Hi, I am Rachel! I am the face behind the Vine & Venture Blog. I am a Primary Care Physician Assistant to Refugees, a Creative, and a Christian.My means of creativity in this season is writing in this space, and I am so grateful that you are willing to come along.
The phrase that came to my mind while creating the blog was “slow growth through imperfection and big leaps of faith”. Staying in the Vine (Jesus -see John 15) helps me to grow through all my imperfections and remain strong and fruitful through the ordinary and the stormy days of life.
“Venturing” out into willing obedience to the Lord through my vocation, marriage and living in this city keeps me trusting and depending on God, experiencing his power and presence, while seeking to impact the world around me positively.
I used to dance, paint, and play piano–I grew up expressing myself in various ways. I used to write poems in 1st grade about traveling to the moon. I found solace in the 15-minute free writing exercises in our high school English class. I even took my AP Biology open response questions as an opportunity for creative writing. I have journals for years and years filled to the very last page.
Although my degree is not in writing, it has always been within me. I don’t think blogging is the pinnacle of this, but I JUST HAD to start something, as an outlet to get out all my words and feelings and ART into the world.
This summer as I was preparing to launch the blog, I found so much comfort and affirmation in the words of Emily P Freeman on a “Makers & Mystics” Podcast – My soul shouted “yes!” to all of her quotations and I want to offer them to you today in case your soul wants to shout “yes!” to them too:
“Could it be possible that writing has been put within you because God wants to bring it out? Could it be possible that you pursuing that thing that is within you that you most want to do is not selfish but the selfish act is actually you leaving it inside?”
“Could it be possible that YOUR ART is a daily grace that God means for somebody else?”
“It is not actually about the writing itself, it’s about me becoming more fully myself… And I had some idea years ago that writing played a part of that. I want to call writing my art but the truth is (and I believe the gospel says) that I am the art and writing is the evidence”
“My writing/art is the evidence that I, the artist, created in the image of THE Artist can now receive what he has offered me and I can now offer it as an artist myself and this is the evidence that I have become fully alive in the presence of God.”
“Freedom leads to artistic expression because free people move into the world as who they really are”
For now, my artistic offering is through this blog. But I believe we all have some “art” inside of us that the world would benefit from.
What “art” do you feel inside of you that you wish to offer the world? What steps can you take toward doing this today?
