You Know You're a Missionary When... {Part 1, probably}

...you finish up some random paperwork late in the evening then head up to your hotel room, excited to make dinner - excited because today, you bought a few little dishes {like a small frying pan and a cutting knife} and the ingredients that give you the freedom to actually, wonder of wonders, fry your own deluxe egg & cheese & ham sandwich. ...you set out the margarine {because missionaries aren't rich, after all, and butter is comparatively expensive} and eggs to be able to conveniently pop them right into the frying pan once the veggies are cut up. 

...once everything is ready, you set the pan on the closest burner and, with much anticipation, turn the knob on the stove, ready to make one of the most appreciated sandwiches of your life. 

...the knob turns with no problem, you smell the propane from the stove, but no flame turns on. 

...and all those little joys of learning how to appreciate the little things {like owning your own pan and cutting knife, the ingredients to make a good sanwich, the dishes to put food on and eat with} seem to vanish as you remember - you live in a developing country. Developing countries' stoves usually need to be lit with matches or a lighter. 

...the appreciation for the little things doesn't disappear for too long because along with the other purchases of the day, there is a little lone avocado in the small refrigerator just waiting to be eaten.

...the appreciation for the little things returns as you cut this delicious piece of fruit open with your newly purchased cutting knife {this is, of course, is assuming you love avocados as much as some missionries do - or at least one in particular who comes to mind}, sprinkle the yummy inside with some salt {also newly purchased}, and begin eating it with your newly purchased spoon {plastic - because a bag of plastic utensils makes more sense while living in a hotel than silverware}. 

...the gratitude for the extra flavor salt adds may make you appreciate the little things more than ever, especially since the day before when you invented a new sanwich using avocado, mustard, and cheese {presliced - the knife had not been purchased yet} the only thing lacking had been salt!

So, the question remains - why didn't you just make another simple sanwich that didn't require frying and add salt to it? Oh well...maybe next time. 

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Whether the above account is true or not will be left up to the reader. 

In the mean time, go ahead and check out the few pictures I've had the chance to snap over the past 4 days. It's been a full schedule each day, ever since our pastor contact picked us up from the airport early Tuesday afternoon. My mind is full of legal references and details and my notebook quickly filling up with daily excerpts of information that need to be recorded in a more legible manner. Tomorrow, however, marks our first weekend and a chance to take a full day off. We're planning on visiting a nearby beach for a chance to relax our brains and recharge for another full(er) schedule next week. 

Pastor P has a lot of contacts, including the manager of a hotel close to his church. Our rooms each have little kitchenettes that have already been fully used and appreciated! (as well as served as reminders of things to be appreciated ;) 

View of our town at night. 

The Dominican Republic in all it's beauty! (well, not all - but what do you expect when trying to snap a great picture from inside a car going 100 {kilometers an hour} down the highway?)

We found the original pizza hut :D 

One of many things that I've been able to see up close and personal happened yesterday and I wanted to share it with you to help paint a small picture or idea of how real our life and work is. 

After an appointment with human services' lawyer, our friend "Mani" took us around the area so we could get better aquainted with the town that will probably become our new home (granted we find a house with the right criteria). The town is set in just far enough from the beach so that we can't see the ocean without driving to one of the public beaches or nearby resorts. He took us to the closest access point that includes a lot of little shops and resturants set close to the water's edge and a wide open space where you can go swimming, lay in the sun or under the palm trees, or take a walk in the sand while watching the fishing boats. It's a beautiful place and full of families just taking the day off, tourists on a lower budget, or tourists who wander down from some of the larger resorts that are within walking distance. After spending a few minutes checking out the place, we hopped back in the care and drove for maybe 15 minutes to a part of town where Mani told us that a lot of the corruption takes place at night. "At night, it's like a different world." he said. "It's not a good idea to be there at night." Even just driving through during the day, we could easily see the difference between that part of town and the part we're currently staying in. The paved streets are broken up, the shops and houses worn and sagging - there's poverty everywhere. In Mani's words, "People just live one day at a time here." It's so heart-wrenching and almost difficult to grasp the concept of the reality of resort hotels and ransacked homes (ransacked by corruption and poverty) within near seeing distance of eachother. 

And so as you close this page and go on about your normal life or whatever you have planned for the day, please, my friend, remember this truth:

~It's easy to overlook what is right below the surfice if we choose not to uncover it.~

Moving Update

Plans to make the move to the Dominican Republic around the end of August kept getting delayed, pushed out by two more weeks, delayed again by another paper...until finally we thought we had everything set to be cleared by the end of October - two months later than our original plans!

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." (NLT)

Overview: 

I left ND the last part of September and, at the time, plans were to be in MI for a few weeks (til around mid-October) then fly out from here once our temporary residency visas went through. Literally 2 days after getting to my parents' place, I got a call from the wonderful Mr. and Mrs. Everett (my bosses) telling me that such and such had come up with this certain paper which we needed that we hadn't gotten yet and due to that, we'd be delayed another few weeks (til the end of October). By then, I'd gotten used to hearing that, so I found it a little humorous and was actually kinda happy for the extra time because it meant I'd get to make a short trip to TX, connect with a few extra people, etc. We even booked flights for October 29th with certain plans that all the paperwork would be through by then. 

Until Monday, a week ago. 

Update:

A week ago, I got a call from Mrs. Everett telling me her brain is about to explode, after which she proceeded to fill me in on a conversation she'd had with the Domincan Consulate in Chicago. Evidently, we didn't qualify for temporary residency visas due to inefficient personal financial solvency and needed to apply for a business visa instead. The paperwork is almost as in depth, but the visa in itself restricts us more once we are on the ground in the DR. All that aside, we were still one paper short for this visa. The paper was one our DR lawyer needed to get from the Ministry of Labor and, at that point, we had no idea how long it would take. 

Understandably, all three of us were frustrated. Mr. Everett spoke with the pastor we're connected with in the DR and he promised to personally call our lawyer to talk over specifics and have her email us. No email came. I emailed her again - still no reply. This  went on for a few days.

Friday afternoon, I got another call from Mr. Everett - with news of another change of plans but thankfully, this time, in our favor. He spoke with our pastor contact again who gave us a clearer picture as to why all these complications have come our way. The DR government overhauled their immigration policies last year, which we already knew. What we didn't know is that the policies are still being sorted out and the ability to stay in the DR indefinitely on a 30-day tourist visa still stands (a small monthly fee does apply. Eventually, though, if the change of policies are enforced, anyone in the country with the 30-day visa will need to leave the country every 30 days). Another policy we didn't know is that even though all the registration paperwork for our organization is cleared, the government doesn't issue business visas until the organization is already up and running.  

In that light, we have decided to put aside all the paperwork for any additional visas right now, and just head down to start looking for housing/land, staff, etc. In a few months, once we have the basics in place, we'll re-evaluate the need for applying for additional visas above and beyond the tourist visa. 

We would have changed our tickets to leave this week if possible! Because of previously made plans, we won't be able to leave until October 27th, but we're all ok with that and have complete peace and confidence that there has been a reason for the 2-month wait filled with constant delays, even with the frustrations that came with it.

October 27th!! I always debate a little bit on how excited to sound when I tell people that we have a definite moving date, because I have enjoyed all the extra time and memories this summer. But once you've spent a whole summer not staying in one place for longer than 6 weeks at a time, you'll understand how ready I am to finally be in one area, working one job for an extended period of time! Thankfully, my job consists of tons of mulit-tasking and we'll be traveling to different places in the DR for setup purposes, so I won't get bored very quickly ;) 

When I step back and take a look at this summer, I know I've truly enjoyed it. Nothing about working several jobs and traveling a lot has been out of my comfort zone - I thoroughly enjoy those things and definitely am not done with it! The strain came from the not-knowing. The lesson for this goal-driven, detail-loving, constantly-planning gal has been constantly learning how to trust God even when I don't see the end result. 

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. 

Proverbs 16:9

And So It Goes

Welcome to the new blog! Yes, you are on the right site.

Recently, I've been mulling over changing a few things on here since it's September, the month that marks the 2nd "blogiversary" of my public writing efforts. In the last few months, I've also been contemplating changing the name of the blog from "Life is a Journey" to something that is still in standing with the address - a life with a destination - yet opens up the focus from writing mainly about life happenings to including other topics of interest. It was tough coming up with a different title that encompassed everything I was looking for, but after a lot of brain racking and some suggestions, "Beyond What Is Seen" came about. More likely than not, there really won't be too big of a change as far as content and writing go, but you never know...:)

On a note of continuing the saga of my life:
The day after getting to Michigan, my boss called me up to inform me that our paperwork will be delayed (again) by a few more weeks, pushing our moving date to somewhere around the end of October.
I laughed, amused at how many times it's possible to hear the same story, then headed off to TX to visit my bro and his family for a few days.
Do I still get impatient? Yes, even when I've learned to enjoy the extra time. But learning trust and flexibility will prove to go far, I know. There's also definitely been added bonuses like getting to be at my cousin's wedding that I thought I'd have to miss out on, etc, etc.

Until next time! 

~ In the Morning

There's something about morning and all the freshness and promise of a new day that it brings that turns my heart heavenward a little more than any other part of the day. There's something about the quietness and lack of distraction that makes conversations with my Heavenly Father a little more close to my heart - something makes it easier to listen and more open to sharing... 

As the days have been getting shorter and the air a bit chillier, I've loved throwing on a sweater and hopping on my bike for a spin around the little country town I live in to add to our morning chats, when possible.
God teaches me so many things in so many different ways, not just in the mornings. Sometimes it's in the conversation with a coworker at the diner - reminders to take opportunities to let the light of Christ shine in every word, every action; reminders to take to heart the situations and stories of each priceless soul I come into contact with and to remember to live in Love. Other times, it's in the middle of a certain song on a Sunday morning - everything else fades into the background as He gently wispers the promise that He knows the beginning from the end and He is faithful to complete what He has started. It might be while working on the construction site with the brother-in-law, cooking dinner after a long day, hanging out with the cousin, driving with the bestie as we roll down the windows and turn up the music, or stopping beside the road on the drive home after a late shift just to look at all the stars; maybe it's in the conversation with that awesome person who "knows what it's like", in the middle of a circle of saints praying for my future and sending me on as I round the next bend in the road, or in overhearing the innocent conversation between my little niece and nephew in the backseat of the car saying, "I just can't wait to see Jesus."
But there really is something about mornings! A few days ago, as I was out riding my bike, I turned right onto the dirt road that took me a just a little outside of town to the small cemetary nestled in among a few tall trees. It might be weird to some people (actually, I think a lot of things I do or have opinions of are weird to a lot of people!), but I actually really like cemetaries. There's a song I used to listen to as a kid that talked about what kind of legacy we leave behind in the "line between the two". When you look at a gravestone, there is usually a name engraved on the top and two dates engraved beneath the name - with only one little line that separates those two dates. Sometimes there's a small epitaph as well but not much more than that. The question that particular song was asking, and one I ask myself on a daily basis, is this: What kind of life will that little line between two dates on your gravestone represent? And walking through cemetaries, looking at the names of the loved ones buried there, thinking about the lives represented on those stones, always helps put the big picture into perspective for me. Now, I could sit here and write a whole big blog post on legacies and choices, etc, but I'll let you think about that on your own and keep going with what I was saying about mornings and bike rides!

As I turned my bike into the small driveway, the sun in my face and the air gently moving the trees, I slowed down then came to a complete stop before reaching the gate to the fence that surrounds the cemetary. 
It was quiet. 
I could hear the birds chirping overhead and the field mice scurrying through the grass, but there were no cars going past, no people's voices, no train whistle - everything was quiet, and peaceful. 
"God, why can't it always be like this? In a place where even my brain slows down and I don't have a million things going through my head, where I can hear myself breathing because it's so calm - why can't it always be like this?" 
"I am with you, always."
Such a simple answer. One that was, sadly, almost missed.
Such a simple answer but one that speaks through every circumstance, every question, every worry, doubt, and fear!
It's the answer that promises, even when sorrows last through the night, joy comes with the morning. 
It's the peace that comforts the mother who has lost her son, the husband who has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, the broken soul who has forgotten the reason for living. 
It's the hope that comes when we cry out with confusion and chaos surrounding us on every side, when friends turn against us, when everything we thought had meaning has been stripped away. 
It's the joy in a newborn cry, a wedding day, or Christmas morning. 
"I am with you, always." Not just some of the time. Not just in big moments. But even in the mundane, He is with us. 

On this morning, today, I begin packing up my things and prepare to leave ND tomorrow. It's bittersweet, understandably so. A cousin is getting married in IN this weekend, and since the preliminary processing for our immigration paperwork is almost complete, I'll be visiting family and friends in MI until final processing is through and we can make the move down to the Dominican - hopefully in a few weeks! God is so continually faithful and I look forward to how He works out the final few details - as well as every detail from then on, of course :)   


Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5
And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20

~ While Waiting

You know that feeling of waiting for something? Remember as a kid seeing all those colorfully wrapped gifts piled under the tree just waiting to be opened? 
The week before Christmas always seemed to pass so slowly - yet in a blink it was all gone. After a few seconds of tearing, there you were, left with an unwrapped gift layig in your hands or sitting at your feet - the colorful paper gone, but the appreciation of finally knowing what that gift was and being able to touch it and play with it or wear it... That appreciation and joyful happiness in your gift would somehow not have been quite as full without those long days of waiting...
But oh, how hard and long and unbearable waiting can get! Even when you know - you know in the end it will be worth it, you know when the paper falls away, when you open that box and begin to put the pieces of the puzzle into place or read the first page of that new book or assemble that train set and listen to the wistle blow for the first time, even when you know the waiting is a very good thing, it still doesn't always make it very enjoyable (in fact, sometimes it can be downright boring!). 

Now, I'm not saying I've been bored - quite the opposite in fact! But it would be foolish to try to deny that waiting for this paper to be returned and that paper to be processed before the completed application can even be sent in doesn't, at times, make me impatient. 

I don't like waiting.
I was that kid who not only shook the wrapped packages to try to guess what was inside but considered shaking to be a last resort.
I was the kid who would inevitably 'happen' to overhear certain conversations or open the exact 'wrong' doors - surprises were only fun if discovered!
Waiting - what does that even mean?

Patience.
Gratefulness.
Patience.
Trust.
Quietness.
Patience.
Treasure time.
Treasure moments.
Treasure relationships.
Patience.
Learn patience. 
And don't let even one minute slip by unnoticed while waiting...