Making all things new--with dots!

Today's blog post is by Tara Eastman, the Youth & Family Director at First Lutheran in Jamestown.

It's amazing what can happen with a little paint, a handful of willing participants, and a lot of dots!

At the beginning of the week at the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary the attendees were encouraged to consider, dream and ponder around the idea of: "What is God creating or re-creating in your life and your ministry?"

In response to this question, a group of attendees and our facilitator, Lynne Farrow, worked on a community mural contemplating this question. The photo of the mural above was created from a scattering of dots placed on the canvas and the participants were encouraged to look and see what they could create from something that seemed so random. In the end we had trees, water, a cool car, the sun, plants and flowers and some wonderful abstract designs that creating a fantastic collaborative piece that was to adorn a communion table. But first, in order to begin to see what could potentially be created, it was necessary to let go and look for what could be... We pondered, dreamed about and made space for it.

In order to have God create or recreate in our lives, is it necessary to "let go" of anything?

When it all comes down to the beginnings of God creating or re-creating in my own life it's been necessary for me to: open up, surrender specific expectations, and let go of various things for God to have the space needed to make some new dots and help connections of faith begin to take root.

Letting go can be the first step to seeing the dots of life (and this mural project) in an entirely new way. A prayer: "God, help us let go of the spaces that need your creation or re-creation. Give us eyes to see what all the varied spaces of our lives can be with your help and direction. Amen!"

Tara Eastman is the Youth & Family Director at First Lutheran Church in Jamestown. She is a contributing writer to Connect, a new curriculum that helps preteens connect individual Bible stories with larger biblical themes, published by Sparkhouse (a division of Augsburg Fortress).