Month: June 2016

Need to Create

/ Dianne / Leave a comment

I recently started working at a store which sells all sorts of good supplies for creating stuff – mixed media pieces, planner decorating, scrapbook pages, cards, and a myriad of other things. I am surrounded by creativity 12-15 hours a week.

I also follow people on Instagram, read blogs, and see Facebook posts containing massive amounts of creativity. I love seeing all the creativity. And I love to create things.

Last night, my coworker asked me what my style was and what kind of things do I make.

I realized that I pretty much make nothing. No. Thing. Ever.

I have sewn. I sometimes dabble in doodling and hand lettering. I photograph. I’ve learned mixed media techniques. I’ve scrapbooked. I’ve journaled a few pages in a Bible. I’ve stamped. I’ve attempted watercolor. There’s probably more, though they escape me now.

But right now? Not a darned thing. I create nothing. I have no style to describe what I don’t do.

Whoa.

I even scrolled through a ton of photos on two phones to see if perhaps I had created something which I forgot.

Nope.

So apparently my style right now is blankness.

And sadness.

I need to start making things.

Something.

Anything

Daily.

But God help us, born to this canvas and paint, if we do nothing with it, sign our name on its empty off-white surface and hang it on the wall, after a long succession of lookalike days leads us to our graves, content merely not to have made a mess of the canvas. Who will gaze on that unmarked rectangle on the wall, next to the million others, all of them differentiated only by the names scribbled in the corners, and do anything but sigh? Perfectly safe. Tragically wasted.

~from David DuChemin’s post Fill Your Canvas

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Hope

/ Dianne / Leave a comment

Whether we are consciously aware of it or not, there are things or people in which we hope. Some may be for minor joys, others for something more significant. When I become disillusioned and frustrated with certain matters, I can sometimes step back and remember that my hope is not in any person, event, or thing; my hope is in Jesus Christ. This thought brings me peace and a better perspective.

But the other day I was listening to Day 3 of Emily P. Freeman’s Seven Days of Still Moments in which she speaks about waiting for healing (John 5:1-15) and where we place our hope. While I may be able to both say and believe that He is my hope in some matters, I realized that there’s quite a list of other things in which I have unspoken and misplaced hope. But the reality is that my hope should not be in:

  • a successful photography business

  • mature children

  • less stuff and clutter

  • debt-free life

  • less weight

  • a simpler life

  • living pain free

  • more fun

  • a prettier home

  • fewer potholes

  • less traffic

  • kinder, smarter people

  • or anything else I wish for or which frustrate me

Sure, those things would be nice. They could make my life more comfortable or enjoyable or easier. But my ultimate hope is in Jesus and Him alone. And that brings more long-lasting peace, joy, and comfort than any of the things on my list ever could.

psalm 31-24 v2 copy

Change of Season

/ Dianne / Leave a comment

Here we are, three days into June 2016. Supposedly summer. Well, meteorological summer, anyway. Until the last couple of days, that was questionable, given the rain, clouds, and cooler temperatures. I’m not sure where the previous five months got off to, but the time it sure does fly.

I started a new job in May. I’m working part time at a local scrapbook and paper crafting store, which is pretty fun and right up my alley. I’m finding that it’s causing me to want to do more creating at home. Even though you would think it might not be all that busy to work in that type of store, there is always something to do – and no, it’s not creating things. More like unboxing, checking in, pricing, putting out merchandise, tidying up, pulling empty hooks, returning unpurchased items, putting back tags out, and answering the phone. Oh yeah, that’s when you’re not answering questions, looking for products, or ringing up a customer’s purchase. Or learning the new POS system. Or running into an old friend. Or any number of other things. Kind of like how time flies by, the tasks quickly fill my 4-5 hour shifts. It’s a good thing.

John closed down his business of the past seven years and has gone to work for a local RV dealership. I’m not sure either of us saw that one coming yet, but it turned out it was time. Ironically, it’s because his business was too big and too profitable. Things you usually want to happen. Go figure.

Our youngest son started a new job this week, too. It’s pretty tough on him right now, as the physical demands are greater than he knew. We’ll see what happens with that. He’s still looking around for something not quite so tough.

Our oldest is finally about ready to test for his driver’s license. At 22 1/2. After years of not wanting to drive, he’s coming around. I think he secretly likes it. Sometimes, anyway. There are still times, though, that he would live without driving, if at all possible. Next steps will be a job and a car. He’s been working part time with John, but that chapter has ended, too.

My niece is starting a job at Starbucks in a week and a half, following in her mom’s footsteps. My brother-in-law is soon to begin a new job, too.

A whole lot of change. New chapters in life. Sometimes it’s just time.

And on a completely unrelated note, a photo because I can’t not. It made me outburst laugh.

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