For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. – Colossians 1:16-17 NIV
As a Christ follower I try to not get too preachy on the website.
Though I would never deny or hide the fact that I’m a believer, I understand that readers who come here for articles and blogs about drawing and writing children’s books will be a mix of believers and non-believers, different denominations, etc. After witnessing the alarming vitriol amongst believers and non-believers alike on social media platforms concerning particular topics, I decided to keep my website content low-key and focused on the book business. Let ‘em fight out all those other issues on Facebook and Twitter … I’ll just scroll on by and ignore them all, thank you very much.
But it surely has been difficult to be here in this public space talking about what I do every day while dancing around the elephant in the room … and that’s the One in whom is my purpose and identity … the One who daily guides me, inspires and encourages me, and plants great ideas in my head … the One who makes it possible for me to spend my days writing and drawing … the One who dragged this reluctant recluse into this public space and surprised me by how much fun it’s turning out to be ... I’m going to EXPLODE if I don’t just finally talk about Him!
So if you don’t like God talk, just skip the September blogs. Come back in October and we’ll move on to something else … maybe.
The very same Being who flung the stars and keeps the universe spinning, who hears and answers billions of prayers worldwide every single day, joins me in my studio and helps me draw my little pictures. How awesome is that!
When I realize who it is who’s come along beside me, it’s humbling and terrifying all at once. How can I wrap my brain around it? Impossible! Who am I to merit such an honor? I’m a nobody without any merit. A whole universe to run, and yet here He is, right beside little nothing me, day and night, giving me input on how to proceed, not only in my work, but in every area of my life.
The truth is that He’ll join anyone who will invite him in. He doesn’t care if you are drawing pictures, digging ditches or running a country. He’s the one who designed and assigned you to do all that drawing, digging or running, or whatever it is you do.
If you don’t have Him around, you’ll still be able to draw, dig and run things, just like He created you to do. Exercising the gifts and abilities He gives us allows us to support ourselves and our families and serve others. But when you invite Him to come along beside you, and place all those gifts and abilities into His hands, you’ll be drawing, digging and running at a whole different level. He’ll infuse His own purposes into it all and bless and reach others in ways you couldn’t have alone. Walking with Him, loving Him, obeying Him is amazing! And oh, how it helps to navigate living in this world!
Daily we all, including our children, are bombarded with the world’s messages through entertainment and media. As adults, we can usually discriminate between what’s true and what’s not. But it can be tough, because those messages can be subtle and dangerous to young impressionable minds. Those messages come wrapped in flashy, entertaining packages, endorsed by attractive celebrities to lure kids in.
Of course it’s the parents’ job to protect, guide and teach kids, but that job is getting tougher and tougher. There once was a time when the messages kids were getting from sources outside of the home pretty much lined up with the messages they were taught at home. That’s not true anymore, and children are exposed earlier and earlier to more and more than ever before. Outside influences increase exponentially as they grow up and spend more hours in the world than at home.
This is one reason why this thing we do – making books – is so important. And why we need His input to do our job well.
A story about shark bullies or a bedtime conversation may not seem world changing, but when we make our books fun to read, kids will be engaged and they’ll learn to love reading. That leads to learning to put words and mental images together and they learn how to communicate thoughts and ideas and, before you know it, another human being is learning to THINK! And that IS world changing, because who knows what that child will potentially be or who they might potentially influence?
Thinking is really important. And it can be really off-base …
The flat earthers look out at the universe and see all the spherical objects, and somehow arrive at the conclusion that our earth is the one single, solitary object amongst the zillions which the law of gravity doesn’t affect. Their belief doesn’t change or affect the law or the facts, it only changes and affects them. No matter what they sincerely believe, they are living out their lives on a sphere.
Maybe they don’t like it. Maybe they don’t want it. Maybe it just doesn’t feel right to them. Maybe they decided to just outright reject it. What they want, feel or think doesn’t change the fact.
Gravity is an inert force and it really doesn’t care what we think about it. It’s just there doing its job and our feet will remain planted firmly on the ground even if we are on the bottom side of a sphere. No floating off into space, thank goodness!
God is like gravity ... He is a fact that affects us no matter what we think about Him. But, far from being an impersonal, inert force, God has definite thoughts concerning us …
Thank you