Month: September 2008

Design Lemons and Limes

Well, I have only a little time, but I did something very exciting tonight in the way of design… I bought fabric!! I went to El Centro (the city’s center) and looked at the most fabulous fabric store – rows and rows and second floors of more rows of all types of fabric. For dresses and curtains and upholstery and blouses and fancy and plain and quaint and just wonderful things waiting to happen.

So, I went straight to where any woman in my family would go – the scrap pile. There was a table with odds and ends haphazardly collected and I found two wonderful pieces… one for my bedroom that ties my yellow walls into my leftover maroon college decor and the other more earthy tones to give our common area a more homelike feel.

This is only the beginning – I love the inspiration that comes from a color or a fabric…

But, unfortunately for me the follow-through doesn’t always seem to happen. My design ‘lemons’ usually happen when I give up on a project. Like the time I took to painting a canvas for my office in Austin. Great inspiration, great time spent painting, but my ideas took way too much time and before I knew it I was packing an unfinished mediocre piece of art into the car for Iowa. Or like the time I thought it would be a good idea to cut up a couple ARIZONA tea cans and frame them in front of some fabric… as it turns out, the can is very thin and not easily straightened out. I collected frames and fabric and ended up packing those up too.

Anyway, to prevent any further diatribe on my design failures, I’ll leave off tonight. I am pretty excited to see what inspiration comes about (and carries through) with this new fabric, though! I’m hoping it won’t be another lemon story!

Posted on by Caroline 1

Things I learned traveling in a developing country…

I learned many things on our trip, here are a few:

  1. When traveling in a third world country, never assume you can pay with a card (or find an ATM). Places like restaurants, hotels, boating expeditions, they only deal in cash.
  2. Don’t expect a local vacation destination to have the same luxurious flavor as we are accustomed. When they say two single beds and a futon – that’s really all the furniture you’ve got… when they say “mini-bar” they mean small college-size fridge. But when we said ‘get-away’ we got EXACTLY that!!
  3. When you arrange for a boat to take you to a random island, don’t expect a glass bottom… expect a converted row boat with a motor thrown on the back and a piece of fabric stretched across the top.
  4. When you find the sincerely local get-aways, you don’t have to worry about touristy resorts. Our hotel was right down the gravel road from an orphanage. We looked to one side and saw the sea and to the other and saw steep foothills stretch for miles.
  5. Last thing to remember when traveling in a developing country… never, and I mean never plan to take a bus on Independence Day. Every little town, pueblo, and village is having a parade or some such festivity with the townspeople in full dress and full blockage of the main road. And, of course the main road is also the only main highway going through said pueblo. Our bus took many detours on side streets (which of course are dirt, rock, and pot-holes), but we also got to see some pretty splendid parades! We drove right alongside a beautiful float with children dressed as beautiful animals (even in the heat!!).

Maybe the most important thing I took away from this past weekend is God’s ordained time to rest. I spent time searching His Word, reading good books, and having delightful conversations. Resting is so very necessary for a productive life and I’m thankful for this past three-day weekend (afforded by the Day of Indpendence on September 15) and the rest it brought with it.

Posted on by Caroline 1

Weekly Lineup

Well, if you haven’t noticed, this week is already slightly irregular. Instead of trying to catch up, this week Christina and I will be officially “un-planned” and write whatever, whenever. I just returned from my maiden Honduran excursion with three other co-workers to the north coast. I’m pretty tired, but relaxed and excited to begin work again tomorrow.

THIS WEEK:
Surprises are in store! That’s the lineup, folks. If you don’t normally get excited about routine and hate knowing what to expect, then this week is for YOU!

Posted on by Caroline 0

Trip down Pumpkin-Spice Latte Memory Lane

Today was one of those yearly monumental days… the first day of fall latte weather. I just returned back to my desk with a Pumpkin-spiced coffee by my side. Makes me feel kind of happy and kind of sad – sad that summer is over and happy that beautiful fall is here. And this fall I’ll get to revel in football season in all it’s glory, as I can see the Valley football stadium out my office window 🙂 LOVE IT!

Anyway, walking back to the office feeling kind of pensive because of the sad feeling I always get by fall officially being here, and I remembered a blog that I wrote about this very topic about 2 years ago… for those of you that may remember, I wrote a little blog called NY Nanny diaries two years ago.

Below is a post from that popular little blog. Enjoy the trip down memory lane!
Pumpkin Spice Latte weather
Wow, it’s been awhile, huh? I’ve been thinking for a couple weeks now that I needed to update you all on my life, but then more, more, and more things kept happening that I needed to add! So today you all get the big ole royal update, I imagine it will take a couple of posts so I better get started. Alright, I’m seeing that my last post was on 9/28… well, 2-3 weeks ago, not bad.

SOOO in that last post, I wrote about how we were starting to interview nanny candidates and were flying a nanny out that could potentially send me packing in a matter of weeks.

Well, of course things turned out quite differently than what any of us thought was coming. The nanny candidate totally spazzed on us and blew off her interview. That’s right, people. She didn’t get on the plane- she didn’t use the ticket we got her, she canceled the hotel room we reserved for her, and she didn’t return our calls! I KNEW I had a bad feeling about her! The NERVE! So that was pretty crazy. Pretty stressful, but also good. Like, in that week scare that I thought I was going home in weeks, I realized how much I want to be here. How much more I want to do and experience and money I need to save. So it’s been a blessing, actually. Also I just had to get over the whole deal and stop stressing, because as we saw with this nutcase, apparently it’s going to be awhile before we find the perfect nanny replacement, since you have to sift through so many wierdos. 🙂
Also, something else happened since I wrote last.
Fall happened!

You know that day, when you go outside, kids in their tee-shirts, and you realize, woah, it got chilly! And you have to shuffle the kids back inside for more clothes. That’s the day fall happens. Up until then you can try and and convince yourself that if you really wanted to, you could still spend more time at the beach and stretch out the summer a bit longer, but then that day happens. Fall day, a little happy, a little sad. But mostly happy! I’ve just been throwing on more layers for the kids and me, and taking them on walks around the gorgeous New England landscape with a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. How great is THAT? By the way, I know that one isn’t grammatically, supposed to capitalize the names of coffee drinks, but if you tasted it you’d know why it’s worthy of such grammatical liberties 🙂

I’m love love loving fall here. Driving the kids to school is even more fun, with all the trees turning beautiful colors all around. I just love the crisp fall wather, just love it. I feel like I’ve been given a gift, of still being here in NY, and I’m just loving it.
alright, part 1 done
christina

Can you imagine this happened 2 years ago?

Posted on by Caroline 0

living enlisted

So, Elizabeth Elliot is turning out to be one of the most practical women I’ve ever encountered. She reminds me quite a bit of my dear friend and missionary Treva Turpin, who expresses in beautiful boldness the urgency of our calling.

As I read Elliott’s book “Discipline,” I am constantly challenged to think about what it means to be a soldier in the army of God. I remember the childhood zeal that accompanied my strained vocals and exaggerated movements, singing, “I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery. I may never fly o’r land and sea, but I’m in the Lord’s army.”

Looking back, I realize the absoluteness with which I sang. I didn’t know exactly what my enlistment entailed, but my allegiance was complete.

Elliott writes about the first phrase her high school interest wrote in her yearbook, “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” 2 Timothy 2:4

Of course, neither Elizabeth or John could know at that point what the Lord had in store (and praise God for His plan for this couple!). This Scripture reminds me that my allegiance as one in God’s army is not to make great personal sacrifices – denying myself each day in heroic acts of service. Rather, to live as Christ is my duty each day.

There’s nothing extraordinary about that.

When Elizabeth describes discipline, she writes, “We have said that Christian discipline is one’s wholehearted yes to the call of God. It is of highest importance that we understand the necessity of two wills, the one created by the other and ordained free, both operating in accord.”

God did this amazing thing – in creating us to participate in creation. Man has extreme liberty in making decisions. Yet, if we rely totally on God’s sovereignty we may forget our own responsibility as disciples. And if we rely totally on our own efforts, “we make ourselves God.”

The more I reflect on this life of enlistment, the more my desire grows to fulfill my duty as a true servant would. Servants don’t wait around for their master to assign tasks. No, instead good servants fill their days with things that please their masters. When the day comes to a close they seek no credit, having just done their duty to their master.

What a drastically different mindset.

I’ve had a complex mix of emotions since arriving here. Sometimes doubts of inferiority creep in to steal my joy, and I feel myself requiring more affirmation and man-made credit for the work of my hands. Then, I think about my duty to my Savior and Master and realize my steps to please the Father are exactly the expectation.

I can rejoice in that. I can sing praises knowing that God designed me for discipleship. In the very smallest particle pieces of who I am, God knit together a creation to reflect His glory and serve completely.

“How do I know I’m called?” Elliot writes as she quotes every man’s fears and suspicions. But instead we should ask the question, “How do I know I’m not called?” We can be sure God designed us for service to display His glory, just as surely as we can be sure the Sun was made to shine and a flower was made to bloom.

Posted on by Caroline 0

Listen while you work (la da da da da da da)

Just a quick plug from Christina today- I was gone on a day- long work trip today (so fun! yeah!) so I haven’t had any time at the computer. But for people that spend a LOT of time at a computer (like I USUALLY do,) you might want to check out this website.
You can find all the messages from great Sovereign Grace pastors and teachers. If you are looking for great, gospel-rich messages to listen to at work or on the road, THIS IS IT.

Posted on by Caroline 0

New Honduran Horizon!

Here’s just a quick note to those who read this: I just published the September issue of Honduran Horizon. You can find it by going here and clicking on September in the left column. I’d love for you to join me in this ministry through prayer (or just read about some sweet things going on in this part of the world)!!

Christina and I just wanted to give our bonafide “we recommend” stamp to this little bitty publication. 🙂 Enjoy!

Posted on by Caroline 1

Weekly Lineup

What a week it’s been! Praise God for the blessings of the past week… Christina is now working in her new position at Valley E. Free and I am falling more in love with Tegus every day. We know God is so good – sometimes we can see His goodness through blessings and other times we just believe His goodness is there by faith. Either way, God continues His remarkable work and we’re glad to be a part! This week, we’re hoping to have some more variety. Enjoy! And, as always, leave comments – we LOVE your comments!

Phase II
Read more about Christina’s transition… After being faithful in pursuing the Lord and receiving what you asked, a lot about life changes. Christina has been realizing that God is still and will always be in the work of refining.

design lemon and limes
Okay, so you’ve probably already figured out that Christina is the design whiz around here (when I say around I mean theoretically, because we’re obviously countries apart). But, that doesn’t mean I don’t try to spin a little creativity every once in awhile. Read about the great and not-so-great results!

‘in’ and not ‘of’
Paul’s charge to be in the world, but not of the world turns out to be a pretty hard fight. We struggle each day to make decisions that shine the light of Christ amidst darkness, yet it’s hard to know how our light best shines. Do I watch that movie or read that book? Do we support that company? So many questions… We’ll ask some this week.

being a woman of discipline
So, I just finished reading Chesterton’s “A Man Who Was Thursday” and I’m still reeling from the resolution. As I process, I’m moving onto a bit of non-fiction in Elizabeth Elliott’s “Discipline.” I have really felt God lay on my heart to seek and desire a more disciplined walk.

what to do at a white party?
If you’ve ever been somewhere and got the sudden urge to be the life of the party – read this! Christina is pretty good about bringing laughter to almost any situation and this recent event was no different!

There might be more, might be less. I am learning that our ‘lineup’ our really mere suggestions and reminders to ourselves of the direction we think we’ll go.

Have a great week!

Posted on by Caroline 1