spring break!

in march dawn & i flew down to houston to see our folks, and see marshall baptized - what a joy, and what fun besides!  here are some (ok, a lot :) of the highlights (in wonky chronology, b/c of the way i loaded them into blogger)...

The canalwalk in san antonio - breathtakingly lush!

the houston zoo - this is the same fountain i drank out of when i was a little girl! (my grandpa used to roar just as i bent to take a drink :)

we went crabbing in galveston, another activity from my childhood - this was a canal on the narrow island, and they were biting!
12 hungry crabs, soon to fill our hungry bellies!

after a hot afternoon & evening, to the beach to refresh - chilly for march, but it ain't got nuthin' on lake michigan in may!
the fruits are our labors (the big one was mine ;)
houston's answer to central park - i still love the live oaks that are everywhere in this city

one of my favorite prints from the houston museum of fine arts - a de goya woodcut of the spanish women manning the cannons against the french, after the men have fallen
an albrecht durer engraving, from about 1650 - work i was surprised & pleased to see up close & in person, after studying it in class this semester!

the museum of natural science, where marshall had a ball!  he's definitely a science boy :)

amazing gem specimens from the vault - this is where i had a ball!

birthdays!  all the spring ones celebrated at once :)

Remington the faithful brother, companion, guarddog, pillowhog

family photos!  this is the leaning tower of jacksons - why they put the shortest on top was beyond me...literally, as i'm balancing on my tiptoes on boxes

just making sure he still feels that way about girls kissing him...

the houston livestock show & rodeo, another childhood memory & an absolute must if you go to houston in the spring!

with josh turner - ay yi yiiiii!! ;)

and the reason for the timing of our trip - marshall made the decision to be baptized into Christ, and i'm so thankful we could both be there to witness it.  we love you so much squirt, and pray for you faithfully that this would mark every step you take in the future!

dawn left on sunday to return to camp michindoh & her kiddos there - it's a demanding life, and i'm so proud of her for chasing after god's heart in her life & that place!

remember the alamo!  if you were a schoolchild in texas or know anything about texas history, this beautiful mission is a monument to folly & the human spirit - funny how often those 2 are linked...

be careful what you wish for...

ever since i moved to indy, i have been disappointed that the only snow we've received isa  "dusting" that melts quickly and leaves behind only cold & ice, and a gloomy gray view out my window.  well, i think god got tired of my attitude, and last tuesday, we got what i think was 8-10", but drifted much deeper than that in my neck of town.  it was up over the bottom of my car doors, and it took me with my little water bucket for pottery class, my friend Lauralee with my ice scraper, and a kind neighbor with a shovel, an hour to dig out my car on wednesday.  i was one of 2 cars that made it out that day, with a little pushing from my friends to get me over the mountain and into the road!  alas, i had a LOT of ice packed in my wheel wells, so had to run over to the mechanic's on thursday to get it chipped out (30 minutes & $40 bucks later).  

i'm sorry to report i was so worried about what damage i might have done to the car that i did not much enjoy my enforced night off from work wednesday, and it wasn't until thursday afternoon that i really took the time to enjoy the beauty of the new white, contoured landscape.  i wonder how much this happens - god drops a blessing i've asked for right in my lap, and i miss it because i didn't foresee & can't control the complications, so the complications (which, let's face it, are pretty minor) are all i see.

anyway, it's beautiful in southern indiana right now, the sun is out, the sky is blue, the snow is gorgeous (tho', predictably, melting) and the temp is in the 30's - heatwave!!  and i'm about to head to the grocery store to buy fresh vegetables & garlic.  the cats are napping (maggie is recovering from her latest, tho' by no means final, trip to the vet) in a sunbeam, and i feel like i have made progress in my pottery class.  jason (my pastor) spoke this morning from hebrews 4 about the "rest" of god, and i am challenged that i always look for rest in my physical & emotional world, not in my spiritual reality.  so today i am trying to rest, and pray that you are finding rest as well, in the security & surety of our god.

the things that matter

i've spent so much time recently with people (at work & school) whose values & experiences & cultures are so completely at odds with mine that i think i have lost my way a little bit.

i spent sunday & monday back home with several of my closest, dearest family-friends, and was reminded that my value and hope are sure and grounded in my God and His gifts, not what those outside of Him value.

sunday afternoon i spent with manda, catching up on old friends & coworkers, and hearing about where god is taking her heart as it relates to social justice in india.

sunday night i spent in the joy, laughter, kindness & honesty of 3 of my dearest friends, some of the godliest, funniest women i know :)  what a blast to reconnect and hear each others' experiences and plans, and encourage each other as we chase after 4 very different dreams.

monday afternoon i spent with lori & grandma, and here i find healing & kindness & joy & rock solid certainty in god's goodness & provision, even in the face of hardship & uncertainty.  i found myself often thinking of my friends at work and longing for a way to communicate the peace & joy & comfort we share together as friends and family, and hurting that my words are inadequate because they have no frame of reference, or even appreciation, for this kind of gentleness & acceptance.  i am humbled & healed by the gift of their love & protection.

monday night was dinner with carl & lori, and the opportunity to share some of the fruits of last semester's challenging 2D work, and to hear of god's work & provision in their lives & at 1st baptist.  more love & laughter & news & fellowship, and the undeniable presence of god's spirit in a sheltered place.

for those keeping track, i have now started my 3rd semester of art school @ herron.  i have completed 4 classes, hold a 4.0 gpa, and this semester have switched to a straight 2nd shift at work, which allows me to take 3 classes this semester:  art history 2, metalsmithing & jewelry design 2, and beginning wheelthrowing (ceramics not discus :). 

i love art history, especially thursday's class on the early renaissance, when my prof (not a believer) so clearly explained the christian symbolism in some of the 15th century flemish works, and went into raptures over van eyck's depiction of christ on his throne in the ghent altarpiece.  i will be blogging more on this later, because i love the implications of the humanist emphasis in this time period, in contrast to the dichotomy of secular/spiritual in medieval art.

i do not yet love wheelthrowing.  please believe me when i say playdough is soft, pottery clay is very, very stiff - it is not a complement when god states he is the potter and we are the clay!  it takes muscle, coordination, determination, and no small amount of skill to throw a pot on a wheel, and after 3 classes, i am not happy w/ my progress.  i daresay god has similar observations about me, and that thought keeps me working both at my pottery and my life.

i love, love, love metalsmithing...now if only i could find some connection to ministry... this semester i will be producing a piece of flatware, eyeware, and a mirror.  my ideas for the flatware are already heavily influenced by the experiences of my friends jeff & ade, who just moved to india with their kids - they eat with their hands a rice & tortilla curry soup, the same thing everyday.  if you are not familiar with their journey, please, please, please read ade's blog linked on this page - i hope you will not be the same after glimpsing their world.  i also have some ideas for the eyeware, based on the types of "lenses" we view our world thru'.  i haven't tho't too far on the mirror, but i hope to continue working out my experience of god & his work in each of these pieces, and will keep you posted on what he is teaching me.

thanks for listening.

it's been a while...

I just noticed it's been a month since I last posted - so sorry if you're still trying to follow!!

So since then, I'm heading quickly toward the middle of my 2nd semester, the presidential candidates have chosen their running mates, and we are just over a month away from the next election!  I have replaced the tires on my car & spent too much money at the vet nursing my sick Maggie back to health.  Thankfully she is fully recovered, although Oreo is still pretty bitter about not being an only cat.  :)

Some of my favorite moments recently:

-McCain's congrats ad to Obama the night of Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC...for the cynics out there, yes it was probably politically expedient but isn't the spirit of it the kind of behavior we've been longing for in "public servants", ala Aaron Sorkin?? (never mind the quick return to "straight-speaking" rhetoric :)

- an excited email from my friend Myra, who was actually at Obama's speech & whose parents were at the heart of the civil rights movement in South Bend - MLK stayed in her house when she was 12!  If I can open the file, I want to post some of her thoughts on watching the 1st African American in our history accept a major party nomination for president.  We forget so quickly how far we have come and are blind to how far we have to go.

- a man in my church, after several months of waiting, received a heart transplant last week.  He is such a warm, joyful, welcoming person, it was 3 mths before I knew he was ill & dying.  He has 2 children in college, and to watch him take communion w/ his wife was to resolve to wait as long as it takes for the one God has chosen for me.

- an entire afternoon spent at the Indianapolis Museum of Art! (I need more - I only got thru' the 1st floor!)

- Marshall's 12th birthday in Ft. Wayne w/ my dad's side of the family - we were just missing my dad :(

- positive feedback on my work from my classmates, even an offer to buy one of my assignments! (haven't got it back w/ a grade tho'... and what is a fair price for a classroom drawing???)

- being found by 2 of my best friends from junior high on Facebook, and one of my best friends from college - Amanda wrote about my finally getting to art school, "I'm sure God has very special plans...for you. Why else would He be so patient with you?"  What a timely reminder that I have received more than I deserve, and I need to work a whole lot harder at not trying His patience!

Precious Family Time

Last week I got to see Becky & Marshall for the first time in about a year, and Dawn again!  My grandma Jackson is recovering from heart surgery (and doing well, thanks to God) so Marshall & Becky came down from Minnesota where they were with Becky's family, and Dawn came from Michigan, and we all crammed in my little studio apartment! :)  

It was so good to spend time with time with them and watch the Olympics and read late into the evening and laugh a lot.  We went to see the latest Pixar film, Wall-E (very sweet & fun & cautionary, but not in a Happy Feet kind of way :)  And while I was at work, they discovered our fabulous downtown library and Monument Circle, Indy's Civil War memorial, which is a passion of Becky's.  (Did you know Indy is second only to Washington DC in public memorials & monuments per capita?)  On Friday I took the day off and we went to the Indiana State Fair, a first for all of us, and worth the $8 admission (& free parking! who does that anymore??)  We saw 2 of the 30 white tigers in existence, Indiana raptors (the carnivorous birds, not the dinosaurs), and all kinds of great food and exhibits on pioneer life, farming and conservation.  Marshall even got to shoot an air rifle at the DNR's responsible hunting exhibit and never missed the target!  And of course we had to look at all the 4H exhibits and animals (Becky, for reasons passing understanding, flipped over the lamas - did you know you can dye their wool with Kool-Aid? :)  We ended the day by watching old-fashioned cart & horse showings - forgive me Jazlin, I have no idea what this is called!  But the horses & surrey wagons were gorgeous, even though we didn't have much luck picking the winner.

The only thing missing was Dad, working hard in California to get a promotion so they can move closer to the rest of us.  Love you Papa, and can't wait until we can do all this stuff for-real together! :)

P.S.  I unfortunately don't have photos because my camera is in the shop and Dawn's called in sick :(

Back to School

I started classes again yesterday, just 2 again for this semester, and it was a wise choice!  I have Drawing 1, in which we keep a sketchbook outside of homework & classwork, like writers keep a journal, and 2-Dimensional Design, in which the prof stated being a student is our full-time job & we should try to cut back on work hours.  If he can read minds, I've already flunked.

But overall I'm still pleased with the quality of work coming out of the school and excited & nervous about the amount of growth I need to accomplish to keep up.  I'm also trying not to hyperventilate about the amount of money I'm putting out in professional supplies when I've made do with craft supplies for so long.

People have asked, and I've wondered, why do I need to go to art school when so much of my progress rests on individual practice & skill development, when I can study in museums  & the abundant resources in books & online & in popular culture.  The answer was clear today in the 20 people sitting in my classroom.  Each of us bring our own perspective, culture, & aesthetic to design and I can't learn from a book the 19 ways they will approach the same problem that will be distinctly different from my own.  We students are each others' teachers as much as the professor, because we shed light on a different element of the whole than the others would have seen.  It's the same reason we like both versions of Pride & Prejudice or admire the way different teams play the same sport, or whatever - we appreciate & learn from different approaches to the same material.  In class, with different instructors, we get to see it up close with people who are pursuing excellence and hopefully grow from that exposure.  Also, I'm thinking a lot about teaching and have learned important lessons this week about what not to do :)

P.S. If you're interested in the classroom experience and what to look for in a teacher, read Rafe Esquith's Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire and There Are No Shortcuts - his 5th graders perform Shakespeare around the country and none of them speak English as a first language...and they LIKE science, go figure :)

the shack

yesterday, i stayed up until about 1:30am to finish reading a book, given me by my dear friend Carl, called "the shack", by william p. young.  he stipulated that he would only give it to me if i promised to tell him what i thought; so, as there is much to ponder from its really beautiful depiction of god in relationship, with himself and with humans, here is the first response of several to his request.

"In seminary he had been taught that God had completely stopped any overt communication with moderns, preferring to have them only listen to and follow sacred Scripture, properly interpreted, of course.  God's voice had been reduced to paper, and even that paper had to be moderated and deciphered by the proper authorities and intellects." pg 66

i was flipping thru' the flair application on facebook today and found a quote from one of my favorite movies, the princess bride: the Sicilian is being pursued by the dread pirate roberts and the pirate is gaining on him, and as the pirate conquers one challenge after the other, he keeps saying one word, "inconceivable!" until finally his partner says "you keep saying that word.  i do not think it means what you think it means."  it struck me that maybe we keep saying a lot of "spiritual" theological words, and they do not mean what we think they mean - words like inspiration, infallibility, predestination, among others - what if in scripture god was trying to express from an infinite mind to a finite one what true relationship was meant to be, and we keep trying to boil that expression down into systems so that we can understand it instead of simply trusting what we do not completely grasp and living in it?  we seem to give lip service to "lean not on your own understanding" and then spend a great deal of time & energy judging "spirituality" & relationship according to our own understanding.

anyway, i haven't reached any conclusions about the above words one way or the other, except that my own understanding, & others', must always be suspect - we see thru' a glass darkly, and if i know for certain what has been a source of mystery for biblical scholars thru' the ages, what need is there to go back to the source to find the answer?  our systems of understanding god and scripture seem to have pushed us further into religion and further from relationship and dependence, which seem to be the point of scripture in the first place?