I’ve always assumed I wasn’t a creative person. I can’t play a musical instrument… unless you count the 4-5 worship melodies I can plunk out on the piano with my index finger and thumbs (not bad for 6+ years of piano lessons, huh Mom). I can’t paint or even draw a good circle. My art teacher always had to help me make my paintings recognizable.

But just because I’m not a musician or an artist doesn’t mean that I’m not creative. In fact, I’ve recently discovered that I’m very creative… at least that’s what my wife, my kids, and my work-team say about me! And I’ll bet your story is similar to mine.

We were created to communicate. Your Creator planted it inside you. I want to challenge you to look for it – the grace to create and to communicate His glory through your gift. For me as of late, it’s been writing a book and a Storify allegory.
Producing BeardLove with my kids.
Making roasts & jerky from my son’s deer.
Building stuff for our home.
But I’ve always enjoyed teaching big truths to a crowd / class or whipping up something in Photoshop for our church.

*NOTE: This is the first time that I’m admitting this to you because I think it’s the first time that I’m willing to admit it to myself: I let a divisive family and an ugly situation in a church steal my inspiration. I pretty much stopped writing, creating, and crafting. The tragedy is that was in 2009. I was starting to come out of it, but then when suicide took my dad in 2012, I allowed myself to slip back. And I stayed there.

Find Your Inspiration. It sounds silly but all it took was three Christian concerts and a meet-up for creatives (yes, I felt very out of place and wondered why I was there). All four of these events took place within 3-4 weeks. They absolutely and completely pointed me to the unimaginably radiant glory of God that soaks into all of life. Those majestic ideas still get me out of bed early and keep me up long after everyone else is snoring.

God gave you His grace to create and to communicate His glory through your gift. Find your gift and use it!

Why am I saying all this? Well as I type this, I don’t for sure – but I bet that you needed to be reminded of why you’ve been given that opportunity to make a difference. Maybe you’ve been questioning if you’ve got what it takes. Maybe you’ve doubted yourself for too many decades and now it’s time to dig out the guitar, the paint brushes, the typewriter… Or maybe I’m just writing this for me. Maybe I needed it today – or maybe God will use this to open up a door for me to keep on creating and communicating.