10 things i'm thankful for

1. running water. hot. cold. from a faucet. from a hose. drinking water. well water. in a pool.
2. my mommy.my daddy.my sister...yeah, my brother-in-law too. they are irreplaceable (and indispensable, and indisposable, and irrevocable, and...hehe)
3. skittles....my mom had a 41 OUNCE bag of skittles waiting for me when i arrived!!
4. my own coffee pot. for a year i've been pouring boiling water over coffee grinds and just letting them sink to the bottom, or (frown face) drinking nescafe!!! bye bye grinds, bye bye instant!
5. going out of my house and not stressing...because EVERYONE here speaks my language. it's a circus when most of your communication with people is charades or desperate attempts at sign language...or through a translator.
6. fields of green and skies of blue...and texas sunsets!! i start to wilt a bit when i can't see these things...oh and stars too!
7. rest.
8. a job (i took a teaching/coaching position at lee junior high!!), a house to live in, and hopefully wheels of my own very soon...(anyone selling or know of anything?)
9. steadfast friends that love me despite the fact that i leave the country for long periods of time and am not the greatest at communication...
10. hope in Christ...that i can't seem to get rid of or push away or sleep off or forget about or talk myself out of or label as nonsense. there it remains, because He has remained.

my cup runneth over...

ok and to change gears...i'm happy to be a texas girl. the last couple days i've enjoyed time working out at the ranch. i'm working on a farmer's tan and it ain't pretty. today we ear-tagged spring calves and sold off some bigger ones...it was fun. and my hot shot daddy shot a rattle snake!! i am definitely back in the lone star state!

back in the sweet state of texas

well, here i am back in texas...


and it's a little strange. what was the norm for me (which the world would consider far from norm) is now over and gone. a chapter in my life that is over. the people and places are no longer tangible, they're stories and pictures. now i'm back to what was once my norm...san angelo, texas. each time i leave and come back it becomes a little more difficult to settle back in. i'm not sure i'd call it culture shock, maybe just a challenging transition. i've lived out of a suitcase for a year sharing space, time, and life with 12 other girls. now i've got my own room, my own space. i can eat what i want, watch what i want, go where i want, talk to who i want, have what i want...being back in my own culture is a little overwhelming. being a constant learner of new culture has become what i'm used to. somehow i think there's a Jesus culture i can continue to learn and take on...while embracing the good of my own culture and resisting the not so good (consumerism, materialism).

rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will in Christ Jesus...hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.

i've been so blessed to be spending alot of time with my family. they're such a blessing to me...it's been nice to be able to come home, myself. i can just be me, processing and pondering and crying and laughing and remembering and plotting for the future. my family continues to teach me about the unconditional love of the Father... thanks dad, mom, susan
the past year was a challenge, an adventure, a struggle, a joy...a priceless experience. i welcomed new life into the world and mourned over little lives that didn't make it. i sang and prayed over laboring moms. i layed my hands on countless bellies moving with expectant life beneath my palms. i held babies smiling over their futures filled with hope and opportunity. i taught women about Jesus and healthcare alongside my teamates, bla bla...and when i say i, i mean we. i did life with a group of amazing, godly women...and Jesus was there through it all, crying over loss and rejoicing over life. He's been good to me.

my team along with some cherished friends in indonesia

little indian treasures

a lovely indonesian woman

kid in an indonesian slum area

training women in mother and child healthcare in indonesia

taking blood pressures in the maternity hospital in india

indonesian child whose mother was attending our teaching

training the sudanese traditional birth attendants

sudanese momma and babe

indian pastor and wife that we worked with in india

praying for christian student nurses

that hall we'd walk through almost every day with expectancy and prayers for life

my amazing german midwife friend aline

a precious woman we met in the antenatal ward, with her new baby girl

life.hope.dreams.

the day we practiced taking blood and starting iv's on eachother

a family that let us do antenatal care and pray for women in their home.

canadian bethany and i at the beach in perth our last week

me and ash laying in the grass gazing at stars

lindsey from atlanta; my laughing buddy

we had breakfast on the beach our last week in perth, it was sooo windy

our indonesian friends that owned a cute little clothing and accessory store. we'd always go and practice our extremely limited indonesian phrases with them....haha.

a woman we did an antenatal check for, i hope that babe is born by now!

friends we met in an indonesian mallme and some of the girls
some beautiful sudanese mommas

well, on to the future. i'm applying for teaching jobs. yes, it's true. i'm thinking of sticking around for a while, so instead of trying to write anymore we can just go get coffee or something.

goodbye to you, goodbye to you...

seriously, this will have been more than a week long goodbye by the time we get outa here...
i'm not good at goodbye's. in fact the more short and sweet, the better. no long akward pauses, no thoughts like, "i may never see these people again..." i've just never been a fan of lingering over goodbye. i guess it's difficult here in indonesia because we've met soooo many people from all over the city. everyone wants to take you out to goodbye dinner or to a goodbye movie, maybe goodbye coffee ...one guy is even coming to help us out with friday goodbye house cleanup(voluntarily, so that he can clean out our refrigerator...what a boy.) fun fun. when everyone is tearing up *sniff sniff* and sharing akwardly long embraces, that's a convenient time for me to go to the bathroom or maybe wash my hair. i'm not sure why i'm complaining. next week will be worse. i've spent a year with 12 other girls with hardly any privacy. in fact since leaving perth we haven't even been able to go out alone...everything's been in pairs or threes or 13's. in a week i get to start saying goodbye to them. i'm not an emotional fareweller. it's not that i don't care, life just goes on. anyways, i guess it's been a while since i posted anything and this is the best thing i could come up with. haha. anyways, i have to go and clean up...a couple of my lovely indonesian friends are coming for goodbye time. or maybe i'll just call it "see you later" time. i like see you later, it's less dramatic...bla. bla.

Minguu-Sunday

Today was beautiful...i think Sunday is my favorite day of the week.

fellowship...singing...laughter...people...

i really love people.

over the past 10 months i have met so many beautiful people. they have come in many different shapes and sizes and colors, but all beautiful. a variety of traditions, ways of doing things, eating habits, languages, beliefs...

last night my leader came and said that we were expected to share a message at the church we were visiting this morning. our contact had called 5 minutes earlier. i said i could...

church was so beautiful this morning...it was alive, and vibrant, and passionate. i ended up speaking at a youth service, which was a fun opportunity. they're really in love with Jesus...

afterwards they escorted us to a little office where KFC chicken sandwhiches, coke, and fun little indonesian desserts awaited us. beautiful hospitality.

immediately after we finished at church we went into our own backyard neighborhood and finished the last day of a 3 day mother and child healthcare seminar. i love the 3rd day. today the women took what they learned to the streets. they chose people they wanted to visit and taught them something they learned over the past couple of days. they took us to see a woman with a newborn, and like pros they taught on breastfeeding and cord care. they visited other moms teaching them about good nutrition and dehydration and fever care...it was alot of fun.

later we stayed to pray for the family that let us meet in their home. they're a christian family living in what they call a "fanatical muslim" neighborhood. their house is actually a 2 minute walk away from where we live. mrs. lani especially is really lovely...she made us feel right at home and made loads of fried indonesian snacks for all of us each day. then after all of the women would leave she would bring out more plates with more special snacks. she doesn't speak a word of english, but her actions spoke love and hospitality and welcome...

we've also had some of the most amazing translators...they give us their free days to come out with us and translate. beautiful selflessness.

hopefully in the next couple days i can share about what i spoke about in church this morning...

free socks

last night we went bowling. we got free socks!! reedok socks. i bowled a whoppin' 74 folks. not great, not too shabby...

random Sunday

seriously, my life is so random. today we went to a wedding. we didn't know the bride or the groom. never met them. someone invited us yesterday and said it would be nice if we came...congrats to dewi and rocky. aren't they beautiful!? we got a free meal out of it and a taste of indo culture as well. they even wanted a pic with all of us. cheese. we posed smiling and melting...it must have been 143 degrees or close. maybe not. all that body heat and humidity was a real downer though. we've almost given up on fixing our hair and makeup before going out...anyways i took some uninteresting pictures to keep myself mildly entertained...this lady took off her glasses and posed for me. sweetheart. i wanted a picture of her eating her avacado ice cream, but she opted for serious rather than silly.

so rachel and i had a contest to see who could pull off the biggest pair of sunglasses. are big sunglasses still in? how would i know. i've been searching for a girly magazine all over that's not in indonesian. i finally found an In Style magazing thursday. i tore through it checking out the latest ridiculous things people are wearing. after a couple "that's so last year" thoughts i checked out the date. June 2007. nice. oh well, don't judge me if i come home still sporting tights under a baby doll dress, huge shades, and a shaggy fringe.

random post for a random day...

i'm such a mystery

here are the answers:

1. right after i turned 18 (senior year) vanilla ice did a show at graham's...me and 2 of my friends had to go. i can still remember jamming out to vanilla ice on the playground when we were in 3rd grade...i won't say it was cool, because....well, it wasn't.
2. usa, mexico, australia, singapore, thailand, dubai, india, sudan, uganda, indonesia.
3. duh
4. during my 3 months in india i did catch 28 beautiful, slimy, screaming babies...we were working in a government maternity hospital that saw 50-70 delieveries a day, so needless to say there were enough deliveries to go around!
5. can't do it
6. i shot my first deer when i was in the 5th grade, so that would put me at 11. my papa miller used to come and pick me up from school at fairview and we'd drive out to the ranch for an evening of hunting...

there you go.

how well do you know me...?

how does this go? 5 lies and a truth? 5 truths and a lie? ummm...ok. here it goes...i was "tagged" by my sister, whatever that means. see if you can figure me out..

1. i have seen vanilla ice in concert.
2. i have set foot in 10 different countries.
3. i can drive a tractor.
4. i've delivered 28 babies.
5. i can touch my tongue to my nose.
6. i shot my first deer when i was 11 years old.

5 fact, 1 fiction...take your guess folks.

shall i tag...kristin? yes.

trouble makers

Christians should be trouble-makers, creators of uncertainty, agents of a dimension incompatible with society.
-Jacues Ellul

how will i know the way?

today i sat in the balcony in church. i didn't understand much. an indonesian girl at least told us what chapter the scripture text was coming from. John 14, the first several verses. i read through a couple times...
"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. and you know the way where I am going."
i asked God to speak, to bring His word alive. questions flooded my mind. how did they feel? what were their tones and moods and reactions? what would be my reaction..?
i know Jesus is talking about big houses and Him getting it all ready for us to be roomies, but i think i'd jump in right there with Thomas, my voice edged with panic, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!! going?!! you're leaving?? what do you mean we know the way!!??! the Father's house? is this a joke, because i'm not laughing??!! i don't know where you're going, i don't know the way!"
Jesus calmly replies, "I am the way..."
i saw the confusion right away. maybe because i get hung up there quite often. they were going to have to see past the physical. the disciples had been walking in the footsteps of Jesus, literally, for a long time. now all of a sudden He's out? gone? going to the Father's house, whatever that means? there wasn't a yellow brick road to follow, no road signs.
"You know the way where I am going...I am the way."
don't we still find ourselves right there...longing for mapquest printout step by step directions to the Father's house, longing for physical directions when Jesus has given spiritual directions? so how do we get there? walking "the way" of Jesus, asking Him to show us how to see with our spiritual eyes. Where would He be walking if He were here in ____? in the shopping mall? in the churches? in the slums? where would i find His footsteps? that's where i want to walk, that's where i want to find myself...doing what He would have done. doing what He is doing. doing what He longs to be doing. Yesterday i heard a church leader say, " we incarnate the life of Christ because He is in us."
hmm...
so maybe He didn't check out after all. i think He walks with us...in us...around us...through us...

well, there are my thoughts for a sunday morning pondered and scribbled...

tribute to sudan

this is my life...

Mother and child healthcare seminar

Day 1

Day 3

We had anywhere from 30 to 40 women come each day to learn how they could love God and take care of the people in their community.

I found alot of healing on this dusty road to Congo. This tree was like a wise old friend with it's patch of golden leaves and spacious shade and deep roots...i like trees.
Our dear little friends...sammy, josephine, dosa, and another neighborhood kid.
Bethany, me, and rachel on the way to an island clinic in Uganda. Island treasures that welcomed us and...
bid us farewell.

More of our Sudanese friends/translators/sisters.

This dear woman had been working as a traditional birth attendant for more than 30 years. She helped deliver the healthcare worker who now runs this clinic. She told us she was our mother, dear woman...

"let's go little sister!"

how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news...

We did 2 weeks of teachings in a village under an enormous mango tree. i had so many "is this really my life?" moments.

Many of these women have been refugees most of their lives. My friend taking my picture with my camera.

Our beautiful students/teachers.

Our sources of joy and laughter and fun!

Who needs a stroller?

I grew to love these dear women...I think Rose (the one with the belly) has delivered since we left. She wanted me to catch her baby, but baby didn't want to come. I pray she had a joyful delivery...

Cheese!

Most popular house model...it works for the kitchen, living room, bedroom, dining room...