A Link I Think You'll Find Worth the Time it Takes to Read...

A Grief Interruption

Go ahead. Head on over to read it.
You really won't even need to come back here after you do.

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I've only spoken with Deb, the author of this blog, a few times.

I appreciate her blog; she's a gifted writer and

she experiences a slice of Niger life that I really don't.

This particular story broke my heart - maybe because I have seen glimpses

of this sort of tragic slice...

Woman not able, not allowed, discouraged to express any emotion when they lose.
And they do lose.
Often.
Lots.

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...listening to Mamata talk about burying five of her eleven babies, before they turned 2 ~

...watching my friend Tina going through the pain of an abusive, broken marriage to lose legally what little say she did have in the lives of her beautiful children ~

...sitting with Issoufou's widow and little boy - she couldn't have been more than 18 ~

...seeing our guard Amadou lose his first baby boy just weeks ago; then today the body of his little brother was returned to the family. He was killed when the UN forces with whom he served were ambushed down along the Liberian/Ivory Coast border ~

...little Zeinabou, our neighbor girl, severly handicapped after her encounter with cerebral malaria and meningitis, yet her family choosing life for her ~

...Elsie Mae's friend from church, Salamatou - who has recently lost fingers due to infections from simple cuts and scrapes while living out in the village and no access to medical care. She's not lost her sweet smile and delight in hugs and holding hands ~

And that list could go on and on and on...

Life in Niger is hard, so desperately hard, for her people.

I'm spoiled.

We Americans are selfish and spoiled...

I've seen.

I've no excuse.

Yet as I look at the priorities in my heart,

I'm still pleading,

"Lord, open my eyes...

...and change the priorities of my heart."

5 Minute Friday ~ Paths

Hopefully back more consistently now that the school year is over... and just delighted to be joining Lisa Jo over at Gypsy Mama for 5 Minute Friday!

"So, here’s the skinny: every Friday for over a year hundreds of people join a kind of writing flash mob over here. For five minutes flat. No extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation.

Unscripted. Unedited. Real. All on the same prompt that I post here at 1 minute past midnight EST ever Friday.

Write and see what comes out. There’s no right or wrong.

It’s a Five Minute Friday flash mob!

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

OK, are you ready? Please give me your best five minutes on...

Path..."

On your mark... Get set... Go!

It is that time of the year in life, particularly in this expat life...



My husband describes it as a great sucking sound when that plane takes off on Sunday night, late, after church. It feels like half our world will be on that plane, leaving. And if not on that plane, than another one in just a few more short days... or weeks...

It kinda feels like the insides of your heart are being sucked right out of you - so strongly, so rapidly, that your heart is just turned right inside out.

We celebrated grad last night... we've actually been celebrating it all this week with final final exams, banquets, at least two all night parties, cleaning out lockers and closing assemblies. It all culminated in, as they say in French, "la remise de diplomes."

It is a celebration. Those kids have worked hard and they've earned that right to rejoice and have fun ~ and all the while being celebrated by those who've watched, helped and struggled both with and, at times against, them through those tumultous high school years.

Next year's senior class... Brendan's graduating class... although at least two of these kids will be gone next year, too.

That part is normal to almost any community at this time of year. The difference comes in the paths these children-who've-now-been-promoted-to-young-adults.

One heads to S. Africa... another to Korea... another to Canada... one to Austria... then there's the one who may go back to Cameroon... while others to all parts of United States. And at college breaks they mostly won't return here. For many, their parents are transitioning, too... to another place, a new ministry and a new phase of life, and so Mom and Dad's new home will no longer be a familiar place they know.

And so their circle grows and changes as each one moves beyond the radius of what they've known, their paths taking a different directions and aimed towards different destinations.

Many of them? Their paths may never cross again this side of eternity...

... or facebook.

The paths God has chosen for each one of  us are like that, aren't they? Such a mix of mountain top joy swirled together with heart-breaking sorrow.

Stop!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Last day of school... Can you find the Wrights within (all except for Tim)?

Photo taken by my friend Shannon Maxwell... and scavenged off of FB. 

Not my words (so they don't count); Thus it is still... Wordless Wednesday - Afternoon Dust Storm

(click on the photo or here to see more pictures)



Wordless Wednesday: It it doesn't seem so long ago, so how come they look like such little tykes?

Dissolved, Part II

Time passed; in the intervening months God graciously provided us with a new infrastructure. Most of our supporters did decide to stay with us and some surprising partners have generously provided since monies like future support, funds saved for education and plane tickets, etc., were all lost to us with the dissolution of our organization. Daily, our lives and ministries continue.

Yet in many ways, we are still stuck halfway across that high wire, very much in limbo. We keep things running here, waiting for the human powers that be to decide what will be… while we wait to hear all of the legal ramifications of this process back in the States, while we try and cling to the truth that God is sovereign.

I'm reading a book called The Land Between: Finding God in Difficult Transitions. One of my friends, hearing of our particular circumstances, wrote me and asked if she could get me this book. I’ve been very thankful for it as I’ve slowly worked my way through it. Today I read:

“At the beginning of the story, Abraham was asked to trust God by letting go of his past—by moving away from his people and his country. Now, near the end of his journey, Abraham is asked to trust God by letting go of his future—releasing his beloved son Isaac through whom the promised blessing is to be fulfilled.”

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Please join me over at Missionary Moms this Memorial Day weekend as I share "Dissolved - Part II." If you have no clue what I'm talking about, and want to read "Dissolved- Part I," you will find it here!

5 Minute Friday ~ Opportunity

Joining up, today, with Lisa-Jo over at Gypsy Mama for 5 Minute Friday ~

"Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays.

We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to run when we were kids.

On Fridays we write with gusto, unselfconscious and flat out.

What can you write in five minutes flat?

 

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on..."

Opportunity…

...Go!

My big girl turns 15 today.

Wow! Hold on just a sec while I pause and catch my breath...

When and how did THAT happen?

Do you remember when you turned 15?

I do... and yet... I don't.

I'd begun my sophmore year of high school... and there was this guy I kinda liked, but he'd be graduating and heading off to an academy a long ways away.

My mom was the person who most drove me crazy - and yet? I so wanted her to be proud of me. I longed to make her and Daddy proud.

I thought I had the coolest Nana and Pop Pop in the whole world and I loved summer vacation when we'd visit their small town home.

At church, I had the "funnest," coolest youth group leaders in the world - Mr. and Mrs. C!

I'd moved into a new age group for swim competitions and I wondered if I'd be any good. I finally decided to quit competing in gymnastics, too - upon the recommendation of my coaches - so I could truly focus on one sport.

I was working as a swim instructor and a lifeguard at two different pools in town; that year I reluctantly began supervising when the Association of Retarded Citizens would come to the pool each week.

I would be learning to drive.

I loved my NASB - and was starting to really fall in love with God's Word. I remember "discovering..."

Thus saith the LORD, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.

 ...wishing I had some sort of rule book

that told me just how to live like that,
and?

Over the years, I've come to find out that I did, all along.

I never felt particularly pretty and certainly wasn't "popular," but I was pretty comfortable as a scholar and an athlete.

I still had to go to school over at the old Sooner high school since the powers that were then had decided to combine the town's two high schools. I went to school with some pretty uppitty, well-to-do kids. I guess, in many senses, I was one of them, but I never felt that way. I road the bus (well, when I did) mostly with kids from the other side of the tracks. Those were the kids I actually thought were really cool and who had interesting lives... yet I was shy, not much of a conversationalist... and so I existed on the periphery of what I'd sorta call my circle of friends.

I didn't know how to walk as a confident Christ follower in that world, even though I wanted to.

That was me, when I turned 15.

Sometimes I think I know... other times I wonder if I have any clue... just who my now 15 year old is and who she wants to become... who the Lord wants her to be.

I particularly wonder if she sees all that beauty inside becoming, if she really has a clue of what all life is in front of her...???

... so many possibilities...

...so much opportunity...

all bundled into our beautiful "Baby ekah baby ekah baby!"

Happy 15th birthday, Rebekah Joy!

...Stop!

(Writing? 5 minutes. Adding all the pictures? Well... since internet in Niger has been moving like mud the past few days? Significantly longer. But she's worth it! :-)

Dissolved - Part I

Missionaries… all who follow Christ… are told to count the cost. But what about when something unthinkable happens? How do you prepare for that?

Late at night, on August 24, 2011, we received the following in a letter from our sending organization:

“Following extensive objective assessment and the advice of legal counsel, we are beginning action to dissolve… The organization will be in the process of shutting down over the next week and a half. Funds to continue are not available… final payments of reimbursable expenses will be paid as of August 23rd..."


The majority of our Niger/Benin missionary team at the time of the dissolution.

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Please head over to Missionary Moms, where last week I shared a little about our experience over the past several months as our sending agency had to close its doors.

whispered prayers ~ dance of grace

I love dancing.

I love watching dancing.

I love teaching dancing.

I'm ever amazed by the cultural variety and beauty present in dance.

I love watching others learn to dance.

I love helping the hesitant begin to enjoy dancing.

I love that my children find the same joy in dancing that I do.

I love hearing music while seeing it come to life as it directs movement.

I love the precision and the rhythm.

I love the freedom - the twirling and spinning, flipping and flying.

I love figuring out new steps, hearing new beats, trying new patterns.

I particularly love the uniqueness of each member in a dance troup submitting themselves to the grace of unity.

 

I read this in a book recently: "to observe their family is to witness a dance of grace."

May those who see us also see that dance of grace in our family...

...THAT has become one of my daily prayers.



(All photos taken on Mother's Day, 2012, during a sandstorm here in Niamey.
Some of my gang could not resist dancing and playing in the wind and sand. Nothing like stating the obvious!)



[Manion, Jeff (2010-07-14). The Land Between: Finding God in Difficult Transitions (Kindle Location 776).

Zondervan. Kindle Edition.]

The Real Hidalgo!

SANDSTORMS!!

They ARE impressive.

Remember watching the movie Hidalgo? The scene where the man rides the horse, furiously gallopping to escape a huge sandstorm? Until I moved to Niger, I thought that sort of representation of a sandstorm was hugely exaggerated... except that we've had two sandstorms just this season (so far) that have looked remarkably like that scene from the movie....

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...Ok, we know, this is supposed to be a blog page, not a "blague" (If you don't get it, check out the meaning of "blague" in French), so here are a few pictures we really took, still in their unaltered form, as the sandstorm moved in yesterday. What was super cool was that the storm moved in from the north, so we were able to sit on our terrace where the house sheltered us from the worst of the sand, dust and wind - and experience it as the storm moved right over and around us. What was super incredible is that the men working on cementing the 2nd floor and roof of the house they are building in the concession next to us continued to work right through the storm. The first two pics were taken yesterday morning. The third was taken as a storm rolled in off the desert from the east over one of the Niamey markets. Amazing, aren't they?

(photo by Brian Trutwin)

PS Richelle cannot take much credit for this blog entry - she was only the executor. Tim was the creative inspiration.

(mildly edited post from the archives,

in honor of the fact that it is THAT season of the year

yet once again!)

Bonus Question:

Who's riding the horse in the first picture?

5 Minute Friday ~ Perspective

Once again, joining Lisa-Jo at Gypsy Mama for 5 Minute Friday...

"On Fridays over here a group of people who love to throw caution to the wind and just write gather to share what five minutes buys them. Just five minutes. Unscripted. Unedited. Real.

Your words. This shared feast.

If you have five minutes, we double dog dare you to spend it writing here.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.

OK, are you ready? The Gypsy Mama Facebook late night crew is my new muse come 10pm Thursday night, so please give me your best five minutes on their choice..."

Ready... Go!

Perspective…

"People only see what they are prepared to see." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Before criticizing a man, walk a mile in his shoes."
- Old English Proverb

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

"Bad is called good when worse happens."
- Norwegian Proverb

 "When others see a shepherd boy, God may see a king."

- Ray Boltz and Steve Millikan

"Is the glass half empty or half full?" (recently wrote about this myself)

“Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.”

"A flower is a weed seen through joyful eyes."

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

"When one door closes another opens.

But often we look so long, so regretfully, upon the closed door,

that we fail to see the one that is opened for us."

- Helen Keller

Perspective is one of those things I think about a lot - hence my collection of quotes above. These are my favorites and I could have included more, but recently I read a parable that says more better than I ever could, so let me simply retell, in my own words...

"A hurricane had ravished the island, leaving a monkey stranded watching the waves crash along the shore. While taking count of his situation and waiting for the waters to calm and recede, the monkey notices a fish struggling to swim against the current. Obviously, the fish was in need of help and so the monkey decided to take a risk and help his fellow creature.

One branch from the tree in which he was sitting extended out over the water, right above where the fish was thrashing and struggling to make way in the abusive surf. Even though it entailed danger and risk, the monkey inched far out on that limb and hanging down as far as he could stretch, snatched the fish from the thundering waves. The monkey then scampered back to safety, clutching the fish close to him so he wouldn't drop it. Well back from the raging waters, he delicately laid the fish on the beach. For several minutes, the fish seemed excited and delighted, flipping and flopping around, but soon it settled down and slipped into a restful sleep, probably for the first time since the storm began.

The monkey was pleased with himself, for he had helped another. That poor fish would've died without his intervention."

 Stop! 
(5 and 1/2 minutes... I had to finish the story!)

The monkey parable came from a book I'm currently reading titled Cross-Cultural Servanthood: Serving the World in Christlike Humility, by Duane Elmer

If a quote is not properly attributed, or there is no attribute and you can correct me, please do!

"Nin no ga ti bora din!" or... "You ARE that man!"

We've been talking about sitting in the hot seat...

about having others question the rightness or the wrongness of what we are doing...

of questioning the rightness or wrongness of what others are doing...

of judging...

of being judged...

of our liberty in Christ...

of being our brothers' and sisters' keepers...

And it has been interesting.

After all these years, a Bible study topic where I don't feel like I have to literally drag participation out of these women. I keep praying that  a few more of the women would show up.

About a week and 1/2 ago, we met again, to continue our discussion and I did have my "notes" all written out, but we didn't end up following them.

The Lord had shown us something during our last Saturday afternoon together: He'd shown us our own hypocrisy as we realized, each lady present, that we much prefer to be in the position of the one correcting or confronting rather than sitting in the hot seat as the one being corrected or confronted - about anything. When asked, "Why?" each person agreed that the elevated position of teacher is preferred to the lowly position of learner needing to be corrected.

I did follow my notes long enough to ask the ladies to think about that "revelation," because it was not biblical, especially in the light of the following Scriptures. I'd  been meditating on them for two weeks already...

 

Then, I took the ladies to 2 Samuel 12 ~ the biblical account of Nathan, sent by God, to confront David with the reality of the sin he had committed towards Uriah the Hittite (and others), helping David see just how deeply he had offended God. I told the ladies I wanted them to know this story because it gives us a Biblical picture of confrontation both done and received well.

The rest of our study was spent with me reading the Zarma Biblical account (slowly and surely, one little step after another, my Zarma language abilities make minute advances) and then clarification of the events that took place in those verses.

We finished up Bible study with two questions, the same two questions I'd like to leave with you today:

1. What did Nathan do well as he confronted David with his sin?
2. What did David do well as he found himself sitting in the hot seat?

Wordless Wednesday ~ "Ecka & Anakin"