Joys of Creativity and Collaboration

Just ran across this article about the beauty of childhood creativity

Lately I have seen many things going around on pinterest and facebook about letting your child start a drawing and then the parent finishing it and I thought, this is a fun and amazing way to enter into artwork with your children, spark creativity and encourage their confidence.  This article however is seemingly in a whole different ball park.  This mother begins by sketching a portrait and allows her daughter to finish it.  Rather than the adult pulling the image together in a tidy bow, she allows her child to.  I know this is a small difference and yet it speaks to me in an amazing way and I think Mica's (the mother) words capture this feeling that I have.  She says, "I learned that if you have a preconceived notion of how something should be, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE DISAPPOINTED.  Instead, just go with it, just ACCEPT it, because usually something even more wonderful will come out of it." 

This is the lesson I have learned over and over again lately, whether it was through my own attempts at artwork, prayer or even my stewardship Bible study.  It is about letting go and accepting ourselves and the outcome rather than trying to bully it into what we think it should be.  It's hard to do and yet when we're able to "just go with it" I have found that the outcome is always more amazing, profound and intense than I could have ever come up with on my own.  This is the joy of creativity and what I believe to be the working of the Holy Spirit within us, to create amazing things that would have otherwise been unreachable for us alone.

So be creative!  Enter into some kind of creative act and just go with it, accept it, get out of your own way and allow God to move within it and you won't be disappointed.