Green is the color of August...

The life that surrounds me on Pollywog Creek - the birds and insects and pond and trees and the way the sunlight glows brilliantly through the light summer fog - are predictable and seemingly unchanging from year to year. Except for the summers with August hurricanes, August looks much the same year after year. Wet and green. I expect little else...

...but the events of the day are much less predictable.

What I thought would be a quiet day at home - a few minor chores and generous time for reading and writing - evolved into a series of "crisis" interventions, engaging conversations and most of the day away from home.

The question was asked, "Did your day unfold as you expected?" and my answer was "yes and no," because I've come to "expect the unexpected."

...all the while resting in the assurance that there is One Who never changes and in Whom I can trust to order my days and my steps.

"For I the Lord do not change..." Malachi 3:6a "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17

"Daddy's Coming Home"...

As I was growing up, there were two groups of people that inspired me the most because of the self-discipline that was required of them to excell: athletes and musicians. Since God did not choose to create or gift me with a single athletic ability worthy of developing, I concluded it would be best that I appreciate the athletic accomplishments of others and focus on the seemingly more realistic goal of becoming a concert pianist. 

Unfortunately, my parents couldn't afford music lessons or a piano until I was a teenager, and by then my attention had turned toward other much less admirable adolescent pursuits. Not that I was even gifted with exceptional musical abilities to hone, I simply was no longer enamoured by the disciplined life of an accomplished concert pianist. 

Before my teenage decline into laziness and misplaced affections, nothing would thrill me more than a visit to my Aunt Dot's, mother's sweet sister and the proprietor of a piano. Aunt Dot patiently tolerated my endless rounds of "heart and soul" and painful attempts to pick out tunes one wrong note at a time. I thought of my Aunt Dot several times this week when my grandsons were creating "music" on our piano. 

Two and half year old Gavin has been making up songs on the piano for months. This week he was joined by his three year old cousin Mason for a spontaneous performance of their short improvisation: "Daddy's Coming Home" and I just happened to have the video on...

Rwanda: Now That I Have Seen

Guest Blogger: Emily Hunter

 

The People- With hearts as big as the hills, Rwandans welcomed us into their country making us feel right at home. 20 or so greeted us at the airport, immediately grabbing our luggage and loading it in the cars...did I mention it was 2 a.m.??

Throughout the week, they always got us where we needed, or wanted, to be; driving us into the city for shopping and coffee or making sure a taxi was there to pick us up for dinner or a safari.

Every moment with them was a learning experience. They were always patient with our pathetic attempts to speak Kinyarwanda - amakuru? - and had an enthusiastic drive to learn English.

Their passion for God is inspiring. You can see His joy written all over their faces, with smiles that light up a room. They give God all the glory for bringing Rwanda through what was one of the most brutal genocides in history. They see Him in it all.

I also have not laughed so much in a week as I did while I was there. People like Judith (our wonderful Ugandan friend for life) and Gilbert ("You look very nice with your eyes closed") were an endless supply of laughter and joy through out our time there, I cannot wait to see them, along with countless others, again one day.

I am thankful beyond expression for having been a part of these peoples lives for a week, they blessed me more than I could have ever thought possible.

The Country- One of my favorite parts of Rwanda was the views! Everywhere you looked was another creative masterpiece from the ultimate Creator. Walking out of our dormitory every morning was breathtaking. Every evening/night we would sit out on the steps talking, enjoying the cool air and watching the sun dip below the hills and the moon take it's place.

Pictures never do the best places justice, which means you all will just have to go and witness it for yourselves : ).

It's hard to pinpoint your favorite moments when the trip was one giant favorite moment in your life. I will attempt to share a few with you though.

-One evening, after VBS had been over for a while, I walked down to the soccer field (which overlooked our building site) with Gasanna and Christine - my faithful teacher helpers all week- and talked to them for a little while. When they had to leave, some of the kids were sitting watching the building and told me to sit with them.. Some time passed by and Tony came up to sit with us, then Alex. We talked about life, America, favorite things, PlayStation, animals, anything and everything. They got a hold of my camera and took what became my favorite pictures of the whole trip...

-Pass the pigs and Disney sing-a-long night at the dorm! I can think of a few boys who may not put this in their favorite moments category from the trip, but Charlotte, Sandy, Alex and I sure had fun. For 2 hours we sang as many Disney songs as we could think of, word for word with every dramatic action that goes along with them.

-Riding in the back of the truck into the city and back was always the place to be for fun. The best was our last night as a full group in Kigali, we headed into town for ice cream at Bourbon. As we drove through the packed city, we sang the "Ice Cream & Cake" song as well as other, lesser known songs like "Aint No Mountain High Enough". As if seeing a bunch of white people in the back of a truck wasn't weird enough...

-Anytime spent with the team was a good time. I can't tell you how much I love these people! The night before group 1 left, I asked Sandy what she thought of the trip, she said that this was no doubt the best team she had ever been a part of. I'm so blessed to have been a part of it.

One request the Rwandans had for us multiple times through the course of our visit was: Bring your family and friends back to Rwanda with you, tell them about our country and about everything you saw here.

So this was a small taste...a very very small taste...of the beautiful Rwanda.

Now that I have seen, I am responsible

Faith without deeds is dead

Now that I have held you in my own arms, I will not let go til you are

I will tell the world, I will tell them where I've been

I will keep my word...

Stirring up love and good works...

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." ~ Hebrews 10:23-25

"Consider - think about, ponder, deliberate, meditate, mull over - other people, with this conscious goal: what can I do today so that they will be stirred up to love and to good deeds? Now there is a reason to live and a focus for every day that will never be boring. Every day is new and different. People change. Their circumstances change. You change. But the call remains the same: consider, consider, consider these people you will be around today. ~ John Piper

Carry on...

My beautiful daughter Emily has returned from people and places and experiences that I will likely never know this side of glory. I did little more yesterday than soak up as many stories, photos and videos as she had the energy and patience to share with me. She is still absorbing it all - from Chicago to Kigali to Amsterdam, and airports in London and Nairobi in route. One of her first reflections is that the greater mission field is Amsterdam, and some of her photos (links below) confirm the probable truth of that thought. Some people who know and love Jesus need food and water and clothing, but many people with food and water and clothing need Jesus, and that is most certainly the greater need. Though Emily is still wandering around in the fog of serious jet lag, I'm not letting her get too settled in just yet. We leave early in the morning for Tampa and Women of Faith with Kristin and her sister Brooke, where we will connect with Lizbeth and my neices Sommer and April. And the rhythms of life on Pollywog Creek will carry on without us. Emily's photos from Chicago, Rwanda, and Amsterdam Alex Faubel's Photos from Rwanda 2009

Saturday Photo Hunt - Low...

 
Low tide along a beautiful Florida Gulfcoast beach, and puffy black clouds hang low in the sky as the sun sets low on the horizon...
   
A crop duster flies low over the corn and sugar cane fields of south central Florida between Lake Okeechobee and the east coast.

Three of those four photos were taken while riding in the car along the highway, which is why I never leave home without my camera. They may not be the clearest of photos, but they are moments I am happy to have captured, none the less. Thanks so much to TNChick, for her faithful and gracious hosting of the Saturday Photo Hunt each week.

Technorati tag - PhotoHunt

Steady on...

We have received three delightful messages from Emily in Rwanda - each one a gentle massage for those stretched-out heart strings of mine. She is happy and healthy and has fallen in love with the people she has met there, and I suspect that it will be her heart strings that will be stretched when she must say goodbye and leave for home. All the while, the rhythms of life on Pollywog Creek have remained seasonal and steady, and friends and family and the church (and the dentist) have provided just enough out-of-the-house activity for me to keep idleness and loneliness at bay.

Big picture to details...

Captain Hendry's property near the river... ...to our little property on Pollywog Creek.

After a delightful lunch in town today, I drove out to the Hendry House, a historic Florida cracker house surrounded by ancient live oaks near the Caloosahatchee River.

I'd love to explore the Hendry House property again, when I can sweet talk Louis into going with me. I wasn't entirely confident about being there alone today, with too many twists and turns hidden from view. I was thrilled to have the house and property to myself, but a little uneasy, as well.

I'm a bit lost these days with my Emily so far away. It took two days and five flights over three continents for her to reach Kigali - a painful stretch for a mother's heart strings.

I'm grateful for the little glimpses into Emily's days found here, but anxious to hear from her, as well.

Emily's cat Lucy is bewildered at her absence. Lucy's routine has been disrupted and she's been taking it out on me - crying outside my bedroom door and attacking my ankles for no good reason.

I cringe at the thought of wishing our days away , but I can hardly wait for the day Emily comes home...and Lucy stops crying and biting my ankles.

Saturday Photo Hunt - Entertainment...

Concerts Strolling Entertainer - Country Music Hall of Fame - Nashville Ryman Auditorium - Nashville Thanks so much to TNChick, for her faithful and gracious hosting of the Saturday Photo Hunt each week. For "entertainment" photos from other participants just click on the Photo Hunter Banner or the Technorati PhotoHunt tag below. The theme for next week's Photo Hunt is "low".

Technorati tag - PhotoHunt