DO YOU HAVE HIDDEN CREATIVITY?

It is my firm belief that everyone has creativity built into their individual DNA. Deep within each person, God has placed talents and skills and giftings. Some are not developed until the person is much older, but nonetheless, the ability is there.

My husband has always called me "the writer"...and had believed that he had no writing talent. Yet I challenged him recently to write for one of my blogs...and the stories he wrote are wonderful, and we discovered his story-telling skills are remarkable!

One of our daughters is an art teacher. Creativity runs in our family. I have always relished painting and sculpture, and have urged her and my children and grandchildren to paint, to draw, to create - to 'try' their talents. However, she had said she didn't care to paint - and didn't try it until recently. Suddenly, she LOVES to paint! She is painting non-stop and now teaches painting in workshops! Our other daughter is very talented in other areas, but just 'knew' she couldn't paint. However, she and I attended one of her sister's art workshops - and voilla! She created a wonderful painting! (She even hung it on a bedroom wall!)

Our oldest son is wonderful with his hands. He can build so many things! He has built furniture, deck, redwood pergola, laid tile, built cabinets and whole rooms and has remodeled an entire house. He had no idea he could do all of this! He just began with smaller projects and worked his way upwards! These days you can truly call him a skilled craftsman.

Each of our other two sons have taken on building projects and 'diy' rennovations that are amazing. More lately, our oldest grandson and his wife have built cedar furniture, even cutting the timber, stripping and milling it!

How will you know but what you have talent if you never try? And don't say, "Oh, I tried it in school" - or "Well, I dabbled with that, and I know I'm not good at it." Have you really and truly tried? Have you given it your best shot? You CAN do something, so try, try again - and don't delay! Try it today!

It won't hurt anyone or anything to try again! Try your hand at drawing, painting, sculpting, writing or writing poetry, playing an instrument, singing, dancing, crafting, carving, building, etc. (To borrow a cliche', if you do it, it will come!) I believe the gifting will come forth with the doing of it! And there are SO many diverse outlets of creativity! You may be a latent architect or cartoonist! Your skills may be in drama or humor or inventions.

How will you know if you never try?

One of the reasons people never try is a fear of failure, or a false belief they have no talent. My husband always believed he could not sing. So he did not sing! Only recently has he believed that God loves our singing, no matter how well we carry a tune. But, miracle of miracles, he can now sing! And the more he sings, the better he gets!

All I can do is urge you to try. Don't listen to the nay-sayers. Someone else may have said you couldn't. An art teacher told me in the fifth grade I had no artistic talent whatsoever! She hated my art work and said so. It was many years later before I attempted it again, though I dearly loved art of every kind.

Remember, your creativity is not just for yourself. It is also for the Lord....and may be for other humans, too! A few years ago, the Lord told me to write a book of poetry. At that time, I had only written a few poems back in school - or for a silly birthday card.

But I obeyed. I found that after a few attempts, I drew from somewhere deep inside me a bit of gifting for it. And the more I wrote, the better I wrote. The same thing happened with composing songs.

One fellow created - after he retired at 65 - a webstite where children can make their own cartoons!

No matter what your age or circumstance, there are wonderful giftings placed within you from the beginning of time. The Lord planned for you to be complete, lacking nothing, lacking no good thing! You are sufficient in all things, thoroughly furnished and wonderfully equipped for every good work!

So, go for it! Be creative! Bring forth the beauty from God that is already within your soul! It will bless you and it will bless our Lord! Do it today!