Blogs

I read a blog this morning and it didn't really impact me until I began to think about my kids.  It was about how people complain about first world problems and don't even think beyond themselves.  For example I could write a blog about how our new fridge is five times larger than our old one (a first world concern).  Or I could write about the times I can't sleep at night because my heart is so broken for our kids.  

Look at these faces.  These are children who are growing up without parents.

The people that truly care about them in their lives are paid workers (sometimes) and H2H staff.

Many of them will fight their entire life trying to erase lies about their worth and value.

Yes, they are blessed, they have food, clothes, a roof over their head and the opportunity to go to school.  For many of them their future was made brighter when they were given up to the state, a fact that is hard to accept because family should be the best option.

I was thinking about my boy this morning and how he is going to be completely on his own soon.  His own place, working and providing for himself.  I am proud of him.  But at the same time I was thinking of how hard it must be.  He still has a long way to go to remove all the negativity and lies from his past.  And if something where to happen to him and he would loose his job...he has no one.  Okay, he will always have us, but that just feels...wrong.  Why does a Romanian have an American as a closest friend?  Is anyone besides H2H staying awake at night wondering when he will ever turn his life over to Jesus?  Why are we so blind to the injustices right in front of our eyes?  Don't misunderstand me, I feel overwhelmingly blessed to be here and to be a part of these kids lives.  But with that blessing comes a longing for things to be made right, for the struggle against evil to be over.  Right now I am called to bring glory to God's name by working with the kids most precious to his heart.  What is he calling you to?  And will you let him break your heart?  Or will first world problems blind you? 

Art Class with the Boys

This year we have been teaching an art class with the boys at the special school that we work at.  Knowing that these kids love to draw and color we decided to help them develop their creative art skills.  We have taught many of the basics like the color wheel, using shapes to draw different things, perspective and proportion. 

As an intro to how artists work, we did a lesson on making still life portraits, using a bowl of fruit as our subject.

We started off with the bowl covered up, then revealed the it slowly, the kids couldn't wait to see what it was!

The lesson went great and we got lots of different interpretations of the bowl of fruit.  The hardest part was protecting the fruit from hungry kids who apparently don't get much fresh fruit!

Some of the kids need a helping hand from time to time...

...and some do just great on their own.

Here is a proud class with their drawings, they did a great job!

Here we are having one of the students help us with the perspective/proportion lesson.

Rebecca kicked off the next phase of our class where we will focus on different artists and their techniques with Vincent van Gogh's "Vase with Twelve Sunflowers."

We helped the kids to copy the painting as best as they could.

This was one of the closest to the original, a great rendering.

We really enjoy teaching art to these kids because it allows them to use their hands and create something beautiful.  They need to be encouraged to use and increase their talents because this isn't something that they get very much of.