The Christmas story is a wild story.
The story weaves through the centuries.
Dashed dreams, romance and intrigue, escapes, divine encounters, run-in's with angels, run-in's with malevolent kings and run-in's with neighbors our protagonists probably hoped they'd never see again.
The characters that make up the Christmas story are the unseen and the unnoticed, the grand and the great. The sophisticated are smooshed right up with the simple.
The story of Christmas is brilliant and beautiful, wild and wonderful. When you peel back the layers and sit in the story, you can't help but marvel at how anything good came out of it at all. Pain and heartache, silence and fear, loneliness and love, dreams lost and weirdly rediscovered.
And hope springs up, just a little bit at a time, with every twist and turn, the kind of hope that refuses to be snuffed out no matter how hard things get.
It's the story of God.
What a marvelous story.
Through each person's story, out of darkness and desperation, singing and rejoicing rise.
It's tempting to start where we typically always start, in the gospels. But what if we traveled back farther, much farther, centuries back?
The Christmas story is not one that plopped down in history just out of the blue. It starts when the world was much younger.
We could take a few of those beautiful gold story strands we see in the gospel and trace them back.
We'll wind through kings and kingdoms, the rise and fall of nations and terror and triumph to the small and hidden spaces of the Christmas story.
You're probably familiar with these women...
They are icons of faith.
Yet, they aren't as different as you and I.
Their lives did not turn out like they wanted to or expected. Some did it all right. Some didn't know what to do with the situation they'd been given. Others experienced devastating heartache.
Not only did they not get what they wanted and hoped for, life turned sour. They were rejected, gossiped about and left to suffer (mostly) alone.
Yet God...
How are you doing this holiday season? In the middle of the plans and joys, are there places in your heart of unspoken hope, quiet hurt and unanswered prayer?
Bring your hopes for this holiday season. Bring your desires. Bring your heart. Bring your heartache. Bring your complaints and the bitterness that, perhaps, has piled up like firewood against the wall. Bring the dreams you are clinging to and the ones you've given up on. Bring your sugar cookies and twelfth cup of coffee.
I'll be bringing all of these things by the way. You'll be right at home with me.
Rejoice! Praise & Paint through Christmas may be the creative quiet time to bring fresh sparkle to the holidays.
I'm not promising transformation in this course. But I can say with assurance there is fresh revelation to be had when we spend time praising and sitting in these stories. Fresh joy. Fresh sparkle.
Take an hour each week. Take the pressure off to make anything happen. Simply show up. Turn everything off. Take your paints and Bible and sit with the stories. Let the stories speak as if you've never seen them before. Ask Jesus to show up.
Like any good story-teller, Jesus doesn't lay out the whole story at once. As we keep seeking and digging, He keeps letting us see more and experience more. More wonder. More joy. More perseverance. More willingness to go through some tough stuff to find the treasure.
The wonder comes by sitting in the story.
Think you are too old or too mature to re-experience true wonder? It's never too late and we're never too old.
Come with me this December. Come and see some of the ordinary women whose lives were changed by our extraordinary God.
The way to return to wonder is by sitting with the one who started it all in the first place.
All the trimmings of Christmas are wonderful. I love them. But they truly sparkle and shimmer when they are set in their rightful place, bowing down and giving homage to the one whose story we are all in. His story.
Come and join me.
We'll paint and praise and read and talk through these stories. We'll listen and paint and journal and create.
What's included?
Introductory Devotional to each of the four sessions. These will be either video or audio recordings (10ish minutes)
Painting + Creating Projects for each of the four sessions (45ish minutes)
Extras - songs to listen to, recipes to make
Wrap Up Devotional + Ideas for Moving into the New Year + Journal Prompts
Are You Ready to Start?
It's easy, especially in the evangelical or protestant tradition, to look for the application:
What can I learn?
How can I be closer to Jesus?
What is the story trying to teach me?
What do I need to change?
We won't be doing that in Rejoice! Praise & Paint through Christmas.
Sometimes it is good to sit and saturate in the story. To be curious, just like we were when we were seven and eight and nine. I want to remove the pressure of any sort of performance and invite you to sit with Jesus.
Linger in His brilliance and His love and the wild way he chose super ordinary people to be a part of His story.
BONUSES INCLUDED!
BONUS #1
Journaling Prompts + Study Questions for saturating more in the story
Journaling Prompts + Study Questions for saturating more in the story
I know what it's like to WANT to go down that rabbit trail. In this bonus, I'll also include songs and stories that inspired and drew me more into the stories of Christmas.
BONUS #2
NEW Course After Christmas, Ending Well: Pray & Paint through the Last Week of the Year
Ever feel like the year just ends with a thud?
It went too fast or it was too busy or it was awful (we've all had those years). End the year with prayer, reflection, and a bit of creativity!
This new mini-workshop will drop into your inbox the week of Christmas.
With lots of love,
Melissa
This world is tough. It's hard on our hearts. It wears down our souls. We need to refuel, to spend time rejoicing with Jesus no matter what the season is giving us this year.
That's what I'm hoping this course, Rejoice! Praying & Praising at Christmas, is. An hour each week to refill and refuel with Jesus and His wild story of Christmas.
To go through the next four or five weeks with an extra bright twinkle in our eyes.
To waltz through the busy and wonderful and crazy season with a hope in our hearts that comes from enjoying Jesus through the women whose lives He encountered. It's a hope that the longest lines and the grouchiest colleagues can't penetrate.
To refill our own hearts with the light and love of Christ.
How has this impacted you?
"Taking Melissa's course was so fun and helped me to finally pick up the paint brush again! I forgot how much I loved to paint. I felt like a part of me came alive again."
- Kendra C
"As a beginner painter I felt relieved by Melissa's encouragement that my paintings will look differently from her examples because I am finding my own style."
- J.D.
"Easy to follow directions, quaint and bright pictures that aren't too overwhelming. I've had the best time growing my skills with the tutorials from The Creative Season!"
- Jenelle
"The time in reflection and prayer, expresses itself in each piece you paint. Melissa does a beautiful job expressing her faith and transferring it to paper and paint!"
- Lucy
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I don't know much about the Bible?
No need to be a biblical scholar. This is perfect for those wanting to deepen their faith.
You mentioned you read several books in preparation for this study. Do I need to purchase books?
No need to have a vast library of study materials – this creative, reflective, thinking course is focused on women who may not have a lot of time, but are willing to set aside some time each week to go over and over in the word of God.
Can I do this with my small group or for a weekend retreat?
Sure! If you want to launch this course on a shared screen for a group, that is okay with me. If you want each member to have their own login, please reach out to me for individual discussion.
What if I don't know how to create or paint very well?
I specifically designed these projects for each level of artist. I wanted the focus to be on the content we are sitting with, so I intentionally did not create especially detailed or highly structured work. A bit of comfort with watercolors will make it easier to jump in to the lesson, but it is not a requirement.
What if I don't have a lot of time?
Not a problem. Each lesson is meant to be completed in less than an hour and can be broken into chunks. I'm a stickler about giving you what I think is essential, without fluff. Some lessons are shorter than others.
Melissa AuClair
thecreativeseason.com
