The gift of 2015 !

     Is it already time to walk away from 2014?  We were just getting the hang of that year: memorizing the steppingstones and catching on.    Hopefully, 2014 served us all well - elevating us and moving us onward.  Yes, we stepped on slick stones and slid backwards, perhaps like you, but we changed shoes that gave us a better grip and moved on.  Maybe you didn't change your shoes, but changed your route, your routine, or your goal.  And it worked!  Of course, there are those yesterdays with lost opportunities, but we like what Oswald Chambers says, " Let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the bosom of Christ."  Most of the time, praying our goodbyes is enough.

Now we are staring starkly into another year already.  Time has wings!   Everyone is making those New Year Resolutions to spend less time with technology and spend more time with PEOPLE, to change utter messes into organized arrangements, to chef better so friends will want to return to our table, to stay in the REM sleep stage longer, to collect less in order to give more, to give "happiness a comfortable seat," to pray and then believe more, and fill-in-the-blank...____________ more.  

We have been given another chance!  2015 has shown up right on time. It is a packaged gift. We recently visited with a friend who had forgotten about an investment made years ago.  When contacted by the investor, it was discovered that there were many thousands of dollars that had quietly remained untouched for years.  True story.  What joy to unwrap that gift!   2015 is our gift box to unwrap.  Whether we are pessimistic or optimistic, we are all curious.  Rudyard Kipling nailed it when he penned the following:

 "I keep six honest serving-men, 

 They taught me all I knew;

 Their names are What and Why and When

 And How and Where and Who.

                  Let's pick up our packaged gift and give it a shake, weigh it, smell it, and listen to it.  

A BAG OF TOOLS

Isn't it strange

That princes and kings, 

And clowns that caper

In sawdust rings

And common people

Like you and me

Are builders for eternity?

Each is given a bag of tools,

A shapeless mass,

a book of rules;

And each must make--

Ere life is flown--

a stumbling block

Or a steppingstone. 

(R.L. Sharpe)

Unwrap your 2015 gift box and use every tool in it to keep your own resolutions and to discover the investments that God made in you years ago.

Happy New Year!

Keep Looking Up!

J:im and L:nda

Reflections Add to Reality

A long stare at this photo hardly helps to differentiate where reality ends and reflection begins.  However, there is a line of demarcation where the reflection adds to the beauty of reality.
These photos were taken within the Tortuguero National Park  on the Northern Caribbean side of Costa Rica. We took a weekend trip by bus and boat to an ecolodge forever deep into a tropical humid rainforest where we stayed with monkeys and mosquitoes, which they described as "experiencing close contact with nature and surrounding habitat."  About 1,000 people live in this national park and their only mode of transportation from one river village to another is by boat as there is not a single road for them to travel on.  Actually, it was an unforgettable experience, especially the boat ride down one of the blackwater canals that connects the villages.  It was on one of these blackwater-canal boat trips that we snapped these photos.
These reflections do not replace the jungle; they add to the reality of the jungle.

During this Christmas season, we reflect on a time more than 2,000 years ago when the King of Kings of every tribe and tongue surrendered His divine powers and became the incarnate Christ. Jesus walked on the dust and stones of the very earth that He created, and He reflected the Glory of God Himself.  He did not cease to be God. In fact, He added humanity to His Deity just as the blackwater reflection adds to the reality of what already exists.

Think on this, those who humanly served with, walked with, talked with Jesus actually interacted with the reflected Glory of God Himself.  Both seekers and followers literally touched the hands, feet, and even clothing of Jesus Christ centuries ago.  Imagine touching the perfectly still reflection on the blackwater canal. The reflection would respond just as the reflected Glory of God, Christ Incarnate, responded when touched.  His response was to change lives. He came not to "improve."  No, He is the definition of radical change, which far outweighs "improvement."

The birth of Jesus Christ was the Tipping Point for mankind and the church is but one extension of His reflected glory and work.  During this season, we pause to reflect on the Babe born in a manger; "God is in the midst of us and will not be moved...."  This is the season to "Be still and know that I am God."(Psalm 46) This season calls us to reflect and invites us to touch the reality of Him who has existed since infinity.   From the manger to the cross to His resurrection , Jesus invites us to kneel at His birth, to remember His new covenant, and to accept Him as Savior.  He is the only mode of transportation from this river village to His Kingdom!  

Merry Christmas to you and Happy Birthday to our Savior!

Keep Looking Up!

   J:m and L:nda

  

What We Learn...

We have been home from our last Mission Corps assignment in the Dominican Republic for 2 months to the date.  We are back in our "comfort zone" for now, but, truthfully, we look forward to stepping out of that zone again in the near future.  Our 2014 assignments were divided this year as we spent 5 weeks in San Jose, Costa Rica at SENDAS in Spanish classes designed specifically for our needs.  After that, we were sent to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for 4 weeks to serve as House Hosts at the Genesis House where Spanish was the first language of the missionaries-in-training, pastors, professors and guests who stayed there.  We needed everything we had learned from our life-in-Ecuador assignment to our Spanish classes in Phoenix to our classes in Costa Rica in order to understand and be understood.  We unrolled all our Spanish vocabulary and culture and let it spill out in the Dominican Republic.  And, that's not saying much!  Our Spanish conjugation was a test for all who kindly listened, infilitrating sentences with pure infinitives because it was just easier.   Our conversations were infused with a 100% American accent-with an occasional rolling of the -r to authenicate our efforts. We used "free word-order" instead of Spanish syntax.  We did this because we didn't know any better.  Occasionally, we got it right and a round of applause exploded from around the breakfast, lunch or dinner table.  We beamed!
However, we learned that we all got through; you know, to that communication part.
Just like those eggs that we brought home from the market - a tangled mess, to be sure, but the taste, the message was there. "I am an egg, and we all understand that."


In addition, whatever it takes to get the job done, do it. And, like the many motor-cyclists we saw on the roads daily, we used what we had to reach our destination.  And, friends more often than not helped us get there.

We felt patience when someone asked us a question in Spanish, and we had to think, oh so long, before we replied. But we are not quitting!  We are involved within the Spanish community here in Phoenix as we volunteer weekly at the Neighborhood Ministries' Thrift Store...with Spanish speakers at our side!  We are students in a Spanish class and enjoy our semimonthly Spanish Conversation Group where only Spanish is spoken.  We have been challenged, and we like it.  It makes our semi-retirement seem worthy and valuable and full.

Strangely and surprisingly,  God has invited us out of our "comfort zones" and into a challenging second career.  Sometimes, we felt like denested  eggs, but never far from our Protector, our nest.  This summer, we learned many things, two of which included  1) use what we have to get there and 2) don't worry about denesting.  God knows the paths where He has placed us.
....We anticipate our 2015 Mission Corps assignment! And, you'll be the first to know when we find out!
Keep Looking Up!
   J:m and L:nda