Hi, friends!
Happy mail is a surefire, direct path to my heart, and the minute I received the new Illustrated Faith die cuts, stickers, and loads upon loads of other incredible goodies, I dove right in, overcome with joy and excitement! My one year-old boy watched and mimicked me from his high chair as I “oohed!” and “aahed!” over each piece, and my creative soul just couldn’t wait to get started making.
During the baby’s nap time I went back into Shanna’s “Created To Create” devotional, and turned to the first page — OWN IT. Exodus 35:31-32 are the referenced verses there, and let’s add verse 33:
“…and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts.”
Exodus 35:31-33 NIV
God has called me to:
MAKE IT
I have been created in the image of The Creator, filled with His Spirit, and gifted with all kinds of skills to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. So I make stuff. (A lot of stuff.)
WRITE IT
When I create in the Spirit, more often than not I feel a deep, deep longing to write about my work in order to reflect upon what God was doing in my heart as I created a particular piece or page. I’ll either write a blog post, dedicate a section of the actual bible page or art piece to a written prayer and some personal thoughts, or I’ll make some detailed notes in a separate notebook.
SHARE IT
This one can be difficult when I allow fear to get in the way, but through prayer and courage, and out of obedience, I do usually share my work and my words with someone. After all, as I mentioned in my previous post for Illustrated Faith, sharing my heart in this way allows me to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation,” as Jesus calls His disciples to do in Mark 16:15.
Finally, God has called me to:
OWN IT
Just as Shanna says in the “Created To Create” devotional, I “see the world through a colorful lens,” and that is awesome! I must admit that I’ve been guilty of believing lies about the unworthiness of my art, and have put myself and my work down many times, but that ends here! I am going to own the fire and creativity that God has so intentionally gifted me with, and I am going to share it with confidence.
Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd Be Bold bible mat | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd Created To Create kit (devotional & stamp) | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd precision pens (.25 & .65) | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd die cut prompts (Pop Culture, Friendship, Go, Family) | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd Big & Bold alpha stickers (Black Eyed Pea) | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd Homespun alpha stickers (Apple Of My Eye) | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd ink pad (Black Eyed Pea) | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd acrylic block | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd Cute Clips (Adam’s Mix) | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd Enamel Hearts (Apple Of My Eye, Mrs Blueberry) | Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd Date It stamp | Bella Blvd Tiny Text alpha stickers (black)
Awesome!