Vermont (part deux)

In Vermont you hike a lot! Here we are hiking and it got pretty cold so we passed around Leanne's jacket.

We are also learning about hiding behind trees that are wider than you are! Had some good laughs during that lesson :)

Grilling hamburgers and having fun with friends - you can tell we're having a good time just look at Michelle (far left)!

Fall was definitely beautiful in Vermont, but the best part was the fallen leaves. We raked them into a pile almost as tall as Charlie and then they jumped! We never lost a kid in the pile, but we did lose a few shoes :)

I should say at this point that these pictures are not in order!

When Erron & Joy moved to Vermont I assured them I would visit, especially since they moved to a town 10 minutes away from a huge ski resort! Well it was getting down to the last few weeks I was going to be there and I still hadn't gone skiing - no snow!! I was so excited when I got to ski twice the week before I returned to NC! And so thankful that I got discounted tickets - a big THANK YOU to those who are responsible!

Emmy and I enjoying the sunshine and a picnic in the backyard!

Vermont (part 1)

I spent the last four months in Vermont with some friends of mine. I had so many cool and cute pictures that I just wanted to share them with you!

I am so much cooler than Fonzie!

Awesome kick Charlie! Notice Noah kicking from the sidelines!

This kid's name is Caleb and he looks like a younger Caleb that I know! Maybe it's just the blond hair and the name??

I love this picture of Joy & Emmy!

This is probably the best picture I have! Can you tell that he is winking and giving me a thumbs up while waiting in line at the fair? Hilarious!! He actually rode the Himalayan twice - way braver than I am!

Weekend

So this past weekend, I went to a town a little bit outside Atlanta to meet up with the team going to Gabon. We had a fabulous weekend!

We prayed, planned, and got to know each other. Here we are doing some team building exercises - blindfolding trying to form a square.

Julia

Have you seen the movie "Julie and Julia"? Well I will not be making every recipe in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", but I did make the Boeuf Bourguignon tonight and it was delicious!! It takes a little work and prep time, but I like cooking so it wasn't a big deal.

Back to Africa

The rumors are true... I'm heading back to Gabon in mid-January. I'm going with a team of four other people. One is my roommate from my summer in Libreville, one is a guy I don't know, and the other two is a couple that came out the summer I was there. All of us are meeting as a team in GA later this month. It sounds like it will be a prayer and planning (throwback to the old Awana days) meeting with someone from Envision (what they are now calling the Short Term Missions Office).
For now the plan is for my roommate (Hannah), the couple (Dan & Alicia), and me to start with 8 wks of an intense French course (what the Peace Corps uses). After that Dan & Alicia will be heading up the Envision center in Bongolo and Hannah and I will work at the one in Libreville. In the summer the guy who I don't know (Eric) will come out and help with teams.
I'm very excited about this opportunity, but know that I will miss you all - yawl!
Will write more after the meeting.

Fall Colors

As I kid I didn't really like fall... everything was dying. The weather starts getting colder. I'm not a big cold fan except for the snow. I like snow, it's fun and I can ski!!!
As an adult I have grown to like fall, mostly for all the colors. I love colors!
Vermont is absolutely beautiful in the summer, but fall is looking very promising as well! Now don't get nervous I am still loyal to NC!

Symphonies

Have you ever seen the movie "August Rush"? One of the lines in the movie is "the music is all around us... all you have to do is listen". Have you listened to the music around you?

In North Carolina the background of the symphony is bugs - crickets and other amazingly loud creatures. Then you'll hear birds put their two cents in.

In Vermont it's different, the base music is usually the wind. Then a babbling brook will come in and out, and if you're lucky there is the occasional bird. It's interesting to me the different sounds of places.

What does your backyard sound like? What music does it make?

Adventures in Vermont

Today I took a half day off and went exploring. As I set out it was a beautiful day! A crisp blue sky with just the right amount of clouds - perfect for laying on your back and watching them roll by. Do you ever play that game where you say what a cloud looks like? Today was the perfect day for that!

The trees reminded me of Gabon... they look like broccoli covering the mountains. The clouds gave the mountains different shades of green as they floated over.

So I went hiking a little south of here.

Here a few pictures...

Found a few neat mushrooms...

What? Not a mushroom fan? Maybe you'd be more interested in seeing the animal I saw. When I encountered this animal I tried to talk soothingly and not alarm him. "I have eaten your kind once, but the meat tasted a little like olives - and though I like olives I never really enjoyed your meat. So you just meander on and don't worry about me."

Those of you that know me well - know that I talk to myself. So is it really surprising that I talked to a porcupine?

As I am writing this blog a four year girl notices a bandaid I have on my finger. I tell her that it is from a blister that popped. She asks if the porcupine popped it?

Children

Do you have children? Me neither, but if you do...
Want do you want your children to grow up to be? Choose 3 -
Loving
Responsible
Lawyer
Hard worker
Law abiding
Compassionate
Dentist
Teacher
Kind
Paramedic
Godly
Honest
Policemen
Persevering


Did you find yourself choosing characteristics or occupations?

I definitely believe that some people are called by God to specific occupations... David was called to king, Paul called to be a missionary, etc. But for the rest of us who don't hear from a burning bush - what does he want us to be/do?
Most New England towns have what they call a "green" - a beautiful green (hence the name) lawn with some benches and maybe a gazebo. So I was hanging out on one of these benches the other day pondering God and who he wants me to be, and it made me think of most parents - what do they want their kids to grow up to be? Now don't try to deny that you want your kids to be millionaires so they can support you later on! :)
Maybe it is more important to God who we are instead of what we do or where we live... just a thought.

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

Another Adventure

So for those of you who still check this site...

Since Africa I've been wandering the countryside staying with friends and family (usually for less than a week - trying not to outstay my welcome). A huge thank you to those who have housed and fed me!!! I helped a friend of mine with her business for the month of July, but have not obtained a permanent full-time job as of yet. This has turned out to be a blessing!

Because of this blessing I have the freedom to pretty much go wherever I can afford to - last weekend it was to DC to visit a college friend of mine. This week I'm up in Vermont, and I might like it so much I stay for awhile.

A dear friend of mine has recently been been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. So I am going to crash with her family for awhile till I wear out my welcome here. Please pray for her and her family! If you would like more information you can visit...

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/joyhubbell/journal

Here's a picture of her climbing a hemlock tree a few years ago... now she's doing a different form of climbing - please be praying for her strength and endurance!

Moving Target

So I did my presentation at my church a couple of Sunday's ago... sorry for the delay. Kate & Bess did their best to capture me on film, but when I speak I tend to move around a lot and use my hands. They did a great job and got a few shots of me standing still!

Notice my hands on the shots... always moving. In this picture they are touching the mike I had on - not a good thing!

Things went pretty well, until the end. I just ended with "That's it." Later I thought of what I wanted to say. Joseph, who was a driver for me while Tim & Meredith were in the US, used to say "Ton travaille c'est obliger" - Your work is to forget. Which is very true!!

So what I wanted to say was a huge THANK YOU to my Whiteville family that prayfully and financially supported me on this adventure!!

Also part of the "moving target" title is where I am living now... today I am at my dad's house. Next week I will be at a friend's house. The week after that I will go down to Whiteville. Life is a little crazy right now.

Here's a picture of where I normally stay in Whiteville - yes, it's a barn. But actually a well equipped barn that is actually better than most hotels I've stayed at!!

Presentation

For those of you close to Whiteville and interested in hearing about my African adventure; I will be speaking at my church the first Sunday in May.

Eyelashes

I love the rainbows that your eyelashes make when you squint into the sun.

Birds

Amy likes the birds at her work because they give her hope... a reminder of God's presence in her life. Last night Alace was commenting on how loud the crickets were - she was right, they were so loud we had to turn up the TV to hear it! It is so amazing to me that such a tiny creature - bug or bird - can make such a loud noise! Today I sit listening to the birds chirp, the cars drive by, and the saw cutting wood next door. What's amazing to me is that with all the other noises you can still hear the birds - but only if you are paying attention to the birds.

So I'm back!! Safe and sound...

So I'm back and on the wifi again! I have quite a few weeks to catch up. Lots of stuff to write about but having difficulty knowing where to start...



Anyway here we are getting ready to leave... sniff, sniff - actually it was more like sob, sob. It was definitely hard, and I miss them already!


I was very thankful though that I got to fly from Libreville to Frankfurt with the Straw family and the Montana team that was there! So the ten of us hung out in Frankfurt for a few hours waiting for our connecting flights.

One week

Only one week left here... sniff, sniff.
Sorry about the post rates... haven't had wireless this year (2010) so it's harder to get on the internet and post stuff. I have a feeling when I get home I'll be able to write all about Africa - what I remember at least.
Love you and can't wait to see you!

Well I'm coming home...

It's official... I've bought a ticket and everything. I will arrive in NC on the 5th of April. To warn you all, I have mixed feelings about it. I am oh so excited to see friends and family!! To relax and hang out with them, to talk about their lives for the past year, share pictures and stories of Gabon, etc.. But I am also sad to leave this place, the many friends I've made here. Below are two girls at church who hang out and wait with me after the service.
And I wonder... will I ever come back here? Mama Jeanine thinks it will be in two months... and it might be - just to warn you guys! Honestly though I have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. And although that question sits in the back of my mind I'm trying not worry about it.

Awhile back I read this book called "A Million Miles" by Donald Miller - definitely recommend it! Mostly it talks about leading an adventurous life, but it also had some interesting words relating to the meaning of life... here are a few quotes I liked:

"For instance, Marcos said, 'The human body essentially recreates itself every six months... You are not who you were in February.'"

How have you changed in the last six months? How have I changed? Just to warn you guys now... I'm not the same person! Oh I may look the same and act the same, but I have been genetically engineered into the 6 billion... okay just kidding... they do a lot of stuff at Bongolo Hospital, but genetic engineering is not one of them!

"I thought about Marcos's conclusions... that we were designed to live through something rather than to attain something, and the thing we were meant to live through was designed to change us. The point of a story is the character arc, the change." (70)

My latest resistance to change (haven't changed yet) has been selfishness... have I talked about living with people who are more familial and socialist? Let me give an example and then you can give me the rights words to describe the society/culture... I'm not sure those are good words. For example, a guy in Libreville is getting ready to get married. To get married here the guy has to give the family of the girl a dowry of sorts. He has a good job here, but is also working on the side to earn more money. If his family asks him for money he is pretty much obligated to give it to them, and there goes the dowry. In the villages if someone in the village needs money and you (a fellow villager) have it, you give it to them. (Which is one of the reasons there are so many unfinished houses - when people get money they put it into building.) Now don't get me wrong, I actually don't think this is a bad idea as far as the community is concerned. But the "I work hard for my money" side of me kicks in. The attitude of those in need plays a big role in this as well. All this just to say that my character is changing - I hope for the better.

Ok so I think I have sufficiently wandered off of the subject. Now to return to our regularly scheduled program.

"Contrary to Freud's posit that man's greatest pursuit is of pleasure, Frankl (an Austrain psychologist who in 1942 was deported to a Nazi concentration camp) argued that life is a pursuit of meaning itself, and that search for meaning provides the basis for a person's motivation. Pain then, if one could have faith in something greater than himself, might be a path to experiencing a meaning beyond the false gratification of personal comfort." (196)

What is the meaning of your life? Have you ever thought about it? What motivates you?

Check me out

I'm the last girl on the right holding up the sign!

http://www.alliancelife.org/article.php?id=499

And you might be interested in the article as well :)
The Straw family has been a huge blessing to me here in Gabon!

Get A Life

Actually I think it's "ALife" - the magazine for the CMA. I think Alace Straw, the wife of the pilot for the Bongolo hospital, has an article in the March issue!! It tells a little about their journey to Gabon, Africa. Just thought it was cool she had a published article!

Christmas is here!

You actually might think this, since the city still has the Christmas decorations up - on the 20th of February!!! Actually we did see them taking down some of it today. But actually I'm referring to the Christmas Shoeboxes... they just came into Gabon recently and yesterday Joseph worked at getting them in storage. Joseph works with Pastor Jean Marc who is the director of the Shoebox project here in Gabon. They are very excited to have five containers coming in this year! Two that will be distributed here in Libreville, while the other three will go to Port Gentil, Lambarene, and another place I forget.

I was excited to see reminders of my home state! Actually Jean Marc deals a lot with Boone, NC since I think that's where Samaritan's Purse headquarters are located.

Unity in the body

It really makes you expand your view of the body of Christ (the church) when you are standing on another continent talking to women who believe in Jesus in another language.

Mama Jeanine is the wife of Pasteur Jean Marc (wrote an earlier blog on them) who used to be the president of the CMA church here in Gabon. So she often is asked to speak at women's retreats. Well this past Saturday she asked me to give a short message before her message. The theme that day was something along the lines of "looking in the same direction for a victory". The words that hit me were "meme direction" (same direction). So I ended up talking about John 17 - where he prays for the people in the future that will believe and prays for their unity. I also talked a little about the body of Christ and how difficult it is if the hand wants to go in one direction and the foot wants to go in another direction (it is difficult to do this move in a skirt!).

Although I have been called "preachy" before, my goal is always to teach. In my case I love interaction and so I tend to ask questions (so I know the students are paying attention and getting it). This took them off guard at first since they are used to listening to a preacher and not necessarily having to respond to them. Even in school, their teaching method is by lecture. But when I started talking to my feet, they started giggling and opened up a little more.

Are you really surprised that I talk to my feet? I mean I talk to myself all the time!! Where have you been? Ok so I was trying to explain that the body has to listen to the head, because the parts of the body don't necessarily know all that goes on. For example, in order to walk there is the movement of the feet, but there is also the breathing and the blood pumping... so I was asking my feet if they knew that the heart was pumping the blood or if the lungs were breathing. I think they were a little nervous in front of an audience, because they didn't respond.

After that I gave my testimony and then Mama Jeanine spoke. We hung out with the women for the rest of the day as they discussed things, sang, and prayed.

Misc random

Mom do you remember giving me that Compay Secundo CD - yes the Latino one... well here is a night club that has a memorial to him. In downtown Libreville, Gabon... go figure.

I just thought this was interesting... no heat in the vehicle. Not that I am surprised. Admittedly in the dry season I have put a light blanket over me at night and I have worn a jacket, but also remember I get cold easily - poor circulation.

En bruce encore

Again what it sounds like when they are talking about going to their plantations. This time I did end up doing a little work, but they were more concerned with me seeing the whole plantation and experiencing it, than my work.

Mama Jeanine taught me what leaves to use as a dinner plate and also as a glass for water... here she is with her "glass" of water.

Here is a picture of me with one of the baskets they use. This one just had bread in it for lunch so it was fairly light.

Also for all those sweet potato fans out there (WEB) - here's a picture of some hills of "potates". I'm convinced they are white sweet potatoes.

This was a neighbor's potato patch so I don't know if the hills were formed individually or if the rains eroded them - just one of the great mysteries of Gabon.

Here is a Jean Marc sitting on a neat little bench that they made.

Mama Josephine is cleaning the peanuts in the stream in these cool baskets they make (they being somebody else - we bought them). She was definitely the hard working one in the group, the rest of us did work, but you could definitely tell we weren't on the clock or getting paid. ps. I love the lighting in this picture... sprinkling through the trees.











Cool picture of a grasshopper... and you thought they were all green! I'm thinking He had just finished creating the yellow jacket when He came up with this one. Any other guesses?