memories 04-05

last night i took some friends on a tour of the NMSI campus through my memory. so i thought i would do the same for you. it starts in 2004. i moved into duplex 2 with angela. unfortunately i cannot find any pictures of us or our little home. so i will just share what i have:

stick-sticktacular: my 23 birthday party where only food on a stick was served.

clean up after a hurricane -->

a trip to thailand & myanmar

my sister got married

i went to kenya for my first triennial!!!

packing, parents, and leaving

our house is a wreck. it has been in a state of transition for over a week now. and in that week so much has happened.
first dan and i packed up all the things that we can live without for the next 3 weeks so that my parents could drive it to their house in VA where it will be stored or gone through again before we leave for zim.
second my parents came to visit last thursday - Easter sunday. and dan's parent's came friday to sunday. we have never hosted our parents so to host both of them at the same time was exciting. we had a good weekend full of the joys of the great FL outdoors.

we are now in our last 5 days of living in ft myers. this has been my home for the past 5 years and on wednesday all of my things will be packed up and will leave with me. moving has always been part of my life so on one hand it feels normal. and it is terrible. i guess because i am more mature each time and my relationships are a little deeper that leaving continues to get harder. i really like working here. i really love the people i work with. and while i know that we will continue to be close friends i also know that that friendship will be very different. watching children grow up through pictures is bittersweet. this past wednesday our office devotion time was focused on remembering times with me or dan. we made a time line of memories on the board and various people shared memoried with us. it was beautiful. and funny.

-mary

my bff, misty, and her husband

came for a visit last week. it was delightful to see them. i enjoy hosting them because they don't need to be entertained. they come just to be in the sun and spend time with me (and my community). there is only one to do on the list: go to the beach and that is pretty easily taken care of. it is also nice to host them because they love my friends here. it is strange when my two worlds collide but i like it so much when they do it nicely. :)

here we are doing one of the many things we do best together: just being.

-mary

the end of one thing...

About a week ago, COAT ended. (COAT is NMSI's missionary development program...my job for the past six months has been to sort of co-lead it two times, especially the people part.) I'd have to say it has been a challenge and a huge learning opportunity...with no shortage of fun times, rest assured. The guy responsible for me this whole time was Matt (see photo), but most of the time I just called him "boss" (which most people attribute to my urban roots) and I probably will for a while. Anyway, COAT has given me a lot of insight into group dynamics, tough love, and failing well. So, this past week has comprised the end of one thing...
...and the beginning of another, namely, transition. We filled up our mini white board with ideas on what to pack and where and when to pack it. From here we move out of our little apartment in Fort Myers and drive and/or fly to a few select states: Virginia, NJ, NY, California and Colorado, for visits, support raising, training and weddings (in no particular order). I think we're both ready for this, or at least as ready as we can be.

-Dan

our garden

So, we have a garden. Living without one has been kinda rough, ever since I left the farm, so it's really nice to have one. We're growing yellow squash, zucchini, watermelon, carrots, broccoli, basil, cilantro and flowers (from seed) and onions, tomatoes and eggplant from seedlings. Each morning, after kissing my wife, I seriously cannot wait to go outside and empty our french press, because that gives me an excuse to check on (speak tenderly to) our plants. Saturdays are the best, of course, because I don't have to rush this. And about life being hard without farming...well, it's hard to describe, but farming has meant a lot to me...I'd even say it changed my life. There's something about having my hands in the dirt, busting my back to pull out weeds, tasting a tomato that would convert a diehard tomatophobe...I could do this the rest of my life. Maybe I will.

-Dan

lent

this year, dan and i are celebrating lent. in the past i have done some sort of fast and little celebration but this year, thanks to erin, we are taking another step in our celebration. first, we went to an ash wednesday service and for the first time i had ashes on my head. second, we gave up something that we actually miss and therefore think about Christ more. and third, we are reading a daily devotion together about lent. i especially liked today's:
"Life is a long journey of preparation- of preparing oneself to truly die for others. It is a series of little deaths in which we are asked to release many forms of clinging and to more increasingly from needing others to living for them. The many passages we have to make as we grow from childhood to adolescence, from adolescence to adulthood, and from adulthood to old age offer ever-new opportunities to choose for ourselves or to choose for others. During these passages, questions such as Do I desire power or service; do I want to be visible or remain hidden; do I strive for a successful career or do I keep following my vocation? keep coming up and confront us with hard choices. In this sense, we can speak about life as a long process of dying to self, so that we will be able to live in the joy of God." -Henri J Nouwen, Beyond the Mirror: Reflections on Death and Life.

-mary

step one

(step one is to write your first post after you have created your site.) step one intimidates me. so here it is -our first post on our blog. i have a love-hate relationship with blogs. i love my friend's blogs and am terrible at keeping one myself. my friend grete has never let me get away with just forgetting that i too can have a blog. so dan and i have started one. we hope to keep it up the whole time we are in zimbabwe so that you will know what we are doing and thinking. so here's to hoping...

-mary