Spark of Divinity

I admit that I made all my kids posters assignments when they were in school. I remember Jeff came home from work late one night and I told him to just paste a few things on the poster here, here, and there to appease my conscience and make it seem like he had done some of the work. Heidi was sitting in English class receiving a poster assignment when the teacher pulled out a couple of posters to use for examples of what she wanted and Heidi realized that they were “posters that Jeff and Nikki had turned in years earlier that neither one of them had touched.” I justify my involvement because I think making a poster for an English class is not relevant to the subject and it is next to impossible for a teenager to find the money, transportation, equipment, and supplies to make a really cool poster and I just really like doing art projects.

There is something about color and design that is exhilarating. Even as a child having a box of Crayola crayons and a blank piece of paper was an adventure. An art easel with a tray of poster paints and one of your fathers old shirts was a delightful gift. Colored pencils and magic markers are implements of shear pleasure. A sewing machine, material, and quilt block patterns are stock for hours of therapeutic escape. What is it about creating something artistic that is so healing? Why would we spend tedious hours piecing a quilt when Bed, Bath and Beyond sells comparable ones for ridiculously low prices? It is the divinity in us.

In a talk entitiled, “We are Creators” Mary Ellen Smoot said, “I marvel when I think of this world so rich in beauty, so perfect in function. This world was created by Jesus Christ under the direction of our Heavenly Father. Creation is one of the characteristics that defines God. He takes matter without form and molds it into stars, planets, and solar systems. “Worlds without number have I created,” He tells us.
Brothers and sisters, we are children of God. Shouldn’t we be about our Father’s business? Shouldn’t we be creators as well?”
Well that’s a lot of rhetoric. I just wanted to post this picture of the quilt I gave Heidi when she got married. She puts it on the guest bed and when we go down to stay with her I remember how much I like the colors and how much I enjoyed making each block.

Jordan had to read 25 books when he was in the fourth grade. We did it together. Here he is with book report posters which we obviously did together. Isn't he cute in that gawky, geeky, awkward, school age stage.