Limitations Breed Creativity

A few months ago, I fell in love with a one-liner:

Limitations breed creativity.*

Which explains why my four oldest boys stalked down our alley that April morning, armed with e-cloths and water bucket. “We have a plan!” they exulted, conspiring on its details all the way to their destination. They had to wash two windows without being caught. It was the first of eight challenges in our PD Day “Amazing Race.”

The limitation-creativity relationship first struck me on a different PD day. At the time, inspiration was my only name for it. I knew our family needed some unifying diversion, or I’d spend the whole day policing computer turns. I couldn’t afford the energy, time, or money to sponsor anything extravagant; it had to be local, child-driven, free, and unquestionably fun. A Young Women activity came back to me and inspiration struck: From ten to two that Friday, my kids scrambled through the neighborhood on a service scavenger hunt, washing walls, walking dogs, and tidying yards to tally 335 collective family points by the end of the afternoon—exceeding by 35 our original family goal. Of course, my cleaning at our house racked-up points, too—and that was the beauty of it. We were all a team. Even my daily chores contributed. And when the neighbors wrote, “Thanks!” beside their initials on the boys’ scavenger lists or shook their hands the next Sunday at church, the boys and I both beamed. And it didn’t cost a cent or more than ten minutes’ effort to type a list.

I closed that day praying in gratitude for the gift of a thought and the delight that it bred. I knew Whom to credit; I’m not that creative, thrifty, or fun.

My opportunities to thank Him for similar blessings continue the longer we live under life’s inevitable limitations. Who’d have thought we could successfully serve leftovers at our monthly babysitting exchange? But limitations plus the Spirit transformed the leftovers into “Restaurant.” A few scribbled menus and our classiest Correlle later, my husband and I became servers to four giggling mademoiselles and five wiggly monsieurs who devoured our leftovers as though they were poshest delicacies. In April, when we needed another priceless team-builder? Limitations plus inspiration and voila, Amazing Race. Now it’s September, and limitations have bred my tutoring business. The Writing Mentor has enrolled students to exceed my loftiest expectations. I’ve turned the turbo back on in my own education, resurrecting the writer who has lain dormant the past dozen years. God’s hand guides every detail. He leads the way through the limits.

It takes me back to my oldest son’s infancy, when I visit-taught a frugal mother in her D.I.-furnished front room. “I’m so grateful for our financial limitations,” she confided. “We get to teach our children that true happiness isn’t purchased, that the riches of eternity only cost our obedience.”

Tonight, I thank God again for blessings from heaven’s windows: a budding business, aspiring students, six squirly sons, a hard-working husband, Amazing Race, amazing Grace, and a little limitation.

* See Bruce Feiler, The Secrets of Happy Families, Chapter Five: “The Buck Starts Here.”