Eggstravaganza

Ok, we're going backwards now, which is not the most logical way to do this, but stick with me. At the end of the trip, after Staff conf. and Staff visits, I had planned to spend a few days in Baden, Austria, with our family friends, the Buchholz family. But due to some health issues, they ended up going to a health spa during the time that I would have been there. Thankfully, I had also been invited to stay with the Elwoods in Budapest, who serve with SHARE, a ministry partner of IM, so I went there. Those who've been reading this for a while might remember that I made a visa trip to Budapest back in 2011, and spent a week with Mike & Nancy, after meeting them not through IM, but through them visiting my home church in Charlotte the exact Sunday that I was home visiting and spoke in the service. Ah, coincidences. :-) You've also seen other pictures with Mike & Nancy here in Charlotte, b/c every time they come through now, we meet up. They're genuinely lovely people and I really enjoy spending time with them. They come to all of our IM Staff Conferences, so they were at this year's conference in Slovakia, also, but I'll talk about that later. Anywho, after going to Budapest from spending time with IM staff, I went to church with Mike and Nancy, relaxed Sunday evening, and then took a quick 24 hr. trip over to Vienna. It's only 2 1/2 hrs. away by train, so off I went to see something I've always wanted to see: the famous Easter Markets of Vienna. Well, really the Christmas Markets are the most famous, but beggars can't be choosy. If you remember my Christmas Tree from this past year(decorated with marbles and Ukrainian and Polish eggs), you know that I like eggs. So I was quite excited to go to the Easter Market, where I had heard there were tons of absolutely beautiful eggs. It pretty much rained the entire time I was there(with just a couple of short reprieves), and being the super packer that I am, I hadn't brought clothes to change into(other than my running clothes), so I was rather wet and cold, but it was worth it! I found two of the three main Easter Markets and the eggs far surpassed my eggspectations(sorry, couldn't resist). Here are some of my favorites!

I love this photo, but it doesn't do the mass of eggs justice. There were far, far more than this and the artwork was just amazing!

These were probably my favorites, but they were also some of the most expensive. I wasn't quite willing to spend $40 on an egg that might break on the return trip home. I got to watch one of the artists doing this type of egg, and I understand why they cost so much.

Old world maps on eggs

Modern Japanese art

And here are the ones I ended up with. The red one is glass from Hungary. The back left is more traditional Romanian style and the jade one is shallaced. All but the red one are real eggs, though, and I was happy that they made it safely home.

 

Eggs: another small thing that makes me happy. :-)

Easter

Well, folks, I've been extremely delinquent in updating the blog over the last three weeks. I've got lots of lovely pictures and stories to share, so I think I'll start at Easter and work back to April 1st, when I "left" for Europe.

I returned from Hungary Thursday, and it was a blessing to be with my family on Easter Sunday. Having missed all Easters since 2008, it was a pleasure to worship with my Charlotte church family and spend the afternoon with family and friends. I don't regret a single Easter spent overseas, and have many wonderful memories that go along with those, but I also am thankful to have had this one here. And my poor, poor mother had to do without my blue cheese biscuits all those years(b/c she's positive that she herself can't possibly make biscuits), so I know she was glad to have me back. :-D

Here are a few photos from Easter afternoon:

My beautiful naturally dyed eggs. It took a while to do them this way, but I love how they turned out!

Family & friends sharing Easter lunch

Evelyn and Ethan were having fun taking pictures of each other...and me

The whole kit and caboodle

Daring Greatly- book review

"Daring Greatly- How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead." Brene Brown, Ph. D., LMSW

So, after being introduced to Brene Brown in Jan. when I was in MN for some counseling training, I came home, listened to her TED talks, and tried to get my hands on as much of her materials as I could find on the internet. I was super excited when my Amazon package arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago, with "Daring Greatly," and "I Thought It Was Just Me(but it isn't)."

I already wrote a good bit about my thoughts and excitement on Dr. Brown's teaching regarding Shame vs. Guilt here: http://www.annahunsucker.blogspot.com/2014_01_01_archive.html and on Vulnerability here: http://www.annahunsucker.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-power-of-vulnerability.html, but here's my personal review on the book...

This book is a thought provoking read that will challenge and convict you and leave you examining what you think and say, and the effects that come from those thoughts and words. Written by a Christian, but minus any Christianese, Dr. Brown's writing is easy to take in and comprehend, which is quite a feat coming from a woman who conducts research trials for her living. She writes powerfully about her journey to discover the difference between those who live Whole-Heartedly, and those who live in Shame, and how along the way, she came to the incredible realization that we become strong by embracing vulnerability, and we dare more greatly when we acknowledge our fear. Through her research and seminars, she herself was greatly challenged to think beyond what her initial theories had been, and to accept the realities that she was hearing from people about how Shame is so pervasive in our society. She made some startling discoveries in the differences in how men and women respond to Shame, and how we use shame in all aspects of our lives, from birth all the way to death. In particular, I highly recommend this book to parents, married couples, and anyone in a leadership position. Well researched, well thought out, well written- it's guaranteed to leave your brain scrambling around, and you doing a lot of self-examination.

Azalea Triathlon..

..over and done with! I'm behind on updating on the Chicago trip and the Triathlon, having gotten home late last Wed., and then heading to Wilmington Friday and driving back on Sunday. I caught a cold(which turned into a sinus infection) from the teens on the Chicago trip, so have been feeling pretty crummy. I wasn't feeling great the morning of the triathlon, but other than feeling nauseous during the run, it didn't effect me too much. Even after all of those months of preparing for it, it still was quite a learning experience for me. I was much slower in the transitions than I thought I would be. My bike time was my best segment(no surprises there), but still slower than I had thought it would be, and with feeling nauseous, I ran quite slow. So, overall, I was slightly disappointed in myself, but I also know that it was my first and I shouldn't be too hard on myself. It was definitely a good learning experience, and now I know what to work on for the longer one coming up here in Charlotte in June!

Before the swim

Finishing up- the end of the run

With Kristie and Jesse- two others from my church who did the triathlon

**Ministry update: I was supposed to be leaving for 2 1/2 weeks in Ukraine this Thursday, Mar. 14th, but due to everything that is going on in Crimea at the moment, that portion of the trip has been cancelled. I've been watching everything for weeks, and staying in touch with in-country staff. I was just getting to the point where I was going to begin planning out my daily time with staff, when I was asked to cancel the trip. All of our IM missionaries have emergency plans set in place(though only part of one family has currently left the country), and IM doesn't want to add another person to the total number of personnel that would potentially need to be evacuated were things to get worse. So, as of right now, I've cancelled my Ukraine tickets and am looking at spending a week or so in Hungary following Staff Conference in Slovakia. I've been working on these new details yesterday and today, and am hoping to purchase new tickets tomorrow, either in and out of Vienna or Budapest. Would sure appreciate prayers for all of these last minute changes, and for the peace of Ukraine!

Girlie stuff

Last Saturday was the annual Ladies' Tea at GBC, a fund raising event for the AWANA Varsity group's yearly trip to the SUMMIT in Chicago(I'll write more about that after we return). Mom was out of town, but Gram and I went, and had a lovely time. There were about 90 ladies of all ages there this year, and this lovely event continues to be a fantastic fundraiser to which so many ladies enjoy coming. It's so fun to see Grandmas with their daughters and granddaughters, adult sisters with their little daughters, elderly sisters and sisters in law all together, neighbors and friends from school, etc., and everyone enjoying the food and fellowship.

That same weekend I had a bit of a jumpstart to my heart when I realized that time was getting away from me, and I had only 3 weeks left to complete the cards for the ladies at IM's yearly Staff Conference. I usually make about 125 of these cards and write notes in them for all of the females who are teens and older. I also try to send them to staff who stay in the States, and take extras along for staff I might visit who won't be at the conference. But, it takes a long time to make these cards and I usually start them in January. Oops. But hey, that's what this amazing thing called the internet is for: to give you lovely ideas which will help you save time. So I googled something along the lines of, "Easy, pretty cards." :-D And came up with all kinds of great ideas!

My work station, otherwise known as the floor

Some of the pretty results

And, of course, a personal favorite. :-)

Thank God for the internet!!

4 wk. countdown

Holy moly! My triathlon is 4 weeks from tomorrow!! I've been working super hard in training, and am really looking forward to it, even though I know it's going to be stinking hard. Some people have innocently asked me if I'm trying to win this, to which I've done my best to just smile, and say a quick, "No." The people who win these things are crazy good athletes, clocking in 30 second swim laps, sub- 3 minute miles on the bike, and a 5-6 minute mile on the run. The only part of that I come close to is a 3 minute mile on my bike when I'm working super hard. Like I said, they're crazy good athletes. Oh, and that's just the women I'm talking about. So, no, I've got no plans to win, or even place. But, knowing the endurance that is required for this and the training that I've put into it, and the journey I've taken to be able to accomplish this, I'll be super happy to finish it... but the competitive part of me says, "Just not at the end of the pack."  ;-)

A little bit of motivation

A friend loaned me an indoor bike trainer to hook my bike up to, so I can ride inside when it's cold or rainy outside. Riding on a stationary bike is not my favorite thing to do, but I'm thankful for it!

The Power of Vulnerability

Vulnerability is the very core of shame and fear and our struggle for worthiness, BUT it is also the birthplace of joy, of creativity, of belonging, and love.

-Vulnerability is not weakness, but rather, our most accurate measure of courage.
-Adaptability to change is all about Vulnerability

Vulnerability
-"What makes me vulnerable makes me beautiful."
-Vulnerability is not comfortable....but it is not excruciating, either
-Taking risks when there are no guarantees
-Living a life that does not need to predict and control
-Birthplace of joy, creativity, longing, and love

BUT, our culture, and especially our Christian culture, has taught us the opposite. We shouldn't be vulnerable, because we should just have it all together, right? We can't share what's really going on deep inside of us, because a "true," or "good" Christian shouldn't be experiencing those things. What do we do? We SHAME other Christians into keeping their lies deep in the shadows because of the fear of how we will respond when we find out that they, or their kids, or their marriages aren't so perfect after all.

So, what is the cost when we numb Vulnerability??
Count the cost: We Numb Everything. We cannot selectively numb emotions, and so when we numb vulnerability, we numb joy, and happiness, and love, and care, and trust, and hope, and the list goes on and on. We are the most addicted, obese, and medicated adult population in US history.

Why & How we numb:
*We pretend that what we do doesn't have an effect on people
*We make the uncertain certain
*We blame others as a way to discharge pain and discomfort in our own lives

 Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent the past decade studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame. http://brenebrown.com/about/ In her research, when she separated the people who had a strong sense of love and belonging from those who didn't, only one thing divided them: a sense of being worthy of love and belonging. Those who had a strong sense of love and belonging believed that they were worthy of love and belonging, while the other didn't. The one thing that keeps people from connecting with others is the belief that they're not worthy of connecting with others. But connection is why we're here. We're created by a relational God to connect with Him and with all those around us, and to bring others into a connection with Him. Connection is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. Shame, on the other hand, is the fear of disconnection. In order for connection to happen, we have to open ourselves up to vulnerability.

Living Vulnerable:
1. Authenticity: Let ourselves be seen
2. Love with our whole hearts, even though there is no guarantee
3. When feeling vulnerable, practice love and joy
4. Believe we are enough- we are loved and accepted by God

To hear some great talks on Shame and Vulnerability, listen to these two links on Ted Talks: http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_listening_to_shame.html, http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html. This great stuff- you won't regret taking the time to listen!