Around the World in a Week

Yesterday marked the end of an amazing week of my Passport Kids: Around the World Art Camp. The campers were the amazing part. These rising 1st through 4th graders were energetic, eager learners as we explored a different country each day through art, literature, food, music and culture.

Pull out your passport!

Day One: Ghana
Today we jumped head-first into pottery as we created our own miniature pots and then painted with watercolors when they were dry. The women in Ghana usually make the pots and put them all in a bonfire to dry. Instead of lighting matches, we used air dry clay and painted on day three.

Next we created Adinkra cloths, or ceremonial fabrics traditionally made by the Asante people.  Our versions used carved styrofoam blocks and fabric paint printed on white bandanas.

Perhaps the big hit of the day was the chocolate! The kids were excited to find out that chococate is made from cocoa beans that grow on a plant. Then they were excited to eat it!

Day Two: France
Learning about France was great fun with the kids, and spending a day there in spirit made me want to go there even more in person.

We began our day by looking at architecture and drawing the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame cathedral, and the Arc de Triomphe. These observational drawings were challenging, but these kids were up to the challenge!

Next we shared croissants and grapes (it is wine-country), and then learned about artist Henri Matisse through a wonderful children's book called Matisse: The King of Color. In his latter days, Matisse was bed-ridden and took to cutting out collages of his marvelous, colorful shapes. So we did the same. We also learned about theatrical mise en scene, and created our own backdrops for our own stories.




Day 3: Russia
I visited Russia in 1989 (actually, it was the USSR back then) and shared some of my souvenirs with the kids. It was hard to keep our hands off of the nesting dolls or matryoshka, but we did it long enough to paint our own! For those who wanted a little more architectural challenge, they painted watercolor images of St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square.

Next, we studied artist Marc Chagall and his dream-like images, and then made some ourselves using oil pastels to memorialize a special dream.

I remember fondly the black bread and white cheese I ate for breakfast every day when I was there long ago, and so our snack for today was as close as I could get...pumpernickel and provolone. The kids couldn't get enough! But the absolute favorite of our day in Russia were the fabulous Faberge eggs made from foam eggs and Crayola Model Magic. These are bookshelf-worthy!

Day 4: India
In India, we got our groove on, listening to some Indian music, and enjoyed our nan and Major Greys chutney. The kids then traced their hands and created their very own henna tattoos or Mehndi designs.

Day 5: Madagascar
The animals and flora of the island nation Madagascar captivated us today! First we created prints of lemurs and chameleons.

Next, we painted Baobab trees, which look like they are upside down! Last, we painted wooden beads and made necklaces. Now, I'm dying to see Madagascar 3!


The kids and their work are so inspiring. Below are some more photos to enjoy.
God bless,
Nicole (Mrs. Seitz)

Have a Little Faith

Do you lack faith? Would you like to have faith? Have you ever noticed some people have strong faith while others do not? I'm beginning to understand more and more that FAITH is a GIFT. Not something someone can praise you for, but something you just praise God for.

When was the last time you were hungry and went empty-handed to a neighbor or stranger to ask for food? Or tired and asked a hotel for a free room because you had nothing to offer in return? It might seem embarrassing, and most of us are thinking we'd never do it. We'd go hungry or sleep in a tent before we asked for charity. Of course, when we were children, we had no problem asking for things. We depended on our parents for all of our needs and asked them for gifts all the time. But something happened as we grew older, didn't it? We became self-sufficient and proud of it and praised for it.

Just as pride keeps us from accepting charity, it will keep us far away from faith. We must humble ourselves and become child-like again in order to receive the gift of faith. We must be HUMBLE to ASK for things, and our American culture teaches us to have pride not humility, to do things yourself and never, ever ask for handouts. Having a personal relationship with Jesus and God the Father, means becoming totally dependent on God over time, which is completely counter-cultural. Being dependent means being weak in our culture, but the truth is, becoming dependent on God means having access to unbelievable other-worldly strength, uncontainable joy, and true abundant life.

Pride truly keeps us from God. If you desire to have faith and a relationship with God, humble yourself, admit your pride, and ask for the gift of faith. Yes, it is charity, and in the King James version of the Bible, the "Love is patient, love is kind" verse (1 Corinthians 13) actually replaces the word "love" with "charity". Charity IS love, and faith is a gift of love. You must be willing to ask in order to receive it. You have nothing at all to offer the Creator of the universe except for your praise and worship. You can't DO anything to earn this gift of faith. You simply come with upturned hands to your Father in heaven, empty yourself of pride, and receive in the name of Jesus.
 
Does this mean that once we turn to him and learn how to accept God's charity, we now go around asking others for hand-outs and not working hard? Absolutely not. What it means is that we now have strength to work harder and more creatively, to do even more with what we've been given. That with this gift of faith, we actually have something of worth to GIVE to OTHERS. But don't just take my word for it...


 

"[Jesus said] But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:32
 
"Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes." Acts 3:15
 
"Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” John 20:27
 
"This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” Romans 1:17
 
“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. ” Matthew 17:20

"So if you sinful people know how to give good to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him." Matthew 7:11

"Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” John 4:10

“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9

"[Jesus said] You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy." John 16:24

Book Review: Love is Two People Talking

I devoured a book yesterday in one setting, LOVE IS TWO PEOPLE TALKING by Charles H. Banov MD. Part of what drew me on was the storyline, another, the easy, fluid writing and short nature of the novel, but another part was how this author's gentle soul, faith, and experiences found their way onto the pages of his novel. I literally couldn't put it down and only did so briefly to put my children in bed.

Sam Geller is an 80-year-old widower who finds he has Parkinson's disease. Narrated through honest eyes that tend to seek out the bright side, Sam slowly comes to terms with the changes of life that this disease presents. Still active and driving, his car keys allow him to continue to work at his pawn shop every day and turn him into a "chick magnet" for the over 70 set. He spends time with good buddies and remains determined to live life as fully as his circumstances will allow.

When he must finally move into his son's house, he begins to spend time with a 25-year-old granddaughter, Peggy, who lives with Rhett syndrome, a form of severe autism in which she screams often for no reason and cannot handle physical or eye contact with others. The sweetness of the story is that as Sam's disease progresses, he finds a very unexpected blessing in it all. Because of his disease, he and Peggy form this other-worldly unspoken communication, and the love between them deepens.

I remember giving a writer's seminar at the Charleston main library two years ago, and Dr. Banov attended. The workshop was entitled "Write Your Heart Out," and I shared tips on how to write authentically that story that only we can tell. Dr. Banov told me after that seminar that he was writing this novel loosely inspired by his own experiences with a daughter with Rhett syndrome, and I can remember feeling chills as he did and telling him that this was certainly a story worth telling. I am pleased beyond measure to report that Dr. Banov did indeed write his heart out in this novel. LOVE IS TWO PEOPLE TALKING is time well spent. It's a novel about fathers and sons, life's challenges and blessings, and learning to communicate in whatever language our loved ones speak. It is an inspiration to read of a man who's Jewish faith and honest check of himself, allow him to rise above pride and ego and disease, to live with joy, no matter what life brings.

God Speed: Lessons Learned in the Race

If you read my post Keep Running, you know I just started running 10 weeks ago as a way to grow closer to Christ and watch him shatter the limitations I've imposed on my life.

COMING HOME IS GOOD
Last weekend, this newbie who once could not run a mile, ran a half-marathon in Hilton Head Island, SC. I think it's fitting that the race took place in my hometown. For many years, I had a hard time going back there, reconciling the old me with the new me and the complications of relationships and memories. I also had difficulty accepting all the new stores, roads, neighborhoods, etc that cropped up since I left and changed the place I once called "home." But as my feet began to hit the pavement at Jarvis Creek Park, a place that never existed in my growing up there and then continued onto the Crosstown Expressway, a toll-road that seemed to pop up out of nowhere, I realized several things. One, coming home is good thing, not always easy, but good. It is good to reconcile the new you vs the old one, as you are truly ONE person. And two, running this race on Hilton Head was no accident. I had prayed about this and God had led me through my training step by step. It's no accident the timing of it all coincided with the Hilton Head race. I've just added one of my best memories ever to a place that carried a mixed bag for me before. Reconciliation with place and old self by creating new memories there. Amazing.

A LATE START IS BETTER THAN NONE AT ALL
About thirty minutes before the race, my sister-in-law Megan and I thought we should visit the restroom one more time, just in case. The line was long. So long that by the time we got there, we really did have to go which caused us to start the race 2 minutes late. However, my stopwatch was working this time (It didn't in the Charlie Post race), so I could see my accurate time and didn't sweat the small detail of missing the start. And you know what? Sometimes we start the race late, don't we? I have on many occasions in my life. I think the key is that we start running, no matter if everyone is already way ahead of us.

SOMEONE MUST PAY THE TOLL
After getting on to the Crosstown, I saw the toll signs up ahead. This is not something we see in Charleston, so it was quite a curiosity. I believe it was $1.50 for cars. At about three miles, I was well into prayer and loving the beauty of the place, the nature, the cloudless sky. So looking at that toll bridge brought this simultaneous thought. Someone must pay the toll. But I have no money, my road-weary mind responded. But I have already paid your toll. Wow. Thank you. Yes, there is a toll and someone must pay it to pass. I am grateful that Christ has paid mine because I certainly don't have enough currency to get to the other side on my own.

LEARNING TO ASK
When I first ran two miles with God 10 weeks ago and didn't keel over, I knew I was fully in this. However, running is still not easy for me. There are very difficult days. On a particularly hard run, I will get a bit scared about the long run ahead of me that weekend and ask friends to pray. The first time I did this, I ran like Superwoman. I realized then that I wasn't running on my own, but literally carried by prayer. Now, when I have a long run, I ask everyone, even strangers who offer, to pray for me, because I have learned something more about prayer. Humbling yourself to ask someone to pray allows them to make a choice and then draws you both closer to God. Something moves in the heavens when multiple people are coming together in prayer. Something powerful. Running the long runs have taught me to ask for prayer, and I am witness that great things happen when you do. I wonder why I don't apply this concept to other areas of my life. I have had close friends pray for me when I was "running a marathon" to finish a manuscript, and it has worked as well. Wow. Ask someone to pray for that something that seems impossible for you to do. See what happens.

UNANSWERED PRAYERS CAN BE A GOOD THING
Normally during I run, I don't drink water. I know, how stupid is that? But I pray for my thirst and hunger to go and it does. For the half-marathon, I decided I wanted to finish this race, not fall over from dehydration, so I decided whenever something was offered to me, I would drink it. This proved to be good and not-so good. The good part was I learned how to do the grab and go, taking a swig of water or Gatorade and tossing the cup without breaking pace or throwing water on anyone. The not-so-good part was at about 4 miles, I felt my bladder rebelling. At about 6 miles, I remember passing a sign that said "Restrooms". Yes, I passed that sign. I had never had to stop running before and was afraid I wouldn't be able to get back on track with my pacing, etc. Boy, did I think about that sign for the next over two miles! I prayed to God something akin to: please let this go away without my wetting myself, or let it just evaporate or return to my body, etc. After a good four miles of this prayer, I knew I had to go and God had not answered it. (Thank goodness, I probably would have keeled over from sickness!) Instead, he brought me back around to that same "Restrooms" sign. I almost heard angels singing. I only lost about a minute with the stop and was able to find my pace again. I am thankful God did not answer that particular prayer in the way I wanted, but he did answer it in the way he saw fit. More to come on this, but know that sometimes God will force us to take pit stops to rest or recover. We shouldn't fight these so hard and long, but rest in the fact that his timing is perfect and he sees the bigger picture.

ENVY VS ENCOURAGEMENT
That restroom pit stop let a lot of people in front of me who had been behind. And mind you, I started the race two minutes late. Part of me, the cruddy part, started inwardly groaning that I had lost ground and others were now ahead. But I gripped myself in prayer and instead looked at the face of a gentleman I had easily passed earlier as he now passed me while coming out of the restroom. He was grinning ear to ear, not something people do much in running races. I took pleasure in that smile and smiled myself. Good for him. I started praying again for the people around me, for the man who was limping, for the old woman who was running faster than me. I was swept up in the humanity of it all, pulling for everyone, wanting each of us =to finish this race. And then I saw her. My sister-in-law. She had gained on me when I'd gotten off track. I cheered her on and seeing her pulled me on. I watched her climb the bridge ahead, the one we'd already done on the other side. I knew how hard that bridge was and I prayed and encouraged her, knowing my time would come soon. Putting my thoughts on Megan and others took the thoughts of my own discomfort away. We have a choice in life, whether to whine about how others are getting ahead or to choose to genuinely be happy that they are achieving their dreams. I choose the latter. It makes for a much more enjoyable race.

THE FINAL STRETCH
A half-marathon is 13.1 miles. I had not run 13.1 miles before. My longest was 11 miles last weekend. I was nervous about running those last two miles. Could I do it? Well, that pit stop was apparently in God's plan for me, because I watched my sister in law for a good while and then suddenly, I was getting closer and closer and at mile 11, caught up with her. We ran side by side for those last two difficult miles silently pulling each other on. I'd run that race alone, but God gave me a companion in the most difficult stretch. I am astounded at his timing and will try not to moan so much when my life seems to be full of late starts and pit stops.

WHAT DOES A SNAPSHOT SHOW YOU?
There were photographers stationed throughout the race. I don't know about you, but showing full bare legs in winter, no make-up, hair in ponytail and over 2 and a half hours of running are not the best look for me...or anyone. I just got an email with a link to my race photos and well, they're not so flattering. They do, however, show my hand raised in praise and smiling. They show I wasn't falling over. They show me doing my absolute best. They show God was finishing something he started in me 10 weeks ago. And I think they are beautiful. What about you? If photographers followed you through some of your most difficult challenges, what would the photos show? Your hand raised in prayer and praise? You doing your absolute best? Scowling or smiling? This is something I will take away from this. There are always cameras lying in wait.

IT AIN'T OVER TILL THE RACE IS DONE
In those last two miles running with Megan along the Expressway, a truck came by us with two men picking up the orange cones that had delineated our running lane. We were both thinking it. Is the race over? We looked at our watches. No, the race closes after three hours and we still had time left. We kept running and shook it off. See, even when people seem to be picking up the cones prematurely, your race is not over until it's over. Not until you give it your all and pass that line. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking you're finished when you still have miles to go. Even after everyone has given up on you, don't stop running until you know you've finished your race.

THE FINISH LINE
Megan finished 20 seconds ahead of me. I could see as we rounded the last corner that she put her hands up and smiled in response to someone. I knew, before I even saw them that my children and husband were waiting for me and it helped me run even faster. My son and daughter ran to greet me before the finish line and ran the last few meters with me side by side. What an unexpected joy this was. I can't help but think about this race of life and how someday, when my race is done, loved ones will be waiting for me and help me over that finish line. What a glorious day that will be.
 
FINAL THOUGHT
I don't know what's in store yet. I don't know if I'll ever do a full marathon or what races, if any, will be in my future. What I do know is that agreeing to go on this journey of running has been much more than running. So much more. And here I spent my whole life thinking I'm not a runner and that this part of life was closed off to me. It makes me wonder what other parts of life I have prematurely closed for myself and what amazing blessings might wait for me if I'd just knock on those doors and have the courage to watch God do the impossible through me.
 
God bless your journey. There is more to your life than meets the eye. There are impossible things you are supposed to be accomplishing with God. What are they? God only knows. Ask him.

God speed.

On Broken Relationships

You see it every day - people who just can't make it work, no matter how hard they try.

Relationships that sour, friends or family who split and go their own ways.

Perhaps you have a relationship that comes to mind -- a spouse, a parent, a child, or friend.

It's too complicated to fix, you wouldn't know how, and even if you could, maybe you wouldn't want to...

Perhaps it is God you walked away from long ago.

It's not too late. And nothing is impossible for the God of reconcilation. Talk to him about it.

Give God permission to begin fixing a riff that continues to split you apart every day.

And then watch as he begins to work in the most creative ways...

He is able. And willing to heal your broken relationships. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I know of which I speak for I have seen it with my own eyes...

...in my own life.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21