End of the Year

Last day- it's been such a great year!

Enjoying Go-Fish and ice-cream with Zariah, Daisy, and a fellow mentor

I'm SO, so thankful for the advice from my mentor to get myself re-established here in Charlotte through being invested in church and in other meaningful activities. Wednesday was the final day of this school year for Faith, Hope, and Love mentoring. I've so loved being a part of this after-school program again, after mentoring with them four years pre-Ukraine. It's been such a joy getting to work with Zariah this year and forming a special attachment with her. She's been anxiously waiting word ever since I told her that I'd been given an initial two yrs. here in the States to get re-settled and focus on Staff Care studies(I've been back a year and a half now). Every time I go out of town, she worries that I won't be coming back, or that I'll return and tell her that I'm moving overseas again. So, after having the VP of IM in town last weekend and knowing that I'd be meeting with him to discuss my future, she was waiting yesterday to hear the outcome. "Are they going to make you move??"

It was good to be able to put her mind to rest, and tell her that for the time being, my home base will continue to be Charlotte. I'll still travel a lot(particularly in the Spring and Summer), but for now, being in the US and concentrating on relationships with the MMT students is working, and working well. It's so awesome to see that concentrated effort to get out there and invest in relationships w/them pay off as they head to and once they're on the field. God is so good to reward me with seeing a small vision of mine coming to fruition in this way. I'm also super thankful that I get to continue to be a part of the FHL mentoring program during this next school year! And glad that I didn't have to break the heart of a ten year old little girl who's already had her heart broken many times. I'm just thankful to be right here, where He's placed me, living the life that I've been given.

The In-Between

Think about your last vacation or business trip. Think about all the things you had to plan before you left; details of the actual trip, what you needed to take, bills that needed to be paid while you were gone, things that needed to be purchased, people that needed to be called, clothes that needed to be washed, bags that needed to be packed, animals that needed to be cared for, last minute straightening of the house, washing of dishes, etc., etc. Then think about your return: how long does it normally take before you return to normal, where clothes are washed and returned to their proper places, your internal clock has adjusted itself, and you feel like you've settled back into the routine of being home?

I may be winning the game of Frequent Flier, but the return never seems to get any easier. It just takes me a while to come down from the intensity of my trips, no matter how many I do. It's almost as if I have to flip a switch somewhere deep inside of me.....the ON switch to ramp up the energy for a trip, so that I'm ready for the hours and days of stressful travel and meetings and listening and being with people, and very little rest time. And then I return home and have to flip the COOL OFF switch, which allows me to slowly cool down and return to being a part of life here. I still have my daily work of studying, and Skyping, and helping staff with various things, and planning the next trip, but I've also got to be fully invested in life here-which doesn't have much to do with my ministry life. My two "lives," for the most part, tend to be fairly separate, which can be difficult for me. I live here, but minister to people "over there." I live in the now, but am constantly planning for the future(upcoming travels, who I need to visit, talk with, conferences, workshops I need to get to, etc.) And because of how much I travel, I'm neither fully here, nor fully there. And I get it. I was warned about this in-between life and the challenges of it. And really, as long as I'm serving in this capacity and traveling this much, I'll always deal with this in-between life, no matter where I'm based. So this is the advice that I have for myself:  If I'm here, I need to be fully here, and when I'm there I should be fully there. I don't know how long this dual life might last, but I'm thankful to be here now, living life to the fullest, wherever here might be.

Was excited to return home from the last trip to have this awesome T waiting for me: a bike graphic done with Cyrillic letters. I love it!

Seattle

When plans for the Portland trip changed, I decided to make a side trip to Seattle to see a couple of people I've not seen in years(well, one more than the other). One is my very first viola teacher, Shari, whom I haven't seen in 18 yrs. My family has stayed in touch with her over the years and I know that she keeps up with me via my newsletters, so I thought it would be neat to go see her. I was a little concerned that I wouldn't recognize her after all this time, but she looks just the same- just a little greyer. =-) We didn't have a lot of time, but had a wonderful lunch catching up together and I was so happy that it had all worked out like that. The other person I visited with for the rest of the afternoon is a friend of my best friend, whom I've gotten to know over the years. I've never actually spent one on one time with just her before, but again, it was a lovely visit. We explored Pike's Market, went to the original Starbucks, sat and talked for a long time in the unusually sunny weather, went searching for and found the infamous "Gum Wall," and ended the afternoon at a spectacular overlook in her neighborhood. Then I drove the 3+ hours back to Portland, spent the night, and hopped on the pane back to Charlotte. It really was a great four days. =-)

With Shari, my first viola teacher

Meeting up with Naphtali

Watching the Fish Market guys at work

Mmmmm, gum!

With Naph at the beautiful overlook in her neighborhood

Gorgeous, right??

Oregon

After eight days in Montana, I flew over to Portland to visit a friend. Originally I was going to visit a friend from college who's been inviting me to visit for at least the past five years. So I finally decided to go, bought a ticket, we were all excited, and.....his work sent him to China for a business trip on the days I was scheduled to be there. Yeah, bummer. But I had another friend I had been planning on hanging out with for one day of my time there, and so plans shifted, he took time off from work, and planned a really great weekend of exploring Oregon. Oregon is a wonderfully beautiful state, and in spite of the not so fantastic weather(it rains a lot there), I had a really good weekend. We spent a day wandering up and down the Oregon Coast; stopping at beaches, looking in little shops, trying seafood, getting soaked, went on a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory, etc. The next day we, along with his roommate, went to one of Oregon's many state parks/nature reserves and went on a 6 mile hike and saw several lovely waterfalls. The weather was a little nicer that day, with no rain, and I really loved the hike...and the fact that I was actually in really great shape for it! On the way back, we stopped at a fish hatchery and checked out some enormous 7 ft. Sturgeon. That evening we wandered around one of Portland's multiple artsy little neighborhoods, went to a Salon opening party for a friend of his, and watched the sun set at a scenic overlook. We did a few more spontaneous things that kept me on my toes(he's more spontaneous than I am, I guess), and it was a really fun, if busy, weekend. Monday I went to Seattle, but I'll save that for the next post.....

With Joseph at Cape Meares Beach

I could have sat in the ocean all day looking at these spectacular creatures. And yes, these are their real colors, un-edited.

Oceanside Beach. At lunch, we saw a door in the side of a cliff, went to see what it was, found a tunnel, went through, and discovered another beautiful part of the beach. I love exploring!

Multnomah Falls

One of the fun neighborhoods in Portland. I had some ice-cream at a place called Salt & Straw that blew my mind: Strawberry balsamic vinagrette with cracked pepper, and pear and blue cheese. All of the other flavors were incredible, as well(we sampled several). We need a place like that in CLT!

Leaving Libby

With Kimberly

Kimberly(from Minnesota) and Olivia(from S. Africa)

Coffee date with Reinell(from Minnesota, headed to serve on the Pine Springs Reservation in S. Dakota)

PJ pic with the whole group:Kimberly & Olivia are headed to Odessa, Ukraine; Jackson and Reinell are going to serve the Lakoda Indians on the Pine Springs Reservation in S. Dakota. Their kids are(oldest to youngest) Anna, Oscar, Lizzie, Bubba(Elijah), and Jeremiah

With Anna Rose. She was pretty excited to have another Anna here this week. =-)

I had such a great week here in Montana. Seriously, it was just a fantastic time of fellowship. I had wonderful times of laughter, conversation, meals, classes, etc. with the students and kiddos here at the training center. I was able to have individual time with each of the female students here during the days and evenings, and also went out for coffee and a long walk with each one at the Kootenai River Walk. It was so great to hear how God has led them to missions and what He's doing in their lives. Their excitement in their walk with God is contagious, and I so loved the awesome conversations that popped up in class, over meals, and during our walks. Each class is so different, and it's been truly exciting to be here with this group and get to invest time in relationships with them. I feel so blessed to have shared this past week here in Libby!

Tomorrow I'll head out early for a 4 hr. drive over to Spokane, WA. From there I'll fly to Portland, OR, to visit a friend for the weekend. On Monday I'll drive to Seattle, WA, for the day to visit my first viola teacher, who I haven't seen in about 20 years. I'll drive 3 hrs. there that morning and 3 hrs. back that evening, spend the night in Portland and then fly back to Charlotte from there on Tues. morning. Lots of traveling is coming up over the next few days, so I'd sure appreciate all prayers!

Magnificent Montana

I just love Montana! The splendor of God's creation is so evident everywhere you look- it's just amazing. I arrived Thursday evening in Libby, after an odd morning of arriving at the airport at 5:45am and being told that the itinerary I had booked didn't exist. Um...?? Sooo, after much confusion, the nice Delta agent got me rebooked and heading to Spokane via Minneapolis, and I actually arrived one hour earlier and with one less connection- woohoo!

The Kootenai River Walk, a gorgeous walk that goes about 11 miles alongside of the river

God's creation on display!

Thanks SO, so much to those who've been praying for quick and easy relationship ties with the students at the training center. I just can't even tell you how much I've been amazed at seeing the evidence of those prayers! I felt like relationships with last semester's students were pretty easy, but these have been almost instantaneous, which is such a blessing for a couple of reasons:

1)two of the students are super busy with serving teens in town and were worried about having to spend time with someone else and feeling that added "responsibility"
2)I was asked to really try to invest in the young mom out here, but with 5 kids 7 yrs. old and younger, I thought that there was no way I could get to know her quickly

And yet...the bonding happened- and almost immediately! I asked the three females to choose an afternoon while I'm here so that we can have one on one time, and have already done that with one of them. We had a fantastic time getting to know each other and hearing each other's stories. I've had lots of opportunities already to spend time with the mom, both with and without her kids, and we've still got our one on one time coming! It seems like it's just been super easy for all of us this time around, and we're having a great time together. It feels like I've already been here a week(in a good way), and I've still got four full days to go- Praise God! Please continue to pray for relationships and for our time in classes, at meals, during free time, etc. Pray that I can serve them, show them I want to invest in them, and that our new relationships will take hold and really bud.

Moving On

These two girls(Emily & Madeline) are graduating from JV and moving up to Varsity. I was getting jealous of the Varsity leaders for getting my girls, but then found out that I'm graduating with them. =-) The JV leader is getting married and his wife will join him, and two of our Varsity leaders "retired", so I was asked to return to the Varsity group.

Tuesday marked one year since I switched to the Paleo lifestyle of no gluten, dairy, refined sugars, or processed foods. One year later, I've lost 60 pounds, cycle over 100 miles weekly, go to Zumba once a wk., and jump-rope 30 minutes 5 days a week. Can't wait to see what this next year brings!

Today I'm headed out to Montana for a week at our training center. I'd sure appreciate prayers as I spend time getting to know the students: for quick and easy relationships that will make me a trusted person once they're on the field.