a prairie sunset

where else but the prairies can you find a sunset quite like this?

signs of spring, as seen around my place

what's your best guess?

Someone told me today that I should dye my hair blond. Perhaps my recent rash of car troubles has more to do with the fact that my beard is on too tight...

The innumerable

What culture lacks is the taste for anonymous, innumerable germination. Culture is smitten with counting and measuring; it feels out of place and uncomfortable with the innumerable; its efforts tend, on the contrary, to limit the numbers in all domains; it tries to count on its fingers.
- Jean Dubuffet, 1901 - 1985

I see this a lot in churches. We are smitten with numbers - how many conversions, how many baptisms, how many people attending on a given Sunday, how many people in a class, how often they come, how we score on a giftings test...is my faith no longer sacred? I don't recall Christ asking us to "go now and count thy church attenders." He said to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and in prison. He didn't ask us to count on our fingers to see if the efforts are "worth" it. God's Word is an anonymous, innumerable germination. We can't rank a person's spiritual life as a particular level, nor can we necessarily classify each spiritual gift into a neat compartment. If that was the case, I suppose I'd be a class 5 Christian, whatever that means. But Dubuffet is right.
We lack the taste for the innumerable.
We desire numbers, because we understand numbers.
Numbers are pretty.
Numbers make sense.
Numbers are safe.
The Holy Spirit is not.

intellectual adventure

Stop asking God to bless what you’re doing.
Get involved in what God is doing—because it’s already blessed.

- Bono

glimpse of glory

The day was dismal. It was the sort of day when you want to hide under the covers with a hot water bottle and a smashing piece of fiction. But it was also the sort of day when things just had to be done. No hiding allowed. So I walked to the store under a canopy of misery. The clouds were depressed so they wouldn't let anything remotely cheerful through. The wind was whipping my hair around my head, my coat was flapping open, and air was whistling between my headphones and my ears, making it difficult to focus on anything but a depressing April afternoon. But my heart saw it before my eyes did. The clouds had parted just wide enough to allow me a brief peek beyond the dreariness. Outside of the canopy of misery was a sapphire sky, brilliantly joyful. I stopped and gaped at this small piece of hope in a sky of hopelessness. I felt sorry for the drivers who were going about their regular Saturday business with no inkling of the cerulean wonder just above the roofs of their metal cages. And I was reminded that no matter how miserable my life may get, there is always hope. Not hope somewhere in the distant future, but a real, present hope. "For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth." (Psalm 71:5) A hope that is always there, despite the circumstances, despite the dreary clouds that overcome my vision at times. I love flying, because the sky is always blue above the clouds. No matter how many clouds cover my life, I know beyond doubt that the sky still sparkles in sapphire beyond my mortal vision. Even when my life seems dreary in comparison to globe-trotting, God is still there, and He is still marvelous. I just have to be willing to open my eyes and gaze in wonder on the marvels He gives.

jasper

I took this picture last year in Jasper...I just ran across it again and thought I'd share it...

my sense are tingling

Here's some of what I was feeling/seeing/smelling/etc the first morning i arrived in Mexico...

SOUNDS
birds chirping their cheerful welcome
bugs buzzing in sweet harmony
a child protesting against a rude awakening
feet slapping on the pavement outside the courtyard
trucks growling past, bellowing their objections to the bumps in the road
cars honking in irritation and revving with impatience
dogs yapping at their fellow canines
the shrieks of mischievous children

FEELINGS
cement floor, smooth against my bare feet.
I inhale the sweet warmth into my nostrils, letting the air swirl its way through my cavities, bringing warmth into my chilled body. For once, I am warm from the inside out.

SMELL
a slight musky smell reminiscent of wet dirt, car exhaust, and many bodies
fresh warmth
the suble fragrance of shy hydrangeas mixed with the almost-gone scent of pink bugembelias

SIGHT
lush green plams treees intermingled with other trees laden with emerald offerings
the occassional tree swarming with lavendar flowers, offering a gift to eyes accustomed to browns and greens
run-down businesses, busy highways, people who go about their daily business, just like me. Where are they all going?
a yellow fortress home
a small corner garden - a sunny haven for both light-thirsty plants and warmth-seeking northerners

random shots from mexico

above the clouds












this one's fuzzy, but this little guy was just watching us play.














beauty in the midst of death















loveliness














the beauty of creation
















the intricacy of creation












lazy cat.

headspace

I learned yesterday that Canadians have a very distinctive "bubble" - well, I knew that already, but I never thought about it much. The people in Mexico were very much more touchy, which was fine with me. But coming from Pepe, it sounded different. When someone is in a store looking at magazines and you want the one in front of them, you excuse yourself before taking it. In Latin America, you'd just grab it.
I wonder if that physical bubble extends into sort of a mental bubble as well...Take praying for example. When we pray in Canada, we all take turns. We go around the circle and we teach kids that praying in a group means being quiet while someone else is praying. But in Mexico, everyone prayed at the same time. I found it very refreshing, because no one was really listening to the prayers of others, which makes sense because we're not talking to each other, we're talking to God. It was like no one had their own little bubble of time to pray, because we could all do so at the same time. Everyone's prayers just kinda meshed.
Ugh, I think this makes no sense. It's time for sleep.

Photos!

My friend Pepe from the plane - we met on the way to Mexico and on the way back! We look tired because it's about 1 am. :)














This is from the day Jimena and I went sight-seeing in Mexico City. This is the courtyard inside the Palacio Nacional, where the president is. Apparently there are a lot of riots there...I was glad not to be caught in the midst of one!














My very own Aztec man! Hehe, he's just dressed up, but I think that's the Palacio Nacional behind us, across the square.














The beauty of Mexico - seen during our 8 hour trip to Ahuatitla.














Some of my new friends...I had girls pretty much attached to my hip the whole time. :) This is Vanessa (left), Mirella, and Esperanza (right). Vanessa was deaf and mute, but she was really sweet.














The girl next door.














My little buddy Arturo. :) I had been chasing him down the street, and whenever I got close, he would curl up on the sidewalk and giggle, like he thought he could hide or something :)














In between lessons at the church in Ahuatitla.














Preparing the Sunday School classrooms - we painted (the hand prints are all mine :), decorated, put up balloons...the rooms looked so exciting for the kids!














Getting our certificates of completion from the course. Look how much taller I am than everyone else...I was even taller than most of the men. It was a strange feeling for someone who spent most of her life being the shortest person in the class. :)














A few of us on Sunday after church. The girl in the front is Jimena, then there's Alex, then a guy who's name I never caught. He kept telling me "I love you sister" though :). In the back are 2 kids who were taking the course, along with Ximena from Mexico City and me. :)














My friend Theresa. She was in the course, and we spent many happy hours goofing off, even though her english was worse than my spanish. :) Isn't it wonderful how friendships can blossom even when there's little verbal communication?? She took me to her house once for lunch, although I had no idea what was going on until she started pulling out eggs. :)



















2 of the kids/teens from our own group (from Mexico City) that prayed to receive Christ on the last day we were there. The guy praying with them is Arturo, and the kids are Brandon and Arturo's son, Samuel.














One last goodbye to Jireh and Keila, but Jessica (the older one) came with us back to the city.














The 14 of us packed like sardines under the canopy of a truck for 10 hours...it wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be. :)

fresh fruit!

¡Ola! I´m back from Ahuatitla, safe and sound only by the grace of God. We had a lot of trouble with our vehicles on the way down. I´ll try to give you a few of the highlights of my time there. It took us over 8 hours to get there, and I discovered on the way that my perceptions of Mexico were very wrong. I thought the whole place was flat desert! On the contrary, it´s the most beautiful country I have ever seen! We drove through mountains for hours; tropical mountains where the air is fresh, the plants are greener than fresh parsley and it is gorgeously warm. In Ahuatitla, I was surprised to find that I wasn´t bothered as much by the poverty as I thought I would be. Everyone has a house, even though it may be made of sticks. But the people are so friendly - there were several times when I found myself enjoying the hospitality of people I couldn´t even speak with. Kids would bring me into their homes, sit me down, and get me something to drink. Of course, I probably looked like a lost sheep the whole time, because I rarely knew what exactly was going on or where they were taking me. :)

The church there is amazing. I know both Ruth and I, as well as the people from Atizipan Alliance (in Mexico City) were challenged by their prayers, their intense worship, and their passionate love for El Señor. Every morning there were people at the church praying, although I´m not sure if that´s because we were there, or if it´s a normal occurence. But they prayed about EVERYTHING at every time of the day. And for a long time. I think they truly understand the verse that says to ¨pray continually.¨Sometimes the prayers felt really long because I couldn´t understand, but I was able to bounce my own prayers off of the words I did pick up. And today (er, yesterday), I went to the service, and I don´t think I´ve ever ¨felt¨God´s presence so strongly. I was making up my own words to the songs, and it was like my tongue was loosened to pray for the church, the kids, and everything else. During the whole hour during which we sang, I felt like I just wanted to fall on my knees and sob because God was so powerfully present.

We also headed out to the river a couple times, which was absolutely a life-saver...especially after a long ride with 17 people under the canopy of a truck. Sweat, stale air, and sticky bodies made for an interesting ride, to say the least. But I have to say that I´ve probably had the most truly ¨Mexican¨ experiences of anyone I know in Canada! It was so fun. During the second trip we made to the river, it took us about 4 hours to get back, because we had more car troubles. The car behind us starting honking, so we pulled over and realized we had a flat tire! The roads were so bumpy, we didn´t even notice it! So we changed tires, then the new one started being all wobbly! I would never ever trade my memories from Ahuatitla. In fact, I hope to go back and visit my new friends someday. But I fully intend to learn more Spanish first! Although in Ahuatitla, they don´t even all speak Spanish! Most of them speak (to some extent), the native language from that area. I even learned a few words in their language. :) ¨Kianen¨ means hello if you are a woman talking to a woman, or a man-woman greeting. I am now officially 4-lingual...english, french, spanish, and nahuatl...although only in english can I actually carry on a decent conversation. :)

So, are you wondering when I´m going to talk about fresh fruit? :) Right now I´m pecking away at a mango that I believe came off the tree yesterday. And I also got my fair share of oranges (naranjes) straight from the trees. Ah, I wish I lived in such a place where fruit grows everywhere! To have a mango tree in my backyard would be heavenly. :) But to have chickens and chicks (pollos y pollitos) in my backyard would be hell. All the chickens in Ahuatitla run loose, which is fine with me, except that the stupid roosters start crowing at 3 am! Add that to the ruckus already being caused by the dogs (los perros - who I´m sure are noctural), makes for quite a difficult sleep. But I´m sure you can get used to anything. :)

Hm, what else? Well, I´ve never felt so popular in my life! I had kids and climbing all over me! I know that a lot of that was due to my lighter skin and that they found it hilarious that I couldn´t understand them, but I discovered that my calling to work with kids is real. Through God, it´s possible to connect with anyone, whether or not you speak the same language. One of the Sunday School teachers were were training was Theresa, and she´s 14. We spent many hours together, just hanging out, even though her english was worse than my spanish!

gotta go catch the plane!
christie

and the fun continues...

Luckily the diarrhea went away, but I can´t say as much for this weird flu-like thing I seem to have picked up. I slept for 4 hours this afternoon, and woke up feeling refreshed, with no stomach problems in sight. Unfortunately, 2 hours later, I´m back to the weirdness. No regurgitation yet, but I´m expecting another LONG night. Sigh.

Last night, between one of my 7 trips to the bathroom to empty my fussy stomach, I was reading in Psalms while pining for my wonderful Jon-boy. There´s just something about having someone with you when you´re sick that makes it all seem just a tiny notch better. Fortunately I had Ruth, but she wasn´t much comfort as she was suffering from a severe bout of bowel problems herself. Funny thing is, she´s never experienced sickness like this on a missions trip before. Only on vacations :) So we made a fine pair - me dashing to one bathroom to kneel at the toilet, her jumping up randomly to sit on it. Anyway, back to the Psalms. Why is it that God so often seems give me little tidbits from His Word exactly at the right moment? This time is was Psalm 23 - ¨Yet I am always with you, you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.¨ Sigh. Thanks God. I really needed someone to hold me by my right hand last night, and God was there to do it. It wasn´t a physical presence, but I definitely felt more at peace about puking than I ever have before. It used to be my worst nightmare, but now it´s just a horrible tasting dream. The hard thing is that if this doesn´t go away, I won´t be going to Ahuatitla with the rest of the team. But I think I´m at peace about that even. I´m sure that God has something up his glorious sleeve no matter what! Later all, c

darn it.

Ok, I made a stupid decision. There were these ice cream-type things in the square today, but they´re made with water. I guess I thought I was invincible. So I tried to fall asleep this evening, only to have my insomnia exacerbated by extreme nausea. I fought it for a while, hoping a change in position would alleviate my stomach upset. But it was not to be. I sat up in bed - one last attempt to force rehabilitation. Ruth asked if I was hot, so I told her my problem. She left to go find me a bucket, but by the time she returned, I had calmy relieved myself of the contents of my digestive system. She thinks it was probably the chicken dinner Rosalyn graciously provided me. I feel bad because she doesn´t work, but she provided 50 pesos for a chicken because I didn´t get a chance to eat, due to the shennanigans described previously. For a frame of reference, I was told today that the average factory worker makes 40 pesos a day. (about 4 dollars american) But I don´t think my problem was the chicken, since it´s long gone and I have already emptied myself 4 more times. I´m expecting a few more times. And my juices are also coming out the other end, making me really wish I hadn´t been so darn stupid today! So it´s 4 am now, and we´re supposed to be up in 4 hours. I have a feeling I´m not going anywhere today. Please pray for me - this really stinks! I´ve already asked forgiveness for being so dumb when I KNOW it´s bad to eat/drink anything that might have their water in it. So I´m repentant, but paying the consequences. I guess God´s making sure I never do that again :) Well, it´s about time for another romp in the bathroom, so I´ll keep you posted.
-c

buenas noches!

ola! Our first several lessons have gone fabulously - i´m getting to know the people and it feelsl like we are friends even though most of us can´t verbally communicate! I have met a few people that speak english decently well. One of them is Jimena (pronounced imena) - she looks like any blond girl you might find anywhere in canada, but she is thoroughly mexican! It´s pretty funny seeing people come up to her, thinking she´s a tourist, and then she tries to convince them that yes, she is just as mexican as them! So she took me for the real mexico city experience today! we went in her little v.bug with no seatbelts in real latin american traffic...oh my, they don´t know the meaning of red lights or lanes! Being in a small car is is little scary sometimes, especially when there are buses crowding you in, and they are within touching distance from your window! But the day was fabulous - we went to the Zócalo, the square in the middle of the city. Around it is this massive cathedral, the palacio nacional, and even the excavation of the templo mayor - the major aztec temple. Right in the middle of the city! While doing excavations for the metro a while back, they discovered the remains of this whole city! All you can see is the top of the temple (you know, the ones with the stairs...). Speaking of which, I discovered how they did their sacrifices. They would take the most beautiful girls to the altars part way up the steps. Then they would lay them on the altar and cut open their chests. Then they ripped the heart out and pushed the body down the steps. I´m so glad that God doesn´t require human sacrifices (except for the ultimate sacrifice of course). It seems like such a waste of life! So after we wandered around for a few hours, we hopped back in the car and started the long drive back to the side of the city where the church is. Then we got a REAL mexican scare. Her mom called her on her cell and told her that she had just received a call that her brother had been taken captive and was being held for ransom. There are many occassions where this happens, and Jimena told me that they threaten you with their death, and if you don´t come through, they start ´selling´you body parts (ears, fingers...) and if you don´t come through in the end, they just kill their captive. She freaked out. I prayed. She prayed. We zipped over to the church (as fast as we could given the stand-still traffic) and the other english people (ruth and susan) weren´t there yet. So, with a few other mexicans, we prayed. That was an amazing experience. They don´t just sit and listen to each other pray. There is kind of a ´main pray-er´but everyone else is talking too! It was pretty powerful. By the end, Jimena had calmed down a bit and was able to go home to her mom. To make a long story short, we eventually found out that it had been a hoax, which is apparently quite common. But for people to be so afraid when this happens, it´s obviously not always a hoax. that makes me really sad. We never get that kind of extortion in canada. Anyway, I need to go to bed, and Ruth needs the internet!

Nos vemos manieras! (´see you tomorrow´...maybe :)

i'm here!

here i am in mexico city! I'll try to post a couple pictures in a bit, but I don't my camera right now! it was wonderful finally leaving the airport yesterday, seeing as how our original flight to seattle was cancelled! we ended up on a later flight and finally got here at 6:15 am. ugh. i threw my luggage down the wrong carousel but it ended up back in my hot little hands in mexico city, so it was okay :) so we're starting our course tonight, and apparently the church we're doing it in has a leaky tarp for a roof...and guess what...it looks like it's about to rain! Anyway, Ruth wants the computer, so I'll try and post more later! hasta leuga!
-c

want to know why i'm going to mexico?

www.ucomics.com

I don't know why the coloring is so weird. oh well.