turkey

I was chased by an angry turkey.

Now, this is not a picture of the actual turkey, because I was MUCH too rattled to take a picture in the moment, but this is what that devil-turkey looked like.

Several years ago, I went to Mexico on a work trip with my church. We built a little church for a lay-pastor out in the hills. We flew into Vera Cruz, and then drove out into the mountains, in generally a south-eastern direction for a couple hours until we got to the town of San Andres Tuxtla.

This is the Cathedral of St. Joseph in the center of the town square. We stayed a block and a half away. San Andres Tuxtla is a larger town, so there was lots to explore, when we had time. There was a market 2 blocks in the other direction from the church, and we checked that out before leaving. There was also a pharmacia, where I pantomimed the itch on my arm, and the pharmacist gave me a clear gel that to this day I have NO IDEA what it was, but it worked. Alas, most of the time we were working so we didn't explore much. Each day, we drove for about 15 minutes on dirt roads until we got to the little village where we worked.

We built a cinder block building, about the size of my parents'  living room, then put up trusses, a simple roof, and plywood walls. We made rustic benches out of 2x8, and cut square windows out of the plywood. When we got done, it was a simple building, but it worked great for their little church congregation.

Down the road from this little village, there is the beautiful Salto de Eyipantla waterfall. Which I'm sure is redundant, but I don't speak the Spanish, so let me live in ignorance. Here's a picture:

We actually went down to see the waterfall - paid the 5 pesos and walked down the rope/slat bridge to get there, and sure enough, this picture is exactly is what we saw.

OK, now for the turkey.

Right behind the church build, there was a "banyo". You know - the Mexican version of a porta-potty. But the banyo is just a hole in the ground. Yes, there are 4 sticks in the ground, around which is strung some tarp, or something to block the view, but the tarp/sheet/blinds only go up to about my shoulders. This is the usual banyo that we used, hopefully while no one walked around the corner and passed RIGHT BY while you were trying to do your business.

Now, after a day or two at the build, some of us ladies discovered that an easy walk down the dirt path there was a really nice banyo. Now, when I say "really nice", I mean that there was a little roof, and a door made out of sticks and scrap material. But still, better than having EVERYBODY walk past you while you were in the banyo. So Nolia, Kay and I walked to the "nice" banyo one afternoon. As we walked and talked down the dirt path, this turkey started making noises that would lead me to believe that it was not happy with us. Possibly this was because we were walking through his front yard, but I don't know. I'm not an expert in turkey psychology.

As we continued, the turkey got louder, and louder, and more agitated. We decided that we should ignore the turkey, and just keep walking. This was a fine plan, until the turkey started coming after us, making a LOUD noise that I would make for you now, if you were here. Be grateful that you are not, because is it LOUD. Just in case you didn't get that.

At this point, I got a little scared, because the top of the turkey's big "tail" feathers were about at my belly button - this was a BIG turkey. I was a little afraid that if it came after us, it would start pecking at my knees, and I would have to run. And I still had to go to the bathroom.

Suffice it to say that with a little fast-walking, and side-stepping, we got out of the turkey's front yard and eventually made it to the "nice" banyo. But Nolia was a little rattled, and almost dropped the ONLY set of keys to the rental car IN the banyo. Don't worry, we grabbed them before anything bad happened, but I'm sure you can see how this would be a very bad thing.

In the end, we didn't walk to the "nice" banyo very often, for fear of the turkey. The church did get finished, and no one was hurt. Tired, sunburned, and sore, but not hurt.

In a nice postscript to the story, we went back to a nearby village the next year to do the same kind of build for another congregation, and got to see that our little church was thriving. They had decorated it, and built some more benches, and it looked fantastic.

So I guess all's well that ends well.

But I will tell you that I keep my distance from turkeys now. I've learned my lesson.
K

car keys

My keys, with the BRAND NEW car key prominently displayed!

OK, Here's the end of the story, that began here. on Monday morning, I trucked downtown, on icy streets, I might add, and in my Mom's car to talk to the guy at the key place. When I walked in, he asked if that was my car in the lot, and I said yes and laid down my car key on the counter. He said, "Well, you don't even need to tell me what happened. I can tell just by looking at the key." And he proceeded to tell me exactly what happened over the weekend. He then said that they would take the entire ignition out of the car, and remove {something} that had worn down, and replace it with {something} that would not catch on the key anymore. Like my grasp of the technical jargon??? And, oh, by the way, my driver's side door is going to be the next to go because it is the next most used lock. And then the trunk. So I asked him to cut a new key while they were at it so I had a fresh key to work with from now on.

I handed over the keys, and he said he would call me when it was fixed.

I headed mom's car toward home, at a rather leisurely pace, and stopped close to my house to replace some of the gas I had used over the past couple days I had driven her car. As I neared my house, the phone rang, and it was the lock place - they were all done!

Mom and I headed back downtown and picked up my now working car. Turning that car key was the most blissful thing I had done in a long time. And the kicker: the whole deal only cost me $71. Amazing!

Lesson: Don't give in to the knee-jerk reaction of freaking out when something happens to your car. Or when something happens in general.

Lesson: Ask people who are knowledgeable and see what they recommend, instead of imagining the worst. God put people in your life for a reason.

Lesson: Lean not on your own understanding, ESPECIALLY when it comes to cars or other technical matters.

Lesson: Be grateful. I am SO grateful for my parents, and their help. For so long, I lived 3000 miles away from any family, and got very used to being self-sufficient in almost everything. I am grateful that I have a loving supportive family that graciously helped in whatever I needed.

Here's to learning what you can in every situation, and for God's grace in my life, making me teachable and flexible. And to not freaking out next time...
K

healing

My facebook status update from 2 minutes ago: cannot even deal with a broken car right now...

This whole thought of dealing with my car that won't start is really stressing me out. It's not the battery, or anything else engine-wise - it's that the key physically won't turn. I fiddled with the steering wheel and got it to turn once, but then I got to church and parked it. As soon as I took the key out, that was it. No more turney-key.

So I am home, safe and warm, but with my mom's car in my garage instead of mine. Mine is still at the church.

Yes, yes, I know that car troubles are not the end of the world, but it just feels like that right now. It makes me all stressy and unpleasant.

The upside of this is that my parents live here in town, and came to my rescue. Dad came and picked me up, mom let me borrow her car, and they are going to help me tomorrow when I try and get it started with a different key, and hopefully drive it down to the lock place with me. Otherwise, I will have to get it towed there.

{breathe...breathe...}

Really, in the big scheme of life, this car thing is not the end of the world. My parents are helping me willingly with getting it fixed; I am safe and warm at home; I AM able to take off on Monday if I need to deal with it then.

I just need to get some perspective, and talk myself into NOT having a panic attack over nothing. To be able to deal without losing my cool. As if I had any cool to begin with...

I subscribe to (in)courage by e-mail. (in)courage is a blog written by a group of christian women, and I love reading them. There always seems to be something pertinent and timely on there, and I get an e-mail each day with the day's message. Today, as I came home all twitterpated over this car thing, I opened up the (in)courage e-mail, and Mindy Carlettini had written about her 10 year anniversary as a follower of Christ, but this happened to also be her 10 year anniversary of being off narcotics. She was pondering the times when she could escape reality by getting high, and she said that she didn't tell anyone this for a long time. Finally she talked to her husband about it, and realized that she didn't really want to go back to that escape like she thought she did. And then she writes:

"The difference now though is that when the storms of life come, when I turn to my father in Heaven, I don’t feel the need to escape from reality.  God’s love gives me strength and a confidence that I never could have imagined.  He gives me the will and the desire to keep on going.  He reminds me that He loves me with a love that is so huge and so encompassing that I don’t need to get high when everything around me seems to be spinning out of control. He gives me peace.
I am so thankful for the ways my father loves me.  I am so thankful for the ways He is healing me and transforming me.  I am so thankful for His spirit that is always with me and I am never alone."

Yes, I realize that her experience is very different than my car thing, but it still applies. I AM thankful that my Father loves me, even when I am stressing over my car. I have unimaginable peace, knowing that He even cares about the things that otherwise seem insignificant. I can turn my eyes toward Jesus, instead of having my eyes on the rear view mirror in worry.

So, I am praying that He will heal my car, using the guys at the key place. And I'm praying that He will give me peace in the middle of the key situation. And I'm thankful that God heals in  big ways (broken lives) and in little ways (broken cars).

You should check them out: www.incourage.me
K

clean

My front step was clean.

Recently, we had some snow. Since the temperature sat below freezing for a couple days, the snow never melted. My front step was covered in snow, except the small area that I shovelled so I could get out to my garage and get to work.

Today when I came home, the sun had come out and melted the days old snow on my front step.

My front step is now clean.

As I unlocked the door and headed inside, a brief thought flitted through my brain: this is kind of like how God works in our hearts. He shines the sun on us, and it gently sweeps away the stuff that we have left sitting around our lives for the past who knows how long. As welcome as my clean front step was, it was beautiful to see a picture of how God works. And amazing to think that He can sweep away the junk that we hold on to, the stuff that we cover ourselves in. The blanket of snow that has hung around for the past week.

Just was thinking about that heartening picture, and how happy He must be when we can open our hearts up to Him. When the snow is gone.

Here's to letting Him clean up a little.
K

on joy

This is my hand.

Yes, that is the word "joy" written on it in sharpie. It is a little faded, because I took the picture in the evening, and I wash my hands a bajillion times a day. But God bless the sharpie, it hung in there all day.

I had a lot of joy over Christmas break - 2 weeks off school is sure to bring joy every time! But on Monday morning in staff meeting, my principal was talking about having joy. Being joy-full. If we are joyful in our teaching, then the kids learning will be joyful. The atmosphere of our whole school can change, if we approach everything with joy.

I was thinking about this as I started teaching Tuesday morning, and just on a whim wrote the word "joy" on my hand. All day, as I was teaching, talking and waving my hand around in the normal course of a day, I often saw that word on my hand and thought about being joyful, and having joy in my teaching. It really did make a difference.

Just wanted to share my joy with you, and encourage you to be joy-full. To have joy in everything you do.
Joy has made for a great week back to school.
K

christmas!

This year the family went up to the mountains for Christmas. I'd like to share a couple pictures:

 Nana and the little nephew made ornaments for the tree.

 I took both nephews to the park to play.

 Brother-in-law made an origami manger scene.

 We had fun opening presents.

 Some toys had to be put together.

 Some toys had to be played with right away!

 I read with nephew from his new Kid's Adventure Bible.

 We opened stockings on Christmas morning, and then played in the ball pit.

 Little nephew and I decorated the gingerbread house and managed to not eat very much!

 He DID eat the chocolate fondue, as you can see!

And we took a family picture.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you also had a great time with family.

K

thank-yous

I've decided to apply a little "WWRD" to my life today. For those of you who are NOT company girls, that's "What would Rachel Do?"

Today at school is the last full day before Christmas Break. Praise the Lord!

Anyway, I always get some nice gifts from my students for Christmas. Today I decided to bring a stack of thank-you cards to school. As I had a moment or two, I wrote a thank-you note for a gift. As of this moment I am proud to say that I have written 17 thank-yous so far, which is 17 thank-yous that I DON'T have to write over Christmas Break.

Don't you think that this will make my break much more relaxed???

I do. :)

Here's to having a break, and to being thankful.
K

selfless-ness

In youth group, we are talking about serving, and how we can help others.

I really am touched by this, not only to see what God can do through a group of High Schoolers, but how much He is asking me "how are you serving others?"

Not to say that I thought High Schoolers are incapable of serving; I never thought this. I just never realized the extent that they would jump on board. I have really enjoyed serving with them (see previous post), and learning in the process.

Our next project is making hygiene kits to give to the Rescue Mission. These will go to homeless people in our community, and hopefully be of help to them.

Our small group just finished a babysitting night, to help out families with kids. We babysat the kids, and gave money to the parents to go out to dinner, or to go Christmas shopping. Even though it was "just babysitting", I had a good time. I think we all did!

Just goes to show that you're never too old to jump in and serve others.
Here's to having a servant's heart.
K

on thankfulness

I am so grateful for my life.

Here in town, the Springs Rescue Mission does just what it sounds like it does. Member of the association of Gospel Rescue Missions, they help people who need help. This help comes in many forms: evening meals every day that come after a brief church service, donations made available to people who need them just for asking,  a New Life men's program for men who commit to the recovery journey, job training for these men, and big free community meals for each holiday. Yesterday was the Great Thanksgiving Dinner. The mission rented out the city auditorium and put on a free Thanksgiving dinner for whoever wanted to eat. People were offered bibles, prayer, but also the most talked about, food. There was a child's area with games, and lots of people to serve.

Here are a couple of my awesome high schoolers that went with me and dished up food:

I'm not sure why Daniel looks like that...

And Stephen was snapping the turkey tongs - that's why they are blurry!

The 2 Ms: Megan and Michaela

and Zandy, cheerfully serving all day.

These kids went willingly, served cheerfully, and were a delight to be with all day. I am thankful for them.

I am so grateful that there are people and organizations that do this.

I'm grateful that there are people that donate to make this possible.

I'm grateful that there are people like my kids that willingly and cheerfully go and serve others.

I am SO grateful for my life, and that I'm not in a position to need the generosity of the Springs Rescue Mission. I feel that quote very deeply right now: "There but for the grace of God go I."

Here's to being grateful for the blessings in your life. As my pastor said on Sunday, "If there are any blessings in your life, it is because of The Blessor."

K

gonna have to face it, I'm addicted to...dairy products?

Well, I am confessing.

I'm addicted to dairy.

I don't really love milk, and almost NEVER drink it straight, but it's great on cereal and cheese is my FAVORITE thing ever. I would eat cheese over sweets almost anytime. Butter = AMAZING!

I really think that this situation is caused by my lack of dairy for the first 18 years of my life. From the time I was little, I was SEVERELY allergic to dairy. I didn't ever have regular dairy, and the dairy we DID have was all goat milk, or soy milk. Gross.

Over the course of college and living on my own in my 20's, I gradually ate a little cheese here and a little milk there, and eventually I think I either 1) grew out of the allergy or 2) introduced it slowly enough to become OK with it a little bit at a time. I don't really know - I'm not a doctor. BUT, I can eat a little dairy now and not have it bother me.

You know that commercial from the '80's: "Cheese, glorious cheese!" Well, that's my theme song. I LOVE cheese and could eat it on almost anything.

This speaks greatly to the human condition - always wanting what we can't have, or desiring that which is harmful to us. Dairy is really not great for me, and I would be better off if I went without for the rest of my life. But, I CRAVE it. It is the thing I want most, and whenever I have a craving it most likely involves bacon or cheese. (Let's discuss my cholesterol another day, shall we?)

What is your cheese? What is the thing you want, but avoid because it isn't really good for you, either physically or spiritually?

I hear people ask this rhetorical question all the time: "Why do I want this so badly? It is terrible for me!"

Or even sometimes: "I seem to only be interested in the guy/girl that I can't have."

I believe this is an ingrained part of our fallen human nature, and will continue to be a curse until the days of a new heaven and a new earth. We always seem to want what we can't or shouldn't have. These desires of the flesh often turn into behaviors, attitudes, or actions that are sinful. (" I know I shouldn't __________ but I just enjoy it so much.")

I am so grateful that God makes us whole, even in our broken state. I'm grateful that His love overcomes our human-ness. I'm living in His grace.

And going to eat a grilled cheese sandwich.
K