Five Minute Friday - on Monday

Broken?
More like smashed to smithereens...

This of my dream, the one that carried me through 6 years of start -  stop - start again training and loads of detours.

The goal of working long in one place, becoming as a part of a community as possible as a foreigner, having home be more than an elusive idea for my children ...

Broken? more than once just to makes sure it couldn't live again.

BUT

With all the talk and thought about in-betweenness, belonging, and brokenness I've had a flash of insight:

This in-between world of international urbanites...
Where change of friends, neighbors and local businesses is the norm,
Where cultures mix and mingle pretty freely,
Where people understand, accept and perhaps even welcome differing ways of thought...

This - this world I wanted nothing of - this in-between world is one huge gift for my kids

Here they can be global nomads
AND
Not feel stuck in an in between nowhere land,
Live in community where they truly belong,
and hopefully escape the brokenness of past generations of TCKs.

Broken?
Smashed to smithereens.
And now I can say thank you all the more wholeheartedly.

More Belonging thoughts

Grace and I have been looking at poetry quite a bit in school these days.  Getting her to write is hard work, but what she comes up with is really quite good. I've been meaning to show her some of the poems I wrote way back when and some Imma wrote - just to show her some examples of different types in a more close-to-home way so she might be encouraged that she, too, can write.

So I dug some out today.  And, in reading them through, have been struck about how many are about belonging... proof enough that I am a TCK and struggled through all the typical feelings of many comings and goings, I guess.

No one's here.
It's quiet.
Empty.
Silent.
No one's ever been.
No one's coming.
And it's
Longing
To belong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm a city slick and country hick
A seafarer and a landlubber
A wild thing, a sophisticated snit
I'm a kid and an adult
British, Canadian,
Argyler and stranger

Rambunctious or introverted
Both slap dash and methodical
A dreamer, a doer
... Who is this Liz?
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joyful anticipation
Crawling time
Arrivals!

Nervous love
Loaded gestures
Broken ice
Party!

Melding times
Pricking reminders
Bittersweet joy
Company!

Spirit oneness
Quiet peace
Love overflowing
Contentment!

Time out run
Lingering farewells
reluctant partings
Bereft!

Sad stillness
Confused thoughts
Roiling feelings
Aftermath!
~~~~~~~~~~~

My path is long
The day is short
I call for a friend
For I am all alone.
I call for a friend
Only to be snubbed
Because to them I am no one
And I have gone on alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Success?
None of the wild abandonment
None of that tired contentment
Yet
Enjoyment of friends
No belittling feelings
No awkwardness

Is it because we've all grown or just I alone?
What does it matter?
To whom do I belong?
Among the boys?
With the kids?
Beside the adults?
Who is Liz?

It is neat to see which ones still apply, and which are simply a great way to see how far God has brought me - and how wonderfully good He has been to me!

Five Minute Friday

I've lived "in but not of" places all my life - a true TCK - and I've spent far too much of it dissatisfied: longing to belong and so not enjoying as much as I could have.  It's one of those things that we have to wrestle with off and on (or all the time!) living all over the world for short periods of time (and simply as a Christian in this world).  But I'm slowly learning to hang on to the things that I do belong to, and remember to exult in those:

my family
heaven
the world-wide Church

Pretty hard to go on complaining, or feeling sorry for myself, or lost/lonely/alone once belonging to those three groups/places have been contemplated correctly!

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    throughout all generations. 
 Before the mountains were born
    or you brought forth the whole world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God." Ps 91:1-2

Everywhere is home and nowhere is home.

Balcony Birds

We started feeding the birds on our balcony.  So far we've only had three kinds of visitors, but we have seen others we hope to attract closer.  

The boldest are the common myna birds. They are rather like blue jays - chasing off all other birds with loud calls, bold around humans, and rather cheeky.

    The next biggest bird is this shy one.  So shy we can't get close enough to get a good picture, nor find it in any online guides (yet).  Bigger than a sparrow with a much longer beak, it has a nice call and beautiful facial markings.

Then, of course, are the house sparrows that seem to live just about everywhere!  The ones we hope to attract are bright yellow and black. There are also tiny glossy black ones with a blue-purlpe sheen.

Five Minute Friday

Present

"Wherever you are, be all there"
"Grow where you are planted"
Being present.
Good words; sage advice
but how do you live it out
when 'wherever you are' and 'where you are planted'
is constantly changing?

Present in the moments
the fight against distraction
the battle to prioritize the right things
to focus long and deep...
How do these things translate into the larger picture
of a life lived on the move?

When interest in people around is hemmed by such thoughts :
"We're not likely here long"
"Perhaps they're only here on holiday"
"They're so busy"
And often  these thoughts are true?

I'm Wordless this Wednesday...(almost)

It's been a rough week inside Mommy, but outside things have gone fairly well. The best day, perhaps, was a morning on the beach with friends after a stormy night - and the wiped-out nap that happened afterwards. 

 The 6 big kids worked hard at digging a hole and building a wall to save it from the waves.  It was hard to have to break it up at lunch time.

 It was a perfect day: cloudy and breezy, so not too hot.  And for the first time, Aiden was not clingy, and enjoyed the sand.

rather protective of his bottle - even in sleep!

Five Minute Friday

Beautiful

How beautiful are
God's love-gifts to me
Unexpected, just when needed -
even when I didn't know I needed one.
A pool-full of friends on a lonely day.
A splash of sunlight on my wall, dancing with the tree shadows.
A note from a distant friend.
A bird on my balcony.
That sunset indescribable.
A chorus of peepers for deep-set city weariness.
These little things, inconsequential to most
priceless treasures to one in the know
God's love gifts to me
how beautiful they are.

Random Three

Three random photos of the week...

Aiden learned to use a box to get where he's not supposed to be....

Grace finally let out some of the good storying that we know is in her head...

We held a small Canada Day celebration: a treasure hunt and play with friends, and at night, some sparklers!