Creativity comes from the things you lack…

The other day my friend Maria came to my home to show my mom and I the new beautiful crafts she has been making, this woman always makes the cutest, most lovely things with her hands, I admire her so. We were talking about crafting and decorating, and my mom was saying how if she had more money she could do so much with her home décor. Now, this is actually funny, because my mom is a wonderful decorator, and has always managed to make her home so lovely, delightful, and classy with very little money. She just has a knack for creating something beautiful out of something so simple, she doesn’t “craft” per say, but she creates her own little things, and puts her own personal touch and spin on items she buys and finds around the house. Because of her, I have always grown up in a home that felt special. Yet, my mom still thinks she could do “better” if she had the money to go and buy the things she dreams of seeing in her home, and while yes it would be great to have the money to do that, Maria said something that hit me, she said that “creativity comes from the things you lack”.

That is so true. If we had the money to buy all the things we want, we would never get to see what we could create on our own; we would never have the desire to dream up things in our minds. We would never get the satisfaction of creating our own things, and knowing that your personality is ingrained in the things you created.

Lately I’ve been in a very creative mode, I feel like getting my hands dirty, if you will, and really letting my mind take over and create beautiful things. I love fashion, I always have, but I don’t have the money to go out and buy a new wardrobe, I have to buy little pieces here and there to fit into what I already have. But when I go into a store, I love, love, just looking at a top or dress, and thinking “I can totally recreate that into something awesome!” I get so much excitement from taking a simple top, or a simple outfit, and putting my own spin on it to make it come to life. It’s the best way to show your personality. The other week I was at a store and found a Beatles sweatshirt, my mind went wild, while on its own it was “blah”, I knew that I could wear a plain black tank underneath it, and because if the way it was made, I could wear it as an off the shoulder top. The store only had a Medium when I needed a small, so to take care of the bigness I tied it to the side and fastened it with a brooch. All together it gave the top a sort of an ‘80’s rock feel. I love it, and got a lot of compliments on it :)

This is what I love doing, taking something “blah” and normal, and making “awesome” and “me” :) I think just paring the right jewelry with something can make an outfit with no personality take on a life of its own. And a normal pair of jeans can be transformed by wearing a tied scarf, or garter around the thigh…it adds spunk. I like spunk :) I also could care less if something is “in” or not, if i like it, then i will wear it…to me this is the only way to live :)

I plan on learning to sew very soon, so then I will be able to alter my own clothing and take my creating to new levels. I also would love to learn crochet since it’s always seemed so fun.

So, you don’t need much money to create rockin’ and special things that look fun and classy at the same time, all you need is passion, your beautiful imagination, and the lack of finances and supplies…ah, how sweet :)

~Cecily Priscilla

He makes all things new…

“And He that sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new”. And He said unto me, “Write: for these words are true and faithful.” – Revelation 21:5

That scripture has always been one of my favorites, but last Saturday it came alive to me…God used His word to speak to my heart things that I needed to hear. And He also gave me peace and confirmation about something I have wondered about for quite some time now.

It was Saturday and I was in my room doing my makeup, it was a hot day so I had decided to listen to a mix that reminds me of refreshing days by the water, one the songs on that cd is Shawn McDonald’s song  “Captivated”, which is a song with a lot of emotional and personal meaning to me. Because of the meaning this song has to me I stopped doing my makeup, moved away from my mirror and laid my head on the foot of my bed, so many thoughts, regrets, questions, and frustrations begin racing through my mind. And right there in the midst of all of my questions God brought the most comforting peace to me, and without me even asking, gave me a confirmation and closure I needed to put this question to rest.

Without going into the specifics, I needed to know that I had a special place in the life of someone I once knew, I needed to know I would be remembered in order to not keep beating myself up for caring for them. I can’t really even explain it, but God brought to remembrance things that had been said by that person, as well as different things about things them, and for the first time I felt in my heart peace about the way things happened between us, and God gave me confirmation that I had an impact and place in that person’s life, that in some way, even if I will never know specifics, I had a place in that person’s heart. It was a hard friendship to loose, I feel so deeply for each friend I have, I don’t like to accept that I can know someone so well, and they can know me, and then we never see each other again…the people I love leave imprints on me. But, God works in seasons, and just like Solomon says Ecclesiastes 3:1, “For everything there is a season,a time for every activity under heaven”, and in that moment God made that so clear to me. And I began to praise Him. That was a season in my life and the life of that person, a God appointed time for us to learn and grow and smile together. And then, once God accomplished what He needed to through that, He closed the door and locked it. And that is so beautiful. I am so thankful for that closed door, I am so thankful that God gave that season when He did, and took it away when He did. Praise God! I was overcome with such thankfulness and joy for my Lord in that moment; I couldn’t help but just cry and lift my hands to Him.

And that wasn’t all that God spoke to me in that moment, what He spoke to me then was something I needed to hear for so long, it was something God that has been trying to get my heart to believe. While I was so thankful that God gave me a peace about that situation, there was still some lingering issues; in my heart I have a hard time believing God will bring into my life new and better things then I have had before. It’s like I have had so many perfect and special moments and relationships and I just don’t believe that what God will bring me next will be as perfect…as suited to me…as happy. I tend to think I’ll have to settle for “alright”. I figure that I’ll be happy, but it won’t be that magical and exciting like other things I have had, it will just be “good”, not “great”. But in that moment God pierced my heart so deeply by His Word; He brought to my mind Revelation 21:5, so I got out my bible (which is my grandpa’s old bible…so special) and I started to read, “Behold, I make all things new”. And He said unto me, “Write: for these words are true and faithful.”

He makes all things new. Let those words sink in for a minute, He [God] makes all things new. Wow. That scripture came alive in that moment, and it was no longer words spoken to and written down by John, it was words for today spoken from my Heavenly Father to me. My God can and will make all things new, and if Him saying it wasn’t enough, He reinforces it by saying “these words are true and faithful”. I love that He said that, I love that God said that he faithfully and truly will make things new. He doesn’t leave room for us to doubt.

It was if time stopped and it was just me and God in that moment when I read His words. And in a gentle convicting and correcting way, God told me that He would make all things new for me, but before He can, I must first trust His true and faithful words. I must trust His promise that He can and will. My heart was still, I had to ask for forgiveness for not believing His true and faithful Words. I love how God will convict us in the most loving ways, very few times has this happened to me where I have felt the piercing questioning of God, but every time I do it cuts just as deep, to the core of who you are.

I need to trust God will make things new for me, how can I expect God to bring in the new if I’m being so child-like and pouting about what I had in the past, underestimating what God will do in my future? How can I be so immature and stubborn to think that the God of all creation, the Alpha and the Omega, can be so small and uncreative to not give me something even more beautiful than I once had? We must never box God in that way, for we forfeit all He wants to do in our lives by holding the past in our hearts and not allowing God’s grace to come in and cleanse and heal all the dust from the past. I must let God make things new in my heart first; I must let His love get a hold of my heart and trust Him with my future; And that means not being anxious and frustrated (Philippians 4:6), and trusting God with all my heart, not leaning on my own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). Then, and only then, will He have a soft and pliable heart to bless.

That day I understood what God has been trying to get my suborn heart to hear for so long; I will make all things new for you, but trust my true and faithful words first. Thank you Lord for speaking to me! Thank you for speaking when I don’t expect it. My friends, God is so full of Grace that He will speak and reveal things to us through His Spirit, and through His Word. He is in the “still small voice” and not always in the fire and wind (1 Kings 19).

So, Revelation 21:5 has now become my prayer, and I am standing on that promise and quoting it and claiming it daily, letting my Lord’s true and faithful words sink into my heart until I believe it with my soul.

Lord, I believe and trust you are big and creative enough to make all things new. I believe you will take my past and heal it, and make my future burst with your grace and loving blessings, I believe you love me enough to make me new. I love you enough to believe you.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” Proverbs 3:5-6

 

 

~Cecily Priscilla