“Create.”  This single word covers the cover of my new journal.  The thought of creating excites me like a hanging curve ball to Albert Pujols, or a hand of poker to a gambler.  That word – create – is a word that shakes me and stirs me, reminding me of a season in my life that I have yet to live, that I must live. Like Albert, I want to swing for the fences.  Like a gambler, I want to push every single chip towards the center of the table.

God created ex nihilo – out of nothing.  His creating also brought order to chaos.  I am not God (in case you were wondering) in that I cannot create out of nothing.  I am limited, able to use only the materials that find their origin in the ex nihilo Creator.

BUT…

I am made in the image of God who graciously allows me to create by bringing order to chaos of materials that already exist and are present in my life.  Art is beautifying chaos with creative order.  Art brings meaning to chaos.  Some people say art doesn’t have to serve a purpose – it is complete merely in its beauty.  But I would disagree; beauty is a purpose – it is a way to give order to chaos in a manner that stimulates both head and heart.

Father, I want to join you in creating.  I want to be used by You to bring the beauty and art of order to the chaos of letters, words, and paragraphs of information that clutter our world and blur our vision.  I am not called to create new letters, invent new words, or write a new language ex nihilo.  Rather I am graciously called to bring artful beauty to these preexisting verbal materials.  May Your Spirit – the same Spirit active in Genesis one creation – hover over me as You did the waters on a formless, void planet.  Give me ears to hear Your Voice speaking creation – speaking order into the chaos.  And then help me to write and communicate what I have heard You speak.

Other “materials” that You bless me with and invite me to create:

A family – Be an artist husband and an artist dad, bringing beauty to what would be chaos in our home.  Growing a family in godliness is not a science; it is an art.

A job – Bring beauty to my workplace by creatively ordering relationships and tasks in ways that glorify God.

A house – Create beauty in our house in ways that bring a calming sense of order to each guest who walks through our door.

Who are the people and what are the things that God created ex nihilo that He has granted you access to for the purpose of creatively adding beauty and order???