It has taken me a while to come to terms with the fact that I am creative. I didn’t think that I was very creative when I was a child. I would watch my mother and my sister, and see their style of creativity, and think: I can never do that. My mother and my sister have creative styles that are rambunctious, vibrant, daring, and improvisational.
It’s like they are playing jazz with life. It is a whole lot of fun to be around, even when it can be a little overwhelming.
And when I compared myself to them, I wasn’t exactly like that, and so I didn’t know how to think of myself as being creative. I liked to have things in order. When I tried to do things on a whim, I ended up being far too heavy handed, and overbearing, and ended up with way too many stickers on my periscope.
My creative style is one of austerity. It has elements of improvisation; you cannot create without being free to the leading of the Spirit. I also follow guidelines that help keep me set toward the purpose I’ve planned.
Clearly, I am creative. I write. I sing (daily). I preach (don’t TELL me that ain’t creative). I knit. And I dance.
I wonder if those who say that they are not creative have set a wall or barrier in front of themselves. Do they think that they have to create something? Do they think they have to create something out of nothing? Only God can do that.
For those of us who claim the gift of creativity, especially as we begin to acknowledge that we have received it from God, we know that we work in tandem with God’s creative work in us. We use what God has given us, we use the materials that we find, we take up raw elements, and we put them together to create something new, something beautiful, something that displays the glory of God.
God creates us. We bear the creative, living Word of God to the world, in new creative ways, each day.
Quietly Rolling Thunder 