Made to Create

There is something incredibly pleasing about a palette with globs of paint on it. Whenever I see this, my mind runs wild with thoughts of what they'll end up being. Could be a happy tree. Could be a basket of fruit. You never know! There was a time when a palette like this was intimidating, but now I see it as the start of something beautiful.

It's something that all makers have in common. Whether it's a palette of fresh paint for a painter, a blank sheet of paper for a writer or even a roll of film for a photographer, there's something refreshing about a new beginning and the call to create something.

As a writer, I love the feel of my pen scratching across a notebook as creative stories flow from my heart to my paper. But that satisfaction doesn't come without moments of frustration when I want to scribble jagged lines across the page when the right words just don't come through. I've spent many nights and early mornings trying to make the characters materialize on the page only to stare at a blank page mocking me. It leads me to ask one thing:

What's the point?

When your craft causes you more stress than satisfaction, why do you keep on going? Ask any creative and you'll get a different answer every time. For me, it comes down to one thing:

I was made for this.

I believe I was made to create rather than destroy. I was made to build up rather than tear down. The late nights and blood sweat and tears mixed in with the ink from my cheap ballpoint pens are worth it. The ugliness can eventually yield something beautiful. It takes a lot of work, but the fruit eventually comes.

In fact, I had an experience recently where I thought that God was giving me nothing but a pile of dirt. I held my hands open and accepted it, but I also wondered, "What can I possibly do with this?" Being the good Father that he is, he responded, "You need dirt to plant seeds. You need seeds to grow a garden." It was in that moment that I realized sometimes God gives us things that don't make sense or that are seemingly useless or burdensome. But those raw materials aren't he end. In the hands of his children, who he loves directs, and has taught so much, those raw materials make something beautiful.