by Deacon Jessica Noonan (she/her)
I really enjoy doing creative types of activities – baking, drawing, decorating, event planning, formatting documents, taking pictures. One of my favorite things to do is plan my kids’ birthday parties, especially when they were younger. I am all about a good theme! We’ve done all kinds of parties – science experiments, snakes (yes, real snakes), backwards party, Zoom party, emojis, water park, mermaids, Winnie the Pooh…the list goes on and on. One year, my middle daughter had a birthday at our house, and she really wanted a sunflower cake. I thought, “Sure, no problem.” I researched the designs, found the ingredients, and made the icing. Well, the vision in my head did not become reality. This cake was so ugly- really, it was bad. As we were getting ready to light the candle, I made a joke that it wasn’t my best work and one of the girls, was so positive and said, “I can see you worked really hard.” Leave it to an 11-year-old to humble you.
As we are early into 2025, I am still in a space of wonder. How about you? The new year has me wondering about this particular scripture that popped into my head. This is one I have read many times before from Isaiah:
Yet you, Lord, are our father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. – Isaiah 64:8
It reminds me that we are all the work of God’s hands. How does that reshape the way you see people you encounter? The people you disagree with politically? It reminds me that God is creative! Each person is uniquely made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and that our “creation” is never complete. God is constantly reforming us into new versions of ourselves.
My work might be imperfect at times but God’s creative power in us is always perfect. I don’t believe that we are “one and done” creations of God but we are continually being formed and reshaped. The same with our churches. Your faith community might be 100 years old, but God is reshaping your congregation. Are you open to that change? I pray that you aren’t doing all the same things in the same ways as you did 100 years ago. That’s where we get stuck as “the church” – “We’ve always done it that way.”
I wonder how God is reshaping you in this season of your life?
It reminds me that we are all the work of God’s hands, and our God is so creative because we are each unique images of God. I truly believe that God is always re-shaping us into new creations. Thankfully, I am not the same person I was when I was 18, or 25, or 37, etc.. Here are some questions to help you reflect on this new year and how God might be re-shaping you. (You can also ponder how these questions apply to your faith community too.)
- Think about who you were 10 years ago, 5 years ago, 1 year ago. How has God re-shaped you over the years? Who was part of that process?
- What have you learned about yourself as God has re-shaped you over the years? What have you learned about God in this re-shaping?
- How is God re-shaping you in the coming year to live out your call in this world? What do you need to learn in order to live fully into what God is doing in you?
I pray that you fully know that you are the work of God’s hands being reformed all the time!
0 Comments