Locking Your Keys in the Car DOES Have its Benefits!

After 5, or perhaps more, times of locking my keys in my car this year. I have discovered the wonderful advantages to such a circumstance:

-The glow from the extra color in your cheeks.
-A whole extra hour to hangout with your manager after work.
-A free ride in a tow truck.
-Time to sit and read the funnies from the newspaper recycling rack.
-The opportunity to meet elderly men at the local hardware store who also recently locked their keys in their car.
-A very educational, "How to Break into a Locked Car for Dummies" lesson.
-Information all about useful tools such as wire, plastic-lock-undooer-thingamagiggers, and blood-pressure-taker-car-door-prop-openers.
-An extra 30 minutes of strength training at the gym.
-Knowing your car insurance with Geico works.
-Quality "Mom-time" in Hannaford's to dig through the book bin.
-Friendships with nearly all mechanics in Southern, NH!


Really? Who wouldn't want to lock their keys in the car?!

Finding Joy in the Pressing On!

Max and I are still waiting for news on the visa, but not worried, as July 22nd is the projected date for contact after the initial review process. Now is our time to hurry up and wait - but not without purpose! Not only is our marriage relationship growing steadily - though Skype, snail mail, texts, and phone calls - but the time apart has opened doors to opportunities we wouldn't have otherwise had.

I have always loved working with children. From babysitting and being a camp counselor, to teaching and just chatting with kids who come to visit Calef's Candy Land - nothing makes my day like a kid's smile and hello! Since the weather has warmed up, I've also enjoyed getting to know the children from my apartment a little better, and whenever I bring my rabbit, Peanut Butter Cup, out to play - out they come too! We all work together to make sure she doesn't sneak through the fence and into the neighbor's garden! Wascally Wabbit!

A post I did this past winter was the pictures of my four Compassion sponsored children. Since I was 16 and sponsored my first girl, Pamela from Uganda, I have had a growing love for children around the world who are in need - especially in need of someone who believes in them!

Recently, Max and I learned about two boys in Alto Trujillo, a very poor suburb of the city where Max lives, who are in need of hope. Samuel, 12, and Isai, 8, lost their mother to breast cancer two months ago. They are living with their father and grandmother, but miss their mom terribly. Whenever it is cloudy, Isai is afraid that his mother can't see him from the sky. Isai, who earlier this year was at the top of his class, now is refusing to do his school work and he says he wants to go far away from home.

When Max and I learned about the situation of these two boys, we decided that we wanted to help, however much or little we can. For Mother's Day Max stopped by to bring a new soccer ball to the boys. Only the older brother was home, and a picture of him with the new ball and another of him and his grandmother are below. Soon we hope to begin selling Peruvian made products to raise money to help the boys' father pay for the debts the family has incurred due to hospital and funeral costs.

It made me so happy to hear that when Samuel saw my husband getting off the bus this morning, he immediately had a huge grin on his face and raced over to greet his friend (they previously had know each other from a school building project Max completed in their area a year ago). I'm so glad his heart is open to receive his and our friendship, and I hope and pray that with time, little Isai, will be able to know that the clouds don't keep him from being seen by people who love him.

Those aren't hiking shoes, ya know!

Spring has sprung in New Hampshire! Today I went hiking in Pawtuckaway State Park and wore my beautiful new and blue criss-cross Tevas. My hiking book said it was a level 1 hiking area, and since I didn't bring my sneakers along for the weekend visit at my dad's, I decided to give the hike a shot without the best footwear. It turned out just fine, except for the fact that more than one person commented on my sandals. Oh well!

So here's the update on the visa:






Did you catch that? Yeah, no news yet, but we're waiting with eager anticipation and expectation for Max to make it to the US before I get my first gray hair! In the meantime, Max has begun to contact individuals and companies about engineer work in New England. One particular professor at UNH has been really helpful. Even though I'd love to say on the NH seacoast area, looks like we might be in VT or even ME next year. I can sense adventures ahead!

Max's Visa

It's been four long months seeing Max! Fortunately, we've been able to stay in close communication through email, phone, and Skype. Recently, though, Max accepted a new job position working for a company in the Andes mountains (about 12,000 feet above sea-level!), and our communication has been limited because of his rural setting. It's been tough not being able to see his face on Skype and call him when I want to, but at least we can keep sending text messages (I think we're keeping Verizon in business!).

The most recent development in the whole visa process is that we hired a lawyer! What a relief for me, now that I don't have to worry about misinterpreting forms or forgetting to complete certain paperwork. Our lawyer is a full-fledged immigration attorney. You can see his profile and website at http://www.foleylawoffices.com/Attorneys . He's incredibly knowledgeable and personable too. My dad went along with me to our consultation on Monday, and we both were impressed with his character, work, and multitude of interesting immigration stories. The entire process is predicted to be about 8 months. I don't really care how long it takes, just as long as I know Max will be here with me!

Snow Day Discoveries

I'm chilling (literally) on the Maine seacoast. Snow has been gracefully and steadily falling since 7 o'clock this morning. Though I made it to the post office to mail out a job application, I don't dare make the 1/2 hour trek to work with the responsibility of caring for my boss' beloved black lab. Instead, here I am watching startling and life-changing documentaries on Netflix.

The first documentary I viewed is by National Geographic, entitled "Stress: Portrait of a Killer," by Robert Sapolsky. Earlier in my blogs I mused about the benefits and consequences of stress. This video suggests that stress, especially chronic, has multiple consequences on us physically, even to the point that brain cells that control memory can be lost. A lot of stress to do with status or social class. Dr. Sapolsky, the researcher behind this project, studied baboons in Kenya. He found that the males in the lower end of the social spectrum had increased stress, felt less happiness, and showed beginning signs of blocked arteries. The leaders of the pack did not have these struggles. Interestingly, though, when TB became spread to throughout the troop, it was the ones on the bottom of the totem pole that survived because of their strong relationships with the others.

Sometimes, or perhaps often, we find ourselves in continually stressful situations. The studies from this video showed that to combat stress we need the support of friends and loved ones. When we can talk about the things that cause us stress, especially with others that understand us and accept us, incredible healing can occur. As far as social status goes, the film suggests that it is important to find a job, or avenue where we can feel significant, and consciously choose not to allow societies judgement of us, how we perform, or what we have to give the final "say so" of our personal value.

The second video, I'm still in the process of watching is entitled "Food, Inc.," directed by Robert Kenner. Did you know that there are only FOUR major companies who produce about 80% of the meat we consume in the US? To find out more, I suggest you watch this video for yourself. Another video I plan on seeing this afternoon is "The Future of Food" by Filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia. Let's just say I'm thinking about buying local meat and produce and maybe starting gardening as a hobby again.

Love My Sponsored Kids!

...............................Monica Vilca, Age 7, from PERU!!...............................



...............................Karen Yanira, Age 7, from El Salvador...............................



................................Revathi, Age 11, from India...............................



...............................Pued, Age 7, from Thailand...............................



...............................Fogan Daniel, Age 9, from Togo...............................

An Uncertain Future

It's been a couple of months since I've blogged. I have been wanting to share an edited excerpt of a journal entry I wrote on the plane on the way to Peru this September. I wrote it with the jitters of a bride-to-be, yet also as an individual reflecting on the ageless question of the "problem of pain" and the fear of it.

"I don't even have words to describe. Two and a half hours until my whole world, my whole life, my whole future changes. I have begun a story with an uncertain ending.

I just watched a powerful movie called the "Shawshank Redemption" which addressed my deepest fear - What if bad things, horrible, unspeakable, life-destroying things happen to good or innocent or God-serving people for no reason? In the video it did - over and over and over. Guess what? In life it does too - the Holocaust and the horrific stories we hear about people like Corrie ten Boom and Eli Weisel, the mistreatment of the Native Americans when our country was first settled, the slavery and social injustices endured by African Americans later on, and a million individual stories of pain, injustice and loss that have occurred in the past and still occur every day.

What I realized from watching this film is that in every situation I have the choice to "start living or start dying," as stated by Andy Dufresne, the movie's main character. This man was falsely convicted of the murder of his wife and unjustly imprisoned for over 20 years. In the midst of a seemingly hopeless situation, Andy started a library for the inmates, slowly became the overseer of the entire prison's finances, and when the exact moment was right found his way to freedom. Year after year passed while this man was forced to live behind bars, with an uncertain future ahead of him. Silently and stoically chose to live and chose to hope.

I am afraid. I am afraid of loosing my luggage, with my gifts for my soon-to-be Peruvian in-laws. Afraid of Max's visa being denied. Afraid of not earning enough money to pay the rent. Afraid of failure at work and in relationships. I am afraid of so many things... Yes, I have lived with fear. I suppose we all have. But now I have begun to ask myself, today will I begin living or begin dying? Hope or despair, life or death. My choice today can't change what has happened, but it could make a world of a difference on what does happen in the future. Choosing to be afraid, to let fear, worry, and "what-ifs" clench at my heart is like choosing to walk around with death growing inside of me. Life is uncertain, but perhaps my response doesn't need to be."

1 Peter 1:3, 4
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you..."

John 10:10
"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."