the Creative Calling: My experience at the Influence Network Summit

This is what I learned at the Influence Network's online Creative Women's Summit last week: Everything I have and do belongs to God. My talents, my money, my time, it's all His. And so is my creativity...

I know I've already talked about this on social media, but it truly was an empowering event to sit through. I think a more appropriate name for this meet-up would've been "Pep Rally for the King's Artisans." That's what it felt like. I closed my laptop afterwards with a greater sense of purpose, responsibility and excitement about being a creative (in case you didn't know, that adjective is actually also a noun), and a desire to submit myself to Christ's every commission.

Co-mingled with the "call to action" that a pep rally typically signifies, was the sense of grace and calm being poured out for those struggling to move forward, those who are creatively burned out, and those waiting for clear direction. We were reminded that it's okay to produce for profit in order to provide for our families and continue growing our businesses. That we can depend on Him to fill us with creativity wherever and whenever He sees fit. And that His purposes are never about serving ourselves, but doing what is best for the kingdom.

It was all exactly what I needed to hear..

Some of my favorite quotes from the event:

"My surrendered life + His ways = True success" - Lara Casey

 "When you tuck faithfulness into the small, secret places of your life, God is pleased. He is so pleased." - Lysa TerKeurst

"When I try to create out of my own striving, or excitement or passion or ideas...if it's not from the Lord and not His motor behind it, I burn out and feel that mantle of burden." - Haley Morgan

"Doing creative business His way, in the light, doesn't look like the world's way, and it shouldn't."
 - Lara Casey

"Creatives are culture makers. Creatives are the ones who settle down and say, "Alright, let's make something outta this place.' Creatives are the ones who change and sustain and beautify, they're the ones who bring life, who bring excitement, who bring joy..." - Jess Connolly

 "We are not set aside. We are set apart. God is going to use this hard situation to develop in us a character to match the calling that He knows is coming." - Lysa TerKeurst

 "The dry bones are not yours to fix, it's not yours to get excited and pep yourself up and get it going again. I think it's time in those moments to abide and to wait for Him to fill you back up and to trust and know that He's going to do that." - Haley Morgan

"The world needs His light, and you're a  part of that. Your paintbrush, your camera, your voice, your art, your writing is the vessel. He is the charge, though, He is the spark and our tools are just the vessel for that, so let them be used..." - Lara Casey

"What if your business wasn't about you. What if it was about other people..." - Jess Connolly

"Creativity can really be dampened and the doors can close on it, when we think we're the boss of our own creativity." - Haley Morgan

"Even in the midst of feeling wronged, or left out, or intense loneliness, or like everybody else has all the secret connections and avenues to success, and everyone else is better funded than me, blah blah blah, I have to be able to say three things: God is good, yes. God is good to me, absolutely. And God is good at being God. Therefore, I don't have to try." - Lysa TerKeurst

"Christ died on the cross for me, for me to not just know Him and be reconciled to Him, but then to worship Him, to be creative, to speak life, to bring life, to seek the welfare of my city and shift the way things happen around me. And so, yeah, I might not feel comfortable, and yeah there are things that happen weird in the creative world and there are people who are playing it crooked, but Jeremiah 29:11..." - Jess Connolly

Consider joining the Influence Network to participate in free events like this one in the future! You can use this referral link to let the wonderful ladies know that I sent you. :)

Photo credit: (1) IG: @rachkincaid (2) IG: @moriahsunde