The Horrible Cicada Plague of 2011

The cicadas are out.  Can you hear them?  I should ask, can you hear yourself think?  Are you shouting to be heard across the table?  The 13 year cicadas have emerged from the ground.  They chose our yard to swarm in. 

I can relate to the Egyptians during Moses' time.  This is just gross!

This is our light pole.

The tree out front.

The base of the tree, up close and personal.

 Here is a new one that just emerged from molting.  

These have red eyes and fake black eyes on their back.

Some have found their way into our basement.  YUCK! 

They fall on you when you walk.  They crunch under your feet. The whole ground literally is moving.  I think I'll stay inside for a while.

It feels like something out of an Indiana Jones movie.

This, too, shall pass.

Blessings to you,
Mamita

Five Minute Friday - On Forgetting

 
 
Head on over to The Gypsy Mama to find out what it's all about. 

Today's writing prompt:  On Forgetting.

So, here goes...

Sometimes I would like my kids to have selective memory.  I would like them to forget the weeks like this one, when their mom was a crazy-eyed screaming lunatic.  I pray that God would raise them up to love Him and walk in His ways in spite of my Grand-Canyon size faults.  I hope they forget the rants and the snarls and the growls, the rolled-eyes, sarcastic comments, and the deep sighs.  May they only remember the how much I love them, the genuine smiles, and deep connection.

That's it.  Five minutes is up.

Your turn to play.

Blessings to you,
Mamita

Unintentional Consequences - Broad Application

You know I've been blogging about the negative side effects our giving sometimes has.  I've been doing a lot of thinking about it.  And then, things keep coming up.  More to think about.  More to consider.  Deep introspection.

So, I'm ready to wrap up my part, but I wanted to give you two more links if you are interested in digging deeper.

Lisa, at A Bushel and a Peck, wrote for a piece for Until Then a few weeks ago.  To sum it up, a group of well-meaning missionaries gave the village a water well that was not maintainable.  Lisa's husband and son are working with a group to go and teach the local men how to build a water pump from common (in Africa) available parts.  As they teach them to build it, it will also teach them to maintain it.  Great idea, huh?

And then Troy and Tara Livesay wrote another post about respecting the poor that really gets you thinking.  In short:  Would you be comfortable with strangers taking pictures of your children and your house as you go about your daily life without asking permission?

Getting back to my original intent, All of these issues are relevant if you are a short term missionary.  But I think they have a much broader application in regular life.  So, here are some things I think I know.

• I don't know everything about everything.  
• Be teachable, especially if you are in unfamiliar waters.  
• Leave your pride and your agenda at home.  
• Submit to others who have authority, wisdom, or more working knowledge than you.
• Anytime we help someone, their dignity must be kept or restored.
• People need love more than they need stuff.
• Love does not necessarily look like what we've made it.
• Poverty is complex.
• Solutions will be multi-faceted.
• Chronic poverty is not the same as an immediate crisis.  Each requires a different approach.  
• Real solutions require long-term personal investment.
• Helpers should be learners and listeners.
• The more local and personal the help is, the more likely life-change will happen.
• One culture can not overlay their way of doing things on top of another culture.
• Throwing money at a problem will not make it go away.
• The long-term must be considered when helping others.
• The recipient of the help must be a participant in the solution in order to take ownership of it.

I'm sure there's more.

I just started reading, When Helping Hurts yesterday.  I like it already.  I'm sure it is going to challenge me.  I'll give a report with all my new insight.

Do you see things differently?  Do you have any more wisdom to add to my list?

Blessings to you,
Mamita

The "B" Word

Not that "B" word!

C'mon.  This is a family-friendly blog.  :-)

Well, maybe the word you were thinking of described me last night, but today I'm talking about the other "B" word...

Bifocals.

There.  I said it.

Ewwww!

I new it was coming, but still.

Four days before my 47th birthday, my eye doctor stepped all over my dignity by declaring that word.  Right in front of me.  The nerve.

:-(

Well, technically, I don't need bifocals, since I wear contacts.  He gave me a mono-vision prescription.  I see long distance with my right eye and read with my left.  It's going to take some getting used to, but I think it's going to work.

I use mono-vision.  That sounds better.  I'm feeling my dignity return by the minute.  :-)

Blessings to you,
Mamita

Words of Life

It's been tense and stressful ever since school let out amid tornado sirens.  The girls have been fighting viciously from the minute they laid eyes on each other.  Steve has been out of town all week.  We had to hunker down in the basement due to the weather.  Our basement is a horrid mess because the boys are painting the walls and everything is a jumbled chaos in the middle of the room -  not to mention the "normal" mess and the garage sale stuff we've been gathering, as well as college supplies that haven't found a home yet.  

So, my window of tolerance was shattered.  I blew a gasket.  Then I blew another.  And another.  I think you could call it a tirade.  I finally put the girls in their rooms.  

A few minutes later, I walked into Cupcake's room to explain that I'm the one who needed the time-out, but since I can't leave them alone together while I lock myself up in my room, this was the only way to make sure everyone was safe.  

She was writing on her white board.  

These words. 

I can be nis to my sister.

(I can be nice to my sister.)

I am sry for not o baing you.

(I am sorry for not obeying you.)

I love you.  <3

Ples for giv me.

(Please forgive me.)

Love,

Cupcake


Wow...

This is a first.  A huge first.

Good using your words, Baby.  :-)  

Good using your words. 

Blessings to you,
Mamita

Unintentional Consequences - Don't Get Me Wrong

As I've been writing about the unintentional consequences that short term missionaries have caused, I understand that I may sound like a disgruntled naysayer who only points out the faults of others.  You might think I'm an armchair quarterback.  I look at it more as a "Monday Morning Debriefing".  I'm a huge fan of learning from others' mistakes, in order to avoid as many "Ouchies!" as possible.  I'm just trying to figure this stuff out and this is my place to think out loud and process my thoughts..

Please hear me.  I am not saying that short-term mission trips are bad.  I am not saying we should just forget the whole thing and stay home in our nice comfortable churches.  It's really quite the opposite.

I think short-term mission trips can be a good thing and very worthwhile.  If done right, I'm sure short-term missionaries can work alongside long-term missionaries to accomplish big goals and have meaningful interaction with the locals.  In some cases, short term missions are necessary.  For instance, medical mission trips and emergency assistance/disaster relief trips provide acute care for an immediate problem.  I have been the thankful recipient of "just the right help at just the right time" more times than I can count.  I believe people can touch others' lives in a profound way in a moment just by being the one who cares and helps in a crisis.

But I also believe that long term life-change takes long-term commitment and personal involvement.  A complicated problem cannot be fixed in a jiffy.  It requires sacrifice, time, and hard work.  You must invest your life into other peoples' lives if you want to make a difference.  There is no short-cut.  There will be a personal cost.  Your hands might get dirty.  You might be in over your head.


But it will be worth it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is:  For any kind of "help" to be helpful, you must empty yourself of pride and lay aside your agenda.  Submit to those who have a better understanding than you do.  Be teachable.  Prepare your heart to serve - even if that means not doing what you were hoping to do.  Be ready to die to yourself so that Christ may live in you. 

Then take a  deep breath.  Jump in.  Do something.

Blessings to you,
Mamita 

Six Years

Six years is too stinkin' long for kids to wait for a family!

It's too long for aching arms and anxious hearts to wait to hold them!

Please join me in praying for Rod, Dawn and their kids, Ronaldo and Julia.

Tomorrow (May 18th) will be 6 years since they committed to adopting these two.   



I hurt for my friends.

I hurt for these kids.

It's not fair.  It's not right.

 ¹⁸ Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;

   therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.

For the LORD is a God of justice.

   Blessed are all who wait for him! (Isaiah 30:18, New International Version)

Let's pray for justice, mercy and compassion for these two innocent ones and the family that waits for them.

Blessings to you,
Mamita