Slow down, you move too fast, gotta make the morning last just
kicking down the cobblestones, looking for fun and
feeling groovy.
I don`t know if I remember the words right. It was one of the few popular songs of my high school days that I remember liking. Almost all the songs in those days had double meanings, which I didn`t always get, being rather clueless, so I hope this one didn`t.
It just describes how I have been feeling the last few days. I was sick last week. This week I feel fine. I have a most wonderful husband who loves much better than I deserve. The weather is nice and cool (though rainy, but who cares). I had a wonderful time teaching teachers in Nicaragua. They even want me to go back and teach some more. Saturday and Sunday I get to present the Gospel to a group of 60 or more children. Most of our work is with pastors and their wives who, it is to be hoped, already understand the Gospel. I am really looking forward to talking about Jesus, who loves me even more than my really wonderful husband.
Life, I love you.....feeling grooooovy.
jueves, 5 de febrero de 2009
domingo, 1 de febrero de 2009
The boy at the border
Border crossings used to be all day affairs. We would drive to whichever border we needed to cross, fully expecting to spend several hours in the heat of the day, waiting for a stamp in a passport. It has become much easier in the last couple of years. The officials seem more friendly, maybe because the system has become more streamlined, and they don`t have to work so hard. One thing that hasn`t changed is little boys asking for money. I used to struggle with my attitude, but in the last few years, I just don`t worry about it anymore. If I have a coin or two handy, they are welcome to it. If I don`t, I don´t feel guilty.
This last trip, a boy about ten grinned at me as I sat waiting in the car for John to get the required car insurance to enter Nicaragua. I didn`t have any money, but I did have a box of granola bars. Would you like one? I asked. Sure, he said.
A few days later we were on our way back through to the Honduran side after our visit to Nicaragua. A grinning boy about ten popped up at the window. You're the lady with the cookie, aren't you? he asked.
Do you have any notebooks? No, I didn`t happen to have any notebooks. I'm going to school and I need five notebooks. Really? That's great! Got any backpacks? Backpacks? No, I didn`t bring any extra backpacks, would you like another cookies? Sure, he grinned. Then I remembered I didn`t have any more of those either. How much does a notebook cost? 10 lempiras. I dug around the front seat to see if I could find any coins. Would Nicaraguan money do you any good? Sure, he said (I wondered to myself if he really was going to school, or if it was his line to get things from travelers. No matter, I said, if I have some coins, he is welcome to them) I found three Nicaraguan coins. Two fives and another I can`t remember what it was. I have enough here for one notebook, I said, holding out the three coins in the palm of my hand. He carefully took the two coins that would buy the notebook and left the other one in my hand. Thanks, he said, running off down the road.
A few minutes later we were ready to cross onto Honduras. I saw a little ten year old boy with a infectious grin..He waved at me as we passed and I waved back.
This last trip, a boy about ten grinned at me as I sat waiting in the car for John to get the required car insurance to enter Nicaragua. I didn`t have any money, but I did have a box of granola bars. Would you like one? I asked. Sure, he said.
A few days later we were on our way back through to the Honduran side after our visit to Nicaragua. A grinning boy about ten popped up at the window. You're the lady with the cookie, aren't you? he asked.
Do you have any notebooks? No, I didn`t happen to have any notebooks. I'm going to school and I need five notebooks. Really? That's great! Got any backpacks? Backpacks? No, I didn`t bring any extra backpacks, would you like another cookies? Sure, he grinned. Then I remembered I didn`t have any more of those either. How much does a notebook cost? 10 lempiras. I dug around the front seat to see if I could find any coins. Would Nicaraguan money do you any good? Sure, he said (I wondered to myself if he really was going to school, or if it was his line to get things from travelers. No matter, I said, if I have some coins, he is welcome to them) I found three Nicaraguan coins. Two fives and another I can`t remember what it was. I have enough here for one notebook, I said, holding out the three coins in the palm of my hand. He carefully took the two coins that would buy the notebook and left the other one in my hand. Thanks, he said, running off down the road.
A few minutes later we were ready to cross onto Honduras. I saw a little ten year old boy with a infectious grin..He waved at me as we passed and I waved back.
a grain of sand
My daughter and several of her friends have a blog in which they write very profound thoughts about very serious subjects. They are good at it. The things they write are well expressed and and well thought out. They obviously love writing, too. They obviously find a great deal of pleasure in doing a good job of putting words together. I love to write too, though I am not as good at it as Hannah and her friends.
I had not read their blog for a while, so did some catching up today, enjoying the really fast connection where we are staying tonight. Of course, I had to wander around the porch, turning circles to find a spot where I could get the signal, but once I got it, it's pretty fast.
Several of the articles I read tonight had to do with their perspectives on war. One article commented on the importance of doing what we can do, where we are, even though we can`t solve the world`s problems overnight by doing that. (said much more eloquently than that, of course) I guess that is why teaching on the subject of peace has become such a passion for me. It seems like something I can do, just a grain of sand maybe, but it is something. I hope, as the economic situation begins to have more and more implications for people, making life more and more difficult and complicated, we don`t stop doing what we can to make a difference where we are. As the world continues to hate and hurt, we can continue to love and forgive. Lots of grains of sand, lots and lots of grains of sand.
I had not read their blog for a while, so did some catching up today, enjoying the really fast connection where we are staying tonight. Of course, I had to wander around the porch, turning circles to find a spot where I could get the signal, but once I got it, it's pretty fast.
Several of the articles I read tonight had to do with their perspectives on war. One article commented on the importance of doing what we can do, where we are, even though we can`t solve the world`s problems overnight by doing that. (said much more eloquently than that, of course) I guess that is why teaching on the subject of peace has become such a passion for me. It seems like something I can do, just a grain of sand maybe, but it is something. I hope, as the economic situation begins to have more and more implications for people, making life more and more difficult and complicated, we don`t stop doing what we can to make a difference where we are. As the world continues to hate and hurt, we can continue to love and forgive. Lots of grains of sand, lots and lots of grains of sand.
sábado, 31 de enero de 2009
Open question....
Ciudad Dario es a medium-sized town in Nicaragua. I just spent three days there doing a seminar on Peacemaking for a group of teachers in a Christian school. Teaching on the subject has become my passion over the last eight years or so. The material itself has changed as I have learned more. My perspective has changed too, from how do you get out of conflict once you are in one, to how to live a life a peace, whether or not you are in a conflict. More recently, I have delved into the subject of bullying. It is interesting that I am yet to find a word in Spanish that is the equivalent (there are lots of bullys who speak Spanish, just not a single word that really expresses the same idea as the English word).
The teachers are supposed to start the school year next week, and I knew that they had lots they still needed to do, so I finished up my seminar at about 2pm on Friday so they could have a couple extra hours to work. While I waited for my hostess, I sat down with one of the books I had brought along in case someone wanted to buy a book (no one had any money to buy books)It was The Wounded Spirit by Frank Perretti. It had impacted me the first time I read it and impacted me again as I re-read it in the light of what I have been studying about bullies. There are some things that a person can and should do alone, there are other things that a person should never have to face alone, and one of them is bullying. Just wondering...what is your experience? Ever been bullied, and had to face it alone? Ever been a bully or watched bullying and done nothing? What would have helped you?
The teachers are supposed to start the school year next week, and I knew that they had lots they still needed to do, so I finished up my seminar at about 2pm on Friday so they could have a couple extra hours to work. While I waited for my hostess, I sat down with one of the books I had brought along in case someone wanted to buy a book (no one had any money to buy books)It was The Wounded Spirit by Frank Perretti. It had impacted me the first time I read it and impacted me again as I re-read it in the light of what I have been studying about bullies. There are some things that a person can and should do alone, there are other things that a person should never have to face alone, and one of them is bullying. Just wondering...what is your experience? Ever been bullied, and had to face it alone? Ever been a bully or watched bullying and done nothing? What would have helped you?
sábado, 24 de enero de 2009
Winter
I keep pictures from Victoria, BC on my screen saver. Just thought a one of them might cheer up some of you who are in the midst of winter. Spring will come!!
Rural Honduras
Yesterday we took Tim and Donna Wright to see some of Santa Barbara. They are going to be coming to live in Santa Barbara toward the end of the year. (Lord willing) We are looking forward to working closer with them. Here they are seeing the little hill top that we are reforesting. We are dreaming about a place where pastors and their wives could come to get away. So far it is just a dream, but who knows...While we were looking around, we saw some pretty typical rural Honduran scenes...
Leaf-cutter ants, which are fascinating critters, if they just wouldn't strip the leaves off of our baby trees.A litter of piglets...mama was behind the fence.
A team of 30 mules that was going to carry materials to a remote area for something to do with an electrical system.
miércoles, 21 de enero de 2009
Influence
We are home for a few days between travel. This week we spent time at the association of churches' annual business meeting. Business meetings are a bit dreary, but I was glad I decided to go with John instead of staying home. John always takes books to sell (at a better price than they can get anywhere else) and serves free coffee, so a lot of people come by his table to talk.
There were a couple of moments that really impressed me. On the last day, a lady came up to John and told him how a Sunday School lesson he taught at their church had encouraged her. She had shared the same lesson in a couple of other contexts, and people had loved it. We had visited her church kind of as an after thought, and John had given one of those "I have a lesson prepared in case I am asked" lessons.
At another point, a young man from the church we had attended in San Pedro when we lived there stopped me. He told me how they were continuing Andrew's ministry with puppets and that it was impacting people. Andrew and I got involved with doing puppets because Andrew needed a way to serve. He had enjoyed working with some of the younger young people in the church, but we figured the ministry would die after he left.
Christina is a wonderful young woman, with three children. Her husband is studying at the seminary. They live in a small apartment above the library. She and her husband often help John sell books. In the course of one conversation she told me that she often remembers how I told her that she should enjoy her children and not worry so much if the house isn`t 100% perfect all the time. I don't remember even saying that (though it sounds like something I would say).
Influence. We influence people all the time by what we say and do and are. We never know what it is that is going to be significant to someone else. That's why it is all important. It matters how we live the ordinary.
There were a couple of moments that really impressed me. On the last day, a lady came up to John and told him how a Sunday School lesson he taught at their church had encouraged her. She had shared the same lesson in a couple of other contexts, and people had loved it. We had visited her church kind of as an after thought, and John had given one of those "I have a lesson prepared in case I am asked" lessons.
At another point, a young man from the church we had attended in San Pedro when we lived there stopped me. He told me how they were continuing Andrew's ministry with puppets and that it was impacting people. Andrew and I got involved with doing puppets because Andrew needed a way to serve. He had enjoyed working with some of the younger young people in the church, but we figured the ministry would die after he left.
Christina is a wonderful young woman, with three children. Her husband is studying at the seminary. They live in a small apartment above the library. She and her husband often help John sell books. In the course of one conversation she told me that she often remembers how I told her that she should enjoy her children and not worry so much if the house isn`t 100% perfect all the time. I don't remember even saying that (though it sounds like something I would say).
Influence. We influence people all the time by what we say and do and are. We never know what it is that is going to be significant to someone else. That's why it is all important. It matters how we live the ordinary.
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