Playin' in the Dirt

Joe Killian • October 2, 2020

Maria and I have been playing in the dirt a lot recently.  First we replaced our French drain and then we embarked on a creative project intended to change the entire look of our front yard.  My brother Jeffrey and I installed a new front step.

The intention with the elevated step onto the front porch was to create the visual effect of a creek bed running under a bridge.  The next phase was to install a pondless waterfall that would provide the actual water...

I have to admit that the creative side of this project gets me really excited, especially when the work involves "getting my hands dirty."  As I've focused recently on the "being" aspects of this blog series I am constantly reflecting back on God's creative nature and how we can find our being in Him.


This is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens—there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground, but a stream was welling up out of the earth and watering all the surface of the ground—then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.  The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:4-8


God intentionally created us in His image and placed us where we are––each and every one of us.  Take a moment to appreciate the world around you.  I mean stop and take in some aspect of nature around you and really dwell on the beauty of God's creation.  Next, reflect on the fact that you are more beautiful in God's eyes than all you see in nature.  Now let's be more specific.  Think about your uniqueness, those characteristics that make you who you are.  These can be physical characteristics, personality traits or ways of being.  For some this may be hard to do.  If so, think of how others describe your positive characteristics.  The bottom line is that God placed these characteristics in you from the beginning.


 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you...

Jeremiah 1:5   


Here is the question.  If God made you a certain way doesn't it stand to reason that He wants you to be the person He created?  That is why this concept of "being" is so important.  That is why finding joy in who you are is so significant in life.  What can you embrace as one aspect about yourself that God placed in you?


I experience great joy when I create.  My authentic being comes forth when I get to "play in the dirt" and it gives me great joy because it comes from God.  I'd like to share our latest creation with you.  Today for the first time, a stream welled up out of the earth in our yard...

Authentic Versus False Identity

By Joe Killian • October 16, 2020
The story continues...I'm still working on the pondless waterfall in our front yard. I shared this project with you two weeks ago in Playin' In the Dirt. Since then I've had to rework sections of the stream three different times because we were losing too much water. I am now an expert on evaporation rates and excessive splash, two causes of water loss. This morning I tore the whole thing apart and I'm starting over.

Kung Fu Panda

By Joe Killian • October 8, 2020
Have you ever watched DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda? I stumbled across it recently and thoroughly enjoyed Jack Black's performance as a bumbling, noodle selling, kung fu enthusiast, giant panda named P o. Set in ancient China, it is more than a humorous slapstick comedy. The core message of the story jumped out at me as I have been focusing recently on the concept of being. Po is shockingly identified as the Dragon Warrior and he reluctantly enters training. The goal of the training is to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is believed to hold the secret to limitless power. Now I don't want to spoil the big reveal but I will say that what Po realizes is the same as what I speak to in the concept of being and authentic identity. So, where do we find the secret to our "power?" I praise You, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works! My very self You know. Psalm 139:14 God knows it; and we must seek Him with all of our hearts in order to find it. As it was in the movie, the answer is stunningly simple. Our authentic identity is already within us. The challenge for Po in the movie was in seeing himself accurately and not the way others saw him. Even his teacher scoffed at the idea that Po was anything more than an underachieving dreamer who overate when he was anxious. Po's problems are rooted in the fact that he believes the lie of his false identity much more than he does his authentic one. Is it possible that you do the same? Who could have imagined that beneath all of Po's girth lived the Dragon Warrior? What's hidden from view in you? Seek God for understanding as to who He created you to be. Spoiler Alert: the secret of your limitless power is already in you. God placed it there and He wants you to be who He authentically created you to be.

The Acorn and the Oak

By Joe Killian • September 25, 2020
On a recent walk with Maria, we picked up an acorn lying near the road. It looked different from the ones we were most familiar with but looking skyward there was no doubting where it had come from. The majestic one-hundred-foot oak tree towered over us. Having grown up with two oak trees in my back yard, each more than a hundred years old, I have always loved acorns. Within the acorn is a tiny embryo that bears the potential to become a mighty oak tree. In fact, that is the only thing an acorn can become. That is God's design. Then God said: Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And so it happened: the earth brought forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:11-12 Take some time to reflect on the acorn and the oak. My question to you is do you know who you were created to be? There is no doubt in God's mind who you are. Can you embrace the idea that God has placed in you all you are meant to be? You are full of potential. That is God's design. "Faith sees a beautiful blossom in a bulb, a lovely garden in a seed, and a giant oak in an acorn.” -- William Arthur Ward
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