I’m not creative.
Creativity was music, dance, acting, and art. It affected our senses, something you could see, hear, and touch through a performance or display. It provoked emotions.
And I’ve never been a musical genius, graceful dancer, persuasive performer, or gifted artist. I can’t sketch, paint, sing, or play piano. In my children’s ministry days, I had to construct sets each month based on a theme or Bible story, and I felt so inadequate. I could imagine what I desired the stage scene to look like but didn’t encompass the skills needed to complete the job. I could visualize but not execute. It was a consistent stress as I had to recruit helpers for this part of my job. Thank goodness God provides, otherwise our children’s area would’ve been really bland.
However, I always felt confident in my storytelling and teaching abilities with the kids on Sundays.
And one day, God whispered softly, “You are a storyteller.”
I’ve said many times how this simple assurance from God was the nudge I needed to move forward in my writing career, but overtime it also hit me … I am creative! I’m creative with words and stories and characters!
Some of you are thinking, of course you are, silly girl, writing takes creativity!
But, for me, this wasn’t something I acknowledged in myself, like the enemy hid my true giftings.
In my latest Young Adult release, See You Monday, my main character, Grace, struggles with this same thing as a side plot of the story. Grace feels the creative genes didn’t pass down, because her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother are creative prodigies, and she’s normal and lackluster. She realizes as the story progresses what I came to years ago—she is creative.
And the truth is, we all are. God is fully creative in every way. And we are made in His image, so guess what? We are too. Every one of us. My husband is a grader. He moves dirt (and lots of other things) around all day. But even he is creative. He can take a section of land, visualize what it could be, then go out with huge machines and make it look incredible, often changing it into something no one thought possible.
Teachers? Fully creative. They can take a lesson and figure out how to make it come alive in the minds of children.
Doctors? Fully creative. They can explore their stored medical knowledge and figure out a plan to heal their patients.
Engineers? Uh … creative!
The point is, God has made us all creative in some way. It may be for use in your career, or for a hobby that brings you joy. But since He’s creative, so are you.
Have you thought about this before? Or have you been in the dark about your creative talents like my main character, Grace, and I were?
How are you creative? Because the truth is, you are.
Senior year. The homestretch.
Honor student, Grace Warner, had it easy. Popularity, friends, attention from her crush, even a soccer scholarship offer—if only she can figure out her senior project to graduate on time. Getting approval to write about someone’s life-changing event, Grace recruits her sassy grandma as her mentor who can’t wait to tell the crazy story from her childhood.
Events in the early sixties are words in history books to Grace, but her grandma lived them. She witnessed the civil rights movement in full swing, desegregation becoming a reality in her southern town, Martin Luther King, Jr. moving the country with his iconic speech, and the country coming to a halt when President Kennedy was assassinated.
Grace loves finding out her family history but didn’t know the project would have her noticing hardships and prejudices at her school she hadn’t before. When the homecoming court is announced and new kid, Jacob Horton, is nominated as a colossal prank, it brings Grace to a choice, much like her grandmother years before her. God is about to use her in a miracle if she chooses correctly. If she fails, a life could be lost.
Kristen’s passionate about storytelling and helping people take their next steps in their relationship with Jesus. She lives forty-five minutes outside of Atlanta, GA. where she served as a Children’s Ministry Director for many years. With the support of her husband and two children, she now stays home writing fiction and non-fiction. She also serves on the women’s leadership team at her local church and writes for Crosswalk, Sharing Our Stories Blog, and Wholly Loved Ministries. You can check out her latest articles as well as her latest Young Adult novel, See You Monday, at www.kristenterrette.com.