Photo of the Week: IHOP - La Casa del Pankake

 

I did a double take when I spotted this new "IHOP" Restaurant from my taxi.   I think it puts the "International" in International House of Pancakes.

No Place Like Home?

A missionary friend once shared this quote with me:

"You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place." 

~ Miriam Adeney ~

I was reminded of that quote during my recent trips to and from the U.S.  As I left Oaxaca in June, my journal entry talks about how strange it was to be going back to the U.S. - how I felt more comfortable in Oaxaca.  A month later, as I left Colorado, my journal entry was rather similar, talking about how hard it would be to leave family and the comfort of home.

Packing is always a struggle for me.  Travel is definitely not my favorite activity.  Both Oaxaca and Colorado feel like home, but unfortunately it's in the leaving that I feel it the most.  I suppose that's just the way of things.  I go through the goodbyes in faith that I will soon feel like I belong again.

Above all else, these travels help me take great hope in this verse,  

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ" 

~ Philippians 3:20 ~

Photo of the Week: So long, Colorado

Today I return to Oaxaca.  I surely have enjoyed my time in Colorado though.  God has created many beautiful places in this world, and I get to call two of them home.

Climb Every Mountain...

I wanted to spend time in the mountains before I return to Oaxaca, so I looked in a guide book and found a trail called "EASY" right near one of my favorite places here.  My dad and I planned accordingly, and today we went on a beautiful hike in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.  However, it was only a couple hundred feet into the hike when I remembered something... I don't like hiking.

Though I was born and raised near the foothills of Colorado, I don't recall ever truly enjoying hiking.  As a kid, I always dreaded hike day at camp - I could start at the front of a line of 100 campers, and after a few hours, I'd have fallen to the very back.  I'm even blessed to have looked out across Rocky Mountain National Park at midnight during a blue moon, the valleys and peaks lit up by the bright moonlight - and yet that hike was so challenging for me, I still don't know that it was worth it.

But today I was hiking with my dad, so I knew that whatever pace I needed to go at, however many times I needed to stop and catch my breath, it would be ok with him.

And that was especially good because the hike today turned out to be twice as long as we expected.  We also decided that if this was someone's "EASY" hike, we didn't want to know what the "ADVANCED" hike was like.  

But we also kept finding things to be thankful for.  We were even thankful for the evidence of horses that had gone ahead of us - keeping the flies occupied so they weren't bothering us much.  You can call us Pollyanna ;).

But I share this experience with you because there was something in particular that stood out to me during our hike.  The beginning of our trail was a lot of uphill - my least favorite part of hiking.  But, having grown up in Colorado, I have learned to fix my eye on a goal and just push myself to make it to that point.  

A friend of mine once thought she'd caught on to the idea and said, "Ok, then after that bush, we'll go to that tree, then after that tree we'll go to that boulder."  I told her no, no, no.  That is not helpful for me.  That is too much.  Right now I just need to get to the bush.

On this hike, I would see the ridge ahead of me, and I looked forward to making it to that point to take a breather.  My dad, trying to be helpful, would say, "Yes, but my GPS shows that there's a lot more uphill after that."  Hopefully in a kind way, I asked him to stop doing that.  I need manageable goals.  I may give up if I see too much.

This, too, is how my faith life has played out.  Over the years I've noticed a recurring theme - I have had great adventures, but if I had known they were coming, I might not've signed up for them.  I'd have been too afraid, thinking I couldn't make it.  If I had known I was going to help deliver a baby in Honduras... If I had known I'd be punched in the face my first week of work with special needs kids... If I had known my mom would be diagnosed with cancer days before I moved to Mexico... 

But my God knows and loves and cares for the individual - which baffles me, really.  He knows my inmost thoughts and knows my fears, many times better than I do.  Even though I would like to see a faint outline of what's coming, He seems to give me just enough light for the step I'm on.  And for awhile now I've realized that, despite what I might want, that is just what I need.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 Matthew 6:33-34

Photo of the Week: Colorado Summer

While I'm not a big fan of the July heat, especially since this is the second heat wave I've been through this year (Oaxaca's falls around April), I do enjoy Colorado's summer thunderstorms.

Quotes to Ponder

 One day I was sitting in a taxi beside the baseball stadium in Oaxaca,
and I glanced over to see these quotes pasted on the wall.
You can decide if you agree with them or not...

It is not healthy to be well adapted to a society that is profoundly sick.

In the practice of tolerance, our enemy is the best teacher.

As more schools are filled, you will see more empty prisons.

Let your faith be bigger than your fear.

Only dead fish swim with the current.

Fourth of July

I celebrated the United States' Independence Day from Colorado this year.  The Fourth of July has found me in many different places across the years, from middle of nowhere Nevada to the highlands of Honduras.  I was thankful to spend it this year with family.

As I am in the U.S. this month, and I apologize in advance if I don't post as often.  Turns out vacations are more restful and uninspiring than the daily challenges of living and working at a children's home. ;)  I am thankful, however, to be able to call two places home that can celebrate their independence and worship the Lord in freedom.