Arting!

My mom and I are taking an art class together. Yesterday we had a full day session. It was a work day; we all worked on projects of our choice, and the instructor came around and gave us one-on-one feedback.

I really enjoyed the peaceful, creative day. Our table mates were a nice part of the day too. One is a lady who's led a full life including disk jockey work in Hawaii and sailing on the original Mercy Ship as the resident artist!

I worked on a couple pieces. One is about a night at the remodeled monastery where I stayed for the Christian artists conference in Germany. It had been a FULL day. I came back to my private little room and wrapped up in a blanket then sat on the windowsill, high above the little town. I felt the God's blessings of the day and the blessing of quiet.

Kids and Learning in Florida

This week and next I'm helping out with the preschool portion of Wycliffe's training for new members. The parents are learning about building their partnership team, spiritual warfare, Wycliffe history, and much more. The kids are learning too, about the countries where they'll live, God's goodness no matter what changes come, and Bibleles people groups. And they're playing. And making crafts!

I'm enjoying the kids and working as part of the training team. I'm learning too, by watching the kids. Each one seems to have an area that God's growing them in. One's learning to share. One's learning to follow directions. One's learning to be a leader. One's learning ventriloquism! The one that jumps out to me is the one who is learning to trust. The first night she was crying and sad for the whole hour. The only thing I could do was distract her with books. The head teacher told her parents that she needs to learn that she can trust them to always come back. Each day since she's separated more confidently, cried less, and enjoyed herself more.

She reminds me of me; the more I walk my path, the more I see that God always provides me with good relationships, knowledge of Him, and purpose. So even though I can't see what's next in my life, I can walk confidently, cry less, and enjoy the day at hand more.

Bike Art!

I used to write about interesting Tanzanian cultural experiences. Well, Portland, OR is another wealth of interesting cultural experiences. I'm biking a lot lately. It's really fun to get to know the city better and do errands with a 360 degree view of the world around me. Portland is pretty good to bikers. Drivers tend to watch out and stop. There are lots of bike lanes. And, to my delight, there is even bike lane art (and bike roundabout art)!!