That Was One Lovely Evening

Our church hosted a decidedly UN-churchy event:

First of all, it was not held in a church. We set the goal of an artful event, kept simple and accessible to all, regardless of background or present circumstances, yet with a very high bar of talent and (dare I say) professionalism.

Mission accomplished. And I hardly had to do a thing. I had to be at exactly 2 meetings, and one phone call.

It was an evening with the spoken arts, with presenters from Harvest Church. But y’all, this was not your mama’s ladies’ event. It was raw, real, funny, and there was mostly not a dry eye in the place, whether by laughter or by vulnerable poetry and storytelling.

I had the privilege of being asked to emcee the whole night, and if you wonder how that made me feel, well…here you go:

Each and every presenter absolutely killed it. The entire evening was very simple, and because it was simple, it felt professional, while at the same time, the presence of God stirred the whole room. Many of the attendees were not from our church.

We had a sell-out event, with well over 50 seats taken. For our particular venue, that was the capacity. There were only about two empty chairs (come to find out, someone got sick, day off).

There was a harpist, and the room was lined on both sides with visual art - the paintings and photography of 3 of our very own artists. (Harvest Church is weirdly full of full-time artists, art teachers, musicians and creatives).

Until next year, Knoxville. “The Scruffy Church For The Scruffy City” (that’s a whole hashtag, btw) will be back in 2024, I dare say, with the second annual “Seen - Known - Remembered”, an evening with the spoken word arts.

My Podcast Interview with Matt Tommey

My interview with world-class sculptor, artist, author and mentor Matt Tommey of The Thriving Christian Artist is LIVE!

Matt is a good interviewer, and asked me all my favorite questions. So in this interview, I get to talk about how understanding the “righteousness of God” can put anyone “in their right mind”. Understanding righteousness as being the gift of God will connect you to your creativity like nothing else can.

What is “righteousness”? My layman’s definition is simply “to be made to be as I ought always to have been” as sheer gift. It is not a condition or state of being that I can attain, or earn, or deserve.

Sound intriguing? Below you will find the video version of this powerful message - one that I particularly carry for women “in the middle”.

If you are somewhere between the ages of 45 and 99, and have a deep yearning to freely be creative, yet are feeling the pressure of caring for aging parents while encountering your own health challenges, perhaps you are dealing with multiple losses, and/or difficult adult children, plus the responsibilities of your job. “The middle” is an indistinct period of time, but is discerned by its pain points.

This interview is my gift to you.

Well, mine and Matt Tommey’s gift to you. You can also get just the audio version by doing a quick search for “Matt Tommey/Thriving Christian Artist” wherever you get your podcasts.