Fruitful Fridays

My theme for 2008 has been Fruit of Thankfulness. (If you're interested, see my post from the Charm & Grace Blog here.) In keeping with that theme, on Fridays we will focus on being fruitful. What kinds of things have you been doing lately and what are the fruits of your labors? Maybe you have been working hard in your yard or garden, and the fruits are in the form of flowers or something edible. Or perhaps you are a writer, and your fruit comes in the form of essays, novels, articles, (or even blog posts!) Are you a web designer? Then your fruit is out for all the world to see and visit on the World Wide Web. Some of us are artists, and the fruits of our labors are evident in the things we create, paint, draw, assemble, etc.

I truly believe that all of these things are an outflow of the gifts that God has given to each one of us. God has given us so much beauty in this world to enjoy. And I love that He has put within each of us a desire to be creative... gifting each individual with unique abilities and desires so that no creation is just like another. That creative spark is a desire to fashion beautiful things, to create, to design. And in each of us that creativity manifests itself in different ways… for one it is with words, for someone else it is painting, for still another it is decorating, or the ability to speak eloquently about a beloved subject, or the skill to capture a beautiful image with photography, or the ability to design a computer program, or the aptitude to understand finances, or the passion to garden… but we all have that divine spark of creativity. It just blows me away sometimes as I read blog after blog and each person’s giftedness comes shining through.

So for all of you beautiful, creative bloggers who wish to participate... my challenge to you for the weekend, or for the coming week, is to create something that you can offer from a heart of thankfulness ...thankfulness for all of the blessings in your life. It can be something for your family (a father, for instance), for a friend, for your church, for a charity, or some other organization. I would love to hear what your plans are, or better yet, come back after you have given your gift and give us a report. Tell us how creating, while thinking of and being thankful for all the blessings in your life, and then giving your creation made you feel.