Monday, June 25, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
monday or maybe Thursday- I forget
Monday the favor continued as I asked for help to get the photos off my camera and the man I asked in the television repair shop decided to help me. It took three disks to capture the photos and then he erased them off my camera. He charged me nothing. FAVOR!!!! And I had three men greet me with Jene Dobre Pani. Usually nobody says ANYTHING to me. It felt great.
Somewhere this week I painted seven small paintings. That was fun. We have stayed close to the apartment. Jubi has been tired and needed catching up.
We saw the girls at School 5 and Zosia. It was very nice. Basia came and interpreted.
We went out to eat at the Romantic Pizza restaurant and last night we met Basia's cousins at Pinocchio's. Three of her cousins came. Magda who is 18, Gosia who is early 30s and Ania who is about 30. There is another sister and a brother but they were not there. We had a good time and Jubi ate SO MUCH PIZZA! It is her favorite food her and Pinocchio's is her favorite place.
Today is Thursday. It is raining and I am about to go paint. I woke up with allergies but I took something and well, it could be working better. It is raining off and on and perfect napping weather. Jubi is sleeping well.
She has really enjoyed Skype and talking to Daddy and siblings. She got to see Anita yesterday and that was great. I keep missing Teri, but I'll keep trying.
I can't believe it is almost time to go home. It has gone SO FAST! There is just not enough time in the day when your little one sleeps late and takes a nap, but it is part of the cost of staying up too late night after night. It is a cost I can live with.
Part of why we came was so that Jubi and I could get to know each other. It has been very good and it is interesting how often I call her RUTH these days. She is much like Ruth but she is also VERY DIFFERENT than Ruth. She is more stubborn than Ruth, but she is also so very very pleasant. She loves going to sleep with me. We "face out smiles at each other" to fall asleep.
I better go paint or the window of opportunity will be closed to soon.
I still don't have my portfolio back but Jubi and I called it back today. We stuck our heads out the window and said, PORTFOLIO - COME HOME! Jubi said "Folio- COME HOME! Amen" I think she is on to something.
love ya. Gwen
Somewhere this week I painted seven small paintings. That was fun. We have stayed close to the apartment. Jubi has been tired and needed catching up.
We saw the girls at School 5 and Zosia. It was very nice. Basia came and interpreted.
We went out to eat at the Romantic Pizza restaurant and last night we met Basia's cousins at Pinocchio's. Three of her cousins came. Magda who is 18, Gosia who is early 30s and Ania who is about 30. There is another sister and a brother but they were not there. We had a good time and Jubi ate SO MUCH PIZZA! It is her favorite food her and Pinocchio's is her favorite place.
Today is Thursday. It is raining and I am about to go paint. I woke up with allergies but I took something and well, it could be working better. It is raining off and on and perfect napping weather. Jubi is sleeping well.
She has really enjoyed Skype and talking to Daddy and siblings. She got to see Anita yesterday and that was great. I keep missing Teri, but I'll keep trying.
I can't believe it is almost time to go home. It has gone SO FAST! There is just not enough time in the day when your little one sleeps late and takes a nap, but it is part of the cost of staying up too late night after night. It is a cost I can live with.
Part of why we came was so that Jubi and I could get to know each other. It has been very good and it is interesting how often I call her RUTH these days. She is much like Ruth but she is also VERY DIFFERENT than Ruth. She is more stubborn than Ruth, but she is also so very very pleasant. She loves going to sleep with me. We "face out smiles at each other" to fall asleep.
I better go paint or the window of opportunity will be closed to soon.
I still don't have my portfolio back but Jubi and I called it back today. We stuck our heads out the window and said, PORTFOLIO - COME HOME! Jubi said "Folio- COME HOME! Amen" I think she is on to something.
love ya. Gwen
Wroclow
We went to Wroclow on Sunday and it was a good day.
We got there on time and even a bit early. We were not allowed in because they were practicing or something so we waited by the door and this black man who spoke very good Popolsku started talking to Basia, she did not feel like talking but was backed into a corner (literally). He asked if she was new, how she heard about the church, who from, etc. To make a good long story short Basia met some men three years ago who helped her with her business plan. It was because of these men she visited the church. Igor was one and he is from Warsaw. Turns out he was visiting that weekend and the black man speaking Polish went inside and got Igor. It was a nice reunion and then Basia met the other guy, too.
We had been talking about visiting Warsaw and we will go this weekend and stay at Igor's flat! He will stay with his family. Very interesting God.
The sermon was very good, well, he really tried to get five different sermons into one and two or three of the five were good, the others needed more development. The part that is sticking with me is THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THANK YOU AND GRATEFULNESS. Thank you is for a specific moment for a specific event. (There was a translator at this church). Gratitude is remembering the specifics and continuing to remember them and to walk in that remembrance. Thank you gets its feelings hurt when the moment is past. Gratitude allows offenses to slide past remembering the moment of thank you.
STUNNING if you think about it. A grateful heart makes room for forgiveness and the release of offenses. A grateful heart sees a bigger picture. A grateful heart does not have room to hold offenses. It made me think of a friend of mine. Recently she asked me to do a favor for her. In her mind it was not a favor that I could refuse, but I refused and now our friendship is ended. She seems to have forgotten all the years of love and service myself and my family has poured into her and her mom. She is not remembering the sacrifices we made on her behalf or the love we showed her. It is very sad, but it is part of walking in thank you rather than gratitude.
As I contemplate this service, this message from the heart of God, I am becoming aware of the places where I have walked in thank you rather than in gratitude. OUCH! It is worth contemplation and then follow up with prayer.
Okay, so one of the other sermons was about the greatness surrounding us. This one, well, someday it will grow up into a good sermon but not this particular Sunday. But what he was trying to say was that EVERYONE has a touch of greatness in them and it would behoove us to SEE that greatness and appreciate it. That this particular grouping of people, this gathering of the body of Christ is magnificent and God ordained. (See Igor above.) It felt very much like a God moment and I was thankful and I hope, grateful, too.
We went shopping afterwards. We had great ice cream/sorbet. We went to the mall. Basia found a perfect dress and the saleswomen OFFERED to give her thirty percent off. This is the new collection dress and she did not ask for a discount- FAVOR! We stopped by to have Illy coffee and lunch but the food was not child matched and we ended up leaving, BUT the owner came and he and Basia connected.
His heart/dream is a coffee shop/shoe store! Basia has a dream for a coffee shop/makeup store. It was great talking to him and being encouraged. He shared freely and they exchanged numbers.
What else happened? I can't remember now, but every time we turned around there was FAVOR waiting for us. It was a good day.
OH! and there was a nest of storks with a momma and four babies!
It was a long but very good day. THANK YOU JESUS! TEACH ME TO WALK WITH A GRATEFUL HEART>
We got there on time and even a bit early. We were not allowed in because they were practicing or something so we waited by the door and this black man who spoke very good Popolsku started talking to Basia, she did not feel like talking but was backed into a corner (literally). He asked if she was new, how she heard about the church, who from, etc. To make a good long story short Basia met some men three years ago who helped her with her business plan. It was because of these men she visited the church. Igor was one and he is from Warsaw. Turns out he was visiting that weekend and the black man speaking Polish went inside and got Igor. It was a nice reunion and then Basia met the other guy, too.
We had been talking about visiting Warsaw and we will go this weekend and stay at Igor's flat! He will stay with his family. Very interesting God.
The sermon was very good, well, he really tried to get five different sermons into one and two or three of the five were good, the others needed more development. The part that is sticking with me is THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THANK YOU AND GRATEFULNESS. Thank you is for a specific moment for a specific event. (There was a translator at this church). Gratitude is remembering the specifics and continuing to remember them and to walk in that remembrance. Thank you gets its feelings hurt when the moment is past. Gratitude allows offenses to slide past remembering the moment of thank you.
STUNNING if you think about it. A grateful heart makes room for forgiveness and the release of offenses. A grateful heart sees a bigger picture. A grateful heart does not have room to hold offenses. It made me think of a friend of mine. Recently she asked me to do a favor for her. In her mind it was not a favor that I could refuse, but I refused and now our friendship is ended. She seems to have forgotten all the years of love and service myself and my family has poured into her and her mom. She is not remembering the sacrifices we made on her behalf or the love we showed her. It is very sad, but it is part of walking in thank you rather than gratitude.
As I contemplate this service, this message from the heart of God, I am becoming aware of the places where I have walked in thank you rather than in gratitude. OUCH! It is worth contemplation and then follow up with prayer.
Okay, so one of the other sermons was about the greatness surrounding us. This one, well, someday it will grow up into a good sermon but not this particular Sunday. But what he was trying to say was that EVERYONE has a touch of greatness in them and it would behoove us to SEE that greatness and appreciate it. That this particular grouping of people, this gathering of the body of Christ is magnificent and God ordained. (See Igor above.) It felt very much like a God moment and I was thankful and I hope, grateful, too.
We went shopping afterwards. We had great ice cream/sorbet. We went to the mall. Basia found a perfect dress and the saleswomen OFFERED to give her thirty percent off. This is the new collection dress and she did not ask for a discount- FAVOR! We stopped by to have Illy coffee and lunch but the food was not child matched and we ended up leaving, BUT the owner came and he and Basia connected.
His heart/dream is a coffee shop/shoe store! Basia has a dream for a coffee shop/makeup store. It was great talking to him and being encouraged. He shared freely and they exchanged numbers.What else happened? I can't remember now, but every time we turned around there was FAVOR waiting for us. It was a good day.
OH! and there was a nest of storks with a momma and four babies!
It was a long but very good day. THANK YOU JESUS! TEACH ME TO WALK WITH A GRATEFUL HEART>
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
It is all in my head! So I am giong to PRESS THROUGH!
It is all in my head. The allergies, they are all in my head. My nose is running, my eyes are red, I can't sleep and there is snot dripping down the front of my shirt. I am frightening to be around. ALLERGIES! It is all in my head, but I am not one of those who takes medicine for every little thing. I am not judging those that do, but I am not going to do it. I am going to press through. I know that I can't sleep at night. I know that as a result I am not the kind of mom I want to be and could be, but I am pressing through this, pushing to the other side. Lying in bed at night, unable to sleep and praying to God asking for healing. I know SO MANY people with allergies. Everywhere I turn there are people suffering from allergies and most of them take the easy way out and take medication, but that is not for me. After all, it is all in my head.
WHAT!!!!
Give me a break. I am so sick of the stereo types that STILL hang on to depression. Sure, some might abuse the medications, but no matter what the circumstance, there will be abuse. Do we avoid anything that could possibly be abused. NO!!!!
My sister almost died. That makes me angry. When a parent commits suicide it increases the chances of a child committing suicide by 60%. AND YET WE HAVE THIS STIGMA ATTACHED TO DEPRESSION AND ITS TREATMENTS!!!! AAAUUUGGGHHHHH!!!!
It is in my head. It really is, but I am taking my allergy meds and the anti-depressants. With the anti-depressants I sleep at night. Without them, I wake up 10- 20 times a night. Does the depression cause the insomnia? Maybe. Does the insomnia cause the depression? Maybe. Maybe both. All I know is that I don't hate my husband when I take the anti-depressants. I used to wish I was dead. I went to counseling and wished David was dead. With the anti-depressants I can just live my life and be a good mom.
Four days after starting them two of my closest friends, who did not know I had started taking them, commented on how drastically my physical appearance had changed. One thought I lost weight. One thought I had new haircut and make-up. The difference, there was life in my eyes again.
There are so many biases we have that we don't even realize we have. My parents are divorced because they refused to deal with my mom's depression. It really stinks, but it is the truth. If they were not ashamed of depression, if if if..... No one can know for certain, but some good anti-depressants would NOT have hurt. Yeah, counseling is very important, but we don't send someone to counseling for allergies, diabetes, arthritus, etc. It is time to grow up and move past it being "ALL IN HER HEAD!"
Okay, soap box over. OXOXOXo
PS all my ques are in Popolsku tonight. Great. I hope this posts.
WHAT!!!!
Give me a break. I am so sick of the stereo types that STILL hang on to depression. Sure, some might abuse the medications, but no matter what the circumstance, there will be abuse. Do we avoid anything that could possibly be abused. NO!!!!
My sister almost died. That makes me angry. When a parent commits suicide it increases the chances of a child committing suicide by 60%. AND YET WE HAVE THIS STIGMA ATTACHED TO DEPRESSION AND ITS TREATMENTS!!!! AAAUUUGGGHHHHH!!!!
It is in my head. It really is, but I am taking my allergy meds and the anti-depressants. With the anti-depressants I sleep at night. Without them, I wake up 10- 20 times a night. Does the depression cause the insomnia? Maybe. Does the insomnia cause the depression? Maybe. Maybe both. All I know is that I don't hate my husband when I take the anti-depressants. I used to wish I was dead. I went to counseling and wished David was dead. With the anti-depressants I can just live my life and be a good mom.
Four days after starting them two of my closest friends, who did not know I had started taking them, commented on how drastically my physical appearance had changed. One thought I lost weight. One thought I had new haircut and make-up. The difference, there was life in my eyes again.
There are so many biases we have that we don't even realize we have. My parents are divorced because they refused to deal with my mom's depression. It really stinks, but it is the truth. If they were not ashamed of depression, if if if..... No one can know for certain, but some good anti-depressants would NOT have hurt. Yeah, counseling is very important, but we don't send someone to counseling for allergies, diabetes, arthritus, etc. It is time to grow up and move past it being "ALL IN HER HEAD!"
Okay, soap box over. OXOXOXo
PS all my ques are in Popolsku tonight. Great. I hope this posts.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Wednesday in Prague
We ate breakfast at the seminary. Well, Basia and I did, but Jubi was not really into eating. We eventually headed into town taking first the bus then the subway. Jubi enjoyed the adventure. I am noticing some serious typos happening. I wonder what is wrong with the COMPUTER! HA.
We walked around. Bought some garnets. Garnets are the birthstone for January and Basia and I both have January birthdays. Mine was sixteen years earlier but OH WELL. It is interesting, Basia and I are the same age difference as Jubilee and Ruth.
We went on a horse and buggie ride through the old town. We ate ice cream. We ate Czech food. We looked in many shops. We bought tweezers and loose tea spoons. We looked at pots and looked FOR shoes but did not find them. Mostly we just walked and enjoyed life while taking TONS of photos which I can't seem to get off my camera and I only have 17 left to take then it will be full. Sigh. When Ruth wakes up I am going to ask her to help me.
It was a good day and we ended up in the VIP opening night of an international theater show. it was quite bizzar and wonderful. I can't find words for it so I'll include some photos (eventually). Ruth and I TRIED to get into one of these VIP nights in NYC but there they wanted $1000 a piece! WHEW! We were struggling with $20 a piece and decided to "go for it" . After 2 1/2 hours on the subway and walking we arrived and discovered that the VIP tickets were considerably more. We were a little bummed, mostly because we had walked there in the rain and then didn't have time to do anything else, but mainly we enjoyed each other's company. that was the theme of Praha. Basis has been working long hours and mostly we just enjoyed being together.
traveling with Jubilee has been a delight. Her greatest joy in life is being WITH those she loves. She does not need entertainment. She just needs to be close.
Basia and Jubi have a game they play together.
Actor 1 "Did I tell you I love you?"
Actor 2 "no"
Actor 1 "I love you."
Actor 2 "Really?"
Actor 1 "ALWAYS!"
They play it back and forth taking turns with the parts . VERY SWEET.
While we were at the theater show Jubi pretended to Swim. You will be able to tell when you see the photos.
She is pretending a lot these days. On the way home she talked to "pretend Forrest". She misses her siblings. she says, "Momma, tell me stories. tell me about and then names a family member. She includes Monika and Baby Nicolet and Anita and her girls as family. She talks OFTEN about Baby Avigail and how she came out of Lauren's tummy. She is looking forward to having babies Avigail and Nocolet (Nicolas) in the same room. Her little pink baby from Patty has been her closest companion this trip. Pink Baby got so dirty in Praha we had to wash her today. She is outside drying so Jubi pulled out the elephant Forrest made for her and her fluffy tailed kitties to take her nap today. We read books and she fell asleep.
It is a good trip. I is long. I wish Ruth and the boys were here, but it is good. Jubi's passport has stamps from Poland and Czech Republic on it and we hope to add Germany soon. OH! Her passport. IT IS SO PRETTY! The guard at the Czech check point took it off to the next room. OH NO!!!! he brought it back after a good while and told us it was very beautiful. And it is. I had not even looked at it. The designs on the internal pages are very different from three years ago and it is beautiful. The guard had taken it to show all the other guards. He was very nice and he even unlocked a building so we could use the toilet. It was such a human thing to do. Not humane (which it was) but a HUMAN thing to do.
I have been thinking about HUMAN lately and what it means. It is not a word that I used but lately I am seeing how appropriate it is and how we should be using it much more.
Ex: Ruth is a delightful young woman. T or F
FALSE! She is a DELIGHTFUL HUMAN BEING!!!!!
the delight in my daughter is not tied to her youth or her womanhood. The delight that is Ruth transcends age and gender. She is a DELIGHTFUL HUMAN BEING!
Jubilee might be the most pleasant person I have ever met. T or F
TRUE!!!! She is so pleasant to be around.
Stephanie Canipe asked me what God is teaching me. Sometimes it is REALLY hard to tell whilst in the midst (Can you believe I just used two words with "st" on the end of them!) of teh experience, but now that I am writing I wonder. maybe I am learning about humanity. Maybe this is a season to SEE the IMAGE of GOD in humanity. See beyond the box. We talk about wanting to get outside the box, but we are so trained to SEE the box that we confine others to the very boxes we strive to exit. Maybe this is a season of learning to see human created in the image of God. OH THIS IS EXCITING!!! I hope so.
God, Imma Abba, teach me to SEE YOU in the humans I meat. Teach me to REFLECT you as I encounter them (even the less like able ones). Dave Matyis encouraged me to be JESUS to someone each day. Imma Abba, I desire to be Jesus in my walk and in my sleep and in my heart and mind.
I desire to see what it is you have for me to see in this season. I desire to express through my art what it is that is in your heart for this season.
amen.
xoxoxo Gwen
We walked around. Bought some garnets. Garnets are the birthstone for January and Basia and I both have January birthdays. Mine was sixteen years earlier but OH WELL. It is interesting, Basia and I are the same age difference as Jubilee and Ruth.
We went on a horse and buggie ride through the old town. We ate ice cream. We ate Czech food. We looked in many shops. We bought tweezers and loose tea spoons. We looked at pots and looked FOR shoes but did not find them. Mostly we just walked and enjoyed life while taking TONS of photos which I can't seem to get off my camera and I only have 17 left to take then it will be full. Sigh. When Ruth wakes up I am going to ask her to help me.
It was a good day and we ended up in the VIP opening night of an international theater show. it was quite bizzar and wonderful. I can't find words for it so I'll include some photos (eventually). Ruth and I TRIED to get into one of these VIP nights in NYC but there they wanted $1000 a piece! WHEW! We were struggling with $20 a piece and decided to "go for it" . After 2 1/2 hours on the subway and walking we arrived and discovered that the VIP tickets were considerably more. We were a little bummed, mostly because we had walked there in the rain and then didn't have time to do anything else, but mainly we enjoyed each other's company. that was the theme of Praha. Basis has been working long hours and mostly we just enjoyed being together.
traveling with Jubilee has been a delight. Her greatest joy in life is being WITH those she loves. She does not need entertainment. She just needs to be close.
Basia and Jubi have a game they play together.
Actor 1 "Did I tell you I love you?"
Actor 2 "no"
Actor 1 "I love you."
Actor 2 "Really?"
Actor 1 "ALWAYS!"
They play it back and forth taking turns with the parts . VERY SWEET.
While we were at the theater show Jubi pretended to Swim. You will be able to tell when you see the photos.
She is pretending a lot these days. On the way home she talked to "pretend Forrest". She misses her siblings. she says, "Momma, tell me stories. tell me about and then names a family member. She includes Monika and Baby Nicolet and Anita and her girls as family. She talks OFTEN about Baby Avigail and how she came out of Lauren's tummy. She is looking forward to having babies Avigail and Nocolet (Nicolas) in the same room. Her little pink baby from Patty has been her closest companion this trip. Pink Baby got so dirty in Praha we had to wash her today. She is outside drying so Jubi pulled out the elephant Forrest made for her and her fluffy tailed kitties to take her nap today. We read books and she fell asleep.
It is a good trip. I is long. I wish Ruth and the boys were here, but it is good. Jubi's passport has stamps from Poland and Czech Republic on it and we hope to add Germany soon. OH! Her passport. IT IS SO PRETTY! The guard at the Czech check point took it off to the next room. OH NO!!!! he brought it back after a good while and told us it was very beautiful. And it is. I had not even looked at it. The designs on the internal pages are very different from three years ago and it is beautiful. The guard had taken it to show all the other guards. He was very nice and he even unlocked a building so we could use the toilet. It was such a human thing to do. Not humane (which it was) but a HUMAN thing to do.
I have been thinking about HUMAN lately and what it means. It is not a word that I used but lately I am seeing how appropriate it is and how we should be using it much more.
Ex: Ruth is a delightful young woman. T or F
FALSE! She is a DELIGHTFUL HUMAN BEING!!!!!
the delight in my daughter is not tied to her youth or her womanhood. The delight that is Ruth transcends age and gender. She is a DELIGHTFUL HUMAN BEING!
Jubilee might be the most pleasant person I have ever met. T or F
TRUE!!!! She is so pleasant to be around.
Stephanie Canipe asked me what God is teaching me. Sometimes it is REALLY hard to tell whilst in the midst (Can you believe I just used two words with "st" on the end of them!) of teh experience, but now that I am writing I wonder. maybe I am learning about humanity. Maybe this is a season to SEE the IMAGE of GOD in humanity. See beyond the box. We talk about wanting to get outside the box, but we are so trained to SEE the box that we confine others to the very boxes we strive to exit. Maybe this is a season of learning to see human created in the image of God. OH THIS IS EXCITING!!! I hope so.
God, Imma Abba, teach me to SEE YOU in the humans I meat. Teach me to REFLECT you as I encounter them (even the less like able ones). Dave Matyis encouraged me to be JESUS to someone each day. Imma Abba, I desire to be Jesus in my walk and in my sleep and in my heart and mind.
I desire to see what it is you have for me to see in this season. I desire to express through my art what it is that is in your heart for this season.
amen.
xoxoxo Gwen
Tuesday Night IN Praha.
My camera battery went out shortly after arriving, but I got a few photos.
The night view is amazing along the river. We just enjoyed being there. Jubilee was wrapping her mind around the fact that we were not in Poland any more. She did not care. She had mom and Basia and it was good. Being there made me really miss the family, though. We had such a great time when we were all there three years ago I really mssed them. David had just come to Poland and we were in love. It was a very nice break from the reality of life. Or maybe that was real and "real life" is the illusion. whatever. It was lovely then and just as lovely this time.
we walked around for about four hours and at midnight headed back to hte hotel at the seminary. I so wish David's parents would do some of their volunteer stuff here. Joan got sick form camping (I could have told her that !) but this place. Oh my. It would have suited them so well. Maybe they will try if she gets well.
My hands are going numb. I am going to try the keyboard in a different position. Okay, that is better but it is HOT on my lap. I'll type faster.
The hotel is part of the seminary adn situation WAY UP on a mountain. It is just a five/ten minute drive from tehheartof Praha and about a 20 minute public transport ride. But it is in a different world. The trees and the birds and the QUIET!!!!! a magnificent place to BE. To just BE! We did not do much BEING while we were there this trip adn I miss that. but still, it was good to have the quiet for the evening. It is never quiet in Glogow. Always some noise in tehapartmetn. It was so nice to get away. AND they had hot water. Did I mention there wil be no hot water for ten days? Now, their water is not luke warm like Texas water. IT IS COLD! Refridgerated almost. But there was hot water in Praha and good beds adn we all slept quite soundly. No dreams that I can remember, just sweet QUIET sleep. Yawn. I think I need a nap.
The night view is amazing along the river. We just enjoyed being there. Jubilee was wrapping her mind around the fact that we were not in Poland any more. She did not care. She had mom and Basia and it was good. Being there made me really miss the family, though. We had such a great time when we were all there three years ago I really mssed them. David had just come to Poland and we were in love. It was a very nice break from the reality of life. Or maybe that was real and "real life" is the illusion. whatever. It was lovely then and just as lovely this time.
we walked around for about four hours and at midnight headed back to hte hotel at the seminary. I so wish David's parents would do some of their volunteer stuff here. Joan got sick form camping (I could have told her that !) but this place. Oh my. It would have suited them so well. Maybe they will try if she gets well.
My hands are going numb. I am going to try the keyboard in a different position. Okay, that is better but it is HOT on my lap. I'll type faster.
The hotel is part of the seminary adn situation WAY UP on a mountain. It is just a five/ten minute drive from tehheartof Praha and about a 20 minute public transport ride. But it is in a different world. The trees and the birds and the QUIET!!!!! a magnificent place to BE. To just BE! We did not do much BEING while we were there this trip adn I miss that. but still, it was good to have the quiet for the evening. It is never quiet in Glogow. Always some noise in tehapartmetn. It was so nice to get away. AND they had hot water. Did I mention there wil be no hot water for ten days? Now, their water is not luke warm like Texas water. IT IS COLD! Refridgerated almost. But there was hot water in Praha and good beds adn we all slept quite soundly. No dreams that I can remember, just sweet QUIET sleep. Yawn. I think I need a nap.
PRAGUE, PRAHA, PRAGA!!!! Three in ONE!
WHHOOOO HOOOOO!!! PRAHA!!!! Sigh.
What more can I say. God is SOOOOOO GRACIOUS!!!!
But I think I can say more. We had a nice trip to Praha even with it starting later than we meant to. we planned on going to Berlin and staying at www.My-tropical-island.com but they were booked up. Cheapest room was over 200 Euros which is a LOT! Maybe we will try later. Anyway, we were sitting at teh table and decided to go to Praha (Prague). I love that city. It is magnificent. So much beauty. You think you are looking at the most beautiful thing in eye range and then you shift your gaze and there is something else. It is just incredible and someone is managing the growth nicely. the old. The new. the combination of the two together. It is just stunning. We ate at a "traditoinal" Czech restaurant and that was very good. Jubi only ate corn. Sigh. Well, I did get her to eat some chicken. Basia and I shared goulosh. Yum. We had some of the ice cream we missed so much after leaving last time. Yes, it was as good as I remembered. My regret, I did not eat more of it!
We mostly just walked around and enjoyed the sites. the bridge. The bridge! Oh my. We arrived around 8 Tuesday night and most things were closed but even when most stores are closed the lights and the sights are in full swing. Jubilee delighted in that bridge quite possibly more than any other human being has ever delighted in that bridge. She ran and squealed with delight. I think she was SO HAPPY to be out of the car and then out of the stroller, she reveled in the moment. we had been talking about being present to the moment. Well, Jubilee has being present to the moment down. She she is sad she is SO SAD! She hold nothing back. but she experiences the moment and then moves on to the next moment.
Jubi loved the car ride, the ride in which she did NOT fall asleep. She was sitting in the center in the backseat of Basia's Volkswagon and she could reach BOTH of us with her toes. Her pretty pink painted toes. She poked and giggled all the way from Glogow to Praha. We got there via Basia's navigation system and that was very interesting.
The sites along the way were so beautiful. When we went last time we took the train and it took longer to get to Praha than it did to FLY to Poland. But driving it was MUCH quicker and the mountains, the fields (we saw several fields of WHITE poppies and one a mix of white poppies and little blue flowers which from a distance looked like bluebonnets in color and intensity). We saw hay and horses and one field of cattle. The buildings, WOW! even the small villages held treasures for the eyes. I fear Basia will be disappointed with the scenery when she makes it to the states. All the buildings here are brick and cement blocks and stone. They last so much longer than our wooden buildings. The barns and houses from centuries back. It is just amazing adn of course the red roves (?) make for a stunning compliment to the greens. Flowers like in Maine, every yard has flowers and fruit trees.
FRUIT TREES! The cherries are ripe and we were driving home and passing tree after tree of ripe cherries. Jubi FINALLY fell asleep and we stopped and picked a large zip lock bag full of htem. By the time we got to the Czech border (which took almost two hours longer than we expected thanks to a small glitch with our navigation system whom I named Beatrice, Betty for short) the cherries were all gone.
On the way home we stopped by a restaurant on the TOP of a mountain with a magnificent view and very yummy pancakes. The word Pancake did NOT do them justice. Anyway, we stopped, took photos with a huge turkey, enjoyed the breeze and view and then went upstairs to the art gallery. OH MY OH MYOH MY! One of the most exciting galleries I have seen in a long time. Blew away the contemporary work I saw in NYC. Beats FW. So much excellence on the top of a mountain wiht a huge turkey in the drive. I knew hte view would be marvelous, but I was not expecting the food and gallery "La Femme" to be so wonderful.
Okay, Jubi is sleepign and my time is SHORT. I am getting all confused, but that is how I tell stories anyway so those who know and love me (or tolerate me) will understand.
We got home at 6 and Basia considered going into work, but decided to relax and go in fresh on Saturday. At 7:40 she got a phone call that she was supposed to close! She just had time to change and get there. THANK YOU JESUS for Ania calling. Basia's second did not call and that was disappointing. She made it. While she was gone I called David and kids on Skype but my mic was not working. Bummer. I had htem call me on the house phone. Jubi was pottying and I was in Basia's room having just answered their call when a storm blew through.
When I say blew through I mean it. WHOOSH! Things started blowing off the kitchen table, off the desk and CRASH! Basia's bedroom door which is 2/3 glass slams shut. Now it is 2/3 EMPTY!!!!! Jubi is crying on the pot. She does not know what has happened. I am wondering how I am going to get barefooted from the bedroom over the glass to Jubi. David suggests I hang up. Good suggestion. I try to call Basia but I am out of minutes on my phone. We get teh mess cleaned up. Did I mention we will have no hot water for ten days? Not that it is relevant but we won't. I get the glass cleaned up and pull the broken pieces out of the frame. Basia comes home and is surprised but relieved noone was hurt. Her mome ran through a plate glass window in Greece adn still suffers from teh consequences even after a long hosptial stayand surgeries.
Okay, back to the mess. I had cleaned it up and we carried it downstairs to the trash. At the last step Basia trips and almost falls into the HUGE pot of broken shards. Her ankle twists. we are torn between crying and laughing hysterically. we choose to laugh and then we pray. Her ankle is okay to run so THANK YOU GOD! For SO MANY THINGS! Nobody was cut or hurt. The enemy wanted to mess with us, but we did NOT want to participate.
We get upstairs and start peeling wallpaper off the entryway. Basia goes for a run and we unwind for the night. That is how it ended. Now I want to go back and tell you about Praha. Maybe I'll do that on another blog so you won't get so burned out by these LONG ONES!
BE FREE! Gwen
What more can I say. God is SOOOOOO GRACIOUS!!!!
But I think I can say more. We had a nice trip to Praha even with it starting later than we meant to. we planned on going to Berlin and staying at www.My-tropical-island.com but they were booked up. Cheapest room was over 200 Euros which is a LOT! Maybe we will try later. Anyway, we were sitting at teh table and decided to go to Praha (Prague). I love that city. It is magnificent. So much beauty. You think you are looking at the most beautiful thing in eye range and then you shift your gaze and there is something else. It is just incredible and someone is managing the growth nicely. the old. The new. the combination of the two together. It is just stunning. We ate at a "traditoinal" Czech restaurant and that was very good. Jubi only ate corn. Sigh. Well, I did get her to eat some chicken. Basia and I shared goulosh. Yum. We had some of the ice cream we missed so much after leaving last time. Yes, it was as good as I remembered. My regret, I did not eat more of it!
We mostly just walked around and enjoyed the sites. the bridge. The bridge! Oh my. We arrived around 8 Tuesday night and most things were closed but even when most stores are closed the lights and the sights are in full swing. Jubilee delighted in that bridge quite possibly more than any other human being has ever delighted in that bridge. She ran and squealed with delight. I think she was SO HAPPY to be out of the car and then out of the stroller, she reveled in the moment. we had been talking about being present to the moment. Well, Jubilee has being present to the moment down. She she is sad she is SO SAD! She hold nothing back. but she experiences the moment and then moves on to the next moment.
Jubi loved the car ride, the ride in which she did NOT fall asleep. She was sitting in the center in the backseat of Basia's Volkswagon and she could reach BOTH of us with her toes. Her pretty pink painted toes. She poked and giggled all the way from Glogow to Praha. We got there via Basia's navigation system and that was very interesting.
The sites along the way were so beautiful. When we went last time we took the train and it took longer to get to Praha than it did to FLY to Poland. But driving it was MUCH quicker and the mountains, the fields (we saw several fields of WHITE poppies and one a mix of white poppies and little blue flowers which from a distance looked like bluebonnets in color and intensity). We saw hay and horses and one field of cattle. The buildings, WOW! even the small villages held treasures for the eyes. I fear Basia will be disappointed with the scenery when she makes it to the states. All the buildings here are brick and cement blocks and stone. They last so much longer than our wooden buildings. The barns and houses from centuries back. It is just amazing adn of course the red roves (?) make for a stunning compliment to the greens. Flowers like in Maine, every yard has flowers and fruit trees.
FRUIT TREES! The cherries are ripe and we were driving home and passing tree after tree of ripe cherries. Jubi FINALLY fell asleep and we stopped and picked a large zip lock bag full of htem. By the time we got to the Czech border (which took almost two hours longer than we expected thanks to a small glitch with our navigation system whom I named Beatrice, Betty for short) the cherries were all gone.
On the way home we stopped by a restaurant on the TOP of a mountain with a magnificent view and very yummy pancakes. The word Pancake did NOT do them justice. Anyway, we stopped, took photos with a huge turkey, enjoyed the breeze and view and then went upstairs to the art gallery. OH MY OH MYOH MY! One of the most exciting galleries I have seen in a long time. Blew away the contemporary work I saw in NYC. Beats FW. So much excellence on the top of a mountain wiht a huge turkey in the drive. I knew hte view would be marvelous, but I was not expecting the food and gallery "La Femme" to be so wonderful.
Okay, Jubi is sleepign and my time is SHORT. I am getting all confused, but that is how I tell stories anyway so those who know and love me (or tolerate me) will understand.
We got home at 6 and Basia considered going into work, but decided to relax and go in fresh on Saturday. At 7:40 she got a phone call that she was supposed to close! She just had time to change and get there. THANK YOU JESUS for Ania calling. Basia's second did not call and that was disappointing. She made it. While she was gone I called David and kids on Skype but my mic was not working. Bummer. I had htem call me on the house phone. Jubi was pottying and I was in Basia's room having just answered their call when a storm blew through.
When I say blew through I mean it. WHOOSH! Things started blowing off the kitchen table, off the desk and CRASH! Basia's bedroom door which is 2/3 glass slams shut. Now it is 2/3 EMPTY!!!!! Jubi is crying on the pot. She does not know what has happened. I am wondering how I am going to get barefooted from the bedroom over the glass to Jubi. David suggests I hang up. Good suggestion. I try to call Basia but I am out of minutes on my phone. We get teh mess cleaned up. Did I mention we will have no hot water for ten days? Not that it is relevant but we won't. I get the glass cleaned up and pull the broken pieces out of the frame. Basia comes home and is surprised but relieved noone was hurt. Her mome ran through a plate glass window in Greece adn still suffers from teh consequences even after a long hosptial stayand surgeries.
Okay, back to the mess. I had cleaned it up and we carried it downstairs to the trash. At the last step Basia trips and almost falls into the HUGE pot of broken shards. Her ankle twists. we are torn between crying and laughing hysterically. we choose to laugh and then we pray. Her ankle is okay to run so THANK YOU GOD! For SO MANY THINGS! Nobody was cut or hurt. The enemy wanted to mess with us, but we did NOT want to participate.
We get upstairs and start peeling wallpaper off the entryway. Basia goes for a run and we unwind for the night. That is how it ended. Now I want to go back and tell you about Praha. Maybe I'll do that on another blog so you won't get so burned out by these LONG ONES!
BE FREE! Gwen
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
AAAUUUGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!
(Note from Ruth: I know the picture is sideways, there is a reason. Also, for all of the pictures in the blog, you should be able to see them bigger if you click on them.)
it is late and Basia is not home, but Jubi is asleep. She crawled up into my lap while I was writing Avice and fell asleep. the last several days have been HUGE!!!! Sunday was five hours in the HOT HOT HOT watching mom paint at the Days of Glogow Dni Glogow Festival. It was not well attended and the vendors pretty much stunk. It is such a beautiful place that if someone put some work into getting some interesting vendors it could be magnificent. There was live music all day and half the night that was excellent. Just nothing worth spending one's money on and that is what those things are about. Or so it seems. Lots of good junk food. Jubi did great but was exhausted of course (so was I and I think Basia was pretty beat, too). I worked the entire time on one half sized paper so it is totally overworked. I did most of the time drawing what I saw. I would wait for someone interesting to walk past and then try to sketch them REALLY FAST!
I am too tired to correct this. Maybe Ruth will. Hint hint!then Monday we went ran errands with Basia and then later went to her grandmother's farm. Jubilee chased chickens out of the house and we saw pigs and 12 piglets. SNORT SNORT. Jubi snorts really well. She got into the Polish equivalent of bullnettle but I had some gel benedryl that was amazing so it was clear within a few hours. We ate with Grandma and watched a documentary about holocaust with Polish and Ukrainian victims. One did not need much language skill to understand.
I AM SO TIRED!There is so much I want to share but I AM SO TIRED!
Tomorrow we go to Berlin to stay at a TROPICAL ISLAND! they have built a lake with an island and sand and everything and it is ALL under a dome! It is open 12 months a year and if you are there on the weekend you can sleep "outside" on the sand. we are going during the week so I don't know what we will do or where we will sleep but wherever it sounds great. www.my-tropical-islands.com is the web address.
Okay, it was too hot to eat today. I had an ice cream cone (they are tiny here) and some apricots but that is about all. Maybe that is part of the problem, but I am carrying enough "baby" weight that I can afford to skip a few meals. Jubi, though, she is not eating so well in this heat and she does not have the reserves. Maybe tomorrow while we are in the car I can coax her into eating. At least the a/c is working.
Pray for travel safety and opportunities to be Jesus with skin on to each other and those we meet.Oh, I think I met an angel. Remind me to tell you about it.
Love, Gwen
PS THANK YOU RUTH and DAVID for making all this possible. the blog and the provisions. THANK YOU! xoxoxooxoxoxooxooxo huggies and kissies
snort.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Photos from the visit to the garden
Hi, Ruth put out the photos and I am seeing if I can add words. This is Jubilee and her friend Natalie or Natalia as her family cals her. Jubi wanted to give one of her hats to Natalie. They had met a few days earlier and Natalie's aunt and mom invited Jubi and I to spend the day at their family garden outside of town. It is a very interesting concept. Everyone lives so close together in the city but often have small plots of land for gardens. This one is possible as large as our property in Benbrook, two house lots. They purchased the empty land ten years ago and it is a small paradise. Very beautiful with a tiny little houselet. The "house" has a basement, a SMALL kitchen and a sleeping room. Across the lot is small bathroom and shower. There are two formal garden sections with rows and rows of yummy things. In the middle is green grass and cherry and apple trees and a beautiful pond.
This is Jubilee and Natalie playing in the plastic bathtub. They had SO MUCH FUN!!!! Renate, Natalie's mom, got the water from the shower and it was nice and warm, heated from a tank on the top of the building, solar heat! We might have to come bath out here next week as there will be no hot water in GLogow from teh 12 through the 21st (if all goes well, sooo- who knows how long it will be).
Here are the girls swinging. and part of Big Boy David who is about Josiah's age.
This is Renate teaching Jubi to find STRAWBERRIES in the garden. Jubilee had never picked food before and seh loved it. I don't know why this is underlined. Bummer. She picked strawberries from the bushes adn cherries from the trees. It was a very good day and Jubi got very very dirty.
Natalie and her brother David. He loves Natalie the way my boys love Jubilee. It is a very beautiful thing. See Jubi in the background on the blanket? A great place to rest and take a nap.It was a good day. the next day she fell asleep by 10:45 in the morning. She was so worn out, but it was good and we hope to return. We were invited out the next day b ut Jubi was sleeping. We both get very tired here in Poland. So much new to absorb, but it is good adn we are getting to really know and enjoy each other. Jubi is hungery so I better feed her. Love, Gwen
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Jubiilee's dream- She laughed and laughed
Time is FLYING!!! yesterday something flew in the window and I started sneezing profusely. Took a little Benedryl and was woosey all afternoon, but not sneezing so I took a nap with Jubi. Awhile back I posed the question about what leads to a two year old asking for a nap. Turns out that a three hour walk will do the same as a four hour walk. To walk to the old town, do a little shopping and walk back took three hours. Things move at a slower pace when you are walking. What I have noticed is that teh abundance of cars is exponentially growing and I am also noticing a lot more FAT people this time. Before there were fat old people, but this time there are a LOT of fat young people. There are still an abundance of painfully thin young women, but now there is a good heaping helping of chunky women of ALL ages. Hmmm, it does not take long for things to begin a down hill slide. I saw Ania and Rafel Sunday but we were on our way to eat and were late so I did not stop to talk. Ania at least smiled. Rafel, not so much. it will be interesting. Jubi is in my lap and unhappy so the typing will have good and bad moments and I don't have the energy to make corrections. I am surprised (not really) as to how hard it is to get to the computer. It does not help that the wireless is not working right now so I can only use it in Basia's room. It took a friend's boyfriend about 8 hours to get it up and running sooooo, no messing with it, no experimenting/
Speaking of experimenting, Jubi and I are testing each other. shehas stopped saying Please or Thank You since arriving. We are seeing how far we can push it with each other before it gets a bit ugly. She has passed on candy, ice cream (lody) and several other tasty treats to avoid having to say Please. Such a girler~! And the smile she tries to hide when she is NOT saying thank you or please. She wins some. I win some. Mostly we cuddle.
This morning ( I think it is Thursday) she woke up before basia left for work. We asked her if she had any dreams and she answered no and then proceeded to share her dream. It went something pretty close to this... Daddy was getting me and Peter protected me. I was laughing and laughing. Sounds like a very good dream. Her little kitties from Central Market, marvelous pink kitties with fantastic fuzzy tails, have new names. Before they were Big Kitty and Little Kitty and New Little Kitty. Now Jubilee is calling Big Kitty by Daddy Kitty. I think it is sweet how she works out feelings through her dolls. Her Soft Pink Baby that was given to her by our neighbor Patty when she was born has been a constant companion since leaving the house for the airport. She is very caring and considerate of her baby. Her baby got PAINT on her and had to spend the night on the balcony drying. It was quite traumatic but she was dry for nap time the next day. What a relief. The kitties kept her company that night of the wet doller so it was fine, but it was also a bit stressful. When we go to sleep we have to face each other. She wont' go to sleep unless our noses are almost touching. She is almost always ready for bed, we are staying up too late as Basia gets home so late and there is little time to visit. We snuggle up and usually it is just seconds until Jubi is asleep. the night of no Pink Baby had half an hour of whimpering before we found the Pink Kitties and then she was off to sleep.
Soon we are leaving for a friend's "Garden" to spend the day with Natalie.> Natalie is six months younger than Jubilee and very sweet. We are using her stroller while we are here and it wa sher bike we borrowed at first. I hope it will be a good day. Natialie's aunt is Kasia who is Basia's friend who moved to start a church. I forgot to ask if she speaks english. Love to all. Gwen
Speaking of experimenting, Jubi and I are testing each other. shehas stopped saying Please or Thank You since arriving. We are seeing how far we can push it with each other before it gets a bit ugly. She has passed on candy, ice cream (lody) and several other tasty treats to avoid having to say Please. Such a girler~! And the smile she tries to hide when she is NOT saying thank you or please. She wins some. I win some. Mostly we cuddle.
This morning ( I think it is Thursday) she woke up before basia left for work. We asked her if she had any dreams and she answered no and then proceeded to share her dream. It went something pretty close to this... Daddy was getting me and Peter protected me. I was laughing and laughing. Sounds like a very good dream. Her little kitties from Central Market, marvelous pink kitties with fantastic fuzzy tails, have new names. Before they were Big Kitty and Little Kitty and New Little Kitty. Now Jubilee is calling Big Kitty by Daddy Kitty. I think it is sweet how she works out feelings through her dolls. Her Soft Pink Baby that was given to her by our neighbor Patty when she was born has been a constant companion since leaving the house for the airport. She is very caring and considerate of her baby. Her baby got PAINT on her and had to spend the night on the balcony drying. It was quite traumatic but she was dry for nap time the next day. What a relief. The kitties kept her company that night of the wet doller so it was fine, but it was also a bit stressful. When we go to sleep we have to face each other. She wont' go to sleep unless our noses are almost touching. She is almost always ready for bed, we are staying up too late as Basia gets home so late and there is little time to visit. We snuggle up and usually it is just seconds until Jubi is asleep. the night of no Pink Baby had half an hour of whimpering before we found the Pink Kitties and then she was off to sleep.
Soon we are leaving for a friend's "Garden" to spend the day with Natalie.> Natalie is six months younger than Jubilee and very sweet. We are using her stroller while we are here and it wa sher bike we borrowed at first. I hope it will be a good day. Natialie's aunt is Kasia who is Basia's friend who moved to start a church. I forgot to ask if she speaks english. Love to all. Gwen
Monday, June 4, 2007
How do you get a baby to ASK for a nap? Go for a four hour walk!
Today is Sunday and Jubilee and I went exploring.
I am so far behind and have too much to share, I don’t know where to begin so I will procrastinate beginning for a awhile. Okay, time to start.Jubilee has been amazing. So much fun. So much life. So willing for adventure. Saturday, Sobota, Basia was off work so we headed to Boleslawice (Bole a swav itz) and bought ceramics. The beautiful blue and while pottery that is recognized as a national folk art. Not recognized by the world hitchhiker book. Bummer. Met a woman from Connecticut there. She did not want to be friendly at first. I pressed and it was nice. She ended up needing some translation help and Basia helped.
I bought a tea set. Don’t have a CLUE how I will get it home. Ruthie, if you come join us bring the hard black plastic case filled with bubble wrap. Anita, get ready for tea! I bought a medium large tea pot and several cups and saucers.. One little one for Jubi and some for Anita and Teri and Monika and I to use. I don’t usually use a cup and saucer but THEY WERE SO CUTE! I bought a small set of dishes and a tea set for Jubilee and she already loves it. I put one Jasmine pearl in her teeny tiny tea cup and fill it with teeny tiny hot water. It is so cute. She has four cups and she can hardly wait to have tea with her brothers in the teeny tiny cups.
STORKS!!!! Storks were very important revelation for me when we were here before. The only time I saw LIVING storks was on the way to Boleslawice and this time I saw TWO nest. In the first nest were TWO storks. I got a download about Habakkuk the first time and this time was even better. H talks about being stationed in the watchtower and waiting to SEE what God has to say to him. The first download was of the storks representing the prophetic voice of God’s heart in Poland. How they are revered birds but becoming scarce and often plastic replicas are stations on top of houses because the REAL THING has left. (SIGH! Doesn’t THAT sound familiar). Anyway, Basia pulled over and we jumped out of the car and watched as the two storks SPOKE to each other. IT was an amazing sound, such beautiful voices. There were THREE generations working the yard below the nest. Grandpa, TaTa and a boy about 10 or so. They were cutting grass with a scythe. WOW! It was wonderful. The smell of fresh cut grass was wonderful. The sound of the storks was wonderful. God’s presence was WONDERFUL! I felt giddy. Jubilee saw and heard them. I did not get many photos because in the excitement and because I was holding Jubilee the camera jumped out of my hands and it hit HARD! It stopped working for about five minutes, caught its breath and started again. By then the storks were all snuggied down into the nest so I could not see them. We were sort of “parked” on a blind corner on a very narrow road so we moved on.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
It is 0415 in Texas and like a good little Texas girl Jubilee is asleep, but here in Poland it is 1115 and she ought to be awake. I don’t have the heart to wake her so I am sitting in a darkish corner typing away. Basia came home and brushed her teeth. The dentist agreed to work her in today. PRAISE GOD! She has had some horrible problems with her teeth and it has even gone into the jaw and cheek bone. God, we want to see some of those creative miracles with Basia.
It is overcast today. Yesterday Jubilee was sick most of the day. It was probably just the adjustment to the new time and place and water and no bubbies or Rutie. The most oft ustilized phrase has been, “Mommie, pick me up/hold me/ I want to go wit you.” Sometimes separated and sometimes all in the same sentence.
After Basia came back from work the second time (she has been working excruciating hours) Jubilee was being very shy, but Basia fixed her some strawberries to take with us to the market. Jubilee would not take any strawberries from Basia but when she thought Basia was not looking she snatched one and popped it into her mouth. FRESH BERRIES! Yum in ever language. The trip to the market was delightful and Jubilee warmed up very quickly with a tummy full of strawberries that she ate in the car on the way there.
On the way back I drove and I learned that the signage in Poland is VERY VERY different than the signage in the States. In the states a blinking yellow light means something COMPLETELY different than here. We blink them yellow and we blink them red. Yellow is caution and red is you stop and let the other guy go. Well, here they all blink yellow and there are signs on the side of the road that tell you who has the right of way. I need to study the signs. It is a good system, but I think some red blinking lights would be good, too.
When I get behind typing everything becomes all jumbled. Last night David and the kids called and it was good to touch base with everyone, but the call also came with news of Joshua’s suicide. While we talked we were standing in the kitchen looking out the window. Jubilee took great delight in describing everything she was seeing to her sister and brothers. Birdies on the roof. Doggies romping (she did not say romping). Children playing. People walking. And then there is New York City. When Ruthie and I went to NYC in February we brought Jubilee home a little pink shirt with some skyline images on it. One of the Empire State Building (I think, the one with the pointy top?) As Jubilee was looking out Basia’s window on the 8^th floor of the apartment building she saw a silhouette of a building with pointy top and said, “Look, there is New York.” It is amazing how these little minds put things together. She is making LOTS of silly sounds, baby talking except she does not baby talk. I wonder if it is her response to hearing all the new languages here.
Jubi is all warm and cuddly in bed. I am going to go lie down for a few minutes, power nap? Yeah right. Xoxoxoo Gwen
Tuesday- BAD NEWS
I was looking around the apartment for my watercolor portfolio while Jubilee was sleeping. I could not find it. I began to get a sinking feeling. The feeling was that I had left it outside the car when we arrived on Monday and that it had not made it upstairs. We parked and Jubilee was asleep. I unloaded our stuff and Basia took two suitcases upstairs while I watched Jubilee. While she was gone I SQUEAZED in between the cars and tried to get Jubilee out. It was just impossible so I had to wake her up to get her out. I was holding a very sleepy little girl when Basia came back down. I had Jubilee and the laptop and Basia brought up a shoulder bag full of soft pink blankies and the other carryon. I am sure my beautiful portfolio was leaning against the far side of the car. It rained that night. It rained very very hard. If it was there when Basia left for work Tuesday morning she did not notice it.
Anyway, I had this sinking feeling that it was gone all day and it was a beautiful new portfolio with about 50 sheets of watercolor paper, about 20 sheets of index paper, an almost completed painting from the Jane Jones workshop, an almost completed painted from the Jazz Festival, about ten painting starts and my notes from the JJ workshop in addition to about 20-30 smaller sheets of paper. I don’t want to even think about adding it all up. I came, in part, to paint. My oils were confiscated in Warsaw and now I have left my watercolor portfolio outside and it is gone. Bad news. Or so I thought.
I have not been able to get my internet connection up and running and David realized this so he called me yesterday. In my Texas inbox was an email from our dear friend Avice in Hong Kong. Her husband, Joshua, a believer, jumped off a all building and was pronounced dead at the site. Joshua was a long time police officer in Hong Kong and loved to make and collect models. His elderly parents are not believers, but his father was getting close to believing in Jesus. Avice is in shock.
The loss of my beautiful portfolio is not such big bad news any more.
My sister tried to kill herself back in October of last year. Avice’s email was titled “I don’t understand.” These things are so very hard to understand. We attended Jack Deere’s church for 18 months starting in late 2004. A round of classes spent a great deal of time dealing with suicide. One of Jack’s three children killed himself on a Christmas Eve upstairs in Jack’s house with Jack’s gun. Of course that family was shocked and devastated. It sent them on journey to understand WHY. Jack’s discovery was that the majority of suicides are a result of shame.
Shame. It is something that our Western society is very good at producing/inducing. It is something that Eastern society is very good at producing/inducing. Shame it is human nature. Maybe a more apt description would be sin nature. It is so easy to go there as a parent in disciplining one’s most precious children. It is so easy to go there when one is disappointed in ones self. It is so easy to live there and for some to die there.
Pray for Avice and pray for Joshua’s parents. I suppose it is possible that this horrible tragedy could push them closer to the Lord, but I can more easily see it pushing them away. Avice loves the Lord. Joshua loved the Lord. God works all things for the good of those who love the Lord. Even this Lord? Yes, I have to believe even this. How? I have not a clue, but I am going to pray that Joshua’s parents are brought into the Kingdom of God. I am praying that Avice, who had a very difficult start in life, will NOT step into shame over this tragedy.
I am praying that my sister’s awareness of what has transpired in her life will knit with the counsel of the Holy Spirit and she will never again reach the place where her life becomes so burdensome that she even contemplates suicide. We have not really talked deeply since she attempted suicide. I am not going to push, it is the last thing she needs. I want to be loving and supportive, but there is a barrier between us. Maybe it is protective. Surely her heart needs all the protecting it can get and I am not willing to risk pressing through the barrier, but I miss her and am concerned. In the past when the barriers have come up it has been an indication of something deeper going on and my big sister buttons are pushed and I become concerned. I don’t want to lose her.
So, bad news. It is all so relative. One minute a lost portfolio is bad news. The next minute it is totally insignificant.
Insignificant is a relative concept also, so if you would please join me in praying for the return of my portfolio I would appreciate it. When we first came to Poland in 2004 I left my camera at a Polish version of Chuckee Cheese. Z was certain it would be gone forever but it was there. I had more faith in the peoples of Poland than he did and it was rewarded. I did some newspaper interviews and a radio interview. I wonder if they would help me find it. I am remembering Bobby Connor’s story about his lost pocket watch appearing in thin air after he called for it. ABBA IMMA! I WANT MY FULL AND DRY PORTFOLIO! Please?
Yay!!!
About 3:30 yesterday Jubilee tinkled (YAY!!) we took another nap and woke up feeling fine. She was one HUNGRY girl for the rest of the night. Basia fixed salmon and it was very good.
Hi, I am in Poland. It is hard to believe. One minute you are in Texas and just few dozen plus hours later you are in another world.
Jubilee, I can’t imagine an easier travel companion. Well, Ruth travels pretty well, but she get queasy occasionally flying. When we were talking off Jubilee held her arms out like Superman and said something akin to ZOOOM! Her comments were astute and somewhat obvious. “Momma, the ground is going down down down.” She was very interested in knowing where the wings of the plane were. I think she might have been disappointed they did not flap. If she was she did not complain.
On the first leg of the journey, to Chicago she was VERY excited and pretty much sang the entire way. We had practiced her pulling her little carryon, but she wanted to be held boarding and disembarking so that was a bit tricky, but our connections were spaced far enough apart so we did not have to rush. In Chicago we went through security with the idea we would eat on the other side. SIGH. Nothing doing. No food. We went back out and ate a small raspberry ice cream cone, a banana and drank a bottle of water and a bottle of cranberry juice. This little feast was over $10! Anyway, the ice cream cone was a good snuggle op and we made the most of it. When we finished we discovered that the security line had quadrupled since we had been through earlier. Bummer. We made it to our destination, but they were already boarding when we got to there. It was okay.
From Chicago we were flying on Lot Airlines which is the Polish airline so there were many native popolsku speakers. Jubilee found this fascinating and as we were taking off at 10 she was not ready to go to sleep but she was ready to stare at the couple in the seats next to us until she drifted off at about 11. She slept from 11 until 6 which is pretty good for a little girl accustomed to country living. It was shocking how LOUD the plane was before 3 a.m. Maybe they were already on Polish time.
Our seat mate was Annia and she was very nice. We had a bit of communication but her English was only slightly better than my Popolsku. We smiled a lot. Jubilee was very entertaining when she woke up. She ate a little bit and then we were in Warsaw!
Warsaw was slightly less smooth as there was an hour delay and the security was VERY tough. The Polish military was doing the security and it was the first time Jubilee cried.. She was carrying her little soft pink baby and they wanted to x-ray it. Jubilee had not slept THAT well and after prying it out of her little hands she cried and cried and cried. It was in Warsaw where they went through my suitecase of oil paints again and then failed to put it on the airplane to Wroslaw. O well. Basia’s car was very full and it would not have fit anyway.
We were SO glad to see Basia and glad that she hung in there and waited for us. She looked great and before we got to Glogow Jubilee was feeling quite comfortable.She sang loud and long on the way back and she was also making some very funny sounds. I wonder if she was experimenting with the languages she was hearing that were so different from her own. After we arrived at Basia’s apartment it was a bit longer before she was ready to talk to Basia but when she did she thouroughly enjoyed herself.
We went to bed at 11:35 Poland time and Jubilee was asleep very soon after snuggling in. There was a huge thunderstorm so it made for a very nice night.
Jubilee slept through til a bit after 9 this a.m. but immediately threw up. This continued all morning and she has not tinkled yet. It is about 4 now and after taking a two and a half our nap she wanted to try eating again. She has had two slices of bread with butter and honey and is very very chirpy. I am thankful, it was a very quiet morning with four bouts of throwing up. Still waiting on that tinky to know for certain everything is working again. She has been thirsty but I am trying to keep the drinking to small amounts. We stayed in today which is good. I am getting tired right now. Jubilee is all cheery right now. Hmmmmm. We’ll compromise – or not.
We are glad to be here. It is very different having the city sounds all around, but the bird sounds are as much or more than at home. Partly, because the windows are open, we hear the birds more, but with the birds sounds of people, cars and other machinery. Apparently a neighbor is fixing or building something.
Jubilee is singing. I am going to sign off and enjoy the song.
Pray for us. We are doing well. Looking forward to discovering what God has next. Gwen
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