Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life (Galatians 6:4-5 The Message).

As creatives…

It should be our aim to live with eyes and ears open. I desire to see and hear God in his created world, experiencing him in the people, places, objects, and circumstances each day presents.

Life on our family farm.

I might see and hear God’s creativity in the bellow of our Scottish Highland cattle. I may sense him in the giggles of my grand-girls. I can savor his creativity in the sweetness of blueberries fresh-picked from the bush.

Having experienced God, we express our thoughts and feelings in our particular artistic forms. For me, that’s mostly through written words. Not gifted with a painter’s palette or a lump of clay on the potter’s wheel, my experiences translate themselves as words on the page. Sometimes they’re simply for me; other times, for a broader audience.

Personally?

I find fulfillment in painting pictures with words, similar to the satisfaction I imagine for those who paint with oils or watercolors. Like other artistic forms, writing is an outpouring of my gratitude, a means of inner healing, and an expression of other emotion.

Creative Acrostic 

Pondering my particular form of creativity led me to consider the word “creative” as an acrostic. Taking each letter, I’ve chosen a theme upon which to expound. My aim?

To paint with words, pointing others to the creative nature of God and his son—the one another creative of long ago, a storyteller named John, referred to as The Word.

C is for children.

As a mother and grandmother, I can’t remember a time I didn’t love and appreciate little humans.

From an early age, when I’d play with dolls, dreaming of becoming a momma, until the present, I take pleasure in children. It was no surprise when I chose elementary education as a career, teaching students from tiny toddlers to blossoming boys and girls in their last year of grade school.

From freckle-faced redheads to blue-eyed blondes, children come in all shapes and sizes, with varying skin tones and personalities. They remind us of God’s creativity in their unique laughter, as well as in their preferences.

Even our Creator chose to redeem the world by sending a child. Jesus didn’t arrive as a full-grown man but, rather, as a baby, growing from boyhood to become an adult. Like my grand-girls, God’s son, too, probably loved to make mud pies, pick wildflowers, and savor a strawberry’s sweetness.

R is for relationship.

I’m an introvert. Still, I love and appreciate people. Whether I’m with children or adults who happen to be family members, friends, or strangers, my relationships matter.

Not only do I pray to make a positive difference in people’s lives, I know others make a difference in mine as well. Sometimes another’s impact is good, sometimes negative. This is the reason we’re encouraged in God’s Word to choose our close relationships, spouses and friends, with care.

Jesus modeled the importance of relationship through his choosing of twelve, somewhat rough-and-tumble disciples. Think of the variation of these men.

From methodical, tax collector Levi (aka Matthew) to fiery, passionate Simon (aka Peter), each was made in God’s image. They were an expression of the Creator’s creativity, and their individual and corporate relationship with Jesus during his three years of ministry was unique and important.

E is for elderly.

These impactful humans are beautiful examples of God’s creative handiwork. Just sit a spell with someone whose experiences span more than seven or eight decades. He or she once knew nothing of texting, emojis, or Facetime and survived without the convenience of fast food, email, and AI. Ingenuity and creativity were essential, and out of which were born corn cob dolls and paper airplanes.

As varied as their physical appearance, each elderly person, created in God’s beautiful image, possesses a treasure trove of personal experiences, and we can learn from each one, even if the lessons learned are what not to do, how not to live.

When I take the time to listen to and observe my elders, I can appreciate the wealth of wisdom they offer. They are a unique bunch.

A is for animal.

Imagine the Garden of Eden on the day God spoke fish, birds, and land creatures into existence. With their arrival came new colors, textures, sounds, and scents. From the porcupine to the platypus, the parrot to the peacock, the puffer to the piranha, animals add so much to our world and to our lives.

How fun it must have been for Adam and Eve to name them, then care for the animals. Personally, I believe heaven will be filled with these creatures, each in its perfected state. After all, don’t we read the lion will lie at peace with the lamb?

T is for taste.  

Another gift from the Creator, something introduced from the beginning in the Garden, is food, and the abundance of flavors, that which we taste, is part of God’s creative plan.

From sour to sweet, tangy to spicy, there’s no end to the tastes we can experience. Indeed, we are the recipients of God’s culinary creativity.

As foodies, my husband and I enjoy trying a variety of ethnic foods. From Japanese sushi, with a touch of wasabi, ginger, and soy sauce, to down-home, freshly cranked peach ice cream, each tantalizes our taste buds. And God, in his creativity, made our tongues with sections perfectly designed for tasting, to differentiate between bitter, sour, salty, and sweet.

I is for invention.

From the beginning of time, God set the example by inventing. First, after sin entered the world, God took the life of an animal, then, in his mercy, used the pelt to fashion clothing for Adam and Eve.

Throughout history, humans have applied their God-given creativity to invent. In ancient times, stone tools, bricks, wheels, and papyrus were imagined into existence. Later, there was paper, then printing methods. More recently, the atomic bomb, hovercrafts, and cancer immunotherapy have been invented.

There’s simply no end to what men, women, and children will think up as they live out their God-given creativity. As long as humans have imagination, until Jesus returns and perhaps even after, there will be new ideas birthed to become great inventions.

V is for villain.

As a creative word-smith, one who loves good story, villains, also called antagonists, are integral. They keep us on the edges of our seats and give us a reason to cheer.

From the beginning, in the greatest story ever told, the Bible, there have been villains.

First was a cunning serpent. Generations later, a band of jealous, cruel brothers dumped Joseph in a pit, which led to his introduction to Potiphar’s seductive wife. David met, then killed, a pompous giant named Goliath. And how about the New Testament, with sinister King Herod? And let’s not forget Judas Iscariot who, with a twist of irony, betrayed our savior with a kiss.

But what about figurative villains? Even for creatives, there are meddling antagonists. For the photographer, it’s poor lighting; the painter, a dismal day; the potter, high humidity.

Though they may be irritating, even dangerous, at times, villains are part of our stories—again, until Jesus returns. But unlike the possibility of new inventions, there will be no antagonists in heaven.

E is for ever.

Because we’re each creatives, designed by the Creator to create, and because my outlet is story, this last letter reminds me of the final two words in most fairytales—ever after. Usually this follows the word “happily,” as in happily-ever-after.

We all know, are amply familiar with, the truth that happily-ever-after is not, at least for now, our experience. We and those we love face illness, sometimes unto death. Jobs are lost. Children rebel. Pets run away. Crops fail. Money runs out. That’s just a plain, hard fact.

The word “ever” is defined at all times; always. There’s only one thing which satisfies this definition—only one who ever and always will ever and always.

He’s the author of our unique and creative stories, no matter how much pain and imperfection might pepper our years, destroy our days, mess with our minutes, and sabotage our seconds.

Because the right now is yet unfamiliar with our future perfection. But one day?

And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last (Revelation 22:12, 13 NKJV).

Indeed, our happily-ever-after is coming. So, create on, creatives.

Create on.

Creative Father, thank You for creating me to create. Guide me in my craft, and may my creativity always bring You glory. Yes, may it be so, now and forever… Amen!

(Several photos used are compliments of Pixabay.)

**(This appeared first in the 2025 Anthology Inspire Creativity–Unleash Your Imagination. Inspire Christian Writers, 2024.)**