stay tuned
I can’t wait to share pics and stories, and there are many. As I stood in the back of a pickup today driving down curving cobbled mountainous roads, I thought of the last Office episode I watched where Pam told Jim that you needed to take mental snapshots of those special moments. She held up an imaginary camera and clicked it.
I have experienced many of those moments. I am leaving for the airport and will blog as soon as I can after arriving back in the US.
But for now, I sense your prayers and I’m grateful.
Suz
Posted by Suzie @
6:06 pm |
throw-away children
I remember driving down the street in El Salvador. A little girl stood by the side of the road, her long thin legs exposed to the thigh.
“She’s a prostitute,” the missionary said. “Most likely mom or dad is addicted.”
I looked back. I saw little faces in a nearby bush sprouting out of the hot sidewalk.
That trip I spent a lot of time at the rescue house, painting, working in the hot sun. I traveled to the slums with the team who brought nourishment, both spiritual and physical, to children and families. We spent time at the King’s Castle, a beautiful oasis for children in the stark reality of suffering.
I cried myself to sleep every night that trip. It was simply overwhelming — the needs. I had seen poverty before on other trips. Happy families with little compared to our exorbitant lifestyles in the US, but never throw-away children. Never hoards of children begging in the streets. Never baby girls prostituting themselves to feed daddy’s addiction. Never children with burn marks, missing limbs, and strap marks across their flesh.
This weekend I watched Slumdog Millionaire, a movie about a boy from India who against all odds won 20,000,000 rupees on the show ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’. But his prize wasn’t money. It was the final freedom for a little girl, now a young woman, who had suffered along with him as “slumdogs”.
As we watched my husband nodded his head when I asked, “Really? Could children suffer so much there?” It was even worse than what I saw in El Salvador.
“I’ve been close to there,” he said, remembering his trip to Bangladesh. “I’ve seen blind children begging and singing in the streets. I’ve seen those crowds of children with beat up silver pans begging for money.”
What can one person do? It’s a question that anyone exposed to suffering asks, but particularly when a child suffers.
Yesterday I told my mother-in-law about Buli, the little girl I sponsor from India. I told her how that $38 a month takes care of her physical and educational needs, how it makes her safe.
“How is that possible,” she asked. “$38, really?”
Really.
It’s one thing we can all do. It’s one dinner out for the fam at a pizza place. It’s less than one month’s cable.
It removes the label “throwaway” and replaces it with nurtured, fed, safe, a child with a future.
It’s a real-life rescue for one child that is life changing — and it’s tangible.
Posted by Suzie @
9:06 am |
who loves conflict?
I don’t. I don’t!
But real people encounter real conflict. Can I be honest? I hate it. And my first instinct isn’t always the best approach. And yet how I handle it is key.
Sometimes it’s important to take a step back. What is the intention? Is it malicious or a misunderstanding?
Is it important to wait for a moment — or two — or maybe a day — before responding?
Have I prayed about it?
Have I tried to see it from their side?
What are they trying to say?
If it’s malicious, then I don’t engage. It won’t help. Walking away is a healthy response. I can’t make someone else play nice. I have no control over anything, but my response.
If it’s a mistake or a misunderstanding, I have an opportunity to work it through until we do understand, or we compromise.
How do I do that?
Do listen. Do sort through what was said. Do clarify what you believe they said. Do ask if there is a workable solution or compromise.
Don’t get angry. Don’t lose temper. Don’t be ugly. Don’t accuse. Don’t say hurtful things.
This was one of the lessons that was the hardest to learn for me, and yet one of the most powerful. Rather than conflict being used to harm me or others, it became a tool to communicate and come to an understanding–if at all possible. And if not, to take responsibility for my actions and my response, and to not try to fix anyone else.
Conflict, anyone?
Posted by Suzie @
7:09 am |
as promised, 50th bday bash pics
This is a pic of my family. From left to right: Leslie, me and Richard, Melissa, my SIL Steve (Leslie’s hubby), my SIL Josh (Melissa’s husband), Ryan, my DIL Kristin (Ryan’s wife).
Let’s do the limbo!
Me and the Ricko! Isn’t he handsome?
Richard and our daughter Melissa
bday poster
My sister, Richard, and me!
friends and family
If I knew that turning 50 would be this much fun, I would have turned 50 a long time ago! Today is the official birthday and I’m grateful a hundred times over for life, health, family, love, and most of all Jesus.
His grace has truly marked my life, which leads to the last picture. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, but hesitated. Some don’t like these, and I’m not out to be controversial. But God has so marked my life with His grace that I wanted a symbolic mark to remind me how Jesus touched my life over 30 years ago and I’ve never been the same.
His love transformed me. This is Hebrew script for “grace”.
Posted by Suzie @
11:24 am |
A FB culprit is on the loose…
What do you do if they’re too old to spank? I mean, way too old?
This week my kids are making lots of phone calls, putting together my 50th bday bash on Saturday (pics and video next week, I promise!). One day I came home and several of my picture frames were empty. It was only a couple, so I wasn’t too worried.
I should have been.
The next day years and years of pictures showed up on Facebook. Suzie as a baby. Suzie as an awkward teen. Suzie in her 8th grade prom dress. Suzie pregnant. Suzie with 80’s hair.
You get the picture.
And so did lots of others.
When I asked my son (I knew it was him) why? He replied, “Because I like them, mom. That’s why.”
Did I mention I love my son like crazy, even though I wasn’t so crazy about the pics showing up on FB.
Since they are already on the WWW for everyone to see, I thought I’d share a laugh or two with you today in honor of the big 5-0 coming my way.
When I speak I often try to describe how skinny I was. Perhaps a pic tells a thousand words.
One commentor said this made them want to eat a hot dog… Personally I loved my mustard yellow 8th grade prom dress.
High school senior pic. This was my attempt at the Maxi dresses that were in vogue. I think it came across as a country girl. They arm on the hay stack just confirms it.
Remember Glamour Shots? This was taken in 1991 right before my chemo. I wanted to have a picture with hair — and man, did I have hair!
My fam.
Man, oh man, I love this group of people.
Including the FB culprit in the back and center with the ball cap.
Love you guys,
Suzie
Posted by Suzie @
11:28 am |
life and rebirth
Jack’s funeral was held while I was away this week. It was hard on so many levels. I was literally a thousand miles away. I was teaching, on call and on point. My students deserved a teacher that was enthused and excited. The conference deserved a keynote that would encourage and motivate them toward their dreams of writing.
But the details that floated to me from home were beautiful.
Over 900 people came to celebrate Jack’s life. The large church was filled. Flowers blanketed the podium. A choir sang. People worshiped. But then at the end they played one of Jack’s sermons. His voice filled the church as he simply talked about faith in Jesus Christ, what it meant to him, what it could mean to others.
My son called and I could hear that it moved him. He said that hearing Jack speak the Word was powerful. Richard said that he was moved by the fact that so many shared their stories of how Jack’s life touched them. Many had become believers due to Jack’s ministry — but not always from the pulpit. It was those one-on-ones I was talking about in the last post. Sitting around talking about Jesus. Many walked away from those conversations with renewed or new faith.
Jack’s life on earth is over, but the rebirth of new life and new faith goes on.
What a legacy.
Posted by Suzie @
10:27 am |
