Yesterday we picked our grandson up from school. He is in all day kindergarten. It’s a long day for a five year old, and lately it has been taking it’s toll on him. I could tell the second I saw him that he was not his bubbly self and my heart sank. He was quite and his sister was babbling on, singing and excitedly telling him every detail of her day. He was frustrated and short with her, so I told her to give him some quiet time to himself. After driving in silence, (that never happens) his small voice came from the backseat. “Grandma, what is God’s favorite thing to do?” I was taken aback. Actually speechless or stumped are better words. I thought about it for quite some time. I wondered why the answer eluded me. I rattled off some lame answer….”to love?” But I knew that wasn’t quite right. Violet must have decided quiet time was officially over and the nonstop, excited chatter resumed and the moment was lost.
Later that night as I was doing the dishes, it all of the sudden hit me. “I know what God’s favorite thing to do is!!” “To create!” I am a creative soul. If it doesn’t move in my house, I paint it. If I trip over the guitar, I will get lost in playing it. If I want pretty soap I have to make it, and if I have a story to tell I have to write it. I am most alive when I am creating. It moves me. Maybe that is why I was most surprised that I couldn’t rattle off immediately to my grandson what God loved most to do.
Maybe your not like me. Maybe you don’t see a blank wall and have to fill it. Maybe you don’t have a feeling so strong you have to sit down at a piano and write a song about it. Maybe you don’t collect paint tubes because you have to have all the colors, and maybe you don’t see junk on the side of the road and have to re-purpose it! But there is another form of creating that I want to touch on. God gave us an amazing gift, the gift of free will. And in that gift was packaged the likeness of him. Creativity. If we are truly created in his image, then that part of him is in us. Every day we have a choice to make. In those choices we create the life we will have, or the life we want to have.
We can choose to be thankful for all the things we DO have, or we can choose to see all the things that are missing. Choosing gratitude creates a life of contentment and fills us with joy. Choosing to focus on what we don’t have creates a life of sadness and displeasure.
We can choose to forgive those that have hurt us, or resent those that have done wrong to us. Choosing to let go and forgive creates a place that brings peace and love back into our heart. Choosing to hold onto resentments creates an environment where bitterness and hurt control our hearts.
We can choose to see the good in circumstances, or we can choose to feel like a victim. Choosing to see the blessing in the mess creates a place that allows us to move forward and grow. Choosing to see the negative creates depression and hopelessness.
We were never created to be just characters in a storybook. We were designed to be heirs to the Master Artist and to create a life that illustrated the very hand of God woven through it.
I called my grandson on the phone that night. He said, “Hi Grandma.” I said, “Hey buddy I figured out the answer to your question. God’s favorite thing to do is….. CREATE!” He giggled a soft giggle and said, “You are right Grandma.”