Well, I officially moved out of my apartment in Omaha at the end of last week and headed home to Chicago to spend a week with family and friends, then a week in Kentucky taking a training class about world missions, and then after that, I will be flying out to New Zealand.
Unreal how fast time really goes by.
Carolyn, one of my best friends, was living in Bolivia for 6 months and just returned back to the U.S. before Christmas. She decided to come home with me this past weekend (which, in four years of being best friends never happened... messed up, I know). I was so thankful for her safe return back to the states and so happy that I was going to get the opportunity to just spend good quality time with her before my departure. The eight hour drive back to the Chi in combination with a tour of my entire life in the NorthShore, multiple dinners with my family, and an eventful trip downtown to the Amtrak train provided Carolyn and I the time we really needed to have with each other. Heartfelt conversations, honesty, discussions about faith and love (oh, and not to mention WAYYYY too much wedding talk), and brutal hilarity. It was something I really needed - A healing encounter. Love you, Lynn.
Well, one of our little pit stops after our tour of Lake Forest was her Grandma's apartment. Her grandmother lives in a different suburb of Chicago, and I was hearing so much about her and how fabulous she was, I felt such a great desire to meet her and just spend some time with her. I saw the way Carolyn lit up when she talked about her Grandma and I just knew I had to meet her. And I am SO glad I did.
After helping her grandma move a couple things around in her apartment and hang some paintings, we just sat down in her room to talk. Eventually, we got to discussing my future plans. Carolyn told her that I was an artist and I told her that I hope to eventually teach art. She asked me how that job market was... "Not good", I told her in all honesty. After telling me this, she said some of the most beautiful things I have ever heard... words I have been trying to speak for SO long, but have been unable to find. Her wisdom and transparency at this moment was breathtaking:
It's such a shame that so many art programs are being removed from schools and that students can't take them. Art and music are such essential parts of not only school, but life. They are a part of us... they are a part of our hearts. Just look at how creative God was with designing the earth and all the colors and things and nature that we see. He designed a beautiful world. Our hearts LONG for creativity and for beauty because God is a Creator. Our hearts long to reflect our Creator. Without creativity and without art, we are incomplete. Kids are incomplete in those schools.
When (or IF) I get a job teaching art, this is seriously going to be my mantra everyday. Something I will say to myself before class every day... Why? Because art is not just a subject, it is a way of life... a part of our hearts that needs to be filled. Our Creator is constantly calling us to look to Him and see that beauty... to be encouraged to create beauty ourselves.
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