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| A few of my daughter's creative pursuits |
The saying, “A Woman’s work is never done” perfectly describes our role as cross-cultural worker mamas. We care for children, cook and clean with few conveniences, home school, get involved with local schools, and study language on the side. We support our husbands’ ministry, invite people into our homes, and sometimes have ministries of our own outside of our families!
If you’re
like me, you have so much on your plate that it’s hard to make time for yourself. You know you need to rest and re-energize
yourself in order to serve more effectively and joyfully, but free time is hard
to come by.
Out of Steam
At the start of the summer I was deep down tired
after my eleventh and most difficult homeschool year yet. High school chemistry proved to be my
nemesis, and helping my brilliant, dyslexic daughter to hunker down and learn
from textbooks was trying. Throughout the year I participated in our weekly
team prayer meetings and English club meetings. I hosted house church and women’s
meetings in my home. My husband and I discipled a Turkish couple and reached
out to non-believers. During the month of May I had one talk or message to
prepare each week. I loved all of these
activities, but by June I was plumb out of steam.
Summer has been healing for me.
I’ve had more
time for things I enjoy, like meeting friends for coffee, reading, or going to
the beach, but what really energizes me most is time to be creative. I enjoy making cards, scrapbooking, framing
photos, and writing. I’m working on a new blog project. I make time for my
creative projects one 25 minute baby step at a time.
My
Inspiration
Many of you provide inspiration as well. You wield
your pens (or computers) to chronicle your lives and ministries through
blogging. One of my favorite blogs is Earthen Vessels from the Philippines. Several of you, like Jen and Heather are
photographers. A friend in the Middle
East posts on her creative pursuits using ordinary, everyday materials at her
disposal.
Waste of Time?
For me as a cross-cultural worker, taking time to be
creative can appear frivolous when there’s always so much to do in my home and ministry. However,
it’s an opportunity to get in touch with the “other me” that God created. Our
creativity brings beauty into our homes. By taking time to be creative, we open
ourselves up to new possibilities and talents, which God can use to bless
others.
My question for all of you: What kind of creative
hobbies do you have? How do you find time?
Thank you for this. I am scrapbooker and have been struggling with feelings of my hobby being a waste of time in the field. But you are completely right. I need to recharge to be effective.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alyssa. One of my team mates is a big time scrapbooker. (I've learned a lot from her.) She does it in her freetime, and we use it a lot to have women's outreach activities. Turkish women NEVER get the chance to be creative, and they love it.
DeleteYou know, I just realized this week that with all of the, well, I am just going to say it, struggle of life right now, I have forgotten to create. And it's killing my spirit, one day at a time. I need to figure out how to make time for this...thanks for the encouragment Olive!
ReplyDeleteI hope God opens some pockets of time for you, Liz!
DeleteI have always loved to create things, and found that while on the "field" it was so hard to keep it up, and it was, like Liz said, killing my spirit. Now, I have found a creative outlet that works with my lifestyle, and that also helps put clothes on my kids and myself, as well as other kids in need. I sew. I keep a corner of our bedroom always set up with the sewing machine and all the tools right there. That way, if I have 40 minutes free, I can go straight to sewing, without having to haul all my sewing junk out of storage and set it up in the kitchen first.
ReplyDeleteI never knew that I could make clothes for myself, I thought I'd need to study formally to do that, but I discovered the world of sewing blogs about 2 years ago, and it became a well of learning as well as inspiration for me.
Wow, Tanja, good for you. That's a great idea to just leave everything out in a corner. My creative outlets are different, but a little craft/creativity corner is a great principle to keep in mind!
DeleteI love this encouragement. I didn't think I was carving out creative time at first hten i realized I am doing it (sort of) by cooking. Here we have very little especially during rainy season (think rice, beans, onions and garlic folks...oh and pasta. No fresh fruits no fresh veggies or fresh milk or dairy so I have been tryinvg to be creative in the kitchen, trying my hand at cheese with powdered milk, or hummis with lentils since we cannot obtain other beans. It has been kind of fun...but I am convicted that I need to do more to foster creativity both for myself and for my children to see that I value that.
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Amie. I love cooking too. It's funny, it's something we HAVE to do, so it can be a drag, but it can also be creative...
DeleteI used to scrapbook with a group of women - but as school grew more demanding for my children, that became more and more difficult to arrange. Then I started blogging - which I thoroughly enjoy. My husband support "my habit" as he jokingly calls it - saying it is cheaper than therapy! But that is the case, isn't it? some sort of mama time - as long as I don't get a spirit of entitlement in the process (and I've been known to do that).
ReplyDeleteI've also started trying new recipes or making/adapting them to make them my own. This last term I learned how to make all sorts of different types of donuts - my family LOVED that one!
I've found it harder to balance home school, ministry, and "me time" also as my kids are in higher grades. And I only have two, so I really can hardly say that to you! Your blog is wonderful, by the way. Love it.
Deletethanks! i love popping over to your site when i've got a few mintues, as well. loved your recent piece on friendships! so good... so true.
DeleteI'm inspired! I love to knit, but I haven't gotten my knitting out since... I don't know when. Certainly not any time this summer. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and burned out right now. I'm going to try to make time for some knitting and an audio book.
ReplyDeleteDeep, thoughtful reading is also very refreshing to me, and I haven't done much of that lately either. It's not a creative hobby, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. :-)
deep, thoughtful reading also challenges and inspires me - which in turn provokes creativity. i think it fits perfectly in a discussion about creative hobbies. :-)
Deletei'm not super-good at any hobby...but i decided that i'd share my crafting interest anyway with some of the women of our church. here in the Philippines, crafting is a luxury most women know nothing of. so it's been incredibly fun to meet with these women weekly (for just the past couple of months) and to craft together.
ReplyDeletewe've done everything from up-cycled bottle cap magnets to learning to sew on the machine, and we are all having a fabulous time! it requires lots of time and preparation for me, but the relational rewards have been sweet. ♥
once again, Olive Tree, you've successfully encouraged many of us through the creative wielding of your pen. thanks for sharing your gifts with us! :D