A Fishy Tale

I have decided to write a children's book for my grandkids for Christmas this year. It's a huge undertaking but so far I have enjoyed the process. After it is complete, I will get it printed as a hard bound book. My prayer is that as each child sees their name in the book they will know how much I love each of them and that they are in my prayers every day.

I've never done cartoons before so, once again I am working outside of my box. I think God likes me there. I am sharing these pictures so that I can get feedback and chronicle the progress. So for Ashley, Shelby, Tristan and Noah...here goes.

Arizona Cactus Bloom

Red Orchid Passion

Time to get back at it

Finally, things have slowed down just long enough so that I can breathe. I've been painting but have had time for little else. (I guess I should blame facebook)

Since it is Labor Day, I thought I would post some of the latest "labours". Right now I'm working on a large project as Christmas presents for the grandkids...a childrens book. Shelby is really into "fishy" right now so I thought I would post some pages that I have finished. I will save the rest of the paintings when the book is complete. All in all I think I need a total of 20 paintings and I only have 3 done. Goodness! I better get busy!

Friday activities

Today was a busy day with the duct tape wallets (yep they were a hit) and the friendship bracelets. After the reaction from the girls, I switched plans around and allowed them to do them as well. It was fun watching the kids look at me like I was a little nuts for suggesting the wallets to being the proud creators of some really fun wallets. There was even some early negotiating for any of the leftover tape.

The friendship bracelets were also a big hit. They were easy to complete and the kids enjoyed making one for themselves and one for a friend. Later in the evening I asked all of the kids to pick out their favorite color of thread. After all of the evening activities I started a friendship bracelet for Becca that wove each kid over and around each other to create something that will remind her of them everytime she sees it.

Tonight my kids performed the rap they were working on and they were awesome. I had Truman record it on my camera so that I could post it on the blog when I get back home. Becca then showed them slides from every summer camp for the past 7 years. It was fun to see the kids grow right before our eyes. It was a wonderful time of laughter. I heard that tomorrow afternoon when we dont have any classes that we might take a short trip to Poland-the kids have a family day event planned. We are in on the secret but we are upholding secrecy like our lives depend on it.

Quite the musical bunch, don't you think?

Delayed

Sorry for the delay in getting the posts updated. The computer in the lobby was getting slower and slower so I was not able to get my updates on. I'm home now but I am going to update each day anyway and add some pictures. Thank you to those of you who inquired on my email if everything was alright.

End of Thursday

What a day. It is past 11:00pm and I am on Tereza Gordon's laptop while everyone is finally drifting off to sleep.

We had a very filled day and a great time with the kids. We started out with Praying in Color then moved on to stomp band. Becca had a special request to combine the stomp band with a rap that one of the kids wrote to honor one of the mothers "Queen Blue" who serves faithfully every summer at Summer Camp. We incorporated measures of joyful noise at the beginning, a break in the middle and a rounding 4 measures at the end. The kids loved it. We had thermoses, buckets, coffee cups, knitting needles, water bottle with beads in it, a jug, and a few other things I'm not sure of - not exactly the type of orchestra we have on Sunday mornings.

In the afternoon, the teachers have some time off but I hung out with some of the kids and we did some watercolor painting. The others went on a hike. It was clear out but still a little chilly.

After dinner we all gathered together and Becca handed out yearbooks to the kids. They get them every year and they have pictures of all the events from the whole year in there. They get everyone to autograph them (teachers too) and just love on each other. After that we had a game outside with glow balls and glow sticks - what a blast. I will have to try this one at home sometime.

The beauty of this place is amazing and God's handiwork here is lush and green and rolls along the hills with sprinkles of homes here and there. It is a quieter and simpler place with a beauty that reflects on these missionaries who are here to reach the youth of this country. I so appreciate these people who choose to not only serve our great God but choose to do it with their whole family.

Becca is starting her transition talks with the kids so there have already been a couple of emotional moments. I think it will only get harder on them the closer Sunday gets here. Becca leaves some time in June and they do not have a replacement for her yet. They are trusting that God will bring the right person that will serve and love these Third Culture kids. I am sure they are precious in God's eyes and that He will bring the person at the perfect time. Sunday will be the last time the kids as a group get to be with Becca. She will get a few home visits before she goes and then she will return to the states. Please pray hard for these next few days.

Blessing to you,
Janice

End of Day 1 and beginning of Day 2

Last night our time of worship with the kids was awesome. All of the families have arrived and many of the kids remember us from last time. Truman is a hit with the teenage boys especially when he told them about his love of Star Wars.

The oldest of the group, Tyler was responsible for the worship time and it was very much like our Sunday mornings. We knew all the songs but there is truly something joyful about hearing these songs through the voices of children. We stayed up til 10:30 to play games and to get re-acquainted. It was a great night.

The room is set up and breakfast is ready so I will go now. I have set up our first class and we are doing "Praying in Color". It is just another way to connect our hearts, our minds and our bodies while communicating with God. I cant wait. Love to you all. Write to you later.

Day 1

We finally slept-well. We are getting ready to finalize our planning for who we get and when.
The kids will be arriving this afternoon and we are really looking forward to it.
It is a cloudy day but the green hills are beautiful.

We saw on the schedule that this afternoon they are having a celebration for Nate Hughes and his new bride. Nate is from SBC and works with Josiah Venture.
Thank you again for the prayers.

We are here

We made it. We just got checked in to the conference center and it is 8:30pm local time but only 11:00am Tuesday at home. Thank you for the prayers of safe travel. We all arrived and just as important...ALL OUR LUGGAGE ARRIVED TOO!

Dawn Hendricks and I were casualty's of the no-sleep monster so we are running on empty and getting ready for bed. We figured out we have gone about 32 hours without sleep so we are a little punchy. Dawn and I get to share a cool room with Chelta, Anni, Evi and Tereza. It is a room with a loft-3 beds upstairs and 3 beds downstairs.

Heading to the Czech Republic

The kids from 2 years ago

There have been times in my life when I wondered what God was thinking when He gave me the gifts He has so graciously given me. I believe it is for "Such as Time as This", like the old Wayne Watson song says. I am so honored to be leaving bright and early Monday morning to Melenovic, Czech Republic for the annual Josiah Venture Leaders Conference. We get the joy of working with the missionaries children while the parents are there to learn, plan and fellowship with one another.

I will write more about them throughout the week but right now I ask for your prayers for safety, for the preparations and that we may be used by God this whole week.

Here is my itinerary:
Monday - 7:05am flight to Atlanta - Arriving 1:45pm, Atlanta time
5:50pm flight to Prague - Arriving Tuesday, May 5th at 9:20am
4:55pm flight to Ostrava- Arriving 5:55pm then we drive about 45 minutes to the
conference center

Wednesday - We get set up and have the day to plan. We start with the kids Wednesday night.

Thursday-Sunday Morning - We have (4) 45 minute sessions with them in the morning and
share their free time in the afternoon. The kids will get three sessions with us and one
session with their really cool leader Becca McMartin. We get together again after dinner
each day for a worship time and then the kids just hang out. They usually have a family event on Saturday-weather permitting.

Sunday Evening- 6:20pm fly back to Prague.

Monday - Spend the day in Prague, sightseeing and sharing dinner together.

Tuesday- 11:00am flight to Atlanta - Arriving 3:35, Atlanta time
6:50pm flight to Phoenix - Arriving 8:14pm

There is a 9 hour time difference between us. Pray that I get some sleep. I typically cannot sleep on planes so I read, draw and watch movies.

A new project

I have been wanting to start on a new project but in getting ready for Easter, Kid's musical (I'm directing drama) and the short term mission trip to Czech Republic in May, I haven't had any time. I did sneak this one in though. The picture is from my recent trip to Sedona. It's a large picture so I cant take it with me to the CR. I think I will get a few small pictures started though that I can finish there during our free time.

Learning new things

On wetcanvas.com they have a learning center with a new project every month in order to teach a new technique. This is a great way to learn and try things from people who are masters at their art. This month the class is on negative space. It is all about creating in a space without drawing the background but rather letting it appear as you deepen the colors of surrounding spaces. Here was my attempts.

Bird of Paradise

This is a piece I did from some pictures I took in our front yard. I need to work on lighting because this picture looks much better than this. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Young Masai Warrior-Final

The feedback I received from Wetcanvas.com was great! I fine tuned the face a little and added some grass in the foreground to add to the perspective. All-in-all there was 16 hours of time spent in prayer for this young man and the joy of using God's gifts.

Young Masai Warrior - 5

I think this is it until I get some feedback from the Watercolor Forum at wetcanvas.com.

I have to say that it was a wonderful day. (Thank you Phil!) I found myself praying for this young man, wondering what his life was like and blessed that our church may have some impact on him. I welcome all feedback so that I can get better at my art.

To God be the Glory!

Young Masai Warrior - 4

Young Masai Warrior - 3

Young Masai Warrior - 2

Young Masai Warrior - 1

New Year, New Art

I took a break from work between Christmas and New Years with the hope and prayer of having an all paint day. Unfortunately it was not to be. There were important life things that came that needed my attention first. So what did my loving husband do? He said "Next Saturday is your paint day." And just like that, today I have started a new project.

I received an amazing cd from Kim Shott with pictures from Tanzania. Not only is she a gifted and tender hearted nurse who has been to Tanzania a few times, she also has a lovely gift behind the lens of her camera. Thank you Kim for a wonderful selection!

Just like the painting of Matt, I am going to post progress pictures. I like to do this so that I can be reminded of the time, the prayers and the love that goes into each painting. It's kind of a personal thing but I hope you enjoy it at well.