You are a Peculiar Treasure: Worth Treasuring

I like to think of God as the pro photographer and I as the pro amateur. I choose the camera, He chooses the view; God sees the image before the photo is taken and my limited view through the viewfinder is restricted. I can’t see or come to appreciate the process God wants me to take to capture the image He sees in my frame.

Similarly, God is the author of my story and He guides my hand as we write it together. The highlights of my story can only be remembered, as much as they are meaningful to me. I’ll try so hard to recall events, but my limited memory can only keep relevant details through my eyes.

“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” – Psalm 139:16

In essence, to be a “peculiar treasure” requires one to have the desire to be treasured.

This post is inspired by Robin Jones Gunn and Alyssa Joy Bethke’s book, “Spoken For”. The titles of these posts are directly taken from the book (with a little modification on my part) each a reflection of how I’m personally growing closer to Jesus.

I pray that as you read, you are reminded of who you are and whose you are 🙂
I’d love to hear from you. Send me message or comment below ❤

To the reader reading this, what is your creative outlet? What do you do when you need to wind down, think, relax, and simply create? Do you have a creative side? In my opinion, everyone has an artistic ability for something. Being creative opens the doors to imagination, inspired by what’s around you and it should be something you use regularly. Remember being a child, when you would play pretend, draw and write fictitious stories and share them in front of the class? What ever happened to that create self?

My friend, I’m here to remind you that you’ve still got it in you. As an adult, I can understand how discouraging it can be when you haven’t exactly “been” creative in a long time. But I hope this post helps you reignite your creativity; it’s more than just creating.

Creativity is about expanding from what you have; creating and producing something you can choose to keep for your own record or share with the world.

One of my favourite bloggers and YouTubers, Lavendaire says, “Life is an art. Make it your masterpiece.” You can be creative and you ARE creative. You just need to allow yourself to believe you have creativity within you, just waiting to be cultivated.

Create treasures with what you have.
What you do with what you have is all about how you handle what you’re blessed with. While I lived my 5-week “loft” season, I took advantage of it 100%! With the amenities I had: gym full of equipment, nature areas close by, and an awesome lounge I called “my living room”, it was the best way to conclude my undergrad chapter. Although super hectic, with God, we created and followed through with a routine that kept me sane, healthy, and content with where I was.

Choosing what you treasure with what you have is a choice you need to be willing to make. Before moving into the loft, I could have chosen to either embrace this loft season or sulk about the fact that everything was so quiet and empty. What you have, is what you have, and I hope you do something good with whatever it is you have right in front of you.

Store treasures that matter.
Your “now” is what matters most. Your “yesterday” may have been good or bad, but the fact is, it’s over and you must move forward from where you were yesterday. Those over or underexposed photos sucked, so what? You deleted them from your SD card. On the bright side, now you know how to adjust the ISO, aperture and shutter speed to compose better photos than the previous photoshoot. Better yet, out with the old and in with the new. What you choose to treasure is up to you, and what you choose to forget is also your choice.

Celebrate the art of treasuring treasures.
Successful or failed projects have built you up to where you are today. Whether celebrated or ignored, both are worth treasuring. Moments in your creative process of capturing over and underexposed photos, repeatedly pressing the backspace button then typing again – each correction contributes to the process. When has making mistakes ever hindered you to strive to improve? Your attitude at this point matters the most: will you give up or will you try again?

What you have, what you store, and what you celebrate all contribute to the refining process of who you were, are, and are becoming. Choices need to be made, attitudes need to be at a state that gives room for growth. You’re a treasure worth treasuring because you’re alive. You’re valuable and have something creative, new and unique to share with the world.

You were uniquely chosen to be a child of God, one deserving of the gift of eternal life because of love. A pastor once said, “If you can’t explain the gift of salvation to a 7-year old, you’re complicating it.” I choose to treasure that treasure because God chose to treasure me first. He loves me so much that He sent His Son to put an end to my having to hold onto the things of the past – the treasures that broke me. Thank God for new beginnings, opportunities to grow from the past and move forward with Him in faith.

Consider God as a photographer; let Him take the photo of your season from His perspective – You’ll be thankful for what you couldn’t see through your viewfinder; you’re an amateur.” – LifeisaBeaut

QUESTIONS TO REFLECT ON:

• How does knowing that God is present, that He sees you and faces you, affect you and help you live set apart?
• What changes do you need to make starting today, to live truly set apart? What do you need to walk away from or let go of that’s holding you back from this high calling?
• What is your creative outlet? Are you willing to discover it? How?
• Recall a time when you experienced serendipity. What was it like?
• How do you feel about being an amateur photographer and writer, with God’s hands over yours, guiding your every photo taken and word written?

– LifeisaBeaut ❤

Feature photo credits: Julia Capra