Time To Create

January is a tough month for me.  As a bookkeeper-type, January is one of my busiest times.  There is end-of-month as well as end-of-year stuff that just has to be done. Financial statements and contribution statements. And then there is the scariest part of all:  year-end payroll processing with W-2 forms and 1099 forms.  That impacts people in a big way.  It's got to be done correctly and in a way that the IRS will accept.  And all of these things have specific deadlines that have to be observed and fit in to the regular day-to-day schedule.  I always feel as if I run through January at top speed and just manage to cover all that needs to be covered.

The worst part of all that rushing is that I don't have time to sit down and learn something new.

Today, I think I've finally caught up to where I need to be. *Sigh*

And I'm going to learn something new!

I've downloaded Audacity and I'm going to learn how to create some customized song clips for our Children's Large Group Sunday School.

Creativity takes time.  There are ideas to hatch, processes to learn, visions to catch.

I think I'm ready ......... at last ........ it's time to create.

How Much Is Too Little

Over the years, I've received several gifts from church members.  Some were for Christmas and some were ... well ... just because.  Last month I received a book from a couple in our church.  The title is "Breakfast with Jesus" by Greg Laurie.  It is filled with short devotionals, each based on one or two verses from the gospels.  The chapters are short, designed to do just what the title suggests: get your day started with the Savior.

Today I read what Mr. Laurie had to say about Luke 9:16-17. It's the story of Jesus asking His disciples to feed over 5000 hungry people. So often we focus on the boy and his lunch with this story. This time the focus was on the disciples.  Luke's account doesn't mention the boy at all.  When His twelve asked Jesus to send the crowd away to eat, Jesus replied, "You give them something to eat." (v. 13)

Somewhere along the way, the guys had missed an important point.  They had seen Jesus give life back to a dead girl and give sight to a blind man.  They had even seen Him give good wine to a wedding party (so they knew that not all His miracles had to do with people and their health!)  Jesus had a history of being able to do exactly what needed to be done, and yet they didn't ask Him to do anything other than send the people away.

Then Jesus did what He is still doing:  He asked His guys to give Him "what they had, regardless of how little it seemed." (BwJ, pg.37) I've never looked at this story quite from that point of view before.  Jesus doesn't want something from me that I don't have.  He just wants what I do have... right now, on hand... and He'll make something miraculous from that.