Day 2 in Costa Rica

Today is a special day as the entire Costa Rica LAM family is gathering to meet us, hear Steve's "address" and ask questions. We did not need to be downstairs (everyone is coming to the AMCA house) until 10:00 so we were able to spend some time having devotions, reading and for Steve,

some prep for his talk. There was probably 50 people that we began to meet and chat with before we sat down for our meal. A wonderful group of missionary couples that don't get together as often as they like, so they look forward to a once a year retreat. This year the retreat was exchanged for our time today, as the economic crisis has affected them as well, and to accomodate the 'presidential visit'. Olive (?can't remember her last name at this moment) served as master of ceremonies and after we had a meal of a pot rst. kind of meat, mashed potatoes, brocoli, green bean, carrot mixture, and a cheesecake type dessert, we sang a couple of hymns together, and she gave a short presentation. She said that while president Obama has been in office for 90 days and recently gave his address, and Steve has been president of LAM this same amount of time, (April 4th will be our 90 days), they are looking forward to the 'state of the LAM address'. The similarities stop there as she sees our LAM president more as a "coach", and the missionaries as part of the "selection" team. So Steve was presented with a soccer ball, signed by all the missionaries! She said that they hoped it would be in his office and remind him of his team in Costa Rica. Of course Steve loved the illustration and you can bet it will get a select spot in his office!

He then spent about 30 minutes talking about what he has discovered in the last 2 1/2 months in leadership and what he sees as the most important things to tackle this year. He also talked about what kind of leadership he will bring to the LAM, emphasizing that he is relational and wants to be communicated with directly. Evidently, former presidents were "isolated" and you had to go through a ream of people to finally get to "the top". Steve encouraged them by Scripture that speaks of the first shall be last, and that we as an MSO exist FOR them, not the other way around. He committed streamlining systems and communication to make their time on the field as good as possible. There was a one hour Q and A time and all kinds of questions were raised. I believe he was able to bring great encouragement and gave them a very good birds eye view of not only who he is, but the positive changes and course that he hopes and prays to bring to the LAM. A good time was had by all.

Steve and I took about a half an hour to prepare to leave for the rest of the afternoon and evening. We got word that a group was coming to stay at the AMCA house, where we are,

and that sent Steve and I into a momentary panic. I called the couple that run the house to see if it is a small or large group and if it is going to be teenagers or adults. Interestingly enough, he didn't seem to have details. I left frustrated, but was quickly distracted from my concerns by our ride to our next destination . . . Bob Beamas, who he and his wife have done camp ministry here for 41 years, drove like a New York taxi driver to get us to the Worship Service at 3pm.

Sometimes I had to just close my eyes and take a deep breath . . . I asked if he had ever had any accidents in his many years of driving here. He said "2 fender benders during the first 10 years of being here." No sooner had he said those words than a car slammed on his brakes and came about 12 inches from T boning my side of the car! I decided to stop asking such questions!

The next 2 hours were very interesting. Bob is one of 8 leaders that combine Evangelicals and Catholics, all Believers, in a community of about 300 people that meet on Saturday afternoons from 3-5 pm, for worship and prayer. They are divided up during the week into small groups and each group has a pastor that teaches. They study books of the Bible, all on the same passages.

It is 90% Catholic! Each member must be committed to a home church and attend that church faithfully. But they also have 2 meetings a week with "Sword of the Spirit", and sometimes even more meetings. This is a "family" and you can see the love. It was such an amazing time of worship. The band made up of young people, stood to the side and led without any "hoopla".

The words were reflected on the wall in the center of the auditorium, which by the way is a lovely, large building that they recently built and payed for. Good acoustics. It is designed to have cross breeze and doors and windows are opened, with no air conditioning. There were 4 pastors up front, 2 being very active. One kept the flow of the Service going. There was people that would come up to one of the pastors, whisper something in his ear, he would go to the pastor at the microphone and whisper something in his ear. You could see that he was seriously processing what was being said. He took a moment and then spoke direction to the congregation. We found out later that evening from Bob that people would come up with prophecies and prayer requests. The pastor at the mike would pray and process if it was from the Spirit and allow only that which he felt was safe and good to bring to the congregation. Bob told us that they also look for a "pattern" of prophetic word, since the people coming up don't know what the other person has said. When we were there, 2 people were allowed to speak a prophetic word from the pulpit. One was a Scripture reading and interpretation and the other was a word of encouragement to the church family. No one speaks for more than a couple of minutes and it seamlessly moves from one thing to the next. Fascinating to watch the pastors work! There was much time dedicated to prayer and while the pastor prayed from the front, there was a beautiful hummmm from the audience as people quietly prayed out loud. There also was a time where people would gather in small groups and pray over each other. A man came up to us and said the Spirit had led him to pray for us and that he was to pray for power in our lives. Everywhere you looked people were praying and crying, but it was all so quiet and "organized", but not in a stiff way. There was a gentleness and sweetness to the time that truly ministered to my spirit. There is no doubt in my mind that these Catholics have a deep relationship with the Lord!

I have a couple of pictures but discovered that I can not put them on until our return to the States.

We then drove 45 minutes to Bob's house where his wife prepared us a soup and bread dinner.

We had some good but short conversation, as Bob was concerned about our getting back to the AMCA house before the "game" was over. Mexico and Costa Rica playing for the right to proceed on for the World Cup. The city stops for such important games. So he called us a taxi.

I discovered that there are no street names for residential streets. They go by landmarks!

We got into a taxi with a young man who had no idea where he was taking us and we didn't have and address . .. and we didn't know where we were going! Very interesting. The young man stopped at his house to get some help from a brother. He stopped along the way to talk to a police man, and he stopped at the "other" Shell bomba, to see if that was the right one . . . . it took nearly an hour of driving to finally get to the AMCA house. Steve would say, " I think that rotunda looks familiar". or "Maybe that is the right road". How crazy is that? But by God's grace we got "home". There were about 50 young people downstairs and we needed to unwind.

After some time spent on SKYPE with Cara and her birthday party in Phoenix, then a few minutes with Christa and Daniel in Nashville, we decided we were not going to sit in our bedroom depressed, missing our family, so we walked to a corner bar/restaurant. It was crowded and noisy with the music blaring, but we sat outside with cars and buses racing by us and it was a good distraction. We had a Costa Rican beer that even Steve liked (he is not a big fan of beer!) as it was light and not bitter. We shared some onion rings and Bar B Q wings and shed the stress of the day. It was nice to have the waiter accept our North American Bank card since we had no C.R. money, and he and Steve interacted over the afternoon game. . . Costa Rica lost to Mexico 2 to 0.

When we got back to the AMCA house, there were still a lot of kids hanging around, but we were beyond allowing anything to stress us. I took two melatonin and went to bed and Steve interacted with a couple of people on FB. We slept soundly through the night. God is good!!

Day 1 in Costa Rica

It is 11:45 pm Miami time, 2 hours earlier here in San Jose, Costa Rica. Steve and I are settled into the house that we will be staying in during our 2 week duration. Steve is asleep in the bedroom and as per usual, I am wide awake although exhausted. So I thought I would take advantage of the moment and catch you up on our days events.

We spent the morning packing, cleaning to leave the house ready for Shirley, the dog sitter, running to the bank, the LAM office, and finally the airport. Our plane was to leave at 12, but didn't get off until 1:30. It is always a little bit more challenging when you are flying international as you go through customs going in and coming out. But all went smoothly and we were met in the Costa Rica airport by Matt and Lisa Befus, missionaries for 10 years here at the school, Palabra de Vida. Matt's father founded the school about 20 years ago and even built the house that he and Lisa now live with their beautiful 4 daughters. We had a wonderful visit with the Director of the school where Steve was able to ask many questions and also to let her know what a privilege it is to be able to support and work along side such a strategic ministry. We ended our time together in sweet prayer and then Matt gave Steve the tour of the 8 acre grounds. We forgot to take pictures! But tomorrow we will keep our phone camera close at hand, and get some pictures to put on the blog.

I took a 20 minute power nap on their living room couch and then we were able to meet their girls and visit with the whole family around the table as Lisa had prepared a delicious dinner for us.

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas, Cuban Beans, Brown Rice, Jello, and a pineapple upside down cake for dessert. We hadn't eaten for about 10 hours, so it tasted especially good!

We then loaded into their van for a scary ride across town . . . the roads are narrow, and filled with pot holes, the traffic was horrendous, but Lisa informed us that it was better than usual!

Ugh! It took about 45 minutes to get us to the house we are now. It is owned by LAM and is used to house short term missionaries and groups that come through from time to time. It is in a "questionable" neighborhood, but once you get past the iron bars, it is, well . . . . like a big dorm house. Downstairs a group of young people were having a meeting, we are upstairs where there are 4 bedrooms with bunks, a small, barely adequate kitchen and a sparsly decorated living room, with a laundry room off to the side. because electricity is so costly, it cost 6 dollars to do a load of laundry. I think Steve was a little disappointed, but he had been warned that it was nothing fancy. Evidently, the former presidents had opted to stay in hotels, but Steve wanted to make a "statement", so here we are. Tomorrow morning all the LAM missionaries in Costa Rica will gather for brunch and Steve will give a presentation with a Q and A afterwards.

So far, the Costa Rica we have seen is very much like parts of Mexico but more green. I have heard there are beautiful parts to this country and I hope we get to see some of them.

We were very impressed with the school and what they are doing. The Befus's are amazing people and cream of the crop missionaries. I really am looking forward to meeting everyone tomorrow. Well, I will try to catch some shut eye. Good night!

Read 2nd Bog 1st

Sorry, I had a problem and couldn't finish the last blog entry. Please read my last blog before beginning this. 

Anyway, I had my iphone in my hand while driving, my reading glasses half way down my nose so I could drive and read at the same time. Maneuvering traffic, freeway changes and Dutchess in the back pacing around like she needed to make a deposit, Barkley sick and for what I knew, possibly dying.  I'm thinking, "I could sure use a navigator and another set of eyes and hands right now."

After just one missed street I found the office, jumped out to get  Duchess to a green spot so she could leave her brown spot, and we clumsily entered into the office.  I filled out forms, reminiscent of Pediatrician visits, and was ushered into a room where dogs were weighed and eventually examined.  Because Barkley was in so much pain the Dr. gave him a shot of pain reliever and said that most likely Barleys foot was broken . . . so how could that be since I am with them 24/7 and I never saw or heard anything that would account for something so dramatic?  He agreed but said that if a dog is favoring his leg to the point that he will not walk on it, and if he is in so much pain that he is lathargic and quivering, most likely it is broken.  He started to go into what that would mean with one option being surgery.  I think the word he used was "complicated".  Complicated equals money when it comes from a doctors mouth.  So he proceeded to x ray little Barkley and returned with the results.  "Well, it's broken . . . but not his foot.  It's his NAIL.  I started laughing as said how could a broken nail cause a dog to react this way?  He said, "It shouldn't. I know that a broken nail is painful, but this is outrageous!  I think we will nick name him WEINER! " He cut back the nail, (loud whaling occured) and gave me MORE painkillers, anti biotics and a good laugh. Barkley was so "drunk" from the medication that when I put him in the car he didn't bother getting on the seat. He layed himself over the hump on the floor and didn't move until I carried him out and layed him on his bed.  That was 3 hours ago and he still hasn't moved.  I checked him recently to see if he was still breathing!

At least I will have a good story for Steve on our way home from picking him up at the airport!!

Wiener!

Steve has been in Honduras since Tuesday and I have been busy preparing for his return tonight and our trip together to Costa Rica for 2 weeks.  I remember when our kids were young and Steve would have ministry out of town that things would always happen that would have been much easier to handle were he there to help.  Things haven't changed that much.  Since Sean, Cara, Christa and Stefani are grown and "flown the coop", we have transfered some of our nurturing and need for giving and receiving affection to our puppy dogs. ( I never thought I would be saying that and especially not out loud! ) What we receive from them is well worth all the effort, but it is much like having 5 year old twins in the house.  Not long after I dropped Steve off at the airport, Duchess began a bout of montezuma's revenge, and I began the now 3 day clean up duty.  Her favorite place to leave a deposit . . . our bed!  I have washed sheets, matress pad and matalase cover twice now.  I finally gave up last night and slept in a chair, too tired to wash and remake the bed again.  Countless trips outside did not keep her from  . . . well, you know.  Then this morning, as I sleepily through myself together and went to tether the dogs, I discovered that Barkly would not get out of his bed.  He just looked at me with the saddest eyes and layed his head back down.  I picked him up and put him on the floor to discover that he was strongly favoring one of his hind legs.  He hobbled outside with great effort and was as lathargic as I have ever seen him.  Fortunately, our friend Enrique was outside with his dogs and I got the name and number for a quality Vet that does not charge a months salary for a visit.  I was able to get him in in the afternoon and set about to try to get some of my work done.  It wasn't long before I realized that he was digressing; unwilling to drink, eat, move and even started twitching.  I began to fear that he had been stung by a jellyfish last night  while we were having our early evening romp on the beach.  So I called the Dr. and was told to bring him in immediately.  Even that became a task.  His office is in Corral Gables and I have never driven there by myself.  The freeways here are similar to LA but even more confusing. We have an 823 and an 826, an I 95 and a 195, just to mention a few. They also have names like Turnpike, and 

The mundane and the eternal

Did I say a couple of weeks ago that we have settled in on a church?  Well, we thought we had found the best that we could find for where we live. But we cast our net a bit further and came across a church called Florida Bible Church. We attended for the second time this morning and when we 'debriefed' in the car, going over the pro's and con's, we both decided that this is where we feel the most comfortable.  It is a 30 minute trip from home, taking us to Miramar/Pembroke Pines.  The trip would probably be 45 minutes or more during the week with normal traffic, so it must be a pretty great church, right?  Well, it reminds us of Scottsdale Bible in the 70's and 80's before it became a mega church with sports and rock stars in attendance.  Different from SBC is the multi ethnicity of the people.  It really reflects the community with a split of Black's, Latino's and Caucasans.  The pastor is a Dallas grad, (points in Steve's book!) and really preaches the Word with integrity and enthusiasm.  The worship is "familiar" and worshipful, and the emphasis on Missions does not hurt!  There is a trip to Haiti planned in August and today they introduced the entire Missions Committee from the pulpit.  There is a good sized school on the campus, K - 12,  emphasizing Christian Education; and last Sunday there was a children's choir that sounded better than most professional choirs!  It didn't hurt that 3/4 of the kids were black and the soloist was a beautiful 12 year old that sang like she could be Aretha's granddaughter!  The people are friendly and have some beautiful freedom in their worship.  I am getting used to the audience interaction that is customary to a black church, but my how it keeps my attention! 

We also like the area surrounding the church as it has wide streets, residential areas that are built around lakes, and there are stores that I have not found in one place anywhere!  Today we ate at RA  and I had to call Christa and tell her since that was one of her and my favorite restaurants in Scottsdale.  We would go there during our lunch hour when she was in high school and I was working at the school.  We also kept going there when she was in college and I was still working at Saguaro.  she would pick me up and we would race there before the lunch crowd, ordering our Bento Boxes, eating,  and rushing back to school before the lunch hour was over.  .   .  oh, the memories! 

Back to Miami Beach . . . .

Upon our return, I went to the grocery store while Steve took the dogs out for their "constitutional".  I saw more than the usual amount of rescue vehicles heading toward the beach on my way home, and when I arrived in our condo, I saw a crowd gathered at the beach and numerous boats and a helicopter circling the water. So I knew that someone was being rescued . . . Steve and I decided to walk the 5 - 10 minutes to the area. By the time we arrived they had taken someone out of the water . . . dead.  A reminder that none of us know the last day we have here on earth and every day is precious.

Sean and Cate suffered a great loss this week as their close friends CJ and Renee experienced a 'still born' birth.  Another reminder that life is precious and God holds us in the palm of His hand . . .

Life and death . . . . Only He is sovereign.

Clouds

The last two days have been dominated by two events . . . a leadership retreat where the 4 managers and Steve sat around our kitchen table from 8:30 am to 5 pm, praying, strategizing, problem solving, dreaming. I prepared them breakfast and lunch then excused myself to the bedroom or balcony to read, write and pray. 

 And the second event is the rain.  It seems that in many of the states in the US, we have either entirely too much or too little rain right now.  Miami is very low in rainfall for the year.  So for that reason and just because it is such a welcome change in the skyline, I am glad to see it here.  The clouds are  amazingly beautiful and I just love watching them change shape as they move through the sky.  I awoke two nights ago to the sound of rain so loud that it startled me.  We keep our arcadia doors open day and night, allowing the sounds of the city and the ocean to always be with us.  The rain was so heavy and the change of sounds so extreme, it awoke me.  So at 3 am I found myself sitting on the balcony taking it all in. This is a view from the balcony this morning as the rain has subsided but the clouds remain.  Beautiful, isn't it? 

Prayer and Unity

This morning I braved the confusing (to me!) Miami freeways to attend a Prayer Initiative for para church organizations in the area.  There were  7 organizations represented; Florida Baptist Children's Home, an independent living program for those who turn 18, Mission Miami, networking churches an business people, Heartbeat of Miami, (rent office space from LAM) alternatives to abortion clinic, Lifework Leadership, provides training and accountability for christian leadership in the community, Youth For Christ, leading to the Lord and mentoring young people in their neighborhoods, Latin Impact Ministries, working with Latin residents in US as well as frontier work in Latin America, and of course Latin America Missions. We meet together solely to pray.  The christian community in Miami is small and for some years has been working autonomously.  The strong leadership of the passed has died or moved away.  This is a baby effort to draw together the leadership for the purpose of personal and ministry encouragement, broadening and strengthening the christian leadership base.  It was good to get together with other men and women who have a love for the Lord and expanding His Kingdom.  I look forward to these monthly meetings. 

I just learned last night that Steve will be going to Honduras next week, arriving home just in time to turn around and both of us head to Costa Rica.  We have 3 missionary families there and as it turns out, it is less expensive to fly back to Miami than to go from Costa Rica to Honduras.  This is all part of Steve's strategy to meet every missionary family this year and see them in their ministry.  I am told our itinerary is filled from morning till night. . . We both are looking forward to getting to know the families and learning about the different ministries.  I know it will be tiring but what a great way to expend  energy! 

Our Latin ministry co-ordinator, Miguel Angel Demarco, just returned from a week in Cuba where he took a week of vacation to come along side another ministry and assist.  When Steve met with him yesterday Miguel informed him that upon leaving the country they had detained him for an afternoon, confiscating his computer, iphone, and camera.  They "accused" him of doing something other than business and for that punished him with the removal of all his technical equipment.  The ministry that was accomplished during his week there was phenomenal . . . just a reminder of the battle that is fought on a daily basis.  

Please keep El Salvador in your prayers as the change of government has gone the way of Venezuela making ministry in those countries even more challenging.

Sodom and Gomorrah?

Yesterday afternoon I drove into South Beach to find the nearest Whole Foods market. I have been in this area a relative few times.  The first memorable visit was when Steve and I came to have dinner on a stormy Saturday night where we ate  at a sidewalk cafe and people watched. The main street had been turned into a 'peatonal' or walkway and  while the billowing, dark clouds threatened to release their heavy load, we took in all that was before us.  So many languages, so many cultures; it was difficult to distinguish who was a tourist and who was a resident. The music, the mixture of spices from a variety of foods, the eclectic dress and languages of the passing people . . . one thing was for sure, the feel of the place was not American but rather European and/or Latino.  

Our first Sunday at the church that we may call home, introduced me to Lincoln Ave. the main drag in the area.  Close to the church is the part of the street that has trendy boutiques, sidewalk cafe's and on weekends, a small Farmers Market.  The part of the street that you see on television with the Art Deco style buildings was where we drove after church.  There was a line of traffic so we saw everything 'up close and personal' as we followed the cars in front of us at 2-5 miles an hour.  There was no rushing.  People obviously wanted to see and be seen and that takes time. 

Back to my search for the Whole Foods market;  I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes to take in the sights.  A young man with grocery bag in hand, walking quickly to the taxi that he had procurred for his shopping trip, the well tanned, well dressed, well pampered people that came and went are unique to the area.  When I was inside going down one of the isles, someone caught my eye. She must have been 60 years old or more, but her dress was bright pink, tight as her plastic surgery skin, short enough to cover the crease between her thighs and buttocks, enough make up to be a stage actress, and a look that says, " surely you agree that I am beautiful".  It feels sort of like L.A., but not . . . More like Buenos Aires downtown, but with a "Barbie and Ken" doll feel.  There is an expensive casualness to the dress . . . you know, hours spent shopping and primping, but made to look like it was just "thrown on"? I've tried it, but somehow never worked for me.  A good thing I'm sure.

We live in North Beach. All part of Miami Beach, but very different than South Beach.  Farther north is a large Jewish population. Many Hasidic, Torah-true Jews live there and it is not unusual to see men in their oversized black suits, yarmulka's, long, untrimmed beards and sidelocks, walking alone or with conservatively dressed wives and daughters.  It seems oddly out of place to the barely clad people that swarm the beaches and streets.  Extremism at its' best. 

I must say that of all the areas along the beach that we could have chosen to live, this is turning out to be one of, if not, the best.  Defining normal is always a relative task, but as I see and feel it, this is a more normal environment. Of course, we do live at the beach and string bikinis are not uncommon as well as an occasional speedo. Sadly, the speedos are warn almost exclusively by over weight, older men who have no idea how repulsive their near nudity truly is . . .

But my one shocking experience came about a week after we had moved in.  I was walking the dogs just outside of our condominium and the first life guard station that I always walk by had an eye popping sight.  A professional photographer snapping pictures of a totally bare naked woman.  Trying to appear as unaffected as possible  by this shocking sight, I calmly kept walking.  Apparently everyone else did the same.  Because there was no gauking, or standing around staring.  It was as if there was nothing unusual happening.  For the first time I was very happy that Steve was not with me on this walk!  

The pastor of Calvary Chapel of South Beach, where we have started to go, had something to say about all this.  He said many people think that South Beach is a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, I believe it is more like the city of Corinth.  I went back and read in Genesis 19 about the angels coming to rescue Lot and his family from the destruction God was going to bring to the evil cities.

For the umteenth time I am shocked by not only the inccident with the evil men of the city who gather at Lot's home to take what they think are men, but are really angels, and have their way with them.  But even more shocked that Lot offers his 2 virgin daughters to the men of the city to do with as they please.  Can you imagine how they must have felt?   Anyway, the pastor likened South Beach to the city of Corinth because it had not reached the level of decadence of Sodom and Gomorrah, but was truly a city of perversion and body worship.  

Steve had read that Miami is the second least churched area in all of the country.  I can testify to that as we have found it challenging to find a Bible teaching church with meaningful worship.

Living here is a daily reminder of how spiritually void this city is.  This city represents many cities in the U.S. and world.  Not very different from L.A., or New York, Buenos Aires, or Sao Paulo, Paris, Madrid . . . I could go on. We can never lose sight of the "heavenly vision" that is ever before us.  We are a lost people without HIM and the Gospel of Good News is Christ's  gift to the world. 

Typical Saturday

Weekends have taken the most dramatic change for us since living and working in Miami.  For most of our 35 years together, Saturdays have been sacred, "set apart" for preparation for Sunday.  Sermon preparation was the warmup to the delivery on Sunday.  When the kids were young I would do everything possible to keep the house quiet for Steve.  When living in SoCal, that was usually the day we spent at Disneyland or traveling and getting to know some new part of the city.  In Arizona, the older kids would find activities outside the house and that would be a time that I and usually Christa and Stefani  would visit my parents and brother Gordon, often sitting out in the garden.  While I miss the garden time especially, not to mention my children (!), I am learning to love what most of the U.S. would call normal . . . a quiet weekend!  Today, Steve and I awoke with the dogs, (our four legged alarm clock!) and spent 5 minutes making ourselves presentable so that we could take them down the elevator, through the pool area and out to the beach.  The sun had just peaked up over the  backside of the ocean and another beautiful sunrise greeted us.  We play "fetch" with Barkley while Duchess is usually more interested in getting love and attention.  That usually lasts about 15 minutes and then we head back through the pool area, washing the sand off our feet before going heading upstairs.

Today I immediately turned around and came back to the pool to swim some laps before it became the popular place to hang out for the day . . . Steve bathed the dogs in the bathtub.  We then had breakfast out on the balcony; Me with my organic, non sweet yogurt, granola and fresh blueberries, Acai and pomegranate juice,  and Steve with his rye toast and orange juice. Typical morning fare.  We then exchanged our plates for books and he read while I journaled.

We most likely won't leave the condo until this afternoon when we will walk the dogs down the boardwalk and walking Collins street back, stopping at the Argentine bakery to partake in some empanadas.  Barkley and Duchess can join us there  since they have outside tables.  

This is so wonderful for Steve because the stress of his position at LAM can be shaken off and washed away during these two restful, relaxing days.  Something that we never really experienced in pastoral ministry.  Weekends were busier than week days and even the one day a week he had off was often peppered with phone calls, emails and an occasional hospital visit.

Some changes are easier to take than others, and this is a welcome one! 

Manageable Maintenance

One of the wonderful things about life here in Miami is that life is streamlined, simplified.  I have gone from a 3,000 sq. ft. house with a pool, a large garden, front and back, an apartment down below and 5, count them, 5 bathrooms.  We now have  a one bedroom apartment with a balcony.  That's it. You can not believe the freedom in my mind and in my day with this change.  Having the large home and extra space was great with lots of family around.  But with just us and the puppies, and all the traveling that we will be doing, this is a perfect fit for our life right now.  Before we left Monterey, my friend Nancy came by with a "pre-house warming gift". This was just a pot and a bulb a few months ago.  4 weeks ago, on the day that we move into our apt. I planted this bulb and look at it now!  This is pretty much the extent of my garden . . . with the exception of a couple more plants on the balcony and some indoors.  Manageable maintenance is a good thing!

Kauai

Is there anything better than going to Kauai? Only if it is going to the "Garden Island" for free! My sweet brother Gordon took me along on one of his working trips and although we were only there a total of 36 hours, we had an amazing time. It poured down rain for much of the time but that did not stop us from renting a car and touring the northern part of the island. I am still recovering from my 8 hour plane trip back to Phoenix where I ran to meet Steve to catch  a plane home to Miami . . . another 5 hours.  3 times zones in one day . . . .  But it was well worth it.  Thanks Gordon!

Loving Facebook!

One of my many reasons for having a blog is to involve those that I love with all of our new experiences as we have taken on new responsibilities and living in a new city. Yesterday was one of those new experiences . . . While I have had a Facebook page for several months now, I really have not known or taken advantage of how to use it.  But yesterday I figured out how to have IM conversations with people. For those of you that already know and participate in this activity, this will possibly sound silly. Risking that reaction, I must say that it was amazing to talk with family and friends that I have not spoken with in months or years.  Becca, my cousin in Oregon,  the wife of a couple that were in our small group in Monterey and moved to Okinowa, Japan, and a friend from our church in Mosaic.  For whatever reason we do not keep up with these people on a regular basis.  But in a matter of minutes I had reconnected with them and we began what I hope to be a regular interaction.  Letter writing, phone calls, even emails can take so much time that we don't often stay connected with friends and family from a distance.  But with Facebook, I can have a 5 minute conversation, or just see a "on liner" about what that person is doing or feeling that day, that moment.  Blogs are more my style as they give you the opportunity to share at a deeper level.  But seldom is their interaction.  So, as Steve said to me last night as I related to him who I had talked with that day . . .  ."Welcome to the 21st Century"!  

Beach Buddies

One of our favorite times of the day is sunrise and sunset. Usually together, Steve and I will take the dogs out to the beach  for a run. . . . they do the running!

Often we are joined by Enrique and his two dachshunds. Yesterday we met a new "buddy" Poochie and his master, Hector. Poochie is a scrappy 2 lb. Yorkshire Terrier.   Steve throws a stick and all the dogs run after it until it accidentally goes in the water and play time is over.  Social interaction for dogs and their masters. Enrique is Spanish by birth, raised in England and now living in Miami.  A very good example of the ecclectic people that live here.  You will hear every kind of language spoken as you walk down the street, but obviously most often, spanish. No matter what the language or cultural background of the people,  dogs are a common denominator and have opened the way to many a new conversation and even friendships. 

Separations

Yesterday was a blue day. Not that there is anything so terribly bad or difficult going on in my, or  our lives. There is the inevitable spiritual warfare that accompanies all christians that are moving forward for the King and the Kingdom. Attempts to distract, discourage and divert. I fell prey to one.   I carried around a nagging sad feeling that I could not exactly find reason for.  But after a conversation with a special friend from Monterey, I did some mental and spiritual processing;  It is about separation, about not being available to family and having them easily accessible to us.

We received an adorable home made Valentines Day card from Ada, Nica and Evelyn and a thought of horror came to me. I was so involved in moving that I had forgotten to send a card to our grandbabies!  My thoughts continued to digress. Many birthdays and holidays will be without them . . . they won't come to expect  that this Gran and Gram  should just "be there".  

Our daughters 3 are going through  their own unique challenges and victories . . . all without us.   Our youngest, Stefani, is taking on the challenges of adulthood. Her sister Cara and husband Rob have assumed a very special role in her life as they encourage her through this transition.

All without us.  Christa and her husband Daniel are at school in Nashville, making friends we will never meet, experiencing things we will never share.  Our parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, the same.

In honesty, I don't believe it is a time of self pity as much as it  of acknowledgement that life is different from here on out.  Feelings are God given and He allows us to express and experience them as they come.  My days are filled with beauty and wonder, and I have such a grateful heart that God continues to give us life and breath to serve Him.  He daily satisfies us with good things and all of our needs are supplied.  Steve and I still love to spend time together and exploring this new city with my best friend is something I am so enjoying.  

God's Word daily brings me comfort and today  I am reminded  of a conversation that Peter and Jesus had. " Peter said, 'See, we have left our homes and followed you.' Jesus said in return, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life."  What an amazing promise!  Every sacrifice that we make and that our family makes for us to be separated, God promises to not just replace, but give MANY TIMES MORE!  I do know that when we moved our family to Argentina 20 some years ago, leaving so much, and so many behind,  God did bless us in ways that can not be completely qualified.  That experience changed us as a family and I know has left an indelible mark on our children. Their bicultural, bilingual abilities have made them better ministers and better mates; and for Sean, a better parent.  

I have always dreamed of being surrounded by ALL my family, living and ministering together.

But it would appear that the Lord is saving that "communal living" for our future and forever home, Heaven. 

Today I have exchanged my "blues" for peace and joy. My mind is wrapping around the  thought of how much God loves and guides and protects my children, their spouses, our grandchildren, parents and my brothers and their families.  I am strengthened and encouraged by my Fathers words of hope and promise that no sacrifice for His work will go unnoticed or unrewarded. God is good!  ALL the time!

Sunday on South Beach

Steve and I have narrowed down our church search to two . . . the last 2 Sundays we have gone to Calvary Chapel of South Beach.  We have attended the early Service at 9:30 am and at 11 we are walking Down Lincoln St. which is a uniquely interesting place.  It is full of people of every culture, usually dressed  casual at best and often in swimwear, speaking any number of languages; there are fun shops, and all kinds of outside cafes. On Sunday, there are quite a few people leashed to their dogs . . . or is it the other way around? 

I thought we had settled on Calvary, but Steve is much more "picky", shall we say?  I am sure he struggles with what many pastors struggle with when looking at churches, and that is an eye for detail, and a mind that perhaps critiques a bit more in depth.  We have both commented that what we really would love to find, is a church just like Mosaic.  But the Mosaic we loved doesn't even exist in Scottsdale any more, let alone in Miami. I believe it is called "Old Town Bible Church" and has a very different vision. Just a reminder to us that everything changes and changes can be embraced.

Lord willing, I will get on a plane tomorrow and head to Phoenix to spend time with family.  Flying standby is always an interesting challenge.  I have learned to put it in the Lord's hands, and if it happens, it was meant to, and if not, well . . . . there is always another time.