Most children love to color, draw, paint, create. Mine do. I did. Somewhere along the way, however, I not only ceased to believe that I was capable of creating art, but that it would even be worthy of display or notice if I did.

I’m logical and analytical by nature, skills that served me well enough in school—and life—for a time. I could solve a problem; compose an essay; or ace a test like nobody’s business. I began college at an Ivy League school; put my faith in my brain and intellect; and didn’t pay much attention to art beyond what could be found in a book or museum.

Then a funny thing happened about six years ago: I wanted my crayons back.

I yearned to write again. Not essays that tested my ability to analyze literature or history, but stories, memories: my family’s history. Then I started designing blogs and fell in love with Photoshop. Blog design provided the money to buy my first DSLR and I. was. hooked. This ability to capture a moment and then brush and crop and edit it to reveal life the way I see it: that’s heady stuff for a girl whose artistic creativity lay dormant for so many years.

Last year I made a conscious decision to give God my blog. Basically, I asked Him to show me how to use it to better serve Him. I wrote a 31 Days series that combined scripture and photography, and overall produced more faith-based content than in my other five years of blogging put together.

This year I vowed to give God my art. Obviously I’ve always looked to Him for inspiration—I ask Him to guide my eye and my hand and protect my equipment—but this is a deeper, more reverent desire and its impact has been powerful, a creative high.

I’m working through fear of failure and pursuing dreams: creating, printing, opening my own shop.

Your art probably looks different than mine. It might be produced with a skillet; a hammer; paint and canvas; a musical instrument; or a keyboard. One of my best friends sautés and simmers art in the kitchen. Another designs jewelry, and forms and decorates grand cakes. Another is a masterful planner and organizer and has developed skills that enable her to help children with speech problems.

I believe God gives us an inner desire to compose, conceive, or construct in some way.

Lay your art upon His alter and see if it’s returned to you, multiplied.

How do you create (or are you like me, allowing your art to lie dormant)? Do you have a passion you’re ready to pursue or a story of how God’s blessed your creativity?

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