Pictures and stories from Manila coming soon!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Road to Manila
Dear friends,
As you read this, I am currently in Manila with a team of 18 other people from our church in Guam who are going on this service trip over their spring break. We are 8 youth, 4 children (K-5), 1 college student, and 7 adults, one of which is actually joining us from Manila. We have four workdays at CCS Orphanage ahead of us, as well as a day at a youth summer camp. There are a number of projects lined up using the specific skills of the people we are bringing, which I will share more about later in the week.
Among my mom's many repeater sayings is this gem: "Experience may not be worth what it costs but we can't seem to get it for less." So true. Preparing for this second trip to Manila has been such a different road from last year. Last year I spent the three weeks leading up to the trip in a flurry of worry and overthinking and busyness and self doubt. This year I have cruised along, tackling things on my to do list a little here, a little there, trying to retain a calmness and joy that a woman of simplicity might have... always knowing that if I needed help, help would be found.
The unintended but very prevalent theme for our preparations has been building... as in, building on what we learned last year, building in scope of what we plan to do there, and building in effectiveness through the extra support we have recruited to take with us. Our fundraisers were bigger, more effective, and smoother this year. Our planning was more efficient. Knowing our Manila accommodations and work sites, our focus on travel and trip logistics was minimal, leaving our focus where it should be... on our service projects and the relationships at our work sites. Overall the road to Manila has been quite smooth, yet another answer to prayers.
In fact, my only real worry for this trip has been about going back to the orphanage and seeing some of the same children who have been there all this time. The good news is that I cannot imagine there being a better place for them to wait than in this precious little haven full of exceptionally caring staff. But I anticipated it might be a little sad to go back and see some of the same little faces... still waiting.
One of my prayers for this trip has been that God would use our time there to surprise us. I have noticed that God tends to speak to me very clearly though coincidences and crazy timing. Dare I say I received my first surprise before we even left, which even more prepared my heart for the reason we are making this return journey to Manila.
I came back from grocery shopping on Good Friday, and when I sat down to check my email, I had a completely unexpected message from a foreign family, subject line: Our daughter, Mia Claire. Read on and be amazed...
"We started an adoption process a few years ago with the Philippines and have just been matched with a little girl. Her name is Mia Claire and she lives in Concordia Children's Services, an orphanage in Manila. We are waiting for the final paperwork to be completed, and hope we will be able to go and fetch her in a few months time.
For those of you who aren't sure where this is going... Mia Claire is the little girl in my arms to the right of this and every page of Peyt's Island. Yes, she's the image I chose to represent the "everything in between" of our entire two year experience in the Pacific. Her smile and sparkly eyes stole my heart when we were there last year. She has been very much on my mind since we left. In fact, one of the reasons I wanted her picture up was to remind me to pray for each of those little ones who still wait. My heart was finally at peace in February when Sean (the missionary in Manila) on his visit to Guam said her adoption was in the works. She would have a mom and a dad soon.
And here, two days before leaving for Manila, I received such an incredible reminder that all of the children we are going to love on are in fact someone's daughters and sons. It makes my heart burst with joy a little bit to know that, just as I suspected, God has already picked out families for these little ones (Mia Claire will have a brother and sister too!). Like many answered prayers, there remains a season of waiting and preparation before that promise can be fulfilled.
So as I write this (during yet another season of waiting between Good Friday and Easter Sunday), I ask one final request for our time in Manila... prayer! Please pray that God would use this trip to surprise us in sweet little ways... pray that our service would somehow be a blessing to those we are going to serve... pray for the health and safety of our trip members and that the faith of our young people would grow.
And please, if you would, say a little prayer for Mia Claire and for the family who will receive her in just a few months time :) I don't know why I got to find out about this little matchmaking when and how I did, but there is no question the immense joy is intensely mutual.
As you read this, I am currently in Manila with a team of 18 other people from our church in Guam who are going on this service trip over their spring break. We are 8 youth, 4 children (K-5), 1 college student, and 7 adults, one of which is actually joining us from Manila. We have four workdays at CCS Orphanage ahead of us, as well as a day at a youth summer camp. There are a number of projects lined up using the specific skills of the people we are bringing, which I will share more about later in the week.
Among my mom's many repeater sayings is this gem: "Experience may not be worth what it costs but we can't seem to get it for less." So true. Preparing for this second trip to Manila has been such a different road from last year. Last year I spent the three weeks leading up to the trip in a flurry of worry and overthinking and busyness and self doubt. This year I have cruised along, tackling things on my to do list a little here, a little there, trying to retain a calmness and joy that a woman of simplicity might have... always knowing that if I needed help, help would be found.
The unintended but very prevalent theme for our preparations has been building... as in, building on what we learned last year, building in scope of what we plan to do there, and building in effectiveness through the extra support we have recruited to take with us. Our fundraisers were bigger, more effective, and smoother this year. Our planning was more efficient. Knowing our Manila accommodations and work sites, our focus on travel and trip logistics was minimal, leaving our focus where it should be... on our service projects and the relationships at our work sites. Overall the road to Manila has been quite smooth, yet another answer to prayers.
In fact, my only real worry for this trip has been about going back to the orphanage and seeing some of the same children who have been there all this time. The good news is that I cannot imagine there being a better place for them to wait than in this precious little haven full of exceptionally caring staff. But I anticipated it might be a little sad to go back and see some of the same little faces... still waiting.
One of my prayers for this trip has been that God would use our time there to surprise us. I have noticed that God tends to speak to me very clearly though coincidences and crazy timing. Dare I say I received my first surprise before we even left, which even more prepared my heart for the reason we are making this return journey to Manila.
I came back from grocery shopping on Good Friday, and when I sat down to check my email, I had a completely unexpected message from a foreign family, subject line: Our daughter, Mia Claire. Read on and be amazed...
"We started an adoption process a few years ago with the Philippines and have just been matched with a little girl. Her name is Mia Claire and she lives in Concordia Children's Services, an orphanage in Manila. We are waiting for the final paperwork to be completed, and hope we will be able to go and fetch her in a few months time.
Researching the Internet, we had an immense joy to see our daughter in your arms when you visited this orphanage.
We were wondering if you would be kind enough to share with us
anything you know about our daughter: how she is, health, interaction,
development, plays, what she likes, what she doesn't like, etc... As you
can imagine, it is very hard for us and our kids to feel so much
related to her while having so little information. Anything you can tell us will be great.
We can't wait to hear from you."
For those of you who aren't sure where this is going... Mia Claire is the little girl in my arms to the right of this and every page of Peyt's Island. Yes, she's the image I chose to represent the "everything in between" of our entire two year experience in the Pacific. Her smile and sparkly eyes stole my heart when we were there last year. She has been very much on my mind since we left. In fact, one of the reasons I wanted her picture up was to remind me to pray for each of those little ones who still wait. My heart was finally at peace in February when Sean (the missionary in Manila) on his visit to Guam said her adoption was in the works. She would have a mom and a dad soon.
And here, two days before leaving for Manila, I received such an incredible reminder that all of the children we are going to love on are in fact someone's daughters and sons. It makes my heart burst with joy a little bit to know that, just as I suspected, God has already picked out families for these little ones (Mia Claire will have a brother and sister too!). Like many answered prayers, there remains a season of waiting and preparation before that promise can be fulfilled.
So as I write this (during yet another season of waiting between Good Friday and Easter Sunday), I ask one final request for our time in Manila... prayer! Please pray that God would use this trip to surprise us in sweet little ways... pray that our service would somehow be a blessing to those we are going to serve... pray for the health and safety of our trip members and that the faith of our young people would grow.
And please, if you would, say a little prayer for Mia Claire and for the family who will receive her in just a few months time :) I don't know why I got to find out about this little matchmaking when and how I did, but there is no question the immense joy is intensely mutual.
"We had an immense joy to see our daughter in your arms."
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Return to Anae Island
Last weekend Nick and I did something that we used to do all the time... we snorkeled one of Guam's best sites, Anae Island. Ever since our boat broke last May, we have definitely missed the off-shore exploration part of our Guam experience. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures, so in an attempt to get back out to some of our favorite spots, we rented a kayak and hoofed it out there on our own power. 
Found a handy little cave to beach our kayak
Saw lots of amazing corals! I forgot how much more vibrant the corals are out here where people can't visit them as easily.
Crown of thorns starfish... these things are impressive looking. They are also invasive and pretty destructive, so we put them in the bad guy category.
Crown of thorns star up close
Nice shot, Nick! I think the picture is prettier than the actual starfish :)
It looks like a big coral sat on this poor sea urchin (also a bad guy).
And here's my favorite from the day... a blue sea star washed up on the sand. Great to get back out there to one of our favorite places, although I think it made us miss our boat even more.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Fasting from Facebook
The fact that Easter is almost here is exciting for a myriad of reasons. Today I'm going to harp on one of the reasons why it's exciting for me... Lent will be over and I can finally get back on Facebook!
Part of me can hardly believe I'm this excited about FB because the first three weeks offline were so liberating. People kept asking if it was hard not to be able to check it every day, and I would proudly reply, "Nope! It's awesome. One less thing to do!" Sadly, that is true. I feel like I've had so much more free time, particularly in my morning and my evening when I am most prone to plop in front of it. There's a bit of a morning routine out here... wake up, make your coffee (or tea!), and check your 8-hours worth of FB posts from friends in the States that all popped up while you were sleeping. I found my mornings in particular were so much more productive these last few weeks without that distraction.
I also (hate to say it) didn't really miss the people on it---at first. My birthday fell the first Sunday of Lent this year and people informed me that my wall had a bunch of birthday messages. "Aren't you missing being on FB on your birthday?" people asked. "Nope!" I proudly replied. And it was true, this year's birthday was notably awesome because I got so many truly special cards, letters, emails, and phone calls from you guys (thank you!). As I told one of my friends, it was like having a birthday in 2003! The people who knew it was my birthday found a way to get in touch. I can't say I missed the birthday wishes from that girl I had a class with at Florida 9 years ago and haven't seen since.
I also didn't miss the mundane scrolling of people's status updates. Or the daily minutia of many of the 700-something "friends" I have amassed from living in so many different places. Or the constant link postings by my uber liberal (and unnecessarily angry) grad school colleagues. Or the zillion baby pictures of people's kids who I have never and will never meet. I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of hiding and unfriending when I get back on.
But what I absolutely miss is being able to quickly and easily make plans with the awesome people who live on my street and in my neighborhood. Luckily I have some very generous friends who have been texting me FB invites for the last 40+ days. But believe you me, I have felt exceptionally out of the loop around here. I missed being able to share with my piece of the island about things like our rummage sale or our crossfit group starting up. I know I missed many adorable baby pictures and updates from friends back in the States whose families cross my mind every day. I bet their little faces will have changed so much even in this short time. And I even miss knowing what's going on with, among many, those girls who were in my Bible study in Florida 9 years ago, many of whom I haven't seen since and whose kids I haven't met. I still love hearing from them after all these years. They were such a huge part of my life for those three years.
I realized quickly what all of this new insight comes down to. And this is the heart of what I have learned and how I plan to use FB from now on. It's all about relationships... building them, maintaining them, nurturing them. Going forward, this will be my personal test of if I am spending my time wisely online. What am I doing to build relationships with the people I care about most? Peyt's Island has been a great way to keep in touch, but it is decidedly one-sided. I want to know what's going on with you too.
And that brings me to the purpose of Lent in general. The week before Ash Wednesday, we had youth group where I shared that Lent comes from the Latin root that means "to lengthen." Lent is a somber time in the church calendar where we focus on our sinful nature and the myriad of ways we as man fall short. And so we make a sacrifice, not with the purpose of breaking a bad habit, but to remind us daily of how we miss the mark, with the intention of lengthening our spiritual maturity. Fasting from Facebook has been a great reminder of my own sinful tendency to build a golden image of myself and worship it. (Heh, maybe I should have fasted from blogging too).
I have to marvel that despite our countless shortcomings, at the end of the day, at the end of this season, turns out it's all about relationships. I often don't understand why God wants to go to the trouble of building, maintaining, and nurturing relationships with every single one of us (sounds exhausting!). Or why He would make such an enormous sacrifice to show us how much our relationship matters. But I know it has something... no, everything...to do with love.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
As we transition from Lent to Easter over these next few important days, may we be reminded, as one of our 6th graders said last night at youth group, that Jesus underwent all the triumphs and tragedies of Holy Week, "so we can be closer to God."
Contemplating this, my hope is that this Easter we can all love a little more freely, show a little more grace when others fall, and maybe, somehow, be a little more at peace despite all that's wrong with the world. Because at the end of the day... at the end of this earthly lifetime... turns out it's all about relationships. And it has everything to do with love.
Part of me can hardly believe I'm this excited about FB because the first three weeks offline were so liberating. People kept asking if it was hard not to be able to check it every day, and I would proudly reply, "Nope! It's awesome. One less thing to do!" Sadly, that is true. I feel like I've had so much more free time, particularly in my morning and my evening when I am most prone to plop in front of it. There's a bit of a morning routine out here... wake up, make your coffee (or tea!), and check your 8-hours worth of FB posts from friends in the States that all popped up while you were sleeping. I found my mornings in particular were so much more productive these last few weeks without that distraction.
I also (hate to say it) didn't really miss the people on it---at first. My birthday fell the first Sunday of Lent this year and people informed me that my wall had a bunch of birthday messages. "Aren't you missing being on FB on your birthday?" people asked. "Nope!" I proudly replied. And it was true, this year's birthday was notably awesome because I got so many truly special cards, letters, emails, and phone calls from you guys (thank you!). As I told one of my friends, it was like having a birthday in 2003! The people who knew it was my birthday found a way to get in touch. I can't say I missed the birthday wishes from that girl I had a class with at Florida 9 years ago and haven't seen since.
I also didn't miss the mundane scrolling of people's status updates. Or the daily minutia of many of the 700-something "friends" I have amassed from living in so many different places. Or the constant link postings by my uber liberal (and unnecessarily angry) grad school colleagues. Or the zillion baby pictures of people's kids who I have never and will never meet. I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of hiding and unfriending when I get back on.
But what I absolutely miss is being able to quickly and easily make plans with the awesome people who live on my street and in my neighborhood. Luckily I have some very generous friends who have been texting me FB invites for the last 40+ days. But believe you me, I have felt exceptionally out of the loop around here. I missed being able to share with my piece of the island about things like our rummage sale or our crossfit group starting up. I know I missed many adorable baby pictures and updates from friends back in the States whose families cross my mind every day. I bet their little faces will have changed so much even in this short time. And I even miss knowing what's going on with, among many, those girls who were in my Bible study in Florida 9 years ago, many of whom I haven't seen since and whose kids I haven't met. I still love hearing from them after all these years. They were such a huge part of my life for those three years.
I realized quickly what all of this new insight comes down to. And this is the heart of what I have learned and how I plan to use FB from now on. It's all about relationships... building them, maintaining them, nurturing them. Going forward, this will be my personal test of if I am spending my time wisely online. What am I doing to build relationships with the people I care about most? Peyt's Island has been a great way to keep in touch, but it is decidedly one-sided. I want to know what's going on with you too.
And that brings me to the purpose of Lent in general. The week before Ash Wednesday, we had youth group where I shared that Lent comes from the Latin root that means "to lengthen." Lent is a somber time in the church calendar where we focus on our sinful nature and the myriad of ways we as man fall short. And so we make a sacrifice, not with the purpose of breaking a bad habit, but to remind us daily of how we miss the mark, with the intention of lengthening our spiritual maturity. Fasting from Facebook has been a great reminder of my own sinful tendency to build a golden image of myself and worship it. (Heh, maybe I should have fasted from blogging too).
I have to marvel that despite our countless shortcomings, at the end of the day, at the end of this season, turns out it's all about relationships. I often don't understand why God wants to go to the trouble of building, maintaining, and nurturing relationships with every single one of us (sounds exhausting!). Or why He would make such an enormous sacrifice to show us how much our relationship matters. But I know it has something... no, everything...to do with love.
As we transition from Lent to Easter over these next few important days, may we be reminded, as one of our 6th graders said last night at youth group, that Jesus underwent all the triumphs and tragedies of Holy Week, "so we can be closer to God."
Good Friday sunset at Asan Beach Overlook, April 2011
Monday, April 2, 2012
March at Home
I don't know about you, but for me March is one of those months that tends to drag on a bit. Maybe it's because February always flies by, extra short, sprinkled with holidays, and jam packed with birthday fun and 3-day weekend trips. Or maybe I still associate March with being the last month of deployment to trudge through, which is never fast enough. Well, obviously time is going way too quickly out here because I seriously cannot believe it's April already. In addition to painting a mural with my sister, watching Nick crush the XTERRA, and starting a new foodie column, we did a bunch of other stuff this month that I haven't even mentioned. So here, for you, a photo dump of the random things we did here on Guam, home together for an entire month... something I don't think has happened since we moved here!
The first weekend of March was 30-Hour Famine with some other youth
groups from around the island. Here are me and some of my flock at a
beach clean-up at Tarague Beach. At this point we hadn't eaten for
almost 24 hours. And we slept on the floor. I am wondering at what age
you are officially too old to be a youth director, because I am seriously starting
to think it's 29.
Nick and some of his coworkers put a team together for the golf scramble tournament (best ball) against the other commands from around base... and they won! Together they shot an impressive 63! I was so shocked when Nick showed up at home with a trophy. They even used some of his shots, including some clutch putts. They also did a nice job of coordinating their outfits...
I have been cooking like crazy. Other than Court being here, I can count on two fingers the number of times Nick and I have eaten at a restaurant this month. We hosted our dinner club one night and did a farmer's market theme, using as many locally grown or acquired foods as possible, like this yellowfin tuna from the co-op prepared Mediterranean style with herbs from our garden... yum! We are still eating paleo after 6 months. I will have to post some of my favorite recipes soon. They are delicious and easy whether you care to be paleo or not.
I competed in a QUAD. What's that, you ask? A QUAD is a triathalon with a fourth competition... Swimming, biking, running, and kayaking! It was a lot of fun and a fantastic workout.
Last week Nick took me to play at a new golf course I have never been to, Onward Talofofo Country Club on the east side of the island. There really is no comparison between this and the other rinky dink courses we usually play here. The fairways and greens were impressively manicured, and the cliffside views of the surrounding jungles were stunning. I could have spent all afternoon here just riding around in the cart staring at nature. The golf was pretty fun too, and unlike the other courses that have chickens, this course had some very friendly ducks.
And as for things I don't have pictures of, this month some friends and I started a workout group on the playground in our neighborhood. Crossfit Lockwood meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. We use the swing set, monkey bars, yoga mats, and steps to put various workouts together. Despite being really hard, the workouts are actually a lot of fun in a small group like this. There's great accountability, built-in cheerleaders, tons of workout variety, plus the bonus of getting stronger and faster along the way.
It's so strange how this island warps and transforms itself every so often. I am loving my weekly routine here and only wish it weren't making the weeks fly by so quickly. Won't be long (only a few days actually!) until this season at home comes to an end and another season of travel begins!
At said dinner party, Nick decided to get in a bonus workout with our friend's son Noah.
We hosted our rummage sale at church to raise money for our Manila trip. The sale was extremely successful again this year thanks to a big furniture donation by one of our many awesome families.
I competed in a QUAD. What's that, you ask? A QUAD is a triathalon with a fourth competition... Swimming, biking, running, and kayaking! It was a lot of fun and a fantastic workout. 
Last week Nick took me to play at a new golf course I have never been to, Onward Talofofo Country Club on the east side of the island. There really is no comparison between this and the other rinky dink courses we usually play here. The fairways and greens were impressively manicured, and the cliffside views of the surrounding jungles were stunning. I could have spent all afternoon here just riding around in the cart staring at nature. The golf was pretty fun too, and unlike the other courses that have chickens, this course had some very friendly ducks.
I've also been doing a lot of singing! Our music director Kevin and I have worked together to put together a number of really inspiring arrangements for Lent, adapted from the album by New York Hymns (free download!).
It's so strange how this island warps and transforms itself every so often. I am loving my weekly routine here and only wish it weren't making the weeks fly by so quickly. Won't be long (only a few days actually!) until this season at home comes to an end and another season of travel begins!
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