Morgan McCarver's Odyssey: Scoliosis to Ceramics, Embracing Art and Faith

Transcript

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Hello, Hello everyone, and welcome back to Judgment Free Zone.

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I'm your host, Michael Rauscher, and my guest today is Morgan McCarver, so I'm very excited to have her on the show and spend some time talking with Morgan.

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Morgan is in the South Carolina area and she has a degree in art.

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Ceramic art is her passion and we're going to talk a little bit more about that, but I do want to mention that Morgan has had a ton of awards.

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She's a multi-award winning artist.

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She's displayed her work in two different solo exhibitions 2020'm sorry, 2020 and also 2022.

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She currently has studios in Asheville, North Carolina, as well as Spartanburg, South Carolina, and her art can be found in various galleries around the Carolinas as well as the great state of Tennessee.

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But outside of her passion for art is also her passion for God, which we'll talk about, and it inspired her to write her first book, which is God the Artist Revealing God's Creative Side Through Pottery.

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So, Morgan, thank you so much for being here and, of course, congratulations on your success, both with art and with the book.

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Thank you so much and thank you for having me.

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Absolutely Happy to have you on the show and really excited to talk to you and hear more about your story.

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So let's get into it.

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Morgan, why art, I have to ask.

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I know you probably get asked that a lot, but what's interesting is obviously what I'd love to know is when art became a thing for you, like when it became a passion because you went into college and actually got your degree.

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I'm trying to look that up, but you have a degree in ceramics.

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I do.

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Yep, I never even knew you could get a degree, and so I'm sorry for that.

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But yeah, so tell me, where did this start for you and kind of what led to that?

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Yeah it basically started.

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I say I've always needed a creative outlet.

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I've always been, even from the earliest moments of playing with Play-Doh with my grandmother.

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You know, all the way back to my childhood I've needed that creative outlet, but it wasn't always pottery.

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I danced for a long time and then when I had scoliosis surgery for a long time and then when I had scoliosis surgery it was a spinal fusion and so that made my dance career basically end.

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Everything was put on hold for a year while I was recovering and then when I went back to dance it wasn't the same, but during that year I needed that creative outlet that I had lost.

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And so that's really when I kind of turned to pottery and took my first kids camp.

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At the time I was 14 when I had the surgery, and so I took that introduction to ceramics kind of camp and fell in love with the clay.

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Just the connection to it, the direct flexibility with the clay that I couldn't get out of my body during that time.

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And all of this stuff just kind of culminated into me realizing this immediate relationship with touching the clay and feeling it and molding it into something that I wanted to make it into, and just that freedom that I felt, and you're right, that ultimately led into me going to the South Carolina School of the Arts, anderson University, and so that's where I got my degree in ceramics, which doesn't that's not a common degree anymore, it doesn't really exist, but thankfully I was able to do that at Anderson, and that's ultimately what brought me up to Asheville and what sparked the book and all of that good stuff.

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Gotcha so growing up.

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So when did dancing start for you?

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What age did you start dancing?

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Well, as all Southern girls, I feel like experience this.

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My mom put me in ballet when I was like three years old, um, and so I had done ballet classes and tap classes, um, but I fell in love with Irish step dancing at about six or seven years old and so that was really my passion.

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That's the classes.

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I ended up um choosing to take more classes and do that on the weekends and um compete, actually go to different Irish step dancing competitions and things, but it all like I was three years old when I was put into those ballet classes.

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So you grew up with dance essentially.

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Yeah, you found that as your initial passion with the Irish dancing.

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The scoliosis for you, I know, was severe, Like you mentioned.

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You know you had to have a major surgery for scoliosis, which I say that to say there's different degrees of scoliosis.

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I know some people have it, but it's not so severe, they're able to just kind of live with it.

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Exactly.

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For you that wasn't the case, did.

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How painful was that, if at all?

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Like when you?

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When does the scoliosis really start to affect you?

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I guess is what I'm asking that you know cause you're having this dance career.

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You're, you're obviously you're competing, like you said, and clearly you are enjoying this, because it was something you were raised with.

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Um, how does that start to affect you?

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At what age do you realize there's an issue?

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Um, I was in fifth grade and my mom's sister had scoliosis and so my mom kind of knew the signs to look for and so she was able to see like my shoulders were a little bit uneven, you know, and then that kind of led to x rays and so in fifth grade is really when everything kind of started culminating into what turned into the diagnosis that I did have scoliosis, and so at that point I was basically wearing back bracing for three years.

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At that point I was wearing it when I was home or when I was going to bed.

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So it doesn't really affect my school life at that point.

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It doesn't really affect my dance and I honestly really didn't have any pain.

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It was just something that you know it was kind of frustrating.

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I'd have to go in and get checked out, or my hips would be uneven or my shoulders would be uneven, and so that was kind of the only physical appearance that was really noticeable, but it wasn't so severe that anyone would notice that you'd kind of have to look for it.

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But the pain actually really started for me after the surgery because I had an S curve which meant my spine was growing from side to side and there were three different curves and they were varying by degrees, and then they were also rotating, and so when everything was fused straight and kind of put back to where it was supposed to be, my organs shifted back into place, my shoulders even out, my hips evened out, but there were a lot of muscle groups that had to be cut through and kind of realigned, and so there were some muscle groups that were shorter than they should have been because they had been truncated with the curvature, and so I actually grew about an inch and a half after the surgery.

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So all of that kind of is what started the pain actually.

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Wow, wow.

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Yeah, that makes perfect sense when you explain it that way.

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But hearing the S curve and everything that you're talking about, that sounds painful to me.

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But I guess because your body was naturally that way and you were living with it, I guess I can understand where you didn't sense that pain initially.

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So that makes sense the way you've described it.

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Yeah, and everybody's different.

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Like you said before, some people their curves don't get that bad.

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Some people do have pain at the beginning and the hope was that I could just wear the back bracing until I got through that last growth spurt and then I would just live with the scoliosis that I had and it never would get worse.

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But after three years it was obvious that my spine was continuing to curve and it was getting worse, and so that's when they decided I'd pretty much stopped growing and I needed to have the surgery.

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Did they tell you when going into the surgery, like was?

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Was it already known that you probably won't be able to dance after this, or was that you know?

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Were there any things that they were saying to you like, hey, this is going to fix this, but you might lose out on a few things, or that all just happen after?

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that they had told me I'd pretty much wouldn't have any range of motion in my spine because it is it's two titanium rods and 18 screws.

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Like my entire spine is fused.

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There's a couple vertebrae at the bottom and then my neck which are not fused, but basically my entire spine is fused.

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So I was aware that was coming and ironically, the way Irish dances that wouldn't have affected it that much.

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I knew that the year long recovery I wouldn't be able to dance and then after that I did actually go back to dance but it wasn't the same.

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I wasn't the same physically and mentally and so the passion was gone kind of.

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But I knew in a sense what was coming, but I had no idea mentally how that was going to affect me.

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I really was only um preparing for the physical aspects.

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Sure, gotcha.

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So let me ask you this Faith is obviously a big part of your life, um, you know, and which is why you were able to write the book and share what was faith like for you as a child, especially at this period in your life?

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I mean, and I asked that so I was raised in the church, but I will tell you, you know, you mentioned fifth grade and that age range.

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It wasn't clicking yet for me, right?

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So it was one of those things where I just went to church and, sure, I said prayers with the family and those things, but I can't tell you that I was passionate about what I was doing.

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I was a kid and it wasn't all registering.

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So how did you deal with that at that time?

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Or what was, what was your faith like at that time?

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I also was raised in the church again, growing up in the Bible belt.

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That's just what you did on Sundays, because nothing else was open, so to speak.

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So you went to church.

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But both of my family my parents are Christians.

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I was raised in a Christian household and so we went to the Baptist church every Sunday and I was saved when I was about seven or eight years old.

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But it wasn't like that amazing transformation story like you talked about.

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It was just something that we did.

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So I made that decision for myself and I recognized that that was my decision and I do think I was saved at that point.

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But my faith was basically what my family made it.

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They drove me to church and I didn't complain.

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I didn't know, I had a choice, and things like that.

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That really meant that my faith life didn't become my own until I was about to have the surgery and I was praying.

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I knew for about a year that the surgery was coming, and so I was praying during that time for miraculous healing that you read about in the Bible and that people talk about today, and I was praying that that was going to be my story and I didn't really know how to listen to the Lord's voice or what his voice sounded like to me.

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But at that time I just felt like something was saying like, if that's the case, your story isn't going to be complete, and I was like, no, that's crazy.

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But then I ended up having to have that surgery and I didn't have that miraculous recovery.

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And so then my prayer really turned into Lord, help me get through this, help me understand what's going on.

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And that really became my prayer for a decade after the surgery.

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Why did you let this happen to me?

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What is this all for?

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What's my purpose?

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Why did I go through this experience?

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And I didn't understand that for over a decade, and it hasn't been until recently when God the Artist the book came out.

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And well, when I started writing, god the Artist honestly is kind of when God started revealing like this testimony is his gift to me to allow me to take part in this amazing experience.

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And so now I look back at that time, not as a curse, as I originally looked back at it, but I see it as a blessing and a gift from God that really catapulted my whole life into what it is now.

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Well, I love that.

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You just said that because it's so funny, right, the way people look at things, that because it's so funny, right, the way people look at things.

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For me, for example, just meeting you and being able to talk to you and see the accomplishments that you've had, right.

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So I mean, when you and I started the conversation it was, you know, I was dancing up until the surgery and then you kind of found that passion after the surgery to find your way into what you do today, with being an artist.

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And as soon as you're telling me that, I'm sitting here and listening to your story and saying isn't God amazing because he took this scoliosis that you had in this surgery and it totally put you on this other path where you've had amazing success?

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I mean, you've had amazing success as an artist and and now you're a writer, you know, and you've got a published book out there.

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So, um, yeah, I can totally see how.

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When you're in the moment, though, like you just said, you could definitely look at it and say why I think we all do that why me?

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Why did this have to happen?

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What is the purpose of all of this?

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Um, but sometimes from the outside, uh, especially if you have faith you can kind of see it and say, wow, this is amazing.

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Um, so I love that you've got there, I love that you got to that place, but let's hear a little bit more than about your story.

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So after surgery, you're obviously no miraculous recovery.

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I imagine you were experiencing a lot of pain and recovery process was pretty difficult for you.

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I'd love it if you could talk to me a little bit about that and then again, how that moves you into, how you start to really take off after the pottery.

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Yeah, basically it was that year long recovery where I couldn't bend or twist or pick up anything over 10 pounds, pretty much doing anything that a teenager would like to do.

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I was 14 when I had the surgery, so I was in school and that looked completely different.

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Of course.

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I basically did school from home for about well, for over a month, and then when I went back I couldn't sit at the normal desks because the chairs are connected and I couldn't twist, so I was sitting at the teacher's desk and I had to carry a pillow around everywhere and my classmates had to open the doors for me.

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My classmates had to carry my books for me.

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It was, I mean, it was not great.

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My school was great in how they handled it.

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My teachers and my friends, my classmates were really kind and gracious towards me, but I did not like all of that attention and so, naturally, being introverted anyway, I really just kind of drew within myself and that's when I just wanted to be normal, right, and body image is a thing for teenage girls anyway, and so now I've got a body that doesn't look like everybody else's and it never will again, and so all of these things are kind of playing in my head and it's a lot of lies that the enemy throws at you that are very easy to believe, and so during that time I just tried to hide it.

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I didn't want people to know, I didn't know why it happened.

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It got to the point I didn't even want to like watch movies that had hospital scenes.

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You know, it was stuff that like, if you know, if mental health was then what it is now, I should have seen a counselor, but you didn't do that back then, and different things like that that really I had to work through.

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And I read recently that it takes about 10 years to work through a trauma like that, and for me that is exactly true.

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It took me a decade to really come out of that place, and it wasn't even really a place of anger.

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Maybe at some moments it was, but it was more just not understanding, just a place of confusion, a place of, you know, self-pity sometimes.

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Why did this happen to me?

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Why do I look different?

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Why can't I just be normal, you know, and so all of these different things are kind of culminating into that.

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But ultimately that is what led me to pottery, and then that is what pottery is, what led me to the school I chose and so I could get that degree in that.

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And then moving forward, that's what started my business, and when I was graduating from Anderson with this degree, I realized I was about to lose my friend group again that I had had for four years, this pottery community that I had enjoyed so much, and so I started trying to look for a devotion book, because I knew all of these verses about God and pottery in the Bible.

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I knew there were more that existed and so I wanted to read about this.

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I wanted to have that community again, and there wasn't really anything that I could find that was like that, and so at that point the Holy Spirit just kind of put it on my heart because I love research anyway.

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It was like that's something maybe you could start looking into and taking notes.

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And that's really when God the artist kind of started.

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The seed kind of started was back in 2019.

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That's fantastic.

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Is that when you started writing Morgan in 2019?

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Or that's just when you started kind of your research in the process of?

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it.

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That's when I started writing actually, and, man, I'm so impatient.

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I tried to rush God, and so I tried to get a manuscript published in 27 or 2019.

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And it was.

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It was so rough.

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I'm so glad it wasn't published.

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But basically they had told me I'd have to pay a lot of money and have someone else edit it and rewrite it, essentially.

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And so I was confused because I was like Lord, I thought this was what you told me to do.

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I thought I was hearing your voice and I thought I was following you.

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And here I am getting rejected.

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What is this?

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But I just felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me to put this on hold until I had more experience, and I thought that meant decades down the line, I'd be retired or something, writing a memoir, and it really was not the case.

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I mean, think about 2019.

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We went through a lot in the past couple of years, and for me, during that time, I was working a ceramic supply store retail job, so I learned a lot about ceramics through the retail aspect of it.

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They're having me teach classes in the evenings, and so I was learning a lot through teaching, and then I actually the pandemic hit, of course, and so that taught me a lot about myself, a lot about my relationship with God.

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And then I ultimately moved up to Asheville, north Carolina, kind of towards the end of the pandemic, just to focus on my art, get out of the retail scene, and I worked for a potter for a year and a half, learning the studio life from her.

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Aspect of this is how you run a small business.

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This is what you need to do to market yourself.

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Well, this is how you sell pots.

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And so all of this experience I didn't know I was getting for the book.

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I thought I was just pursuing my passion, but God was faithful through that, and so in January of 2023, I just felt like God was telling me to revisit that manuscript, and so that's really when I began rewriting God the Artist and reaching out to publishers at that point, Fantastic, and you released God the Artist this year, correct?

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Yes, July, was it.

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January.

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Sorry of 24 that the book came out.

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Yep, so a full year later, god the Artist came out.

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So, yep, it's out now, which is just crazy to think about this whole story.

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Yeah, so, god the Artist, you have had so much time, if you think about it.

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So we talked about just now you started writing in 2019.

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The process, though, really doesn't get completed until last year, 2023.

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But this book has been a book in the making probably since you were 14, at least five years of age.

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So what are some of the things that kind of came out as you were writing this book?

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Was there a lot of you know?

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Because, like you said, you're learning all these things even throughout from 2019 on, about business, and you're just seeing it that way.

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Um, because that's what we do, you know, from a human mindset.

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We kind of just look at things day to day and say, oh, you know, how does this all come together?

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I mean, we don't know until God puts it together for us, really.

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But, um, what's the journey like as you start to write?

00:19:41.845 --> 00:19:50.320
Are you starting to see all of these things from your past that are coming out and you're saying, and there's like these light bulb moments or what kind of what was that process like for you?

00:19:52.298 --> 00:20:00.117
When I was rewriting it in January, I was looking at that first manuscript and I realized I was writing from a very bitter place.

00:20:00.117 --> 00:20:17.942
It still hadn't I honestly still hadn't reached that decade yet, and so I was writing from a place of frustration of kind of approaching it as this is what happened to me, but whatever, and I really didn't see the full picture at that point.

00:20:17.942 --> 00:20:30.479
So kind of rereading where I was was very interesting for me to see how far I had come since then, because, like you said, you don't know in the moment how far you're coming from where you were until you actually take the time to reflect.

00:20:30.479 --> 00:20:32.363
And I think that's really important too.

00:20:32.363 --> 00:20:42.240
And so then at that point I realized you know, the goal for this book is to show God and His creative power and how that is referenced in the Bible.

00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:55.865
And then it kind of hit me I can't write that without sharing my story, which was a little bit scary because that meant that I was going to have to get very vulnerable to people I don't even know.

00:20:56.547 --> 00:21:13.989
And so at that point it was a lot of prayer, it was a lot of just asking God like what should go into this book and where should it go, and so my hope now is that people are able to read this and see, maybe, the aspects of their lives that they're not thrilled about.

00:21:13.989 --> 00:21:17.044
Like, god's given them those aspects as a gift.

00:21:17.044 --> 00:21:34.086
Even if it doesn't feel like a gift, even if it takes years to feel like a gift, it truly is a gift from him to grow them in some way and to help them in their story and to honor him, and it's something that I, like I said, I didn't feel that in the moment and I didn't feel that for over 10 years after the moment.

00:21:34.086 --> 00:21:46.994
It took a long time for me to get there, but the important part is I was able to get there by his grace and I'm able to look back on that time and see that that was completely from him, by his grace and I'm able to look back on that time and see that that was completely from him.

00:21:48.575 --> 00:21:49.616
Yeah, I love that you share that.

00:21:49.616 --> 00:21:50.479
I think that it's so important.

00:21:50.479 --> 00:22:03.383
You touched on this when you talked about being in high school, the enemy and the lies that the enemy will tell, and it's important to note that, because you talk about this decade and how you really had to go through that decade to get to the other side.

00:22:03.383 --> 00:22:10.862
But what's funny about that is I know you were faithful to a degree at least.

00:22:10.862 --> 00:22:12.770
I know you've had faith in your life, you know, since your upbringing.

00:22:12.770 --> 00:23:00.579
So there's a level of faith that's there, but the enemy is still involved and the enemy can tear away at that and the enemy can definitely tell you lies and those lies can keep you from being vulnerable and keep you from confronting the person that you really are, the person maybe that you want to become, and I think for a lot of us, in order to kind of get to the other side, in order to be the person that God intends us to be, or that maybe we just we really feel in our heart we're meant to be, you have to get vulnerable, like, not only do you have to confront yourself, maybe face your own demons, challenges, whatever it is, but a lot of times you have to be vulnerable enough excuse me to put it out there because it is a way to honor him and what he's done for us, what he continues to do for us.

00:23:00.579 --> 00:23:10.455
So I couldn't agree with you more, but I say that to say that for those who are listening to us right now, or for those people who know, like I believe in God.

00:23:10.557 --> 00:23:15.147
I pray daily, but for some reason I just my life isn't quite working or things aren't.

00:23:15.147 --> 00:23:19.203
It's one of those things where maybe you just have to dig a little deeper.

00:23:19.203 --> 00:23:24.276
Maybe you have to face the lies that the enemy's telling you and reject those things.

00:23:24.276 --> 00:23:28.105
Remind yourself that you are a child of God and God does have a plan for you.

00:23:28.105 --> 00:23:37.021
Obviously, you're coming around like full circle, which is such a beautiful thing, and that's why you wrote the book and you're sharing with people, which is phenomenal.

00:23:37.021 --> 00:23:40.817
Let's go back, though, for a minute and talk about your art career.

00:23:40.817 --> 00:23:42.539
You've had tremendous success.

00:23:42.539 --> 00:23:45.104
When did things really start taking off for you?

00:23:45.104 --> 00:23:47.327
Was it before college?

00:23:47.327 --> 00:23:51.721
After college, like when did your success really start to move, or when did you even know?

00:23:51.721 --> 00:23:54.748
This is real for me, like I'm good at this.

00:23:56.075 --> 00:24:35.228
Ooh, um, when I started taking classes, I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't say that I noticed that I was really good at it, and I think the interesting thing about ceramics, too, is everyone expects you to throw on the pottery wheel, which is the most glamorous part of ceramics, anyway, right, but that's not really how I make my work, and so I was taking classes learning about the wheel, but I wasn't fully enjoying that process as much as I was enjoying other areas of ceramics, and so when I got to college, my professor recognized this, and thankfully, she was able to show me other aspects, like plaster, mold making, for example.

00:24:35.228 --> 00:24:56.580
So I do a lot of slip casting in my work, where I use molds that I've made myself and I pour the clay into those, and so that's an aspect that goes back hundreds of years, like as early as the 1700s, maybe earlier, and so it's a part of culture that I think is really important to carry on, but it's not the most well-known form of ceramics, and so that's when I started really recognizing.

00:24:56.580 --> 00:24:58.808
You know, this is a niche.

00:24:58.808 --> 00:25:04.383
This is something that I'm passionate about, and this is something that I'm actually pretty good at.

00:25:04.383 --> 00:25:11.824
Like, I enjoy doing this, and I enjoy it more than the wheel, and so that kind of pursuit of that technique is what kept driving me.

00:25:12.405 --> 00:25:18.042
And then after graduation, one of the best forms of advice I got was just keep hustling.

00:25:18.042 --> 00:25:21.718
And so, honestly, I would just apply to things and see where it got me.

00:25:21.718 --> 00:25:32.682
And I got a lot of rejection, but as long as I could read that description and say, yeah, if I got accepted, this would be feasible, I could handle this, I'd apply to it.

00:25:32.682 --> 00:25:35.203
I didn't even fully understand what it was and I'd still apply.

00:25:35.203 --> 00:25:46.001
And it gave me some really amazing opportunities and a lot of opportunities where I was the youngest to ever make it that far or the youngest to ever participate in this, which is just such a drive.

00:25:46.061 --> 00:25:59.002
When you got that recognition from some older artists saying like, wow, you're so young and everything you're doing, that just makes me want to keep pursuing and keep trying, and so that also helps with the rejection too.

00:25:59.002 --> 00:26:04.166
If I'm focusing on that rejection, why didn't I get this or why did they choose somebody else?

00:26:04.166 --> 00:26:06.919
That can drag you down.

00:26:06.919 --> 00:26:13.663
You know that can hinder your work, but I was constantly applying to new things and saying, okay, I didn't get that, that's okay.

00:26:13.663 --> 00:26:26.727
You know, I don't have time for it anyway, I'll apply to something else and constantly looking forward, constantly hustling, as they say, constantly saying yes to opportunities and seeing where they take me, and it's allowed me to do some pretty amazing things that I've never thought.

00:26:28.209 --> 00:26:28.569
I would do.

00:26:28.569 --> 00:26:31.281
Honestly, that's awesome.

00:26:31.281 --> 00:26:34.751
So where's the inspiration in all your art?

00:26:34.751 --> 00:26:37.943
Does it always come from a different place or do you have?

00:26:37.943 --> 00:26:42.659
Is there somewhere that you typically tend to draw from when creating something new?

00:26:43.420 --> 00:26:44.662
Yeah, it's several places.

00:26:44.662 --> 00:26:53.463
I'm a history buff, so a lot of it is research and drawing from previous time periods and cultures, specifically the Victorian era.

00:26:53.463 --> 00:27:03.708
Just that aesthetic and my main kind of artist statement, if you will, is focusing on the human desire to control the organic.

00:27:03.708 --> 00:27:15.631
And so what I mean by that is like for the Victorians, the women were wearing those corsets, right, the really restricting garments, and they were trying to control the organic human form.

00:27:15.631 --> 00:27:19.459
And similarly I had to wear that back brace.

00:27:19.459 --> 00:27:26.396
Now that was a medical design, but still it was the human desire to control the organic form.

00:27:26.396 --> 00:27:29.262
And I think that comes into play so much in my work.

00:27:29.743 --> 00:27:44.605
I bring in wildflowers in my work as well, so a lot of my pieces have floral arrangements, but again they're wildflowers, and so I'm drawing from that idea of we're trying to control something that is natural, it's nature, of we're trying to control something that is natural, it's nature.

00:27:44.605 --> 00:27:50.017
Wildflowers aren't watered or pruned, they're not taken care of, they're growing by themselves.

00:27:50.017 --> 00:28:16.826
But there's some human desire to pick a wildflower or control it or plant it or propagate, and I think that's just so interesting that we as humans want to control nature and control the natural, organic form of life, so that's usually that's where a lot of my art inspiration is coming from is the wildflowers that I've grown up with in the Carolinas, and then this kind of idea of what does it mean to have control as a human being?

00:28:17.894 --> 00:28:21.721
Yeah, no, that's fantastic that you share that and you're so right about the control thing.

00:28:21.721 --> 00:28:24.240
It's interesting because that clearly is human nature.

00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:27.125
I mean to varying degrees.

00:28:27.125 --> 00:28:33.164
You hear the term like that person's a control freak, and there's truth to that.

00:28:33.164 --> 00:28:40.748
I mean, some people really, they take control to another level for sure, but it's definitely human nature To your point.

00:28:40.748 --> 00:28:42.645
We all want to control certain things.

00:28:42.645 --> 00:28:44.777
We want an element of control.

00:28:45.438 --> 00:28:54.564
I think without that we find ourselves in a place of fear sometimes oh no, I can't control this which is also where faith comes in.

00:28:54.564 --> 00:29:04.048
The only way I think to let go of control and not experience that fear or anxiety is when you know God's in control and you're just giving it over.

00:29:04.048 --> 00:29:09.176
But you touched on the patience thing and I've I've mentioned that before too that I have like no patience.

00:29:09.176 --> 00:29:27.826
It is so hard, it really is hard to be patient and to wait, especially when you do feel like God's like telling you something, because you kind of know like okay, if God's saying this, it's going to happen, but it's still going to happen on his time and not yours.

00:29:27.826 --> 00:29:35.137
And that is really really hard, cause you're like can you give me a hint at least, like when is this going to take place?

00:29:36.019 --> 00:29:40.355
Exactly, and I felt like if I didn't jump on this, then I wasn't honoring God, right?

00:29:40.355 --> 00:29:43.020
You know, if he told me to do something, then I need to do it now.

00:29:43.020 --> 00:29:44.284
It needs to happen yesterday.

00:29:44.284 --> 00:29:46.407
But that's not how that works.

00:29:48.576 --> 00:29:49.698
You're absolutely right.

00:29:49.698 --> 00:29:57.540
So let's talk a little bit more, then, about like, with some of the things you're doing within your faith.

00:29:57.540 --> 00:30:01.388
So with the business owner side of things.

00:30:01.388 --> 00:30:04.717
How does your faith correlate there, or does it?

00:30:04.717 --> 00:30:05.359
I mean what?

00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:06.383
What do you feel like?

00:30:06.383 --> 00:30:10.184
That's like Because you have to experience some challenges too.

00:30:10.184 --> 00:30:14.355
Today, you know you've got two studios right and they're in two different States.

00:30:14.355 --> 00:30:24.627
I'm assuming they're still maybe fairly close, so you can tell me, but what are some of the challenges you face and how does your faith play a part in in the business side of things?

00:30:25.693 --> 00:30:36.208
Yeah, so I have, um, the main studio I work out of is in Asheville, north Carolina, and then, about an hour and a half away, um is Spartanburg, south Carolina, where I'm originally from.

00:30:36.208 --> 00:30:57.682
And so, basically, um, it's interesting that you ask that, because I think a lot of people think, um, if you're a Christian business, you need to be painting Bible verses on a canvas, and I think there's so, so much more, there's so much more, you know, to a Christian business than a blatantly obvious Bible verse on a canvas that could be taken out of context anyway.

00:30:57.682 --> 00:31:14.989
Um, and so I think it's important to recognize that, that, even though my, my pottery doesn't have Bible verses all over it, I'm still a Christian artist and I'm still honoring God, and the main reason, the main way I'm able to do that, is I do not work in my studio on Sundays.

00:31:14.989 --> 00:31:17.884
So that is one thing that I do to honor God.

00:31:17.884 --> 00:31:26.603
You know, I'm giving myself that day of rest because I am a workaholic, being the only one running my business anyway, I kind of have to be day of rest because I am a workaholic, being the only one running my business anyway, I kind of have to be.

00:31:26.603 --> 00:31:29.548
But I try to honor him by recognizing you know he took a day of rest to make creation.

00:31:29.548 --> 00:31:50.781
My creations are not the world, you know I can take a day of rest as well but simple things like that being a good steward of what he's given me, and that involves cleaning the studio, you know, creating a clean work environment for myself, keeping everything clean, because not only is that being a good steward of what he's given me, but it's also a health concern for me.

00:31:51.082 --> 00:31:55.178
A lot of things in the ceramics world I call them cancer.

00:31:55.178 --> 00:31:55.680
Basically.

00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:57.703
They're just, they're straight up cancer.

00:31:57.703 --> 00:32:02.321
The glaze powder can just create all problems in your lungs.

00:32:02.321 --> 00:32:04.866
The clay dust can give you silicosis.

00:32:04.866 --> 00:32:11.397
There's all these things that if you touch it wrong, you're probably going to get that into your body and you don't want that into your body.

00:32:11.397 --> 00:32:17.420
So just cleaning the studio is not only honoring God but it's also healthy for myself.

00:32:17.420 --> 00:32:30.999
Also, being a good steward of money, like tithing, I think, is still a very important aspect of honoring God, recognizing that he is giving me these sales, he's given me the success, and so honoring him through that.

00:32:32.282 --> 00:32:34.008
And so there are various ways.

00:32:34.008 --> 00:32:35.772
Even I work in.

00:32:35.772 --> 00:32:52.486
One of my studios is a shared space, and so I work with my co-creators who are not Christian, and I think it's important, in the way I present myself, that I am the representation of Jesus to them.

00:32:52.486 --> 00:32:59.499
In that time, they might not ever set foot in the church, and so in that case I am his hands and feet, as it says in the Bible.

00:32:59.499 --> 00:33:01.565
I am going on his behalf.

00:33:01.565 --> 00:33:03.643
They're looking to me, knowing that I'm a Christian.

00:33:04.115 --> 00:33:06.622
So how am I talking, how am I interacting with them?

00:33:06.622 --> 00:33:08.826
How am I showing them respect or not?

00:33:08.826 --> 00:33:11.721
And so all of these things, I think, come into play.

00:33:11.721 --> 00:33:22.760
And then, of course, being the artist in the business world, selling my pottery through festivals and through galleries, how am I representing God when I'm walking into that gallery?

00:33:22.760 --> 00:33:27.671
You know, am I cheating them or am I respecting them as I would like for them to respect me?

00:33:27.671 --> 00:33:31.018
How am I talking to customers when they approach my booth?

00:33:31.018 --> 00:33:58.362
And I think that's important too, that every time I do a festival on a Saturday, I'm not, I don't use that as an evangelistic opportunity to run out and force the gospel on people, but my story is a Christian story, and so when people do ask more, I'm able to talk to them about God, and talk to them about my faith and draw them in from a personal relationship side of things, instead of just flinging the gospel at them, so to speak.

00:33:58.442 --> 00:34:01.515
Yeah, no, I love that and I appreciate you being so candid.

00:34:01.515 --> 00:34:09.998
I think you're absolutely right in the way you're approaching that, because you know one of the biggest things about being a Christian too.

00:34:09.998 --> 00:34:14.740
Obviously, we know Christianity is meant to be spread Like we should be able to glorify God.

00:34:14.740 --> 00:34:19.623
We should be able to talk about that.

00:34:19.623 --> 00:34:50.778
You really can't force it, and the thing about it is they always talk about how God didn't necessarily don't want to know, and if you were blatantly, like you said, just putting a Bible verse on a piece of art, it might turn those people away from even walking into your studio.

00:34:51.701 --> 00:34:55.036
So it's beautiful that you're creating these things from your heart.

00:34:55.036 --> 00:35:00.916
You understand that God's part of this inspiration for you and he's a part of everything you're doing.

00:35:00.916 --> 00:35:10.320
But you're just working out of that passion that you've been provided and not just trying to make something that people say, okay, she's a Christian.

00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:13.204
So I like the way you explain that.

00:35:13.204 --> 00:35:17.306
I think it's very smart and it's great that you're utilizing the gift God gave you.

00:35:17.306 --> 00:35:24.525
Like you said, I don't think that when God gives us gifts, he expects us to just it doesn't always have to be a cross, like you said, or a Bible verse.

00:35:24.525 --> 00:35:32.126
There's so many different ways that you can be a Christian and exemplify that in the way that you live and act and speak, like you said, all of those things.

00:35:32.126 --> 00:35:39.438
But I do know you mentioned being a good steward and you're still involved with your church, right, and you even work with the youth.

00:35:39.438 --> 00:35:44.009
And what is that about for you, like, why do you choose to do that?

00:35:45.576 --> 00:35:51.027
Well, the church I grew up in, I was not active from a serving capacity.

00:35:51.027 --> 00:36:03.586
I did the Sunday school classes and all that stuff, but I wasn't really active serving in the church, and part of it was that church didn't really give good ways to serve at home.

00:36:03.586 --> 00:36:13.086
You know, as a student, like you could go away on a mission trip and serve as a student, but it wasn't clear that I could be active in my church on a day-to-day basis.

00:36:13.086 --> 00:36:15.804
And so that was convicting.

00:36:15.804 --> 00:36:34.159
When I moved to Asheville I was looking for a new church, of course, and the church I found really encourages learning and research, and so they offer these classes kind of on a rolling basis that you can take for free, basically, and just learn more about aspects of God.

00:36:34.159 --> 00:36:43.485
And so I took one about spiritual gifts and learned that my main spiritual gift is knowledge, which I guess shouldn't have been a surprise for me, but it was.

00:36:43.485 --> 00:36:45.586
My main spiritual gift is knowledge, which I guess shouldn't have been a surprise for me, but it was.

00:36:45.586 --> 00:36:50.648
And so I wanted to serve in a way that I could feel useful, because I think that's important.

00:36:51.208 --> 00:36:54.248
Me being an introvert, I knew I wouldn't be a good door greeter.

00:36:54.349 --> 00:37:25.427
I knew I wouldn't be good at various things in the church singing in the choir or things where I would get attention that I didn't want and so I wanted to serve, using the gifts that he gave me and the spiritual gifts are designed by God to be used to help his church and so I reached out to a mentor who suggested working with students who were middle school and high school, and so I wasn't sure if that would be a good fit, but I gave it a try and, honestly, I know it's exactly where God wants me.

00:37:25.427 --> 00:37:27.101
I just have such a peace when I'm there.

00:37:27.101 --> 00:37:29.141
It doesn't mean every day is perfect.

00:37:29.141 --> 00:37:43.427
You know there's different aspects and of course, there's going to be high school drama, middle school drama but I know that's exactly where God wants me and it's amazing to serve in a place where I feel useful and I feel needed, because it keeps me coming back.

00:37:43.427 --> 00:37:51.358
So I would encourage anyone who's thinking about serving to serve where God's given you these strengths and it won't feel like a chore.

00:37:52.460 --> 00:38:00.947
So you're running two studios, you've written a book, you're active in your church, serving the community there when do you find the time?

00:38:00.947 --> 00:38:06.836
And you're taking Sundays off, right, I mean, not from church, yeah, but yeah.

00:38:06.836 --> 00:38:08.260
So how do you manage all of that?

00:38:08.260 --> 00:38:10.766
Morgan, what's a typical day for you like?

00:38:12.235 --> 00:38:13.119
That's the beauty of it.

00:38:13.119 --> 00:38:17.197
I think there is no typical day, because I get bored in the mundane anyway.

00:38:17.197 --> 00:38:20.849
So the beauty of ceramics is there's always a cycle, right?

00:38:20.849 --> 00:38:25.628
So there's a festival season, and then, when it's not festival season, I'm preparing for festival season.

00:38:25.628 --> 00:38:28.878
So there's always a cycle and it's all about prioritizing.

00:38:28.918 --> 00:38:32.246
I think what needs to be done today, you know, and stay.

00:38:32.246 --> 00:38:50.525
Staying this busy really helps me not look too much into the future, because I am a planner and there's only so much we can plan for, as we saw with the pandemic, and so I think it's important to really focus on living in the moment, doing exactly what needs to be done, what's expected of me for the day, and then tomorrow's a new day.

00:38:50.525 --> 00:39:21.108
You know we'll do it all again and I might have different priorities that day, and so it keeps me more in the moment, it keeps me relying on God and just the focus that, whatever I'm doing, whether it's the most mundane, boring part, whether it's being in the studio alone getting stuff done, or whether it's being in front of people, whatever it is, I am honoring God in that I'm trying to do my best to represent Him well and to do what he's asked me to do to further His kingdom.

00:39:21.108 --> 00:39:24.864
So I think that's ultimately the driving force throughout my life.

00:39:26.115 --> 00:39:27.121
Well, I do love that.

00:39:27.121 --> 00:39:32.427
Your studio in Spartanburg so you mentioned that's where you grew up.

00:39:32.427 --> 00:39:35.483
So is Spartanburg where you went to high school and all Spartanburg.

00:39:35.503 --> 00:39:36.505
South Carolina it is yeah.

00:39:37.195 --> 00:39:40.855
Do you have old friends still from that time period?

00:39:40.855 --> 00:39:45.625
Are you connected still in any way to that community from growing up to where you know?

00:39:45.625 --> 00:39:52.889
I'm just curious what people think today, cause it's like, oh wow, you know Morgan's got a studio here and so what is that like for you?

00:39:52.889 --> 00:39:53.108
Do you?

00:39:53.108 --> 00:39:59.338
Do you have those you know connections still and where people are saying congrats and look at the success you've had?

00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:10.648
So I am in a couple of different galleries and shops around the upstate and especially in Spartanburg, and so I did a book signing recently at one of those.

00:40:10.735 --> 00:40:25.309
It's called the Kindred Spirits, and that was really cool because I did get to see people that I had grown up with or teachers that had taught me over the years, and just to see that encouragement from them was really amazing.

00:40:25.369 --> 00:40:45.699
Because, writing the book, I was mainly focusing on trying to honor God and what he wanted me to say, what he wanted me to put out there, and I wasn't necessarily thinking too much on the people who might read it or the people who would be impacted by it, which I think God intentionally blinded me because I probably would have gotten too caught up in that and what would they think.

00:40:47.646 --> 00:41:07.427
But then when it did hit me, when I'm at that book signing like oh, so-and-so is going to read this, they're going to hear my story, they're going to see the vulnerable side of this, my mentality, not just what they saw on the outside, what I tried to hide from everyone, but they're going to get a very up close and personal experience.

00:41:07.427 --> 00:41:32.925
I was overwhelmed, but it was amazing to see the response just from my hometown of people encouraging me and being proud of me that I was able to take that step and honor God in that way and being excited to read the book honestly, and so that was really encouraging and really did kind of boost me for what has been, what's been to come later on of the momentum of the book and getting everything done after that.

00:41:33.726 --> 00:41:34.586
Oh, that's fantastic.

00:41:34.586 --> 00:41:35.789
Yeah, and congrats on that.

00:41:35.789 --> 00:41:37.380
That's got to be an exciting feeling.

00:41:37.380 --> 00:41:42.722
You know to maybe a little scary too, but definitely an exciting feeling, Thank you.

00:41:43.396 --> 00:41:48.570
So I do have another question for you, because you so.

00:41:48.570 --> 00:41:53.172
Faith is a big part of your life and we've talked about how it's a part of your business.

00:41:53.172 --> 00:41:56.675
We've talked about you know, obviously the book is faith based.

00:41:56.675 --> 00:41:59.836
What do you think about?

00:41:59.836 --> 00:42:05.440
Like and I don't know what your community is like today battle, but I definitely think there's a big falling out, like with what we see today in faith.

00:42:05.440 --> 00:42:24.280
For example, this is a very touchy subject, but the gun violence that we see, that exists today.

00:42:24.880 --> 00:42:32.001
Whenever that happens, the story always comes up, the debate comes up about should we have guns, should we not have guns, and those things.

00:42:32.001 --> 00:42:55.860
But I rarely hear hey, we're missing out on faith, like maybe we should bring prayer back into schools, maybe we should talk more to children and these families that know nothing about God, or prayer is not a part of it, because we all kind of think we know right from wrong, but there's a different level of right from wrong when it's faith-based At least that's my take on it.

00:42:55.860 --> 00:42:59.574
I'm just curious about what your take is, because you're so involved in all of this.

00:42:59.574 --> 00:43:02.079
Are you seeing the other side?

00:43:02.079 --> 00:43:03.992
Or have you even felt any kind of?

00:43:03.992 --> 00:43:07.041
Have you gotten anything from the other side.

00:43:07.041 --> 00:43:09.972
You know what I mean those who are non-believers.

00:43:11.235 --> 00:43:13.780
Yeah, wow, it's crazy.

00:43:13.780 --> 00:43:14.782
I mean it's not crazy.

00:43:14.782 --> 00:43:24.233
It's God that you asked that, because this year I have been reading books and it seems like every book that comes my way is about spiritual warfare.

00:43:24.233 --> 00:43:26.259
And I do.

00:43:26.259 --> 00:43:27.181
I agree with you.

00:43:27.221 --> 00:43:37.014
I do believe we're in a battle and I believe that people are not aware and I think that's really hard to live a life seeing this is a battle.

00:43:37.014 --> 00:43:38.518
This is a battle for my mind.

00:43:38.518 --> 00:43:53.847
I'm seeing that more clearly now than I ever have, even those 10 years that Satan had a hold of me believing these lies, these body image lies, all of these things keeping me from sharing my testimony.

00:43:53.847 --> 00:43:57.001
I'm able to look back at that and say why did I waste so much time?

00:43:57.001 --> 00:44:03.380
And thank you, lord, for being patient and gracious for me to take that 10 years to get to where I am now.

00:44:03.380 --> 00:44:12.871
But now that I see that I mean I'm kind of angry, honestly, that I was held in that space for over a decade of not sharing my testimony.

00:44:12.871 --> 00:44:22.795
So now that I'm kind of coming out of that and it's been over 13 years now, but anyway, now I'm looking back and saying, yes, we are in a battle.

00:44:22.795 --> 00:44:33.590
My mind was trapped in a way that I had to work through, and so I agree with you, I think it's really hard in this environment.

00:44:34.371 --> 00:44:40.632
But it is interesting because growing up in the Bible belt, people went to church because that was what you did.

00:44:40.632 --> 00:44:48.813
Moving to Asheville, that is still in the Bible belt, but if you know anything about Asheville you know it's not Christian, it is not advertised as Christian.

00:44:48.813 --> 00:44:59.597
Well, yes, so be aware, if you come to Asheville, it's great, it's an art town, but there's a lot to do on a Sunday morning.

00:44:59.597 --> 00:45:10.054
So it's interesting because you see or at least I see the spiritual warfare so much more clearly because there's so many more choices to do on a Sunday morning than go to church.

00:45:10.054 --> 00:45:26.099
And so if you're physically making the decision to get your body out of bed, go to church in the morning instead of going to brunch, going to hang out with friends, sleeping late, whatever you're doing, I believe that's an act of worship because it's spiritual warfare.

00:45:26.340 --> 00:45:34.916
And so the Christians I've met in this area are so much stronger in their faith, because they have to be, because it's constant defending of your faith.

00:45:34.916 --> 00:45:43.922
Instead of where I grew up, everyone just assumes everybody else is a Christian, so ironically, you don't talk about it, which should be completely the opposite.

00:45:43.922 --> 00:45:50.355
If you believe everyone around you is a Christian, then yes, encourage one another in Christ, build one another up.

00:45:50.355 --> 00:45:55.554
Let's talk about deep questions, let's get into our faith, but that doesn't happen.

00:45:55.554 --> 00:45:57.838
It's an area of complacency.

00:45:57.838 --> 00:46:06.463
So, being where I am now, I'm able to see the spiritual warfare more and to recognize every day brings us closer to the end times.

00:46:06.463 --> 00:46:13.764
Whenever that is, every day is bringing us closer and there is a battle going on that I think most of us just overlook.

00:46:15.233 --> 00:46:16.016
I couldn't agree more.

00:46:16.016 --> 00:46:20.835
And again, this goes back to you just said it, we said it earlier the enemy is powerful.

00:46:20.835 --> 00:46:26.559

Morgan McCarver's Odyssey: Scoliosis to Ceramics, Embracing Art and Faith

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