28 hours to Dublin

Yes, it is coming soon! If I've counted correctly and adjusted for a 6 hour time change, I shall be in Ireland in just 28 hours! The last few days have been full and I will be started this journey somewhat tired but I will get to sleep on the 8 hour flight, right??

It's not easy to know just what to pack for several weeks. This is the coldest climate I've packed for. Previous extended trips were to Kenya, Belize and China....all warm to hot. N. Ireland will be cool and damp even cold and wet. That means layers and layers....and coats and sweaters.

I'm looking forward to rekindling friendships with the staff at Murlough House...I met several last year and I understand there are new folks too. I'm looking forward to seeing the kids at Crosspoint. I'm looking forward to seeing the countryside. I'm looking forward to finding Quakers in NI. I'm looking forward to helping expand the Senior Ministry. I'm looking forward to driving on the left side of the road. I'm looking forward to another Halloween parade complete with fireworks! I'm looking forward to a bit of sight-seeing. I'm looking forward to working with Richie and Deirdre and Jenn and Alan and Richard and Bebe and all who are in and around Dundrum. And mostly, I'm looking forward to what God has in store for me in this another beautiful place of his creation.

Everything is packed and by the door. The alarm is set. The ride to the airport is arranged. Farewells have been said. I've been prayed over. Woo hoo....28 hours and I'm there!!

Countdown begins!

My much anticipated Irish experience will soon begin. Actually, it has begun. A big part of the experience is the preparation. The last few weeks have involved a lot preparation and there is still much to do.

Bebe Dorris and I have been meeting with more ideas and plans over the last several weeks. We went to Indianapolis together on August 4 for our "biometrics" appointment. We thought or at least I thought that this would include an interview with the British Consolate representative. Wrong! We went to Homeland Securities!! And "biometrics" is simply a photo and fingerprints. Now when we go through Immigration, our passports will be scanned and we will verify our fingerprints on the small screen.

Since we were in Indianapolis, we made a vacation day of it. We lunched at the German Rathskellar, then went to Keystone at the Crossing for some shopping. We found a few things at Coldwater Creek. Then we stopped in at the Cheesecake Factory for dessert. We had planned ahead and had tickets for Circe de Soleil at Conseco Fieldhouse. What a show! What a wonderful day!!

On August 5 our passports together with the biometrics verification were in the mail--now to the British Consulate in New York. We felt that we would be able to travel by September 4. I did more collecting of materials to use for both the seniors group and the primary children (not our focus but it always pays to be prepared). Our passports were returned on August 18 with NO visa. We had not included all the documentation we needed. So the next few days involved getting a statement from the bank that I am not indigent, more passport pictures (in addition to the biometrics), and a copy of the Tier 5 application filed in N. Ireland. Back in the mail on August 27 and another wait. Because I need to be in the US for board meetings Sept. 30-Oct 1 and Oct 6-8,  it became apparent that it would be better if I delayed until after those meetings.

Our passports came on Sept 5 and 6. We HAVE the UK Tier 5 Religious Worker Visa!! We can travel to Ireland and do ministry! However, now Bebe has seen that an immediate departure is not possible. After some scheduling, she has booked flights for September 25. I shall be booking mine for October 10 or 11.

We are still gathering up resources and trying to decide just how little we can pack and still have everything we need for 2-3 months. I've done this part many times before but this is a different culture and a different climate. I used to travel to Kenya with two or three 70# trunks. I'm trying to go to Dundrum with only two suitcases (50# limit and $35 for the second bag)...and Aer Lingus (airline) only allows ONE carry-on.

We'll be staying at Murlough House, pictured below. Built in 1859 as the summer home of Lord Downshire, it's a lovely manor near the sea.

Map of Ireland..pen points out Dundrum Area

This venture is a bit different than the others I've done. At Friends Theological College, I was given a schedule of classes. I knew when and what I was teaching. I filled in the balance of the day with preparation, study and socializing. At Belize Friends Boys School, there was a schedule. I took care of the management, visited students' homes, and taught an occasional class. In Ireland it appears we will be less structured. We will be supplementing programs that are in process but we are just not sure how all of that will fit together. We are excited and looking forward to what God has in plan for us..."senior interns" with a heart for service.

A new journal

Confession time! I am a great list maker. I have many wonderful intentions. I enjoy writing. I have been successful in journaling in an on and off again fashion. When I am out of the country for an extended period of time, I am very faithful to record my impressions. When I am home, not so much. And mostly, not at all. There are several journals in various places in my home...in boxes in the upstairs "office", in baskets by the bed, in a pile by the fav' chair. One or two of them have daily or almost daily journal entries. Others were kept for a few weeks or a few months and then forgotten.

Last year a friend told me about her new journal. This one is for serious business...it's a ten year journal!! While surfing 'round Amazon.com, I came across 5 year journals but they are very small...like a 6x8 inch page! I called said friend and asked about hers. The genius of this journal is that each page has 4 lines for that day and all ten years of that day are on one page! So it doesn't require long entries although there are pages and pages for "continued".(There are 493 pages so there are "extra" pages, planning pages, overview pages, calendar pages-for 12 years- an address book and the "how to get the greatest value from Journal 10+" pages.) It seemed time for me to get serious about journaling! I probably shouldn't reveal this until I've been successful for a while but I am so excited that I'm sharing about this on the VERY FIRST DAY!!  The Journal10+ arrived today!!
   It would have been great to have one for the past ten years...those have been great and fortunately I did journal faithfully while in Kenya, Belize and Ireland. Wish I'd kept a better journal of other things. But this is my opportunity!
  In case you are interested, you can check it out for yourself at www.journal10.com. It is published by Because Time Flies. Now to start filling in the pages ....

Worth Waiting For....

Yes, some things ARE worth waiting for. About ten years ago I decided I needed/wanted "new" bedroom furniture. I had an assortment of mismatched pieces. I began the search. The bedroom is small as is the budget so there was, of course, little that would be suitable. Bedroom furniture these days seems to be massive. I guess that is because newer homes have bedroom suites, not little rooms intended only for sleeping and storing your clothes. I searched and searched. And I waited. In 2008 I visited at a home in North Carolina filled with wonderful antique pieces. My interest in old things came to the fore again. I began checking at our wonderful local resale shop....The Treasure Mart in Kokomo. Every two or three months, I was poking around in the drafty, cold building in winter and sweltering hot and stuffy three story warehouse in summer. Nothing. However, I did find a wonderful oak dropleaf table with 3 pressedback chairs for my dining room. Great deal at $185. It was my plan to become very intentional about hospitality and have friends in regularly. To date, some 18 months later, I have had two such occasions...but the intent is still there!

However, the bedroom remain mismatched. Early in June I had the pleasure of another visit to the same lovely home in NC and my desire for bedroom furniture was resurrected. A few weeks ago a friend and I spent an afternoon together and went to The Treasure Mart to reminisce over things we remembered. There are dishes that everyone's mother and even grandmother had. There are school desks from the 40s and the 60s. There are old doilies, junk jewelry, fine china, tools, tins, wall hangings, clocks and yes, lots of furniture. Some is battered and bruised; other pieces redeemable. AND there in the middle of June, I found THE BEDROOM SUITE! This one is probably from the 30s or 40s. It's a "Waterfall" style. There was a double bed, vanity with mirror and bench and a tall chest of drawers with side wardrobe. The price was $495. This is the one I have been looking for these past ten years!! So I went home and measured and then returned to purchase! This time there was a small notice on the vanity announcing that the suite is 40% off!! Oh...this IS my day! Just what I wanted and less than $300.

The bedroom is still small. I need to downsize my queen size brass bed to the double Waterfall bed but that will come. I found two period boudoir lamps. Several years ago I had made a filet crochet that is just a bit long for the middle section but does ok. I found the doilies under the lamps at a garage sale for 50 cents. Note the veneer on the corners. 

My little "cottage" style home is over 100 years old. I think the furniture thinks it has "come home." It's cozy and I love it. Yep, some things are worth waiting for.

My little cottage...

Heading for North Ireland in the Fall

Good news from North Ireland today! Richie Shilladay sent a message today that the visa application work is about to begin. Soon I will be sojourning in Dundrum, County Down, North Ireland. There will be lots to learn. The preparation has begun!! I'll be traveling in 90 days or so!! Here's a link to a video about Murlough House and the ministries from that place.  projectmh.org/mh-video-01.mp4

I'll be working with the Senior Ministry at Murlough House. Much more to come......

Birds, A Reflection

I am not a birder. I can barely identify ten to fifteen species. However, I do enjoy watching them and I do learn lessons from them. I am speaking at four functions this Spring (women's teas and banquets). My topic is "If Birds Had a Message, What Would it Be?" It has been fun to do the research about the habits of birds and identify the messages they bring. I have learned from the albatross, crows, doves, eagles, flamingoes, hummingbirds, larks, mockingbirds, owls, peregrine, sparrows, terns, and even vultures. I'll share more here after I finish the speaking "circuit". 

I have posted a short article I wrote for our monthly newspaper in our small town; this was published in The Greentown Grapevine, March 2007.

After the first major snowfall of February, I looked out the kitchen window to see eight to ten birds with feathers ruffled to keep themselves warm perching in my naked forsythia bush. Being somewhat sensitive to those who are cold and hungry, I broke up several slices of bread and dropped the morsels on the back step. After a few hours I checked and yep, the bread was still there. I thought how silly of those birds to be so close to food and yet not take advantage of my generosity! The next day the bread was gone. I forgot about my feathered friends until the next maxi-major snowfall which came the next week. This time when I looked out there were at least twenty birds nestled in the forsythia, others boldly lined up on the railing around the deck. Of course, I again delivered bread to the back step. I had just shoveled away the first six inches of snow. When the birds saw me coming to the door, they lifted as one from the bush and railing and flew to safety but I did notice that the bread disappeared within minutes. Later in the day, the twenty had become thirty.

Thinking about the birds and my insignificant contribution to their survival reminded me of the ware we in the church often reach out to others and the way people respond to those efforts.

We often don't even notice the plight of others until they are just outside our window. Then we wonder why they don't readily respond when we offer the Bread of Life. The birds were hesitant the first time. How could they trust me? I hadn't done anything for them before. People are skeptical of the churh's intent when there is not established relationship.

When the bigger snow came I was not so slow to react. The birds, although still wary evidenced by the fly-away, did come more quickly to the offering. Often we in the church are the same. Our response is quicker and more deliberate as we are more aware. Those we reach out to are still careful bu they find it easier to accept the care and nurture we offer. The birds I fed brought their friends. Those we care for and reach out to will tell their friends. Now that I am feeding my feathered friends regularly, they reciprocate with beautiful songs.

Those who are bird lovers would tell me that I should have been feeding the birds all winter, not just when there is a crisis. That is true. The church also should be ministering on a more consistent and regular basis than waiting for crisis situations. Those we reach out to will not always respond with joyous song but that does not diminish our responsibility to our brothers and sisters.

Jesus said it this way in a parable: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me." "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:35,40.

Sometimes the snow and neglected birds can serve to remind us of other needs. What do you see when you look out your window?

Phrases, Prayers,

One Sunday as the opening prayer was offered, the worship leader prayed that our words would be a “fragrant offering” to God. I smiled internally. You see, she and I have had previous conversations about ‘praying the scripture’. I thought of the phrase and how it reminded me of so many scriptures.  In Ephesians (5:2 ..and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma),  in II Cor. 2:14 (the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place NASB)and 15 (For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ…NIV). And I was reminded of Rev. 8:4. It mentions that the prayers of the people are offered to God on the altar with much incense and of course, incense is a pleasing aroma and a fragrant offering.

Later as we sang, I wondered if others also were familiar with those verses and were encouraged as I was, in hearing them, even fragments of scripture, included in prayer.

When our pastor prayed ‘traveling mercies’ for those who are on Spring Break, I was reminded of a prayer I voiced several years ago. I was serving as a missionary, teaching at a small college in Kenya. My neighbor was a Peace Corps Volunteer. Because we (in a duplex) had cold running water most times, electricity when it didn’t rain and a gas cooker, other PCV often came to her home for R&R. I had a bit more discretionary income so I would invite them to my apartment for a meal. Many of these young, American  PCVs were not Christians and had not been brought up around “Christian lingo”. Lonie would give them a quick etiquette lesson before they came next door for the simple but American meal of hamburgers, baked beans and chips---a veritable feast after months of sucumawiki and ugali (greens and grits). They were to wait until Patricia had prayed before they began eating. A very simple lesson but one that was new to them.

One particular evening, before I asked God’s blessing on the food and our visit, I thanked Him for “traveling mercies” for these PCVers had traveled by the notorious matatus to get to our village. After the prayer, one gal asked blithely, “so do you read Anne LaMott?” I do but wondered where that question came from. “Oh, she wrote ‘Traveling Mercies’ and I wondered if that is where you got the phrase that you said in your prayer.

How interesting our table conversation became. I was able to explain that all good things come from God and that gratefulness for His care should be expressed. She wondered at what she called naiveness and I call faith but was respectful.

In our Sunday service, I was reminded of that evening meal. I was blessed by hearing bits of scripture in prayer and reminded that Christians do have a different language…one that can lead to opportunities to share about the goodness of God.