Created to be Creative

hope for the hurting

I have a son who lives in Kansas and often jokes that, “hope is dead”. The banter and the reasons are all different and it’s always lite or silly and usually funny.

storms are inevitable ~ photo by Ron Jennings

But what about the sad reality of people who have sincerely lost hope? What about those whose pain lingers in their hearts when a loved one takes their life? Or of those that tried to find comfort in the grave, but thankfully failed? I received a text recently from a young man who was giving a co-worker a ride to work when he had to pull over to let this companion throw-up along the side of the road. This happened a few times before the man mumbled something to the effect of, “I took all my pills… I thought I wanted to die – but I don’t”. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated situation.

Despair / Photo by Carly Omdal

We live in a fast-paced world with plenty to see and hear; yet much of it is empty or causes us to be distracted from noticing the important things, like someone who’s hurting. If we have a heart for people, our observation should go deeper than the surface. And beyond what we want or expect to see. For example, during my six-year battle with fibromyalgia, I did my best to be cheerful (though often unsuccessful), because I felt that was what was expected of me. Hide the pain. Don’t show weakness.

I was not to the point of being suicidal, but the temptation to turn to alcohol or something, anything, to try to drown out the pain was very real. Though I appeared strong in my walk with the Lord, pain and depression often got the best of me. I was not only miserable, my poor family was affected by my mood swings as well. Because of that, there were times where I wanted to run away from home. The only thing that kept me from leaving was the fact that I would be taking me with me, pain and all.

It’s times like these when so many want to give up. However, it’s also times like these that we should be mindful of those around us who are struggling. I know that my life was sustained by the people who stood in the gap for me. People who cared. People who prayed. People who offered timely words of encouragement. People who gave a helping hand when needed. I am forever grateful that I didn’t have to go it alone.

Now I’m more mindful to look beyond the surface of an external smile – to earnestly look into one’s eyes – to see their heart – not only to see their joys and notice when they are doing well, but also to detect when they’re struggling. I admonish you to join me, because at the end of the day, what goes around comes around. If you are doing well, reach out and encourage others. If you are struggling, don’t be ashamed to let someone know. Let’s be hope for the hurting.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 tells us, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.”

There are times in all our lives when we could use some extra prayer, an encouraging word or a helping hand. There might even be times when there is nothing we can do but pray and that’s okay because prayer works and God cares more than we ever could.

I’m the author of: Created to be Creative
to purchase my book Click Here
eBook available

it’s not fair

by Arleen Jennings

No one likes to experience heartache and pain. We often think it’s not fair when troubles come our way and sometimes even say, “What did I do to deserve this?” But, do we ever ask that same question when things are going well? For example, what did I do to deserve such an amazing spouse or to have the privilege of living in this great nation? It seems to me that when things are good, we have a tendency to take the credit. “I work hard; I deserve to prosper.” “I did a great job raising my children, so of course they are successful.” “I work out and eat right, that’s why I’m never sick.”

No, we ask the “what did I do to deserve…” question when things are not going well. Like when a hardworking and faithful employee loses his job due to budget cuts. Which leads to another question: Do those who still have their jobs deserve it more than those who were let go? Not necessarily. Tough choices have to be made and sometimes good workers lose out.

Parents can do everything right and still have a child go astray. Though raised with love, discipline, and moral standards, the teen or young adult might still make poor choices that negatively affect not only their own lives, but the lives of others as well. Parents in situations like that might sincerely wonder what they did to deserve it. “Why God? Where did we go wrong?”

Then there are those who have taken good care of their physical body, yet because of heredity, still end up with health issues. Or those who were in an accident and now live with constant pain. Or a child born with a medical condition. Again, the person suffering or their parents could legitimately ask, “What did I do to deserve this?” Or even blatantly say, “It’s not fair!”

Matthew 5:45 tells us that the sun rises on the evil and the good, it rains on the righteous and the unrighteous. Sometimes there’s neither rhyme nor reason to why things happen – good or bad. It’s certainly important to have a good work ethic. Those of us who have children should make an effort to instill moral values. It’s wise to stay physically fit and eat right. Yet at the end of the day, if things don’t work out, it’s not about whether or not it’s fair. It’s not about being good enough, or strong enough, or smart enough, but rather how we handle disappointments when they come our way. Like John Wooden said, “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

Just because we do all the right things, and we do them well (or even to the best of our ability), doesn’t automatically guarantee everything will be sunshine and roses. Storms and difficulties build character and make us stronger. They also increase our faith if we don’t allow them to make us bitter.

When things don’t go the way we think they should or hope they will, we have a choice to make. Do we get upset and make it all about us and what we think we deserve? Or do we recognize that through our disappointments, big or small, God has a plan and it’s best to trust Him?

Let’s meet the challenges of this life with a will to overcome. Let’s be mindful that it’s not about what we deserve or don’t deserve. And, when things go well, let’s be thankful rather than taking all the credit.

Photo Credits: Jay Jennings

I’m the author of: Created to be Creative
to purchase my book Click Here
eBook available

arleen’s inspiration

by Muriel Brown

The photos are of a Quilt recently made by Muriel Brown. Thank You, Muriel, for sharing your story, Arleen’s inspiration, with me and allowing me to add it as a Guest Post for my readers to be encouraged and even inspired to use their own talents.

This is the short version of my story. Nine years ago I and, Dan, my best friend and husband were in our condo in Florida when we received the call from Janie, our youngest daughter. The doctor had just told her and her husband, Chris, that he was 99% sure the lump in her breast was cancer. The biopsy would confirm it. We flew home the next day and began a journey through the maze of treatments, tests, known and unknown fears of the future, questions with no answers, and a desire to trust God for His help, His plan, and his overflowing hope. Our prayer was to honor Him in all we did through the trial. God responded to our prayers by heaping peace, mercy, and such an amazing sense of His presence through it all on us. Janie endured with a faith and trust that astounded all who knew her. She never faltered, did everything the medical community recommended, and lost the battle Mother’s Day weekend of 2010. She is home with her Savior. We know where she is and rejoice for her. One day we also will meet our Lord face to face. But meantime we have work to do. And much of the work was adjusting to the new normal, especially for her children. Becca went back to Houghton College, Daniel entered his senior year in High School and Carly started 8th grade.

Arleen’s Inspiration

It seemed like all our energy went in to keeping life on an even keel. We lived on Cape Cod and have a small cabin in Vermont. My husband , Dan, is self-employed doing much of his work on computers. So we could be quite mobile. Pack the computers and our brief cases and we can set up an office any place. So we would go to Vermont to help out, but still continued to work. When we lived on the Cape, I had a large finished basement and had a quilting class with friends every Wednesday as well as working part time in a quilt shop and teaching classes there. It was a great creative time. As time went on I stopped working at the shop because we were in Vermont so much and also had to stop my Wednesday quilting with my friends. We eventually were in Vermont more than Cape Cod and my quilting took a back seat. Plus all my quilting things were on the Cape. When Janie died, the first year was very busy with the family. The second year, we decided to sell our Cape House and live permanently in Vermont. The previous year we sold our Florida condo for the same reason– we were never there. Last year we moved to a condo in Rutland to be closer to Carly.The round trip from our cabin to her house is twenty miles. Sometimes I made the trip three times a day. So this made sense. (We still have the cabin).

So here is where Arleen’s book, “Created to be Creative, find purpose and fulfillment through creative outlets”, comes in. I had all my quilting, craft, scrapbooking, and music equipment with me, but had no energy to create anything. What was always a great joy had become a burden to find a place to store it, let alone do anything with it. When I read Arleen’s book I became so inspired to put my creativity to use, realizing God gave it to me, that I pulled out all my Quilting equipment, some great scraps, and started cutting, sewing, rejoicing , and became so energized and excited that I feel like this book was a God given gift just for me. And my quilt, “Arleen’s Inspiration” was the result, and that is not all. I used my space managing creativity and persuaded my husband to help me switch our big upstairs master bedroom downstairs to our quest room and vice versa. He even called a mover to do the moving of the two rooms to spare our lives and backs! So now I have an art studio with beautiful lighting and the only cost was the two moving men. Everything I need is within reach and “Created to be Creative” was the inspiring force.

So many of Arleen’s thoughts and verses from the Bible touched my soul. It was just what I needed to read. I spend every day studying the Bible and it is the source of my spiritual strength to weather the storms of life. Her book ministered to my soul, encouraging me to not just feed my spirit but feed my soul also. You just can’t plant vegetables to feed your body, you need the flowers also to feed your soul. God used her to help me see that and I love her for it and would encourage her to keep on writing!

Muriel Brown

Finished Quilt – Arleen’s Inspiration

Arleen is the Author of: Created to be Creative
The book that encouraged Muriel to become creative again.
to purchase this book Click Here
eBook available

photo quotes

by Arleen Jennings

These photos can be found on my facebook page. Most of them have quotes from my book, Created to be Creative. I have also added some new thoughts here to go with each picture. I enjoy the fact that there is no end to creativity and always look for opportunities to learn and grow.

Art doesn’t have to be complicated; it can be as simple as a framed piece of fabric hanging on a wall. This photo only captures a small corner of a piece which is actually 68” high by 44” wide. That’s rather large, but it works perfectly in the space because it helps fill a boring concrete wall in my basement office that needed warming up. I didn’t have the time to do a painting large enough to help fill the area, so this was a quick and relatively inexpensive solution. I bought a piece of upholstery fabric on sale and my husband, Ron, helped me make a frame for it. We took standard 2×4’s, ripped them into 2×2’s, and then stretched the fabric tight around the wood and stapled it on the back. The piece is very simple, but has a three-dimensional look, similar to a photo printed on canvas.

The lighting is not great in this photo, but this gives you a better look at how the piece fills the wall and warms the space.

“Frustration is an enemy of creativity because it ensnares our ambition at a place of weakness.” I started this quilt almost ten years ago. I never considered the level of difficulty or my ability as a quilter before getting started. I diligently worked on it for months and all was going well until I started the solid dark blue stars. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get them to lay flat and, being a perfectionist, I got frustrated and quit. All it would take is a how-to lesson and some practice to help me get back on track, though now I find it hard to get motivated. That is why it’s important to start simple and work our way to harder projects. Better to reach our objectives by taking small steps than to have lofty goals and end up abandoning projects prematurely.

… “Let there be light” (Gen 1:3). LIGHT. The first thing God created was light. Let’s think about this for a moment—this light was not the sun, moon, nor stars; no, they were not created until the fourth day. So what was this light? What did it look like? It looked like GOD! The very first thing we know about the history of our world is that God created an expression of Himself.”

No photo could possibly help capture or explain this light. Photos, however, are a great tool for catching our attention. My daughter, Colleen, is helping with my photo quotes for my Facebook Page. She took this picture with this quote in mind. It works on a few different levels. One, it’s interesting, causing us to stop scrolling long enough to read the caption. Secondly, it demonstrates the purpose of individuality and what it means to be created in the image of God. Ask one hundred people to take a picture with this quote in mind and you will get one hundred different expressions. It’s what makes life and art interesting.

Determination: Staying focused.
Dedication: Willing to practice or pursue when it’s not easy or convenient.
Hard work: Conquering the parts of the process or journey that don’t come easily.

We all have things we would like to be instantly good at or things we’ve started, but we lacked resolve to press through when things became challenging, or even worse, as they became tedious. Sometimes it’s the simple things that throw us a curve.

Also, there’s no way to avoid calloused fingers when learning to play guitar or sore muscles when starting an exercise regimen. This is true for most of the things we find worth accomplishing: they take time, effort, and even some pain, but the results are usually worth it.

I’m the author of: Created to be Creative
to purchase my book Click Here
eBook available

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