Glorysgirl

We do our time like pennies in a jar. What are we saving for? – The Bravery

I’m not sure what it is that I like about these lyrics. It may just be that it sounds nice – it creates a nice picture. I think also it makes me think of what time really is – small pieces of moments that don’t seem like much to spend but add up to something too great to give away. Although many times we do without even realizing it.

One of the most beautiful songs. It reminds me of the December CD by George Winston. Something calming, sad, and powerful all at the same time.

Ever feel like you’re the yellow is a sea of blue?

(attribution: John-Morgan)

First off a few political things:

• Happy Birthday Prez Obama. I guess that isn’t overtly political unless you hate Obama and think he should not be wished a happy birthday.
• This afternoon, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker overturned the California voter-approved ban known as Proposition 8. Which is awesome because it was not approved by this (then) California voter. There are many times in my life when I am amazed and aware of living through monumental times in our history. This is one of them. Someone told me once that one day in the future we will look at the way that we have treated same-sex couples in the same way that we now look at how we once treated inter-racial couples – with shame and wonder at how we could have ever thought that anything but equal rights were deserved by all. (great photos: Big Picture)

Now for a few funny things:

• The Oatmeal. Hilarious. Especially when talking about Minor Differences.
• Do you ever read the letters to the editor in women’s magazines? They are ridiculous. Apparently the even better ones never get published. But you can read some of them here. And here. I’ll admit they are a little callous:

Example: referring to the article “Would You Rather Be Fat & Happy? Or Thin & Sad?”

Thin and sad. Or, if it’s an option, extra thin and suicidal. Or, if at all possible, a skeleton that killed itself. Ashes that crumbled off a skeleton that killed itself. A gust of wind blowing through the eye socket of a skeleton that killed itself. A fart seeping from the asshole of a corpse that shit itself to death. In case those are ones I can choose.

Edith Z., Brooklyn

Depressing news of the day:

• Our Faith In Practice Gala and the Marine Corps Ball are on the same night. Major fail.

Exciting news of the day:

• … it’s almost Thursday?
• I’m going to see Inception with B tomorrow
• San Diego in two weeks (hopefully) and I feel the need to watch Anchorman so I’ll have some good quotes on hand.

I went to see Eclipse today with my grandma and cousin Madison and let me just say that in the battle of the weird teenage boy love interests someone clearly underestimated the power of the hot, mustached dad. Team Chief Swan. Actually I just find his humor and eye rolling entertaining. And although grandma didn’t think this movie was as entertaining as the first one (she missed the second one) I basically sat through the whole movie being jealous that they all were able to wear jeans and sweaters.

This weekend was amazing. Full of bandanas, scavenger hunting, and a dance party so intense that we knocked the bus into the ditch. Plus I got to see my sister and Mert, have some quiet time alone, church with my mom, hang out with my gram, and see my besties B and Megs. If only Pat wasn’t stuck in New Orleans 7 hours away instead of being here in Houston it would have been perfect. Minus the 100 degree weather. I seriously don’t think I’ll get used to that again.

This little story is great. Funny, heartwarming, all about love.

Wow so much has happened since the past time I posted that I can only resort to bullet points. Otherwise this post is going to be a novel!

• Antigua: beautiful, lots of work, lots of productivity, lots of inspiration.

• As Green As It Gets tour: amazing. Seriously inspiring. The young women who were working on their own projects like making purses, sewing their own bags for tea, making chapstick, helping with the coffee business – their determination and bright hopes for their futures was just incredible. It was great to get out of Antigua, speak a little Spanish, and see the smiles that Guatemalans are known for.
• Seattle: lovely. I think the weather was trying to make up for the last time I was there. Goodbye clouds and rain. Hello beautiful sunshine, cool weather, and nice breeze. Between that and the weather in Antigua it was just that much more difficult to come back to Houston humidity.
• Dawson wedding: what fun! The Bergman clan plus the Aussies made for one great party. Megan (and I’m sure Cress and the rest of the crew) did so much work to plan all the details. The setting was gorgeous, the band was rocking, the afterparty was a blast right up until the part where we waited for an hour and a half for cabs. Guess the evening couldn’t be 100% perfect, right?
• Etc: biking in West Seattle, yummy gigantic ice cream cones, laying in the grass with PB and Ranger, rolls, rolls, rolls, baseball game and singing, “nice, nice, nice”, and more.

And now my puffy face and I are trying to take it easy, read The Glass Castle in preparation for book club, and look forward to all the fun that August will bring!

I’ve been reading James the past few days. It is funny because James is one of the books of the Bible I have actually spent time previously studying in small group but for whatever reason I felt the need to dig back into it while here in Guatemala. This morning I read James 4. It starts off with humility. Now I’m all for humility – I think it is one of the most beautiful things to see. Check. Then it moves into judging others. Ok I get it … I agree even if sometimes what that means can be hard to put into practice. The end of James 4 in my study Bible has the title “Warning about Self-Confidence”. Humm …

Now the reason I really enjoy reading a study Bible is because often the verses of the Bible themselves are written in such a way that directly applying them to my own life is easy to avoid. James 4:13-17 is a bit the same. Don’t say I’m going to a town tomorrow to stay a year and make a profit? Ok cool I can do that. But to recognize that there is no point in making plans as though God does not exist because the future is in his hands? Not easy. Plan ahead but hold onto our plans loosely? Sometimes seems impossible.

The statement I like best is that “Life is short no matter how many years we live”. We should not be held back today from living the life we are called to, loving the people in our lives, and doing as we know we ought to.

So now onto Antigua (sorry this will be a long post) Yesterday was full of moving around the town as our teams do. We went to service in the morning at Las Obras Sociales del Hermano Pedro. The Obras is where all of our Antigua surgery teams do their surgical procedures on the patients we bring in from the villages. The Obras hosts not only our Faith In Practice teams but also other surgical teams from around the world. In addition it is home to children and adults with disabilities or those who need full time care (the elderly, children with nutritional deficiencies). Let me just say that you have never been touched by a service in the way that you would by attending mass at the Obras. They bring in all (or at least those where it is possible) of those who live at the Obras in their wheelchairs or on their own and they fill the church aisles. Although many cannot sing that exact worlds of the songs, voices and noise of worship fills the church. It is the perfect display of praise in whatever way a person is able.

We then toured the Obras and I got to see where the magic happens. Of course our ORs were just a small part of the building. Seeing where all of the men and women and children live was very touching. I received probably the best hugs of my entire life by one of the young women who lives at the Obras. She didn’t want to let go and neither did I! Another surgery team, Faces of Hope, was doing their traige. They operate on many needing cleft palette and lip repairs.

Then I got to hop around to see the hotels and restaurants our teams frequent while here in Antigua. Beautiful! We ended the Antigua tour with a stop at Casa de Fe, the “Ronald McDonald house” for patients while they are in Antigua for their surgeries. It was FULL of patients here for the Faces of Hope team, so many cute little babies and their parents. Packed with mattresses and laundry hanging on the line to dry. A warm place for those who would otherwise have no where to stay while here for these life-changing surgical procedures.

Then we ended the day with a little shopping in the markets (haven’t bought anything yet – sorry if you were expecting souvenirs! ha!) and dinner at a more typical Guatemalan restaurant. Tacos with potato, queso, and guacamole. Yum. Now it will be one full day of work and the continual rain here (it is the rainy season I suppose) and then I leave tomorrow afternoon.

Hasta luego y besitos!

Yes it has been a little rainy here in Antigua. For some reason it feels fitting, as everything is so green surrounding us. Yesterday morning was spent recapping our village season for work and preparing for this season to come. When we thought we’d have a slow couple of months after our mission season ended I suppose we didn’t account for our volunteers chomping at the bit to plan for the next year. It is wonderful to have such enthusiasm for service!

In the afternoon I wandered to the market with our executive director to check on some of the Angeles and Tres Reyes we are having carved for our Gala centerpieces and marketplace. The angels are still a work in progress but we got eight sets of the three kings. They really are beautiful. Not entirely my style (as I explained to our ED the sculptures I like best are the Calaveras (the skulls).

Later on in the day I was out walking around the streets and they were holding some type of children’s race. There were kids, age probably four years old to ten, running through the streets on a probably 1 mile or so race. It was super cute, although entirely far too dangerous for my likes since the kids were running right along with the cars at times. I wish I could have taken a photo of this one tiny little boy, four or five at most, running up the sidewalk with his little tank top and running shorts and number on his chest. He was so focused, pumping his arms and trying to keep up. Adorable.

Last night we went to Santo Domingo for dinner and it was fabulous. I have never known the black bean soup (one of my favorites anyway) could taste so good. Ahh. Then we took some time to walk around the ruins of the monastery that the restaurant and hotel is built around/into. It looked like they were set up for a wedding the following day. I can think of few cooler places to get married … maybe I should start saving my money.

Off for another day!