Back to the Future

Crayons made the headlines, fancy schmancy pencil cases in odd shapes and all manner of collapsibility made their promising debut, and glue, scissors and rulers took center stage as retailers prepared for the yearly event. Not a single ad passed by the opportunity to tout its Back to School sale.  Only a cheap skate, penny pincher mom could pass by the new boxes of 64s and the wrist slapper bracelet rulers to insist that last year's school tools were still working fine and good enough. Oh, yeah, I was that mom more than once, but no more. Grandma's out to score some points with this year's cute, new gizmos.

We combined Daddy's birthday with a Back to School night and Grandma served supper to the kids on a Styrofoam tray plate, each section filled with kid friendly cafeteria chow look alikes: mac n cheese, grapes, carrots with dip and a brownie.  Besides each plate a paper lunch bag held a few school item surprises with a personal Happy Back to School greeting written on the front.

After the meal, we pulled out supplies to craft candy pencils. What fun!

You can find the instructions at this website I found on Pinterest:
http://www.livelaughrowe.com/back-to-school-craft-a-pencil-treat/
I substituted a Sweet Tart long roll for the Rolos. (Since we've made this, I've seen  another site that gave instructions for making these, and they folded the yellow paper in 1/2 inch folds before they glued or taped it together, so it looks like the ridges in a real pencil)

I've missed many opportunities to celebrate life in little and big milestones, but I'm glad I nailed this one. Life is always about learning.  Anytime the learning process can be reinforced with  fun and curiosity is important to me. I continually pray my grand kids will enjoy learning and that their school experience will be filled with success, teachers and staff who make learning fun and friends who will enjoy the journey with them.

I've become aware of the many New Testament letters that end with the closing "...grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." There's always room to grow and more to know about Life as Christ designed it and planned for us to experience it.  So I'm praying for this growth these days, for myself, family or others who I am prompted to remember.

Back to Work.  After several weeks off, my office chair is occupied again and I'm catching up on what happened in the library while I was gone. Campus is quiet over the summer, so I didn't miss much, but it's time to hire new student workers, fix a bulletin board to Welcome Back campus returnees, set up the website calendar for the year ahead, and other first-of-the-semester tasks. "At least I like my job" helps get me going in the morning and "I like the people I work with" gives me incentive to get there, while inbox emails and urgent things to do keep me busy so I quickly transition from loving to be home to feeling that I have a place to make a difference and I can do this going back to work thing.

I turned 60 the day after I turned the calendar to August 1st. Nothing like a decade birthday to take you Back to the Past. Friends and family bring it up with outdated pictures of younger yous, cards that mock the primitive era you were born in and those ubiquitous forward emails that try to make you feel like the good old days were somehow better.

I usually discard the pesky inbox arrivals, but one this week tempted me to read it with this title line:
"How Old is Grandma?"
The reader was to guess the age of a person born before a long list of inventions and commonly used conveniences today- dishwashers, TV, penicillin, credit cards-to name a few. Then came the list of practices no longer commonly practiced like getting married before you live together, keeping the Ten Commandments...and of course the list of what items used to cost. It tacked on words that now have new meaning-grass, coke, etc. and words that didn't exist in that ancient world, like "software".
Grandma it turns out is 61 years old. And that's the HA HA ending.  What I have to say about that?  LOL!

Seriously, I have moments when I remember that my days are numbered, but I also had a moment this week where I paused in gratitude for the goodness of my life now and then. And I maybe understood a bit clearer what it means to live each day to the fullest, because no one is assured of what tomorrow will bring. Whether an infant or someone a couple decades ahead of me in years. It was one of those A HA moments where I was thinking about how confident I felt at age 18, how youth live like there is no tomorrow, and then remembering recent news of deaths, young and old. And how I know that God has a purpose in life and death and those who know him live forever, whether a short or long time here on this earth. It's a gift to be at peace with that, and if another birthday adds more wisdom and a year well lived, than our God is to be praised!

Thanks to my husband, I had some of the birthday attention you would expect at 60 years. Like this sign in the yard. But he chose a balloon that said, "Aged to perfection". Awww... And he created a treasure hunt for me where every hiding place held coins, first pennies then progressing upwards to dollar bills. Next there were 4 gift cards at $15 each.  What a creative and special man!


In the birthday package my sister sent me, she included some scrapbook/journals of my grandmother who died when my kids were still young. I've been taken Back to the Faith of a godly woman as I've read her thoughts and the sermons or poems she chose to copy or past in the stained, worn pages of the Essick Manufacturing Company scrap papers. Other pages show notes she wrote down from a sermon, maybe she had heard on the radio. Sometimes I wonder if  she wrote some of the uncredited writings herself.

Here are some excerpts:
When Joshua succeeded Moses, God gave him his presence and the Book of the Law.
"We dare not send our children forth to face life with any less.  We cannot make our children into good Christians by training them to behave.  We have to teach them what to believe.  We must pray every step of the way. We need to raise our family on our knees with a consciousness of Christ ever besides us. If they can have the background of a godly, happy home and this unshakable faith that the Bible is indeed the Word of God, they will have a foundation that the forces of hell cannot shake."  Taken from a page that was entitled Building with the Bible in the Home, by Mrs. Billy Graham.

"Christ Jesus left all of heaven's wealth
To gather through the centuries a
  a people for Himself.
He died to set men free
From sin and hell; oh, take Him now
  and live eternally.
     Wonderful words
Oh, counsels wise and wonderful
and promises that heal and bless;
The sweet perfection of His love
In joy, and peace, and righteiousness,
The great Eternal Mystery,
The great revelation of His grace."

John 3:16
"God so loved you that he gave you His Son,
God's great desire is to save us from sin, God so loved us that he gave, He came in a babe.
God was in the Son and revealed what He was, and who He was
God so loved that He was moved with compassion
God so loved us, told us to watch careful and prayerful.
God so loved he gave His son to help others."


Look for more of her musings in my next post.

The Summertime Visit

She came from down south,
Brought Ian and Dominic, 4 & 2
Filled Nana's house with noise and toys
And so much fun.

She wanted to visit places of home, still in her heart, 
Local restaurants, a nearby lake we had often
Picnicked at, the Elkhart County Fair,
And a long time friend.

  

So we introduced the boys to these Indiana places,
Baby animals to pet at the fair, kiddie rides,
Chief ice cream cones, more than once,
Downtown Goshen, and a miniature train display.

This daughter now shops resale,
The bargain hunting gene finally showing up
Nana buys trucks and cars, while she
Finds heavier clothes for this up north weather.

The living room carpet hides during their stay,
Under the scattered puzzles, books, cars and games.
The dolls sit prettily in their carriages, 
Until the girl cousins come over.

The boys have no cuddling in mind,
More fun to roll the dollies down the stairs
And laugh at their tumble. Then back to
Playing air hockey.

Nana found a perfect sized bike for Ian,
At the resale shop, affording some cool rides
Together, around the neighborhood,
Exploring every cul de sac.

Dominic loved the swing in the neighborhood park,
Cousins threw stones in the creek there and
Climbed into the playground fort
Where Nana read a story.

We tie-dyed tee shirts in the yard,
Had a picnic in the town park ,
Tumbled with Uncle Austin
And played lots of Uno.

We listened to Bob and Larry sing silly songs,
EVERY time we were in the car, and
Nana got her fill of hugs and kisses, (and Bob and Larry!)
Carrying Dominic close, often, because he asked.

Papa got in on the fun when he came home from work,
And Daddy flew up to join us later in the week.
What a happy reunion at the airport!
Daddy's legs were swarmed with hugs and squeals.

Bedtime rituals didn't work as usual at Nana's,
There was plenty of stalling and getting out of bed
For water,  to wipe noses, to report on ouchies
And to get tucked in again.

We played hard and this Nana stayed up later,
And now that they are gone, it's quiet,
Nana is catching up on sleep and missing
Them.

Missing  Dominic's spontaneous chuckle,
The sparkle in Ian's eye at a new discovery,
And "Geard Jesus, bless this food, AMEN!"
Jesus is dear and good all in one word to Dominic.

Missing the companionship of a daughter,
Who shares my love of healthy cooking,
Starbucks coffee and games of Scrabble.
Who is kind and thoughtful and a friend I cherish.

Maybe someday we'll live closer,
But for now, we'll make the most of these times together,
And thank our heavenly Father for family and love, laughter and
LIFE!

Randomly Yours

Reflections on the week after our trip:

Recovery
Not sure if my tiredness this week was from the trip recovery, expending energy every morning for VBS, staying up late to work on a photo project or all of the above combined. Whatever the reason, it was good to be off work and decide how I wanted to manage my time.

Bible School is lots of fun and our church puts a huge amount of creativity, expense and people power into making it a spectacular event. I was a ranch hand at the the Sonwest Rodeo, (Bible school theme) which meant I followed 3 fifth grade girls around to four different stations every morning.  We had Bible story time, and games, crafts and snacks all focused around the Bible theme for the day. It was also exciting to experience the week with my two of my grand kids.  Shawn and Aubrey came home with me after the last day so we could process our learnings and enjoy some time together.

The last scene of the skit we listened to during the week was performed the following Sunday during our worship service. All VBS attendees were invited to come up and we sang our theme songs from the week for the church.  What a great way to end it all! I pray the message from God's word enforced in so many ways this week will be stored in little hearts forever.


Bible Texts
I enjoyed reading from the book of Luke this week in my quiet time. The Message paraphrase put some thoughts into new wording for me.
Matthew 7
^13-14 “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.

...a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time... does this describe my practice of the Christian life sometimes? It's easy to bounce from blog to blog, take words and phrases of respected Christian leaders and make them my mantra for the week. It seems life giving to link into a Facebook article and nod my head in ascent, then file the interesting perspective into the Now I'm Smarter and Better Armed folder of all things that make me successful. It takes less time and effort than waking up an hour earlier than usual to read and take notes on Scripture passages and give vigorous and total attention to being still and listening for the voice of the Spirit.

Maybe I've bought into what crowds of people believe that God is most glorified when I'm happy and my life is going smoothly. That my prayers are all for me and the people I love. That if I follow the right righteous steps I can get my husband to love me like Christ loves the church and my children to grow up to honor me by sending us on some kind of exotic 50th anniversary trip (your likely off the hook on that one, kids, being I'm 59 and celebrating 17 years of marriage :)

I recently finished reading the book, Cat and Dog Theology: Rethinking Our Relationship with Our Master by Bob Sjogren and Gerald Robison.  If cat and dog's natures could be summed up into a theology stance it might be something along the lines of , Cats believing, 'You exist to serve me', while dog's attitude is more, 'I exist to serve You'. The book promotes the dog theology as the better way for us to approach our lives before our heavenly Master. There are many good points in the book, although the analogy becomes a bit overworked.  Near the end the author gives tribute to some thinking borrowed from John Piper.  In particular, Piper's quote, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him". Am I thoroughly convinced that the best life I can live is in desiring God and His glory more than ANYTHING?

An illustration included in the last chapter of the book, tells the story about a time Floyd McClung visited with the elderly Corrie ten Boom. He noticed that she had bought some new luggage and learned that an angel had appeared to her to say that she would have 10 more years to live. The luggage was her way of celebrating. After five of those years, Corrie's health deteriorated and she was in pain and agony. She told Floyd that the angel said she was going to die.  She protested because she had not be given the full 10 years that had been promised earlier.  The angel said he was sent because God was willing to take her home early. Corrie then asked the angel which would bring the most glory to God, for her to go to heaven or for her to continue here, even if it meant living in her present painful condition. Whatever God desired would be her answer. Now there is a heart completely submitted to glorifying God! I'm not sure that would have been my response.

Unless I'm reading His Word regularly and putting it into practice, how can I even get to know Him better or know what brings him glory? May my desires be infected with the joy of His presence and learning to know His will for me.

“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on."
Matt. 7:24 Msg

The End of our Costa Rican Adventure

Wednesday morning we ate our last breakfast at El Palmar, folded up sleeping bags, sorted out work clothes or other items that we didn't want to take back with us and added them to the pile for George.  Most of our unwanted items can be reused. We all made a line and circled through the kitchen area saying our goodbyes to the ladies who had cooked for us all week. There were some tears and many hugs and then it was time to go.

We piled into Eduardo's van, while another vehicle was loaded with our luggage.  Our destination was a hot springs resort.  After we arrived we walked through a forested trail to get to the warm water. Besides a main open-sided building that had a small restaurant there were several pools of water with underwater ledges around the inside of the pool for sitting on. Each body of water had a sign telling it's temperature. Some were much hotter than others. The warm water felt good on first contact, but I felt more comfortable sitting on the top edges of a pool, with just my legs and feet in the water. It was very relaxing and we soaked in the enjoyment of doing nothing at all.

Our next treat was eating at the hotel's buffet lunch. Rice, salads, several kinds of meat and various drinks were all very pleasing to look at and very tasty. Again we had free WiFi. We felt very pampered.

From there we headed for Grecia.  We stopped briefly in the town of Zarcero and enjoyed the central park which had some unique shrub formations.

 

Because Grecia is in the mountains, our trip was a winding, sometimes steep climb on busy roads. The scenery was awesome even though the day was a bit hazy and the clouds hung low.  As we pulled into George's drive we were looking forward to a couple nights of some comforts we had been without, like warm showers and some American food.

Anita had sloppy joes for supper with potato chips and chocolate cake for dessert. I had a good visit with Anita before heading to bed. The house was a buzz with our presence. The Borbons are wonderful hosts and have a house with a grand view from any direction.

View from the back yard

The next morning after pancakes for breakfast, we gathered on the back porch for our devotional time. George shared his history with us.  He has a very interesting story and shows the awesome power of our God to deliver those he calls out of darkness.  God has used George to start many churches in Central America and he has a passion to preach the good news.

On tap for Thursday was shopping for souvenirs.  A Walmart store was the best place to buy local coffee and Kevin and I stocked up for family and friends. Next we visited the town of Sarchi and bought wooden crafted items that were made there. Some of the items were hand painted . We took a tour of the factory behind the store. The machines are run by the force of a huge water wheel.  The section of the work shop we were in made ox cart wheels.

We stopped for lunch at George's house and Anita had another wonderful meal for us.  We had a brief rest and then went to the downtown market which mostly had food items for sale.  Steve wanted to buy a special coffee here that is more rare and more expensive. We had to try some also; the price was still better there than buying it on line or at a specialty shop in the States. From the market place we walked to the central park and spent some time viewing the Catholic church on the edge of the square and taking group pictures.

The Borbons were disappointed that our schedule did not include a time to visit their church in Grecia.  I was glad we stopped there to see the building.

Inside the Grecia church

Our last stop of the day was the mall. It was small by our standards, but the stores were very Americanized. The food court was our main attraction as we spread out and made our choices for supper from KFC, Pizza Hut, or Taco Bell. Kevin and I had a chicken wrap at KFC and finished up with frozen yogurt.

That night we sat around the dining room table at the Borbons and listened to the last three devotionals from our group members.  It was also interesting to listen to the CD of the words of prophecy that had been prayed over the group the Sunday morning before we left.  We could see how God had been working according to his word. We would leave the next morning with mixed feelings and each of us being changed for the better because of our experiences in Costa Rica.

Cold cereal was set out for breakfast in the morning, and we finished packing suitcases in preparation for leaving.  Kevin and I had finished our packing the night before, and I grabbed a cup of coffee to take with me to the upstairs balcony. Anita came and joined me, and I so enjoyed our time of sharing. She is a kindred spirit and we had a lot to catch up on. When the word came to load up the van to go, we ended our conversation and scurried outside to merge into the group picture being taken in the back yard. Anita was driving their SUV with some of the team's luggage. George suggested I ride to the airport with her, so we had a few more moments together.

While we waited for our flight many of us made last minute purchases at the souvenir store in the airport. For those who had not exchanged their colonies back to dollars, it was the last chance to make good on their money.

The flight to Houston was uneventful, but we only had a two hour layover before boarding our flight to Chicago.

Matt by a welcome sign in the Houston airport

After landing we waited almost an hour in the customs line, then had to pick up our checked in luggage, wheel it to another area where it was reloaded to our Chicago flight, and then go through security once again. Joel, Lance, Kevin and I got into the slowest line and we waited nervously as we watched the minutes counting down to our departure flight. The rest of the team went on ahead while Steve waited on the other side of security for us. Once through we made a mad dash for our gate and found they were just starting to board the first group. Steve decided to try and find some food for us as there would not be a meal served on this flight and with the time change it was now somewhere between lunch and supper. Kevin went with him.  The group waited together until last to board, watching the hallway for the food gatherers to appear. I explained our situation to the gate attendant and waited to the side hoping they would arrive soon. The others all boarded. Only the standbys were left. Steve and Kevin made it with sacks of food and we boarded without incident. We each had a half a wrap to eat which would hold us over until we reached Chicago. Whew!  No one would have wanted a round two at La Quinta; no matter had nice it had been seven days ago!

We landed in Chicago around 9:30. We would eat our last meal at the same place we had eaten our first meal of the journey--good ole' McDonalds! McDonalds does know how to do FAST and can herd a group through pretty efficiently.  We waited to eat until we had gathered luggage from the bagging carousel and were out of the airport, curbside. Our drivers for the ride home, hovered nearby and were notified that they could come and pick us up. We were headed home!

Here is what Amanda, Auron, and Elika had on our counter as a welcome back! Thank you!!

Father, thank you for providing this trip for Kevin and me. How faithful you have been! Keep our hearts poised to learn even more lessons as we process the experience in the days ahead.  Bless the work for your kingdom in Costa Rica. Bless the new friends we have made. Thank you that we are all one in You and will be forever.

The Rainforest Up Close and Personal

Sunday afternoon, Euardo chauffeured us to the river which was not too far away. We were eager to see some rainforest wild life.  The boat was long and narrow and held all of us plus the people from Grecia.  The river was very placid and the ride was relaxing.  We enjoyed the view and animals we saw.

A sloth with a baby-very unusual to see

bats

monkeys

 Before the boat ride

Me and Shirley

Just as we came back to our pier, it started to rain. What great timing!

On the way back to El Palmar we stopped at a hotel in the town of Pueblo Viejo.  We enjoyed an ice cream cone and made contact with family and friends with the free WiFi.  It did seem like a long time to not be in touch.  How much we depend on these electronic gadgets!

Some in the group either did not have a cell phone along or opted not to use it. They were approached by a few men from a group who were from the States, doing mission work in CR also.  They offered to pray for our group who were waiting for the cell phone users. God had some prophetic words through them and our group was blessed.

We finished out the day with a group time and decided to get to work the next morning before breakfast, planning to make use of the cooler hours in the day. We also heard that we would be leaving a day earlier than planned.  There was a threat of mud slides in our area and if the roads would wash out, we would have a day's travel to get to Grecia, which would mean we would miss our day of shopping. I don't think anyone was disappointed with this announcement!

So early Monday morning we donned our boots, hats, sunscreen, bug spray and work gloves and went back to work.  It was more pleasant to work in the early morning, but the temperature rose very quickly.  Monday was a repeat of digging, pounding and framing. Again, we had many water breaks and a siesta period mid-morning until early afternoon.

A load of lumber being delivered.  I believe all the lumber used on our project was from one tree.

A banana delivery!









 

Shirley and mango

Nothing like fresh pina!

Geiselle and Shirley-very special ladies from
Grecia.  I enjoyed speaking with them in Spanish.  They were very patient with me and knew a bit of English.  We shared about family and life.  Geiselle, unfortunately got ill on Sat. and I did not get to see her after that.

Melissa, Taylor and Matt G. all had birthdays while we were there.  George surprised us with a cake he bought Monday afternoon. The candle was lit 3 times so they each had a turn blowing it out.

Another game of Golf. A great way to pass time and enjoy our team mates.  Thanks for teaching us, Jackie!

Parrots congregating in a tree on the property

Our time in El Palmar was drawing to a close.  One more day of work and probably only half a day as we have almost finished what was expected we would do.  I will miss the people who we have spent time with all week.

Some report says Costa Ricans are the happiest people on earth.  These sure were.

Estevan, Eddy-Roberto, and Tino

Macho-the project manager and a jokester
We all loved Macho.










The Pastor of El Palmar-Tino

Pastor's wife Tina, on left

one of our cooks

Maria Elena-very special

Eduardo, our driver

The last day in El Palmar!  The women now are moved from the back digging hole to the front drive where we need to scrape gravel off the driveway.  It isn't easy to find the gravel as it is covered with grass and dirt.  After the gravel, a pickup truck load of sand is brought in and we shovel that into buckets to go over the packed ground in the new building.

 

Clean up begins!












                                                          The roof is put on. 

The project is completed! The floor will be cemented later. We were able to give George money to buy the cement.

That night an impromptu meeting is called and church folk come for a dedication service. There are many who testify and express their thanksgiving for what they now have.  We pray that the children who will be taught in this new building will learn about God's kingdom. Many of the cooks give glory to God for healing all who got sick.  They were very impacted by the events on Saturday.

God has been faithful to us and them.  I am thankful to have been a part of this work.
Tomorrow starts our journey back, first to Grecia and then home!