life ebbs and flows

"His welcome refreshed me and made me see something that's easy to lose sight of in our infernally busy lives. That we exist for each other, and when we're at a low ebb, sometimes just to see the goodness radiating from another can be all we need in order to rediscover it in ourselves." -pg. 367, The Cloister Walk:Kathleen Norris I've been thinking a lot about how life ebbs and flows. After all, that is the title of my blog. Even though, I know that is how life is, I sometimes still forget, especially in those low ebbs and exciting flows. Not only is the ebbing and flowing natural but it also makes you appreciate the other more. It's like joy existing with sorrow. We're not supposed to separate them. They accentuate each other. Essentially, that's what keeps us alive--the ebbing and flowing of our lives merging with those around us. The ebb and flow of life have become natural for my life in Mongolia. Just saying that brings my thoughts to a pau...

It's been a while since I shared some of our quirks and joys. We're quite used to most things Mongolian but some things you can't do anything but laugh about. Hope you enjoy... 1. A few weeks ago our oven just stopped working. We were about to bake something luckily we were able to cook it on the stove top as well. So, we just made do with our stove top and exhausted nearly every Mongolia-possible recipe we knew. We waited for further instructions on what to do about our bake-less situation. In the meantime, we borrowed a microwave from Helen (our boss here). The next day, we got a new, shiny, wonderful oven. It has actual temperatures on it, unlike our old oven. Needless to say, we were more than excited. We baked a peach cobbler in it. You can find a full report on all things cooking and baking, specifically our new oven, here , at our baking blog. 2. Spring has arrived in Mongolia. Well, it is arriving--it's a little bit of a slow process. While my friends in...

" The thing about light is that it really isn't yours; it's what you gather and shine back. And it gets more power from reflectiveness; if you sit still and take it in, it fills your cup, and then you can give it off yourself." pg. 228 Traveling Mercies:Anne Lamott I have a slight anxiety about finishing things. I have been holding out on about 5 books, not wanting to finish them. I had about 6 pages in Henri Nouwen's book Here and Now and 10 pages in Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies.  I decided yesterday was the day to finish at least those two. Now I'm on a sprint to finish the 3 others I've started::  Three Cups of Tea, Follow Me to Freedom and Dare to Love Completely. Just as I have anxiety about finishing books, I have found that I also have anxiety about finishing parts of life. I'll forewarn you that what I'm about to say will sound ridiculous. I have roughly 10 more months in Mongolia and I'm already dreading leaving. I remem...

To celebrate the new-life and joy that Easter brings us, we decorated the ceiling of our worship ger with beautiful, handmade butterflies. Knowing that this would most likely be my only Easter here, I had a feeling it would be special no matter what. However, I had no idea how much a part it would play in my faith. Every year for as long as I can remember, I have always loved Easter and really tried to allow it to have meaning deep down in my soul. I wanted to be newly changed by Easter each year. This year, Easter was special because I not only got to celebrate it with people I have genuinely come to love but also because I got to celebrate it with a people who have been redeemed and their lives have been changed by our Savior. It is not a national holiday or even well-understood in the church here, but I think the reality of Easter affects their every day life. It affects who they are today and tomorrow.  I learned a lot from the Disciples when reflecting on Easter this year. ...