...and then I taught high school for 11 years.

I loved teaching. No, not every minute of it or every aspect of it, but in general, I did love it. More than that, I loved the opportunity to invest in the lives of students. Looking back I can see that I missed plenty of opportunities, but I can also say that I made the most of some others. When it's all said and done, I am thankful to God for the privilege.

In some places where people tend to grow up and raise their own kids and die in the same town in which they were born, teachers get to see the long view. They get to see the punk kid grow up into a good man. They get to see the awkward girl develop into a dynamic force of life and goodness. In our more transient society, this has been a bit of a challenge. A near impossibility, really.

And then there was Facebook. No, it's not the same as if we all lived in small town America. But it is real. Because of the connections possible through this technology, I rejoice as i watch Peter serving as a youth pastor in Pueblo, Colorado and marvel at the fact that he still has so much energy and passion and love that he still finds great joy in life!

Were it not for Facebook, I would not know that Aimee is a great mom. She's not the only one, either. I know a bit about her mothering because she posts photos and comments about her kids and admittedly jump to conclusions. The photo of the girls to the right is from her FB page. Her daughter's birthday celebration.

Apparently part of the fun included a sleep-over. You may be wondering how that went with a pack of little girls this young. Well, someone else asked about that and Aimee replied: "Best thing ever was to get those glow bracelets. They each got 3 and i told them the first time they were noisey or out of bed i'd take 1 from each of them. If it happened 3 times they'd be left with nothing. We repeated the rules and reviewed and they all went to sleep! I had even told them they were allowed to talk quietly, but they didn't for very long! It was great!"

Facebook also lets me see the creative and absolutely stunning work that Angela is doing as a wedding florist in Indianapolis. I'm rather a fan of flowers anyhow, but Angela finds truly lovely ways use them for maximum impact.

Of course I can't keep up with everyone all the time with whom I'm connected on FB, but occasionally I "run into" someone in some way and over and over I find myself thanking God for the joy of those encounters.

Flowers @ Wang Tarn: THE VIDEO

Simple video taken with my Canon Cyber-shot. No production or editing. That means no music and no titles. Just flowers and birdsong and the occasional sound of me moving the camera and walking. 

More Flower Power

I downloaded these images this weekend and just keep thinking WOW!! God makes such beauty -- and it is so accessible.

Filbert in Thailand - Take Two

As I said in Flower Power, Filbert joined me on at least one of my garden ventures. One of the things that we both enjoyed was the fact that the flowers and plants they had in this garden will all grow in our yard at home -- and may of them have been a part of our backyard attempts at something grand. 

In the background of this second picture you can see two things that caught my attention every day in Thailand. First, the woman in the road with her broom-rake (not sure what they are called, but these tools reminded me of a combo broom and rake -- they are made out of sticks and worked with great efficiency). I saw her every day as she kept the grounds clean and beautiful. One of the reasons that the property at the resort was so lovely is because of this woman's hard work. The second thing high on the hill is the set of small shrines. Early in the morning I'd often see someone placing an offering there (incense, flowers, foods) as a gift to Buddha. (About 95% of the population in Thailand is Buddhist.)

One of the trees on the resort property had these spectacular pink and golden flowers on it. Filbert insisted on climbing up into the tree for a better look and then I thought it would make a good photo. I sure would like to plant one of these in my back yard here in Orlando. 

Of course, while we are dreaming of flowering trees to plant, I'd also like one of the trees that produces these purple and white flowers. I have a few If you look at the first photo, this tree is on the right side and fairly tall. When the blooms fall from the tree they are still in great shape. I placed this one on the stone, but there were others that had landed there or on the ground nearby. They often land face down, however. 

Flower Power

My grandma shot hours of home movies with her 8mm camera. As kids, my cousins and I enjoyed seeing the old reels of when we were younger. In fact, after VHS became popular, we all pitched in to have her home movies transfered to video tape. While much of that archive of movies is of adorable children and their parents, my grandma had one other passion: gardening. 

I never understood why she took so many pictures of her flowers. I thought it was kind of a silly thing to do with film and saw it as part of grandma's quirky personality.

That was before. Before I became enamored by the goodness of growing things -- especially beautiful things. Now I understand completely.  

Last week, the resort where I stayed in Thailand had a most spectacular garden. I often found myself wandering through the plantings in the early morning before breakfast. Some days I had my camera with me and, well, I couldn't ignore the opportunity to record the beauty of those blooms. 

Aren't you glad I didn't?

Nativity #11: With Poinsettias from Costa Rica

This small nativity conveniently folds flat. I have a Noah's Ark and a Last Supper scene also in this style/ medium. In my office I have the word WYCLIFFE in wooden letters with this colorful work on it too. I like that the adornment on the side walls are poinsettias.

Poinsettias are associated with Christmas in the States. I don't know if they are a Christmas flower in other parts of the world or not and I didn't Google that this morning. 

The first time I traveled to Costa Rica (my first time anywhere in Central America for that matter) I encountered the biggest poinsettias I'd ever seen They were trees and they were beautiful. But they messed with my head a little because those plants are generally only experienced where I'd lived my whole life in pots at Christmas. My grandma used to be able to keep any plant alive far longer than normal human beings and she's still have them around at Easter -- but most people quit watering them a few weeks after the tree comes down and they eventually end up in landfills.

I can tell you that living in Florida has changed that -- I take my Christmas poinsettias and repot them onto the patio for the winter to spring and , once they outgrow those pots, they go into the ground. I have a few of them in my garden. I even have a very small poinsettia tree in my garden that is deciding whether or not it wants to stay. I got it on deep clearance at Target last year. 

So, the poinsettias on this nativity may be there as Christmas adornment, but the also make sense in a place where those flowers grow and bloom with great enthusiasm. 

Beauty, Pleasure, and Enjoying God

I found this image on flickr. The photographer is named Joe Bollinger. I really like his work -- he has a great eye and enough photography skill to convey his vision to others. Very enjoyable. I found this and put it on my hard drive a number of months ago to use for wallpaper. After my 30 hours in Chicago in October and being reminded first hand of the wonder of changing leaves, I was drawn to this image again.

Sometimes beauty evokes from me a sense of joy and ahhhhh and wow! On rare occasions, that is not followed by much thought at all.  While pleasure is not a right, I believe that God created us with the capacity to experience a purity of pleasure that reflects His own ability to do so and that He intends for us to enjoy life. 

But here is where we get all mucked up in our thinking (my opinion). 

Sometimes we think that our enjoyment of life is on our own terms -- whatever gives us pleasure is good because it gives us pleasure. It doesn't take much discernment to see the holes in that thinking. Truly, there are things that can give us (temporary) pleasure that are not part of God's purpose for us. Left on our own, most of us become indulgent and then addicted. The Holy Spirit had Paul write about this in Romans. Our sin nature can eventually convince us that sin is not only acceptable, but our "right." 

Sometimes we think that because some things that do give us pleasure are not honoring to God -- they do not reflect His image in us -- we should avoid pleasure. All of it. In addition, because even the good pleasures -- that God created us to enjoy and, in turn, created for us to enjoy -- can become too important to us and can turn us away from right relationships with Him, we should avoid those. So, this thinking can lead us to throw it all out.

Other times we think that pleasure -- in small doses and with strict supervision -- is okay as long as it doesn't distract us from more important things.  

And how very human of us to think that some pleasures, because they are not sin outright, are therefore also okay in excess?  

I'm not sure where the bottom line is on this. I think that most of us have missed the mark and are, as we are in all things, dependent on GRACE and another chance to try again. I know that my natural tendency is to swing too far in either direction in ways that aren't helpful to myself or others. (Anyone else want to join me in that confession?  I thought so.)

It brings me around to the great Q&A of the Westminster Larger Catechism:

Question 1: What is the chief and highest end of man?
Answer: Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.

And that makes me consider that the key is to ENJOY GOD...FULLY. 

Now, what does that look like?  On some days, it means pondering a leaf on a rock and finding great satisfaction that the One who created that beauty created me and loves me beyond any imagining of it. 

2008 INDIANA: A stroll, a walk, a hike...

When women who generally live in the city or suburbs gather for things like retreats at state park inns, some of them get the urge to spend time in nature and not just in the lobby or in the pool. Why, however, do we insist on calling our ventures into well-behaved nature a "hike?" And how is it that we spend most of our lives NOT reading maps at all, but then all become expert map readers in places where the landmarks are not street signs and buildings, but trees and rocks and lakes and an occasional foot bridge?  

A few in the group who nearly accidentally gathered on Saturday afternoon for a hike (on Trail 5) were intent (and capable in every sense of having capacity -- including the right shoes and the right legs) of hiking.  Most were really out for a walk and were quite content to find a stone or mulch covered path through the woods with occasional logs over which to step and rocks to maneuver. 

I, for one, was there for a stroll.

Don't get me wrong -- I would have been fine with a walk and, in theory, I'm a fan of the hike as well. What's the difference (besides equipment) between these things?  Pace, for one. But that's on the surface. Under pace is the reason for that pace. Granted, the difference between hiking and walking as it relates to pace could be measured in ones ability to go faster.  We all know that Debi was going as slow as she could imagine going on a trail, for instance. (And for those who wonder, I was not  pointing the way in this photo, I was commanding traffic to stop interrupting our group photo.  I was feeling the power of the big stick momentarily. It didn't last.)

The essential difference between walking and strolling is not really pace -- though it can be somewhat measured by pace. It is intent.  We walk with the intent of getting from one place to the other and, if we are want to do so, we can enjoy the sights along the way. 

We stroll with the intent of seeing the sights along the way and have to move from here to there to do that, so we make our way along the path.  For me personally, Saturday's "hike" was more about the sights along the way. I loved seeing the trees that showed evidence of the presence of beavers in the area. I was very happy to find and claim "my" rock and "my" stick -- and to give them all back at the end of the venture. (Well, I would have liked to bring the rock home, but that was against everyone's regulations.)

Perspective and pace. Those two things make quite a bit of difference, and in more than just the act of wandering through the woods.

Cestrum Nocturnum

I was headed to bed an hour ago when I stepped outside to move the cushions from the patio furniture in case of rain. 

It was quiet and I couldn't resist. 

Sitting for a while, I watch lightening and enjoyed the breeze both for its coolness and it aroma. My night blooming jasmine (cestrum nocturnum) is blooming right now. Amazing. Such little blooms and such a powerful, delicious scent. 

The Patio

A few times each year, either my dad or I get motivated to CLEAN our patio. Yesterday, when dad announced that he thought he'd do some cleaning out there it seemed like a good idea to join him. That means, of course, that the project escalated into one that involved removing almost everything on the patio - hauling furniture out to the yard and hauling plants and other "stuff" in to the kitchen. It also means that we got out the pressure washer. 

And, as if often true, this motivated me to put a few new plants into pots as well as to try a new arrangement for the furniture. 

So, that's part of what got accomplished at my house on Saturday. Something I'm enjoying today.

The patio is one of the places where I can relax. 

It is also a favorite place to think. 

And catch up with friends. I often go out there when I'm chatting on the phone. Those of you who have heard the wind chimes in the background know it's true. 

Some people think it's odd that I have Christmas lights on my patio. I just tell them that they are not Christmas lights, they are PATIO lights. Those things weathered all three hurricanes in 2004. I only had to replace a few bulbs. 

Earlier that summer -- it was one of the years when the Communications department had a boat load of interns around -- a bunch of people were sticking their heads into a huge bucket of ice water on my patio. That was interesting.

I can't believe all the SPRING I've been able to enjoy this year!

I love SPRING. Love the way it smells and love the way it looks. I love the way it feels and sounds and even the way it rains. 

Florida really doesn't have Spring - at least not the way I grew up loving it.

If you've been following this blog for more than a month, you know that I got to go to Amsterdam in early April when the bulbs were in full bloom and it was a wonderful SPRING deal.

Today I flew to Chicago (and back) for a meeting or two. Because I arrived early enough and took a risk and left just late enough (not a story for today), I drove through some areas where I was reminded of all my favorite things about Chicago Springtime, including an ABUNDANCE of my favorite favorite favorite: LILACS!  I took pictures. I walked and smelled -- sticking my face deep into the bush and breathing deeper still. 

I really didn't care what people thought. These were moments I had and I couldn't waste them wondering if I looked funny. I knew I did. 

It was absolutely delicious.

Flower Power

There are hundreds...thousands of flowers around our hotel. I don't mean planted around, I mean in arrangements that are placed all around the buildings. THe hotel and the conference center. They are gorgeous.

Last night after supper, Dawn and I went with Sandy to the night flower market just because we could. There were a few stalls that sold flowers arranged for funerals and a few that had them for various Buddist rituals/gifts.

Then there were stalls with wholesale flowers. Like these roses, lovely and inexpensive as they are not imported from anywhere -- just transported from a bit outside of town.

I like flowers.

Beautiful Fruits

As we have wandered through the streets and into indoor markets as well a very modern supermarket this evening, I've been oogling the beautiful fruits. I've had many of these at different times and in different places -- and admittedly like some more than others for eating. But I love LOOKING at all of them.

The 'hairy leeche" (center, back -- red with green) are delicious! I enjoyed those in Indonesia and Costa Rica/Panama though I've not had them on this trip yet. They are refreshing and good.

Thanks to flickr, I can find images like this one online to illustrate my blogging when I forget to take my own camera with me -- or just chose to not take pictures all day.

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

I'm not sure there is much to write that will make this say more than it says already.



We wandered through the Keukenfhof gardens for about 90 minutes on Wednesday evening and probably saw about 1/3 of all there was to see. Open from March 20 through May 18 this year, the Keukenhof is a historic park full of tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and all the other Spring bulbs. I the midst of all of this are also exquisite works of art. (Can you imagine how much I enjoyed this?)



The sights. The scents. The sounds. It was extraordinary.



My favorites were the crocus. These "first" Spring blooms hold such hope of thing to come that are "better" at the end of a long winter.



I wish you could have all been here with me.

Trading Spaces with Myself

Over the holidays I got motivated to paint my bedroom/office.

I used birthday money to purchase paint and Christmas money to purchase a couple things from IKEA (duvet cover, desk) and Dad made the IKEA curtains my Christmas gift from him.

I emptied, cleaned, sorted, moved, repositioned, cleaned some more, re-filled, painted, hung, and labeled (don't ask) for three weeks. I filled in all the spaces around other more normal holiday behavior. It was wonderful.

I promised a couple people that I'd show some "after" pics, so here they are. (As is true with blogger photos, if you click on them, they open in the browser to their full size. I left these large when I imported them for those who like to look more closely.) The one above is the view from the doorway to my room. The wall color is gray and it's appearance changes as the lights change through out the day.

This is my desktop (obviously). I went with an simple white table top and 4 metal legs. It is...it is going to help me not stash and store so much junk under and in and behind. I chose white because I think it makes the e.mac look smaller and it looks good in the room with dark woods and white trim. And it was cheap. $29 for the top and $5 for each leg. Holes were all pre-drilled. It was a breeze. If I want to add different "legs" to it later (ones, for example, that are actually book cases of sorts). I can do that and will just have spare legs to use elsewhere. (I like IKEA a lot...and not just for their meat balls!)

One of the things you might see on the wall is a magnetic strip (I have one in my kitchen for knives) and it holds things I'm often looking for and using...and a few other odd things that are metal and that I just plain wanted to hang for fun.

And this is the view out my window. Just to the right of that little table is a chair which makes a great place to read or just sit and look out from.

More importantly, those red flowers you see out the right side of the window are from a poinsettia plant I got last Christmas and which spent about six months on my patio in a clay pot...lost all it's red color. So, when it outgrew the pot, I jammed it in the ground and in mid-November, it began to turn red. Further left, beyond what you can see in the photo, is a new poinsettia TREE which I picked up at Target for 75% off. It is gorgeous right now and I hope it will do as most plants seem to do here....GROW and grow and grow.

Tree Seed Pods

When I was in Jamaica this Spring there were trees on the YWAM property that had long seed pods in them and falling on the ground beneath. The ones on the ground were popped open. I asked a few of them to line up shoulder to shoulder so I could take their photo.

48 hours in Jamaica - PART 3

Somewhere as dusk turned to darkness, I gave up.

God had stripped me of my ability to do the things I'd planned: beach walking (dinky beach), recreational shopping (dead visa card), and eating in fun places looking at beautiful scenery (no cash, dead visa card).

Those things that I could be obsessive about, I had been disconnected from and had, in turn, become obsessive about that disconnection. In the darkness and silence, I gave up my right to obsess and control and plan.

I told God I'd be happy to drink water and Pepsi, and to eat the crackers and oatmeal bars I had in the room for a day. I told God I'd quit ringing my hands and second guessing my every move, and let Him take care of the plastic and the money ...as well as the pillow that was "too flat" and the bed that was "too hard."

And I went to bed and slept.

The next morning, I woke at dawn and went over to the beach. The water was full of people while the sand area was nearly empty. These weren't tourists (the tourists were still in bed, sleeping off too much of too much from the night before). Neither were they the people whose livelihood is the tourist -- the incessent taxi drivers and shop owners. I was surrounded in that bright Carribean water by "regular" Jamaican families -- 4 generations of them. Their cars and SUV's were parked along the street and they were swimming and laughing and having a lovely time at 6 am on a Saturday.

Boys under the age of 10 swam in their underwear. It reminded me of when I was a kid and we'd all go down to the creek by the Monks in Missouri and swim in the heat of the summer. I swam about for about an hour and just relaxed as the sun rose over the mountains to the east.

Back at the room I read. I studied the Word. I prayed. I read some more. I nibbled on the food I had. I never felt hungry or anxious. Mid-day i walked around the Cottages property and enjoyed taking photos of plants. I napped in the chair.

Costa Rica

1. Me and the Ox cart guy at a "tourist" stop on the way out of San Jose to the volcano. I paid him a buck so I could get my picture taken with him and his ox and his cart. He even let me wear his hat.

2. Susan, Dawn and me at a volcanic crater lake.

3. Justin looking down into the steaming volcano from a look-out platform.

4. A flower.

5. Looking down in the steaming volcano. It was fascinating to watch.

6. Bud by big leafed plants.

7. Typical Costa Rican mean at a place where tourist eat typical local food.

8. Joanne by the flowers at the coffee plantation. She's an ethnomusichologist.

9. Bud and me and people we don't know climbing the trail to the volcano's crater. The climb would have been mild except we were at 9000 ft.

10. Is this flora or fauna?

11. Before our ONE day of acting like tourists, we'd spent a few days meeting and planning and reporting with each other in English and Spanish. This presentation about the ministry of Tres by Olivia was really cool. It is so good to see how God is working in Central and South America, raising up missions leadership! This conference focused on ways for our organizations to work together in communicating opportunities for people to be involved in the global Bible translation movements.

12. A flower.

13. Meat and other things in the back of a truck on the way to market on Saturday morning.

14. Coffee plantation. Oh, Costa Rican coffee is...yummmmm.

15. San Jose.

16. Bud.