Chincha Peru 2008

It's a hot sunny day here in Chincha Alta, Peru. We're sitting under a canopy tent in kid size chairs with colorful octagonal low tables. There is a nice cool breeze. The ground is sandy and dusty. There is a church to one side of us, and our tent city to the other side. We finished a breakfast of sausage and egg biscuits, rolls with jelly and juice and tea. After a time of worship and prayer for healing, we are listening to a teaching by Michael Hindes, a pastor from Michigan. He is talking about attitude. There are 27 World Racers, 5 staff, 5 translators, and 1 guest. There is a Hollywood film producer here to try to capture the story of the people here and tell the world how they can help. This area experienced an 8.0 magnitude earthquake on August 15th and about 600 were killed. Many lost their homes and their livelihood. Entire towns have relocated to makeshift tents with dirt floors and walls made of woven reeds, thatch, etc. Some are fortunate to have an actual tent from a relief agency, but they have been living like this for almost 5 months. We met people yesterday from the Tambo de Mora area and heard their stories. The village was a prosperous fishing village on the Pacific Ocean. Just before the quake, which occurred about 7 pm, the ground water rose inside their homes to about a meter deep. The three inch concrete floors simply buckled and the homes sank about 2 feet. The quake lasted three terrifying minutes. People ran to find relatives, some ran many kilometers back to Chincha in search of family. After the quake came a small tsunami. The people have relocated to safer ground further inland. Many husbands have to leave the area to find work.

Word for the Year

So, I've been trying to come up with a theme for 2012.  Will this be a year of adventure ... love ... journey ... how can i fit it into just one word?  God has taught me so much in 2011 and I am eager to see what 2012 will bring.  He is teaching me to wait on him, to trust him in all things, and to love wholeheartedly.  The year 2011 was a year of travel and transition.  I am so eager to be done with transition, to be in a more permanent home and to be settled.

In my childhood, if we asked my mother what was for dessert, she would sometimes answer "Wait and See."  Sometimes I think that God says that to us as well.  We are eager to know the future, but our wise parent knows that we don't need to know everything in advance and that some things are better as surprises.

So my theme, at least for now, is EXPECTATION!  I eagerly await the unfurling of His Plan for this year.

Life

Life is a mystery.  We cannot see the bigger pattern.  According to author and speaker, Richard Rohr, life is a river.  He asks an interesting question, "Are you trying to change the course of the river? Or are you in the river?"   So often our focus is on how we can change things instead of simply living in the moment.  One of my favorite expressions I learned in college during a LaVida trip with Rich Obenschain .... "BE HERE NOW!"  It means that we should soak up every moment and enjoy life.  Jesus said, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Matthew 6:34   God wants us to be able to experience all that He has for us in each moment.  Life is so often about "letting go."   Let the river carry you.  Trust that God is in control.

Quote From Richard Rohr on Contemplative Prayer

The importance of Interior Design

Found this quote in a Dick Francis mystery [Enquiry] and it articulated something for me.  "The kitchen was white and brown and copper and yellow.  The colors pleased me.  Colors gave me the sort of mental food I imagined others got from music.  I disliked too much music, loathed the type of stuff you couldn't escape in restaurants and airliners, didn't own a record player, and much preferred silence."

I love silence and solitude; and particularly in a place that is aesthetically pleasing ... light and bright, pretty colors, comfortable furnishings.  My surroundings are important to me.  But I often wonder if I am alone in this.  The fact that an author describes me so well is enlightening.  There are others out there for whom environs is key.

My Typical Day

up at 7 to exercise
off to meet a friend for Bible Study at 8 at the local Starbucks
an unexpected opportunity to encourage an acquaintance and pray for him
stop at the post office to mail a package
pick up daughter and take her to extra help session for math [logarithms anyone?]
grab lunch
drive daughter home for more homework
accomplish 8 hours of work for full-time job while juggling life
drive daughter to volleyball game
cheer for team
drive home
fall into bed
sleep
get up and do it all again

ah, this is the life.  I wrote this just over a year ago.  little did I dream how different things would be one year later: new city, empty nest, quieter life!

A Season of Travel

Where have I been?  I am beginning to lose track of all the places I have been this year - it's been hectic. Fun, but crazy.

Rhode Island [4 or more times]
Norfolk, VA - Feb
Virginia Beach, VA - Feb
Philadelphia - Jan onward
Brewster, NY - Jan
Stuart FL - Mar
Gainesville - Feb, Mar, May, June twice
Boston - Aug

Washington DC - April, November
Jersey Shore - Sept
Seattle - Sept
Chicago - November

I don't know about you, I get tired just reading the list.  Some of the travel has been for work, but mostly for visiting family ... it's been a huge blessing even though it has been exhausting at times.  I've been delighted to get to see so much of our beautiful country this year and tried to spend time outdoors enjoying it.

Will we stay home for Christmas or go to Florida ??

Empty Nest

Got to visit beautiful Seattle again this fall.  Sunny and warm, dare I say hot? at 85 degrees.  SPU is a beautiful campus.  Discovered a nice trail along the canal nearby.  Got to see Lake Washington and visit two old friends.

Dropped my younger daughter off at freshman orientation ... the emotions took me by surprise.  Until I realized that this has been a year of too many goodbyes.  As we fell asleep in the hotel the night before orientation started, I began to pray, realizing i would be alone in the hotel the next night.  Pray, pause, wait for response, pray, pause again, realize that she is sound asleep!  Not surprising since we got 5 hours of sleep in Denver the night before and traveled 3000 miles and adjusting to a 3 hour time difference.  Bittersweet moments.

We said goodbye in January (twice - once while at a funeral saying goodbye to a beloved grandpa), then again in June when she went off to sailing camp, and then finally in September.  The adventure of college begins for my youngest - and the adventure of a new stage of life begins for my husband and I.