Clubbing along

Again I asked the CEO to send whoever is supposed to be at our backyard club this week. One helper (who brought kids last week) forgot about it. My other two helpers (Jessie and her homeless friend- Elizabeth) showed up to help, but no kids- so I sent them up and down the block to round them up. They found Jenny- no answers at the other doors. This is supremely weird because the rest of the week the block is swarming with kids from our block and others, but Sat. morning must be sleep time. However, since it's the only time agent B can keep our two kids, that's the time we've got.

While Jenny had a lot of fun and said that she wanted us to keep doing it even if few or no one else comes, I think this week was all about Elizabeth. We were discussing art and how creating can help us deal with difficult situations. We read about a boy who had to flee his war torn country and was adjusting to life in America. I realized that Elizabeth had a lot in common with this uprooted child. She too is young, torn away from home, family, all that she has known. But she is also all alone. She has to figure out how to live, where, how she'll get food, safety, her necessities... She has enjoyed a few days at her friend Jessie's but has found her boyfriend (who is fleeing immigration officers) and is about to go shack up with him again.

At one point, I asked everyone if they were a color what color would they be. Elizabeth said she'd be black, so that she could hide in the dark and so that no one would see her. When she was stressed out, she could be alone with no one to mess with her and try to figure out what she needs to do and make decisions.

We looked at paintings in my home. We discussed Kat's paintings (that she has generously lent us). They tied in beautifully with our story (see Sudan painting and Pieta on her wed page http://web.mac.com/katrinawillis/iWeb/Site/Artist%20Statement.html). Then we discussed a copy of a painting we have of Jesus with poor German children. I explained that there was a lot of controversy over the painting since the artist painted Jesus as a real man (not floating above humanity all holy and separate- as his contemporaries painted Jesus) and in this rendition, Jesus was with poor kids- another radical idea for the day. Elizabeth got very animated at this point saying how wrong it was that people thought this painting was so wrong. She argued that Jesus is for everyone, that He can be with us at any time or place and that we can all be near Him.

I can see in her eyes and her ways that she is deeply hurt and lonely, struggling through deep issues few face, certainly not at her age. May the Lover be her family, her dad, mom and sibling, her love, her friend, her safety, her protector, her light in the darkness.