Infinite possibilities lie within....
You would think that the dream scenario for an artist is to be told you have an unlimited budget, all the time you need and you have freedom to create whatever you want. That sounds like fun but the reality is, too much freedom is actually limiting.
Orson Welles said, “The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.” So how in the world can limitations help me? We are actually built to operate with boundaries. The boundaries are not necessarily barriers; in fact, they focus our energies and resources into the channels.
I think the most creative time period in my ministry was the time I had the least amount of resources. It forced me to think differently about everything around me. I would “dumpster dive” in every closet in the Church, looking for those “treasures” that other ministries had discarded. I would repurpose anything and everything around me. I stretched more dollars, better utilized the people around me and made more out of less. Not because I was exceptionally creative, simply put…I had too! But it worked. The very situation that could have been interpreted as “limiting” actually forced me to think more creatively.
I like what Todd Henry said, “Total freedom is false freedom. True freedom has healthy boundaries.”
In ministry, we are often bothered by the lack of budget, time and personnel and quickly see this as an impenetrable obstacle. If your ministry environment is like mine, then you know first hand what it feels like to have the demands increase and the resources decrease. But our perspective should not be a negative one filled with discouragement and hopelessness. We serve the God of the Universe and nothing is impossible with Him. He has given each of us creative minds and more importantly a direct connection to Him. Armed with this reality, we can view any limitation as a “healthy boundary.” One that will focus our creative energies and help us find solutions.
Steve Adams has been the Children’s Pastor at Saddleback Church since 2007. He has served as Children’s Pastor for over 20 years and is a leader and mentor to many children’s ministry leaders around the country and into the world. God has blessed him with a creative mind, a true pastor’s heart and a passion for serving God and others through Children’s Ministry! Steve and his wife, Stephanie, have two sons – Tyler and Matthew.
More Than Puppets 
The biggest art trend right now is taking reclaimed wood and turning it into top selling furniture, art pieces, and wall coverings. Many people have taken discarded, second hand wood and made great pieces of art out of it. I talked with a farmer recently, and was asking if he had any friends who had barns that were in shambles and if they were getting rid of the wood. He said they have people ask for the wood all the time. The trend has caught on to take used up, warn down pieces of wood and make them valuable once again.
When you take something people would say is of little to no value, and make it into something of worth, we’re modeling God’s work in us. And that’s the redemptive work we are part of every week as we minister to families. No limitations, just opportunities to be part of taking what was once old and broken, and see it take on a new life!