Designed to Create

Well, I think I’ve officially settled into life here, and that’s a truly wonderful thing. As I sit on the windowsill outside of my room with the warm October sun shining on my face, I realize it’s time to share again. 🙂 it’s been six weeks (or just over) since I landed here in Romania, and life is settling in to a new normal for me.

I’m definitely busier than I was when I posted last month, I am actively working with several NGO’s and with the churches here in Romania, but there’s still a lot of unstructured time. (I hesitate to call it free time because there is work to do, but there’s not a lot of guidance on when where or how to do it, which I am learning to appreciate.)

As I was thinking about what to share, several things came to mind, but I think today I really want to encourage you with some of the joys I have experienced here, even as Romania is approaching another lockdown due to skyrocketing Covid numbers (something I would appreciate prayers for as we all are trying to navigate this well.)

Anyways, the joys I want to discuss can be summed up in one word: creativity. I have had so much space to be creative this past month, to make things, organize things, bring people together in different ways, and I’m so incredibly thankful for it. Here’s just a few examples: 1) I started crocheting again. I’ve been making scarves, hats, and blankets for myself and others and it’s been so fun to try to make new things. 2) Baking. I currently live in a hotel/community center with three other young adults, and we spend quite a bit of time together. But my favorite thing that we have done together is bake. Romanian dishes (the picture from this post is of us rolling Sarmale, a DELICIOUS traditional Romanian food), American dishes, whatever we feel like at the moment (today I took a whole pumpkin and made roasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin purée to use for later recipes because canned pumpkin doesn’t exist here:)) 3) Crafting. I have become the point person for all things crafts with kids for two different NGO’s here and I have absolutely loved it! 4) Art. A friend here talked me into trying my hand at painting and drawing again, and while I’m not exactly where I used to be with it, I’m enjoying picking up an old hobby. 5) Hair and makeup. Another friend loves to have her hair and makeup done…for some reason by me😂 while I enjoy doing hair, I’ve never considered myself an expert, but being around her more I have started to try different ways to style her (and my) hair, which has been fun and another way to build community. 6) Music. There’s a guitar here! And I’m allowed to practice with it whenever I want!! It’s beautiful!!

Wow, ok when I started that list I didn’t even know it was going to be that long, but ideas just kept coming, so I kept writing them down. Anyway, as I have thought about all of these avenues allowing me to be creative, to make things and sounds and foods and images that didn’t exist otherwise, I’ve realized a couple of things.

First, when we create, we are living into one of the core parts of being created “in the image of God.” After all, God is the eternal Creator, and only by His grace and divine will do we have the capacity to create anything ourselves. But more than that, I believe that creativity is a part of the stewardship mandate given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1. God tells them to “be fruitful and multiply, fill and subdue the earth.” A lot of times we think about this passage as referring to families and nature, and I think that’s definitely true, but I think we are also called to take what God has given us, and use it to create good things.

And second, I have come to realize that many time creativity facilitates community. For example, when I started to bake here, I would just do it alone. But then as I became friends with the others living here, it’s become more of a community event, something we share together and enjoy together. One of the crafts that I was able to design helped me to get to know some of the younger kids at one of the community centers here, which also is facilitating community. And even in discussing interests with new friends, when we find something that we both like to create, that strengthens the friendship and gives us a unique way to spend time together.

So, my encouragement to you is to lean into the ways you are creative. Maybe you like to write, maybe you like to design programs or organize people and events, maybe you’re logically minded and can solve puzzles and problems by creating new solutions. However you find yourself creating, remember that you were designed to do so, and that you were designed to enjoy it, and let that knowledge fill you with thanks for our Great Creator.