The Maker's Space

Our night of slowing down and drawing with pencil happened 12/10. For those that came out of the hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season, found some peace and quiet slowing down and drawing an olive tree with pencil.  Much can be learned from the steadfast olive tree and the references to it in Scripture. Primarily, the olive tree symbolized faithfulness and steadfastness.  Psalms 52:8 says, "But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;  I trust in the mercies of God forever and ever." No matter what the conditions:  Hot, dry, cold, wet rocky, or sandy, the evergreen olive tree will live and produce fruit.  It is said that you can never kill an olive tree.  Even when cut down or burned, new shoots will emerge from its roots.  This Scripture passage reminds us that no matter the conditions of life, we should remain steadfast as the olive tree in the presence of God-evergreen {faithful} and bearing fruit. Our theme this year is "like a tree" and how

Who would have thought that a simple paper bag could help a group of clients from Haymarket Center, go deeper into their recovery and reflect on the nature of their roots when they look at their lives "Like a Tree." {for more information on Haymarket Center and the wonderful work they do with recovery from addictions go to www.hcenter.org} You might think that this project would all turn out the same.  But no, 26 clients spent 2 hours in concentrated time creating tree sculptures and considered what they took into their roots, good and bad that would make a strong or weak tree and would determine the fruit that they would produce.  They then wrote a narrative on their piece and why they made it the way that they did.  The results were all completely different.  Some of their fruit represented their children.  Some of their children they had lost, others were keeping them going to get them through the program. Some of the trees were bent in half representing their broken

“ A good tree will naturally and automatically produce good fruit. That is how Jesus described his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount. We are like healthy, thriving trees and the life of God within us is manifested in the love, joy, peace, kindness, and mercy we produce. The key to this kind of life, Jesus said, is learning to abide deeply in communion with him the way a branch abides in a vine or a tree is rooted in good soil. Our focus should not be the fruit on our branches but the depth of our roots. As we live deeply with Jesus the fruit will take care of itself. ”  Skye  Jethani The Maker’s Space is an open community welcome to all, which uses art to slow down and learn about  ourselves  through God’s eyes.  This year, our theme will be trees and discovering what the roots absorb determines our fruit.   What do you want your fruit to look like? We meet on the 4 th  Monday evening of every month, {except Dec.}, 7-9pm in Munson Hall @277 Hawthorn St., Glen Ellyn,IL.[G.E.Co

"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked.....but whose delight is in the law of the Lord....that person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither--whatever they do prospers." Psalm 1 The weekend retreat in Tennessee of Purpose By Design, brought 24 girls and 26 leaders from the Chicagoland area, Fox Valley Christian Action and St. Sabina's Church, together to set a vision of being planted like a tree to discover the purpose that God has designed in each one of us.  The girls are in leadership mentoring programs during the year and have expressed an interest in moving ahead, looking for vision and skills to combat the adverse environments in which they find themselves. During the days together, we participated in art worship listening skills, resilience coping skills, career options, nutrition, health, self-defense, exercise, narrative writing, and banking.  We discussed how to plant