Friends and Enemies

Most people have them, but they look a little different. I have them in Hawaii, Abilene, Thailand, Australia, Georgia, and other places around the world. They're friends, really important friends...the kind of friends that I have a very special bond with. This is the bond that people share when they leave it all behind and move to another country to tell their new friends and neighbors about God. I know most of these people because we trained through the Halbert Institute for Missions together. Because of this, we've cried together, laughed together, learned about other countries, and learned a lot about one another. I don't talk to all of them on a regular basis, but I do talk to God about them on a regular basis. However, whenever we talk to one another through skype or email it's like we were never separated. Why is this? I think it's because we're traveling on the same journey. Some are preparing to go to or are already in other countries, but our purpose is the same. We've left the same things behind and are making the same sacrifices. We're all living lives of great uncertainty (I know, who isn't), and that creates one strong bond!
For example, last Saturday some friends of mine who are moving to Russia did a little fund raising dinner. I went to it because I have not seen them in quite a few months, and missed them! Also I know the prep that goes behind a dinner like that, and the disappointment that comes with an invited person not bothering to show up. We ate great food, heard about what they will be doing in Russia, and then just sat around and talked as they met with different people. After my friend walked around for a while, it was my turn to chat with her. She sat down and we talked about fund raising...not the most exciting topic of conversation for someone who is not moving to another country! We talked about the encouragement we have received from surprise donors, and the disappointment we have felt from those who we counted on that let us down. Then something interesting happened. I said, "Well, I guess you need to go catch up with other people", and she said, "Actually, it's really refreshing to sit and talk with someone who's going through the same stuff". That is so true! This whole moving to another country thing is not easy, even though some think we're just going to sit around in coffee shops and talk to people all day long. It's so refreshing to share our stresses, worries, and excitement with people who are doing the same thing, because they know what it is to send out over one hundred pledge cards and only get seven back. I am so very grateful for my friends and family who surround me everyday, but I am also very glad to have these friends that I share this unique bond with.
Now on to the enemies...my gmail account got hacked into yesterday. Sorry by the way if you got some ridiculous link from me, it was not really from me! I managed to change my password and get the thing stopped, but not before it emailed just about everyone I have ever emailed. That left me feeling embarrassed and vulnerable, but it had its good points. Some people emailed me back to say that they got a weird email from me, and it started good conversation. Some people I had not talked to in years! Even though some horrible hacker somewhere was allowing him/herself to be led by greed and deception, God was using the opportunity to reunite me with some old friends. God can turn anything around!

Longing for heaven

On Monday afternoon I hopped in the Corolla and started the trek to Wichita, Kansas. My grandmother passed away last Thursday, her funeral was going to be Tuesday, and her burial Wednesday. I will go through the significance of those two days in a few moments, but for now let's focus on the drive up. The drive to Kansas from West Texas is scenic in its own way...there are a lot of farms and open skies. Some people might deem it boring or ugly. I however hold within me a gift and a blessing, it's that of being able to enjoy any car trip regardless of the location. Would you like to know my secret? It's the fact that there are two very specific bits of scenery that transport me to magical places. One is wide open wheat or hay fields (they might actually be the same thing for all I know) and the other is seeing the moon or big, fluffy clouds in the sky during the day. I could actually add the ocean as number three...but I see it so rarely these days that I don't count it in a regular list. Anyway, if you drive across the country you will see one or both of those natural occurrences as you drive. Let me explain to you why I love them so much.
I don't know how to explain it, but there is something beautiful about the moon shining (reflecting, whatever) during the day. It reminds me of being a child. For some weird reason I remember looking up at the sky as a kid, seeing the moon, and being happy. That feeling has never gone away. I cherish it and hope to share it with a little one of my own some day. Big open fields with either brown or green flowing grasses call out to me often. They beckon me to run through them, the wind blowing in my hair. They also beckon me to lay down in their tall grasses, look up at the sky, and dream. The only thing that keeps me from pulling over and running through a field is the fear of getting shot by some crazy farmer, and the annoying reality that laying down in a field of tall grass is actually much more itchy and buggy than my imagination allows for. These two bits of scenery hold another very important power; they make me long for heaven. What I mean by that is that I can actually imagine myself running through a field until I run all the way to heaven, or all of a sudden receiving the ability to fly and flying toward the moon until I reach heaven. I realize that sounds totally crazy, but it means so much to me. I don't mean that I just fly up to that big expanse in they sky that some call the heavens, I fly up and meet with God. Actually, I go home to God. I think once I meet God face to face I'm never going to want to go back to where I came from! Don't get me wrong, I don't get excited about dying. What I do get excited about is when all the junk of this world is over and I'm with God in a much more peaceful place.
Needless to say I longed for heaven a lot on the seven hour trip to Kansas Monday!
The ceremony surrounding my grandmother's funeral and burial were hard; hard because it was hard on my family. I wasn't very close to my grandmother, but I could see that she blessed a lot of people's lives. I know that her children, grandchildren, friends, and other family will miss her a lot. I don't want to write much more about that, so I'll leave it where it is except for this one last thing. Even though grieving is really hard, I can thank God that because I've lost my grandmother recently I'm able to empathize with the people around me who are suffering the loss of loved ones. Experiencing the pain of others is a powerful thing. I guess our Savior knew what he was doing....
I actually started this blog post about a week ago, so I feel like it is quite scattered. I'm going to leave it like it is, because to be honest my life is scattered right now! I did a garage sale with my mother in law on Friday and Saturday after I got back from Kansas. It was exhausting, but a blessing because they let us keep the money for our move to Australia. Tomorrow night I have my second degree black belt test, so I've been up at the dojo a lot this week trying to get ready. Part of my belt test will also be participating in two seminars Friday and Saturday. I'm excited about it all, but to be honest will be even more excited when life can get a little more back to normal.