Design (with purpose)

While I was engaged I went to so many wedding blogs.  Almost every blog had new ideas and inspiration for my own wedding. There is a whole other world of really talented, creative people out there. Most of them are like 10 years younger than me and way more computer savvy.

Wedding blogs became a gateway drug to all blogs. I found photographer's blogs, stationary blogs, event planners, homemakers, fashion diva's, you name it and I probably found their blog.  Most of my internet "favorites" are other people's blogs.

I love to peak in on someone else's happy life. I love to see what a cute girl on the other side of the country baked today. I love seeing what some girl in the Big Apple stepped out of  her house wearing. I don't even know her and I am checking out her amazing fashion sense, nail polish or shoe closet.  I like reading about some amazing, exotic hotel in wine country that some lucky blogger was able to check out for the weekend. I gush over a newborn that belongs to a cute married couple living on the beach while running an interior design company. Seriously, it's an addiction but yet these people let me into their lives via a blog.   (Uh i realize i do the exact same thing by the way.)

During one of my days scouring blogs, I ran across a tour of a stationary designer's studio. I loved her style, the atheistic of her office space and her attitude.  My favorite thing was back in her office above her desk where she did most of her actual designing there was a piece of art that read, "design like you give a damn."  (Sorry for the language.) But it stuck with me.  Sadly, I have no idea what blog it was, where I can find it or if I dreamed it up. 

But something about that little phrase really stuck. Don't just haphazardly splash some lines on a page, design like you mean it, like you care, frankly, like you give a damn darn! So thus begins my career change. My hope to establish myself as a graphic designer who cares, who has a focus. 

My life currently is in a very odd phase.  It's a good phase just odd.  For the first time in my adult life, I am unemployed.  I have worked at least one job, typically two, since I started college.  And now here I am with no job at all. However, it isn't a bad thing for a lot of reasons. (On the exact same week I worked my final day at my job in Birmingham, Blake tore his ACL and will have surgery next Friday-totally different story but he's doing okay just keep us in your prayers!). 

I am still taking classes at least through the end of this semester and I found a pretty amazing internship at an ad agency.  I recently realized I am doing as much as I can to immerse myself in designing.  Instead of just being a Real Housewife of Tuscaloosa I decided I would make a mantra for myself: Design  (with purpose).

So that's just what I am doing right now. I am designing with purpose. I am trying to be as focused as possible on channelling this free time to create, dream, design and grow.  Of course I have anxiety about money and keeping afloat through the end of the year.  But as always, God's timing is perfect because this enables us to get through Blake's surgery, recovery, the holidays and all the travel that comes with his residency interviews.

Of course this Design (with purpose) not only is about my career but also about my walk with God. I want to be His Design (with purpose). I want to seek His will for my life. I will admit that isn't always easy. Sometimes I feel like I am just floating along. Praying here and there, reading my Bible when I need too, going to church when we can.  But that isn't what the Christian journey is about. It's about purpose and glorifying God through our jobs, daily life, service, and relationships. We can have purpose in the here, now and not yet.  Living in the moment and building up treasures for the not yet.

Philippians 2:13 (New International Version)
13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Colossians 3:23-24 (New International Version)
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.


Redesign: Besides my school work and the work I do at my internship, I also give myself a few side projects to get my creative juices flowing, to test my skills and to keep me designing. First I wanted to create something I could tack up on my fridge or at my desk to encourage me to keep going so I came up with the little layout below.



Then the next item is an inspiration board I am working on with a friend. (You know who you are!!) We are trying to come up with a logo for her new business venture. It's definitely in the early planning stages but the inspiration board has helped us both as we try to give the logo purpose and a focus!





Trick or Treat

I know this is a few days overdue but I think since there are still pumpkins and spooky decorations garnishing doors on my street and candy in my kitchen it seemed timely. Halloween is somewhat of a controversial subject among believers so I am going to not even touch the topic as far as "is it or is it not okay to participate."

All I know is that in 2nd grade around a certain holiday week, at my Christian school we had a spelling test. The book had the word Halloween as one of our spelling words but the teacher changed it to Christmas so as not to offend some students. So being the studious 2nd grader that I was, I studied only the words on our test. Then I got sick on the day of the test and had to take the make up test. Would you believe the word Halloween was on our make up test?? Seems totally unfair. Even to this day I want to find out where Mrs. Weaver is and ask her about this injustice. Needless to say, I did not know how to spell Halloween, missed it on the test and still often misspell it to this day. Thank goodness for spell check!

Other than misspelling the word, Halloween brings back fun memories of dressing up and trick or treating in our childhood neighborhood.  Usually there was a little chill in the air, and Mom would make us eat dinner before we could go out and gorge ourselves on candy.  Dinner was always something easy like grilled cheese and tomato soup or hamburger soup.  There was always that one house that was scary to walk up to and had some hidden person ready to spook you before you rang the doorbell.  There were the kids that were a little too old to be out getting candy and they always rang the doorbell way after you were already home counting your candy.  You had the people who parked their cars on your street and let out a van full of kids to raid your turf's sweets.  The memories go on, not to mention the costumes.  I think I was a Pound Puppy, cheerleader, ballerina, Raggedy Ann, a box, little orphan Annie, and a cat, to name a few.

 Even now adults get really into the holiday.  Dressing up as a celebrity, movie or tv character, or even newsworthy reality stars seem to have been the top picks this year.  Why do we like retreating back to our childhood holiday?  Is it for the candy? The adrenaline rush of being a tad bit spooked?  Feeling childish?  I think there is something nostalgic about the fall and winter holidays that bring out the kid in all of us.  We get to fall back into the mindset of an easier time and let some of the worries of the world fall off our shoulders.

It would be nice to have the innocence and naivety of a child.  To not be held responsible for knowing the consequences of eating all your Halloween candy in your room long after your parents have gone to bed.  But sadly, we can't act like kids and get away with anymore.  We must increase our knowledge and behave as such.  We can't throw caution to the wind because that's what we did when we were in 2nd grade and nobody got mad.  Our words, our thoughts, our reasons and our actions all have adult consequences. 

Same with our faith.  We must put away or stop falsely relying on our "children's church" knowledge of the Bible and put into practice the amazing abundant life that Christ had in mind for us as we grow in our walk with Him.

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.



-1 Corinthians 13:8-13 (NRSV)

Just like Paul tells us in the above verses.  We put away our childish actions and see more now as adults and if we continue to abide in faith, hope and love we will begin to fully realize what is in store for us as children of God!

So I can still get dressed up or eat one too many pieces of candy this fall but I need to also know that my 2nd grade faith needs to grow up so I can begin to know more of the full faith, hope and love that God has for me.

Redesign: Something about the fall makes me want to carve pumpkins, eat chili and throw a party. I think these two invites would be pretty fun for just such a get-together.