The Lion's Share

Born Free

Small watercolor study

Do lion's really share?  If they do, how much do they share?  Where did this idiom "the lion's share" originate?  Quite a number of fables, many pointing to the famous Aesop's Fables, have a variation of the theme about a lion killing his prey and not dividing it up with his fellow hunters.  In that fable, the lion declared dominance in every way and kept all or most of the meat for himself.  So out of those fables developed the idiom 'the lion's share" which means the best, largest ,or choicest amount.

Here are a few lion facts for you:

1.   Lions really do not share their kill with others, or at least until they have gotten all they can handle.  

2.  Lion's can rest up to 20 hours a day and spend 4 hours hunting.

3.  Lion's can eat up to 70 pounds of their kill almost to the point of being bloated.  

From sketches at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo

I have been reading once again through the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis out loud to a young friend of mine.  So I have lions on my mind!  If you are familiar with Lewis's famous series, the predominant hero is the majestic lion Aslan.  Lewis created the lion character to represent Jesus Christ in his beloved children's stories.  The Narnian Aslan is such a compelling being, so attractive that even the mention of his name created a deep yearning for him.  When in the story Susan asks of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver if Aslan is safe, the familiar response given by the beavers was "Who said anything about safe?  'Course he isn't safe.  But he's good.  He's the King, I tell you."  

African lion yawning and mountain lion - Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo

Of course, a story can only reflect a facet of the wonderful truth that Jesus Christ is much more wonderful, greater, and desirable than a fictional Aslan could ever be.  He is who our souls yearn to know, love and belong.  

Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,

At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,

When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,

And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.

                                           

                                       ---C.S.Lews

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Live bravely and beautifully!

Confluence: How Nebraska Met Up With China

Near Confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia Rivers, Wenatchee, WA

9" x 12"

Pastel

The point where two rivers come together forms a confluence.  A confluence is the coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point; the flowing together of two or more streams.  The beautiful city of Wenatchee, Washington lies along the confluence of the Wenatchee River from the west and the Columbia River from the northeast.  

Columbia River on outskirts of Wenatchee, WA

A year ago at this time another kind of confluence was beginning to form.  A river of sorts from Nebraska was going to join up with one from China.  Fasten your seat belts as I take you on the journey about how it all came together!

Last summer a family of six from Washington flew to China to enjoy a period of touring which culminated in the adoption process of their newest little child...a four year old Mandarin-speaking boy named Caleb.  

Also last summer an artist who lived in Omaha, Nebraska was looking to return to the work force after taking two years to work solely on creating a body of artwork.  That artist was me and I was hoping to find part-time work that would allow me daily time in my studio, more than what a forty-hour work week permits.  So I started to study the "Help Wanted" ads and asked God to direct my path.  I was desiring to utilize my skills in education or art, if possible. During that job search, I went on a hiking trip with two of my sons and  a brother to climb Medicine Bow Peak in the Snowy Range of Wyoming.  The Sunday afternoon I returned in early July, on a whim, I looked up Bellingham, WA jobs listed on Craig's List.  I had been numerous times in the Bellingham area over the years visiting friends from college days.  So I knew and loved its Cascade Mountains and Pacific Ocean.  

Bellingham Bay

As I was scrolling through a variety of ads, suddenly one stood out to me!  It was an educator/nanny position for a family with now five children, especially focusing on early language immersion and speech for their newly adopted four year old Chinese son.  My work of speech therapy in Colorado schools would come in handy for this. It is risky to hire or be hired for a job sight unseen with thousands of miles intervening.  I asked trusted friends and family for advice and especially prayed for God's clear direction in my life.  During this process, another leadership position in Omaha had opened up involving working with women and some were urging me to consider that one.  I had a choice between two very opposite positions.  Well, it all comes down to making a decision.  I love adventure and am open to risk-taking so I applied for the educator/nanny postion.  On-line communication went back and forth, culminating in a telephone interview.  The Washington family graciously offered me the opportunity and I accepted.  

At the end of August, I moved out to Washington to become a part of this family's life.  And that is how I came to meet the little "river" from China named Caleb!  Both of us were new to this home and state.  Both of us had come from far away.  And both of us were in for an amazing adventure together!  When Caleb first arrived from China, I was told he spoke only Mandarin Chinese.  Now he is quite fluent in English!  I'm sure there are some days that his siblings wish he were not quite so talkative.  

All through the school year I picked Caleb up from preschool and worked with him for several hours before we went to do school pickups of his siblings.  I sensed he had a keen fascination for learning, so began to teach him phonics using the curriculum I had used homeschooling my own children.  Caleb would beg me to work with him on reading.  He would rather do that than play!  So I worked with him, always seeking to be sensitive to how he was understanding the instruction.  The library became a favorite haunt and we read together lots of the great children's classics like Goodnight Moon, Make Way for Ducklings, and plenty of Richard Scarry books.  At this point Caleb will freely pick up a book around the house, settle on the couch, and start reading away.  He begins kindergarten this fall.  

During our lunch hours we have enjoyed watching many episodes of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood on my Ipad and talking together about them.  Then we went on to watching various artist videos on Youtube together.  Caleb enjoys doing watercolor with me at the dining room table.  I bought him a little sketch book to write and draw in when I sketch outdoors.  Working with Caleb this year has been a delight!  His enthusiasm for life and learning has challenged and taught me much.  Most of all, I am grateful for God's sovereign direction over the affairs of my life.  He can be trusted completely with every detail of life. I've been teaching Psalm 23 to Caleb and his older brother Finn this summer.  We've been talking a lot about the Lord as our Good Shepherd.  King David wrote from experience about how shepherds care for their sheep.  They lead them in green pastures and beside quiet waters.  Working with Caleb this year has been one of those green pasture experiences for me.  

Live bravely and beautifully!

A Chord Accord

(From my sketchbook)

Sometime during the 1958 school year in western South Dakota, I found myself sitting up in front of a classroom of young students.  I was four years old and terribly shy, so this was torture.  To make matters worse, I was dressed in the garb of women from Mali, West Africa. If I dared move, I felt like my costume might come unraveled.  

My mother was born in Mali, West Africa.  So the question would arise during those elementary school playground conversations about our parents as to why I wasn't black?  As a very young child I couldn't explain why, except that was just the way it was.

Western South Dakota was a long way from Africa, so my mom had been asked to give a presentation on Africa to a local classroom of youngsters.  I was brought along as a handy costume model.  

Skip ahead to the mid-1960's.  I was an upper elementary student in the oil fields of Wyoming.  Other parts of America were embroiled in the Civil Rights issues.  Where I lived, there were no African Americans.  I was vaguely aware of the struggles involved, but knew that injustice had been dealt to many.  In my child's heart I wanted to have a black friend and used to ask God for that in my prayers.

Later on in college, I had the opportunity to work in an outreach to youth in the projects of North Omaha and began to see firsthand the realities of racial issues.  Then living as an adult for a while in the Deep South, I was again faced with inequalities.  I had the opportunity to worship with my Black friends in their churches and experience a little from their perspective.  

My experience with racial issues is fairly limited, although as a very young child, I lived in the Badlands of South Dakota and saw regularly the devastated lives that Native Americans lived on the reservation.  I remember how that seemed to be just a part of life, a normalcy. Now with a better understanding of history, my perspective regarding racial issues has grown.  

Right now America is reeling from the latest major tragedy in Dallas, TX last week.  I'm not going to delve into all the political and social commentary in the aftermath.  What I do want to highlight is the fact that we are all human beings, each of great value and potential.  We are all created in God's image.  We live on this earth together.  And I chose the title to this blog post deliberately to drive home a point in this regard.  A musical chord is made up of 3 or more notes played simultaneously and in harmony.  Notice the togetherness and the harmony.  That's what makes enjoyable music!  

As the various races of humans, we all have a note to play in the chord of life.  And altogether we can make beautiful harmony.   In a chord, the bottom note is the root note on which the rest of the chord is built.  There is one person, a Jew, who is the root note to the racial chord in this world.  Without Him, there is discord.  With Him, concord is possible. That person is Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man.  He became one of us in order that we could become like Him.  This is possible because of His sacrificial death on a cross, bearing the wrath of God for our sins.  This was so that we could have an eternal relationship with God and experience newness in all our thinking, speaking, and actions.  His life in us provides us the power to be God-like to each other.  If we all were to live in this way, racial struggles would be a non-issue.  Beautiful harmony would be heard around the world. 

I was privileged to see The Lion King performed on Broadway a couple of years ago.   Afterwards, the group I was with was treated to an informal meeting with one of the actors, Arbender Robinson.  He was so dynamic and engaging.  Arbender shared with us his life story and how he landed on Broadway.  He was very inspiring.  While he spoke I was busy sketching him, which he graciously autographed after his talk.  Here's a sample of Arbender's tremendous abilities:  

Live bravely and beautifully!

Dealing With Disappointment

Karheen Passage

7" x 4.5"

Mixed media monoprint

My alarm was set to go off early this past Monday, July 4th.  Even though it was our nation's holiday I was not going to be chilling out and taking life easy.  No, I had an adventure to take! So I was up and at it early, going over my hiking stuff one more time. Hiking boots, CHECK! Water, CHECK!  Camera, CHECK!  Small watercolors and sketchbook, CHECK!  Camera, CHECK!

Soon I was heading my little Bronco down to my artist friend Pam's house, where we headed out to meet up with another artist friend Rae Ellen.  We were excited to hike the Skyline Divide Trail on Mt. Baker, described as a "summertime paradise of unrivaled mountain views and unending wildflower fields" (WTA.org).  

Mt. Baker

9" x 12"

Oil

Well, the hike was not to be.  Factor in the Pacific Northwest weather....yes, cloudy, cool, and rainy.  Not great for hiking, sketching, and viewing great vistas!  So......what do you do?  We had all our gear packed and were so anticipating the fun of a great climb together.  The weather brought all that to a screeching halt!  What we did instead was to jump right into creating art at Rae Ellen's home in the forest.  Perched by large windows near her dining table hoping to see the local bear stroll by, we enjoyed having Rae Ellen teach us the process of making monoprints.  The first photo at the top of this blogpost is a feeble attempt by me to create a monoprint on a topographical map.  It was fun learning a new technique and we had a lot of good laughs.  That afternoon we did hike a short trail along the Nooksack River, although it was quite muddy and wet.

 To top it all off, Rae Ellen served us a steaming hot bowl of Sweet Potato Soup for supper.  Though disappointed in not getting a great hike in, we still made the best of the situation.

All of us encounter disappointments in life.  Some are minor, but some mess with our hearts deeply.  How do we deal with disappointments?  Here are several tips that might help you through the difficulty:

*  Embrace the reality of a disappointment.  Yes, it actually happened.  Acknowledge how it makes you feel.  Some disappointments are a deep sorrow, and time needs to be a healing factor.  Trusted friends can also be a sounding board to listen, advise, and pray for and with you.

*  Assess the reasons for a disappointment.  Were your expectations too high?  Or did you misunderstand the situation?  Sometimes the reasons are unknown or beyond our control.  

*  Move on to the next thing or a creative alternative.  If you stay focused on the disappointment, you can grow resentful.  Instead, use it as a springboard to something new or different.  It can promote growth in your soul.  Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."  Seek to grow even from negative experiences.  "Determine to make the most out of every situation," says Kathy Ireland.  Don't let any circumstance go to waste.  Make it work for you!  Someone once said, "The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them."

We all want to live with hope in our circumstances.  It's what keeps us going, like a candle in the dark spaces of life.  The Bible says that "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12)  God understands what makes us tick and how we function best since He created us.  He knows that we need hope.  He understands how disappointments can be crushing to us.  In Psalm 23 King David described the Lord as our Shepherd and because of that we have all we need.  Further, His shepherd's rod and staff were a comfort to David.  The shepherd used the rod and staff to protect the sheep against predators, but he would comfort the sheep by rubbing their necks gently with the rod or staff.  So, too, God's comfort is available to us if we turn to Him as our great Good Shepherd.  

Live bravely and beautifully!