This road leading to the garden where the fruit trees reside has been one of winding roads, uphill climbs with downhill coasts while the briars encroach creating wounds that penetrate yet heal.  Only on the journey with the Vine Dresser can I experience wounds that provide deep healing to the core of my being.  The garden is the space that breeds life from death.  The garden cultivates this longing for more within the paradox of complete satisfaction overwhelmed by gratitude and perfect peace.

Every branch, every root and every scene in the garden shouts creative work.  Creative.  From the moment of “let their be light” to the spoken growth of “let the earth sprout vegetation.” The evidence of our Creator is lively, flamboyant, vibrant and soothing.  Creativity is defined as the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.  When you look all around you, original ideas and artistic works are everywhere.  When we stop looking at the world around us as a blank canvas to create in, we stop seeing the world for all of its potential and beauty.  Everything about the core of God the Father is creative – from the zebra to the giraffe, to the Blue Wonder Toad Lily to the Lithop plant of South Africa.  His nature is to create – and as a Creator, He cannot stop creating, ever. 

When we review the passage in Genesis 1:26, we see that God declared that He was going to “make man in His own image – in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  And this very decision passed His creative abilities and nature to His creation.  He gave us the ability to create.  The ability to dream.  The ability to use our hands, our brains and our abilities to craft once in a lifetime splendors.  The ever-changing 7 wonders of the world reflect this growth in mindfulness in creative works of man.  To the Grand Canyon, not created by man, to the Internet, the wonders never cease to amaze.

It is overwhelming to think of all of the creatives in the world – authors, musicians, artists, photographers, craftsman, chefs, actors, seamstress, potters, engineers, architects, scientists, baristas, gardeners, farmers, entrepreneurs, florists and the list goes on and on and on.  In almost every genre of work, there is a portion of creativity required.  My personality type lives and thrives in the place of the unknown – in the element of faith and unpredictability.

For the longest time, 34 years to be exact, I have viewed food as a controlled, must-have, element to life.  Preparing meals for my family and myself was a forced activity pushed upon me every day, multiple times a day, like clockwork – literally.  This was completely predictable.  Every day, my kiddos and husband were going to need dinner.  Predictable, a forced necessity.  Every Thanksgiving, I would look at the experienced women in my life and watch them make turkeys and I would think, “oh dear, someday I am going to be the grandmother and I am expected to do that!”  Panic would follow.  Until recently.  As many of you know, 2020 has been the year of the Quarantine.  The year of the virus.  The year that everything changed.  The year of the forced Sabbatical.  The year that created a sense of pause in society and hectic schedules.  The year that developed refreshment through stillness and rejuvenation through new eyes and new angles.   And so I felt compelled to buy a cookbook.  Not just any cookbook, as I walked through Target, alone armed with mask and hand sanitizer, Joanna Gaines called me into her world and said I could join!  Well done, Target, another unexpected and unplanned aisle purchase – good placement.  This is not a budget or stewardship message. As I begin to read – yes, I read the opening pages, I felt her speaking to me.  And not just her, but the Creator – the Life Bringer.  I heard her words, “a sweet reward of cooking is not only in what’s created, but also in the simple act of getting to create.”  And then it hit me – cooking is only partly about our body being designed for calorie intake, the entire other part is embracing the God-like ability to create in yet another way. 

The past two weeks have been filled with the desire to learn from the best, right now every recipe of Joanna Gaines.  And yet in following her instructions, I am becoming a creator in my own kitchen.  We are given the “simple act of getting to create” all day every day in every way.  We set the course of who we want to be and influence who we want to see around us.  We make decisions and choices that drive a Creative Work in our lives.  We enjoy the creative abilities of so many around us – through entertainment and even just design.  Think of your coffee pot that allows you to drink coffee grown in Guatemala.  How many steps of creativity is that!?!  And even still, as we celebrate Mother’s Day, we see the creative ability of God Almighty crafting little humans that look and act just like the ones who carried them or the seeds that sewn them.  Amazing creativity.

In this moment, we must look at the journey to the garden and through the garden with the eyes that shouts, “I am your Creator and I made you just like me!”  Live and create today.  Create life in words.  Create joy in peace.  Create gratitude in difficulty.  Create life in death and calmness in chaos.  Choose to create and enjoy every wild flower along the way.