day 19::answering the call

art is when you hear a knocking from your soul, and you answer.  ~terri guillemets

for the past couple of years i have planted sweet peas in my vegetable garden.  they are one of the first things to to plant in early spring, and what’s even better is they are one of the first things to emerge from the still cold earth.

it’s amazing to me how seeds know how to sprout and grow.  how they know which way is up, so to speak.  because i am a total nerd, one day i decided to look it up.  and it turns out that it is due to what is known as ‘gravitropism’.

without boring you completely to tears with a botany lesson, basically gravitropism is a living organism’s response to gravitational pull. in the case of plants, there are specialized cells and chemicals in the roots that sense the pull of gravity and therefore grow and divide in that direction.  the same holds true in the stems of plant only in reverse.  it’s like seeds have an inner GPS.  roots grow down, shoots grow towards the light.

i often think of my life like this. because i believe that God created us with a sort of spiritual GPS.  a direction for our lives….an inner calling.

our purpose on earth of course, is to glorify God.  the inner pull to know and love Him, that is God calling.  and how we hear and respond to God’s call, well I believe that is our Art.

if you are anything like me, the word ‘calling’ can be extremely intimidating.  doing the work that God put me here on earth to do…glorifying Him with my life???  no pressure right?  and what has been even more frustrating for me has been trying to figure out what exactly my calling is.  i mean honestly…if i had a dollar for every time i’ve asked myself this question, i would be writing this blog post from a beach chair on the island of st. john instead of sitting hunched over my laptop on a barstool at my kitchen island….i’m just sayin’.

it would so much easier if God would just call me on my cell phone.  or send me a text.  an email even.

but that’s not how a calling works.  a calling is not something that come from the outside, it’s something that comes from the inside.  a calling is often disguised as a stirring in your heart.  something that moves you.  you might not even know why…it doesn’t matter.  your calling is a tiny voice from your soul that wants to express your God-given creativity.

a calling can be many things.  it can be the desire to make what we commonly call art – painting, drawing, architecture, music, etc. but a calling can also be a desire to do something entirely different like start a business, fly a plane, plow a field, go to medical school, raise a child.  for some, a calling can also be ‘real job’ and that’s wonderful.  but rest assured…our response to God’s call does not have to come with a w-2 at the end of the year.

our calling is whatever moves us toward the light.

God created us.  God loves us.  God infused his creative spirit in us.  God calls us each individually, according to the gifts and talents He bestowed on us.  our calling is written is our DNA.  and as we draw closer and closer toward him, listen to His call, this is how we make Art with our lives.

if you are anything like me and unsure of your calling, pay attention to what you pay attention to…it’s like a road map to that place in your soul.  but don’t worry if you don’t have it all figured out…it’s a lifelong process.  all that matters is that you answer the call.

here i am, Lord isaiah 6:8

only i could overthink something so profoundly.  but after all these years of searching, i should have just listened to my heart…it was there all along.  because my calling is my belief that there is joy to be found in ordinary life. this is what moves me.  motivates me.  inspires me.   some days it smacks you upside the head, and some days you have to dig deep.  but joy is there for eyes that wish to see.

thank you so much for joining me on my 31 day writing challenge. to see all of the posts in this series, please click here. and if you would like to receive future posts via email, you can subscribe here.