Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Packing

Dear Friends,
Greetings! I dislike packing intensely. I am in the midst of packing this morning in Seattle. I have finally figured out that it is more than trying to fit too much into too little space. It also has to do with packing signifies change in my life and sometimes that can be a little bit unnerving.

I realize that for many people packing and change means they are embarking on a new adventure and this is greeted with expectation and joy. I get to the expectation and joy eventually, however I usually have to work through anxiety and the facing of the unknown first.

It has good to be "home" in Seattle. It has also been difficult. While I have family and friends here my life isn't here any longer. At least not for now. Of course, my life really isn't anywhere right now. At least not for now. It will be eventually in South Sudan in a not too far off future and yet that will be a new place that I have only glimpsed for a brief two days earlier this year.

In the meantime I will return tonight to Louisville, Kentucky. I do have a temporary apartment there and yet my life really isn't there either. I will spend the next two months doing itineration, finishing up shopping and details for my return to Africa, catching some hours to do reading for my doctoral dissertation proposal and praying towards the journey that will take me back to Sudan in August.

I reflect more frequently on this journey that is both life and also God's vehicle for God's purposes for my life. That is, God created me for a purpose and the life that I live is the vehicle for that purpose. I was in awe at my daughter's graduation from Trinity Lutheran College this May. I saw young people whose lives have been changed by faith and academics. None of us know how God will shape our lives when we go forward to "begin" our adulthood. God has worked even in the life of Prince William who knew his role from his birth. Watching life and God's work in life unfold is an awe inspiring mystery.

There are times when I embrace this mystery more readily than at other times. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.
Blessings,
Debbie

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

going home different

Dear Friends,
Greetings again from Seattle! Last night I went to the Seattle Presbytery meeting. It has been several years now since I was at one of the meetings in the Presbytery whose care I was under for about ten years.

I realized that yes, I can go home, and yes, I am a different person now than I was then. It was wonderful seeing many people who are dear to my heart. It was interesting seeing again people whose views on many issues are very different from my own. And yet we are all a part of the one church, in particular the Presbyterian church; in general the catholic church universal.

I was struck by how many journeys intersect at these meetings. There were two examinations for Inquirers to move into Candidacy. There was one Certified Candidate being examined for ordination. I know how much it has taken to come to those different junctures on the journey of faith and academics.

God gives us each gifts and life is the vehicle those gifts are placed in. Our journey is on that vehicle and the means and the goal are to love and serve the Triune God forever.
Blessings,
Debbie

Sunday, May 15, 2011

How time flies!

Dear Friends,
Greetings! Time flies! I am now in Seattle after seven weeks in Louisville and time itinerating in Sacramento, California.

I am on vacation, doing some itinerating, and getting some medical appointments taken care of. I am also learning about solar cooking and mosquito net tents. I will be taking two simple solar stoves back to Sudan with me along with the cooking pots that are designed to be used with them. From what I understand this new way of cooking (new to me at least) will be equivalent to using a slow cooker. I am looking forward to that; putting food in a pot and returning hours later to a nicely cooked vegetarian meal.

I am also trying to locate the equipment to have a solar fan during the hot Sudanese days. I will have electricity at my new home in Malakal, however it will be 12 hours at night. So I need to find a way to have a fan and stay cooler during the days.

Life in Malakal will be much more rudimentary than it was in Khartoum. I am having to think ahead to what the things are I will need in order to live as normal a life as possible. Fortunately because South Sudan is considered a hardship post I will be able to leave Malakal four times a year and go somewhere to shop for things that cannot be purchased there. Which, judging by my two day visit earlier this year, is just about everything. I will be living a more basic life and certainly eating a more basic diet.
Blessings,
Debbie