Miss Atoria

"Miss Atoria, I got you a Valentine's Day present. Open it. It's cough candies!" - Caleb

-They were actually "Coffee Flavoured Candies." Priceless. çok tatlı (Very Cute!)

I had one of those special moments a couple of weeks ago when we were on the bus going from our houses (2 of the families and I) to the airport when we went to Germany. I was watching the kids as we were on the bus. I stood there watching everyone and prayed over the kids as they sat there and I wondered what was going on in their minds. For some reason I felt soooo proud of them. I will always feel connected to these kids- even when they grow up and become aduts. They have captrued a part of my heart. I want to be a good mom one day like these moms are. If I felt such a sense of pride watching theese kids, I can only imagine what their moms feel!

dancing

I have yet to dance at the Sahil (seaside)... It WILL happen!

I was picturing it yesterday... vibrant coloured flags, singing freedom over this land.

"We gotta, we gotta, we gotta let the light shine. " -song by Kari Jobe- We are.

I saw others joining in too, wanting to be part of this expression of joy and wanting this hayat/ yasam (LIFE). abundant life.

Again, I say this verse, "You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord's name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love"

(Isaiah 55:12-13).

Here are a couple of pictures of my dad and I from the past couple of weeks:

special times of being together.

Dare you to move

Many people have a "list" of the things they want to do; things that you hope you can accomplish or learn to do, or "check off" for yourself. I never really kept such a list, but have been thinking about some of these kinds of things lately. My list is not deep, it's just the some things I'd love to do. This is probably an incomplete list, however, it's what I've got.

My List:

- Learn to drive standard

- Particpate in the Vancouver Sun Run (10km)

- Teach an aerobics class (just 1 that's all... not a full out instructor... any guinea pigs?)

- Travel to Newfoundland

- Learn to make Sushi

- See the Grand Canyon

- Go Skydiving (in Abbotsford, overlooking *my* city!)

- Own a business

- Keep a garden

- Learn to play some Jazz music on the piano

What's on your list? One by one, let's see these things become a reality.

quotable quotes

This phrase caught my attention (Thanks Starbucks).

I'm reminded to cherish the gifts;

to be present;

to share the moments with others;

to create memories;

to listen;

to have moments of silence;

to be.

Zurafa

I have never been good at Oragami, or Puzzles for that matter.

I dont really have the patience. I am not a "builder" or "engineer" like some. All I can do is stand back and laugh sometimes when kids are way better at these things than me.

I am in charge of a craft on Fridays at the English club. I don't know how I became the craft lady because art is not my specialty, but I have to make-do. If you have any good craft idea for preschool/ kindergarten age kids, I'd be thrilled if you passed them on:)

Today I decided to do some "oragami." Not your typical "craft," but one of the kids had brought in the paper a couple of weeks ago to share with the class and so I thought I'd make use of it.

It turns out, I have no clue how to make oragami! I don't understand the diagrams and I can't follow the directions. definitely not my forte. So, had another teacher not come to help out, I would have had some very disappointed boys.

Here is a picture of a zurafa that we made.

It's snowing here too

This morning I kept seeing a buzz on facebook about the first real snowfall at home and oh how I longed to go for a walk after the ground was covered with a fresh white blanket.

funny things happen though..

It snowed here too!

Presence

The word "presence" has been on my mind a lot lately. presence.

be.

present.

be present.

where you are- be present.

A little while ago, Alanna told me that when I return home from 7 1/2 months away, people will simply summarize "what's been going on" in 5 minutes or less. I didn't really like the sound of that. I love being "involved." I love being "with" you, so to only hear things in a nut-shell, just doesn't quite cut it for me. Praise the Lord for today's technology where I can talk to my parents frequently, skype people over the holidays and wake up in the morning, pick up the phone and hear a familiar voice. It's interesting how one can describe an event or situation to another person with lots of detail or expression and captivate the other's attention; however, as much description is put into the story, the listener can never experience that exact experience for themselves. I think this often when I tell stories. My words just can't give the other person the experience. The fascinating part about this is the special memories that can be created by two people that nobody else can ever know and live personally. You will never experience when I went to the waterfall at Palau Weh, Indonesia, you will never know what it felt like to feel God's heartbeat at the Vancouver International Airport in July 2010, you will never know the sense of anticipation I felt when I flew over Hanoi and entered Vietnam in 2009, or the beauty I breathe in when I walk the peak of the hill at Douglas Taylor Park in Bradner, or how I just want time to stand still when I lead the kids in worship at church, and you can never experience the feeling I had while standing atop the Galata tower praying for people in this land to experience freedom. Similarily, I can not experience the special, one-of-a-kind moments that you have when I am not with you. That's part of the mystery of life. At the same time that's part of its beauty.

As a springboard from what I just talked about, I've been pondering the reality of

"EMMANUEL- God with us."

Emmanuel.

God.

With us.

My God is a personal God, not a far-off distant god. So to think, He is the One who is present with me in each moment just AMAZES me. So there is One who knows. As we celebrated Christmas, I thought of this in relation to the wonderous event. Somehow God saw it fit to send his Son to earth to experience life as we experience it. to experience it. My mind can't fully comprehend this story- it will always remain a mystery to me to some extent; however, I think about the beauty I talked about before of experiencing moments together with another person. I think about how Jesus Christ became physically present. I love how John 1 puts it in the message version: "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out. True from start to finish." (check out Jeff's Christmas sermon this year- on this exact point- (www.northview.org/messages_comments/the_word_became_flesh/) True. In history, he came as a man. Truth. He gave His Spirit to be present with us now. Are we aware of his presence? How do I respond when I am aware of His presence? God is near.

I think about I live more FULLY when I am completely present where I am. Before writing this post I googled presence and found this: 10 reasons why being present is better-

1. You cry more

2. You laugh more

3. You love more

4. You see more

5. You feel more

6. You live more

7. You do more

8. You listen more

9. You reach more

10. You ARE more

Are we attentive? Are we present? Do we know the gift of presence? Do we know how to offer another the gift of presence?

There's so much more to say... but I will leave you to look again at the picture posted at the top.

presence.

the power of being present.

picture taken from a recent earthquake site.