Toad's Garden

Source: Frog and Toad Together
(My apologies to Arnold Lobel. This is a paraphrase, not an exact quote)
Yes, this does have a point. Read to the end.

The Garden
One day, Toad walked to Frog's house. Frog was in his garden.
"What a beautiful garden you have, Frog!" said Toad.
"Thank you," said Frog. "It was a lot of hard work".
"I wish I had a garden," said Toad.
"Here are some flower seeds. Plant them, and soon you will have a beautiful garden," said Frog.
"How soon?" asked Toad.
"Very soon," said Frog.
Toad ran home. He planted the seeds in his garden. "Now seeds, start growing!" said Toad.
He walked up and down a few times. He looked at his garden. The seeds were not growing. Toad put his head close to the ground. Very loudly he said, "Now seeds, start growing!!" But the seeds did not grow.
Toad put his head very close to the ground. He shouted, "NOW SEEDS, START GROWING!!" But the seeds did not grow.
Frog came running. "What is all this noise?" he asked Toad.
"My seeds are not growing!" said Toad.
"You are shouting too much," said Frog. "Your seeds are scared to grow."
"My seeds are scared to grow?" asked Toad.
"Of course!" said Frog. "Let them go for a few days. Let the sun shine on them and the rain fall on them. They will grow."
That night, Toad looked out of his window. The seeds were not growing. "Maybe they are scared of the dark," said Toad. "I will read them a story." Toad took candles out to his garden. He read a long story to the seeds. The next day, he sang songs to the seeds. The next day, he read poems to the seeds. The next day, he played music for the seeds. Finally, exhausted by all his efforts, he fell asleep. He awoke to Frog, standing over him, saying "Wake up, Toad! Look at your garden!" There, where he had planted his seeds, were small sprouts.
"Now you will have a beautiful garden, too!" said Frog.
"Yes, but you were right, Frog," said Toad. "It was hard work!"

In the middle of the story this morning, as I was singing along with Toad, God suddenly spoke to me (He sometimes chooses interesting times to speak). Being a teacher (or a parent, I suppose) is often like Toad in his garden. You want those little seeds, those little hearts, to grow and RIGHT NOW, if possible! You talk till you're blue in the face. You yell sometimes. You do everything you can possibly think of to get those little seeds to grow! And then, exhausted by all your efforts, you fall asleep. And suddenly, one day, you wake up to the realization that, somehow, God has been working in their hearts and there are little green sprouts coming through the soil. You see some hope! Oh. Right. It was God.
It was a good word. Hopefully, it encourages you as much as it did me!

Breathe in...breathe out...

I've been told here in Peru that I shouldn't tell blond jokes. They consider me to be blond here. :) But, at my own risk and in order to make a point, I'm starting this post out with a blond joke.

So once there was a blond who was always wearing headphones. She wore them to sleep. She wore them to eat. She wore them to the gym. She wore them everywhere. One day, she went to the hairdresser's, still with the headphones in place, and asked for a haircut. As her hair was being cut, the hairdresser asked her to please take off her headphones, to which she responded, "I would, but I cant. If I do, I'll die." So the haircut was completed around the headphones. The same scene was repeated in 3 months and in another 3 months. Finally, the hairdresser got fed up and yanked the offending headphones off her client's head. As promised, the blond dropped over, dead as a doornail. The hairdresser got curious and wondered what in the world was playing over those crazy headphones. As she held them up to her ears, she heard this: Breathe in.....breathe out.....breathe in.....breathe out.....

I thought of this joke as I was reading Psalm 23 today. Really. I read a phrase that I've read over hundreds of times but never really processed. It goes like this:

He restores my soul (v.3)

And that means....? Good question! I asked the same thing. So I turned to my parallel versions and languages, which is where I go anytime I read a verse and go "Huh??" According to the NIV in Spanish and the Quechua Bible, it means that he gives me new strength. According to the Reina-Valera in Spanish, it means that he comforts my soul. According to the Message, it means that God gives me a place to breathe.

A place to breathe....hmmm.....

You know, I've often been thankful that breathing is an involuntary action. My life would have been extremely short had it not been for that fact. How many times do we sit down at the end of the day and say "Wow, I haven't gotten a chance to breathe all day!"? Thankfully, PHYSICAL breathing is involuntary.

It occurred to me this morning, though, that I think I could use a pair of those headphones to help me to concentrate on spiritual breathing. Unfortunately, it's not so reflexive.

Spiritual breathing......say what?! Let me explain.

First, let's think about the basics of breathing. Hang in there. I'm a teacher. I'll get past the science lesson in a second. Breathing consists of two opposite, interrelated and interdependent functions - inhalation and exhalation. Take away one and you die. Plain and simple. Okay, so what does this have to do with God, besides the fact that He created the concept? This is what He showed me this morning. Some things in life are "inhalation" things. They are the things that fill us up. They're different for everyone, but some things I thought of are devotional times, listening to worship music, quick prayers in the middle of the day, reading a good book, vacation, retreats, etc.... Other things in life are "exhalation" things. They are the things that we don't enjoy doing, the things that simply need to be done, or simply things we do where we are pouring out of ourselves into the lives of others (which, though rewarding, is many times still an exhale). Some examples I thought of are: waiting in line, taking care of a screaming baby, teaching 70 kids every day, serving all day at a restaurant, tense relationships with other people, fear, insecurity, lies, etc....

Now, here's the thing. The world thrives on exhalation. The world will take, take, take and never give. The enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). And that is exactly what he will do. Unfortunately, our human default setting is "exhale". Maybe a typical day looks like this:

Get up, get ready for the day: exhale
Spend time with Jesus: inhale
Make breakfast: exhale
Get kids off to school: exhale
Road rage on the way to work: exhale
Nonstop work all morning: exhale
Lunch break: could be either, really...
Nonstop work all afternoon: exhale
Concentrating on the road on the way home: exhale
Make supper: exhale
Listen to kids fighting at the supper table: exhale
Wash dishes: exhale
Family time: inhale (hopefully)
Get kids off to bed: exhale
Pray with kids: inhale
Adult time: inhale
Sleep: could be either, really, depending on the quality of your sleep...

So you could really make a million adaptations to this list. But the point remains. The world will find an infinite number of opportunities to make us exhale. Unfortunately, we are the ones who need to find opportunities to inhale. It's not necessarily a natural skill.

The second part of that verse in John 10:10 says this "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full" (Jesus speaking). Matt 11:28-30 says this: "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Jesus has come to allow us to inhale. Jesus has come to restore our souls, to give us room to breathe, to give us new strength. The thing is, the only way we can have all that is to make time to allow Jesus and His inhalation to pierce through the world's exhalation.

Uh huh. And that looks like...? To be honest, I'm not sure what it looks like for you. It looks different for everyone. Here are some of my "inhales":
- Devotions
- Walking to and from school while listening to music
- Writing
- My list of 1000 gifts (taken from the book One Thousand Gifts - Ann Voskamp)
- Journaling
- Quick moments to connect with God throughout the day
- Scrapbooking
- Good conversations
- Andes mints while working on schoolwork
- Comfortable chair to relax in
- Looking at the mountains outside my windows

The list could go on and on. Your list is probably completely different. God's challenge to me this morning was to concentrate on that breathing in and breathing out. It's not instinctive. That's why I'd like a pair of headphones like that blond had. It's a learning curve. And yet it's possible. It also struck me this morning that this is how Jesus lived. He did it naturally. So it also helps me to be more like Jesus and walk in "paths of righteousness for your name's sake" (Ps. 23:3)

You restore my soul.
Breathe in.
You lead me in paths of righteousness
Breathe out.

Thank you, Jesus, for...

I decided to let my kids write this blog post. :)
While talking yesterday in class about Thanksgiving, I asked them "What can you say thank you to Jesus for?" This sparked a nearly half-hour spontaneous pouring-out of thanks to Jesus for...well, pretty much everything! So I decided, since today was their reading group day, to have them write down a list of things they are thankful for. It turned out to be a very popular journal idea! Here is a compilation of most of the things they wrote (minus the duplicates - and yes, they wrote all in English!). Enjoy!

Thank you, Jesus, for apples.
Thank you, Jesus, for my eyes.
Thank you, Jesus, for my mouth.
Thank you, Jesus, for bananas.
Thank you, Jesus, for my books.
Thank you, Jesus, for bears.
Thank you, Jesus, for my school.
Thank you, Jesus, for oxygen.
Thank you, Jesus, for the earth.
Thank you, Jesus, for my pets.
Thank you, Jesus, for water.
Thank you, Jesus, for my friends.
Thank you, Jesus, for my family.
Thank you, Jesus, for plants.

"In my garden are flowers, butterflies, and insects. The insects are nice. And I said:
Thank you, Jesus, for insects.
Thank you, Jesus, for life.
Thank you, Jesus, for plants.
Thank you, Jesus, for my family.
and thank you, Jesus, for your creation."

Thank you, Jesus, for my house.
Thank you, Jesus, for Miss Bethany
Thank you, Jesus, for Daniel Monkey. (my little teaching assistant!)
Thank you, Jesus, for Miss Nancy. (the fourth grade teacher)
Thank you, Jesus, for Diego. (a classmate)
Thank you, Jesus, for everything.
Thank you, Jesus, for my teachers.
Thank you, Jesus, for my sister.
Thank you, Jesus, for me.
Thank you, Jesus, for food.
Thank you, Jesus, for Peru.
Thank you, Jesus, for people.
Thank you, Jesus, for cats.
Thank you, Jesus, for dogs.
Thank you, Jesus, for my brother.
Thank you, Jesus, for my mother.
Thank you, Jesus, for my father.
Thank you, Jesus, for love me. (unedited version)
Thank you, Jesus, for Mr. Jacob. (a guy who is helping with English classes)
Thank you, Jesus, for Fabricio. (a classmate)
Thank you, Jesus, for English.
Thank you, Jesus, for Shifu. (her dog)
Thank you, Jesus, for Miss Bethany, Nancy, Luz, María Esther, Dámaris, Marisol and Miss Ruth. (all teachers at the school)
Thank you, Jesus, for ice cream.
Thank you, Jesus, for my bed.
Thank you, Jesus, for animals.
Thank you, Jesus, for stars.
Thank you, Jesus, for the night.
Thank you, Jesus, for flowers.
Thank you, Jesus, for trees.
Thank you, Jesus, for my name Maricé.

Amen.

And that's the way life goes...

Think fall into winter, think spicy gingerbread in the oven, filling the whole house with its delicious aroma and hot apple cider in warm mugs clutched by cold hands...
Yeah, my mouth is watering too. So when my support team (MST) decided to have a skype virtual meeting tonight and mentioned bringing those snacks on their end, I thought it would be fun and delicious to have them on my end also! So why am I still sitting here with a watering mouth and not rolling and cutting out stacks of gingerbread cookies or nursing my second mug of hot apple cider? Glad you asked! Let me explain what it takes to make these two simple treats in Peru.
Gingerbread is not that complicated. There's only one problem, technically. The molasses. Molasses, as far as I know experientially, does not exist in Cusco. So getting molasses for cookies means going to the Wanchaq market (a 45-minute ride one way in public transportation) and paying about $4.00 for a 1/2 liter bottle of algarrobina syrup from one of the women who sells juice in the market. This syrup comes from a tree and has a taste that approximates molasses. Days slip by in a blur of school, schoolwork, church, school trip, emailing, creating dramas for school, etc. And before I know it, I no longer have time to take said 45-minute trip downtown to purchase my bottle of algarrobina syrup. Save the gingerbread for another day. It would have taken forever to cool the dough in my fridge anyway. My fridge is, I'm suspecting, on its last of over 20 years of legs and is not refrigerating the way it should be. And then, as I'm looking for a substitute recipe for chocolate chip cookies, I find it! The answer to my sticky molasses dilemma! Chancaca syrup! Cha-what?! Chancaca syrup. Chancaca is a sugar cane product. The best way I can describe it is to call it burnt sugar made into balls and sold in the market. According to my favorite Andean, high-altitude cookbook, a molasses-like product can be made with chancaca balls boiled and dissolved in water. Make a mental note: I have to try that! And as I begin to measure out flour and soften butter to make my chocolate chip substitutes for spicy gingerbread goodness, the guy comes with the gas can that will make my oven work. Great! Except not. Apparently, the valve that connects the hose to the gas can has somehow broken. The gas delivery guy doesn't have another one. Making my oven work again will require a trip downtown to a hardware store to buy another hose and valve combination, apparently. And who knows how to put one of those on a stove? Not me!
Mission postponed. The great chancaca syrup and gingerbread experiment will have to wait for another day. :( My mouth is still watering...
The other part of my idea was hot apple cider. Sounds WONDERFUL! I think it's been about 3 years since I've had any of that warm, sticky goodness. My stomach is happy with just the thought of it. But...there is no apple cider in Peru. I look online. The Wiki community, that source of free information on just about anything, comes to the rescue. WikiHow contains easy instructions to make apple cider with apples, a blender and cheesecloth (I think I can substitute a strainer). Then just boil it with the spices and voila! If I can't have my gingerbread, at least maybe the apple cider will come through for me.
Oh right. Except I have no gas. I can't boil the apple cider. That would be a problem.
I am not a missionary for nothing, however. It is not that easy to make me give up. I've got the idea. My mouth is watering. Now it's just a question of a new gas valve, chancaca, and time. One of these days, hopefully, I'll be able to write part 2 of this story, while savoring my tasty fall goodness.
I love Peru, but, yes, that IS the way life goes...

Broken Lives

Two weeks after my arrival back in Peru, we had parent teacher conferences. As I talked to one parent after another, I realized how many of my students live daily with great hurts. Many of them have only one parent. Of those who have two parents, a good number of them still feel like their parents have no time for them because of work. This includes those whose parents don't come home till late at night because they're working all day. This also includes those whose parents are always at church and never have time for the family. It also includes a number of students who live with one parent and the other parent works in another city or drives truck and only comes home once every two weeks or month or so. Others of my students live with parents who fight or drink a lot. I talked to another mother and her son, individually. The son sees the father as showing favoritism to his older brother. I encouraged the mother to talk to her husband and encourage him to set aside a time to do something special with the younger son as well. We have students at the school who have been involved in pornography, drugs, alcohol, smoking and with pedophiles. We have students at school who routinely come home to empty houses. We have students who would be in special ed. if they were in the States.
It is tremendously difficult to minister to the heart-needs of 71 students in the course of a day. I am not perfect, by any means. I always see ways I could be doing better. But I take faith in the little seeds of hope I see. Aldair, Dennis and Patricia got better grades on their English tests this month. For that matter, most of my students did really well on their English tests this month. Aldair actually participated voluntarily in class twice today! I think that's a first all year. Frana went crying to the principal the other day requesting prayer and forgiveness because she's been treating her classmates badly for a LONG time. Then she came into class and asked forgiveness of her classmates. Marcelo opened his heart today and told me that he has been mad because Jafet insulted him several weeks ago. Samuel worked well in class the last few days (a minor miracle!). Patricia, Maricé, Sebastián and Milagros all encouraged me while I was fighting an allergic reaction of unknown origin. I felt Jesus' love through them. I am constantly reminded of the fragility of my clay vessel. At any minute I can break and I need Jesus to remake me.
I talked to the mother of one of my seventh graders today. This girl has been involved in some really heavy stuff and she's only 12 years old! The last time I talked with the mother was at parent-teacher conferences, when she broke down crying because we had to drop a bombshell on her about her daughter and she had had no idea. Today she told me she's getting involved in one of the local churches. "Pray for me," she pleaded. It seems as though her daughter is at a better place spiritually than she was a month ago when I came and we talked during the parent-teacher conferences. That is encouraging!
I've been challenged over the past month that what God has called me to here is simply to be faithful every day in the little things and to speak of Him whenever I can. This has led to conversations about the end of the world, loving your enemies, and being faithful, among other things. Most days I feel so imperfect, so far from where I want to be. Things come out of my mouth that I wish I could retract. I have attitudes that are not God-honoring. And yet, in the midst of it all, I can still see God's hand of grace at work on my life as I look back over the days. The other month for Family Day, one of the 6th-grade boys lip-synced this song (in Spanish). Listening to him practice and looking out across my students in chapel the day before almost brought tears to my eyes. This is so my prayer!

I Want to Be Just Like You - Phillips, Craig and Dean

He climbs in my lap for a goodnight hug
He calls me Dad and I call him Bub
With his faded old pillow and a bear named Pooh
He snuggles up close and says, "I want to be like you"
I tuck him in bed and I kiss him goodnight
Trippin' over the toys as I turn out the light
And I whisper a prayer that someday he'll see
He's got a father in God 'cause he's seen Jesus in me

Lord, I want to be just like You
'Cause he wants to be just like me
I want to be a holy example
For his innocent eyes to see
Help me be a living Bible, Lord
That my little boy can read
I want to be just like You
'Cause he wants to be like me

Got to admit I've got so far to go
Make so many mistakes and I'm sure that you know
Sometimes it seems no matter how hard I try
With all the pressures in life I just can't get it all right
But I'm trying so hard to learn from the best
Being patient and kind, filled with Your tenderness
'Cause I know that he'll learn from the things that he sees
And the Jesus he finds will be the Jesus in me

Right now from where he stands I may seem mighty tall
But it's only 'cause I'm learning from the best Father of them all

I'm home!

Thank you for your prayers for traveling mercies. I had a pretty uneventful trip. My first plane was delayed about 1 1/2 hours, so I only had about 20 minutes to catch my other plane in Orlando. By the grace of God I made it and there were about 7 of us in the same position, so they held the plane. My luggage also came through fine, much to my surprise! I must say, I am jealous of people who are able to sleep in airplanes and uncomfortable airport seats. I laid on top of my luggage and got maybe a half an hour of sleep that way, but that's pretty much it.

I got home to find that my entire house is torn apart. The owner of the house is a carpenter and installed wood flooring while I was gone. However, he didn't get to fimish varnishing it before I arrived. So I'm going to go stay with some friends for about 2 days, try to clean my house on Sunday afternoon and at some point in the weekend, plan for next week. It's going to be a CRAZY first week back. But I am back home and seeing a few people again. Welcome to Peru where nothing happens quite like you think it should. :) God's grace is great.

I think that's it for now. I'll write more later, after I sleep and get my feet underneath me again.

Leaving Home, Heading Home...

4 days.
Wow, the summer went fast! I just got here and now I'm going to leave again in 4 days.
When I came to the States, I wasn't sure what to expect. Would I feel like I was dropped off on an alien planet? Would it all feel familiar? Would I go into shock when stepping into Wal-Mart? Would you remember me or would I be a face from the past, covered up on your refrigerator door by grocery lists and school permission forms?
I got off the plane and found home. I found you with your arms wide open. I found God. He still provides. He's still the same. I found memories from my past. I found food that I didn't know I loved so much till I didn't have it for 3 years. :) I found people I've loved for years. I found new faces that I've loved building relationships with. I have received from you. I've tried to give back a little portion of that. Yes, I wanted to escape from Wal-Mart and the grocery store at times. But I found a whole lot more that made me want to stay than that made me want to turn tail and run.
I'm able to be a bit more honest than I used to be, I think. And I found that you are more honest as well. And you know what? Down under all the labels we wear - missionary, stay-at-home mom, working young adult, grandparent - we all look a lot the same. I've heard my story and my struggles echoing off your lips and out of your heart. The sin nature I've been struggling with is the same one you've struggled with as well. The things God's been trying to teach me are some of the same things you've been trying to learn as well.
My worlds feel like two totally different places. Yet, they intersect each other. I've been keeping up with what's going on in Peru while I've been here. I keep up more or less with what's going on here while I'm there.
4 days.
4 days and I will again be in my other world. I will again sleep in my bed under 3 blankets and wear 4 layers of clothing on a regular basis. I'll go back to shoes all the time. I'll be back to eating potatoes and speaking Quechua. I will once again hug familiar arms I haven't seen for 3 months. I'll hear stories and share stories. I'm excited.
I brought Peru in my heart with me. I still carry it. I took the US in my heart to Peru. I still carry that too. I carry Peru and I carry PA in my heart at the same time - the people, the food, the places. I call myself Peruvican sometimes. Too American to be Peruvian, but too Peruvian to be totally American.
I left home to head home in May. I found home here again. Now I'm leaving home to head home again. I'm refreshed. I've loved spending my summer with you. You have blessed my life tremendously in the last 3 months.
Thank you.

I don't think I'm in Peru anymore....

This world is a strange place sometimes, especially with the ease of travel these days. You get in a car in Lancaster County, drive half an hour and go from downtown, multicultural Lancaster city to dodging horse deposits on the roads of Amish country. You go 6 hours from mid-PA and end up on the beach, in a different climate and a culture built around the ocean. You fly to Orlando and suddenly you're surrounded by 6-foot-high talking mice and ducks. Oh, and princesses who live in castles on clouds and break into random songs about birds, brooms and beaus. Or you drive to the mid-west and suddenly find yourself the only one in a large crowd of people not wearing a cowboy hat and boots. It's just the way our world works.
If it's true in our country, it's doubly true coming from (or going to) another country. It's even true if you've been in another country for a while and then come back to the country of your birth, believe it or not. So just for fun, here are some stories of reverse culture shock and cultural discoveries, as experienced over the last few weeks.

Orlando airport, 2 AM, May 27
I am dying of thirst. I never drink much when I travel and I've been out of my house now for about 16 hours. I have two big, heavy suitcases, plus my backpack and my purse, and I can't leave them unattended. But I am so thirsty. And there's another problem. It's 2 AM and there is nothing open, as far as I can see. I go to look, sweating in the Orlando heat, wheeling my suitcases with me. I'm getting desperate, looking around for one place that's open, where I can buy one measly little bottle of water. Is that too much to ask? If I don't find water soon, they are going to find a dead body when the airport wakes up in the morning. And then I spy it. Hanging on the wall, refreshment, free for the taking, a small silver bowl with a button that says PUSH. In my head, I see the light shining on it, as though from a spotlight above it. I hear the music, the long "voila" sound that comes with some great discovery. I rush over to it like a dehydrated desert tourist would rush to a tiny oasis. I push the button and, like magic, water gushes out the top. I stand there and drink for what feels like forever, trying desperately to satiate the deep thirst inside. Finally, unable to intake any more water, I breathe a deep sigh of relief and marvel at the beauty of the simple water fountain.

Lancaster, PA, 9 AM, May 30
Pancakes are a pretty good option for a breakfast food, I thought. My roommate CJ was outside painting and I was determined to make a good breakfast for us both. I know how to make pancakes. So I measured and mixed and found everything I needed. 1 egg, it said. Open up the refrigerator. That's normal. Grab the egg carton (eggs don't come the same way in Peru, but that wasn't too bad.) Then I opened up the egg carton and started laughing hysterically as I saw, marching across each little white egg in pink ink "Use by...." and a date. I suppose US chickens must be smarter than Peruvian chickens, knowing how to eat all those letters in order so they'll come out in order on the egg. I've decided part of my ministry for my second term in Peru will be teaching chickens how to write the expiration date on their eggs, just to prove to myself forever that I am a good teacher! :)

Lancaster, PA, 3 PM, May 30
Apparently, the days of struggling to carry 4 big bags of groceries in from the car are a thing of the not-so-distant past. The modern American woman can carry 8 or even 10 bags of groceries in from the car without breaking a sweat or throwing her back out. Why? Because they only bag 1 TYPE of food in a bag! Why? Who knows! Maybe they need more bags to recycle to make that plastic wood they use for playgrounds nowadays. Maybe one type of food can infest another. Or maybe they are only making water-bottle caps half as big so that they can use all the extra plastic to make plastic bags. I've decided that as often as I can remember, I'm taking a Peruvian market bag to the grocery store from now on.

Lancaster, PA, 5 PM, May 30
It's been a day for culture shock. Might as well make it a full day and head to the grocery store with CJ and Liz to pick up some extras we forgot earlier. And so my brain is overloaded with 50 choices of everything from cookies (how many kinds of Oreos can people come up with?) to yogurt (organic, plain, whipped, natural, light, fruit-flavored, Greek style...). I have yet to venture into the cereal aisle. I realized why the American society has such a problem with eating too much junk food. We have too many options and can never get bored with them. And the advertising industry is built around one thing: make one good thing, get people hooked on it; improve it and get people to buy more. Unfortunately, as I've also realized in the grocery store over the past few weeks, the good-for-you food is the stuff you can get anywhere in the world. The stuff that I look at and go "Well, I haven't had that for a while!" is the junk food. Not a good thing. I think I'll take minimal trips to the grocery store this summer. It's okay...I can't find anything when I'm there anyway! Guess that's why they make those "Where to find it in the grocery store" signs that hang from the ceiling, for people like me.

Lancaster PA, 11:30 AM, mid-June
Liz and I left home an hour ago to run errands and we're coming back already! I laugh, making a comparison to doing errands in Peru, where getting downtown alone takes me 45 minutes on public transportation. And then I realize something. If I can pack 5 things in a day in Peru, I can pack about 10 in the same day in the US. Things move faster and take less time. And then I got to thinking about cooking. Cooking in Peru is easily a 1-2 hour process (longer, if you take forever to cook, like I do) till you get everything together, cut it all up and cook it. There are virtually no pre-cooked meals that you pop in the oven for 20 minutes and serve, no pre-chopped vegetables or ones that come from a can. Therefore, it would seem that if the American lifestyle moves so much faster than the Peruvian one, there would be more time to cook from scratch like they do in Peru, right? Wrong! And as we drive through the streets of Lancaster, heading home, I realize again "This is definitely not Peru!"

Things are different here in the United States. But different isn't always bad. I enjoy sleeping in air-conditioning when it's 95 degrees outside. I also enjoy the remote control that came with the air conditioner I'm using when I get awake in the middle of the night a bit chilly and want to turn it off without fully waking up. And, as much as I believe there are way too many junk food options in the grocery store (way too many options, period), they do look awfully good!

There is, however, one thing that does not change: God. God is the same whether I'm looking up at a star-studded sky in Peru or eating cherries in Lancaster. I'm so thankful for the assurance that God is always the same and will never change.

Living between Two Worlds

For those of you who are not aware of this, I am in the States!
I arrived back on May 27 and am living in Lancaster city for the summer with some friends, reconnecting, recharging and getting ready to go back for another three years in Peru. I'd really like to get together with as many people as possible during this time, so hopefully I'll be able to see all of you this summer.
Being a missionary is a unique position to be in. There is a part of me that is in two worlds and I'm trying to learn how to live between the two of them. There is a part of me that is American. I look it, I speak it, and I think it and I love my people here. There is also a part of me that is Peruvian. I speak it, I think it and I love my people there also. (I don't look it yet. They tell me I should dye my hair. I'm not convinced yet.)
So, for those of you who wonder "What does it look like or feel like to live between two worlds?", let me give you a glimpse.
It means....
... people threatening to tie you up and keep you in one place while people in the other place threaten punishment if you don't visit. And you want both.
... leaving home to go home and missing home while you're home.
... leaving family to go see family and missing family while you're with family.
... being surrounded by open arms. One set is open, releasing you while the other set is open, receiving you. And then they turn around and release you again to the other set of arms, which is open to receive you back.
... always wondering, no matter which world you are in, what is happening in the other world.
... two sets of favorite foods that you crave while you're away.
... doing things that seem a little off-kilter because "that's how you do it in the other world".
... constantly comparing things in your mind between the two worlds, no matter where you are.

In another vein, I feel a little bit like I am living Acts 2 right now, where everyone shared everything in common. I feel so blessed being back in Lancaster, among my family here again, enjoying seeing everyone after so long. Thank you all for the warm welcome back, for listening and loving, for understanding, for spending time, for doing and for just being. You are a blessing.

Life as I see it...

I'm so thankful for people who can see beyond life as I see it. I'm thankful for the people who see beyond the day-to-day stuff and can see a bigger picture than I see most days as I live out the normal, day-to-day routines. I'm thankful for the random surprise notes in the post office box that say "You are making a difference" or "We're praying for you" or "God is using you". It is such a blessing and an encouragement to me to hear that. Why? Because many times it's so easy to get stuck missing the forest for the trees.
It strikes me funny sometimes the way life is. I don't even feel most of the time like I'm living in another country because it becomes so normal after a while. Someone commented to me the other month, "You have such an interesting life!" It is interesting. I can't deny it. I love living in Peru. I love my life. I love the opportunities to walk on history, squeeze on public transportation, blunder my way through a sentence in Quechua and wash bananas in jungle rivers. But I feel like most of the time, life in Peru is just...well...life with a little more spice and interesting additions than normal. Not that life is boring by any means - not in the least! But there are a lot of things that are just a part of normal life and don't feel too spectacular or glamorous or interesting. Most days just fly by in a mad rush of grading homework, teaching classes, planning lessons, making up worksheets, washing dishes, doing laundry, paying bills, trying to figure out the best way to teach my kids, making up games for school, eating lunch, trying to remember to drink enough water, doing paperwork, discussing some issue with someone, or going downtown to buy some necessary item. It's easy to get caught up in those things and miss the big-picture things, how God is moving and what God is doing through and in spite of me. Which is why I'm thankful for other people who have an outside perspective and open my eyes to see it too.
So thank you to all those who help remind me of the bigger picture, of the grand adventure I really am a part of, of the beauty of God's work that surrounds me. Thank you for those who remind and help me to look at the beauty of the forest and stop concentrating on the individual trees. And mostly, thank you to God, who is the author of it all and, in the midst of homework, schoolwork and housework, is working greater and grander things - things, like the author of Hebrews says, "not yet seen".