i know we all say this as a year ends...but i'm going to join in the masses anyway and say "i can't believe it's already December.."...with Christmas around the corner, and a new year beckoning...the older i get the harder it is to wrap my mind around how quickly time seems to fly...

and it has been a whirlwind of a year....a year of experiencing parts of life i've never had the chance to taste before starting this journey in Africa...some good experiences...some sweet and joyful...some bitter and hard...and painful...

despite all of that, though... God stays the same.
He really is a rock.
to stand on.
He doesn't move...
and i'm thankful.

i know it's been a few months since my last post...but just wanted to share a few highlights...

a while ago, I had the privilege of doing henna for a bride...it's tradition to get henna done for ceremonies like weddings...it was my first time to do henna on a bride...so i made lots of mistakes..but, that's how you learn, right?
I designed the story of Ruth for her feet..and then for her hands i did designs for some verses in Song of Songs 8:6-7 ("Set me as a seal upon your heart...")...
I was only able to do the planned designs on her hands and arms...we still got to tell her the story of Ruth, but we ran out of time and ended up just doing random designs on her feet...

it doesn't look like much, but it was so much work, and took hours...and my hand hurt so bad..ha. but it was a cool experience...and good practice ..




In Sept. I took two trips, one to London for a arts in missions conference, and the other was to kenya...
here are some pics from london...it hasn't changed much since spending a semester there several years ago...



we only got to do like a day and a half of sight seeing in central London..however such a short time did not keep me from one of my favorite places... i went to starbucks 3 times in that day and a half :)...i miss that place...it felt like home :)...


this was the college we stayed at for the conference..it was about 45 min. by train outside of the heart of London...


the artist in residence at this college was an amazing, vibrant, creative, full of joy and life..woman...and she was my favorite part about the week ha...she would paint during worship, and would encourage others to do the same...

she also had an exhibit set up at the college, and walking through looking at her pieces was a worship experience in itself...

she has my dream job...

here is some of her work that I really liked...





a day after getting back from London, i left for kenya to participate in a retreat my home church hosted...it was such a refreshing time...surrounded by people who truly care...are such incredible supporters and mighty prayer warriors...(thank you, Pinelake...for being so amazing...)







and last but not least, i got to do art during a worship service at the church i'm involved in here...They had a Missions week, and one of the pastor's gave me his sermon before preaching it, and i got to do art to illustrate what he spoke about...

it was just cool to use art to encourage the body of Christ...just as musicians encourage the church by leading people to the throne through song, it was cool to get that same opportunity..except through visual art...(well, at least i hope it was encouraging ha)...

the sermon was based out of Psalm 136...

if you look closely at the Psalm, you can break it down into 5 themes...it starts out talking about God and who He is, then it goes into creation..then salvation...then deliverance, and then daily life...Then, the phrase "for his steadfast love endures forever" is threaded throughout all of it...

i started out w/ 3 big panels set up on easels...

in the middle panel I painted a young girl..not having tapped into the steadfast love of God ...



Then, I took the middle painting off...and underneath was this phrase...which is verse 23 of the psalm...


under each word, i did a painting for that theme of the psalm...so one at a time i took the words off and underneath was the painting...


so, the first is creation...to represent when the psalm talks about God creating the heavens and the earth...and man..
then, salvation...since the psalm talks about God delivering the Israelites from Egypt with a mighty hand...


then deliverance...it goes into God delivering Israel from all her oppressors...so the painting is supposed to represent God delivering us from our oppressors today...to free us from our slavery of sin...not so we can be free to sin, but so we can be free to follow and obey Him...and experience Him...

and then daily life... to represent God providing for our every need...(vs. 25 "He who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever")


the last step was uncovering the middle part one last time (the phrase that said "He who remembered us in our low estate")...and underneath was this painting...it's supposed to be the girl from the beginning...with hope now that she is in the arms of our God...who is able to save to the uttermost those who call on him...
whose steadfast love is from everlasting to everlasting....

and the faces at the bottom represent people of "all nations"...because God wants all peoples...to the ends of the earth...to experience His steadfast love...

so, this is what it looked like at the end...
not sure if it made sense...
but it was fun at least...and cool to worship my God through art...

anyway..so that's all for now...

may you all be blessed during this holiday season and find joy and peace in the presence of our God...