French Lessons (Part 2)

Lesson 6:

Biking in the Rain,
Is really quite a drain.

God is good. He is a good Father, who provides good gifts to those who ask Him. One night in particular stands out. It was about 7pm, with 150km already under our wheels (which was a lot), we head out into the night to finish the last 75 to reach my companion's grandparent's house. Clouds and rain were all around us and we knew rain made biking miserable. I wearily prayed "God, please please don't let it rain on us. But if you need and want it too, please give us good attitudes and knees to hold up till we get there" It  never rained more than a few drops that whole night, even though it was on either side and behind us for several hours. ...and my knee made it the whole way! AMAZING!

Lesson 7:

Always be ready for greasy legs. No matter how careful I was around my bike, each day ended with new chain grease decorating my calves!

Lesson 8: GARLIC AND ONIONS!!!

The key to simple but tasty, meals on the trail

Lesson 9:

God provides what we need...and He likes us to ask Him for needs to show His power! In England,there are few public forests, and the only trees hedge fields, roads, and paths. This makes camping hard, espeically when both hammocks and flat ground were needed. After 45 minutes of looking for a camp site and finding none with the sun rapidly sinking, I finally prayed specifics. Two minutes later, as we crest a hill, we see trees, in a flat area, that would be hard to see from the road. A camp site. It even had sour pie cherries for fun! :)

Lesson 10:

Enjoy the people God has placed in your life. They are a gift to you, just as you are to them.

And then later, after being separated, time together is even better!

French Lessons (Part 1)

'Another favorite question after "Thee" bike trip, was

"So how was France?"

That's like asking a kid how they liked a parade, after meeting Mickey and Minnie, staying up later than normal, and getting stocked up on candy. All they can say, and I echo, "It was amazing!" as memories of so many things dance through my head. Here's what I remember most!

The Lessons of France.

"Sir Ducky" and his creators

Lesson 1

"Sortie" means "exit." After waiting for my massive bike box to get hand-carried in, everyone else had left...all but one customs agent who was engrossed in something other than the wandering tourist who could not figure out which hallway led out. At long last it was found! And I learned my first French word in France. Experience truly is the best teacher. Although my class in spring should help also!

Lesson 2

French culture and American culture.... may look similar but are very different. Especially in communication. Typically:

• Americans are louder in public than French...and often stand out as a result there.
• When in a dialogue, there is freedom to express, contradict, and add to thoughts. No need to sugar-coat, beat around the bush, or withhold them. Each person is "ok" with who they are, and can then banter back and forth without fear. What a relief!
• And though different and at times hard, there is a lot of truth to learn and I liked it!

Lesson 3

People I encountered in France are kind, hospitable, and not stuck-up. On two different, cold and rainy occasions, people took us in for the night and fed us. Complete strangers, who, when asked for directions to campgrounds, offered us shelter. One even helped us with maps, showed a shorter route, and then proceeded to tour us around her area, Cathedrals, a "Bio Boulangerie & Patisserie" and historical monuments with the extra time she saved us! Wow! Complete strangers, befriending complete strangers.


Lesson 4

French fries in France, taste just the same as in the US. They only cost 2X as much, for half the amount. And French bread... yeah. There's a reason why they are known for it!

Lesson 5

While on the topic of food....France (in the country at least) has a good balance of rest time vs work time. Stores close for 2 hours for lunch. And then close for dinner, and do not reopen. All good boundaries come with their limitations... For traveling bikers, that means,  the route and timing is considered wisely, and food bought when possible. Otherwise, there may just be a mad rush at 5:45pm to peddle furiously to the next town 4km away, find a grocery store, and buy food before 6pm. Not saying this ever happened of course...  ;)

Lesson 6

...You'll just have to wait till next week!

Icebergs and Reflection??!!

Recently God has placed the practice of reflection on my heart.

For months, I've been giving reflection small amounts of time, time that I now realize, was enough to simply scrape  the tip of an iceberg. Those amounts of time were enough to scrape real shavings from the tip of the iceberg -they energized me like a snow cone would on a hot summer day. Yet I'm finding more truth. Besides the refreshment - there is so much more to understand, grasp, and explore about it, than merely enjoying a snow cone from scraps of it! This iceberg, is immense. Unsearchable. Deep. Caring. And wants to be known and explored! He is there all the time. He is the perfect gentleman -waiting for me, and all who want to, to spend time to get to know Him.

But I like my merely refreshing snow cones. Why spend the time to search an iceberg? Won't it be barren and lonely in there since no one is with me? Won't I be uncomfortable in the cold of truth? Couldn't I get lost without a guide?

God is the iceberg. Time spent with Him can't be explained. There is no loneliness when with God because He is there, with us, our Comforter. Pain and hurt and hardness in ourselves distort the life-giving glow of His truth. The blue appears cold and hard, instead of radiant from His purity and holiness which warms to the core, those who seek the truth and are set free. And because it is He who encompasses us, He is the One who leads us to His heart, as a Shepherd leads His sheep.

Reflecting. Spending time, the energy to seek out the depths of already known truths and their implications. What a joy! Picking up the ice-pick isn't easy with so many things going through my mind. I've found, developed, and am developing new "muscles" and am a bit sore. Spiritual disciplines are hard -after all, they are "disciplines."

But after digging just a bit, I've decided to give up my hope of an easy life, and make this here Iceberg home.  I don't know where the current is heading yet. But do I know that in the current and coming storms, I'm way more protected now than on any warm beach that would be pummeled and ripped to shreds!

A Typical Biking Day

"What was a typical day for you on the trip?"

By far, this is the most common question.... right before "What did you eat?" and "Where did you stay?" Answering those succinctly is as easy as making thanksgiving dinner in under an hour! Despite the differences, there were similarities, and I'm pretty sure that it is this that people were referring to ...the 2-D picture... of the basics.

How'd you sleep last night?
Stretched across a dried up creek!

8:00 am: After an intense mental battle to get out of a toasty sleeping bag and pull on wet, 50 degree socks onto dry, warm toes, those now shivering toes, who know they won't be warm for another four hours, slink into wet, 50 degree shoes in order to tear down our camp site before breakfast.

8:40 am: Water boils on our camp burner. Breakfast time! Oatmeal, coffee, and fruit fill our bowls. Finish packing, and hop on packed bikes -1.5 hours after that awful, wet-footted wake-up.

11:30am: Bike for two hours, before the first 5-minute break at the top of a long uphill climb.
DOWNHILL!!!!  55km/hr! WEEE!!!!! BRRRRRRRRRRR!!!  The morning dampness is  very present in the mountains!

In a village, see a fruit stand. Stop! Freshly picked apricots, apples, cucumber, or melon soon became bungee-corded onto someone's paniers.

2pm: Find a quiet spot, away from people, and it's lunch time. Leftovers from supper, a baguette from the boulangerie in the last village, plus whatever we bought earlier makes up lunch. Ahhh! Stretch out for a much needed nap until 3pm

It's gotta fit in or on there somehow!

4:00 pm: Peddle, peddle, peddle. Hmmm. Need food for tonight before 6pm, when shops closed. "What are we hungry for??!!"  Success! There's a Carrefour (French supermarket). Soon "steak" (aka ground hamburger), an onion, a 1k box of rice, garlic,  butter, another baguette, and 2 bars of chocolate are spread around and bungee'd onto our bikes.

7 pm: Nathaniel: "Alright. We'll be going through a forest in the next hour. We're only at 90 km (of our 100km/day goal) but lets get water in the next town, and start looking for a good camping spot."

Side note: A "good camping spot" is not a camp-ground, but actually found each night along the road and met the following specifications. 

1) Be completely invisible from anyone. EVERYONE. 

2) Have big trees close together to hang hammocks.

3) Have a flat area for Natalie to sleep on the ground.

4) Be completely hidden from ALL angles. :) No unwanted visitors!

8:00-8:30 pm: Site found, after 45 minutes of looking. While Natalie and Nathaniel set up sleeping arrangements, I begin cooking. Tonight's menu...Italian hamburger sautee over rice...2.5 cups of it, or half the box. We're talking an 8" pot, filled to an 1.5" of the top with rice!!! And we downed most of that thing!

10:00-11:00 pm We'd be cozy, warm, and dry in our sleeping bags in hammocks, under tarps, knowing  that the little bit of leftovers, safe in a ziplock for tomorrow's lunch and the clean dishes are safe from the many roaming slugs.

Think of all the things that could have, and did happen within that basic outline. Rain; cold, drizzly rain. Wind.  Stores about to close before we got food. People taking us into their garages or houses. All the traffic that wizzed past us. Finding places to camp. Getting lost or confused with bad maps. Finding fresh drinking water. God met each of our needs. He protected us, provided food and shelter when needed. He gave us positive attitudes as the rain seeped into our shoes and down our necks. He provided support from within, from each other, from friends, and from complete strangers. He PROVIDES. He provides what we NEED, and in inconceivable ways.

Bicycle Beginnings

Think back to different summers. When you return, soooo many people asked what you did for the summer... if not made you write about it for a class. It can get a bit old telling, re-telling, and re-telling more. And then you listen to their story, and it's like WAY more cool, or awesome...or your next year's vacation plan...

And then, somewhere, you read about a trip someone did, that blows all normality  away. They hunted in the Arctic and got attacked by a polar bear. They hunted in an African safari. They sailed around the world for fun. And it's like Whoa. "Someday...." with the understanding that it'll never happen.

Can it be real?! Yes it can!

 One of those "never-going-to-happen-trips" became reality. "Someday"... became this last summer! After a "yes" to a mostly joking "need another person?!",  Bicycle France planning began. I never earned, deserved, or could have done it on my own. Oh man! The joy and excitement the planning brought! My/our fingers flew over the keyboard as we talked about different things... ferries, maps, supplies, itineraries, equipment...! Skype calls. Bike's bought. Begin riding. Paniers and compact sleeping bags perused, analyzed and bought. Ride and ride. Hammock or tent? Spoke replacements. Ride, ride, ride! England and Ireland added to itinerary! Ferry tickets bought. Airplane tickets bought with bike reservations.

Frustrating days at work? Knowing that there was a future and a hope for something big that summer kept me cool. Bad weather? Enjoyed and embraced it...on the trip there wouldn't be a choice. Unknown future plans? They dimmed in light of knowing what the future most likely held. More frustrations? Hope and joy from the soon-to-be reality of the trip kept oozing through when disappointments came up. Joy about the trip couldn't be dimmed by misunderstandings or miscommunications or even non-communications! A tangible, future hope.

Gear check and distribution!

Hope didn't stop at the start or end of the trip though. Those disappointments of work, live, communication... their antidote of "trip-hope"  opened understanding to true hope. Hope is looking to future certainties and living in light of them. I knew that there was something more coming-the bike trip. But that bike trip is done. Over.

True hope lasts. God's hope is so much more, and lasts. God is faithful, never changes. God's made promises of a future in Heaven for those who know Him personally. Because of His faithfulness, those promises will hold true. What a joy to look forward to ~being with God! Those same disappointments, plus others, came up again during and now after the trip. Yet God's hope is here now and forever!

What is God's hope? He loves me; He loves you; He died for my sin, and He died for yours. I get to be with Him. In Heaven. In a perfect place, with HIM! Where He is, there will be no injustice, anger, hate, hurt, or pain. There will be care, understanding, and joy! Perfect relationships and purity. God will punish evil and reward good because He is perfect and can't let sin into Heaven. Evil and sin can't enter heaven without a perfect sacrifice. So Jesus, perfect Son of God, died and allows me, allows us, to accept what He's done in place of ourselves dying and going to hell. And I'm headed there because He has saved me and I've accepted that!

That's my Hope.
Where is yours?

My Hope grows stronger when I look at the end,

Even when "Unknown" lies beyond this bend.

Hurricanes, Memories and Understanding

Reading books, scanning articles, watching movies, listening to stories all have the same affect on me. I am  WITH the characters. When reading about a real situation that sparks a memory, it carries over to how I see the situation. Even if tons of time separate the memory from the present moment, feelings rush back into my soul filling my chest. There is a depth of understanding and of being with whoever it is in the real situation as a result of my memories.

I ache with those who have been hit, are being hit, and possibly may be hit by Hurricane Sandy.

Boarding up windows. Save the door for last please!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not many here in the Midwest will ever hear much about Hurricane Sandy. If they do, it will be as a result of the weather channel, telling how much damage it may do to the East Coast, the traffic in evacuations, the cost of the damage, and how long it will take to repair things. If it does mention other countries, it will include deaths, injuries, and maybe, just maybe, the potential cost of the damages.

Ever wonder what the people are thinking, feeling, going through instead of just the cost of everything? Or of the places the hurricane has been before getting to the US?

Before most hurricanes ever hit the US border, it has crossed several small, island-countries in the Caribbean.  What about the islands where there IS no option of "evacuation?" What are they thinking and feeling? Island towns are built along the coast. Guess what happens to normal ocean boundaries if a hurricane comes with a tidal surge? Or, simply with bigger waves, at high tide, that crash over the retaining walls? Every window and glass door must be boarded up. Water and food, candles and flashlights made easily accessible. Buckets and towels to sop up water that has either leaked in, come in under the doors, or blown in by the wind (yes, through the boarded up windows, under the window louvers, and through the screens).

The ocean's fight for our driveway...at the level of our front door

What is going through the people's minds? I know what went through mine.

Will our house still be there when we go back? 

Kitty never came in... please, kitty, come home!

Will there be 3 feet of water standing inside? 

Where will we live if the house got blown down?

Kitty? Sniff, tear.

I don't like the loud, shuddering shutters. Oh they bang against each other and glass!

Oh, I need to sop up that water at the window before it ruins stuff below it.

KITTY!!! You're at my window!!! 

What about that tree in front of our house? If it fell over in the direction of the wind...

Man, we have hard work ahead to clear the debris brought by the wind and water.

Wind -check. Debris -check. Rain -nope. Salt Spray -CHECK 

My heart throbs with the people in Jamaica and Cuba where Hurricane Sandy already has been, and the countries it has been close to. They may be coming out of the dim, boarded up,electricity and water-less houses, to survey what the wind and water has done to their friends, families, trees, houses, windows. They wonder when electricity will come back on. Will it be 2 days? or 2 weeks? Though the strength and vengeance is gone, the water still rages, the wind still blows and the rain falls.

My heart waits with those people on Eleuthera, who right now don't know if Hurricane Sandy will hit them, or go slightly to the east of them. The final windows have plywood nailed across. The last candles are being sought out. Animals brought in. Cars...are prayed for that the wind won't hurl tree branches around, since few have garages!

Years later, those memories give depth to present understanding. Not just hurricanes memories, but life. God's gifts of experiences allow us to understand at new depths. Let's use what God has given!

The Present Story

"What are you doing after graduate?" 

"What do you want to do with your life?"

"Where do you see yourself ending up in five years?"

"Why are you taking a few years off?"

...When asked these questions, it always sounded like the beginning of the "5 W's and How" from 3rd grade creative writing class -Who, What, Why, Where, When, and How. You know the class. The one where every kid wrote a version of...some monster, that wanted to eat or capture them, because he was mean and hated kids, that happened late at night in their bedroom when the lights were off, and he fails because of how the kid was so courageous. Or something like that with those 6 questions...

Except this time its not for an assignment-its about my life, in the real world, and these were real people asking and wanting to hear answers. Well, here is a synopsis of this chapter of my life!

Who: Yours truly, family, friends, acquaintances, and my bike. (Yes, its a little more than personification. My bike is a dear, nearly constant companion of mine, that is dear to my heart for reasons you will find out in later posts! ;o)

What: After graduating from Moody Bible Institute in 2011, I continued working as a Starbucks Barista in downtown Chicago, while I take a two-three year hiatus between undergrad and graduate school for my counseling license. The morning shifts fly by, as I make latte's, talk a mile-a-minute to customers, many of whom I know by drink, name, and where they work, and laugh and clean with my co-workers! I aim to live fully in the present, learning from the past as I plan (and hold lightly) the future with God's grace and presence holds everything together.

Why: Through prayer and waiting, God has given peace about pursuing counseling, but with a fermata on this time before it. After one year of living outside of school and simply working, God has taught many lessons about life that are and will be invaluable as I eventually enter grad school and the counseling context. I look forward to seeing how and where He will guide my future steps.

Where: You will find me in Chicago, involved with my church family, enjoying the beach by Lake Michigan, running a few miles with a friend, making cappuccino's at Starbucks, biking by the lake shore reminiscing about this past summer's bike trip in France, England and Ireland (more to come later) or dreaming up another bike trip. :o

When: Now. October 3, 2012 ;)

How: Through God. And His goodness that I can't find words to describe. He is so good. He knows and understands everything. A dangerous combination for a human with selfishness. But because He is good, all He does is good -for His glory. I imperfectly rest in both His goodness and trust His love, as I stumble over and over. And by Him, through Him, and for Him, my life story will continue.

I will paddle because He steers.

 

Being Known and Starbucks

People have a need. A need to be known.

I see people. I am a Starbucks barista in downtown Chicago. Two blocks off of Michigan Avenue, less than a mile from the Chicago River, the Water Tower, the Hancock Building, the Wrigley building, Navy Pier,... you get the picture. Downtown with a vary diverse customer mix from business men and women, to tourists, sellers of thousand dollar shoes to waiters from restaurants. I see lots of people. Growing up and moving, traveling world-wide, living in other countries for lengthy periods of time, and being involved with different groups like choir, being in a dorm, etc. have let me see people. Lots of people, lots of times, over long periods of time.

I also talk with lots and lots of those people. Striking up a conversation is easy for me if I want to. I have plenty of opportunities while a work...and there's a lot of talking and listening when accumulated over months.

They don't care too much if I don't understand (or simply forget!) the actual facts about their work, their vacations, their life. What DOES normally matter is if I understand and "hear" their underlying relationship to whatever it is we/they are talking about. In seeing that underlying layer, I relate to the real person. Not just the worker, lawyer, doctor...things they do... but the heart of the true "them." We can connect, listen to each other as friends, and be encouraged that someone cares. We share and partially meet that fundamental human need to be known.

 If I don't initially see those who know me, they make sure I do see them. If I accidentally look at them but make no recognition of them if I'm talking to someone else or just zoning out, they feel hurt, disappointment, and sadness -I've even seen some anger over the fact that I didn't recognize their presence right away! Why? Because they want me to see them and acknowledge their existence. People want to be known. There is more to a person than what the eye sees, what their job is, and where they live. They are a person, to be known on some level or rejected.

People are made to relate. Each person that I have talked to, has an innate desire to be known by others, and know others. When given the chance, people want to relate. They desire to be seen. They long to be accepted. They yearn for relationship with other beings who have the choice to relate or not relate to them. (Even not wanting to relate with someone, acknowledges the other person's existence and the existence of some form of relationship) The depth and widthe of the relationship varies with each individual, but they want to be known ...even by me, the barista they see for 5 minutes each morning!

Praise the Lord for this unique feature of people! We do need to be known and know others! That's how God made us from the beginning to be like Him ~ to relate. Yeah, people literally and figuratively "are human" and cannot fully meet the "need-to-be-known" need. Where can it be met? Through the One Lord, who knows us. He created us, and knows every need before we ask Him (Matt 6:32)...and even more than that... He knows the best ways to meet those needs for each individual person! How amazing is THAT?! Let's get to know Him together! How we relate to Him, affects how we relate to ourselves, and that affects how we relate to others. People are known by God.

How well do you know Him? Yourself? Others?

Friends and Running

I've gotten the running bug. Never thought it'd bite...since I used-ta-couldn't-ever stand even the thought of running unless it was to chase a spotted ball, bounce an orange ball, get under a grapefruit sized ball, or pop-up a white ball. I hated it, it hated me...

...Then I met Tiffany. Freshman year of Moody, we both decided to give running one more shot -this time with a friend. And wow! Does a friend make it better! Loved the growing friendship, but still hated running at 6:30-7am, before Old and New Testament Survey classes at 8. But then, sniff sniff (sarcastically), I had to stop due to knee problems. What a bummer...NOT! :p

...Until Bess came along. Senior year of Moody, after laughing through chorale, I met Bess and started running again. I still didn't like running. But it was good for my knee... and the only time in both of our schedules to hang out. So we ran together. And grew closer to each other with every mile ran.

20 minutes of huffing and puffing plus breaks (I let Bess do most of the talking!) became 2 miles. Then a consistent 3. Then an occasional 4, and then almost 6. And then Bess left fora semester in Italy.

I still went running. I still wanted to run. I enjoyed it! What in the world? It had happened when I least expected it. The joy of being able to run freely had come like a gift unexpected.

Friends and running: They are quite similar really. Both grow better through time spent together. Both build into the character of a person. Both have value that is unseen, known only to the one involved. Both leave lasting imprints -in sand, on the roads, and in our lives.

Beginnings = Ends

Beginnings happen all the time. We all have them. Beginning of a new year. Beginning a class. Beginning a paper. Beginning the day. Beginning to run. Beginning a game. Beginning a blog.

Beginnings.
Do they start something only? Or could they mark the end of something? To start something, that means something happened before hand that had to stop, in order to start the new thing. What was before it? When a new year begins, the old one has ended. To begin a class, summer, free time, or something that filled time was replaced with the class. Papers take over the research prep. Running ends whatever mode of transportation or movement was before it. Beginning a game ends the warm-ups and preparations.

Beginning a blog marks the end of what? Summer? Vacation? Free time? Packing? Unpacking? Praying? No. Nope. Not really. Non. Nein. No.

So what then, does it end?

Silence.

Silence in lack of communicating. Silence in living in a spread-out world. Silence in unable to share bits and pieces of life with those who I care about and who care about me.








What does it begin? Sharing.

That's what this blog is about. Sharing bits and pieces of this life God is giving to me. Sharing what God has done and is doing. Sharing His story through my story.