Making Magic {treehouse}

Dr. Yeiser was the highly recommended pediatrician when I was pregnant. I think I met her for the first time when she came into my hospital room to check baby Asher. It’s a blur of him crying. {Ok...maybe it was me...}.

I remember those first few visits when you felt like they would call DFACS if the baby cried too much, or if you didn’t put poop diapers in the right bags or something 😂. She listened. She confidently and patiently guided us through all the things that easily overwhelmed a new mother.

Asher was 18 months old when, with guilt tears in my eyes, I told his baby doctor I was going to leave him and go on my first mission trip to Africa. She never skipped a beat. She looked me in the eye and said he would be just fine. My parents (who were keeping him) would take wonderful care of him and she would be available to help if needed. To go and not worry about one thing back home.

I remember the visit when she came in and closed the door. She turned with lit up eyes and quietly told me “I know you’re gonna get this...I am going to Kenya on a mission trip. I’m so excited I can’t stand it and I need to tell somebody who will understand.”

I’m not sure when our relationship shifted into a friendship. I think mission work is uniting. Having someone understand the amazing and the hard is critical. Our friendship has never been fluff. It has been deep since it began. Those are my favorite kind.

We were leaving a concert one night when I timidly told her a little dream I had. I wanted so badly to help pay for the medical clinic Jean Baptiste was asking us to help build in Rwanda. “What if I offered to paint doctor’s offices, and gave like half of it towards the clinic?  Would anybody ever want that?  Would people connect with the idea of art in a doctor’s office helping create a space to address medical needs half way around the world?”  She thought a minute. “I think some definitely would!”

Unknown at the time, she would soon find herself opening a new practice—full of blank walls.

Each room I paint for her is a new adventure. She allows kids to be involved in the ideas. It’s such a joy and honor to get to decorate her office. Together, we get to be part of something so beautiful!  Not just art, but using something as simple as art to make an impact in unknown ways around all the world.

Don’t ever for one second believe you don’t have anything to offer. I just show up and paint. Jesus makes all the things come together in ways that make massive impact. Use what you have and dream of ways they can be bigger than you. Say yes. Be vulnerable with people you can trust. You just never know how far it will go...

Here is my newest creation. The Magic Treehouse room. Imagine you have climbed up the rope ladder and are spinning with Jack and Annie. Everywhere you look, there is adventure.