I love when the
kids pick wild flowers from the yard and bring them in to me. They give me a
gift, that cost them nothing other than the time to pick it, and they are
thanked for it. And rightly so: they noticed the beauty around them, they
gathered it, and they couldn’t help to share it with me.In my imagination, I do something just like that when I write.
I see something beautiful or funny or important, I gather
it up in words, and I share it with you. I love doing this thing, here on this
blog, for my friends and for strangers.
It’s my hobby, my “other vocation,” my way of recharging
and resting my mommy muscles for awhile. There is nothing wrong with this, but
today, I am asking myself this question:
How can I use my art to serve my family?
And that’s one of those questions I ask myself and the
ideas flood and I think I need to write for days just to get them all stamped
down on the page before I get distracted with something else!
I won’t do that, but I will start a blog series so that I
think on these things with you once a week. I am dedicating fridays to
family-focused art. I’ll be dusting off the writing assignment the girls gave me (Sara
and Clara) and I’ll be blogging about using creative energies in the home.
I’ll try my hand at children’s stories, and I’ll show you
some of them, too. (Come back tomorrow!) I’d appreciate your thoughtful
feedback. If you’d like to use them for experimenting on your own children, I’d
love to hear what they think as well. These little people in my house are great
story-testers, but I’m not sure they would tell me if my story was boring.
I would love to hear from you as well: how do you use
your art to bless your family? Do you write to record memories? Do you garden, scrapbook, bake, craft, sew, or host parties? (Link up and guest posting opportunities coming soon!)
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same
Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same
Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same
God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation
of the Spirit for the common good.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7