Hashin' It Out

Breakfast Hash

What to do on a cold, sleety morning when I can't get my normal ride in? Make some hash, of course! I actually make a really nice breakfast every morning, almost always revolving around eggs: egg scramble with bellpeppers, mushrooms, and zucchini; omelette with squash and chicken meatballs; eggs and bacon; eggs with homemade sausage...you get the picture. I almost always have a good amount of veggies in whatever egg dish I create, and so I was excited to find this recipe for butternut squash and apple hash: urbanposer.blogspot.com/2012/01/apple-butternut-squash-bacon-breakfast.html
I bought apple chicken sausage to go in mine, but you could use whatever you wanted. And since I love nuts, I threw in some pecans, as well(which was her protein suggestion for vegans). And since a good hash isn't complete without an over-easy egg sitting on top, well, I did it right. A good start to a good, cold, dreary, inside day of packing.

Yep, packing. I'm heading back down to New Tribes' headquarters again tomorrow. I'm just a sucker for a nine hour drive, I guess. I'm going back for their SYIS workshop(Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills). It deals a lot with developing better listening and communication skills, with an emphasis on Conflict Management/Resolution. I was planning on doing this workshop in the Fall, but due to some locational changes with New Tribes, it ends up being much more cost efficient for me to go back now. I squeaked in as the 20th person, filling up the class. I'm not entirely sure that I'm rested enough for the kind of sitting/taking in tons of info. that will be required again, but I'm giving it a shot!

I'd sure appreciate your prayers as I:

-drive 9 hours Sat, 1/25
-sit through 44 hours of class- that I would learn and be challenged
-spend time with some of the New Tribes' Member Care staff
-am out biking in the evenings following class
-drive back 9 hours Sat., 2/2

Trainings

Part of my responsibility in Member Care is education. And as I'm going along, I'm learning that the education component of this should never stop. There are so many things for me to take in to help me in the role of caring for others- so many things that I just don't know about and can't accomplish without teaching and training. This past week I went through two trainings at New Tribes Missions headquarters in Sanford, FL. The first was Peer to Peer Debriefing, and the second was the Cerny Smith Assessment Coach Certification Training.

1)Peer to Peer. This is the one that I was so excited to go to, because I think debriefings are vitally important to the health and longevity of missionaries. This type of debriefing is not like the intense, week long one that I went through last March, which was more allowing one to unwrap an entire term/multiple years/multiple events, etc. I'd very much like to go through that training so that IM would have someone who could offer that service inside of our agency. This type is for one time, crisis events;" revolution, armed robbery, murder, kidnapping, shooting, evacuation, looting, bombing, destruction of home or property, natural disasters(hurricane, earthquake, floods, typhoon, fire, etc), and medical emergencies. Other types of trauma include: open opposition, false accusation, betrayal be friends, cancellation of a long term project, team conflict, change of role, turning back of spiritual children, immorality of colleagues, divorce or desertion of spouse, death or illness or violence within the family, wayward and/or troubled children, epidemic, sudden death by accident, deportation, and unexpected loss of support."

It's important to know that debriefing is not counseling. It's allowing a person to tell his/her story in a methodical manner through discussing feeling, thoughts, and reactions, and moving them through the place of understanding that the shock they're feeling and things they're experiencing as a result are normal. It helps walk them through where they are currently to returning to "norm" by taking small steps of adaptive coping that were norms for them before the trauma, and making a plan to restore independent functioning or referring them for further care. I loved the simple process that was taught and would love to see more people within IM trained in this method of debriefing.

2)Cerny Smith Assessment Coach Certification Training. The CSA is a stress assessment test for cross cultural workers, whether they be military, diplomats, students, or missionaries. It's done by a Christian organization after years of collecting data and working out the consistency of the results(by two brilliant Ph.Ds.  Again, it's not a tool used for counseling purposes, necessarily, but to help cross cultural workers answer these questions:

*How am I doing?
*What can I learn from how I am doing?
*What can I do about it?

It measures 20 different areas of stress: organizational relationship, organizational support, work load, companionship, cultural skills, transitions, cultural relationships, situational crisis, relational support, effective relationships, family adjustment, extended family/friends, resiliency, decision making, optimism, stress management, spirituality, habits, physical health, and past stresses. Then it sorts them from your strongest to your weakest, giving a more detailed report on the three you're the strongest in to the three that you're the weakest in. The idea is that people can often help themselves better than someone else can by using the strengths that they already possess to keep moving forward. If we highlight the strengths and help them identify some basic action steps to take to work on their weaknesses(based off their strengths), people are more empowered in their own growth and coping process.

The weather was absolutely lovely until the end of the week. I managed to get a ride in every evening following class(except Fri. when it was super windy). I learned that riding on flat ground takes a lot more pedaling than riding the same amount on hilly ground, and my knees were pretty sore after every ride. I was happy to return to hilly Charlotte, where even though I have to work hard going uphill, I get to coast going down!

The main bldg. in NTM's beautiful campus

The weather was balmy and lovely until Thurs. evening when the temps dropped 30 degrees. Our Cerny Smith training was in a non-heated room and the females were all freezing. =-D

The view I walked out to each day

Road Tripping

Goodness, it's been a while. Hi, friends! I left Charlotte on the 12th to drive down to Sanford, FL for a week of two trainings(I'll write about that within the next couple of days). I decided to break the nine hour trip into two days of easy driving by stopping in Savannah, GA, to explore a bit. Two of my supporters sent me a very generous personal Christmas gift, and since I've always wanted to see a bit of Savannah, I decided to use it for that purpose. Thanks, C & T! It was a lovely overnight trip getting to see historic Savannah. I didn't get to see a lot during the day light, but here are a few pictures:

School of Faith

"It is here, in my corner of God's earth, that I am assigned my lessons in the School of Faith." EE

Lessons learned and currently learning:

-Nowhere, other than in the will of the Father, can we expect to find significance, security, and serenity.
-The will of God is always different from what I expect, always bigger, and ultimately, infinitely more glorious than my wildest imaginings.
-God knows. Let the Lord of the universe do the worrying.
-Today is mine. Tomorrow is none of my business.
-The cause of our discontent:We simply do not believe God. The wilderness experience leads to the Promised Land. It is the path God chose for us. His Word is established forever, and He tells us in a thousand ways that His will is our peace, His choices for us will lead to fulfillment and joy, the way of transgressors is hard. Do we suppose that we could find a way better than His?
-The only escape from self-love is self-surrender. When I resist, I cheat myself. when I yield, I find joy.

**all from Elizabeth Elliot's, Keep A Quiet Heart

It Just Takes 3

As I scrolled down the five pages of my end of the year financial report(support that came into IM for me in the month of Dec), my heart began to sink. Most missionaries hope and pray for end of the year giving to either get them out of debt, or to help them start the New Year on a decent financial footing, and I am no different from them. Though I'm not in debt, this past year has been extremely hard financially and I was entering the New Year with enough support for my personal monthly needs, but almost none for my ministry needs. I put a lot of time and effort into an end of the year financial wrap-up that went out to about 80 people and several churches. I need about $8340(conservatively) just for ministry expenses this year(traveling, camps, conferences, trainings, etc), and so I had begun praying that half of that number would be given through end of the year contributions. Then I stopped and realized what a ridiculous prayer that was when God could provide any amount that He wants(and adjusted my prayers accordingly)!

I scrolled down the first page of my financial report. Nothing new. Second page. Nothing new. I felt my heart beginning to slide. Third page. Nothing new. My heart was definitely beginning to splinter. How could I tell people that I can't do the trainings/camps/conferences that I've been asked to do because I just don't have the finances? How can I do my ministry this year? Fourth page. Nothing new. At that point, I stopped, feeling almost heartbroken, and beginning to get teary eyed I prayed, "Lord, help me to know what ministry You have in store for me this year and help me to be completely satisfied with what You choose to give me and how You choose to provide for me." Fifth page; only three names remain. I scanned quickly down and then my eyes jerked back up to the middle name- a regular contributor. The amount should have said $150. But it didn't. It said $5,150. As I sat there in stunned, disbelieving silence, tears began to roll down my cheeks.

God provides any way that He wants to. Would I have loved to have seen more people be excited about the ministry of Missionary Care and give that same big amount in smaller increments, but from 15-20 individuals? Yes. Would I have loved to have seen more response from the 80 beautiful, time consuming financial wrap-ups that I sent out? Absolutely. But God chose to use three families(I already knew about two of them prior to receiving my end of the year report) to provide for much of my ministry needs for this year. Out of 80 invitations to be a part of my financial team this year, three people responded. That number can seem so small and discouraging, and yet, God chose to provide 3/4 of my ministry needs for this year through three families. Out of the $8340 needed for my ministry costs for this entire year, I already have all but $2000. That means that God has provided for me to be able to:

-go through New Tribes Mission's debriefing training program to learn how to debrief missionaries when they're going through transition, grief, crisis situations, etc.
-go through training and become a Cerny Smith coach(it's a stress assessment tool for missionaries)
-spend time with the missionary students at the MT training center, both in the Winter and in the Fall
-attend Staff conf. in Romania and then spend time with staff there and possibly in Poland
-lead a team from my church to Ukraine for Eng. camp and then spend time with staff
-attend the biggest conf. on Missionary Care

Obviously, I still need the remaining amount for my projected budget for other trips, but how tremendous to know that the ones listed above have already been taken care of! God is so good! But let me say this....God would be just as good if He hadn't provided this and if I wasn't able to do the ministry that I  thought I was called to do this year. God is good. All the time. Even if I don't have the faith to believe it; He never changes. He cannot go against Himself and His nature. He loves me, and you, and He knows what is the best for each one of us. Even if He had chosen to not give me this, He would have remained a good God, and I would have had the chance to let Him unfold His goodness in a way different than I had envisioned. And He still may choose to do so. But in the meantime, I'm rejoicing in the way that He chose to provide so bountifully for my ministry through just three people.

*How has God chosen to surprise you recently?

Wrapping up the Christmas Season

These are the last of the seasonal pics. It was a super busy Christmas season; busier than last year, for sure. Last year I had just returned to the States Dec. 10th and was completely overwhelmed with jetlag and family visits and crazy emotions. This year I didn't have any of the transitional stuff going on, thank God, but it was crazy busy. With adding in mentoring this year and being a JV leader, plus other random things, there was just a lot going on when the end of the year arrived. It was all so, so good, but I'm thankful that it's over for a while. =-) I survived the Christmas party season food-wise, usually taking my own food, but occasionally cheating in small amounts. My body wasn't too thrilled with the bits of cheating, and at first I thought I had kind of derailed on weight loss in December, but since I continued with all of my daily riding, I actually did just fine and will most likely end up at around 5 pds. lost for the month, which is pretty normal for me. I've got 4 days until the end of my 8th month, so we'll see then if I hit the 45 pd. mark.

How do you eat well at Christmas time??  The answer is that you have to plan ahead. Since I'm not eating refined sugars or processed flours, etc., I don't cook with them, either. I was sent a link for a cooking blogsite where the author specializes in special allergy dietary needs; whether the allergy be eggs, wheat, nuts, dairy, gluten, etc. I've found several recipes on there that I made in December. www.elanaspantry.com She had some good dessert ideas, and I really loved her recipe for coconut bars. I messed with the recipe my 2nd time around, adding a pecan crust and then lots of shaved 73% dark choc. to the filling- and it was so good and satisfying. Not only did I like it, but I took it to a church party(and didn't tell anyone that it was gluten and dairy free) and the whole plate disappeared! At other parties I took plantain chips and guacamole for myself, and just made sure in general that I had nuts and dark chocolate on hand at any given time. I also made spicy toasted pecans with Texas Pete style sauce, and dark chocolate covered cashews with dried blueberries for gifts, and had those around to snack on. My contributions for Christmas dinner were the chocolate coconut bars and Cranberry Almond Cauliflower Rice(not actual rice, but riced cauliflower). I love the rice, and even my father(who hates broccoli and cauliflower) ate some and then had leftovers of it the next day.

The following two pictures have nothing to do with food(well, we were at a restaurant in one), but are from Tapley's visit. We didn't get to spend much time together this visit, because the first week when she was in Charlotte she had the flu. Then the second week was filled with Christmas traveling for her, and she was staying at her mom's new house(which is a lot further away than the old one). It was kind of sad to not get much time, but as always, I enjoyed the time that we were able to be together.

At her mom's house

New Year's Eve dinner at Dish with Taps, Matt, her dad, brother, and his girlfriend.

Learning the Father's Love

I've picked up one of my favorite authors again, Elizabeth Elliot. Those of you who've been following this blog for more than a couple of years more than likely will remember my slight obsession with Elizabeth, and I've decided that it's time to reacquaint myself with the wisdom that she has to share. I picked up one of my all time favorite books of hers, "Keep a Quiet Heart," which is kind of what I need at the moment. Oftentimes, things come flying at us or we're caught in the midst of someone else's life falling apart......and that can cause our hearts and minds to be all aflutter, all of the time. Worry, grief, fear can surround us, when there's really nothing we can do to remedy the situation- except pour out our hearts in fervent prayer on behalf of that other person. Elizabeth Elliot has a life- time of trials, tribulations, and triumphs in her writing and I just wanted to share a couple from this morning's reading:

From the writing, "Why is God doing this to me?":
1.We need to be pruned
2.We need to be refined

"Gold is precious, but it has to go through the fire to be refined. Faith is even more precious than gold, and will always have another test to stand."

From the writing, "Learning the Father's Love":
"Learning to pray is learning to trust the wisdom, the power, and the love of the Heavenly Father, always so far beyond our dreams. He knows our need and knows ways to meet it that have never entered our heads. Things we feel sure we need for happiness may actually lead to our ruin. Things that we think will ruin us, if we believe what the Father tells us and surrender ourselves into His strong arms, being us deliverance and joy. The only escape from self-love is self-surrender. My Fathers knows far better than I do what will bring me joy."

"When I resist, I cheat myself. When I yield, I find joy."

Out with the old, in with the new

Jan. 1st. Today, thanks to the wonderfully helpful Andy Carr, I made another transition in my bike riding journey. I knew that I had to make this transition very soon in order to achieve the next goal that I've set for myself(joining a neighborhood cycling club in the Spring), but Andy and Dana gave me a nudge along the way by giving me cleats for my bike shoes for Christmas. I've had real cycling shoes for a couple of months now, but didn't have the cleats, or for that matter, clipless pedals on my bike. The whole idea of it has been kind of intimidating to me; clip yourself onto the pedals so that if you don't unclip in time you just fall over? My active mind runs to scenes of sudden stops in front of cars, with me toppling to the ground, still attached to the bike. Buuutt, I knew that if I was going to continue on down this path of cycling, I had to make the transition. So, I took the plunge, ordered my pedals(I got platform clipless pedals so that I can still ride with normal shoes if I want), and then spent the afternoon at the Carrs trying to learn what in the world I'd gotten myself into. Andy spent a lot of time taking off the old pedals, putting on the new, installing the cleats in the shoes, adjusting the height and tilt of my bike seat, and finally, talking me through clipping in and out of the pedals. At this point I'm definitely intimidated by this change(I toppled over on the gravel once and skinned my knee up), but as with many things that are hard in the beginning, I know that it will definitely be worth it in the end. And if you're like my mother and want to know why in the world I would do this, here are the benefits of these pedals if you're riding a lot(I'm at over 100 miles weekly now):

-Clipless pedals can help you maintain better control over your bicycle because they prevent your feet from slipping off the pedals.

-Clipless pedals can help with the placement of your feet on the pedals.

-Clipless pedals can help with range of motion during cycling. The pedals and cleats are made so that you can pull up on the pedals without disconnecting your feet. They allow your feet to move naturally throughout the pedal strokes, which helps prevent stress on your ankles and feet.

-Clipless pedals can help with your cycling upstroke. With clipless pedals, you don't have to apply pressure to keep your feet on the pedals during the upstroke. Keeping your feet affixed to the pedals helps you transfer more power to the pedals while your feet are lifted on the upstroke, which leads to better pedaling efficiency.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/351241-what-are-the-benefits-of-clipless-pedals/#ixzz2Gm5MxZtm

Cleats, with my old pedals

 

The new pedals. The outer black plastic rim is the platform part, which allows you to ride with regular shoes, if desired. The inside metal part is what you clip into.