This Blog - Finding Your Creative Bones®, and the posts within record my conversation with the Holy Spirit in 2021 while reading the Bible from cover to cover for the first time.
First, I must tell you that I am not a Bible scholar or theologian. I have attended many religious classes and taught myself, but I do not consider myself well-schooled in the Bible. Surprisingly that was not a problem when I started my bible study program.
To tell you a little about me, I am a partially early retired Information Technology, IT, Director of Project Management, a multi-discipline certified Project Management Professional, PMP. I am still consulting part-time on IT project management and customer service.
As you might guess, I am very left-brained, but now I am a full-time artist and author, engaging and loving the beauty of my right brain. I have never been as happy.
I have always loved the Lord. I have early memories of loving, praying, and believing in God. But unfortunately, I didn't grow up in a house where church and religion were a common topic of conversation. No church unless I went with friends. As a result, I haven't always felt as connected to God as I would like. But I keep trying.
As an adult, nearly 30, I became Catholic and so involved in church life that I considered becoming a nun, but that wasn't to be. I am a little too much of this world and the things in it for that! It was my experiences with faith that began to bring me to art. I had beautiful visions and dreams that made me want to capture some small part of the experience, so I began to paint. Unfortunately, painting didn't stick as a part of my day-to-day life, and I eventually stopped painting until my Father passed away and I was laid off in 2002. I turned to create art as part of my grieving process. I haven't stopped since then. My art was for me more than others for quite a while.
In August of 2017, my retirement home was flooded by Harvey. Fortunately, I hadn't moved in yet, but I had just spent six months renovating a cabin into a modern contemporary home. It was heartache, but so many others had worse situations. I could not complain, feel sad, yes, complain, no. Following the renovation experience, I realized how difficult it would be to renovate again without being at the house. So, in August 2018, I retired from my full-time career as a Director of Project Management for the 7th largest school district in the country.
Six months later, I moved into my new (old) house on Lake Conroe. I could tell some stories about the experience, but that is for another blog! I admit I was exhausted, so the first thing I did was have fun and enjoy friends, family, and the lake. Then, in 2019 I started the journey to find out who I would be in my next life phase.
In May 2020, amid Covid 19, I sensed God was urging me to take action regarding bringing others to him and helping people not feel so lonely. I felt God's invitation to become closer to him. Yet, I didn't know what God had in mind or meant by these urgings.
Initially, the tug might be related to starting an art membership where a group could create art, talk about our faith and grow together. So I started preparing a membership site, Finding Your Creative Bones®. I found a business partner to begin working with me on it, and we launched individual mixed media/tangling classes. We had some incredible women join us, but it didn't take off, and my partner and I decided we had different interests.
For the next several months, I still didn't know what God asked of me. I felt lost as I tried a few things and finally realized I needed to stop taking action and listen.
I finally began to understand God's vision...
In April 2021, I heard God inviting me to read the complete Bible by the end of the year. I hesitated and felt fearful. I had never undertaken what felt like such a massive journey into a world I thought I was unqualified to understand. I paused for a few days, although I recognized urgency building every day. By the 10th or so of April, I knew I had to begin. I ordered a new Bible, a journal, and a pen with which I would enjoy writing. Everything matters when going on a quest! On April 19, 2021, I began with Genesis.
Initially, I had no idea what to record in my journal, so I wrote words that struck my mind as I read, followed the words with a devotion capturing what I understood of the scripture, and stopped there. This continued for a few days, and I heard the Lord say why don't you start praying to me and ask Jesus to help enlighten you so you can see him throughout the Bible. So I started praying, and I wrote.
A few days later, I felt God explaining that the Holy Spirit could help me understand the scripture if I invited him in and asked for his wisdom. So I did. I earnestly prayed to the Holy Spirit or Ghost, whichever endearment you are comfortable with, to understand the words I read as the Spirit would have me know them. I asked the Holy Spirit to lead me to a genuine understanding of the scripture, to enable me to use the knowledge in my writing and life in a way I could never do without the Holy Spirit's guidance.
The Bible I used also had a Saint of the day, and I started asking the Saint to help me understand the verses in the way they understood the scripture. Many of them had such humble beginnings, and with their help, I could understand a depth within the scripture that I could not without them. Their experiences would help me grow in mine.
Then God suggested I add a concluding prayer to each day's writing. A prayer to help others open their heart and minds to change and recognize greater happiness and closeness with our Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Enabling them to be led in the power of the beautiful Holy Trinity, to find or enrich their place in the kingdom of heaven on earth. So I added a prayer to each day, including returning to previous days to finish each day with a call to our Lord.
God's Final Request of my Daily Devotion
A few days later, God suggested I include a daily meditation tangle. I became a Certified Zentangle Teacher, CZT®, in the fall of 2020, and I genuinely love the art form. So I returned to each day again to add either a tangle pattern from another artist or one I created for each day. I realized that using other artists' tangles would be a beautiful opportunity to recognize them and share their work with others. I fell in love with the idea and the adventure of trying to pick a tangle pattern that the Holy Spirit led me to connect with devotion and prayer. I will admit I took artistic latitude, and it would not surprise me to know that not everyone makes the connection I did, but it is enough that God guided my selection, and I have no doubt he will talk to the readers through the words and the art.
The Quest from God I Choose to Accept and Share with You
The following posts are the 365 pages I wrote from April 19, 2021, to December 31, 2021. I read the Bible from beginning to end, and I had never felt so loved and confident in the Lord as I did when I finished the draft of my first 365-day devotional.
Initially, I was going to focus on editing and publishing a book, but I have begun to feel a great urgency to make my writing more immediately available. So with joy, I will put all 365 days into Finding Your Creative Bones posts. I am working on my book as a whole or in smaller increments, perhaps both! I will listen to hear and learn what the Lord calls me to do and gratefully follow his lead.
My hope
I hope and pray that you will join me on my quest. I will write, and you can read and pray. Please share your thoughts. I would be grateful to read them and happily respond. It is my sincere desire to be God's instrument to touch you in a personal way, perhaps even a profound way. I do not promise a sugar-coated; everything is a sweet journey. Still, I believe you will think as you read the posts and hopefully renew or enhance your relationship with our dear Jesus, God our Father, and the Holy Spirit, and that you will be refreshed in your strength and walk with our Lord. I will pray for your wisdom, happiness, and joy every day. May God bless you and all those you love every day.
Finding Your Creative Bones® is a trademarked phrase God called me to register and use in association with my efforts for him.
All of us are creatives in some way within our lives. Not all of us are artists, but we do create in every moment of breath we take. We were created in the image of our Father. Therefore, we are creative.
God is the greatest creator of all, and we share his traits, although, for some, the ever-present connection to our Father's creativity is forgotten, misplaced, or lost. I contend that our bones, our creative bones, are locked within us. We have only to remember and search within our hearts to see God's beauty and majesty within our creative bones. The activation and usage of our creativity positively influence and alter our lives and all we will ever meet.
Imagine God is holding out his hand and waiting for you to join him on the journey. Will you extend your hand in faith and walk with him to see where he and your creative bones lead you?
I hope you will and that I will have an opportunity to support you on the journey. God Bless You. Cindy Rae
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