Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart . . . Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

In Seize the Day: Meditations for the Year, I wrote a devotional entitled, BCRE8TVE. The point of the meditation was the importance of exercising our creativity as an act of worship because it enables us to identify with God as the Creator of all that is.

God not only designed us to be creative – He designed us to flourish in the exercise of our creativity. I believe God has ‘creative juices’ flowing through our veins so that we can participate in His redemptive plan. When we exercise our creativity through the planting of a garden, the writing of a song, the sewing of a dress, or the decorating of a home, we’re becoming the people God made us to be.

When I wrote this piece I was wearing a T-shirt that my nieces, Erin and Amy (and their men), had given me as a Christmas present. Inspired by the theme of my books they screen printed iEngage on the front of the shirt. They also screen printed T-shirts for the other men in our family: for Matthew – iCheer, for Jonathan – iPlay, and for Josiah – iPray. Amy explained how the captions on the shirts represented who we were. I’m the doer, Matt’s the encourager, Jonathan the action man, and Josiah’s devoted to Christ. On the back of the shirts they’d printed some of the things that describe all of us: iExplore, iDream, iCreate, iLaugh, iSing, iDance, iThink, iLearn, iTeach, iLead, iCare, iAct, iLive, iLove and iBelieve. I received many special Christmas presents in 2009 but one that will be long remembered is the t-shirt from Erin and Amy because they did something more than buy me a gift – they used their creativity . . .

Lent is an excellent time to express the originality of imagination and giftedness that God’s given to us. During Lent my wife Karen, Nana Win (my mother-in-law), Elaine (my sister-in-law), Erin and Amy get together to ‘paint’ pysanka – Ukrainian Easter eggs decorated with designs applied with a batik method. The beautiful eggs adorn the living rooms of our homes and remind us that the Creator is the reason for our existence.

What’s your creative bent? I believe we all have one. It may be gum wrapper origami, typArtgraphy (artistic compositions with type), cordon bleu cooking, turning green wood, haiku (a form of Japanese poetry), or African beaded wire art. Whatever it is – use your creativity during Lent to bless others and bring glory to God.