🎨 Design in a Hole, a life devotional

 A reflection on a life redirected.

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🎨 Design in a Hole

Scripture:

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
— Exodus 14:14 (NIV)

It stung at first.
I had poured my heart into helping the Rec Center see the value of creative design — flyers that told a story, that invited people in. And then, just like that, someone new was hired. Someone who didn’t design, really, but let AI do the work instead.

At first, I wanted to crawl into a hole — to shrink from the sting, to let frustration build where faith should be. But somewhere in that quiet space, God whispered:

“This hole isn’t punishment. It’s a pause for purpose.”

So I started to look around inside that hole — and found something waiting. My own sketchbook. My own art. My own life, full of patterns and textures and colors that didn’t need approval or a paycheck to be meaningful.

Sometimes, God allows doors to close not to keep us out, but to keep us still enough to see what’s already ours. Inspiration doesn’t vanish when opportunities do. It just takes a deeper root — one that grows underground, in hidden places of faith, patience, and rediscovery.

Now I see it: this hole is really a design studio of grace. A place to rest my hands, breathe, and remember that creativity is a gift to nurture — not to prove.

Prayer:
Lord, when I feel left out or unseen,
remind me that You never overlook what You plant in me.
Teach me to find beauty in the pauses —
to design with my heart even when the world moves on without me.
Amen.

Everyday Takeaway:
When God says “pause,” He’s not ending your design —
He’s refining the pattern.

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Maple Lane Closing Scene:
Tori Rae sat at her craft table, a pencil tucked behind her ear and a mug of cocoa cooling beside her sketchpad. The Rec Center’s glossy AI flyer sat half-buried under a stack of watercolor paper. She smiled softly, tracing the outline of a maple leaf in her sketchbook.

“Let them have their headlines,” she murmured, shading in the stem. “I’ll design in the quiet.”

And in that quiet, something sacred bloomed again — inspiration, but also peace.