I have always been a fan of crafts. I have memories as a little girl, filling paper plates with rice and gluing them together for a tambourine. I delight in the thought of jazzing up the paper plates with markers and whatever else I could find to make them pretty.

In my creative world, I live by the motto, everything is better with glitter! In fact, glitter was a very prominent part of Bella’s story in my debut novel, Bella’s Beautiful Miracle. After surviving a storm, Bella learns that God’s light can be shown on our faces when we are so filled with His love that we can’t wait to share it with others. As Bella’s faith in God grows, so does the glitter in her smile!

About a year ago, I was introduced to making diamond art creations. At first, the only thing I felt was frustration, but that was because I had not brought God into the moment with me. I was solely focused on the fact that the little diamond, though pretty, was very small. I let that “little” fact ruin my experience on that day. Since I loved the outcome and how pretty the item sparkled, I decided to give it another try, and this time I absolutely loved it! I purchased a pill organizer and gave each color diamond its own spot. That small, simple act of organization made a world of difference. In no time at all, I had 8 adorable glittering coasters.

Since then, I have made a suncatcher to gift my friend, and a very elaborate glittering tree which is now framed and hanging in my dining room. It goes to show that when you take a moment to organize, the experience changes completely, and the outcome is that much better! This is true in our relationship with God as well. Think about a frantic day, and what a struggle it is to spend time alone with God. The frustration, when left on its own, gets bigger and bigger; a snowball effect.

We can organize our prayer life, just as I did with the colored diamonds. Take some steps to give God a special place, an undisturbed area of your home, even if it’s the corner of the couch. Find somewhere to let your bible, journal, and maybe a candle rest so that when you are ready for prayer, you don’t have to go looking for anything.

Recently, I found a way to incorporate crafting with my prayer! You can read about that experience by viewing my article titled Finding God in The Relentless Act of Scrolling, posted on the Catholic Writers Guild Blog. In this piece, I weave together prayer and creative organization.

Perhaps the most intriguing form of creative expression I have experienced lately is that of developing the illustrations for my next middle grade novel, Firefly Fred & The Rainbow Rescue. Set to launch in September. The process, grueling at times, seemed more difficult than the actual writing. I’ve known for some time now that there is no prayer too small for God, as He wants to be involved in all aspects of our lives. So, on the rough days, after searching for opinions from family, I go to the one who already knows what this book looks like and ask the silly questions. Like, should the villain have a pointy nose, or do you want Fred to be cute or nerdy looking?

I can “second-guess” myself for the rest of my life, so I’m glad the publisher gives me a set number of what they call passes, where changes are made. Once I have signed off on the release of the work, it’s set. Or so I thought! Only last week I signed off on the page design, and yesterday I had the horrible realization that I didn’t check the spacing or font size. Needless to say, I sent my project manager a plea for help, and by God’s grace, they can make the changes! That only proves to me that God will make sure anything we do with Him and for His glory will be just the way God wants it!

Take some time today, and get crafty! Be sure to click the article link and head over to the Catholic Writers Guild Blog to learn how to craft your very own prayer bible! Keep your eyes on my website, kimberlynovak.com, or my author Facebook page for the release date of Firefly Fred & The Rainbow Rescue!

By the way, this blog post is the very first public announcement of the book title! Thank you, dear readers, for sharing this post and helping to announce the arrival of my next middle-grade novel! I appreciate you!

Blessings,

Kimberly