, I remembered Jesus.

And I let it go.

Once I remembered the well of Forgiveness given to me, I replied to this particular situation. In love. With truth and life.  I didn't ignore the wrong doing, I spoke into it. And then I pulled the Truth of acceptance and love and the possibility of all things becoming new out of this person.

This is creativity. This is Restoration.

Now, let's be clear. I did this with no strength of my own. In fact, before I did it, I came to Jesus with my fists wailing saying "We're doing this again!! Did you see what so and so did to me?? I did nothing wrong and got kicked in the backside by this person again! I know you saw it, Jesus. You were there!"

And after I let it out, He said. "I did see what happened. It made me sad, too. Now, how can we change your perspective to transform this situation? Because I want the best for both of you. You're both my kids."

And that's when He taught me how to oh so lovingly "fight back".  I didn't have to boycott this person. And I also didn't have to take the punch without any reply.

Jesus replied, He rose from the dead.  

And yet, I wasn't ready to reply until I understood the essence of the resurrection in my own life.

We can't speak love to someone if we are judging them at the same time.

It bears no fruit.

And, I don't know about you, but fruit is one of my most favorite things in the world (aside from Cadbury Creme Eggs).  In fact, yesterday, I bought the most wonderful, spiky pineapple in all of Kroger because I wanted to celebrate.

I want the forever kind of fruit, fruit that will last (John 15:16).

When I die someday, please leave me fruit on my tombstone. May it say "She loved always."

Because that is what creativity is all about.  That is why He said "Let there be Light." He loves always...He's always flipping on the Light switch for us.  Hence why, our new baby girl's name means LIGHT.

Happy Friday....may you be refreshed in all the ways He shows you love and light this weekend (and then hand it out to someone else!)....