(To start from Part One click here. And if you can’t see the images click here.)
I continued freelancing for DaySpring and eventually they asked if I’d like to be an intern. Of course I said “yes!” and started coming to the office one day a week during the school year and full-time during summers.
My duties consisted of glamorous tasks like entering ancient cards typed on 3×5 notecards into an even more ancient computer.
But I didn’t care because occasionally I got to write.
JESUS
He came not to a throne,
but to a manger.
He lived not as a king,
but as a servant.
He chose not a kingdom,
but a cross.
He gave not just a little,
but everything.
–Holley Gerth
In those days, our schedules were a lot slower and I’d often carry my card assignments out to a picnic table under an oak tree outside. I usually took a stack of books with me too. For example, if I had a Sympathy card to write I’d read about grief and what comforted people most.
Sometimes our whole department would go to a nearby Bed & Breakfast for the day. We’d pray, sift through stacks of magazines until an idea hit us, or even watch a movie to get inspiration.
Inside…
Hope is more than just a word—
it’s a state of being.
It’s a firm belief that
even if you don’t know how,
even if you don’t know when,
God will come through
and better days are ahead.
Life sends rain…
Hope dances in the puddles
until the sun comes out again.
—Holley Gerth
When I look back on those times, I’m thankful God eased me into the publishing world by gaving me a time of rest and growth.
I graduated, married, and moved to Colorado Springs where I worked at a travel magazine and then a software company writing manuals (torture!).
After almost a year it seemed God was calling us back to home and DaySpring. When I returned, I found a place far different than my internship. Our quaint little company had been bought by Hallmark and had more opportunities than we’d ever dreamed.
Even though many things have changed, I’ve kept many of the lessons I learned during my internship with me as a writer…
1) Creativity is inherently relational. As a writer, the best place to start isn’t our own mind–it’s God’s heart and then the heart of someone else. We create with God for someone else.
2) Creativity has to be cultivated. Its seeds are sown through time, inspiration, new experiences, relationships. We reap creativity when we’ve done the hard work of planting and tending it.
3) Creativity and life are intimately linked. If we’re not living fully or well, we won’t create fully or well either. Taking care of ourselves is not selfish. It’s an investment in the vessel God uses to create. We’re his pens, canvases, paintbrushes.
4) Creativity is never complete. Because it’s linked to life, we are always growing, learning, expanding in our creativity. We can always get better.
What have you discovered about creativity? I’d love to learn from you.
God did keep giving me opportunities to grow at DaySpring. I was no longer an intern but a writer and editorial director with the privilege of working on best-selling card lines, collaborating with talented teams, winning awards for our work, and being surprised by God in other ways I couldn’t have imagined. To be continued…
