Polka Dots of Joy … by Jocelyn Faire

There was a time I wondered if I would run out of crafting ideas. It seemed every year something new came along, and I would love to try my hand at it, from folk painting, to decoupage, to muslin starched dolls, Christmas angels, wax candles, wood crafts and so much more. Soon I realized as long as creativity thrived, there would always be more projects.

In the last number of years my creativity has been in seeking beauty, sharing

sunsets at Clear Lake, Mb

it with others via photography, intentional connections, fun picnics. The focus has moved from doing to being; being in the midst of God's creativity. Sometimes I wonder who paints the skies every morning or night. Who dips the frost on the trees? Who writes the river's song?

This summer I want to spend time intentionally with a book at the river's edge, or viewing the sun moon and stars. I want to become an aficionado of the abundance of heavenly created artwork

With that in mind I would love to share a poem by Mary Oliver.

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?



Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

 —Mary Oliver

Jocelyn is the author of Who is Talking Out of My Head. She also blogs about hope in the hard places at:  http://whoistalking.wordpress.com

In Conversation with My Creator - Joylene M. Bailey

I got my love for sewing and quilting from my Mom, who got it from her Mom. I guess you could say that sewing/quilting is a family tradition. 

Loving it is also a family tradition. 

My husband still enters my sewing space with trepidation because he remembers growing up with a mom who was grouchy every time she sewed. He is always surprised by how happy I am when I am at my sewing machine.

Mom always has another quilt on the go, and her eyes light up as she talks about colours and fabrics and new ways of quilting. She tells me that when she sews she bubbles with worship to her Creator. It is her form of worship. She gives God glory as she works with her hands.

We are created to create. So, when I create with fabric, thread, and quilting needles, I am giving back to my Creator. I am doing exactly what I was created to do. 

This conversation, this back and forth - Creator giving the desire and giftedness to create, Me giving back with worship and thanksgiving, He delighting in my creating - is a deeply spiritual thing. 

It is a Refreshing. 

A Cleansing. 

A place where things I'm struggling with in my "other" life come into focus and are seen from another perspective, because I am communicating with God, my Creator, when I sew.  

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My latest quilting project was a baby quilt for our newest granddaughter, who was born a month ago. 

Because I am not as good at it as Mom is, the quilt has some mistakes that I wouldn’t have made had I been more accomplished. But to be accomplished one has to spend hours and hours and hours of learning and practice, which I haven’t done ... yet.  

It's a lot like writing that way.

Still, I sew with the little expertise I have and hope that the love will show through. Meanwhile I’ll learn and grow with each project I work on, knowing that my Creator looks on with pleasure, as I take pleasure in creating.

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Joy sews and writes from Edmonton. You can check out more of her joy-infused writing at Scraps of Joy.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words - By Gloria Guest

Star Flower

I didn’t grow up around cameras and pictures as a camera was beyond what my parents could afford. In fact I recall having to return all of our earliest school pictures that they couldn't afford, knowing that they were going in the trash. Perhaps that is why pictures have become so important to me.

My first memory of a camera involves my grandmother coming for a visit when I was six years old. Along with all of her other magical qualities, like the ability to produce quarters and treats from her purse at any given moment she possessed this small black device that when she took our picture with it, would within a few minutes, produce a picture for us all to see. Magic!

Photo taken with Grandma's Magic Camera

Prairie Boys - favorite picture of  my sons

When I had my own children I was determined to take as many pictures as possible so after our first son was born we bought a good camera and I snapped pictures to my heart’s content.  The overflowing boxes and boxes of pictures, a problem before digital cameras, are a testament of that. At one time I tried to deal with the overflow by becoming a consultant for Creative Memories; a scrapbooking company that sold and taught classes on the safe storage and sharing of photographs. It was fun and creative but I didn’t make much of a dent in my own overflow of pictures. However this blog post is a nudge to add this to my list of projects for this coming winter.

Capturing the moments

Priceless Expression

I love taking pictures of people; capturing just the right pose or expression. It is like being given a small glimpse into the soul. While working for newspapers I had many opportunities to take photos of people. From school and community events to political rallies and even some national events it was always a challenge to get just the right shot. Often dozens of pictures were snapped just for ‘that one’ that stood out. Of course with digital camera’s the task became much easier and convenient.

Photo by Gloria Guest - Times Reporter

A few highlights of my picture taking days are:

-taking pictures of the Snow Birds; an aerial team based out of moose jaw. I had the thrill of taking pictures of the Snow Birds on numerous occasions as they dipped and soared through the skies mesmerizing the crowds below. It was a particular highlight when I was invited to go up on top of the tower on the base as they came in and landed from their final show of the season.

-trying to get the perfect shot of Prince Charles visit to Assiniboia and the sod turning at the Prince of Wales Center. Hundreds of shots were taken that day but my favorite is a simple one of a small girl handing him some prairie crocuses.

-anytime I had the opportunity to photograph children was always a favorite. Their eagerness and ready smiles and natural ability in front of the camera made my job easy and fun.

There are really far too many highlights to count and I will cherish those days and all that I learned. I also had the opportunity to work at a Photography Studio in reception/production for a year. Here I was given the opportunity to work alongside the photographer in his natural light studio and also went on location. I helped take thousands of school and community activity photographs, learning about lighting and angles and how to create a relaxing, fun atmosphere. I helped customers choose their precious family portraits and watched as their faces lit up when they were pleased with the results. It was one of the happiest environments to work in. Who doesn’t smile when they see a good picture of themselves or someone that they love?

I also enjoy taking pictures of nature and animals and of course my beloved cats. For me, taking a picture is something I do for many reasons

My son out checking cattle

-it is an instant capture of the particular memory I want to keep and in one glance and I’m back there re-living the memory.

-I love to sit and go through my photos and reminisce. Pictures are one of the things people try to get out of their house during a fire; and I’ve seen photo albums at the bedside of the terminally ill.

-Sometimes, even though I’m a writer, the words just won’t come; but a picture still can. Perhaps that will always be the only way I capture something or perhaps by looking at it later, the words will come too.

-Pictures and words go together, hand in hand. At the paper we almost always tried to include a picture with an article.

-Pictures can serve as a historical record for ourselves and future generations. It is fascinating and eye opening to look back on the old black and white photographs that our ancestors took and try to imagine what they were like and the lives that they lived.

-Sometimes just as the famous quote attributed to various people, but quoted also by the editor Tess Flanders in 1911 when discussing journalism and publishing, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

I hope you snap lots of pictures in your lifetime and I hope you enjoy a few of my favorites that I’ve posted here.

Creators Create - 10,000 Hours to Make a Difference, by Rohadi

I asked myself, “how can I cheat?”

Using Malcolm Gladwell's often touted 10,000-hour rule of mastery, what were my passions that gave me a head-start, and could I turn them into a career? I made a list.

It wouldn't be woodworking because I only had a couple hundred hours there. Writing was a possibility. Then there was music. Not quite 10,000 hours from the years mom planted me in front of the piano, but it was close. Then I dug deeper and realized I know too many incredible musicians who make, literally, hundreds of dollars a year. I don't have enough love for music to put in the extra 1000s of hours to make that kind of money.

Finding a passion I can 'cheat in' hasn't happened, but this fact remains: I love to create. Artists just can't help it.

Art forms don’t need to be a source of income, they can just be your passions. But there is an underlying commonality that’s more important than money. It has something to do with the uniqueness all artists have.

We are creators.

The classic Sunday school song ‘This little light of mine’ has a line, “…hide it under a bushel, NO!” that serves as a reminder for Christians. Often we're more prone to settle in our world that rarely meanders beyond the confines of the church walls. It's easier to share community with other Christians, only read Christian books, only listen to Christian music, and on and on. There’s something eerily consumptive about the whole experience that, to me, seems disconnected from how Jesus lived — a life for others.

What does this have to do with creative activities?

Too often Christians are described by what they stand against rather than what they stand for: creators created in God's image tasked to beautify the world around them.

Creators are not perennial consumers. No matter the size, we leave something behind rather than taking from this world. We offer our contributions, collaborating with the unfolding Kingdom of God to add beauty.

The exercise of simply creating is profound and intimately connected to God’s dream for you and I, but for all of creation as well. The dream and hope to restore all things is glimpsed every time we say, “yes”, I’m going to make that pie, I’m going to write that sonnet, I’m going to fill that canvas, I’m going to pen that song…and on and on.

Creators create and that’s the difference our world needs.


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Rohadi’s first publication is now available: "Soul Coats: Restoration” is an adult Christian colouring book with over 64 beautifully illustrated scenes and scriptures from the Bible.