Get Creative

This past weekend, (A) and I took a trip to Grundy, Virginia for him to preach at a church there.  Grundy is in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, a place where I had never really spent any time.  I have been in plenty of mountain areas before, but the lay of the land has never been quite like this.  In the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas there is some flat land and then, boom… mountains.  So the towns are built in the flat areas, and then you can specifically choose to go up into the mountains if you so desire.  The Smokeys have large areas of flat valley between the mountains so towns or tourist areas have space to spread out between the mountains.  But where we were this weekend, it was pretty much mountain or stream.  The valley area between the mountains is so narrow, and large parts of that valley area are taken up by rivers and streams.  I was completely fascinated by how the town was built in these small flat spaces!  As we drove in to town I couldn’t stop looking up at the impressive ridge lines far above me, and then I looked back down at the road in front of us and couldn’t believe it… they have a 3 story Walmart!!! (We were told it is the only one in the country!)  I can’t lie, I had to roll down the window and start snapping pictures.  But what we came to find out was, there really wasn’t enough flat land for both a building and a parking lot, so there are two levels of parking garage and the store is on the top.  Sometimes, architects have to get creative, and find-a-way-make-a-way, to achieve their goal- and the outcome was quite impressive!  I’ll be honest, I have never looked at the building of a large box store before and thought, “Wow, that’s a beautiful building” but this past weekend, I did! 

Yesterday (a) was scheduled for a haircut.  He has quite a bit of hair, so this is a rather regular occurrence, but it has become a fight I dread (for me and our stylist) every time.  He usually yells, screams, cries, and throws a fit the entire time.  I don’t know what’s so terrifying about getting a haircut (especially since he rarely even lets her get to the part where the clippers are involved), but he is NOT a fan.  Yesterday morning I told him he was going to get a haircut and he quickly grabbed his head and told me “I not like it!  I not like haircut!!”  I knew, as a mom, I was going to have to get creative.  I told him we could make a deal- if he was a big boy who did not cry or scream at his haircut we would stop and get ice cream afterwards.  That sure changed his tune for the day!  He spent the rest of the morning and all afternoon telling me “See Christy (our stylist), get i-ceam!!” And sure enough, though we had a few whimpers and a little fight with keeping his hands out of the way, he was 1000% improved over the usual and afterwards he and I stopped for frozen yogurt.  Sometimes, you have to get creative, and find-a-way-make-a-way to survive in this mom gig. 

As a teacher, I am constantly finding ways to get creative in how I present material, keep students engaged, and help them remember the things they are learning.  I have often found, the more creative risks I am willing to take with them, the better the outcome is in terms of the work they produce or retention of what I am teaching them. 

When I look at my life, I realize that unfortunately, sometimes God has to get creative to get to me.  I am stubborn, I mess up often, I try to do things on my own, and I don’t always consult Him first.  Sometimes he has to get my attention in ways that are hard for me to understand, but I know it is because He loves me.  He knows every tall ridgeline and narrow valley in my heart.  He knows what things I do not want to face because “I not like it.”  He knows what it takes to help me learn to rely on Him, to trust his guidance, to trust his love.  I also know, because it is his promise, that He isn’t done with me.  On the days and weeks when my heart hurts and I don’t understand how the picture is coming together, HE is making a way though the wilderness of the “tough stuff.”  He doesn’t have to find a way, HE is the way and he made the way- and if I will only trust Him, I just know it is going to be a beautiful outcome when I stand back and see what he is building in me.

“Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Isaiah 43:18-19