by Alaina | Apr 21, 2022 | Book Nook, Grace Notes
We think of creativity as something that we either have or we don’t. We think of children with crayons and potters at their wheels—but why do we reduce it and simplify it like this? Why do we act like creativity only affects one area of our life and if we aren’t in a field that we consider to be creative, why do we think we don’t need creativity?
We are the only creatures on the planet gifted with creativity. There is something special about that! As Artificial Intelligence gets more and more sophisticated, the demand for mundane jobs to handle simple tasks will start to disappear. We are coming into a time when cultivating our creativity will be more important than ever. It will be what sets us apart.
Even more than that however, utilizing and cultivating our creativity is a large way we achieve pure enjoyment in this life. I know people who think they don’t have a creative bone in their body, and some who even think they don’t need creativity! We use creativity way more than we think we do. We use it to problem solve and we use it to make things that don’t traditionally fall into the “creative” basket. We use it to derive contentment and joy in our lives.
I think the problem might be how we think about creativity. We need to stop thinking about it as if it can be compartmentalized and shut off from the other areas of our lives. Instead, we need to think of creativity as a way of enhancing the other areas of our lives. We need to expand what we think of as art and start to enjoy creating, dreaming and playing for its own sake and for the joy it bring us—not solely for the outcome these things produce in the physical sense. Below are several books I have loved when it comes to cultivating creativity.
A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman
In A Million Little Ways Ms. Freeman says we need to see our lives through a more artistic lens. We need to stop the inner critic inside our minds and enjoy the fact that all of us, from engineers to janitors, were put on this earth to create in some way, shape, or form. We need to stop thinking that we couldn’t do … fill in the blank.
The Creative Habit by Thyla Thrawp
The Creative Habit by Ms.Thrawp reminded me of Steven King’s On Writing in that she does not believe in a creative block just as Mr. King does not believe in writer’s block. In this book, Ms. Thrawp offers a variety of ways to get yourself unstuck and to inspire your creativity and ways to get your creativity flowing. She shares many examples from her life when she was stuck, on a deadline, and had to get unstuck very quickly!
Called to Create by Jordan Raynor
In Called to Create Mr. Raynor gives biblical context as to why we should follow the urges of our heart and go create. Mr. Raynor also gives examples of how feeling called to create, as an entrepreneur or otherwise, is just as God-honoring as being called to be a pastor or a missionary. He shares how small companies started by solo entrepreneurs have made a big impact in the world. If you are feeling the urge to create a company or business, on whatever scale, don’t dismiss it! God may have a job specifically in mind for you!
If you decide to pick up any of these books, I hope you will feel inspired! Remember creating and creativity isn’t just about the outcome—it is about the enjoyment we derive from the process!
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
Taking Time to Feel the Seasons
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5 Historical Fiction Reads to Kick off Your Summer
Make it Sing
by Alaina | Apr 17, 2022 | Sunday Scripture
Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.
Matthew 28: 5-6 NLT
Last week my parents had to put down one of the cats we have had since I was in high school; she had a good life, but still we hated to lose her. Even though I don’t live there anymore, I still keep thinking about how a week ago we still had Gertie with us. … That’s how it goes, isn’t it? I remember when we lost my grandfather, how I couldn’t believe that just 24 hours ago he had been with us, then 48 hours, then a week, then a month… Time keeps going but we never get our loved ones back on this side of eternity.
I imagine that’s how the disciples felt the day Jesus was crucified. They had just had the Passover meal with Him the night before—how was He now hanging on the cross? Did they feel silly for arguing about who would be first in Heaven? Did they feel betrayed because what kind of Savoir allows Himself to be killed? I think about the three disciples that were with Him in the garden (Peter, James and John)—were they beating themselves up that they hadn’t been able to stay awake in the garden the night before with Jesus? And Peter, oh especially overly enthusiastic Peter, who had declared that he loved Jesus, that he would never forsake him. Before even a couple hours had gone by, Peter had denied him three times. How must he have felt watching the one he loved so much hang on that cross knowing that he had denied him!
The disciples must have counted the days, wandering around in a kind of shocked trance, not fully believing that Jesus was really gone. But then comes the miracle! Jesus didn’t stay dead! Can you imagine having Mary run up to you shouting that she had seen Jesus! That’s the news they had longed for but no one rises from the dead! Still they followed her and found the tomb empty!
It always surprises me that the disciples were so slow to believe when, I mean, this stuff was foretold to them in their scriptures—and by Jesus! Still, we are human, we are familiar with the natural rhythms of this earth, and the natural order of things is that the dead stay dead. But Jesus is not natural. He is not of this earth. He is King of Kings, Lord of Heaven and Earth—and not confined to the rules of this world!
Let us rejoice this Easter in the knowledge that we serve a savoir that death cannot control and that because of Him, those who choose to serve Him, never have to say goodbye for forever.
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
The Lessons We Teach
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by Alaina | Apr 14, 2022 | Decorating, Homemaking
A couple years ago I looked around my house and realized that I did not have anything alive in it … I mean beside myself, my husband, and our pets! But there was no greenery! No plants! There are several reasons to incorporate plants into your decor:
· Plants add life and dimension to our décor, and
· Act as natural air purifiers
According to the list I found, the spider plant, English ivy, and pothos are on the list of the top 20 indoor air purifying plants.
I will be the first to admit that plants are not my forte—in fact I have killed quite a few over the years but, unfortunately for the poor plants, I have persisted and have now kept a number of plants alive, some even thriving! Through this process, I have learned of a few plants that are hard to kill house plants and easier to care for than others. The following are the plants that I like and have been able to keep alive—and the ones I really like in my decor!
Spider Plants
While I detest the name, I really like the plant! My mom always had spider plants when I was growing up and spider plants are the easiest plant to keep alive that I have yet tried. Seriously. I have over-watered (you can root a new plant in water so I don’t really think you can overwater them), under watered, and everything in between and they have still lived. They also don’t necessarily need a lot of natural light in my experience! They tend to grow to fill the size pot you plant them in so if you don’t want a bigger plant—don’t give them more room!
Ivy
I have had my ivy plant for about two and one-half years; my mom gave the ivy to me for Christmas a few years ago and she is astonished every time she comes over and finds the ivy still alive! Ivy is the second longest plant survivor in my house—the first being my spider plant. I water the ivy once a week and she seems very happy. I did move her at Christmastime from our front room (that gets lots of light) to our bedroom (which does not get a lot of natural light) and she did not like that. Except for that, the ivy has been happily growing and I believe she will continue to!
Pothos
I am on my second pothos—the first one I killed. This was especially bad because the plant I killed had been grown by my sister-in-law from a clipping of my husband’s now-deceased grandmother’s plant. Thankfully she knew better than to entrust the main plant to me! She also has a difficult relationship with plants and therefore did not judge me (at least to my knowledge) for killing her plant. She has since given me a second plant-clipping and this one is doing much better than the first!
Air Plants
Ok, I will admit to having killed one of these too—but he lived for two years before his death! (I had named it Harry-because he looked like a Harry of course!) These little air plants can be tucked in so many different places in your decor and look so cute! They don’t take much water; some you have to run the water over for a second or two a few times a week, others you may have to soak in water weekly. Other than that, they really don’t require much. We were away for several days during the winter months and had our thermostat turned down much cooler than we normally would and I believe Harry died because it was too cold for the few days we were away. Air plants are native to the tropics.
Pearl Plant
This plant is technically categorized as a succulent but I don’t think of it as a succulent at all. I find it to be easy to care for, like an ivy, but not requiring a great deal of natural light. With a little water once a week, this plant has been growing very nicely for me.
Succulents
These are not plants that I have had very much luck with. I know, I know—they are supposed to be very easy to take care of, and so hard to kill but I’ve lost track of how many I have killed over the years. I mention succulents in this post, not because I have had great success with them, but because I know others who swear by how easy they are also. If you think you are hopeless when it comes to plants because you can’t even keep a succulent alive, you are not alone! Please try a spider plant or an ivy. If you do decide to try a succulent, here is what I have learned: succulents are supposed to be easy because they don’t require much light or water. I think I have drowned mine by giving them too much water. Apparently they don’t want water every week, or at least as much as I was giving them.
All of the above plants are currently enjoying their life in my home; they exist on one watering a week and a moderate amount of natural light—minimal care that even I can handle! If you have tried having plants in the past and have given up on them altogether, I hope this post encourages you to try again and see what happens!
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start Decorating a Room
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by Alaina | Apr 10, 2022 | Sunday Scripture
They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting, “Hosanna! “ “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”
John 12:13 NIV
In high school I was required to read the play, “Our Town,” and I really enjoyed it. I found it to be such a beautiful, bittersweet play. The play is about a woman, Emily; we see her as a young girl, then as a young woman, then we see her funeral. Emily has the option to go back and pick one day to relive if she chooses. The other dead around her tell her not to, but she chooses to relive a day anyway. Her remembered joy of the day she chooses quickly turns to anguish as she sees all the little things about the day that she wasn’t grateful for or happy about. She wants to yell at herself to enjoy everything, that everything is perfect, that life will go too quickly and she should be enjoying everything.
I’ve often thought of that play and asked myself what day of my life would I choose to relive if I had the choice? Would I pick a big, special day like my wedding day? If I were to choose my wedding day, I would get to see all my friends and family who had traveled from out of town for the big event … but I think I would end up choosing a more mundane day. One that was special, but not super special.
Last year we went camping and that Saturday was great. We had a breakfast of pancakes and bacon with French-pressed coffee that we cooked leisurely at our campsite. We worked on our hobbies before we decided to go to the pool where we alternately swam and read our books. After some time, we made our way back to our campsite and worked on our hobbies again for a while before building a fire and making dinner. After dinner, we cleaned up and relaxed around the campfire; we watched the stars and the flames until we decided to call it a night and go to sleep.
It was a simple day and it was special because we were away, but not all that exciting. We didn’t see anyone special; we didn’t even do anything we couldn’t do fairly easily from home. But it was a great day. It might be one I would consider reliving at the end of my life—but oh how bittersweet it would be knowing the end of the story and watching that day rather than living it now, presumably still near the beginning of my life’s story.
I wonder if that’s how Jesus felt as He rode into Jerusalem that day, all those years ago, hailed by the crowds waving palm branches. Unlike us, He knew the end of the story. He knew that in less than a week the crowd that cheered and waved palms before Him, the crowd that laid their coats on the ground and gave Him a young colt to ride on, would turn against Him. He knew that they would scream for His torturous death. He could feel the bitter sweetness of that moment in its entirety. He knew what the end of His story would be. He knows what the end of all of our stories will be. What a blessing that the end of our stories remain hidden from us. We don’t get the chance to relive days in our lives. We don’t get to change history; we don’t see the future, and we never know when the story of our life ends. But we know this: Jesus came so that when the days of our lives have been cut off and we have no more left, we can go to live with Him for forever.
Forever. Such a short word for such a great expanse of time—more than we can even fathom. Forever. Never ending. We get that chance with our few and precious days here on earth to choose where we want to spend our forever. If we choose Jesus, we will get to spend all of forever in a state that I imagine feels like our best days here on earth. And if we don’t choose Him? I think we will forever feel the pain and regret of all the missed opportunities, all the moments we wish we could go back and reclaim. I urge you to take a good look at the condition of your heart this Palm Sunday and ask yourself, if you were to die today, would you get to live your best days yet forever or would you forever feel the pain of the decision you didn’t make when you had the chance?
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
The Moments of Our Lives
Time is But an Illusion
Faithfulness
by Alaina | Apr 7, 2022 | Book Nook
Sometimes I get in the mood for historical fiction from certain time periods. Sometimes I want World War II historical fiction, other times I’m in the mood for the American Revolution, and other times I want something from ancient times.
Today I am sharing 3 books that take place in the first century. I tend to shy away from reading too much from this time period because it’s just so ancient…. How could I possibly relate to it? But even historical fiction about ancients times can be both gripping and relatable when well done so check out the following titles to see if any sound good to you!
The Medicus by Ruth Downie
When a young slave girl is brought into this first century hospital with a broken arm and nearly dead, no one seems concerned; that is except for Ruso, or the Medicus as he is better known, an army doctor who finds himself down on his luck in an outpost of the Roman Empire, namely Britannia. In a moment of weakness, Ruso purchases this young slave girl from her abusive owner only to find that not only does she refuse to talk to him, but she can’t seem to cook or perform any of the household tasks one would expect of a slave in her position. To Ruso, something does not seem right about this girl and before Ruso knows it he is playing the amateur sleuth, trying to piece together the deaths of the young prostitutes working out of the local bar. Where will all this searching lead him? Will he ever get his slave girl to tell him the truth about herself?
Pontius Pilate by Paul L. Maier
This is a book about the politician Pontius Pilate—yes, The Pontius Pilate—the one who washed his hands of the crowd’s decision to crucify Jesus. It is so easy to demonize this man; the phrase “washing my hands of it,” almost always means standing aside and watching as something we believe to be wrong takes place. However, like a lot of events in history, this pivotal event that Pilate plays a part in was hardly a black or white issue. There were many political tensions running through the area at the time; the Jews had so many laws that made no sense to the Roman ruling class. The event with Jesus was not the first time Pilate had to deal with difficult situations with the Jews. This book is based on as much fact as we have from those times and then gently fleshed out to create a compelling narrative. I found it very engrossing and interesting!
Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
We’ve all heard of Cleopatra but what about her daughter? After Cleopatra commits suicide she leaves behind three children who have to go on living on their own, penniless, and without a country to call their own. Our main character Selene, her twin brother Helios, and their six year old brother, are taken to Rome where they are to be raised in Caesar’s house. While being allowed to live is undeniably a good thing, every move they make is watched closely and could lead to their demise. Young Selene must use all the cunning she possesses to keep her brothers safe in order give them all a shot at a better future. Can Selene makes friends in this foreign country?
While this book is probably more fiction than fact (given that we simply don’t have good records from that time) Lily of the Nile paints a portrait of what life would have looked like, as well as the challenges of three children brought up as royalty having to then conform to the expectations set on them by a different culture. Where is the line between conforming and losing one’s identity?
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
History Mysteries to Curl Up With This Fall
Non-Fiction History Books That Will Keep You Turning Pages!
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