From There to Here

It's been a couple of months - actually, a long time - since I have posted anything. It's not that I haven't attempted to blog ... I have opened up this window a number of times and have just stared at the screen. Sometimes I have even written a sentence or two, I think I may have even gotten a few paragraphs written at times, only to erase them and then exit out of the program with nothing to show for the time spent here. I have no excuse except that I hit a low point in the transition process from there to here. We were warned about this at our training in Colorado and by folks who have been on the mission field for a while. It took me a little while to figure out what was going on and then how to put it into words.

As many of you know, we went back to the States for Christmas. We had so much fun visiting with family and tried to see as many of our friends as we could. It was a bit strange being there though, because we didn't have a "home" to go back to. When we visited our old work places, they were different and church was different with so many new faces. But we really enjoyed being there because, even though it was different, it was familiar and there was comfort in that.

Three weeks sounded like such a long time but the time flew by and before we knew it we were back on Dominican soil ... "home".

Home ... hmmm. As we have gone through the motions of settling back into life here I'm not sure that I can honestly say that it feels like home ... not quite yet. Some aspects of our lives here feel familiar and we have made wonderful friends here and love the work that we are doing here. But, honestly, we are missing there and all that was familiar there and our friends there and the work we did there. And all our family is there. We miss our kids, we miss my parents, we miss our siblings, we miss our grandkids and we will miss the birth of Dick's first "official" grandchild (he married into the other ones =).

Dick asked me what I wanted to do a few nights ago. I told him I wanted to go shopping at the Gardens Mall, then stop by Palm Beach Ice Cream and get a scoop of watermelon sherbet and go up to the beach to watch the kite surfers. That's familiar but that's there. There's a mall here ... an hour away in Santiago but they don't have a Macy's or a Dillards 70% off rack. And ... everyone speaks Spanish (imagine that!). There is also an ice cream shop here, and it's only about 5 minutes away. But the ice cream is very sweet, very grainy, tastes very artificial, and they don't have watermelon sherbet. And ... we have to know how to order in Spanish. There is a LOT of beach here - we do live on an island - and Caberete Beach is host to many kite surfing competitions. But it's a couple of hours away and it takes a whole lot more planning to get to. And ... everyone speaks Spanish. Our brains are tired from constant translation and most times we feel like we are only catching what people are saying, not truly understanding what they are saying. And responding back, well, it's better than it was but we still have a L-O-N-G way to go. We want so desperately to get to the point where we can understand and be understood by those we are attempting to communicate with. We had that there, but not here, not quite yet.

So now you know why you haven't heard from us for a while. We really are okay, it's just that the reality of moving here and not being there is beginning to sink in and sometimes those things are hard to put into words. I had a conversation with my brother recently and he mentioned our lack of blogging. When I told him why, he reminded me how important it is to let people know how to pray for us. So if you have managed to reach the end of this rambling, we would ask that you remember to keep us in your prayers. Please pray for us as we continue to transition here and keep letting go of there. Pray for our language learning - that will go a long way in helping us to feel settled here. And finally, please pray for us and the rest of the SI-DR staff as we prepare for summer teams. Pray also for those on the teams who will be passing through here - that everything we do and say will draw them into a deeper relationship with Christ and that He will be glorified by all that is said and done ... here.

A New Normal

Wow, it's November. So why does it still feel like summer? And I don't mean in terms of the weather because actually, lately it has been quite nice; highs in the upper 80's during the day and lows in the mid 60's at night and I think the humidity might have actually dropped below 100%!

But it feels like summer because the previous 19 years of my life have revolved around a school schedule. Summers were spent getting ready for the new school year and then in August there was the hustle and bustle of getting ready for parent orientations and the excitement of welcoming families back on the first day of school. The ensuing days were filled with watching the preschool kids learn how to walk in a straight line down the hall, coaching new students on how the lunch line works, school pictures, the college fair, the annual school auction, football season, the craziness of homecoming week, the annual Preschool Fall Fun Day ... oh the memories. It's hard to believe that football season has come and gone at JCS and we haven't been to a single game! Life is marching on ... and I am still waiting for summer to end.

I recently talked to a friend and she used the term, "new normal" in describing some life changes she is going through. I think that is what we are trying to figure out, what our "new normal" is. We were warned about this by friends and family who had been on the mission field and when we did our cross-cultural training at MTI in Colorado. Basically, everything that has been normal, natural, right, and good is now different. In talking to my friend and fellow-new-missionary she described it as having your whole world turned up-side-down. Yup, that's what it feels like! 

Take driving for instance - think about what normal driving looks like to you. I can assure you that it looks nothing like driving here, even on its worst day in the States. Here, traffic lights are optional, especially if you drive a "moto" - anyone of a number of 2-wheeled vehicles that range in size and power from a moped to an actual motorcycle. Whole families can be seen traveling by motos - including days-old infants, no car seats or helmets required. Oh, and at night, lighting on said motos is optional. See something on the side of the road you want or someone you want to talk to? Just park your car in the traffic lane. Get behind a very slow moving vehicle on the mountain road? Just pass it, it doesn't matter that you are going into a curve and you can't see what's coming around that bend. And when you stop at an intersection in the city be prepared to be mobbed by all manner of street vendors and people begging for money. The traffic lights change and they come crawling out into the stopped cars like foraging ants. Need garbage bags, windshield wiper blades, cold water, pineapples, limes, oranges, flowers, newspaper, cell phone cords, cell phone minutes, your windshield cleaned? There's a vendor for that! Yesterday on our way back from Santiago, we bought a bunch of mandarines (tangerines) from a vendor. Total transaction time about 5 seconds; I can't say that I've ever done that in the good old U.S. of A.

Another thing we are dealing with that we hope and pray does not become our new normal is ... rats. So far, we don't think any have actually taken up residence in the house but we have had about 4 encounters with the little critters recently - 2 outside and 2 inside. I could handle the outside encounters but a couple of weeks ago when I went to put something away in my pantry I heard something and then felt something brush against my foot. After waking Dick and retrieving a flashlight we found the little bugger behind the refrigerator. I can assure you that staring into those beady little eyes has NEVER been part of my "normal."

Dick and I tried to chase it out the door but it dove under the stove and then up into the insulation of the stove so we couldn't get it. The next night a cat showed up on our back porch, starving! So we fed it and it rewarded us with killing the rat. We continued to feed it and it made our porch its home. Last night we returned from an awesome evening with friends to find a rat in our curtains in the living room. After Dick wacked it with a broom and it landed at my feet, I retrieved the cat from the porch and it chased the rat around the living room and chased it ... under the stove. Today's task - block off the bottom of the stove so the rats can't hide there anymore! The kitty is lying curled up in a chair next to me as I type this. Another one of those new normal things - Dick is allergic to cats but what's a little Benedryl when you're in a battle against vermin?

In the midst of all the chaos of adjusting to a new culture and new way of living, we are so thankful that Jesus is our constant. As we learn to live our "new normal," He is our anchor, our strong-tower, our provider, our joy, our strength. He is our anchor as we have those days when we wonder why we are here and have the urge to bolt. We know He has called us here and that brings such peace. He is our strong tower as we run to Him in the midst of complete despair over everything from learning the language to chasing rats. He is our provider in every way, including bringing us a starving cat to combat the rats. He is our joy as we seek Him and find Him in the midst of turmoil. He is our strength as we continue on this path He has placed us on and we look to Him to give us what we need moment by moment to walk this out. Our pray is that He will continue to use us to bring His light and His love to those who battle far worse then rats in the cupboard.

"Let not faith cease from seeking Thee until it vanishes into sight. Ride forth in me, thou King of Kings and Lord of Lords, that I may live victoriously ... "
~ from The Valley of Vision

Thank You Just Doesn't Sound Like Enough ...

Four months ago today we landed in the Dominican Republic. Tomorrow, way before the sun rises, Lowell and Cheryl Troyer will get in a car and drive away from the place they have called home for the past 11+ years. We cannot begin to express how much we have come to love and appreciate them and their hearts for the work of the Lord. As we have trained along-side of them (and Maggie Slabach too) we have at times been overwhelmed by the many details of running a ministry such as Students International. For years, we have been on the other-side of this ministry, bringing teams from Jupiter Christian School. We always appreciated how smoothly things seemed to run as team leaders but we didn't fully understand the length and the depth of that until now.

The day after we landed in the DR, we went with Lowell and Cheryl to Santiago to shop for the group scheduled to arrive a few days after us. It was an impressive thing to watch how the van load of groceries was bought, paid for and stashed in the van in an amazing order. We came home, looked at each other and said, "what in the world have we gotten ourselves into." We felt as though there was no way we would ever be able to do the shopping on our own. Over the next couple of months, Lowell, Cheryl and Maggie gradually transitioned out as we transitioned in. I don't know when the actual full shift took place but this past week we went to Santiago and managed to buy groceries on our own ... granted it was for a much smaller group, but we were encouraged that we accomplished this once daunting task on our own! We were trained well by the masters!

As we have gotten to know the kitchen crew (Mili, Carlos, Angela, Juana, Nieve, Milagros, and Lucila) and the grounds crew (Son and Rudy) and the sweet family that lives next door (Wilian, Isabel, Samuel, and Isabella) we have witnessed the deep love that they have for Lowell and Cheryl, Nate and Maggie. There are deep bonds of friendship that will last a life-time between them all. We know that the only reason the "fearsome foursome" as they have been dubbed, would leave is because there is Someone much bigger at work in their lives.

All of us who have stepped into roles to fill the vacancies left by the Slabachs and the Troyers do so with a tremendous appreciation for the vision and the ground-work laid by them. We love you so very much and look forward to seeing and hearing all the Lord is doing in your lives and through you as you move on to planting a new work in Nicaragua and overseeing your new roles in Students International.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

traditional gaelic blessing