Saturday, March 27, 2010

Mottos

I think a lot. My friends who know me well tease me about it. My husband puts up with my "dump truck" approach to sharing all my thoughts with him. My blog provides a place to share some of them as well, so thanks for listening.

Lately, I have been thinking about my mottos. Well, I didn't really ever decide to officially have a motto, but I realized that there are these common pep talks or advice that I give to myself. "Settin' up the pins for knockin' them down" is one of my recent favorites (if you don't know about it, then you must not have Sara Groves' latest album which you must get right away). Here are some of my other mottos:

--"Fast is slow, slow is fast." A wise friend named Dave Brodsky once said this to Jeremy and I as we were getting ready to lead our team to Kazakhstan. It relates to everything--rushing through something and then having to do it over, not taking time to lay the proper groundwork (like when building a team or a house), or not pre-treating stains in laundry and then spending half the day soaking and scrubbing said stains. This phrase was going through my head the other day (and I should have heeded it) when I was lifting a heavy tub high above my head to put on a shelf without using a stepstool (it would have taken too long to go get) and then almost breaking my neck and half the kids' toys as I threw it across the room to avoid squashing my tiny baby that was underfoot. Yeah.

--"There's always something." That may sound vague to you, but it means a lot to me. It kind of relates to "lower your expectations, and then lower them again" (also said by a friend before going to KZ). Just when I think there's going to be enough time to get something done, money in the bank, peace and quiet, something unplanned happens. I'm trying to learn to relax and go with the unexpected instead of getting all mean and bent out of shape about it. This also especially relates to one of my kids always tripping and falling on the way to the car on a Sunday morning.

--"I'll save it because I might need it someday." This one is my glory and my shame. I end up being a pack rat, but I also get such a thrill when I can put something together using materials I have around the house. Like this recent project:

Or this:(It's my attempt to be optomistic about starting potty-training with Evan for the 4th time. The sparkly foam that I used to make his name is left over from a MOPS craft.)

--I saw this posted on a blog I read:
That definitely translates to a motto of mine. I have learned to accept it. And my family enjoys it, too.

My kids are watching "Where the Wild Things Are" for the 3rd time. We watched it as a family last night, and since we got it from the Red Box, we have to get our money's worth out of it until 7 pm tonight. Here we are last night...
...we were going to have microwave s'mores but I decided they would be too messy, so I just let the boys have the ingredients on their snack trays in front of the t.v. Their post-bath hooded towels often have the same effect as Max's wolf suit, so I thought it was appropriate that they wanted to wear them. I was so excited about this movie and I think it is really well done, but it kind of makes me feel tense and upset. I don't really know what I think of it, except that it makes me think of the verse, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear." That would be a good motto, too, given my propensity to want to yell at my kids lately. I'm still trying to figure out why KW hid Max in her mouth...there's gotta be a deeper meaning in it that I'm not getting yet. I do love the scene at the end when Max's mom gives him his dinner (that was still hot) and she falls asleep while watching him eat. Someone wise once said that no matter how hard things get with her kids, she always keeps their favorite food on hand so that they will always come home to her. Home is where the mom is, right? Right.

Feel free to post a comment with your motto(s) and/or your thoughts on "Where the Wild Things Are"!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Mexico

Before I left for Mexico, I was thinking about a blog post in which I talked about change. I was going to show you a picture of my new haircut, talk about the change in seasons I was ready for...and now I can't remember what else I was going to talk about, but I really had thought about change a lot. Then the flurry of pre-trip activity happened, or maybe I should say the tornado of pre-trip activity because that's how the house looked, and then we were off to Tucson in the Fun Bus. We left the boys at Jeremy's parent's house and headed on to Mexico.

Most of my previous trips to Mexico happened when I was a teenager.

This was my first time going as a parent, and I even had my baby with me to remind me of that fact (though it was never far from my mind). Jeremy was the leader of the team, which was made up of mostly college students and a few high schoolers and leaders.

Traveling across the border in a large shuttle bus reminded me of when I was a kid and our family took a taxi into Tijuana because my dad didn't want to drive there (I wouldn't want to, either!). I couldn't believe how calm and cool Jeremy was as he navigated confusing lanes and talked to stern border patrol agents and led us through few Mexican Fire Drills (similar to Chinese Fire Drills, but requiring a little bit more style as the entire group has to disembark, remove luggage, put luggage in a straight line, stand on one side of luggage, jump over luggage, carry luggage past a crosswalk signal, push a button, reload the bus, and get back in). He even managed to get through a difficult situation in which a bribe was strongly implied. It was fun watching him lead this trip--in fact, it was my favorite part.

Every time I go to the Grand Canyon, I think "I've been here before, I know how big it is. It won't be that amazing" and then my breath is taken away at how big it is. I felt the same (but obviously a different reaction) as I entered Mexico..."I've been here before, I won't be surprised at the level of poverty" and then my breath was taken away.


We stayed in a beautiful retreat center in the resort town of San Carlos and were fed delicious food every day by our wonderful hosts. That's not the poverty part, that's more the "don't muzzle the ox while it's working" part.


The shock of seeing the poverty came the first morning when we went to church in a poorer area (but definitely not the poorest). Many of us got sunburnt, because we never would have thought we needed to apply sunscreen prior to sitting through a church service.

I was struck by the joy and exuberance of the people at this church, and despite not having a roof, they had loud amplifiers, so the whole neighborhood could hear the service whether they wanted to or not. The scene was so different from America, but then, as I stood in the back with the other parents of small children and watched them offer bribes of candy and toys to try to get their children to be quiet, I realized many things are similar no matter where you live. I talked to one of the moms about MOPS and potty training and from that moment forward, realized my ministry was going to look different than I had expected. When everyone was complimenting our group's young translator, whose mother had passed away when he was a boy, I said, "Your mom would have been so proud to see you doing this" and knew that I was more a mother than a peer in the eyes of our team.

I wasn't able to dive into the work that our team did in the extremely poor neighborhood of Empalme, but Annie and I came each day to hang out. The area was a dry riverbed that was populated by people who basically put together houses using whatever materials they could find. In August of last year, the area was hit by a hurricane and water from a broken dam (or so I was told by someone) rushed through the neighboorhood, taking the people's meager possesions, rooves, animals, even houses with it. Here is a picture of the home of one of my friends, Abbi. You can see the water line above the windows in the picture. Her house was made of blocks, so she is better off in that regard than many of her neighbors. Her sink was a garden hose stuck through the window and the floor is dirt.

Many of the residents did not have electricty. Here, I saw a grave on the side of the road
And here is a baby being raised next to a pile of trash.

Our team did some painting, clearing lots, chopping and stacking firewood and built a house for a single mom and worked on the construction of a Sunday School classroom at the neighborhood church.
I helped with a "spa day" we did for the girls and moms. We washed their hair outside and then took them inside to do their hair and nails and just pamper them and make them feel better. More and more, I am realizing that connecting on a human level, not just doing "charity" is what's most important...and this was a good example of that. The girls would go back and sleep in their lice-ridden beds that night, so we did nothing lasting, but we made them feel special and pretty and connected them with the church in their neighboorhood.



A friend gave me a bunch of baby clothes, so one day, we had a little free "store." The pastor's wife and I went around the neighborhood inviting moms with babies or those that were pregnant. I really loved talking to them and got to know a few of them a little bit in the time I was there. A few of the ladies had already put the new outfits on their babies by the time they walked out of the "store". I talked to one pregnant mom who didn't even know when her baby was due, much less the gender. Any of the baby clothes or items she had from her 3 year-old son had been washed away in the hurricane.



One day, we walked around handing out food bags and praying for people.
The people received us so warmly and most invited us into their "houses". One of our high school boys who was helping translate got big eyes and said, "This man has invited us into his humble box. Well, maybe just one of us." My motherly heart strings were pulled looking at the conditions these moms were raising their kids in, and a few of them followed us down the street to ask for further assistance--one needed a humidifier because her baby had breathing problems and a grandmother of a girl with cerebral palsy (named Miracle) asked us for large diapers for the girl. I wanted to help all of them, but was reminded by our host that this was the point in which God was asking me to trust Him more. He said, "God has given you a heart of compassion. You want to buy diapers and help these people, which you should, but what is going to happen next month when the diapers are gone or the electricity is turned off? They need lasting change in their life, the kind God offers." I did bring diapers back the next day, but those words stayed in my head.

Annie was my ministry baby. Everywhere we went, people wanted to touch her, hold her, look at her blue eyes, take her from me, etc. She greeted each and every one of them with a huge smile--she doesn't see wealth or poverty or dirt and grime, she just sees people...what a blessing she was. (Though I have to admit that around 3 pm each day, I was ready to bathe her in hand sanitizer and not let anyone else touch her).




So I guess the week did consist of a sense of change for me. A change in my ministry...supporting Jeremy and reaching out to the moms. I sensed a change in my desire to help others...thinking and talking more about what we can do that leads to lasting change. Now that I am an adult, I know that the house we built could become overrun with drug dealers or another hurricane could come. Empalme is still a scary place to live--we saw it only during daylight hours. A few statements that I heard still stick in my head...Jeremy was talking to the team and reminded them that Jesus said "The poor you will always have with you". I thought about how Jesus did so much for the poor and sick--and how people would bring their sick loved ones to him...I know that people were coming to that church in Empalme for help in their need, and that can be tricky to handle because we are humans, not Jesus. One of the students had a shirt on that said "Faith, Hope, and Hard Work". I said to her, "What about the Love?" and she said, "That's in the hard work." As a mom, I know that's true...I want to act upon that as a Christian, too.

Our trip wasn't all just seriousness...we got to eat hot dogs con todo (hot dogs slathered in ketchup, nacho cheese, tomatoes, onion, sour cream, guacamole...I think there was even some bacon in there).We also ate chilis stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon. Whoever thought of that was brilliant.


There were also fresh, homemade tortillas. Brilliant as well.

We enjoyed some time on the beach and out on the boats near the home of some friends. There was a lot of excitement about fishing...and one of the boys brought a fish head home in his suitcase which smelled nice.


Annie got two teeth. I didn't get much sleep.


I became fond of some Spanish phrases...Annie spit up in church and the whole row of ladies next to us leaned forward and exclaimed, "Los quesos!" (which is translated "the cheeses" which I think describes spit up...creatively). The other phrases I won't repeat here, but in the words of the college students, the trip was "Las Totally Awesome!"


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Thursday, March 4, 2010

Cross-eyes

I got to bed late last night and then was awoken by Annie very early. I wanted to get some more sleep, but Jeremy's unofficial restless leg syndrome was keeping me awake, so I went to the bed in Annie's room. This morning, I awoke (much later than I expected) to hear the WONDERFUL sounds of my two youngest children playing quietly in their beds. When Evan finally got up and came to me, I asked him what he had been doing (after I called him a "VERY GOOD BOY" in my sweetest voice) while he let me sleep in.

"Just doing cross-eyes. Two times. Just my cross-eyes."

Uh-okay. Don't love that, but I love the extra sleep. (I don't love it because we need to take him to the eye doctor again to get his lazy eye/squinting problem checked out)


Our speaker at MOPS today encouraged me so much! So much, that this afternoon, instead of cleaning up the spit up that went down my back, leg, shoe and made a 6-inch diameter circle on the floor, I got out my camera to take a picture of the culprit. She seemed so proud of herself, grinning at me from her crib. I did clean up the spit up, but now I need to purge sippy cups and put the kids' underwear in the bathroom and find the extra space on top of my shelves...if you had been there, you'd understand.