Remember "Creative"?

 “There is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.”   Martha Graham


Creative/create are "my words" for 2014.

I've come to realize that a lot of my creative work involves

generating creative ideas
and watching others bring them to fruition.

Like the decorating of the dollhouse
inside and out...

 “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” 
— John Steinbeck

 the installation of a plug-in in our kitchen island...

or the painting of several miscellaneous picture frames.

I DO do weekly creative writing, select music for our congregational singing

at church, and play the keyboard each Sunday,

but maybe my creative energy is MOST directed toward coming up

with activities that will engage my mother when I visit her

several times a week in the Special Care Unit (Memory)

where she is a resident.

  Above, she is engrossed in the arrangement of the doll house that I carried in one morning...

below, we test the capability of a vintage cash register/bank

to count and register the coins we inserted.  (It worked perfectly!)

I'm afraid I've not consciously planned or documented a creative activity every day,

but I DO enjoy those that I have and hope to include many, many more in the days to come.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to remember that

 “You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.”  Jack London

By the way, how are YOU incorporating "YOUR word" into your year so far?

Create

I've not been secretive about my difficulty in coming up with "my word" for 2014.  And I think I  said earlier that even if I did select one, I'd probably not post it here!  Well, I've changed my mind.

Without going into a lot of detail, I will simply announce that the word is CREATE.  I will be assembling other Bible verses that refer to "my word", but the one that came to my mind first was Psalm 51:10--an expression of my heart's desire on this 4th day of January 2014:

Create in me a clean heart, 

O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

As I began reading through the Bible (chronologically) this year, I've obviously been cognizant of God's magnificantly creative acts that formed this beautiful world and all that it contains...

I'm also remembering Edith Schaeffer's writings about creativity and hope to reread a few of them.  Additionally, I plan to be more intentional about exploring, exercising and expanding my God-given creative abilities.  Yes.  Even at age 65!

I began today by creating some applesauce; cooking some apples in our crock pot, running them through the blender, and stirring in a tad of brown sugar and cinnamon before I refrigerated it.  This afternoon I plan to stencil the floor in a room or two of this doll house  that my husband applied his creative touches to on New Years Day.   (See more of his work here.)

I'm kind of relieved to have this "word-thing"

off my mind!

It should leave me more time to CREATE!

Done!  I even applied a stencil on the wall under the stairway!

i for got my how to play the piano

During the school year, I'd been giving free piano lessons to a young neighbor girl. After summer vacation began, her mother and I  just never got around to setting up a summer schedule. And so, earlier this week, I received this message on my facebook page:

 i for got my how to play the piano 

i am so sorry

I smiled as I read it and then invited her down to spend an hour at my house.  I told her we'd review "piano" and she could spend some time arranging the doll houses that share the room with the piano.  (I suspected this news would make her very happy since I know she likes the doll houses waaaaay more than piano lessons.)

She arrived at the appointed time with her little sister.  She played the piano a bit, then I set the timer for 10 minutes so she could arrange the doll house.  Then it was back to piano for a spell.  And so we passed the hour.

Reflecting on  the precious note she sent me that got the "ball rolling", I thought about how many times I've said (in effect) to the Lord, "I for got my how to play the piano i am so sorry".  My words may be awkward, but they get the ball rolling!  The Lord reads between the lines and knows my heart.  He invites me to spend some time with Him.  Knowing my limitations, He welcomes me and offers forgiveness, quiet waters, pleasures, and refreshment.  He gently reminds me of His Word and gives me new insight and instruction about Life and Godliness.

He IS faithful and just to forgive my sin.

He cleanses me from all unrighteousness.

He DOES restore my soul.  

He sets my feet on solid ground.   

He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.

At the end of the hour, I told the girls I would take a picture of the rooms they'd arranged and then they'd better get home so their mother didn't worry about them.  To this, my piano student replied, "Oh, she doesn't worry about us as long as she knows we're with YOU!"

Smile. 

Fun on the Farm

Here's how we spent quite a few hours today!  I even re-learned how to build a cabin out of Lincoln Logs!  We are tending 98 animals at last count. 

Models: Find One and Be One

For some of you, this might be an old story (our dollhouses, etc.).  But there's a new twist here!  My husband had just started refurbishing this dollhouse that I purchased in a Chicago thrift store for $1.50.  It had a sloppy paint job and was a blotchy pink color all over.  I asked him to paint the roof brown. the window frames white, and the doors green.  He got this far and asked if this was what I had in mind.


About that time, I received communication from a friend touring France.  She included this picture...of Claude Monet's home.  "It's OUR dollhouse!" I exclaimed.

This is the newly painted exterior.  We left the pink rustic.

Then I took the plunge and decided to add Monet's vines--at least to the chimney...

Though we had started the project, it was helpful to have a good model to follow.  It's not so different in life.  The Apostle Paul knew this when he told the Corinthian Christians, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1).

I realize that I look for examples in both "real life" and the blog world.  I ALSO realize that it is important to evaluate and be selective about the models we follow as well as the models we display to others.  

I'm not sure the chapter division a good one in this case.  Right before it (at the end of chapter 10) Paul writes:  So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God--even as I try to please everybody in every way.  For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.  Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

This is a model I can trust.  This is the kind of model I want to be.

Working Wonders!

See the wall-papered rooms up close here!
My Man, His Projects, My Pleasure.
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her..." (Ephesians 5:25 and following)
Every day, in big ways and small, my husband loves me and gives himself up for me.

More Activity

Dollhouse decorating (see more at The Gates' Post)

and some egg-breaking (for eggs-in-a-bag).  You can see the how-to on internet.  Just google something like eggs-in-a-bag!  Great fun and tasty, too.

All of our grandchildren live many miles away.  So we have to cram a lot of lovin' and activity into a few, short days at a time. Well, sometimes they feel like l-o-n-g days...and we fall to sleep easily at night to recoup energy for the next short day.

We Have Books

 

 

 

...and we have more than this!
We have children's books,
art books,
coffee table books,
commentaries,
garden books,
picture books,
decorating books,
Christian leadership books,
inspirational books,
devotional books,
funny books,
serious books.
We DO have books.