Art and Worship

My sweet friend and Creative Soul Life Coach, Stephanie Ackerman, always says, "I'm here to remind you of of the things you already know, but just forgot to remember", and this weekend God reminded me, through some amazing artists, of some very big things that I've "forgotten to remember" in the past couple years.

This past weekend I attended the Art as Worship workshop in Franklin, Tennessee, with Vanessa English and Jeanne Oliver. Not only was this workshop about art and creating with God, but emphasized making your whole life an offering. My biggest take away from this weekend was a quote from Nate Johnston that Jeanne paraphrased; "It's less about finding my voice and more about finding God's. When you hear His voice, you'll find yours." I feel like all I've heard in the past few years in artist circles and small business coaching is "find your voice", "write your elevator pitch", "know your why". This advice is not bad in whole, but that focus has definitely distracted me from my most important work.

I had totally forgotten until this weekend, that one of my first online courses that I  created a in 2020 was called Art + Worship, and my main goal was to teach, encourage and share Jesus through my art. I spent this morning rewatching portions of my course, and then went before the Lord with so much repentance, thoughts, questions and dreams.

From the beginning of my art journey, God has always been there. He has taught me, guided me, provided, opened doors and made me brave. Over the past couple of years, I've been discontent with my art as a whole and have been searching for direction. It's clear after this weekend that I've gotten off track and my focus has shifted from my art with God, to reaching goals and growing my business. While these things are necessary to run a profitable business, I've neglected my first love of incorporating God into my daily creative practice and processes. I've not made enough time to spend time making art with God for no other reason than to worship. I've become so busy that I lack the time doing the important things like teaching and encouraging others and helping them remember what God's Word says about His grace, His Love and how we are made in His image. I'm neglecting "being extravagantly generous with my gifts" (Jeanne Oliver). 

So today I'm filled with gratitude for the work that Vanessa and Jeanne did for this amazing 2-day workshop. It was Holy work and the Spirit was present. Yes, we created and laughed and learned, but the heart beat was Jesus. As creatives, we received encouragement, nourishment, healing, community and renewal, and were sent homes with our hearts full and excited about putting beauty out into the world.

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