A Happy Plateau Thanksgiving

One of the wonderful things about Thanksgiving on the Plateau is that you are not forced to listen to Christmas music since three months before.  (This is the result of another tremendous benefit to the Plateau: no overwhelming mall...that is to say, no mall at all.) That way, you’re actually excited and in the mood to play your favorite songs (Handel's Messiah anyone?) as you cook and eat and decorate.

We were very thankful for a delicious meal….we bought sausage for the special occasion and served it with carmelized onions.  And I had brought in cranberries for a cranberry, ginger, citrus sauce (yum!).  Bonita made a vegetable salad, Jenna (an intern who is with us for this year) made the mashed potatoes, and Judy made pumpking rolls, pecan pie, and Montgomery pie (some of us were busier than others).   Blessed.

(Dave was visiting, Bonita is taking the picture, and Manis had stepped out for the moment.  Jenna is to my left at the table.)

Ani was so incredibly excited for Christmas, she was jumping around and dancing to the Christmas music.  We shared a few Sugar Plum Fairy moments.  I tried to get a picture of us whirling around…this was my favorite.

After dinner, we set to the task of assembling the tree. 

In my opinion, setting up a fake tree is no easier than a real one.  But we don't really have a choice, unless we want to chop down a cactus.

Obviously, we don’t take ourselves too seriously…

It's a little difficult to tell in the picture, but every year Judy puts out her white Thanksgiving tablecloth, and everyone present at dinner writes something they are thankful for from the past year.  What did I write?  Many things, but one of them is how thankful I am for my stove, which was hooked up the week of Thanksgiving.  I am now able to make my tea and coffee at home, and have even cooked breakfast twice.  Love it!  It also comes in handy for tea parties.

(PS Tea pahties requiyah yore most terrible British accent.)

Home Visit 2013...Some Highlights

Renovating with those you love...

Ginormous mysterious greens....which you thankfully discover are spicy mustard greens BEFORE you make an entire salad out of them.

 Special visits

Times of rest and laughter with family...

Chocolate fudge salted caramel pecan pie....that's how we roll.

Beach mosaics

A picture of how God can take our broken pieces and work them into something beautiful....

Incredible scenery...

Delicious friends and dear apples....

...wait a minute, switch that.

Think twice next time, Joshua...

 Walks in the woods

Pileated woodpecker.

Loved you, Wisconsin, but this was the only picture I got.

Re-visiting old haunts...

 Fall leaves

And many more that the camera did not capture.

More important are the images that remain in the heart.

Speaking of "blog"...

...who came up with that word anyway?.....'cause I hate it.

"Hmmm...what can we call this...how about a 'blog!'"   ????????????

It doesn't fit into a very nice category of words: blob blech blurt blip blotch

Not typically words with positive connotations...

And "blogger?"  

A:  "Hi, I'm A, and I'm a blogger."
B:  "And your proud of that?"

At least, this is how the conversation seems it should go in my mind...

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Of course, with the world wide web and a super fast connection at my fingertips, I just looked it up.  Apparently, it is the abbrev-ed version of "web log."

Poor kid.  Such an unfortunate nickname...

Retrospect 2013: Of the Heart

"I must tell you a great truth, Much-Afraid, which only the few understand. All the fairest beauties in the human soul, its greatest victories, and its most splendid achievements are always those which no one else knows anything about, or can only dimly guess at. Every inner response of the human heart to Love and every conquest over self-love is a new flower on the tree of Love..."

~The Shepherd, Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard

2013 has been quite a year, now that I look back on it.  God had significant things in store for my heart....things that drew me deeper into Him, that fueled my desire to know Him, and that challenged me to take frightening steps of faith.  I'm so glad He did...

Perhaps you can make a couple"dim guesses" from these pieces of a few inadequately expressed ideas...

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As I took steps in obedience and faith towards a long term commitment to and a whole-hearted embracing of the Plateau, God began to grow my desire and excitement for investing in people.  This served to further confirm what I sensed God's leading to be as I realized how perfectly it fit with the heart of Lemuel, which is to make eternal investments in people.  This small shift in perspective increased my confidence and joy in being part of what God is doing on the Plateau...

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God challenged me in areas where I was living in fear with regards to performance and expectations.

And He urged me in growing in my understanding of who and how He's created me....of how I am wired, and what are my strengths and weaknesses...the freeing knowledge of the raw material I have with which to serve Him.  

And He opened opportunities for me to awkwardly apply the things He was teaching me, and to learn from those experiences.  I learned a lot about my self-centeredness...about my need to prove and be justified before others...about the temptation to use relationships for personal gain (I'm not talking about money)...about the need to listen...about the need for patience...

 It feels as though I've taken beginning steps on a new phase of the journey.

Keep running....

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One interesting thing I've discovered:  As God has begun to define the vision of my heart, I realize that its not tied to Haiti, or even to a specific activity.  Yes, I believe that Haiti is where God has me for now; but, if He were to bring me back to Lancaster, or to send me somewhere else, I could keep pursuing what He has laid on my heart...in any place...in any occupation...

As one very wise adviser has observed: Ministry (Or I could call it "Eternal investment") is not a job that you DO.  It is something that happens as you live.

What is that vision?  Roughly expressed, it is to know and love God for who He is Himself, and to help others do the same.

I have been very inspired by the writings of A.W. Tozer who said that he wanted to love God more than anyone in his generation.  I cannot claim yet to have reached such a level of desire, but for quite a few years now, God has been stirring up my longing to really know who He is and what He is like at deeper and deeper levels.

As I pursue that journey, I want to take those I come in contact with along....

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This is where I am at currently in processing through some things.  There are others, but a blog is not the place I would typically choose to bare my soul....take me out for coffee instead.  

Retrospect 2013: The House

The house in which I live now was built as a personal home, but also with the idea of being used as a women's center.  As it is unfinished, one of the joys I have in living there is the opportunity to invest my rent money in finishing the house.  This year, we installed a rain-water catchment cistern, a new gate, and new fencing (see previous post).  This work is done with the hope that it truly can be used as a women's center in the future.

In November of 2011 (this was even before the idea of my moving into the house), a team from Lake Tomahawk, Wisconsin came a built the skeleton of a kitchen.

Click here for a flashback to this time on the Lemuel blog.

Not too long ago, some individuals from Lake Tomahawk returned and helped to sand the framework of the kitchen skeleton.

Just before my trip to the States, I painted, stained and varnished the kitchen (that was a learning experience!).

Here is a little (almost) silent video tour.

There is one advantage to having a semi-open-air house when you have cats (more about them later):  You don't need a litter box, and you don't need to open the door....the just come in over the wall.

That's all well and good except that they make a lot of noise clawing up the screens at night and generate swells when they drop down on the water bed while I'm sleeping....

2013 edition of...The Faces!!!

Sometimes....this happens.

She's the best.

Retrospect 2013: Office Hours

Boy, doing these posts has reminded me many things happened this year!  With the arrival of new teammate, Bonita Sparling, (that is, "new" in November of 2012), the Lemuel House got a makeover.  The Lemuel House was in need of a little TLC, and since Manis and Judy were moving out into their own home, and Bonita was moving in, it was perfect timing.

Because my office is part of the Lemuel House, it also received a new look...

the old look

 

new paint, new wall/countertop/gate entrance, new window access

 positioning art, Vanna White style

Unfortunately, clean, new office doesn't mean clean, new gourdes...

 over-dramatic enjoyment

Thankfully, I still have my assistant...and she still sits on my desk.