All kinds of arts and crafts

But the Spirit is the supreme artisan!

Exodus 31:1-5, 35:30-35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel … I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. … And the Lord has given both him and Oholiab the ability to teach their skills to others. The Lord has given them special skills as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet thread on fine line cloth, and weavers. They excel as craftsmen and as designers.

It makes sense that the triune God who created earth in all its beauty and exquisite detail, and in particular created humankind in his image, would delight in our ability to create. I love this story, of God particularly gifting Bezalel and Oholiab, filling them with his Holy Spirit, to lead and guide the crafting of the Tabernacle, an oasis of beauty in the desert. I love the fact that God wanted this mobile place of regular connection with his people to be especially lovely.

Last Saturday our church held an Arts Collaboratives Retreat for people engaged in all kinds of creative pursuits. We have seven Arts Collaboratives: Writers J, Gardeners, 2-D Visual Art, 3-D Visual Art (pottery, knitting, architecture, glasswork …), Songwriters, Music Performers, and Drama. The retreat focused on Psalm 51 in four parts: Who am I without God? Who am I with God? What is my response to God? What is God’s response to me?

Each part included personal meditation on our response to questions related to our art, including toward the end, How am I through my art showing God’s greatness? How do I want to show God’s greatness through my art?

Our church enjoys the fruits of the Collaboratives’ labor in a variety of ways. The Songwriters regularly enrich our worship. A couple of weeks ago, the Music Performers offered a wonderful concert recognizing the in-between time we all live in. During Holy Week and Easter, 2-D and 3-D visual artists displayed thoughtful, intriguing interpretations of the Stations of the Cross. The Gardeners’ Collaborative helps keep our green spaces lovely.

The Writers’ Collaborative does not have a joint project at this point. But on a personal level, we share our work with each other and offer feedback and encouragement. Right now, as I’m working on Three-in-One, a member of our group who has kids the ages of my target audience is giving me valuable input. The book will be much better because of his own experience with writing for 9-12 year olds.

I depend on the Holy Spirit to help me every time I write something (including these blogs). In the case of this book, I have repeatedly asked for prayer that God will open my mind and guide me through his Spirit to accurately (if inevitably incompletely) represent who God is through this story. If you would like to pray for me in this, I would appreciate it! I am keenly aware of my own limitations, and at the same time I’m learning so much!

Please pray too for Lucy, the teenage artist who is working with me on Three-in-One. And pray for Aderyn, who is figuring out how to handle the challenging ideas I have for illustrating The Gladness Book. (If you’ve seen Campfire Song Stories, Lucy’s and Aderyn’s names are probably familiar to you). I hope both The Gladness Book and Three-in-One will be out by the end of the year, joining The Giggly Bug as this year’s new books.

Inspired by an attempt to help a three-year-old get over her fear of bugs,

now available in hardcover and paperback on Amazon (I don’t know why the cover image isn’t posted yet) and Barnes and Noble.

Thank you, Lord, that when you created us, you desired us to also be creative! Thank you that your Spirit inspires and gifts us in so many different ways.

One of the songs from the retreat keeps running through my mind: Your Labor Is Not in Vain, by Wendell Kimbrough, Paul Zach, and Isaac Wardell.

Longing for Restoration, by Meg Sateia, Pittsburgh mom and educator and artist

But God makes beautiful things

Isaiah 35:1-2 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

This is what we found when we came home from Colombia. More about that next time!

Longing for restoration has been a theme for me as I waited for two surgeries last year, after a long time of attempting to resolve my problems non-surgically, and as I tried to be patient though the recovery process. Ever since sin came into the world, we exist in a perpetual state of longing for things to be made right.

Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we can have hope that God cares about the pain in our world enough to enter it Himself and that He is powerful enough to put an end to death and sadness. He promises to come back again someday and mend all that is broken.

Isaiah 35 gives a glimpse of what God’s kingdom will look like when it is restored to its intended design. It will not just be improved, but perfected. Beyond meeting our basic needs, all of creation will flourish and be made beautiful.

This year I’ve taken comfort in the fact that God doesn’t ask or expect us to fix all our problems in our own strength, but that He invites us to participate with Him in His work of renewing what has decayed and creating new things that are good. When we think about the current wars, our deteriorating bodies, relational conflicts, or our selfish hearts we can feel overwhelmed. But help is coming. Justice is coming. Jesus is coming.

In the meantime, we don’t have to sit back and say, “Nothing matters, because it’s all going to fall apart anyway, and God will just fix it all.” Just as I give small tasks to my young children to help with a bigger job than they can do on their own, the Lord gives us our small part in his work. He uses us despite our past or ongoing faults, with whatever limited resources we have.

As we humbly engage in God’s redemptive work, our values become more fully aligned with God’s values. We become invested in the people and things we’re responsible for and we grow in desiring their good.

For me, working for good means homeschooling our kids, teaching classes on our homeschool community days, helping out in Kids Church, taking meals to people, and hosting people for dinner. I also enjoy weekly time for creative projects like drawing and songwriting.

What’s going on in your corner of the world? Where do you long for restoration? What areas of growth or healing have encouraged you? How are you working to bring about goodness and beauty? I would love to learn from you!

Beautiful Things by Gungor

What are you creating these days?

But God’s breath brings life

Psalm 104:24, 30 O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. … When you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth.

Psalm 139:13-14 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous.

Ephesians 2:10 We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

*Collected on a walk through our neighborhood yesterday*

As around us leaves take on variegated hues, there’s a lot going on in our corner of the world. A new grandchild, soon to be born (perhaps today!) fills us with the awe of co-creation. A co-created book (Treasure Hunt 1904, Book 2 of the Cally and Charlie Series), coming out sooner than expected, bears the imprint of early readers, artists, and designers. Creation of materials and logistics for the first in-person Pastoring of Pastors leaders retreat since 2019, in Bogotá, Colombia October 21-25 engages a whole team of people at one level and all the participants, from twelve countries, at another. Another co-creation with each other and with God.

The last few days while Dave is in Colorado Springs for mission meetings, I re-watched a couple of the early episodes of The Chosen. Remember Jesus the craftsman, leaving carved animals for the girl Abigail when he decamped? And how he created in the minds of the children new vision and spiritual curiosity? I love the visuals of Jesus, co-creator of the universe, a master craftsman in his life as part of our world. I love the fact that God gives gifts through the Holy Spirit, empowering each of us to be creative in our own ways.

What are you creating these days? I would love to know!!