Called to Create: Why Moms Should Make Time for Artistic Pursuits

Sometimes I wonder what I did before I was a mom. I must have had so much extra time. Now that I have kids and a home, I feel like I hit the ground running first thing in the morning, and don’t stop until long after everyone else in my family is asleep. Between cooking, cleaning, nurturing hearts and minds, drying tears and kissing boo-boos it seems like there is little to no time left for me. But I’ve also learned that moms–even busy moms–need artistic pursuits.

The mom guilt complex

As moms it is our natural tendency to take care of our families and those around us first. God made us that way. He gave us hearts that feel the hurts and joys of our children. He made us with ears that hear the smallest voice inflections or cries in the night. He made us tender and gentle and caring. He gave us the strength to keep going when we are hurt or disappointed.

But He made the other parts of us, too. He made our souls to love beauty and creativity. He gave us the desire to create—whether it be home improvement projects, sewing, crafting or even music. But because we also have the innate desire to take care of others, we often push aside our own desire for artistic pursuits, deciding they are not worthy of our time.

We consider the things we enjoy doing as hobbies, and believe that, as such, they are not necessary. Time spent pursuing hobbies is time we are not spending with our kids, and that makes us feel guilty. After all, taking care of our families is our most important job, right?

Read also: Mama, Here’s How to Realize Your True Worth as a Keeper at Home

A new perspective

Artistic pursuits can be life-giving for many of us, including me. I cannot go very many days without making the time to participate in something I really enjoy. I need time to create, especially when I am in a particularly stressful time of life.

My creativity takes different forms. Sometimes I need to sew or make something with my hands. Other times I feel the need to sit at a piano and sing. Sometimes I need to take the time to organize, simplify and beautify an area of my home.

God made me this way. He gave me the desire to make things and be surrounded by beauty. He enjoys beautiful things, too. Just take a look around at the world He created. So many colors, patterns and even sounds. He thought up, planned and created each flower, tree, animal and human in our world. Each one is so unique and beautiful in its own way.

When we acknowledge that God has given us unique gifts and talents, we realize that He is also calling us to use them for His glory. We need to stop looking at looking at artistic pursuits as just little hobbies, and instead see them as ways we offer worship to our Heavenly Father.

A peaceful place

You may have heard the saying, “A man’s mind is like a train track, and a woman’s mind is like a super highway.” We laugh because it is funny to see how men and women think and behave so differently. But the reality is that as women our minds are usually racing a hundred miles an hour. We are constantly working, planning, dreaming and thinking. And we need a break.

Sometimes when the stresses of life really start to crowd in on me, I find myself needing a creative outlet. When I sit at my sewing machine and focus on colors and patterns, or at my piano and focus on notes and keys, I find a new balance. The burdens and stress don’t go away. In fact, many times I find myself crying and praying as I pursue a project. But in those times, God comes to me and offers comfort and healing to my wounded heart.

Through the process of creating I find connection to Him. It is as if He gives me the desire to create something, so that I can have the time to be alone with my thoughts and with Him. Every creative pursuit begins with some sort of chaos—whether it be an author with an idea, a quilter with a pile of fabric, and artist with tubes of paint or a musician with sheets of music. But somewhere in the middle of the messy process, God sweeps in and begins to make a project of His own.

When we make the time to pursue the desires and talents He has given us, we find a new perspective, a peace in our hearts that we cannot find elsewhere.

Read also: Daily Cleaning Routine

Time to create

Perhaps you, like me, have that creative soul. You long for hours spent in a studio surrounded by the tools of our craft. But in reality we only have the dining room table, or a closet in the hall. And time. Where do we find the time to pursue our artistic talents between kids, family, church and work? This is the time when we must decide what our priorities are and make our own creativity one of them.

Now is when we must push aside the mom guilt, the wife guilt, the “I’m-not-doing-enough-for-others” guilt and pursue something that makes our own souls happy. Our kids will not suffer if we do not read one more story, or if we put them in bed half an hour earlier.

I have found that since I had kids, I have had to cut back on my artistic pursuits. I no longer have hours to spend creating. But I do have small windows of time I can dedicate to creativity. I stick to a housekeeping schedule and try to get most of my household tasks done first thing in the morning, so I can use my son’s nap time for sewing. I wake up earlier or go to bed later and spend those few quiet minutes writing or planning. I almost never spend family movie night unoccupied, but usually have some sort of hand-work project I can do while we watch. And I have an amazing husband who understand my need to be creative and gives me time when I need it.

The truth is, if we wait for time to create to just sneak up on us, we will never have it. We must make it ourselves. We must stop thinking of creativity and artistic pursuits as “little hobbies,” and instead see them as gifts and talents God has given us. He created us with the desire to add beauty to the world, and if we do not make the most of these gifts, we cannot be truly satisfied and fulfilled in life.

A blessed and happy life

So many of us desire to be like the Proverbs 31 woman. When we read that chapter, we see that she was always busy feeding, working, helping her husband and providing for her family. But we cannot miss those important verses about making things. She was planning, sewing, making garments and even spinning her own wool. Even in the middle of all she did, she made time to create. She woke up early and stayed up late. Those pursuits may have taken away from time with her husband and children, but they added value to her family’s lives. And her family called her blessed.

You and I can do the same. We can pursue our talents and hone our skills, and still have a happy home. It’s all a matter of priority and making time for the things that matter.

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