Happy holidays everyone. It's been a while since I have written anything in here, and it's not because I haven't sat down to, because I have, a few times. I just haven't been able to say anything.
SAINTS...not a who, but a where. Saints is the name of a small, hip, cozy, olive green cafe here in Saintfield. It has come to represent more than just a place for a cup of coffee or raisin and vanilla scone. It is my place of refuge. Of self-discovery. Of spiritual rejuvenation. I am finding out who I am over and over again every Monday morning at my small corner table for two. Right now I am learning a lot from a catholic priest writing to his Jewish friend. That's all you get to know about that for now.
ANGEL...my daughters last choice of what she wanted to be in this years school nativity play. First choice, donkey. Second choice, shepherd. From what I gather here in northern ireland, nativity costumes are to Christmas as witch costumes are to halloween, they are sold in every store this time of year. Therefore there are some legit donkey costumes out there. So the sweat pants and felt donkey ears I had planned was not going to work out and I'm not spending $20 on a donkey costume. Let's see if we can make the shepherd thing work out without having to break the bank on a real life staff. Plan B was working out until I walked Chloe into her classroom Monday morning and see nothing but little angels, shepherds, and barn animals staring at my daughter in her royal blue school uniform. Mom of the year fail. "Don't worry," said the teacher, "we had an extra angel costume set aside for Chloe" as if she knew I was going to forget. Good call teach. Now to convince Chloe that being an angel is the coolest. Its times like these that I am humbled as a mom. I always thought I would never do anything to make my kids feel embarrassed, less than, or un-cool. I thought I would be one of those moms that would have brought in the best costume with extras for those other unfortunate kids whose parents were idiots. What a turn of events this is turning out to be. My poor children, I fear I will not be healed of my forgetfulness any time soon.
BABY JESUS...A character that brings presents on Christmas morning...until you find out it's really your mom and dad. If you live in the Czech republic that is. I recently found out that it is not Santa, but baby Jesus that every kid waits for excitedly on Christmas morning in the most atheistic country in the whole world. Our family had two friends over from Czech for Thanksgiving and this was one of the many wonderful conversations we had with them. Our friend Marek said he saw his dad bringing in the presents and asked "Dad, are you Baby Jesus?". I can't figure out what to take from that conversation, but there has got to be a sermon illustration in there somewhere. Have at it pastor friends.
I just thought I would share a few anecdotes with you this holiday season and hope that: you too have a "Saints" in your life, even though you forget about the nativity it will never forget you, and this year may you be as excited about baby Jesus on Christmas morn as if He brought you the best gift of all.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Truth-Seeking Journey
"If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting (which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments) and set out on a truth-seeking journey (either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared - most of all - to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourself....then truth will not be withheld from you." Elizabeth Gilbert Eat, Pray, Love
A few years ago I started reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love and it quickly became clear why it was one of the top selling books that year (although not the best movie). The book revolves around one woman's "truth-seeking journey" after a total and complete meltdown in her "American dream" life. Which I believe anyone no matter where they are physically and mentally, can relate to.
Without immediately making the connections, a light clicked on while recently watching the movie. The quote (above) was the last line in the movie and I instantly related it to my purpose for this period of life. When we first moved to Northern Ireland I found the hardest part was losing ones identity in a community. No job, no friends, no car, no immediate way to "show off" ones talents and gifts. At that moment, the advice that helped me the most was to "take a learning posture". Learn from everyone around you. Learn about yourself. Learn about God. Learn about your family. Just let everything teach you. Press into every moment as if it is giving you a clue to truth. This does of course mean confronting realities about yourself, your family, your God, that arise in times of discomfort. I have found that when taking a learning posture, people are more open to learn from you. And this is helpful in furthering the Kingdom.
A few years ago I started reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love and it quickly became clear why it was one of the top selling books that year (although not the best movie). The book revolves around one woman's "truth-seeking journey" after a total and complete meltdown in her "American dream" life. Which I believe anyone no matter where they are physically and mentally, can relate to.
Without immediately making the connections, a light clicked on while recently watching the movie. The quote (above) was the last line in the movie and I instantly related it to my purpose for this period of life. When we first moved to Northern Ireland I found the hardest part was losing ones identity in a community. No job, no friends, no car, no immediate way to "show off" ones talents and gifts. At that moment, the advice that helped me the most was to "take a learning posture". Learn from everyone around you. Learn about yourself. Learn about God. Learn about your family. Just let everything teach you. Press into every moment as if it is giving you a clue to truth. This does of course mean confronting realities about yourself, your family, your God, that arise in times of discomfort. I have found that when taking a learning posture, people are more open to learn from you. And this is helpful in furthering the Kingdom.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
SUMMER...NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND.
By the looks on our summer calendar, it doesn't seem like summer at all. I can say the same for the weather. Our calendar has been packed since Chloe's last day of school right up to her first day of school in P2.
Our family has just returned from almost three weeks in the Czech Republic. We served alongside the youth group from our church here in NI. The journey leading up to stepping on the plane was a whirlwind at best. I had made up my mind that I didn't want to go and had a strong feeling that we shouldn't. I usually follow my instincts because they are usually right. So after being talked into it and releasing my inhibitions we began the training journey. A few days before the trip when my mind was put at ease about the whole thing, Joaquin decided he wanted to spend some time in the hospital.
Joaquin woke up abruptly from a nap screaming in pain and grunting every breath. After about an hour of this we decided to call 999 for an ambulance. A few ultrasounds, blood tests, x-rays, and painful screams later, Joaquin was admitted into the hospital for the night with the diagnosis of a chest infection. This diagnosis did not settle well with me, but the pain eased overnight and we left the next evening with plenty of antibiotics. After hearing that we would not be near a hospital in Czech and travel insurance would not cover Joaquin, we were ready to unpack our bags. I decided to take him into the local clinic just to see what the doctor had to say about the trip and he provided a much clearer diagnosis and a green light to travel. The doctor said that what he thinks Joaquin was going through was pain in his bowel. A cramping or twisting of the bowel that causes so much pain, children begin to hyperventilate. This is what the first inclination was at the hospital as well. It is something that corrected itself and should not happen again. Amen. Thankfully, Joaquin was back to his normal self for the entire trip and has had no pain since.
I could not have been more proud of our kids on this trip. They were lugged all over Czech by planes, cars, buses, trains, and people. They were little troopers. Chloe made many friends as usual and walked many many miles on the cobblestone streets of Prague. They ate all their Czech food without too much moaning and groaning and slept well in the many beds they were deposited into after long days.
I found my niche in lesson planning and teaching university students again. We were supposed to be teaching conversational English, but our students were so advanced that having deeper discussions about life seemed more appropriate than learning American holidays or food groups. We came away from English camp with a great sense of renewing and refreshing. The new relationships Carlos and I made were rejuvenating and the new relationships made between Czech students and Jesus was breathtaking. We will forever be thankful for our experience in Czech. We have many stories that we would love to share about Czech and will continue to pray for that part of the world.
This week we are back serving at VBS in our home church. We have had a lot of fun with about 100 kids from our community. I have come to know two truths about myself while hanging out with the VBS kids:
1. I don't think my calling was ever elementary education. Which is perfect since this is what my Masters is in.
2. My children are amazingly unique. The things that get them in the most trouble now, will be the things that God will use to greatly influence people for His Kingdom later. I just have to keep reminding myself of this truth.
Next week we are off to Hungary to conference with our CA family. We are excited to reunite with many friends, particularly Linda and Brian. We are anticipating the things that God has for our family at this years European Connect.
Our family has just returned from almost three weeks in the Czech Republic. We served alongside the youth group from our church here in NI. The journey leading up to stepping on the plane was a whirlwind at best. I had made up my mind that I didn't want to go and had a strong feeling that we shouldn't. I usually follow my instincts because they are usually right. So after being talked into it and releasing my inhibitions we began the training journey. A few days before the trip when my mind was put at ease about the whole thing, Joaquin decided he wanted to spend some time in the hospital.
Joaquin woke up abruptly from a nap screaming in pain and grunting every breath. After about an hour of this we decided to call 999 for an ambulance. A few ultrasounds, blood tests, x-rays, and painful screams later, Joaquin was admitted into the hospital for the night with the diagnosis of a chest infection. This diagnosis did not settle well with me, but the pain eased overnight and we left the next evening with plenty of antibiotics. After hearing that we would not be near a hospital in Czech and travel insurance would not cover Joaquin, we were ready to unpack our bags. I decided to take him into the local clinic just to see what the doctor had to say about the trip and he provided a much clearer diagnosis and a green light to travel. The doctor said that what he thinks Joaquin was going through was pain in his bowel. A cramping or twisting of the bowel that causes so much pain, children begin to hyperventilate. This is what the first inclination was at the hospital as well. It is something that corrected itself and should not happen again. Amen. Thankfully, Joaquin was back to his normal self for the entire trip and has had no pain since.
I could not have been more proud of our kids on this trip. They were lugged all over Czech by planes, cars, buses, trains, and people. They were little troopers. Chloe made many friends as usual and walked many many miles on the cobblestone streets of Prague. They ate all their Czech food without too much moaning and groaning and slept well in the many beds they were deposited into after long days.
I found my niche in lesson planning and teaching university students again. We were supposed to be teaching conversational English, but our students were so advanced that having deeper discussions about life seemed more appropriate than learning American holidays or food groups. We came away from English camp with a great sense of renewing and refreshing. The new relationships Carlos and I made were rejuvenating and the new relationships made between Czech students and Jesus was breathtaking. We will forever be thankful for our experience in Czech. We have many stories that we would love to share about Czech and will continue to pray for that part of the world.
This week we are back serving at VBS in our home church. We have had a lot of fun with about 100 kids from our community. I have come to know two truths about myself while hanging out with the VBS kids:
1. I don't think my calling was ever elementary education. Which is perfect since this is what my Masters is in.
2. My children are amazingly unique. The things that get them in the most trouble now, will be the things that God will use to greatly influence people for His Kingdom later. I just have to keep reminding myself of this truth.
Next week we are off to Hungary to conference with our CA family. We are excited to reunite with many friends, particularly Linda and Brian. We are anticipating the things that God has for our family at this years European Connect.
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