Homeschool Diva

Last year a girlfriend asked me to paint a picture for her house.  I said “No”.  I know I am a great friend.  What I actually said was, “No, why don’t you come over and paint it yourself.”  she said “I don’t know how to paint.”  Well, sistah neither did I until I picked up a brush and started playing around. I told her I would teach her.  Then another girlfriend came over, and another and another and every week we gathered to love and laugh and create together all immersed within the presence of the Creator.  Then I guess the guys got kind of ticked and started asking if they could come or if it was only for the ladies.  Well, you know me, I hate exclusion including gender exclusion so we said, heck ya, come on along and join our song.

We started kicking around the idea with a few friends about creating an artist collective and the Proskyneo Collective was born.  Initially we felt like we should do 4 ecumenical worship gatherings this year and see what God was doing with it.  Now it seems weekly, we have like minded kingdom peeps showing up at our house to eat and sing and create.  A community of God’s people that would create beauty in the world.  A space where everyone gets to play regardless of what church you go to on Sunday morning. Where worship and creativity are blessed.  Where people are encouraged to think about their life and express themselves through art. A place where dreams are sparked and mission developed.

Now a days we are praying about producing a cd of all original worship songs and a possible gallery showing of  original photography and paintings. I hear rumblings that a pottery wheel will be showing up soon.  Wow isn’t that cool. I would love to see how art and the poor intersect.  Can we bring beauty inspired by the CREATOR into the poorest in our community and by doing so usher in a deeper level of God’s kingdom among them?  I for one would like to see what God could do with something like that.

We have taught many people how to play the guitar and now they are debuting leading worship in their own small groups as I type. Those who have never picked up a brush before in their life, are playing around with color. People are starting to pick up cameras and shoot the beauty that the see, and others are literally having dreams of art installations that are sparking all of our imaginations.

I guess this doesn’t even  tip the scale in any church growth demographics.  We are just a bunch of friends who want more of Jesus and each other and want to create beautiful things as we do it.  Actually I think it says somewhere in the bible that the Church is made of God’s people and when 2 or more are gathered together in his name, He is there.  Kind of blows the pews right out of the water doesn’t it.

One of my heroes retires.

Thank you Gordon for blazing a trail.

I was in a grocery store.  I was standing at a produce counter with a man dressed in “travel” gear who was Australian I think, although we both spoke Spanish.  We had our conversation in both English and Spanish.  (A little side note - I routinely have dreams in which I am speaking fluent Spanish addressing a crowd of people.  Every time I dream this, I think wow I am speaking Spanish, and I usually have a  vague feel for what I am saying. Forsome reason I am wearing a business suit in past dreams.)

There were 2 young women standing in front of me who were Indian in traditional Indian dress with bendis/saris etc. The “travel” man was handing me fruit (that I had in Peru).  It wasn’t right out for everyone to get at, but tucked deep down in the center of the fruit stand. He was using a large machete to begin to cut open the fruit and then handed it to me half cut.  I then took a smaller knife, prepared the fruit the rest of the way and handed it to each of the women.  I taught them about the fruit and they ate and enjoyed the new flavor and texture. As far as I could tell, the 2 women didn’t really clue in to the Australian traveler, they were dealing directly with me.

The Australian “travel” man and I would converse in Spanish about these two women.  We both had some understanding of what the two women needed and he was guiding me on how to speak to them.  They both were very thankful and appreciative of the gift of fruit, hugged me and then left.

Then I woke up!  

Every night before I go to bed, I ask God to speak to me in my dreams, and give me deeper insight into his kingdom and what He is up to. I also pray this over our children. He routinely does. I believe this was a dream from God.  I have a bit of understanding of what it is about, but would love to hear any “interpretations” from those who feel that God is giving them a deeper understanding!