Laying down the pieces

It's been ages since I last posted anything on this blog...  I've occasionally felt guilty about that fact. I mean, if you're going to start a blog you better be ready to keep posting, right? People aren't going to follow you unless you have something to share...

But for a number of months now I haven't felt like I could put my thoughts into words or my experiences into stories... The thought would cross my mind but I had difficulty unraveling what I was processing and so I went silent... choosing to honor the season I was in and the lack of creative juices.

I now realize I've been in the midst of a major transition - trying to understand what took place during my first 2+ years here in Uruguay and searching for a vision for the future. 

And today it dawned on me - I've been trying to put together a puzzle!

I don't know which "method" you might use when linking all the little pieces together in order to "create" the picture that's been glued to the surface of the cardboard. For me, I've always followed the same pattern:

• First, find the four corners. (I've never attempted to put together any round puzzles - there's no way to start!)
• Next, pull out all of the edge pieces and slowly link them together. (Yes, straight edges are a must for me!)
• Then, sort the remaining pieces by color and other details...
• And then begin the hunt-and-peck process...
• Until the last piece is laid!!

I must confess, I'm not much of a puzzler... I usually bow out of the process for the most time-consuming fourth bullet point and re-emerge for the last twenty or so pieces. I don't naturally have the patience or perseverance that a good puzzler needs to have... 

And that also translates into the fact that I often struggle when navigating a transition. It can take me awhile to find the corner pieces... and place the edge... not to mention the entirety of the remaining "puzzle"!

But eventually the understanding and clarity fall into place. I am able to recognize what I have learned from the past and begin to identify what I hope for the future until...

The picture has taken shape, the puzzle is complete and I can move forward.

Life on Sesame Street

The other week my friend and teammate, Matt, stopped by to help me with a home repair - my front door was scraping the floor whenever I opened and closed it which produced a horrid sound. The wire he brought for the job wasn't thick enough so he went to my friend Angela's plumbing supply store on the ground floor of my building to see if she might have something we could use. When he returned with the necessary item he commented to me, "You live on Sesame Street!"

And I have to admit that he's right! I DO feel like I live on Sesame Street! 

No, there's no Big Bird walking the streets nor an Oscar the Grouch hiding out in the trash can!  You won't find Elmo or Cookie Monster here, either (although my neighbors are starting to love the cookies and cakes I'm sharing with them).  :)

But after a year of living on Orinoco Street I'm starting to develop some really good friendships with my neighbors and it's starting to feel like home. 

The street is kind of the shopping street of the neighborhood. There are several bake shops, multiple restaurants and cafés, a grocery store, numerous hair salons, a fresh pasta shop, a laundromat, several hardware stores and a handful of other small shops scattered among homes and apartment buildings along a four block segment. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the ice cream shop!!  And Kadee's veterinary shop is just half a block from my apartment too!

The ambiance is delightful and it's the "happening place" on fair-weather-days. The fact that we're less than a block from the beach helps as well! 

When I moved into my apartment fourteen months ago, I knew I wanted to invest in building good relationships with my neighbors. And I marvel at how wonderful and life-giving that process has been!

• Dardo and Janelle and their dog, Olivia, live in the apartment next to mine. They've invited me into their home on several occasions and we chat several times a week as we see each other on the sidewalk.
• Angela runs the plumbing supply store on the ground floor of my building and she has become a dear friend. I stop in to say "Hi!" every day and we spend time together one evening of the week.
• José owns the electrical repair shop directly below my apartment and he and his employees greet me when our paths cross and I enjoy sharing my latest baking project with them fresh from the oven. Plus, they came to the rescue when my front door was accidentally locked from the inside several weeks ago.
• Monica and her husband, Señor del Pianno, live in the house next to my building and I have been spending an hour a week visiting with Monica so that she can practice her English. She has been an English teacher most of her life but her memory and speech were adversely affected after a brain injury several years ago her. We talk about life as we combine English and Spanish, laughter sprinkled among our profound conclusions.
• Rosa, her husband and middle-aged son live next to the del Piannos. She used to be a librarian and enjoys using her English with me whenever she can. Our faces light up when we see each other and she always says the kindest, sweetest things to me that just make my day.
• The staff at the veterinary practice have been so helpful as I added Kadee to my life several months ago and she loves to visit them. Their friendliness and availability have been a blessing to me as I adjust to being a pet owner.
• The managers at the neighborhood supermarket greet me as I enter the store - I am now one of their recognized "regulars".
• Each morning when I take Kadee for her first walk of the day, a doorman at one of the large apartment buildings on our route greets us with a broad smile and a gregarious wave of the hand that warms me from the inside out on a cold day.
• Several fellow dog owners always stop for a chat when Kadee and I are walking down the street - comments regarding the weather or how we're doing fill the quick but friendly interactions.

Yes, I feel like I'm living on Sesame Street. And it feels GOOD! 

My building - my apartment is on the top left half of the building.

Kadee enjoying a walk on the beach.

My friend Angela with the coastline of my neighborhood in the background.

XXOO -- Besos!!

Besos!!  (i.e. "kisses")  

You hear it and see it all of the time here in Uruguay. People greet each other with a kiss - placing right cheeks next to each other and making a smacking noise in the air. Men to women. Women to women. Men to men. One kiss. A clasp of the arm or a hand on the shoulder. It's the standard way to acknowledge someone and give a greeting. And when you arrive at someone's home, or a meeting, or a restaurant - almost anywhere, really - you have to great EACH PERSON with a kiss on the cheek.

In the U.S., we shake hands and give hugs.

In Holland, they use THREE kisses - right cheeks, left cheeks, and finally right cheeks again. (whew!)

You also say "besos" to each other here in Uruguay as you say good-bye to each other - in person, over the phone, in a message or letter.

Everything's "BESOS!!"

In the beginning I didn't quite know what to do with all of these kisses. It seems rather intimate for someone who's used to thinking of kisses in a romantic way. Luckily I had twelve years in Holland before relocating to Uruguay so one kiss now seems easy.  ;)

I had two aunts who always signed x's and o's at the bottom of my birthday cards when I was a kid. Kisses and hugs... A symbol of warmth, of affection, of care and concern. I think of these symbols when I place my cheek next to someone else's or say at the close of a conversation "Besos!"

Warmth...

Affection...

Care...

Concern...

Upon greeting...

And in parting...

Think you could do it??  Give it a go! :)

San Geronimo: Yeah you guessed it -- by Becky

During lunch, we left the house waiting for the spackling and concrete to dry. (It had nothing to do with the fact that Uruguay was playing Italy in The World Soccer Cup.)

Side note: The World Soccer Cup means Soccer teams from all parts of the globe will play various teams who are also from all over the globe, unlike certain countries who have "The World Series," when it is really, "The State's Series."

In order to get an accurate flavor and charm we go into town to a small community building to eat and watch the game. Upon arriving we are greeted by one brown, black and white dog that sits by the door wagging his tail and squeezing between our legs in an attempt to enter the building.

Inside their are several men watching soccer on a t.v. We join in and order ravioli, and pizza, cokes and fanta (The pizza here is similar to toast with tomato sauce and a slice of mozzerala cheese cut into rectangles.) After taking a few sips from my soda a large fly appears out of no where (its winter time for pete's sake) and immediately begins swimming in my soda bottle. Do I need a new bottle?

Phil grabs a fork and manages to nab the drenched bug. I decide soda is too expensive and I'll drink it floating bug or no floating bug.

We continue watching the soccer game until Uruguay bites their way to victory.

San Geronimo once again by Becky Hess

Tuesday we hope to prep and patch the walls in the main room in order to begin painting. 

We move all the furniture into the middle of the room which requires big muscles. Which one of us has the muscles? Phil, the teacher, with the mind of an engineer helps us stack all the items as though we are completing a puzzle. Afterwards he brings in a tarp which he found in the work room. This fits over the piled furniture as though it was custom made. We do a jig and a high five.  

Hoping to get the spackling and concrete to dry Phil tries to get the fire place going. < All you boy scouts would be proud of Holly's wood carrying skills.> Along with Phil's ability to get wet trees to burn. On a side note someone with the initials of MP threw a dry gourd into the fire creating a blast that made my guitar sing and me scream. Will the concrete ever dry?

Life in San Geronimo by Becky

Monday night, 11:15 pm time for bed, unfortunately the bathroom began spurting water all over the floor, fortunately Marilyn is a get-her-clean- type of woman. 

Fill up warm water bottles as our bedtime heat source and try to begin snoring. Awake before the sun, which isn't difficult as the sunrises at 7:45 am. 

Will we have water and a working shower?

No. Grab a bucket. It works just like a good Haitian shower. 

For some team members it becomes the first shampooing in a sink. 

This trip has been good for exercising creative problem solving.   

San Geronimo: A Note from Becky Hess

Monday's here. Time for San Geronimo. Awoke before the sun, packed up, checked out the ATM for pesos. For you banking folks, the ATM's in Uruguay are inside a small room. Once inside the door locks.  Imagine needing to take out $3500. My hands shook as I typed! (Don't worry Jack it's basically $150 US.)  Transaction completed? The switch at the side of the door is key to get back to the car.    

After exchanging money we stopped for groceries for a variety of foods. Around here we have enjoyed lots of roasted meat minus vegetables. The idea of 5 fruits and vegetables a day isn't characteristic for Uruguay. Yes Mom, we grabbed broccoli, carrots, onions, peppers, tomatoes, bananas, mandarins and apples.

Here's one of the meats for an Asado (barbecue). 

 At the grocery store one can buy rugs, electronics, and earrings along with all the food. After loading the groceries we high tailed it to San Geronimo (Phil's driving so he's not afraid of all the local drivers who decide stop signs are optional).

Eucalyptus trees shedding their bark line the driveway, Holly and I hop out of the car to smell the flowers, and take pictures. In the midst of winter, arrays of colors catch my eye. Yellow, pink and  red pops out from the green background. A German shepherd barks protecting her pups and the house. I keep hoping she won't decide to take a bite out of me. 

Today we began prepping for tomorrow's work, moving furniture, made beds, cleaned the kitchen, and bathroom, cooked and cleaned again. Sang, prayed and ate together. What will happen next? 

Demolition Begins. Good night!

Hospitality in Uruguay

Day 1: Hospitality in Uruguay by Phil Hostetter, 
traveling team from Neffsville Mennonite Church, Lancaster, PA

We arrived in Montevideo yesterday, mid-morning and have been surrounded by Marilyn's friends and co-workers (Matt and Toni Daniel's family) since we landed.  Friendly faces welcomed us at the airport giving us an enthusiastic beginning  for this leg of the trip. 

This morning, we gave the gifts of the tools from our Vacation Bible School children to Matt & Toni Daniels, and Ms. Marilyn. Wish you could have seen all the joy and smiles. It was like Christmas morning! Or hitting open a candy filled piñata and all the love falls out. Thank-you VBS kids!  Matt picked up the tools, showed his children these "new toys," inspecting them, and started talking about all the projects we will be able to do this week. Starting with VBS kids giving. Thanks for caring. Your dollars and coins last week helped buy these gifts. Pat yourself on the back - as Matt says a, " BIG THANKS!"

When we arrived at Marilyn's apartment yesterday, we met her neighbor who owns the store downstairs (Angela). Later on Matt spent some time with us giving an overview of the work of missions in Uruguay and Christian Associates' part in God's work here.  This is a widely secular and un-churched area of Latin America. 

Which accentuates the connection we had through the wonderful experience of worship with Marilyn, Matt & Toni's set of friends, listening to their spiritual journeys and sharing their personal struggles, singing and praying together.   We had to adjust to their pace of life since most evening meals and activities start after 9:30 or 10:00 pm!  I (Phil) went to bed this morning at 12:30 a.m., after spending hours talking with everyone in the group along with Matt and Toni after everyone left!

This morning we had the opportunity to worship with Marilyn again at the English-speaking international church that she attends, and listened to Becky preach to our group about the openings hospitality provides to allow God to speak in our situations.  Christ's Church was a very welcoming group, and we found them reaching out to a group of sailors from Ghana and Sierre Leone who were stranded in Uruguay due to an unfortunate situation where they were treated badly. 

We have received overwhelming hospitality from Marilyn and her friends here, and we have graciously become part of her community in such a short time.  Marilyn's friends have helped us feel right at home and loved, even though we don't speak the same first language. Thanks for praying! 

Tell me about San Geronimo House!

Several years ago, my colleagues Matt & Toni Daniels had the opportunity to purchase a beautiful home about 45 minutes outside of the city. (We all live in the capital city of Montevideo.) The former owners were Christians and their children were hoping that the home and property could continue to serve as a place for people to spend time with God. And that was Matt & Toni's vision, too!

San Geronimo house is located in the middle of a eucalyptus forest. You have to take a dirt road off of the highway to get to it and then you drive in a lane that is lined by these big trees.

By the time you pull up to the front of the house, you feel like you're in another world!! And that's just the feeling that people often need as they leave their work, their home and the many things that might be heavy on their minds and come away for a day, several days or even a week!

We've had some really fun birthday parties at the house! There's lots of space to go for a hike in the woods, play games on the grass and eat cake with ice cream!

We also hold retreats and workshops at the house as well. There are three bedrooms with lots of bunk beds and two bathrooms so up to 15 people can sleep in the main house. 

But the house set empty for several years and so there are a LOT of repairs that need to be done: the bathroom and kitchen plumbing, painting the walls, fixing the leaking roof...  All of that takes money and people to do the work...

Several people from my home church in the States will be arriving on June 21st, 2014 and we're looking forward to painting the living room, entry, hallway and hopefully one of the bathrooms as well. Also, we hope to finish the plumbing changes that were needed in the one bathroom. I'm looking forward to having them here!  They'll be staying till the 29th in order to celebrate my birthday with me!  (yeehaw!!)

San Geronimo House is a great place to rest, play, hike, pray, learn, grow and spend time with God. We want to make the property ready for all of these things! Thanks for your interest!!

I want to see faces!

I came to Uruguay because I sensed a real love for the people here. And I think God gave me that love...

When I arrived at the end of February 2013, I only knew a handful of people... but in the past 16 months I've met a lot of really neat people and made some really great friends.

Let me share them with you now:
Matt and Toni Daniels and their children Allie, Matt and Anne

I work with Matt and Toni and I like to play "aunt" to their children. Just last week I spent two days with Allie, Matt and Anne while their parents went away to celebrate their anniversary. :)

There are three young couples who I have grown to love very much. Two of them have had babies in the past year and one of them should be giving birth in August!  Yes, three little girls in total all within a year and a half!

Craig, Alejandra and Emma

Ignacio, Stephania and Maria Pia

Eva, Diego and the soon-to-be born Sophia

And then there's a hodge-podge of other people who have become like family to me:

Anna Ruth has adopted me as her daughter - which makes her my Uruguayan mother. I lived with her my first three months here and I appreciate being able to spend time with her - she always listens to my stories and responds with lots of love and wisdom.

Alison and Diego are like my older sister and brother. They live in the same neighborhood as I do and so we sometimes meet for lunch or run errands together. I enjoy spending time with them because they make me feel loved!

Angela is my neighbor and I get to see her every day. She looks out for me and has given me lots of information to help me adjust to this new place. I am grateful for her friendship!

I met Silvia during my second week in Uruguay and we become close friends almost immediately!! Her son Michael is 10 years old and he's a lot of fun to hang out with.

There are a lot more people I could tell you about but I'll stop there for now. :)

I came to Uruguay because God gave me a love for the people - I am so glad He did!

But what I hadn't anticipated was that God would also give other people a love for me.

These people are now very dear to my heart... and I hope they experience God's love for them through me.

Tell me more!!

Now that you know where Uruguay is located, let me share some other details with you.

Everyone speaks Spanish here. 

They say "hola!" to say hello,

and "adios!" when they say good-bye.

When they are ending a phone conversation they say "besos!" (which means "kisses")

and when they want to say I love you, they have to say "te amo!"

And the money is different, too. They use pesos instead of dollars. And 1 dollar = 22 pesos. 

Since a lot of cattle are raised here, Uruguayans eat a lot of beef.  One of their favorite dishes is a chivito.  It's kind of like a hamburger but it's thinly sliced beef instead of a beef patty.

Another favorite dish is the milanese - similar to a German schnitzel. You can order a milanese made of beef, pork or chicken.

And Uruguayans don't have gas grills in their backyard like a lot of Americans do. Instead they have a parilla - it kind of looks like a brick fireplace. And the meat is grilled over wood coals from a fire. It takes a lot of skill to get the temperature just right to cook the meat slowly yet keeping it tender. 

Uruguay is in the southern hemisphere - that means it's on the opposite side of the equator from Pennsylvania. It also means that our seasons are opposite from what you have. So, while you are enjoying the summer right now and spending days at the swimming pool, we are experiencing the beginning of winter and I am wearing a scarf and heavy jacket when I leave my house. It also means that when you are celebrating Christmas around a fireplace in the winter, Uruguayans are spending the holiday at the beach in their swimsuits because it's summer here! Imagine decorating your Christmas tree in your shorts and flip flops!  

Tomorrow I'll tell you more about why I came to Uruguay and about the people here. So check out what I share with you then!

URUGUAY? Where's THAT??

Uruguay...  

Where's that?

What part of the world are you talking about?

And how do you pronounce it?

I admit that I needed to look at a map to find this small country when I first heard of it. I guessed right that it is in South America --

-- just below Brazil and to the right of Argentina, with the Atlantic Ocean along its southern border. In fact, Uruguay has some beautiful beaches...

And it's known for its ranches and cattle, too.

I'm looking forward to telling you more about this beautiful country and my wonderful friends here! 

"Si Dios quiere..."

Si Dios Quiere…

If God wants…

Lord willing…  

I've heard this English phrase often in the past from my grandparents’ generation but I never gave it a lot of thought. It’s a biblical concept… but it often falls to the wayside among a generation that has an independent mindset and a view of the world full of control. 

Lord willing…

Last weekend my refrigerator died.  Friday morning its contents just didn't seem chilled to the usual level. And after being away all day, I was eager to check on the items in the freezer when I got home at ten o’clock… still cool to the touch but definitely thawed. And the motor didn't kick in when I turned the thermostat to a colder setting.  Dead…

Other missionaries had given me the small antique model when I moved into my apartment at the end of May. A pale green, Mitsubishi made in Japan…  a good brand that had served me without hesitation for the past nine months. I was surprised that it suddenly was on the fritz.

Monday afternoon the repairman arrived. He had been recommended to me by the wife of the pastor of Christ Church, the English language church I attend on Sunday mornings. I was impressed by his professional attitude (and the fact that I could actually understand his Spanish – we were able to communicate without too much difficulty!). He began to check out the refrigerator and after several minutes he was able to get the motor to run. But the cooling elements in the freezer compartment didn't seem to respond. He tried several other “maneuvers” but to no avail – there was no temperature change evident.

A good fifteen or twenty minutes passed as he tested this and that. He began to explain that refrigerators of this age sometimes just gave up the ghost without warning… that I most likely would need to purchase a new one… that a miracle might be necessary for my old icebox…

I explained that as a Christian, I believed in a God that can perform miracles… but maybe not this time or with my refrigerator. He chuckled and shared that his grandmother used to always say, “Si Dios quiere” – meaning “If God wants.” I smiled and said that sometimes my prayers turned into “Por favor, Dios, quiere!” (Please, God, want to!”).

We both chuckled at our light-hearted interaction and then he said he wanted to check the cooling element in the freezer one last time. He opened the door and looked inside and then motioned for me to come have a look myself… the metal tubing was white with frost! My refrigerator was working! We were both a bit dumbfounded at the moment and then he gathered his composure and said he’d continue to check various parts of the appliance to see what the problem might have been. In the end, he replaced a sensor and the fridge has been working fine ever since.

God has been teaching me a lot about faith lately. He seems to want me to trust Him in new ways – with all of my heart. This experience with the refrigerator and the repairman is just one of several examples of how He has been impressing me with His “more than I ask or imagine” extravagance. I am not always a fast learner… but He is still willing.

Si Dios quiere…  

Thank You, God, that You are willing!

What is my "best"?

A friend of mine posted a quote from Joan Chittister’s book “Following the Path” on Facebook this afternoon and it confronted my present reality. The bit that caught my attention stated that "we not only need to find out what we do best and do it to the utmost. We also need to ask ourselves again why we were born. What is it that we have that the world needs and is waiting for us to provide?"

This morning I was brutally confronted by my sense of inadequacy... Because of the cultural and language barriers that I'm currently experiencing, what I consider to be my "best" has been sidelined. And today I was reminded of my favorite verse in the process: "'My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

A friend of mine shared with me that she thinks vulnerability is part of what it means to be made in the image of God.

Yes, for me, vulnerability in its purest form is Christ on the cross...Yet very few of us list vulnerability as part of the "best" that we have to offer the world. We lose this perspective when we're listing our gifts, our talents, our accomplishments, our skills...

But perhaps what God defines as my "best" is the vulnerability part... the inadequacy part... Maybe what the world needs and what I can provide is THIS. Not my gifting in leadership development or my strategic mind, not my passion for mentoring or any of the other great items that might show up on my resume…

Yet we so easily miss it. We so easily clutch at all the "incredible" gifts we spend years developing and lose the essence of what it means to be a child of the Most High God... vulnerable, inadequate and incredibly loved.

Is it possible that the world needs my weaknesses? That somehow God miraculously uses my inadequacies? That my vulnerability can somehow expand His presence in the world?

What an incredible thought!! A bit upside down from the world’s mentality but redemptive and totally transformational!

x

Trash on the Beach...

I moved into my own apartment here in Montevideo, Uruguay at the end of May. One of the perks of the place is that it's just around the corner from the beach and I have been enjoying many walks along the water. It's my favorite form of exercise AND it's also one of the moments in my day when I can really take time to draw close to God.

The city usually does a great job of keeping the beach clean but one day, after a strong storm the night before, the beach was "trashed" and I felt sad as I made my way through the plastic bags, bottles and other debris that was strewn across the sand. This wasn't what I had been looking forward to all day... and I found it hard to enjoy my walk.

We all long for the pristine beach... the kind we see in advertisements for the "perfect" vacation. We want the clean white sand, the shade of the tall palm trees, the radiant sun and the gentle breezes. We long for Eden...

The problem is we don't live there anymore...

And no matter how beautiful life can be, there are moments when we are confronted by the "trash" that it brings as well.

This rubbish can take on many forms - difficulties in our relationships, struggles financially or with employment, emotional turmoil, or physical illness and pain. Like trash-lined beaches, our lives don't look like what we desire and they're a far cry from the post-card version we dream about.  Sometimes we cause the havoc ourselves - either knowingly or unknowingly we make choices that bring with them negative consequences. We trash our own beaches.  At other times the garbage gets dumped on our doorstep through the choices and actions of others.

No matter where the trash comes from, it brings a dimension of pain and grief to our lives that can be hard for us to bear. Luckily, we're not obligated to just let it lay there and rot, however. When we have caused the destruction ourselves, we are invited by God to move into a place of repentance and take the necessary steps of forgiveness as He offers restoration to our broken places. And when others have caused the tumult, we are again invited to offer forgiveness as we choose how we will interact with these persons in the future.

In Romans 5:1-5 we are encouraged to endure suffering since it produces perseverance; perseverance produces character; and character produces hope. Perseverance is a challenging concept for many of us. We too often expect things to be handed to us on a silver platter without any effort or strain on our part. Perseverance implies sucking in your gut, pulling up your boot straps, holding your breath, and straining your muscles...

Yet personal integrity and an eventual life legacy can't be formed without perseverance. Romans 12:12 states that we are to "be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." These are character qualities that will see us through many of life's storms.

Perseverance and resilience are needed skills and attitudes but we don’t get very far just trying to “hold it all together”… that approach can lead to bitterness or a harsh view of life…

The word "hope" shows up 17 times in the book of Romans. It’s an important concept for us as Christians as we face the challenges of life. Without it, we risk becoming like dried up old prunes - enduring the heat but loosing our "juice".  But what is it that we place our hope in? That God will make everything easy for us? Some future good? Heaven? Are we just holding our breath?

"And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our  hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."  Romans 5:5

We place our hope in this – God LOVES us!!

In the midst of life – the joys and sorrows, the victories and the sufferings, the celebration and     the pain… we can know the hope of God’s love. We're not just holding our breath or "faking it till we make it." We are loved. And no matter what trash is lining our beach on any given day, this assurance helps us to find our way. God loves us. The trash doesn't have the last word.

Romans 8:35-39  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are loved.

I received the following story from a friend - I don't know its origin but I like how it ends.

92YEAR OLD PREACHER

While watching a little TV on Sunday instead of going to church, I watched a Church in Atlanta honoring one of its senior pastors who had been retired many years. He was 92 at that time and I wondered why the Church even bothered to ask the old gentleman to preach at that age.

After a warm welcome, introduction of this speaker, and as the applause quieted down he rose from his high back chair and walked slowly, with great effort and a sliding gait to the podium. Without a note or written paper of any kind he placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then quietly and slowly he began to speak... 

      

      'When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever learned in my 50 odd years of preaching. I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials. The one thing that I could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me.... the only thing that would comfort was this verse.........

 'Jesus loves me this I know. For the Bible tells me so.
 Little ones to Him belong, we are weak but He is strong.....
 Yes, Jesus loves me...

Yes, Jesus loves me...

Yes, Jesus loves me...

The Bible tells me so.' 

Broken - take two

I have a new hobby. Now that I'm in my new apartment, which is just around the corner from the beach, I'm heading there on a (almost) daily basis for some exercise and fresh air. 

On a walk last week, I happened upon some sea glass mixed in with the various seashells scattered across the sand. I couldn't resist picking up that first piece... and now I'm hooked! Before each walk, I shove a plastic sandwich bag into the pocket of my sweatpants and head off to see what colors, shapes and sizes await me! 

The gathering process is usually done in the first portion of my walk and when the bag is appropriately filled, I have to employ a strong dose of self-discipline in order to ignore the glistening pieces that remain on the ground. Sometimes I yield -- surely the bag can hold just one more!

I love the variety of colors and find myself letting out shouts of glee when I happen upon a more unique blue or brown mixed in with the varieties of white and green. Sometimes a piece will have a unique texture or left-over lettering on its surface - these are a special treat!! They come in all shapes and sizes, too, yet all of them have edges that have been worn smooth from the combination of time, sand, water and the tossing of the waves.

It didn't take me long in the gathering process to realize that the largest collection of sea glass is to be found close to the rocky jetty at one point along the beach. Presumably the glass objects get tossed against the rocks, break and then are carried away by the waves to be worn smooth before being eventually deposited on the beach. Not a very pleasant process for the original objects... but with an enchanting end result.

As I was wrapping up my walk yesterday, my bag full of treasures resting heavily in my hand, I began to ponder what made the glass pieces so precious to me.  After all, they were just broken fragments of discarded glass objects - garbage, really, that had been dumped into the sea... broken... tossed about in the water... the friction of sand rubbing against them... trash scattered across the beach...

Yet the glistening colors and smooth edges captivate me. 

These glass pieces are survivors... or, better yet, conquerors of sorts. Life has handed them a hard journey... but they have become more beautiful in the living of it. Transformation, of a kind, has been affected on them. Surrendered on the beach, they await discovery by anyone who might notice them.

The spiritual implications, for me, are huge. The sea glass is an example for me - to live life, to acknowledge hardships, to not give up, to be changed in the process, to let beauty be the end result, no matter what.

Because I believe in a Creator God who has also become my Savior, I don't have to be afraid of what this life might bring my way. Even if brokenness is part of my story. I can be like sea glass - smoother and more beautiful as a result. And as I encounter other people on their journey, perhaps I can encourage them on their way.