trampolines and skydiving

My fault in blogging is my long windedness. I never had a problem reaching the minimum word counts for analytical papers in high school or in college, always enjoyed writing the papers, but I do admit to being a bit of a procrastinator (the majority of my papers were written within a few days -or hours- of the dead line). The problem with blogging is that even though I love to write, there’s no deadline, so several half written blogs sit in lonely word documents that I simply never got around to finishing…

All that to say, today I was reminded about Skydiving from the book I am reading and really wanted to blog about it so here it goes (please and thank you for bearing with my wordyness!) The book is Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. Although I read it some years ago, Bell explains in his book that just like “we instinctively understand that art has to, in some way, keep going… keep bringing new perspectives” so it is with Christians. No one person figured faith out. Rather we are all “exploring what it means to live in harmony with God and each other… Times change. God doesn’t... We learn and grow and the world around us shifts, and the Christian faith is alive only when it is listening, morphing, innovating. Letting go of whatever has gotten in the way of Jesus and embracing whatever will help us be more the people God wants us to be.” (10-11). God and the ways He is described in this book have not changed since I last read it, but I have. And though others may have discovered and re-discovered the truths many times before, what I am learning from this book now is new to me because I have grown and experienced new things. For example, I had not been skydiving the first time I read this book, but now that experience helped me learn in a new way (more on that later).

Bell describes a trampoline as a symbol for the Christian walk. The “statements and beliefs about our faith” are represented by the necessary springs which can stretch and bend and be seen in new perspective (22). The bricks of a brick wall do not accurately symbolize the doctrines of our faith for if a brick changes shape or grows, it no longer is a useful part of the wall. Furthermore, a wall divides and encourages a defensive standpoint; but a trampoline is about community, and about enjoyment. However, if I spend my entire time on the trampoline clutching the edge, examining the springs to see if they will hold, I have missed the joyful taste of flying that a trampoline offers. Bell says, “Jesus invites everybody to jump… the invitation to jump is an invitation to follow Jesus with all of our doubts and questions right there with us” (28). But sometimes in life I have found that God has answered my questions right before tossing me into the sky to test whether I have really learned what I think I have. This to me is like skydiving. For a personal example, on the upswing of an eating disorder, I felt like I was falling through thin air as struggled both to remember what I learned but God had prepared me to be open to share my story with two friends who I saw spiraling into the same patterns from which I was still learning to accept freedom.

In skydiving, you cannot be worried about the parachute the whole flight up and dive down. If you are, there is no joy in the experience. To be sure, there is a time and place for learning and checking, re-learning and re-checking, for doubts and questions, and for using accountability and caution all to protect us and prepare us for the road ahead. But once it is time for a journey, you are free to climb, to fly, to share the joy of discovery and adventure with those you are with. Then, when the time comes, to risk, to jump, to fall, to experience, to smile, to test, to trust, to watch, and to be thankful. And to invite others to join. But the importance of those times of learning, the times on the ground, cannot be overlooked. I love adventure and but as I learn to be intentional with the time God gives me to rest and to prepare, I have experienced that the preparation is just as wonderful as the jump. With each step, anticipation grows. I learn to keep my eyes open to watch for the way God acts and the glimpses of His ever present beauty and grace and love. I could try to describe more how I see Him, but as Rob Bell says, “this is something people have struggled with since the beginning: how to talk about God when God is bigger than our words, our brains, our worldviews, and our imaginations.” (23).

And because the song fits where I am right now, this is a song called “who you are” written by the wonderful college minister at my home church. (he has written many other honest, beautiful songs that have impacted my life. sadly, not near enough of them are recorded but you can look some of his songs up on iTunes under Robby Higginbottom and Empty Handful!)

“WHO YOU ARE”

Bigger than our thoughts, Higher than our sweetest dreams can soar

You are that and even more

Words cannot describe, The wonder of a King who stooped so low

Who left His throne that we might know

Who you are.

Infinite the gap, between the God reflected in our days

And the Glory we were made to praise

Cleverly deceived, eyes you made to glimpse reality

When focused on ourselves will never see

Who you are.

You say “I am who I am”,

You’re the Lion and the Lamb

Lord of Heaven and of Earth

Infinite in Worth

You are Word becoming flesh

Conqueror of death

God of Wrath and God of Love

Reigning over us

May our lives go far,

In showing who you are

We want to love the truth, we want to long for you

In you we finally see our identity

Jugares Nuevos

Penarol: this game was like nothing I have ever experienced before. We got to the game over an hour early and everyone was already decked out in black and yellow and singing and chanting. Right before that game started, everyone started singing really loud, setting off fireworks, sparklers, and yellow smoke bombs. My favorite thing was that there is a rule with Penarol fans that win or lose they are always on their feet, always cheering. Even though Penarol lost the game that we attended, the fans never stopped encouraging and cheering on their team.

Symphony: It was a fun night, we all got dressed up and took some pictures and headed to the show. The conductor was exactly the person I would draw up the perfect conductor to be. Long white hair and a handle bar mustache and he got into the conducting so much that he jumped up and down for emphasis at least a couple times per song. The first songs were from the nutcracker and were absolutely amazing. The whole experience was just what I needed after a long week and right before a fun but tiring weekend. It was wonderful to listen to the music and think of nothing else.

Speaking of this past weekend, it was the most unplanned but most wonderful adventure. Once we got off the bus at our campsite, (which was an adventure in itself) the first thing I noticed were the stars. You could see the Milky Way easily and the constellations were all so bright and seemed so close. If nothing else good had happened, the weekend for me was already made. The campsite centered around a couple pools that were fed by the hot springs. Eric went to check them out the first night while Mal, Jamie, Whitney, and I went to bed in our tent and stayed up talking. The next day was Mal’s birthday and we went to a water park about 30 minutes away from the campsite with this wonderful family that Eric had met and befriended the night before. They had been camping there for about three weeks and three of the sons ended up coming back on the same bus as us back to Montevideo. They were so patient and easy going and it was so much fun hanging out with them. The park was right across from Argentina, and it had hot pools and cold pools, it was the perfect day of relaxation, adventures, new friends, practicing Spanish, eating ham sandwiches, drinking fresh squeezed orange juice, and sharing Maté. I love how easy it is to make friends here. Everyone is honest and the relaxed nature is so different and a nice change from the fast-paced life of America. The next day we spent some time looking at some local markets and going down to hang out by the river. I went down closer to the river and found a beautiful little shaded place right by the water that was so peaceful that I just sat there taking everything in and enjoying the quietness. After a while there we went into Salto to find the free zoo that we had heard about. Once again, on the bus, everyone was so willing to talk and so patient, we followed a family from one bus to the next that would take us to the zoo. There were some pretty awesome animals including lions and tigers and bears and all sorts of colorful birds and these cute little animals that we could never find a sign for but looked like a mix between a raccoon and a puppy and an anteater. When we were waiting for our bus that was to leave at around midnight, we made friends with a Pastor and Professor who lives in Montevideo, he knew like 5 languages and wanted to learn English, he had written a book but apparently needed another doctorate before it could be published. We had a wonderful conversation with him and started singing worship songs at a bus stop in the middle of the countryside of Uruguay. Although the fact that we had not planned almost anything the whole weekend was a little stressful, God had a perfect plan for us to learn more about His people and made me become less worried about scheduling my time and rather giving it up and recognizing that it is His time that he has given to me so that I can learn to glorify Him in new ways everyday.

The Paris of the South

We left Montevideo for Buenas Aires early on Friday morning on a charter bus headed for Colonia where we would take the Ferry to B.A. Our first stop was this really random museum of world record collections of pencils, key chains, and perfume bottles. Personally, my favorite part of the place was the playground outside with some legit merry-go-round deals and a seesaw on springs. It was awesome. We got off the bus again to see an old bull fighting rink and to have a picnic by a beach. The bus trip ended in Colonia where we wandered down by a beach through cobblestone streets and then climbed a lighthouse where we could barely make out part of the skyline of Buenas Aires across the ocean. Whitney, Ben, and I went down to the pier and sat and watched the water and the ships, got coffee in miniature coffee mugs, wandered through an artisans market and simply enjoyed the relaxed pace of the town.Then we headed to the enormous ferry to go to Buenas Aires! We couldn’t figure out if it felt like we were on a plane or a bus or really moving at all the ride was so smooth.
After arriving in Buenas Aires we got on an air-conditioned bus to ride to our air-conditioned hotel. This hotel was literally in the center of downtown. There is a massive obelisk that marks the center of a 20+ lane street (one of the biggest in the world) that runs through downtown and our hotel rooms each had balconies overlooking the street. Buenas Aires is an incredible city with many many different interesting things to see and explore. Here are a few of my favorite parts of Buenas Aires:

La Boca- an old, beautiful, colorful neighborhood with lots of vendors, salsa dancers, painters, musicians, and restaurants.

Puente– a famous, white, modern looking  bridge over a beautiful river. The River walk is pretty posh and one night Brady, Ben, Whitney, and I went down to a little park to people watch and talk.

The Ferria- a street filled with a long market. There were beautiful embroidery crafts, colorful shoes. Whitney and I spent a few hours walking down the market and finding all sorts of beautiful things and trying to have little conversations in Spanish with some of the vendors.

The last thing I want to mention about Buenas Aires are the wonderful friends I made there. I met Marisa and Ashley at the church service in the morning  and then Whitney and I met up with them after we wandered the Ferria and they showed us a 5 story mall and took us to one of their favorite restaurants served family style. We had such a wonderful conversation about how the youth of different countries can represent Jesus to the world. The way that a common love and a common purpose can unite God’s people across countries is inspiring in a way like nothing I have ever experienced. It is a bond that grows stronger with differences and is more pure as it combines cultures. The love of our great God unites us and this friendship gave me a taste of the joy that will be ours when together with followers of Christ from all over the world we will all praise or King and spend every moment glorifying Him.  

Mas Como Mi Casa Todos Los Dios

Sorry for the time lapse! My blog was not uploading and then I had not had time to write but I think it is about time for an update on my semester! This entry was written a few weeks ago so if it seems a little out dated that is why! So many fun things happen every single day I wish I could have time to blog about it all but here are a few highlights of the past week: There is a beautiful park about 20 minute walk from Casa right next to the Rambla (and the ocean) that I am sure we will spend more time in as the semester goes on but I already have so many fun memories that I have to share a few. One of the first time we went was with Martin, his little sister Michaela, and some of the other people from the youth group. We just sat and talked, practicing the little bit of Spanish that I knew, and watching Michaela show off with her handstands and cartwheels. This 12 year old girl is adorable, energetic, and unafraid to try out her English and laugh at and with us as we try to learn Spanish. Speaking of Spanish, I am learning a lot! (8 hours a week plus homework and hearing it everywhere I would I hope I would be!) At the park there are signs explaining the algae in the lake or the various birds around or the monuments and statues (which are scattered allll over Montevideo) so Whitney, Amy, and I walked around translating them as best we could. I was excited that my French background helped me a lot with reading Spanish! Whitney and I have started carrying a little dictionary around with us most of the time we go out and try to talk in Spanish at least some of the time that we are out. One time we were walking maybe 10 feet behind an Uruguayan man, switching around between Spanish and English (and a little French) talking about the beach and anything based on what we could remember how to say. Needless to say our conversation probably seemed extremely random to someone who did not know what vocab words we learned that day in Spanish class. When we finally made a turn and parted ways he turned around with this hilarious amused look on his face and started laughing. Technically, it is improper to smile at Uruguayan men that you don’t know but we did anyhow. One way or the other I’m sure if he had a story to tell went he went home that night. One more thing about the park, there is a couple that sells these delicious doughnuts type things called “borrlas” for 4 pesos. We have gone there a few times already and we want to frequent the place regularly and make friends with the lady who manages the stand.

I have not gone running a whole lot since I’ve been here which is driving me a little crazy! But the times that I have gone running are so much fun. Running on the Rambla and playing soccer on the beach are dreams come true. Seriously. I was planning waiting for things to settle down to a rhythm to get into a running schedule but everything here is still so new and there is so much to explore and since I am coming to Dallas for Steven and Abbey’s wedding on Wednesday, I think I’ll wait for things to settle down to a rhythm here in a couple weeks. We have been to 4 different beaches, two along the Rambla, Carrasco, and we went out to Raquel (our wonderful cook) house for church, beach, burgers, and helado. She is such a gracious, generous, beautiful, servant-hearted woman I love having here in Casa 5 days a week! Many times before meals Wimon or Rosalinda will pray in Spanish or in both Spanish and English. I love hearing it and although I only catch some of it, I love thinking that God can hear us all the same, there is no language barrier between God and His people. Since “yo estudio patelogia del hablar”, this has a special meaning for me, sometimes language barriers can occur even in the same language when people cannot communicate what they need or want someone to know. With the kids that I work with at Joni and Friends, my heart aches to help them learn to express themselves and I love knowing that God has absolutely no difficulties understanding every child that the world finds hard to understand. Our God “is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth” (Psalm 145:18)

Oh yeah, annnd classes! How could I forget? There is a ton of reading and writing homework, and plenty of Spanish memorization. Balancing time between wanting to journal, blog, have alone time, go to class, do homework, explore, spend time at the beach or the city, and just be with people around Casa is so hard but it is teaching me to prioritize and to be diligent about scheduling my time. My goal is to blog about once a week but they will be shorter than this post!

One other thing that I want to mention is the Carnival Parade that we watched on Friday night, the parade marks the beginning of carnival month (leading up to Mardi Gras and ending on Ash Wednesday. The Parade had tons of singing and dancing, kids dress up in costumes and run around, ducking under banners, joining in this the dancers, running alongside the floats, and convincing their parents to buy things from the vendors that walk up and down 18 de Julio right alongside the parade. We arrived at 8 and the parade picked up speed at 9 o’clock around sundown. We left at around midnight but it continued for at least another hour after we left. Last night Cory, Ben, Whitney, Brady, and I went to the grocery store and to get some supplies for taco night. One night we made macaroni and cheese which was delicious! The next night we had taco night with most of Casa. We made our own flour tortillas and we had so much fun preparing it all! It is a whole new world buying things in kg and measuring in grams but I’m a pro at guesstimation and everything turned out great! For me, cooking with these people makes them feel even more like family. I have countless wonderful memories of my mom and I baking and cooking, trying new recipes, taste-testing, being excited with successes, laughing at failures. Also, at Kamp the girls that I worked with in the kitchen were my Kamp family, we saw every high and low together and developed unique friendships because we virtually were never apart. washing dishes and cleaning up after meals makes me feel like I am at Kamp again. But the best part about my family, my Kamp family, and the people I am studying with here is that we all have a common focus and a great desire to serve the Lord with all we are and to learn to love Him better everyday. I miss my hometeam Bible study and my heart to heart talks on walks back in Texas, the numerous honest and God-centered conversations that I have had here are so encouraging and make me excited to see how God will work in our group the rest of the semester.

If you hadn’t heard, I went home this past weekend for Steven’s wedding and although the travel was long, everything went smoothly all in all and I would’ve done the travel ten times over to be a part of their wedding again. Everything about the ceremony and the reception fit their personalities so perfectly and it was incredibly beautiful! And I finally have a sister!

Alrighty that is all for now but I will be posting some more here in a day or too all about our trip to Buenas Aires and Tigre last weekend!

“There’s more of the Spirit and more of God than any of us are experiencing. I want to go there—not just intellectually, but in life, with everything that I am” –Francis Chan, Forgotten God

llegando

Wow. This place is unlike any I have ever been. These Spanish speaking, Yerba mate carrying, very tan, big city people are so interesting to watch and I can’t wait to learn more about their culture! So since I haven’t updated my blog since I left, this is what I have been up to! The flight to Montevideo was a bit cramped but when we got in and past all the customs lines, Wimon in the ACU button down and Rosalinda with her beautiful smile were there to greet us. We took a bus to Casa ACU, driving past the beaches and a few parks until we arrive at a large metal gate next door (the buildings are all connected in that European style) to a church. before we even put our bags in our room Raquel had a lunch of yummy empanadas out for us. Then we unpacked a little and got ready for the traditional scavenger hunt that helps familiarize the students living at Casa ACU with the surrounding area. My group was Brady, Claire, and I and we dominated even if we were a tiny bit late. Some of the activities were finding the closest place to buy groceries, finding a place to mail a letter, getting a few maps from a travel agency at Tres Cruces, and finding certain landmarks and statues. We scraped by with minimal Spanish but the scavenger hunt made me want to start school just so that I can learn Spanish! That night, Wimon, Rosalinda, Dr. Walker, and Sandra went with us all to an indoor arts fair. My favorite thing there were little jars with lids made out of an orange peel turned inside out. They were very prettily decorated and the inside smelled like fresh oranges, they were so unique. Rosalinda taught us a trick to estimate how many American dollars that an certain amount of pesos is equal to so I am getting my math in and I am already starting to not even have to do conversions. Also at the fair there were beautiful shows some made of leather, some made of embrodiory floss woven together. After looking around some more, we went upstairs to eat dinner.  Greta and I decided to not be adventurous (I’ll have plenty of time to do that!) and get something that tasted a little like home on the first night away so we ordered the Uruguayan equivalent of spaghetti with pesto which was very good. For dessert we got to taste Crema, thick custard with a sauce on top that tasted a little like caramel which was made from Dulce de Leche. We had ridden in a taxi to the fair and restaurant but since it was a beautiful night, and since the taxi ride there was scarier than a New York cab ride, I decided to walk back with about half of the group to Casa. That was Wednesday. Yesterday, after a yummy breakfast with delicious fruits all prepare by Raquel, we had orientation and fairly boring but necessary talks all morning. After we ate lunch, we took a bus down to Old City to see the first Cathedral and the town hall and this really old gate that was there since Montevideo had first been built. We were then split into groups again and were simply told to get back to Casa eventually. I was with Jamie, Jeremy, Hannah, and Marissa and we first walked down to get closer to the water. Old City is on the hill tip of the peninsula because of it’s defensible position and trade advantages so there is water on three sides. But because the buildings are so tall, you can only catch glimpses. So we walked down to where there was a tiny little beach and lots of rocks, a field with a man practicing football, a colorful mural of fish and the ocean. We walked up to look at the opera house and then made our way back to the Old Town Square, this time taking our time and looking at the vendors’ tables along the way. In the plaza we met a very nice Uruguayan young woman who had gone to the American school of Uruguay and spoke very beautiful English she was very eager to talk to us and even gave us her phone number in case we wanted to meet up later or ask her more questions. Hannah bought some Spanish children’s books to help us practice later, Jeremy bought his mate (“MAH-tay”) colander, we watched a street musician who played a trumpet and sang American songs in English, then we took our time walking back along 18 de Julio towards Casa, looking in a clothes store, a libreria and stopping for some amazing “helado” (icecream/gelato) from La Cigale. I was amazed by how many stores played American pop music but I heard virtually nothing else! We were the last group to return to Casa but I still got to join in as Wimon shared some Mate and I had my first taste of the stuff. You might hear from Americans who have tried it that it tastes like grass. I’m not denying that but me, the hot tea addict that I am, I really enjoyed it! it had the best aftertaste too, very fresh and energizing. Then, upon Wimon’s suggestion, we went down to the Rambla to watch the sunset over the water. Granted the sun didn’t set till about 9 or 9:30 but it was a lot of fun! Then Brady, Cory, Claire, Kelsey and I went on to see what was in this massive white tent that we saw. We realized that we would have to pay to get in but we were still curious so we climbed this really steep, conveniently located, small mountain that we saw a few others climbing up on and caught the tail end of a show that looked and sounded like a children’s song and dance performance and then took pictures of the beautiful view from the top of the hill. We wandered around some more and then walked back up on Raquena to look for a pizzeria. We ate dinner at about 10:45… and we beat the dinner crowd. No I’m not kidding. People eat dinner here LATE. The pizza was soo yummy and we were starving so it was a great end to the day.  Today we took the bus to another part of town, and to a very nice mall which, oddly enough, was originally a prison, just to see where it was and what it was like. After that we walked over to a nice outdoor market and then down to the beach where we spent most of the day. One lady came up to us offering to take our picture and warned us about sunburn because we were by far the whitest people on the beach. And she was right to warn us! not one of us ended the day without a sunburn (mine wasn’t too bad though no worries mama!) The water was not clear (we are told if we take about an hour bus ride there are beautiful clear water beaches) but it still felt amazing to be on a beach and to at least get knee deep in the cool water. Last night we met some people from the Spanish youth group and we cooked an scrumptious pasta and sauce, some salad and Rosalinda made her famous brownies! The meal was amazing and talking with all our new Uruguayan friends (for me more listening than talking) was so much fun and made me want to learn Spanish soooo much!! We are about to head off to church next door! More updates later!

Starlight

Originally intending to start this blog about a week ago while in pursuit of my intense procrastination of writing my study abroad paper, I ended up finding anything in the world to do besides pack, do my study abroad homework, or start my blog. So, I packed entirely in the last day and a half I was home, finished my paper and hour before it was due, and as I start my blog the day before I leave the country, I'm realizing that there must be something more to my expert procrastination than laziness. I am entering a completely unknown semester. It is not that I haven't traveled. I have been all over the world and part of the reason that I chose to study abroad in Montevideo was because we will travel to Brasil (my favorite place on earth). I think the difference that is making me nervous is not only the length of the time that I will be abroad, or even not knowing much Spanish, but rather the timing in my life. Many of the things that I know and love here in Texas are in some way either ending or changing in a major way this semester. This semester will be the last time that my immediate family has no in-laws (don't get me wrong on that part I am SO excited to be in two weddings and get two wonderful new sisters!), it is the last time that my college 'family' will be living in a dorm all together, it is the last semester of being an underclassman, I could list more but I think y'all get the idea. I like closure, I don't like things to just suddenly be gone- that is what I'm scared of. However, when I was reading in Luke 9 the other day, the story of Mary and Martha struck me in a different way and I have kept it in mind which has helped put my mind at rest. In the story Martha is rushing around in preparation. This is me, wanting to make sure things work out or wrap up in the way I think would be best. However, "only one thing is needed," and that "will not be taken away". As made this my focus, I began to become more excited and dwell on the new beginnings that were taking place, new friendships, experiences, and language abroad, new family members, new paths, new apartments, and looking back on the memories that I have from the past. This is partly where the blog name came from. Into part it is from the Muse song that I'm slightly obsessed with. but mainly it is because is more often then not in the light of the stars and the moon that some of my most beautiful memories are made: trying to draw the first shooting star I saw as a child, star-gazing at a good friend's lake house, finding constellations from my front yard, explaining (trying to explain) what the moon looked like to a precious child at camp who was visually impaired, seeing new stars in New Zealand, the electric lighting storms in Brasil, heart-to hearts on the upper deck at K-Kauai, or watching the night sky and having pre-semester talks in the middle of campus. I love the night sky, it makes me feel small, and it is there that I feel I can be most honest. So I am Chasing Starlight and all it means to me as I explore a new country in this time of new beginnings.