Amistad

TFF:True Friends Forever. Please raise your hand if you have ever written those three letters on a scrappy piece of paper and passed it to your best friend (at least for the day) back in the days of gradeschool. I think I finally threw out all my love notes and hate mail from those elementary days before I made the move to Bolivia.

Today was El Dia de Amistad in Bolivia, Friendship Day. It reminds me a lot of Valentine's Day with similar cartoonish cards handed out and flowers marketed everywhere. For the past two weeks, we've had fun at the home with our "amigas secretas", passing notes, gifts, and trying to figure out who our illusive buddy could be. The last two Sunday messages have sprung from this dearly loved holiday as well. It was the first sermon that really moved me, wringing my heart and causing me to feel for the first time in months.

Someone I love and care for hurt me so badly and my reaction was to withhold my friendship from him. It began as a mechanism to protect myself and evolved into a prideful stand against someone who had rejected me. Beaten and betrayed, I became a person I didn't recognize. Determination to be distant and aloof was destroying my joy and robbing me of cheer.

As I sat in the service last week, all the defenses I had put in place crumbled to pieces. Jesus called Judas "friend" even as the betrayer planted his lying lips on his cheekbone. Friendship is not about what the other person does or does not do. To be a friend is show yourself a friend. While these truths seeped into me, I resolved to do as much as it depended on me to restore a cherished relationship.

"Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act." Proverbs 3:27. Are you withholding your friendship from someone? Are you trying to punish another by being stand offish and cold? Maybe they don't deserve it, maybe they do, but YOU deserve the peace and relief that comes from healing a rift when it is in your power to do so.

God provided sweet companions for me as I poked my way through the fog of a lost friendship. I recognize them as being there and give thanks for their presence in a time when I was so removed and unmoved by the goodness of God and life. Countless souls walk the trail with us and many veer to another route, but the One who sticks closer than a brother is the most constant companion of all.

Life is Good

Right now there is canteloup, honey dew melon, pineapple, strawberries, peaches, apples, bananas, madarins, and papaya in our fridge and hanging out in our fruit basket. Life is good.

Gasp!

I like air. Contests to see who can hold their breath the longest never held much appeal for me. Panic engulfed me when a pesky brother or obnoxious male class mate would shove my head under water in a sick attempt at humour. My dad used to pin pillows over our faces much to my horror and the squeelling delight of my brothers. Personally, I find comfort in the whole breathing thing.

Physically speaking, I inhale and exhale without much thought. It's not until I am robbed of this very natural action that I acknowledge my dependancy on oxygen. Spiritually speaking, my soul was inhaling and exhaling the fragrance of God. The respiration of His presence became ritual and routine. In some ways, this is exactly what we strive for; practicing the presence of God, praying without ceasing, etc.. However, a spread of fingers had submerged my soul into a swamp of resentment and bitterness. My spirit stopped breathing the sweet scent of God's presence and a darkness began to suffocate the life of Christ in me.

Recently, most of my blogs have been whimsical and light of fare. I had nothing to offer in the way of godly insight or inspiration and wasn't ready to acknowledge my apathy. My old school journal is bleeding with ink; black and blue blood spelling out the awful places I have visited of late. I am ready to share some of those wounds and sores now by paraphrasing parts of my journal here.

"What kind of God am I serving and encouraging others to follow?...I'm still mad at God for what happened to me and for his "trick" to get me back here. I've been crying out for a long time, saying, "Something's not right between God and I and can ANYBODY help me?!? I cast out my lines of spiritual disorientation and no one bites the bait. No one grabs me and shakes me, not a soul dares to take me on and challenge my apathy. Where are those who would surround me, push me around a little, to slap my face instead of pat my back? I'm so far from where I used to be that I wonder how I can ever get back. I've gone on a hike, a long hike, and forgot that I have to cover the same distance in order to get home."

Yesterday the oppressive hand released it's grip on my heart and I realized that I was holding my soul under water. I burst through the surface and gasped at God's love and longing for me. I walked way too far, but I didn't have to walk back. I was carried, exhausted and relieved, back to the shore in arms of everlasting love.

I realize it is risky to put my raw and painfully honest meanderings out there. More and more, I think it's what needs to happen. I post this parade of thoughts in the hope that it will help someone else escape the drowning effects of apathy, resentment, and bitterness. Don't stay under too long, gasp in the goodness of God!

Say Wha'?

Good googa mooga!! What just hit me? A team from Waynesboro, Virginia.

Last week we were blessed to host a team of seven from the United States of America...or if you would ask one of them where they were from, they'd say,"'Murica". But, "thad ain' nuthin' budda thang", "cusin" Larry was having a "grit time" teaching us Canadians the finer points of the English language. As I admonished the kids not to learn English from these superb, grammatically-challenged folk, Mikee was wagging a finger and telling me he was "gonna' learn me sumpin'". "S'not purdy" trying to translate from English to Spanish when you're just not sure what is being said in your first language. Somehow between shouts of "Good googa mooga" and "Lawd have mercy!", we managed to cross the communication barrier. If you "wan' s'mo" of this fantastic Southern drawl, I will post a few more favourites at the end of this blog.

Arriving on the 30th of June and leaving on the 7th of July, we celebrated both Canada Day and Independance Day together. Canada Day brought fireworks, patriotic cake, maple leaf tatoos, and the faithful flag. Independance Day bore gifts of Tootsie Rolls (pronounced with a long 'o'!), patriotic pins, miniature flags, and smarties (a.k.a. rockets). Quite honestly, I think the red and white kicked some red, white, and blue butt

Our party may have rocked, especially our rendition of the national anthem, but this team broke the mold in other ways. A few days into the construction project, the five men were forced to deal with the varying opinions of several different Bolivian workers regarding their bricklaying. In one day they managed to lay 20 bricks. Each time they set down a row, a man would approach and tell them to rip them out and do it a different way. Needless to say, frustration built faster then the wall they wanted to finish. During lunch, they discussed their situation and decided that they needed to return in humility, clearly stating that they were there to serve.

It was tough to come down with certain expectations and discover that what they expected was quite different from the actual experience. Granted, this is typical of short term mission trips, but this team had character and personality. The authentic presence of God evidenced itself from the way they handled the construction site to the way they loved on our kids.

Adreana, Julie, Jeff, Joe, Mike, "Cousin" Larry, and Dave (Mister America), thanks for coming down and sharing so much of yourselves with us. You brought muscle and memories, you gave laughter and tears, and you left a hole and a longing for more of the same. God bless! Y'all come back now, ya' hear?

Please find Southern US English with accompanying Canadian definitions below.

Glossary

Ain' nuthin' budda thang - It's nothing.
Good googa mooga - Oh my goodness!
Wan' s'mo'? - Would you like some more?
Mum n'dem' were der' - Mom and they were there.
Flash dem coconuts - Show me your muscles.
Where da' ball? - Where is the ball?
Get ou' da doe! - Get out the door!
POE -lice - police.
S'not - It's not.
S'purdy - It's pretty.
Murica - America.
Lemme learn ya' sumpin' - Let me teach you something.
Yer as cuntry as cornbread - no translation.
'Ceptin' I don' use 'em all - Except that I don't use them all...as in they don't use all the consonants.
Slick as snot on a doorknob - no translation.