Sunday: Focus on the Savior (with Kathryn Adams)

My name is Kathryn Adams. I blog. I have a love affair with my vacuum cleaner, and I think coffee is one of God’s greatest gifts. I am the mother of two — Banana and Moose {a.k.a. Anna and Madison}. They are everything I want to be when I grow up: funny, creative, smart, kind, compassionate and forgiving. The forgiving part is crucial, ‘cause sometimes I’m the mom who forgets to pack their lunch or turn in field trip permission slips or sign their homework.
I’m so happy I married a forgiving husband, too, ‘cause sometimes I’m the wife who is too busy posting on her blog to cook dinner or who decided to spend the day playing in Lightroom instead of doing laundry. If you get me started on my Nikon, I’ll go on ALL day.
To be honest, I’m sort of proud of that . . . I’ll explain a little later.
I can’t imagine a life without faith, without grace {I need so much!}, without unconditional love. I’m amazed and awed every day by Jesus — His heart, His Word, His presence. I see Him in my children’s eyes. I feel Him in the Fall breeze. I hear Him whisper to my heart: “You’re mine.” And I’ll tell you this one truth: He’s mine, too, and that changes EVERYTHING. Stop by Our tiny big Life sometime, and let’s be friends!

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If you were to meet me in real life, you’d pretty quickly discover that I have a passion for a select few things: Jesus, photography and writing. Of course, I’m passionate about my husband and children and friends and so many other undeserved blessings, but I’m talking about the things that really get me up in the morning: something to write, a photo to edit and a Someone to share it all with and do it all for.
I feel most alive when I’m with Him, behind the lens or sipping on a cup of coffee in front of the keyboard.
That wasn’t always the case, though.
I’ve always loved Jesus — well, as long as I can remember. But, I spent most of my life running through a checklist, maintaining a constant and exhausting effort to keep everything neat and tidy, to do right and be right and please . . . everybody.
I envied folks who seemed to actually enjoy life. They were the creative types. The “others,” like my daughter Madison, who can’t walk by a box of crayons without drawing, who have designated rooms for sewing and scrapbooking, who earn a living designing interiors or spilling emotion onto canvas.

I was the organizer, the cleaner, the straight-A student, the by-the-book girl. I would tell you I was gifted — organization and obsessive compulsion are gifts, right? — but not creative. Besides, creating is messy and sometimes involves mistakes, and I was never a big fan of messes or mistakes.
Well, about three years ago, I discovered blogging. And shortly thereafter, I got serious about photography. It was like an entire world opened up that I had never known before. I have something to say. I have art to share. The world is art and words and wonder and He’s woven all through it.
I started a journey to let go of perfection and found that when I’m not white-knuckling my way through life in an effort to control, there is beauty hidden everywhere.

Just the other Sunday, the hubby and I led Sunday school for the elementary age kids at our church and the theme of the lesson was this: You were created, so you can be creative.
Simple. Revolutionary. I’ve thought about it a million times since.
This is what God has to say about us, about ALL of us:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ~ Ephesians 2:10

We are made in His image. We can’t help but be creative. It’s who He is, so it’s who we are!
I’m learning that behind the lens and sitting at the keyboard, I’m creating a masterful reflection of His heart. It gets a little messy sometimes, but that’s the nature of art.

In the end, it’s worth the laundry piling up a little, the trials and the occasional errors.
I once heard that there are so many different people in the world because each of us showcases a single dynamic of His infinitely faceted character. What a privilege to display a part of His image in what I create.