Painting parties as a fundraiser!

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Art on the Misssion Field

In Romania we served the elderly, through Elder Orphan Care. Imagine your parents out on the street, through a cold European winter. Imagine the frostbite settling in and the feeling going out of their limbs.  Imagine the sleepiness that takes over the senses.  Now, if you would join me in imagining the rats that feed on such victims, nibbling on frozen limbs through the long hours of the night. Imagine your parents and grandparents waking up to the horror of seeing their limbs frozen and gnawed on and the horror as their legs are amputated.   There is a man in Romania who was watching TV one night in Dumbravya, Romania.  The news caster spoke of two elderly that had frozen to death on the streets of Oradea. He had a choice.  He could have turned the channel, turned off the TV and “said a prayer” – or- he could act.  He chose to act. He hit the streets and found elderly and took them into his home. He rescued, and continues to rescue, the elderly and frail from the streets.  At this point, he is serving 161 elderly and frail through the countryside villages in Romania.   We get to partner with him when we go to Romania and encourage him. He is the one that lives there and lives with the everyday demands of rescue.  We are a small respite that wishes to encourage and partner with him.  If you are interested you can learn more about “Elder Orphan Care” on Fb,  https://www.facebook.com/ElderOrphanCare?fref=ts

In the months of preparation of our trip, we prayed into what our focus would be.  In the past we have brought eyeglasses so that – literally – the blind could see.  This did not feel like the focus of the trip. Through prayer we kept landing on “art” and “shoes”.  With 160 elderly, of all different physical and cognitive capabilities- I had no idea how to roll out an art aspect! The Lord provided answers in little steps.  First, we purchased watercolor kits, inexpensive watercolors, and cheap brushes.  With a sharpie marker, I printed out 160 different Romanian words: Jesus loves  me and Praise the Lord!. I had an art bag packed and ready to go, not sure how it would play out and if it would be received well.  These were children’s watercolor kits- would I be insulting?  Would they “go for it”?
I was there with one purpose and one passion, because BEAUTY MATTERS.  Beauty pierces through the darkness and brings hope.  A single rose is a protest against the violence, poverty, disease that is all around it. Color is the presence of LIGHT, in dancing hues.  Blackness is not a color – it is void of color.  To bring color into the soul is to bring LIGHT into the darkness. 

Let me take you to the moving moments when the art bag was opened and color was released out into the world. There were gnarled hands, incapacitated from a stroke.  There were trembling hands that shook. There were those that couldn’t even sit up in bed.  Protests against the light were many – in the words of our translator: “We will not take no for an answer!” The paints were given out and we all stood and sat by each bedside. Sometimes we gathered in the garden, and other times we gathered in the lobby of their homes. Either way, paintbrushes were put into gnarled hands and encouraging words were spoken.  Men with big hands, that had worked their whole lives- dwarfed the little paintbrushes- engulfing the tool of light so that it was almost not visible.  And……they….painted.

Smiles played on their lips and sparkles could be seen in their eyes.  It was if they had INGESTED the color, they were radiating out this message of life and light and color.  We all wept to see the transformation that a simple pan of watercolors could bring.

One man, Rudolph, spoke gibberish constantly.  He has been waiting for his mother to come and get him for years. We put the watercolors in front of him and he continued to babble and gesture wildly.  One member of our team, took his hand and placed it around the brush.  At the darkness often does, it protests against incoming light.  He gestured,  his eyes told the story that he believed he couldn’t do it. With patience, each stroke was laid on with the help of a team mate. His breathing slowed, his focus sharpened.  She let go of his hand.  HE continued on. He took a deeeeep, deeeep breath, almost breathing in the light and the color into his soul and continued on in silence- finishing the entire painting by himself.

And we wept to see the beauty find victory over the darkness.

One man couldn’t do it, though we tried and tried to convince him. Another member of the team sat by his bed and did it for him, while he watched in fascination. One might say that the beauty failed him, that beauty couldn’t pierce through his darkness. When we all left his room, a member of the team stayed behind and caught a picture of him, holding the little painting before him, soaking in the color and the light- as beauty pierced into the darkness and shattered the night of the soul.

And we wept for the goodness of beauty and a God that works in such an intimate way.

God of The Impossible

What if the dreams that you are ignoring were planted for such a time as this?  What if He planted them, and He simply needs you to trust Him to take a leap of faith?  What if those dreams were planted, before there was time - for this hour?
What if you could not fail?

Would you reach for those dreams?  Universes were planted within you before there was time - you were made to do great things, for the Lord. Arise, and take your stand for His name!!

He is in your details, the time is now ---sometimes you have to jump to find your wings.  <3

Sidewalk Chalks - WHO KNEW????

"The Silver Palette" is born!!

I would like to announce some very exciting news!!! As most of you know, I teach ages 2 - 92.  The Seniors that I teach are in a retirement community and are always ready for a new adventure.

Starting with this school year, we will begin a new volunteer program, that will be open to all of my students.  The first Friday of each month, we will host "The Silver Palette", and we will go to an Assisted Living center nearby and share in God's creative joy with these seniors, that require a little more attention, love, encouragement and support!

My prayer is that this experience will teach that art is a powerful vehicle into the heart, that is able to express itself more eloquently than words and that we are called to share our talents with the world and love His sheep well, no matter the age.  To take art away from the narcissistic venue of competition and into the loving hands of the Father, where we get to stake a claim against the darkness with beauty.  Beauty in paints, beauty in relationship, beauty in slowing down and beauty in loving well.  Or focus: to merge, in a beautiful array of colors: the young and the young at heart, and stand in awe of the beauty.

And now in my old age, don't set me aside. Don't abandon me when my strength is failing. Psalm 71:9

A Twist on Gratitude Journaling!

I am a gratitude journaling junkie, confession is good for the soul, right? In Psalm 118, Scripture says that His STEADFAST LOVE endures forever. In looking up this word, I found that hidden within the meaning "Chesed" we find the very character and nature of God - His kindness and faithfulness which serves as the foundations for His character and actions.  His KINDNESS is His foundation!!  As I continued to dig into this word and its meaning, I found that it means "Acts of Kindness".  Lets just sit there a spell and think on this mystery: It is IN HIS NATURE to Perform ACTS OF KINDNESS for you and I!!!!!  Whaaaaat????  
I was recently on Facebook and I saw a post from a mom who busted her tail to make an awesome dinner for her family. Fried chicken and fresh, homemade mashed potatoes, grilled tomato and zucchini - there may have even been a pie thrown in for good measure.  She was so disappointed that her family didn't enjoy it, they picked through what they liked and left the rest.  She was heartbroken at the lack of GRATITUDE.
Imagine our God- looking for ways to bless us with ACTS OF KINDNESS.....and we miss them and shrug them off and miss the heavenly kiss that was intended.  I don't think God gets His feelings hurt - I think that would be putting too much earthly emotion on an omniscient God....but, what do WE MISS, when we MISS THE ACTS OF KINDNESS???  I think we miss a whole lot.  I think we miss those precious moments where you feel so alive and joyful, because YOU MATTER TO AN ETERNAL GOD.  I think we miss the "bigger picture" of how He knits us together and hears the cries of our hearts.  I think we miss relationship.  It's never about God - He isn't the one on the trial seat - maybe it is about us, and making the time to find Him in our everyday, our every moment and appreciating His acts of kindness?  
If we seek Him with ALL OF OUR HEARTS - He will be found by us- Jeremiah 29:11

Scripture Doodles

 

Doodling through the scriptures.....What if you wrote your scriptures down and, simply, doodled around these words with different, defined patterns? 

I have included a few examples of these doodles to get you started.  Let's remember that there is no "wrong" way of doing any of this - and I release you from the power of "It has to look nice".  While I am working through a scripture , in this way, I am engaging my heart and mind, soul and body - in a complete dance with the Lord.  Every sense is firing and concentrating on His presence and what He is saying to me through this scripture----write it all down- all over the page that you are working through!  Who cares what it looks like?????  You are interacting with God- and THAT is the blessing, the visual representation is a testimony to this interaction - NOT the purpose of the dance, but the beauty foretold of the dance. 

I release you from that Critical spirit that stops you from trying.  I release you from that critical spirit that tells you its not good enough.  In the Old Testament, they would pile rocks  in places that they had an interaction with a Lord - to serve as a visual representation.  Do you think, and I wonder, did the prophets of old look at their rock formations and think, "That doesn't look good enough." ? Our enemy will always try to get us to NOT draw attention to a physical representation of a heavenly manifestation....after all, it focuses on God....... Focuses. on . God.

Let your artwork and your dance focus on God - not on what you can, or can not do. Point towards God with all that you do, and be released from the need to "get it right"----you GOT IT RIGHT - You engaged in a heavenly manifestation of God, through the scriptures and through the salt of creativity ---You got it right.   That's the thing that you got right - the artwork is nothing more than a pile of rocks to give Him glory - I release the artist within you to create with Joy and no longer to be a slave to creating for others approval. 

Be blessed, create in joy and rise up, Oh Creative Army- take your stand against the darkness!!!