A note from the DRE:

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I have been marveling at the weather lately. Have you? I’m waking earlier and have even spent a couple of evenings relaxing outside. I am cautiously excited. Last spring hit us like a ton of bricks. I was finishing my last semester at UNO and I had started my new job as your DRE just a few months before. I was recruiting teachers for RE and commuting from Lincoln daily. I was lucky to catch any of my kids awake to kiss them goodnight by the time I got home every evening. The last weekend of Feb 2020 I was in Kansas with dozens of people from all over the midwest at an OWL training, eating from a buffet line and a COMMUNAL bowl of M&M’s (can you imagine?!?). There was some light talk of what was going on in New York but we were focused on our training mostly. We all know what happened next [insert global pandemic here]. One thing is for sure – the parts of oncoming spring that I was too busy to notice last year are the things I’m committed to relishing this year. Just in case.

I want to share an excerpt from this month’s Soulful Home packet with you. I found Sonya Clark’s artwork fascinating and inspirational and I hope you will too.

A Sip of Something New

Not all of our commitments are written on our hearts–some are smoothed into our shirtsleeves, baked and eaten warm, or woven in our hair. In other words, sometimes, that to which we commit ourselves isn’t expressed in language at all, but rather in feelings, images, sounds, smells, and in-breaths.

With your trusted parenting partner or supporter, spend some time on Sonya Clark’s website, especially on the home page where she has a scrolling display of her work, and in the gallery section.

Here is her website: http://sonyaclark.com/ 

Here are the scrolling images on the gallery page: http://sonyaclark.com/gallery/ 

For Discussion:

  • What commitments do you see in Clark’s work? To whom and what does she give her brilliance, her love, her exquisite attention?
  • What, in your life, would that subject be? And what would you use, besides language, to express it?

Tell your conversation partner your thoughts. And, if you’re feeling bold about it, and if it’s feasible, gather the materials you’d need to manifest your commitment. Choose another time later in the month to share your creative pieces with each other.