When I first heard about Creative Missions last fall, all I could think and pray was, “Please, God, let me get in!” I wanted to use my gifts and talents in service of the church. I don’t put stock in signs, but I felt as though getting in would be a sort of confirmation that I was headed in the right direction with starting my own business.

It would be like God appearing to Abraham during his journey to Canaan. Abraham didn’t know where he was going, but he went in spite of the fact. God treasured that faithfulness and, while I don’t know God’s reasons for visiting Abraham throughout the journey, I can only guess that they anchored Abraham’s faith. They told him to keep going, keep trusting, keep obeying and believing in the God who keeps his promises and provides.

Obviously, I got in. Cleve Persinger and Andy Burns, the main organizers of the trip, don’t know this, but I pretty much jumped up and down and squealed (like a girly-girl) when I read the “you’ve been accepted to Creative Missions: Vermont” email. I stood and praised God for letting me get in, for giving me the opportunity to go.

I still stand and worship him. I rejoice. Creative Missions was even more amazing than I thought it would be. It was a huge blessing and exactly what I needed at this point in time.

I could go on and on about Creative Missions, but I’ll give focus to the effort by sharing ten things I loved about the trip.

1. Awe of God

Cleve and Andy kicked off the week with a message about how awe of God should inform and direct one’s work. The rest of the week contained excerpts from Paul David Tripp’s book Awe. It was perfect timing; the book complements everything I’ve been reading and thinking about in relation to the gospel, art, worship, and work. When I am in awe of God, I’m not afraid. I rest in my identity in him and in his covenantal commitment to care for me. I needed the reminder. More importantly, I need to keep remembering this truth.

2. Sabbath Rest

I think I expected to work all five days of the trip. We didn’t. I’m glad of that fact. By having time to play and rest and just hang out with my team and the other creative missionaries, I discovered what it looks like to have genuine, sabbath rest married with diligent work in service of God. It restored my spirit, emotions, and mind.

3. Spirit of Excellence

Putting a group of twenty-five creatives in the same room can be a recipe for disaster. Artists can be as competitive as athletes, and they fall prey to comparison traps. That didn’t happen at Creative Missions. Everyone did excellent work and expected their teammates to do the same.

4. Spiritual Family

Kevin Pounds, one of the pastors we served, said his church builds spiritual families who live out the message of Jesus together in their neighborhood. That’s precisely what the five Creative Missions team did, too, minus the neighborhood. We spent the week living out the gospel together in our work and service to Vermont churches. It was incredible. It was like seeing what the early church in Acts might have been like. We prayed and talked about God and the Bible; chatted about our lives; shared meals; laughed at meta jokes (and even a few bad-dad ones—I’m looking at you, Joe Porter and Cory Webb); explored Vermont; and served.

5. Hospitality

I never once felt like an outsider at Creative Missions. From the moment I met my ride to the retreat center to the time I left, I felt that I was part of the community—no, the family. I was welcomed. I was loved. It did my heart good to be on the receiving end of that.

6. Joy

I felt a lot of joy this week—in going, in serving, in making new friends, in seeing other people’s talents and skills, in working together to do work for the kingdom of God. My heart is so full that I am, to borrow some words from a story we collected, “All choked up.” God is amazing.

7. Head, Heart, and Hands

The writing and art I do for Write Right tends to involve my head, heart, and hands, but Creative Missions was a fuller reality of it. I loved every minute of that. My mind, heart, and hands were united in doing the work. It’s not that I dislike the other work I do or think it’s less deserving of attentive excellence, but this work was different. I look forward to pursuing more opportunities like it. There may be an update on the pursuit in the near future; I’m chatting with a ministry located in Haiti in the next few days about an illustration project.

8. Story Gathering and Telling

Every team had a videographer and photographer, and ours gathered not only stories from the pastors but also from the churches. At Enough Ministries, a ministry to the homeless, we spoke with a couple of the homeless men and women who come to the church, as well as the people who serve them. Their stories were wonderful and powerful. I consider it a great privilege and honor to have been entrusted with their lives and to craft short, written documentaries to accompany the videos.

9. The Pastors

My team worked with Kevin Pounds of Burlington City Church (Oikos) in Burlington, Vermont and Dan Molind at Enough Ministries in Barre. The two men exuded love for God, love for people, and a love for serving their communities. Their passion and love stirred my heart. I think of them as a living cloud of witnesses that spurs me onward.

10. God’s Grandeur

We stayed at the Bishop Booth Conference Center, a retreat center located directly off Lake Champlain. It was a beautiful campground with hiking trails and all sorts of opportunities to see God’s handiwork and praise hime for what he’s made and who he is.

Creative Missions 2016 has been an amazing and wonderful experience. I’m so thankful that God gave me the opportunity to be a part of it. I hope he’ll give it to me again. I want to be a part of this organization for years and years to come.