out of the girl.
This month has been an incredible break-out of my God-given creativity
and talent. I’m not quite sure how this happened, but apparently I have
developed a reputation amongst some of our squad for being creative. One of my
friends, Erin, asked me for help with a video because I was creative. And our
squad leader, Liz, waited until she got to Casa Shalom to work on her brother’s
birthday tribute with me-well, actually, she let me produce and direct the
whole thing with her approval. This is the video below. My awesome squad mates
helped me create this amazing video-they supported me in my creativity and
desire to create something new and unique to wish Will a happy birthday. This
is actually the modified version, so I hope you enjoy it.
M Squad’s Musical Tribute from Glenalyn Hunt on Vimeo.
This month was a season for breaking out into
greatness. I wrote a previous blog about how I saw it in my teammates, so now
indulge me and let me share how I saw it in me.
Words have power-this is
something I have learned time and again this year. God is a God of
redemption-this is another truth I have seen again and again this year.
When I was in the sixth grade, I took a career test.
It suggested I would be good as a playwright, a screenwriter, a producer or
director. In high school, I was involved in drama, testing the waters for these
potential career fields. But I never felt like I was enough-talented enough,
creative enough, supported enough, so I let the dreams of being in the theater
or the movies die. (Read more here.) My favorite experience during those years
was directing a one-act written by a friend. I got to cast it, pick the
soundtrack, design the lighting and set, and more. It was an awesome experience
and I really liked it. My mom, always my biggest fan, said it was the best
one-but you know, she’s my mom. (love you mom!)
I went all-out into academics after that, taking
heaps of AP classes my senior year and doing We the People (Mock Congressional
Hearings. Sounds boring. Changed my life. Thanks Mr. Ladd). It grew back the
confidence I had lost in drama, and helped me to find strength in knowledge and
in what I was naturally good at-school. It also allowed me to be creative in
writing and in presenting the required information in a way that would be
different from the 49 other teams answering the same questions.
At USC, I was surrounded by the most talented people
in their respective fields. There wasn’t a lot of room for an International
Relations major with decent talent in the acapella groups or the majors-only
film production courses. The one TV class I did take was nearly an accident,
but I absolutely loved it-learning more about the business of Television while
enjoying some of the best shows on TV and hearing the stories behind them from
the writers and producers.
I desperately missed being creative
while in university. The few opportunities I did have were amazing. Follies 2009 where, with the help of my best
friends, I created a hilarious number called “A Day in the Life of a USC Student.” (Watch it on facebook here)
It was essentially the university version of High School Musical, featuring
songs from Newsies, Mulan, and Slumdog Millionaire. The creation, the
rehearsals and the actual performance were some of the best times I had in
college, and I loved being creative with my friends in that way.
I never even thought about doing it for anything more
than fun, though.
to be creative, and I have enjoyed each one tremendously. Whether it was being
Lady GiGi in New Zealand (video here) or directing a drama in Thailand (video here), God has allowed me
to live out so many different dreams. So when people started calling out my
creativity this month, I finally started walking in it. I took ownership of the
ideas in my head and made them work.
This month we had a Christmas worshipnight, complete with ugly sweaters. This month I produced and directed a music
video. This month I got to walk in my dreams, of having fun, of playing
dress-up, of making memories, and of creating parties and videos. It has been
an incredible ride, and God has redeemed yet another view of myself.
I am creative.
I
am creative because my Creator is creative and His spirit lives in me.
I am looking forward to seeing what other ways God
allows me to live in my creativity, now and in the future. I don’t know what it
looks like, but I do know that while I have lived out some of my passions this
year that I did study in school (witnessing international development in
action, in all its good, bad and ugly, and being a part of the good stuff), God has reignited my heart for these other passions
too.
I am so excited for what the future holds, but more
than that, I am learning to be excited for what each day holds. As we head off
to ATL in Budapest, this will be very important-to be excited for each moment as
the Lord leads. Pray for my team as we walk in this last season of the race.
Pray we will stay focused on the moment, and find God in each moment.
Blessings & love,
Glenalyn
