On the edge of ordinary this week

As usual, I've been casting around in my mind for a blog post for today (even more so as I've not written for a coupole of days), but what can I write that isn't dull and boring? (If you make it to the end, you'll find some mildly exciting stuff...or, I guess, you can scroll straight there.)

One photo I found today in my
ongoing search for photos for
home assignment usage.
This is David doing the rounds at
a middle school science fair a couple
of years ago.

Daily life continues here at a pretty regular rate. There are only a handful of school days left. Three and a half, to be precise. Actually a bit less than that for our high schooler who goes into "culminating events" timetable from Friday (what we used to call "exam schedule").

Email troubles
I've endured some significant frustration over the last several days as it gradually dawned on me late last week that perhaps my email was playing up (again). Emails I'd sent weren't necessarily being received. And this going back ten days or more! 



Email trouble always flusters me and I beat myself up that I can't get my head around solving them. This time it was more than one email account and as soon as I tried to do any fixing, it got worse. In the end I asked for help from our mission's help desk in Singapore. Of course that meant writing an email, and it took some time to actually get an email through to them. I'm now grateful for the set-up they have that immediately replies to any email you send them with a "received" email, because then I knew that I'd been successful.

I think I started asking for help last Wednesday and finally yesterday everything came together. It took him almost an hour using a screen-sharing app, to fix the problem. You see my email situation is pretty complex. I have four email addresses that I use regularly, for different parts of my job! Plus another couple that are yahoo/gmail and help with things related to those platforms. I have to say that I'm a little jealous of people who have tech support in their workplace, but considering our organisation's workplace is all over the world, this is a pretty good solution.

A friend, who prayed for this particular problem during a coffee date on Monday, not only gently chastised me for beating myself up, she encouraged me that God is using stuff like this to refine me, grow me! Praise God for friends like that!

A meme I made today from a quote I found while I looked for
a tiny bit of advice about writing rejection letters!

School
Yesterday I also had boys coming in and out of the house. It was an unusual day at school and there were no classes, though middle and high school students were required to attend one or two presentations by the seniors about their year-long projects. So, a bit of a scattered day over all, but in the midst of it I got quite a number of things achieved.

More work stuff
I continue to do a variety of scheduling, just today I've booked in our 16th church for December! I've messaged a friend about catching up in Australia before they leave for Taiwan.

I'm also still wading through handover. I have spent time in these last two days signing up people for different apps or website groups, and writing emails about where I'm at and what next to do.

Just today I've written 39 emails. These last three days I've written 101! (Not sure how many have actually landed, though.)

Editing continues, some of those emails have been back and forth correspondence with writers. I even had to tango with a rejection email today (one I have to write for an proposed article for the magazine, but I can't send it yet...I have to wait until next week).

Well all that stuff is pretty boring, really, but it is where my ordinary life is at right now.

The exciting stuff
The exciting stuff of this week includes things like:

• Can we watch State of Origin live tonight for free? (For non-Aussies, it is a yearly series of three rugby league matches between our state of Queensland and neighbouring state of New South Wales. Very hotly contested.)
• Discovering some old videos on this computer from as long ago as 2010.
• Helping our middle school son complete a craft project for a craft stall after school. (A bigger drama than you can probably imagine. My husband cut out 60 circles 11mm in diameter.)
• And last night we received news that a large piece of our home assignment puzzle has fallen into place...but that is a post of its own that I'll get to when I get just a bit more information...and maybe a photo or two.

Well, it's after 7 and I'm going to call it quits on the computer for today. Maybe I'll have an exciting post to write tomorrow?

Bezalel, a talented dude

In my current journey through the Bible I'm buried deep in the instructions given to the Israelites about outfitting their rag-tag crew in the desert with a tabernacle (place to worship God) and a priesthood.

In the midst of a lot of repetition and incredible detail a name popped out to me the other day: Bezalel. 

I've never met someone called that. It's one of those Biblical names that parents have skirted around as they name their kids these days.

However this guy was one talented dude.

He was chosen by God, the Lord told Moses so (Exodus 31:2). He was also filled by the Spirit, not to be a leader or a priest or a prophet or counsellor, but an artisan. 

Here's a list of things he was enabled to do:

• work with gold, silver, and bronze
• cut and set stones
• work in wood
• engage in all kinds of crafts

Good thing, because then God lists off a large number of things that needed to be made, including lamps, alters, garments, oil, and incense. 

The list ends with "They are to be made just as I commanded you." No pressure!

Later in Chapter 36, Bezalel is joined by Oholiab and "every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary" (vs. 1 NIV).

Oholiab was pretty skilled too, he is listed as being an engraver and designer, and an embroiderer.

"They" is the pronoun used for a lot of the work, but at the start of chapter 37, Bezalel is described as making the ark, with its covering of pure gold (imagine doing that!), poles which were also encased in gold, then the cherubim were hammered gold. It seems that this was his personal responsibility, because then it goes back to "they."

I would describe myself as a wannabe when it comes to being crafty. I enjoy crafts, but spend more time thinking about doing them than actually doing them (except when it comes to cross-stitch, which I've actually done a lot of). I'm actually better creating by using someone else's "recipe", like with cooking. Actually cross-stitch is pretty much like that. Not much creativity needed, just a lot of time.

I work with designers with the magazine and would love to do design myself, except that I lack the technical skill at this point (they work with fancy software). I also secretly suspect I lack the innate creativity that I would need to do it anyway. But my eye for good design has developed in the six and a half years I've been working on the magazine. 

So I really respect what they do, I give them about 20 basic word documents (that have been carefully crafted and checked) and they turn them into a wonderful, creative feast for the eyes.

I'm delighted to be reminded that God delights in creativity and the skill of an artisan too. Oftentimes we lift up some skills to be higher than others: leadership, preaching, evangelism, and people-skills for example. But I don't think that God looks at us in quite the same way, with some more valuable than others.

He is the ultimate designer (this world...out of nothing!) and values those with creativity too. Actually, he gifted those people with creativity. Without these creative souls in our world our lives would be very dull indeed. Imagine if everything was ugly? If no one had the ability to create something as delightful as a diamond ring or even a piece of clothing that does more than just cover the body. If we had no such thing as music or even the functional design of an escalator!

So two verses:

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelations 4:11 NIV).

Let's rejoice in those who are gifted with creativity, for this gifting is in the image of God who created them.

Creativity and Christianity

I came across a couple of articles about creativity ages ago and have just dragged them back out of my bulging "draft blog post" folder.

I love the work I do, I've got the freedom to use my gifts to be creative as well as to build others up. So these short articles are very encouraging to me.

The first article I found has an enormous title: Why Christians should paint, dance, quilt, act, compose music, write writes, decorate cookies, and participate in the arts. It lists eight reasons why Christians should be creative. I bet you can think of more, though I wouldn't have thought of these eight if I'd made the list, for example, "beauty reminds us of the Beautiful One" and "when we use our gifts it reminds us (and others) of the Giver of every good and perfect gift". 

Here are some of the creative things I like to do, and why:

• I love to bake as it gives to others, but I also find it very satisfying to work through a series of steps and get a defined result. I actually find it relaxing if I'm not rushed. 
• I love enjoying nature (with and without a camera) because it reminds me of the Creator and lifts my eyes and heart up beyond my current problems. When I share my photos (and blog posts too, I guess) it give pleasure to others and takes them to a place of admiring the work of the Creator too.
• I love to write because it's a gift I have and I can use it to encourage or challenge or inform others. A bit like baking, I like to have ideas and work to get them written down in a way that others can appreciate and enjoy. Editing writing is similar, whether it is my work or someone else's, taking the "raw ingredients" and forming them into something that will benefit others is very satisfying.
• I loved doing cross stitch, it was a relaxing pastime. But also something that I found easy and could create things that I could give to others to give them pleasure. I've taken a break from it in the last year or so, but unfortunately haven't found a viable replacement yet.

This second article (Three things I know about creativity) is by a writer and editor (sounds like someone I know...). She writes about three things that creativity needs:

• to live life: so we have fuel for stuff to create as well as to create space for creative thoughts to form and arrange themselves
• solitude: peace for our souls to be able to commune with God
• community: for refinement, feedback that improves whatever it is that we've created.

I've only just scratched the surface here, I know there's lots more to this topic than I'm seeing or could cover in one tiny blog post. For example this fascinating article from Relevant magazine asking "Is there a place for creative Christians?" with answers by a variety of creative Christians.

It's something I'd like to keep thinking about. As a writer and an editor and an individual who enjoys a variety of creative endeavours.

What do creative things do you enjoy? Why?