Created to Create: Embracing Your Inner Artist

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Earlier this week I went to a creative gathering for our church and it really fed my soul. I believe the church is a beautiful breeding ground for creativity, and that when we as the church embrace creativity & the arts, God is truly glorified.

God is the ultimate creator. The ultimate artist. And WE are made in HIS image, meaning we are all creatives.

We are not only works of art, but artists ourselves.

And God lives in us and works through us – giving us access & the ability to tap into supernatural creativity.

I believe it is woven into the fabric of our beings to create. I believe creating helps us to live life F U L L Y & A B U N T A N T L Y. It helps us to be in tune and in alignment with our Creator. I believe that we are designed to pursue a creative, art filled life.

And when you embrace your creative spirit, everything becomes not only a work of art but an act of creative worship. Whether it’s a painting, a poem, a song, a dance – or simply the way you cook for your family, make up games with your children, journal about your day, decorate your home, engage in intentional conversation, or take a picture of the sunset.

Live life beautifully, creatively, and in tune with the artist that lives within you. Break agreement with the lie that you aren’t creative. That you aren’t an artist.  Make space and room in your life to allow creativity to flow freely. Let us not be so lost in the mundane of the day to day that we lose opportunities to create. Let us allow ourselves to fail, to experiment, try new things, and to take risks. Let us be pushed into realms of creativity within ourselves that we didn’t even know existed.

And so, my creative friends, let me leave you with a few practical steps to help foster creativity within you…

1.) Make time for things that inspire you. Maybe it’s going to a museum, seeing a great film, watching the sunset, or listening to a new record. Do something that feeds you, and then try to set aside time after to journal or reflect upon how it felt and any ideas/thoughts it may have spawned.

2.) Do “free flow” writing… sit and write and just see what comes out. Don’t think. Don’t edit. Don’t force it. Just let it flow. Some days it might be nothing, but some days it may turn into something truly beautiful.

3.) Don’t compare. Comparison is the thief of joy. You can’t get started on your creative journey and give up because you are not immediately where you want to be. And if you compare your work to other people’s work, you may give up prematurely and not allow yourself the space & time you need to grow.

Now go and unleash your creativity and make the world a more beautiful, inspiring place!

In love,

Monika

First Fruits

Over the years God has slowly been encouraging me and teaching me how to live a generous life. If I’m totally honest, it’s something I’ve had to work a lot at, because it didn’t always come naturally to me. My guess is it started when I was a child… That “mine” complex we all start out with as children, and that few of us ever really grow out of.

As I got older it manifested itself through our finances. I grew up with money always being pretty scarce. Because of this, even as I grew into adulthood and got married, I had a lot of fear surrounding our finances and I held on so tightly to our income. For the longest time I didn’t give it over to God. I couldn’t let go, didn’t have faith that He would provide for us. Our budget was tight and I felt like we couldn’t afford to both tithe & pay our bills, so we didn’t give at all. Ryan later came to me and told me he felt like we were supposed to start giving, and I resisted… hard. “But we can’t! We’re broke!”

And we were.

But the tithe isn’t supposed to be giving some of your leftovers. It’s the first fruits. Giving helps us to increase our faith – and it doesn’t really require much faith to give God our leftovers.

I love this verse in Proverbs: 24 “The world of the generous gets larger & larger. The world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.” It may seem cheesy at first, but this has been so true in my life. As I’ve learned to give and to live generously, openhandedly, my world has gotten larger and larger. I’ve been entrusted with more financially, I’ve had more opportunities, I’ve been able to travel more. But before, I was always anxious and not living generously and my world was truly smaller.

Even now, though I cheerfully tithe, God continues to teach me about generosity. Now it just looks a little bit differently, and is actually regarding my time. As a busy mom of two it feels as though I rarely get a moment to breathe, let alone try to get any work done. I often feel overwhelmed with my never ending to-do list, and frequently think “there just aren’t enough hours in the the day!”

But then I hear the whisper of the Spirit say to me “give to me the first fruits of your time, and you will have plenty.” So I’ve been working to do that. To start my day with praying, reading, and learning. Giving God the first fruits of my day.
And this amazing thing happens where I am then able to go throughout my day and check off my to-do list with a happy, calm spirit instead of an anxious one. Starting my day off seeking after Him, posturing myself in an open & humble way to allow God to work in me and through me.

I want to be someone who is generous with her time & gifts, and doesn’t cower back in fear or excuses. Even when they seem justifiable. Earlier this year, I was working with a friend on launching a new MOPS group at our church. I really feel called to encourage moms & do life with fellow moms in this crazy season with littles, and I was really excited to launch this program at our church. But after having our second baby in February, I was completely overwhelmed. I had a very hard c-section recovery, I was completely exhausted, adjusting to life with two, dealing with Cora’s acid reflux & tummy troubles, and trying to find our new normal. To be honest, the idea of leading MOPS was completely overwhelming and every part of me wanted to retreat. It felt like too much. I had one foot out the door and wasn’t sure I wanted to be the one to head this thing up.

But then one day when I was praying, God asked me to just try it. To just commit to it for a season and see what it felt like. My co-coordinator who was leading our little group was going out of town – and so I decided to just commit and go “all in” and fully plan & lead our last several meetings. Sometimes for me… I just have to decide. Decide to dive in and surrender my doubt. And so I did. And this amazing thing happened where I had a renewed passion & fervor for MOPS. I saw the potential of the ministry and I was really excited to launch our full program in the Fall. I felt full of ideas & inspiration. And instead of it being draining, it was life giving.

Sometimes, we just have to decide.

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So I ask you this: is there an area you feel God speaking to you or challenging you in or maybe you feel a nudging of the spirit… but you come up with excuses? Every part of you wants to retreat? Thanks, but no thanks? I want to challenge you to just try it. Just commit to it for a time, and see how God uses you. How God can change your heart, and maybe even what blessings may come your way if you surrender that part of your life to him.

In Love,

Monika

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Life Lately

 

[Evie got a big girl bed! Seriously, she LOVED it and is doing so great in it!]

A whole lotta coffee & a whole lotta Jesus getting me through these past few weeks. Some of the hardest weeks of my parenting life thus far. Mostly due to my sweet Cora and her never ending tummy troubles, leading me to many sleepless nights.

But, on the hard days, I know to focus on what I am grateful for and keep my eyes fixed on HIM. So much beauty and so much to be thankful for. So just going to keep on keeping on and enjoy time with my sweet family!

Father's Day

Love the way these two play together. Daddy can get her to giggle like no other! I’m so thankful for the father that he is to our girls. We loved getting to celebrate him yesterday for Father’s Day.

I snapped these pictures of the two of them playing together about a month ago, and then edited them & gave them to Ryan for Father’s day. Now we just need to get some more of him & Cora ;)

When Aunt Bessie Comes to Town

What a fun week we had with Aunt Bessie & her boyfriend, Brad, in town! Eveleigh was in heaven, as you can imagine! We went whale watching, kayaking, went to the beach, and soaked up time together! I was a little sleep deprived, as Cora has decided to wake 2-3 times per night (four month sleep regression? I don’t know), but we loved having them here!

As hard as it is living far from our families –  I do feel like the time we do have, we make the most out of. Sometimes when you live close to family, I think it’s easy to take them for granted, or not be intentional about your time together. But when we’re all together, we get to squeeze in a years worth of hangouts into one memorable week!

I’m so proud of Bethany and the beautiful woman she is becoming. She was only 7  when Ryan and I started dated, and it has been so sweet watching her grow up. She is so full of joy & laughter and of God’s love. Can’t wait to see all that God has in store for her <3