Friends

Friends dropped by this evening. We had such a nice time talking on the porch, holding the baby, and then playing card games and more talking inside. I got a few photos. When they came over Marcie said "When the people don't go to the mountain, the mountain goes to the people." A kind way of saying "why haven't you dropped by our house for awhile? And since you haven't, here we are to visit you. Thank you friends.

Time in My Garden

It's so good to spend time at home! We continue to enjoy the wonderful outdoor space around our house. I was able to work in my garden all morning. I'm trying to grow cilantro and swiss chard even in this heat.....so I made some shade. I've decided to train the Maracuya plant to grow over the cilantro and shade it. And I made a cloth shade for the swiss chard. (Remember Filomena's shade cloth? It's the most "quilt-like" sewing I've ever done :)





Micah was in the garden too. Here he is sitting by the onions and basil.


Our strawberry plant has a few berries again. We'll see who gets to eat them this time, us or the grasshoppers.



Tomatoes, a bit of dill, and nasturshims. The yellow plastic has oil on it to attrackt white flies. Some things ARE growing. I reflected AGAIN on how much work, time, and water goes into growing food. And give thanks for those who are doing it. And pray that true organic gardens can flourish.

Pictionary in Spanish

Last night our friends came over for supper and then we play Pictionary in spanish. It was a hoot! (And something I've wanted to do for a long, long time. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen.) We laughed and laughed and laughed!

Our Friend Ruthy

Our friend Ruthy came to visit this week. We a wonderful time - riding bikes, fixing bikes, talking about all kinds of things, hearing about pedal people, fixing bikes, and just spending time together.
Thanks for coming Ruthy!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2008

I want to write just a bit about these two events. I'm realizing that we don't carry our camera around as much as we used to. I don't have any pictures to post, but hold the memories close, none the less.

Christmas eve we spent with our dear friends - our adopted family Clara, Pepe, Tony, Liz, Guerro, Pelon, Rosa, Mari Carmen, Chuchi, Malena, Andrea, Alondra, and Paula and Andres. They told us to come over around 5pm on Christmas eve. We went at 7pm and were still early. We had an amazing supper. It was also Pelon's 15th birthday. We had fun celebrating and laughing together.

Then on Christmas day we had a relaxing morning and pulled things together to go to the antenas at the top of a nearby mountain with our neighbors. We were 5 families all together. (Same people and place we went last year.) It was a beautiful and relaxing time on top of the mountain, eating, talking, telling jokes, hanging out, being together. Afterwards everyone came over to our house for christmas cookies, coffee and a pinata. We hung out some more, laughed some more, and enjoyed just being together.

Christmas Play

Olinala Trivia: Who remembers what role Liz played in the Christmas pagent at school last year? (the Wolf of Bethlehem).
Anyone want to guess what role Martin accepted for me this year? The DEVIL.

I had a great time, really. And the running joke was what will they ask me to play next year? And what are they (the teachers) trying to tell me? Why don't they ask me to be the angel Gabriel, or Mary?

They sewing group in Zacango made me an awesome devil costume. We were a mix of mothers and middle school boys (they were the shephards - I was the devil "posing" as a shepard. I enjoyed connecting with the boys. Whenever we would see each other at school, we would bounce our play lines back and forth.

Merry Christmas!

Monday Morning

This moring on my run I prayed that God would melt the hard spots in my heart. I prayed for grace and patience to face the day.

On Monday evenings, the basketball team that I guess I´m still playing on (yes, there´s alot behind that!) has practice. I was very frustrated after the last practice (specifically about things the coach said to me) and as I ran through the mountains, tried to decide if I would go or not. And then who should I meet at the top of the hill but our coah! We ran together for a bit and chatted. He was supportive and said he hoped I could make it to practice....

God is always at work, eh?

THANKS MOM!

As those of you who know me know....I find mothering challenging. Oh yes, there are joyful parts too, and I try to write about, remember, and treasure those moments as well. In some recent email exchanges with my dear mother, she sent the following:



"Yes, I totally understand about being sensitive. It is difficult when you are doing all you think you possibly can and other people disappoint you. I've learned that this is when I have to release it to God and truly activate my faith that my value is not based on my success but on my relationship with God. To accept failure in humility but keep ones incredible identity as a beloved child of God is a challenging balance. Todays reading in the little book I have here by my desk quotes Helen Keller:

"I believe that life is given so we may grow in love, and I believe that God is in me as the sun is in the color and fragrance of a flower- the Light in my Darkness, the Voice in my Silence."

THANKS MOM!

Pictures from Isaiah´s Birthday in October

Speaking of birthdays, here (finally) are some pictures from Isaiah´s birthday party in October. First celebrating with the team, and then with more friends.....¡Felicidades Isaiah!

Birthdays Celebrated AGAIN!

saturday afternoon our neighbor came over and wanted to talk. when she left, she said that she wanted to come over again on sunday, in the afternoon around 2pm, because she had something else she needed to talk to us about. something serious. we really needed to be sure we were home, because she really needed to talk to us. we assured her we would be home. our only plans were to go to mass at 9:30am and my basketball game at 6pm.

saturday evening a different neighbor came over and hung out for awhile. the SHE proceeded to ask if we would be home tomorrow in the afternoon because she wanted to come over again and talk. hmm.....i became suspicious. we certainly spend time talking to each other, but because both of them wanted to be SURE we would be home and because these are the same people that threw a surprise birthday party for us last year.

sunday morning i woke up at 7am to "las mananitas" the traditional birthday song. at first i didn't think anything about it. my birthday was last sunday and they play las mananitas on the loudspeaker every morning at 7am for someone's birthday. but as i lay in bed listening i realized that the music was extra loud. hmmm....someone is right outside our front door, playing las mananitas. and sure enough, we got up to find our neighbors with their boom box, lots of confetti, "curtains" made out of tissue paper hung over our door, hugs and well wishes for us. we pulled on an extra layer, martin made tea, and we all sat on our front porch for an hour chatting and listening to a whole cd of birthday songs. sweet. early. thoughtful.

so this afternoon we made sure we were home. and what do you know, around 4:30p.m., four families from the neighborhood showed up with chicken mole, rice, and tamales. they also brought two musicians with them who accompanied the meal playing on their acoustic guitars las manaitas (traditional birthday song) and other very romantic songs.








we ate, laughed, danced (yes, martin and i danced!) and had birthday cake. blew out the candles, took a bite and got icing all over our faces, and then kissed - to everyone's delight. i feel like we've finally got the steps down! it was another wonderful gift. good to be with friends. thanks be to god.

Martin's Service Worker Report

as i'm sure you are all aware, i, liz do the writing on this blog. i have martin's permission to post what he wrote and recently sent in to mcc - his service worker report. i don't know how interesting this is, but it's something from him, and work related. (verses my continual musings about my ongoing parenting struggles.)



Assignment-related:

1. For each group you have worked with, what activities have you carried out? What has resulted from those activities?
During this reporting period the main focus of my work was with the cistern project in Tecozajca and Rincón de Cozahuapa. The first and second groups in Tecozajca are finished. We are currently working with the third group. Altogether we are building 39 cisterns in Tecozajca and 20 cisterns in Rincón. The first group in Rincón is finished and the second group has started. The results have been great with both groups. They are working together and openly sharing information between the groups. They learned quickly and are working hard.

For the last two weeks of October, I worked full time on the house in Zacango for the new family. The result was that they could move straight into their house. There is still a fair amount of work to be done, but at least they had a place to land with a bathroom, electricity and stove when they arrived.

2. Is your work progressing as planned? Yes.

3. Review a highlight or significant learning in this reporting period.
A significant learning in this reporting period happened when we ran into problems with the cement that we bought for the cisterns in Tecozajca and Rincón. The brand we bought takes more than twice as long to set up as normal. Sometimes cheaper prices aren't the best thing. We tried to address the problem by buying an accelerant to add to the cement to make it set up faster, but this was unsuccessful. We therefore changed the process of what gets done each day to make the first day's pour of the floor earlier in the day so that there is more time for it to set up. This has been successsful in addressing the issue. So both communities are using the new process. We also made new cimbra (roof) panels for the molds which are heavier and stronger than the old ones. They seem to be working well.

We didn't build any bathrooms this quarter as we were waiting on funding.


Self-Development:

Reflect on your self-development goals and relationships during the reporting period. The following questions are intended to stir your imagination. Not all questions need to be responded to.

4. Regarding your self-development/learning goals for this year, how are you progressing? What have you learned that surprised you?
I continue to feel more comfortable communicating in Spanish - some due to better communication skills on my part and some due to continued patience on the part of the people with whom I work.

5. Review a personal highlight during this past reporting period.
I have really enjoyed working on the house in Zacango for Bruce and Jaime. Designing the dry latrine/shower room and the kitchen, implementing the changes and working with two local builders, Hilario and Luis has been exciting.

6. What have you struggled with and how are you responding to that?
I have struggled with allergies and mold in my house. When I am sick, it is hard to work. I tried painting a sealer coat on the roof. It doesn´t seem to have helped much. I am thinking about scrubbing and repainting the interior walls. Its always a challenge to know how much work to put into a rental home. Justify funds and finding the time to do the work is a challenge as well.

Forgiveness

"forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a permanent attitude" -mlk jr.



it felt love
how
did the rose
ever open its heart

and give to this world
all its
beauty?

it felt the encouragement of light
against its
being,

otherwise,
we all remain

too

frightened.

- Hafiz


distractible or perceptive: helping them hear our instructions.
"we are able to process your call. we just don't feel like it."
-Ziggy
(from "raising your spirited child)

"we do our best and ask for forgiveness."
-jen chappell-deckert


have mercy on me, o god, according to your unfailing love,
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
-psalm 151:1,2


another weekend came and went. boys are in bed. martin is finishing the dishes. there were many wonderful times. there were many challenging times. as i reflect back, there are many words i used that were probably too harsh, my tone of voice could have been kinder, gentler. and patience, oh how i continue to pray for enough patience for this journey. i end the day asking for forgiveness.
i'll try again tomorrow.



coming home from town the other day - the boys on their bikes and me on foot. they rode ahead a ways and then stopped to wait for me. when i caught up with them, isaiah was reading to micah. just another one of the many, many joyful moments i want to remember.

Saturday

On the whole, life in general has seemed "easier" and "smoother" as of late. We know more or less what we're doing here and have a fairly consistent rhythm with work-school-home life.

For some reason, I really lost it today, with my kids. Most days go fairly well. Today was really hard though. So I pulled out the envelope Sara sent with me, with the little notes inside:
deep breathing reduces stress
list 5 things isaiah and micah did well this week
old beautiful oak trees grow strong from windy storms
progress, not perfection
you ARE a good mother. your sons are beautiful. you are blessed.
the feminine divine is radiating through you. let her shine!
good mothering involves making mistakes

And cried.
And hugged my kids after yelling at them.
And tried to explain why I was so upset.
And told them how much I love them even when I get upset at their actions.
And for the rest of the morning we baked bread, zucchini muffins, finished the laundry, put puzzles together and sat in the hammock.
They played together in the tree house.
We played hopscotch on the porch.
sigh.
And I'm trying not to feel too guilty or ashamed of my lousy behavior. But am instead trying to move on.
Why is being a mother so hard for me?

The Weekend

Friday - Start the weekend with a popsicle. The "boys" at home. Can you see the humingbird on the feeder? (On the right side.) Oh how we love to sit in the hammock and watch them.

Saturday - snuggle time with boys in the morning, time in the garden, 3 hour family hike to a waterfall with Merideth (another MCCer), boys went "camping" in our yard, romantic movie in the evening.

Sunday - rode bikes to mass in the morning. Naps in the afternoon. Time in the hammock, watching the humming birds come to our feeder. Invited to lunch at neighbor's house (Doña Marie and family). Played SkipBo with them. Playing guitar and singing together. Reading. Being. Resting.

Conversations

I've been thinking about a number of conversations lately:

....with players of my basketball team
I've been playing with Nuevo Paraiso since August. My old team, San Jose, didn't enter this league. There has been a fair amount of conflict between some of the players, a number of people feeling like they don't get to play much during games (me included, but I haven't said much) among other issues. After not being contacted to play in a tournament the other weekend, I decided to stop playing basketball. It seems to cause more grief the joy. They have enough players. I'm not that good. Maybe if I stop playing basketball we can finally get a frisbee game going...... During the past few days however, a number of people from the team have talked to me about what's going on. They've asked me to continue playing until this league is over (December) and come to a meeting on Monday where we can all talk openly. I want to be a part of the conversations - I think conflict resolution is important. But I'm not sure that I want to keep playing. So I keep praying for guidance and understanding.

.....moms at school
There have been some rumors going around lately about children being kidnapped. People say that most of the rumors are from the "communities". Well, we work in the "communities" and have good relationships with people in the "communities", so it bothers me when these rumors go around.
On Wednesday, an announcement was made from one of the town's loudspeakers that an 8 year old was missing. Went to school and didn't come back. If anyone had any information, please contact......
So, I started talking to other moms at school, wondering what they thought about these rumors and if the 8 year-old was found. (He was, he's fine. He was only lost for a few minutes.)
I wanted to know what they thought of Isaiah riding his bike to school alone. I don't want to live in fear.
Their advice - take precautions, talk about being safe, but keep doing what you're doing. "You know people here, Liz, what do you think?" one mother asked. Well, from my experience, people here are very open, generous, friendly, and helpful. I get the sense that the whole town cares about my children and is looking out for them.


.....team mates about community development
These conversations have been very exciting, thought provoking, and challenging. We've started a "new chapter" as a team. We're back from a break in our routines and summer vacation. Looking forward to the new family joining us soon. Larger team relationships are healed (basically dedicated the month of August to healing work and conversations.)
So now we're taking time to talk about and read about community development. We've dedicated time and energy to analyzing what, why, and how we're doing community development work. We're going over our programs carefully and analyzing where we can make changes and improvements, based on our philosophy. It's good. Rewarding. And hard too. It feels like the more we talk and read, the more questions I have, the more complicated the issues and tasks at hand. But again, it's all very rewarding. And a journey. One in which I am grateful to be on.

October 15, 2008

Today is our 2 year anniversary with MCC.
On my trail run this morning, a number of butterflies accompanied me. It was beautiful. Moving. I was grateful.
I remembered the butterfly connections I had while we were at language school almost 2 years ago. We went through some hard times, especially with our second host family. It led to lots of meaningful conversations with the language school teachers, especially Martha. We had many conversations about our faith. She told me about going to see the butterflies in Michoacan and how they kept landing on her. She felt God's spirit. Our conversations led to a series of dreams in which a butterfly continually landed on my bellybutton, my core. Reminding me of my inner strength and the sprit of God that dwells in each of us.

Isaiah

Rides his bike to school alone
Reads and writes in Spanish
Asks me if I'm okay
Tells us he loves us
Gives hugs
Wants to snuggle in the morning
Tells me his dreams
Takes care of his brother
Sleeps in the tree house alone
Is into playing card games
Loves his new soccer ball
Wants to be read to (chapter books)
Is fiercely independent
Is fiercely persistent
Tries to be responsible


......went with me to Chiaucingo last Wednesday and played with Micah while I was in a meeting at the Preschool. They were playing in the playground with some other kids. For some reason, Isaiah decided to "pass" a brick through the fence. It happened to fall on the windshield of a truck and broke the windshield. Sigh. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The owner was very kind. Said he has kids and things like this happen. He and Martin went to Tlapa (1 1/2 hrs away to get the windshield fixed.)
$1,000 pesos later the owner is satisfied with his new windshield. We worked out a plan for Isaiah to "earn" the money to pay for his action. And there continues to be lots of talking about our choices and consequences.

Happy Birthday Isaiah!

Isaiah turned 7 on Friday. We took cupcakes to his class. In the evening the whole team was here for supper - homemade pizza with sausage and cheese from the Mennonite colonies in Chihuahau. And fresh basil from the office garden. Delicious. We ate, played Candyland, and had strawberry shortcake with juicy strawberries to finish out the evening. Lots and lots of laughter. So good to be together.

And then we decided to go ahead and have a P...A...R....T....Y for Isaiah on Sunday. Will write more and add pictures soon. (hopefully)


THANKS SO MUCH to everyone who sent him birthday greetings. He grinned from ear to ear each time I read him a new email.
We are grateful for the love of friends and family both near and far.

Sweet Bonding

Isaiah and I have been alone, together, in Olinala since Sunday. (On the way back from our team meeting in Chihuahau the week before, Martin and Micah stayed at the MCC office in Mexico City to do some electrical and plumbing work - that multi-talented husband of mine.) I felt that it was important to get Isaiah back to a routine, back to school. Me too for that matter. Our time in Chihuahua was hard for Isaiah and I in a number of ways. We both need routine. And some down time. I ended the week feeling, once again, like a "bad" mother. And that's not what I want to be. Not at all.

So I rejoice and give thanks to God for this sweet bonding time with my dear, dear firstborn son. I give thanks for grace, for each new day and the chance to start again. And for the quick forgiveness of children.

We read a book together - The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - by Kate DiCamillo. We cried together, laughed together, and in the end, cried again. It is a beautiful book. We highly recommend it to everyone.

And so the journey continues...

Early Summer of 2008

Some more "catch-up" pictures.
Isaiah had two bottom teeth pulled, since the new ones were coming in behind the baby ones. He did a great job at the dentist's office.
Micah helped me bake cookies.
Aunt Doris and Aunt Su sent the kids a wonderful little play tent. They both crawl in and Isaiah often reads to Micah and their stuffed animals.
Some birds built a nest in our airplane plant. We carefully watched the process.