Are the drawings masterpieces?

My teenage daughter came to me the other day quite blue from a comment made by a friend. As I hugged and reassured her, I tried to think of a way to cheer her up—after all, a mom telling you that you are beautiful and smart only counts as a half-compliment. I thought about a variety of things that make me smile and change my mood—reading a Psalm, watching a Lucy video, calling a friend and being creative.

So I called both girls to the car and we headed out to our nearest hobby store. They asked, “What are we here for?” Normally, I would have a specific project and rattle off the list of needed items. This time I said, “Let’s go check out the sketch pads.” We looked through them and each of us decided on just the perfect size. Then we moved to the next aisle that had a variety of pencils, paints, pastels and charcoals. I let them choose two to three different drawing tools.

As we headed toward the checkout one daughter asked, “What is this for again?” I smiled and...

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...told them that these were our new Mood Books. When you feel happy, draw in it. When you feel sad, draw in it. When you feel scared, draw in it. The pictures do not have to be perfect or even discernible. There’s just something about taking a few minutes to catch our breath, notice the beauty around us and expressing those emotions on paper. Sometimes without realizing it, we breath a prayer of thanks to the Lord and our heart and soul are refreshed.

After the purchase, we headed to a local park and they immediately began to choose the perfect subject. Are the drawings masterpieces? To me? Yes. To the rest of the world? Well…but their hearts were encouraged that day and pointed back to the One who loves them so.

So how about it? What is something that you can do creatively in 5, 10 or 20 minutes? It’s not a long time, but it can make a big difference in your outlook.

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Monday, August 11, 2008

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