Introducing Andrea!

You may notice that things look a little different on the blog today. And there is a wonderful explanation for it. Create in Us isn't just me, Jennifer. Create in Us has two founders and as of Friday, both of us will be writing on the blog. Jennifer will post on Mondays and Andrea will post on Fridays.

Andrea, is the owner of A Place to Land studio in Mount Holly. She is a teacher, artist, author, wife, and mother. She also wrote the children's book, A Place to Land.

Basically, she is beautiful and talented and creative and does things like watercolor in her Bible with ocean water because she's awesome.

But more than all of those things:

She is filled with Jesus.

So, two days a week you will be hearing from Create in Us. Check back on Friday to see what Andrea has in store for you!

The Sun and the Son

I am cold all the time. Unless it is a solid 80 degrees in a room I will need a sweater. Or better yet, a Snuggie. I have just resigned myself to the fact that from October to April wearing cute clothes is not necessary because they will be covered up by a large coat.

Do you know what the absolute best feeling is to this cold-natured gal?

Recess at 12:30 every day.

Stepping out of the school building onto the playground and feeling the bright, warm sun shining on you. You know that kind of warmth I'm talking about. The Vitamin D almost tangibly soaking into your skin?

I see it in every child as they reach the door. The walk becomes a run. The quiet, inside-voice becomes a shout. The "I just took another assessment" face becomes the "I'm a kid again" grin.

I mean, even the smallest child knows that all living things need the sun, right? I can ask my five year old: "Buddy, what does a plant need to grow big?"

"Water and sun." (He's a genius! Surely some famous botanist in the making.)

Kidding aside, even a Kindergartener knows that living things thrive in the sunlight.

So, ahem. An ode to the sun:

I love the sun
Not because I can see it
But because I can feel its warmth
It reinvigorates my weary bones
Brightens my perspective
Makes my heart take a deep breath
Reassures me of goodness
Chases away the blackest night
In the sun, I find the source of my very existence
In its light is my very life

Now, I bet if you listed all the reasons you love Jesus it would read exactly the same way.

Let's try:

I love the Son
Not because I can see Him
But because I can feel His warmth
He reinvigorates my weary bones
Brightens my perspective
Makes my heart take a deep breath
Reassures me of goodness
Chases away the blackest night
In the Son, I find the source of my very existence
In His light is my very life

Matthew 4:16, referencing Isaiah 9:2 says this:

The people living in darkness

have seen a great light; 

on those living in the land of the shadow of death

a light has dawned.

Before Jesus came, the world had been living in a long, dark night. Clouds covered the moon. There was not a star to be seen.

But He came. And He ushered in the dawn.

Then He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

Because the weight of darkness is heavy.

But the light of Jesus is light - as a feather.

I hope we realize that before Jesus came we walked in the valley of death. There was no mercy, no grace, no future.

We walked in cold, darkness.

But then! He came and all these things were supplied - in abundance.

Job 38:19-20 says,

What is the way to the abode of light?

And where does darkness reside? Can you take

them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwelling?

I know where darkness lives. I've seen it in the world. I've seen it in me.

But, I know where light lives, too. And True Light only lives with my Jesus. Because He is that light. 

See, the sun and the Son have much in common. They renew. They reveal things unseen in darkness. In their presence I draw strength. In them is life.

This week is Holy Week. The week we remember the days and events leading up to the resurrection of Jesus. I need to prepare my heart for such a celebration. So today and every day this week I will:

Dwell in light.

Choose light.

Look for light.

Darkness has no place with me. I am a child of Light! (Ephesians 5:8) 

Again, Jesus spoke to them saying,

I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,

but will have the light of life.

John 8:12

The Light of the world lives in me. I would do well to remember it.

Precious Jesus, Light of the World,

Create in us a heart that is aflame with holy light.

Lord, may it be so.

Create in Us

Every story has a beginning and, to be honest, Create in Us is still very much at our beginning. I had no idea when I started the blog in December how the idea of Create in Us would move and take shape so quickly and so powerfully.

Today's blog will be a little different. It will be a bit of testimony mixed in with what Create in Us actually does as a ministry and how you can help that ministry grow.

As the blog description over there on the side says I've been a Bible teacher for about six years. This was not a role that I actively sought: I was asked to help teach a class, I said well...okay, and basically - my entire life was changed.

For the next few years I studied God's Word like never before:  reading books in the Bible that sounded like a sneeze (Habakkuk. God bless you.). Reading Biblical commentaries by old dudes much smarter than myself and understanding about half. Seeing the seamless way that every inch of His Word is woven together. For the first time I saw how the Bible is living and breathing, and applicable to NOW.

Over the years, people told me I should write a blog. My answer: Awww....thanks...No.

No for several reasons. The top two being: I don't want to and I'm not a writer.

When we categorize ourselves into "Cannots," "I'm Nots," and "Will Nots" God looks down on us, pats us on the head, and says "You can," "You Are," and "You Will."

Yes, Sir.

So in December I made a commitment to blog a devotional I had written. Once a week. No more. No less.

I had already been teaching a class once a month at the art studio A Place to Land. I make no claim of creating great art.  But my brilliant, ethereal, Holy Spirit-filled friend, Andrea Noles, does. She owns the studio and teaches several art classes per month.  I would pop in once a month to lead a class in a devotion before they began work on their art project.

One of our first classes at A Place to Land

The class and the blog merged to become Create in Us.  The past couple of months have been a whirlwind. We host small groups, Sunday school classes of all ages, bachelorette parties, and the like. We tailor the class to a specific Biblical topic you'd like for your group to focus on and modify the art piece based on learner ability level. We hold one class open to the public per month. I lead the class in a lesson and Andrea leads the class in creating a piece of art linked to that lesson. I blog and will continue to blog as an extension of that ministry.

 That's me on the right with Andrea (center) and our dear friend, 

   Vicki, who also teaches at the studio

We started slowly.  Sometimes our classes were full, other times no one came. But now our classes are selling out in less than 24 hours of the class' posting. Praise God!

A recent class at the studio on watercolor and lettering

Our name is taken from Psalm 51:10. Here David pleads with God after he had sinned. In this passage (verses 10-15) is our mission:

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will turn back to you.

Save me from bloodguilt, O God,

the God who saves me,

and my tongue will sing of your

righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

We long that God will create in us a heart that has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus.  We long to live lives filled with the Holy Spirit.  And in celebration of our forgiveness, redemption, and fullness of joy in Him we in turn will praise His name and celebrate Him with our lives.

We want to bring that joy to each and every class we teach.  We want to acknowledge the beauty God has created in us and, in return, create something beautiful as an act of worship. You leave a Create in Us class with your piece of art that signifies that worship and stands as a reminder of what you have experienced with God.

Our table at Merry Market in Mount Holly

So, how can you help our ministry?

A few ways:

1. Sharing and liking the blog and all of its posts on Facebook and Instagram. This is a pretty big social media favor to ask, I realize.  We ask for a purpose, though. Andrea and I have the amazing privilege of meeting with a publisher this summer.  To be taken seriously we need at least 500 likes on Facebook. As of now we are approaching 300. We need your support as you like or share each post, each blog entry, and spread the word of Create in Us.  As you share the blog will you specifically ask your friends to Like our Facebook page?

2. Subscribe to the blog. You can do this in two ways. You can subscribe by scrolling all the way down to the bottom of the home page and clicking Subscribe.  Or you can add your email to the Follow Us By Email button to your right. 

3. Like the Facebook page A Place to Land. Here you'll see our class listings and be linked to the website where you can sign up for our monthly class.

4. Schedule an event with us! Our spring dates are filling up quickly, so email us soon!

   We tailor each class to be suitable for any age and ability level.

My dearest friends, I appreciate so deeply the love you have shown Create in Us over the past few months. Honestly, it has been one of the biggest blessings of my life. 

My prayer will continue to be that He will create in us a clean heart and from that clean heart will sprout the desire to declare His precious Name to our community.

Lord, may it be so.

The Top of My List

Let's face it. We're busy people. From sunrise to three hours past sunset our day is filled with items on a To Do List:

Wake up, get ready, kids ready, kids breakfast, commute, school, work, errands, dinner, homework, laundry, housework, bills paid, trash out. Fall into bed. Exhausted.

Your list may or may not resemble this one, but either way you have a list so long that it is never truly completed. It is copied and replicated many times over as each day passes.

Such is life. If you're like me you don't mind your list so much. I mean, your list is your life. I love my job. Love cooking for my family. Love shushing my boys to sleep. Busy-ness does not always equal unhappiness.

But sometimes my list is so busy that I misplace my priorities and don't have time for the one thing that should always be first on my list:

Time with God.

I haven't always been a Christian who devotes daily time to the Lord. In fact, there was a time when I thought I didn't need intentional time with God in prayer and in the Bible. I mean, I grew up in church. I'd read the Bible. Well, I'd read most of it...parts of it. I knew right and wrong. (Did I?)

But friends, daily time with God is so much more than an item I check off my list.

It's sustenance for my soul.
Expansion of my mind.
Awareness of things unseen.
Inhaling the sweetness of glory.
Finding who I am in Jesus.
Communing with my Creator.

See, if we are of Jesus we are not of this world. And, for lack of a better term, my time with the Lord is like a phone call from my home planet. From heaven.

It's my E.T. Phone Home. Without it I am weaker, duller, and out of touch with who I am. I cannot be all that Christ has called me to be without communion with Him.

So this past week, a busy week, full of long work days, grocery store runs (the folks at Bi-Lo and I are on a first name basis), and playing in the yard with my kids I let Him fall off of my list -

a list that He should consume.

And I felt it. In my relationships, routines, and running errands. There was a dullness, a missing joy.

In order for me to experience the fullness of life that Jesus spoke of in John 10:10, I need to be first filled with Him.  Because in consuming my list, He consumes my life. 

James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."

Daily I want to draw near to Him through prayer, praise, and reading His Word. Whether it's ten minutes or sixty. A verse, a chapter, or an entire book. I need to spend time with my Jesus. Daily.

Because I'm an alien here. And I need my connection with Him to hold strong and fast. Like we sing in "Come Thou Fount":

Let they goodness
Like a tether
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Oh, because Jesus...my Jesus. I cannot be fully myself if I am not filled with Him.

My Jesus,

Gently draw me toward time spent with you. Remind me that you hold all that is true and good and best for me. When I come to the Rock that is higher than I (Psalm 61:2) bless me for it. Show me that time spent with You is not just another box on my list, but is the means through which I have the strength and joy to complete all the rest.

Lord, may it be so.

The Red Backpack

There I was, booking it through the Magic Kingdom. I was fierce as mile after mile I pushed the double stroller that held my two boys. Up one Mickey hill and down every Goofy lane. In addition to pushing my precious cargo in a stroller that was slightly larger than my own body I carried a large red L.L. Bean backpack filled to the max with every snack, water bottle, wipe, rain coat, extra shirt, shoe, towel, and first aid kit that it could hold. I was a Target on wheels. My 21st century version of Mary Poppins' carpet bag.

To be honest, I felt very impressive. Strong, lithe, the I-can-do-it-all Mom!

Walking in my wake and wondering what in the world I was doing were three people who dearly love me: my husband and his parents. They continually offered their assistance as I sweetly refused. Don't they know I can do it all? I can carry this load all by myself!

See, this is something I'm very good at. Loading myself down, insisting I can do it all on my own...until I collapse with unnecessary exhaustion on my way to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant.

This week I found myself once again burdened with a heavy load, but this time it came in the form of emotional cargo. We buried my beloved grandmother on Wednesday. It was a lovely home going service.  But the sadness of missing her along with worry for my mother who had just lost her mother, coupled with some other non-related issues that were making me angry - in short, I was crippled with all sorts of sorrow. By Thursday I knew that I couldn't cry. Because if I started I wouldn't be able to stop.

So I put on my big red backpack of fears, sorrows, and uncertainties. Loaded up my stroller of sadness and anger and I began carrying these burdens through a dark valley that resembled nothing of The Happiest Place on Earth.

But I couldn't do it. I tried to get my feet to move, tried to make it one more step, but as strong as I think I am - I'm just not. Profound sadness continued its threat to overtake me. I was on the cusp of intense anger and self-pity. Strength I have, yes. But not enough to carry this load.

Have you ever been here, friend? Saying, "God, it's too much! I can't hold up these burdens anymore!"

So I asked Him, "God, what do I do with my sorrow? With my fear? With my anger?"

You ask in expectation, sweet friend, and our God will answer:

My child, give your sorrow back to me. Dear one, let me combat your fears. Beloved, I will soothe your anger.

I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. 

Psalm 3:4

In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

Psalm 18:6

Friend, drop the backpack. Stop pushing the stroller. Park in right there in the middle of Fantasyland. Sit down and eat some ice cream that's shaped like a mouse's head.

Because not only are you not strong enough to carry that weight - you're not supposed to be.

But He is. 

Cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you.  

I Peter 5:7

Give your sorrow to Him. Turn it loose. In turning it loose you don't become weaker, you have become stronger because you are no longer relying on your pitiful amount of muscle.  

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

II Corinthians 12:10

So, I did. I cried out. I gave Him my sorrows, my fears, my uncertainties. And when I walked back over to that backpack the weight of it was considerably less. The stroller moved along with ease.  

Life has bumps, bruises, and some downright nasty breaks.  But we are still created to live in fullness and joy. I cannot regain my joy by trying to conquer enemies against whom I stand no chance. They will consume me every time. They will turn me into someone I don't want to be.  

Dear one, I will not pretend that I know all of the sorrow and hurt you are carrying in your red backpack, but I do know that no matter how heavy it is, your God is strong enough to bear its load.

We are not meant to spend our days huffing and puffing, struggling with events and emotions that are too much for us.  So I shake off the little strength I have and trade it in for His. With this strength I can get back to the fullness of life and have joy of heart. 

And instead of spending all my energy carrying around unnecessary baggage, I'll choose to spend it on good things that bring joy - like riding a flying elephant with my sons.

LORD on your Holy Hill,

My soul cries out to you. I cannot deal with the shadows of sorrow, confusion, and worry on my own. Take my burdens, God. Show me how to turn them over to you. Return my heart to peace.

Lord, may it be so.

While I Wait

Life is a waiting game.  It seems we are always waiting for something.  I spend more of my time, ironically, waiting for my turn while playing the board game of Life than actually playing the game.

The minute we are born the clock starts counting down for something to begin. Our first tooth, Kindergarten, baseball tryouts, our driver's license.  Our college acceptance letter.  Our first love.

We wait for our careers to start.  For children.  For our children to get a little older so we can take that trip to wherever.

We wait for people to call, letters to come, a table at a restaurant.

We wait for test results.  We wait in line.  We wait for whatever-it-is to start.

We wait and see.  Wait and wonder.  Or we wait and we wander (this is never good).

We wait so often that we have designated rooms for it.  "Have a seat in the waiting room.  The fill-in-the-blank will see you shortly."

We wait until we figure it out.  Wait until things get better.

My precious, beloved grandmother was moved to hospice last week.  She spent many years waiting on heaven.  Today Eloise waits no more.

What are you waiting for, my friend?

I've waited, too.  For a job, for direction, for Life to start!  (What does that even mean?)  I've waited through miscarriages, for a baby to come.

I've waited for summer vacation.  I've waited anxiously for my husband to come home during bad weather.

I've waited for pain to end and happiness to come.

Waiting is a silent force that will not be denied.

So, we wait.

And what do we do while we wait?

What if we used our wait for glory?  Not ours.  But His.

See, I am a city on a hill (Matthew 5:14).  We all are.  Everyone sees I have a light for Jesus.  Is it a flicker or a flame?  A little match or a great torch?  Am I a sparkler in a small child's hand or a firework that lights up the night sky?

They see us.  The world around you is watching your wait.

So how do I make my wait worth it's weight?  Here's my plan:

Trust in the Lord

with all your heart

And lean not on your own understanding

In all your ways

acknowledge Him

And He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

I will trust in the Lord - because when has He ever failed me?

With all my heart - because I cannot be lukewarm for Him.

I will lean not on my own understanding - because, honestly, I understand about 0.07% of my life.  The good, the bad, the ugly.   And I'm okay with it because I trust in Him for my ultimate good.

In all my ways I will acknowledge Him - because I cannot expect His blessing if I willingly sin against Him and do not declare Him fully.

And He will make my paths straight.

That last part.  Listen.  In the original text "straight" literally means "plain," meaning to remove obstacles, to show clearly and evidently.  And who will give me such clarity?  

Friend, God Himself will!  

That's a stone-inscribed, rock hard promise from God.  You trust, you obey, and He shows you the way.  

Matthew Henry said, "It is promised.  He will direct thy paths so that they shall be safe and good and happy at last."

It is promised!

Don't refuse your wait, beloved.  Bask in it.  Live it!  It is not for naught if it is for Him.  

Your wait will end.  Whatever you are waiting for will one day come.  Or it won't.  But either way the wait will be done.  Live your wait in such a way that when you look back on it, instead of pity, you feel pride in that even in your darkness you remembered there was light.

I will sing in the stillness.

I will find wonder in the wait.

I will not be moved by not moving.

I will praise the plan before it is put into practice.

God Who Sees My Wait,

Help us to trust in You and lean not on our own understanding.  In all our ways let us acknowledge You.  We trust You to make our paths straight.

Lord, may it be so.