So, I haven't exactly done my job of keeping up with my blog this summer while I'm home.... :-/ But I wanted to link a devotional I wrote for my church's devotional series (which is going through the Gospels this year).... It is on Luke Ch. 7 (v. 18-35) and John the Baptist's doubts while imprisoned (and the doubts that we carry)... Hope you enjoy!
Join the Journey Devo. Aug. 1
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Update on Esther
Just a quick update on Esther and on God's faithfulness....
Literally within 5 minutes of posting that last blog post, a good friend of mine in Dar called me saying that she saw my blog post and was in need of a new houseworker because hers had moved. So without missing a beat or a day of employment, Esther was/is now employed in a situation that could not be more of a blessing!! I am SO incredibly thankful for God's faithfulness (and for my friend who saw the need and responded in her typical always-finding-a-way-to-be-a-blessing manner :)) ... Esther now has continued work, is starting English and cooking classes under my friend's leading (which will give her lifelong skills that will continue to make her employable), and is in a family situation which I *know* will be a MAJOR blessing to her. Thank you all for your prayers and for caring about sweet Esther!! :)
Literally within 5 minutes of posting that last blog post, a good friend of mine in Dar called me saying that she saw my blog post and was in need of a new houseworker because hers had moved. So without missing a beat or a day of employment, Esther was/is now employed in a situation that could not be more of a blessing!! I am SO incredibly thankful for God's faithfulness (and for my friend who saw the need and responded in her typical always-finding-a-way-to-be-a-blessing manner :)) ... Esther now has continued work, is starting English and cooking classes under my friend's leading (which will give her lifelong skills that will continue to make her employable), and is in a family situation which I *know* will be a MAJOR blessing to her. Thank you all for your prayers and for caring about sweet Esther!! :)
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Esther
One of the greatest blessings and greatest ways I believe God has used me this year (along with my TZ bestie Laura) is in the life of our houseworker Esther. Esther is a beautiful, hard-working, God-loving woman who cleans our house 3 days a week. [If you're thinking life here sounds pretty easy that we have a regular houseworker, please know the most important factors in the situation: 1. This allows for employment in a land where work is very hard to come by and the majority of the population is living below the extreme poverty line, 2. This gives us the opportunity to have a relationship with and make the difference in the life or lives of Tanzanian individuals, and 3. Living here can be really hard at times and the extra help really is helpful! We're a lot more adjusted now and could live without a houseworker (though we wouldn't want to b/c of the relationships it allows us to have) but at the beginning of the year... learning how to boil & filter all of our water, thoroughly clean veggies, cook everything from scratch, wash clothes by hand when power's out, etc. etc. ... was a little too much to learn off the bat on our own without the help of our wonderful househelper(s).] We do also have another househelper, Jacki, who comes and helps us out on Saturdays. We really don't "need" the extra help from her, but she is a beloved friend and Tanzanian neighbor who was in need of more work so we decided to have her help us one extra day a week. The cost to pay these women is so low (due to Tanzanian standards of living and reasonable wages here) that it barely affects us to have a little extra help, while it goes a long way to provide for these women and their families.
So.... Esther. Quite frankly, there were some problems in her previous work situation and how she was being seen and treated. I will not go into details, but there were. Nothing huge or abusive, but oppression in its most subtle and sneaky forms. Oppression and dishonor were rearing their ugly heads, and I could not overlook it. God wouldn't let me overlook it.... He continued to place her on my heart, day after day, and bring to my Spirit the truths in His word about her... about the poor, about the needy, about the oppressed.... about the very reason He brought me here to Africa. Jeremiah 22:16 says "'He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is THAT not what it means to know Me?' declares the Lord." God very clearly and very strongly put Esther on both Laura's and my hearts (have I mentioned how incredibly thankful I am for Laura?!) and ended up using us to *defend the cause* of her, a poor and needy woman in Tanzania. He used us to fight for her honor and her dignity and to assure that she was being treated with dignity, respect, and honor and being paid fair wages.
Over the course of the year, as Laura and I have striven to treat her with dignity, to show her the value we place on her life and on her service, her demeanor has changed greatly. She now sings while she works in our home, she beams from ear to ear when she sees us, and she glows with a bright smile that comes only from a joy deep within. Sadly, these traits did not characterize her work at the beginning of the year. They were far from characteristic of her demeanor. But through God's love and service being poured out through Laura and me into her life, He has worked healing and blessing and love over her.
This past weekend, Laura and I went to visit Esther in her home. We felt that this was important, in order to show her that we truly "see" her. That we see her home, her daily life, who she is and what her life is made of. That we care enough to *know* these things.
So Saturday afternoon, after she finished working at our house, we traveled with her by daladala (super-cramped/most-people-standing-up bus) to her home. We traveled the long 45min-1hr daladala ride (most of it standing) to her neighborhood, and then walked the long road down to her home (10-15 min. walk). The hour-long commute she makes to and from work everyday in order to make daily wages that would only buy us a meal at a fast-food restaurant.
As we walked down this long road, so many emotions were welling-up inside me that I just wanted to walk off on my own and *bawl*. To let the tears just come rushing forth. The hard work that this woman gives everyday (she also works for another family a couple days a week). The long and arduous commute that she undertakes daily. The little impoverished-corner of the world that she lives in. All to make enough money for her daily rice and beans. Walking down that road and knowing with most probability that none of her previous employers have done this.... have seen where she lived and have thus "seen her"... To know in that moment how much that must have meant to her.... It was almost too much to bear.
Once we arrived at her home, we were greeted by playful children running around, neighbors living in community, each (family) living in their own "room" in these attached concrete-block homes. Esther's home: a one-bedroom room, which is probably 7'x7' in size, with no bathroom and no kitchen. A bed in the corner and a little "dining table" (i.e. a low coffee table with some small wooden stools around it) on the other side. She had 3 small woven baskets hanging on the walls as decoration, and so few material possessions to her name that I could count them on my 2 hands. A Bible on her dining table (2 Bibles actually, one given to her by our wonderful former housemate Marie). A Bible verse hung on the wall (the verse was Hebrews 13:2 "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Oh the beautiful irony and symbolism here.... I know God was smiling down....). She had placed nicely embroidered fabric over her table and stools and draped it across the pile of stuff in her corner (clothes, pots & pans) to make it look "nicer"... fabric which was clearly only brought out for the most special of occasions and likely even borrowed from a friend.
As we sat in her small home, seeing where and how she has lived for the past 10 years, we spoke with her in our very minimal and broken Swahili. We pulled out our Swahili dictionary and looked up words we needed.... we surely butchered our grammar.... but we did our best, God helped filled in the rest, and we were able to have a beautiful time of conversation and relationship. Laura complimented one of the baskets hanging on her wall, and you know what Esther did in that moment? She took 2 of them down and gave them to us as gifts. Oh, the tears are coming now as I write this. 2 of the 3 decorative items that she owned, she took down and GAVE to us. To us blonde city-girls who live in a big home, with so much jewelry that she can't even dust around it.... and she gave us 2 of the very-few possessions to her name.
We prayed with and over her before we left, and in that moment I know that God worked in even greater ways than He already has this year. We prayed that she would find continued employment as Laura and I both move on this next year and will not need her, that she will find employers who honor her and treat her with respect and dignity. That He will bless her in her inmost being with the spiritual riches of Love, Joy, Peace. That He will provide for her *every* need. Please continue to pray these things with me.
There were many tears, many smiles, much laughter, and much love on this day.
Oh, I will not soon forget this day.
And even now, as I look back on this situation, I am so humbled to the core at the reality of what God has done here. A beautiful woman that He loves, living in an impoverished slum area in the middle of impoverished Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In the middle of Africa. This woman living in a one-room home, living hand-to-mouth, with so few possessions to her name. Day after day, year after year, working hard and loving God as she returns to her home at the end of each day in this tiny poverty-stricken corner of the world. And My good Lord looked down and cared so much about her that He chose to take 2 blonde city-girls living in 2 of the biggest and most materialistic cities in the world- Dallas and Los Angeles- to pick them up and transplant them here to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, so that He could use them to bless and change the life of this one woman that He loves.... neglected and forgotten, oppressed.... He transplanted us into her little corner of the world because of the value He places on her and on her life and the great love that He has for her. That He would choose ME. I am so humbled.
As Hagar proclaimed, "You are the God who sees me... I have now seen the One who sees me." (Genesis 16:13) Oh, our God is one who SEES us. How awesome is He.
Me, Esther, & Laura
"'He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so *all went well*. Is THAT not what it means to know me?' declares the Lord." -Jeremiah 22:16
So.... Esther. Quite frankly, there were some problems in her previous work situation and how she was being seen and treated. I will not go into details, but there were. Nothing huge or abusive, but oppression in its most subtle and sneaky forms. Oppression and dishonor were rearing their ugly heads, and I could not overlook it. God wouldn't let me overlook it.... He continued to place her on my heart, day after day, and bring to my Spirit the truths in His word about her... about the poor, about the needy, about the oppressed.... about the very reason He brought me here to Africa. Jeremiah 22:16 says "'He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is THAT not what it means to know Me?' declares the Lord." God very clearly and very strongly put Esther on both Laura's and my hearts (have I mentioned how incredibly thankful I am for Laura?!) and ended up using us to *defend the cause* of her, a poor and needy woman in Tanzania. He used us to fight for her honor and her dignity and to assure that she was being treated with dignity, respect, and honor and being paid fair wages.
Over the course of the year, as Laura and I have striven to treat her with dignity, to show her the value we place on her life and on her service, her demeanor has changed greatly. She now sings while she works in our home, she beams from ear to ear when she sees us, and she glows with a bright smile that comes only from a joy deep within. Sadly, these traits did not characterize her work at the beginning of the year. They were far from characteristic of her demeanor. But through God's love and service being poured out through Laura and me into her life, He has worked healing and blessing and love over her.
This past weekend, Laura and I went to visit Esther in her home. We felt that this was important, in order to show her that we truly "see" her. That we see her home, her daily life, who she is and what her life is made of. That we care enough to *know* these things.
So Saturday afternoon, after she finished working at our house, we traveled with her by daladala (super-cramped/most-people-standing-up bus) to her home. We traveled the long 45min-1hr daladala ride (most of it standing) to her neighborhood, and then walked the long road down to her home (10-15 min. walk). The hour-long commute she makes to and from work everyday in order to make daily wages that would only buy us a meal at a fast-food restaurant.
As we walked down this long road, so many emotions were welling-up inside me that I just wanted to walk off on my own and *bawl*. To let the tears just come rushing forth. The hard work that this woman gives everyday (she also works for another family a couple days a week). The long and arduous commute that she undertakes daily. The little impoverished-corner of the world that she lives in. All to make enough money for her daily rice and beans. Walking down that road and knowing with most probability that none of her previous employers have done this.... have seen where she lived and have thus "seen her"... To know in that moment how much that must have meant to her.... It was almost too much to bear.
Once we arrived at her home, we were greeted by playful children running around, neighbors living in community, each (family) living in their own "room" in these attached concrete-block homes. Esther's home: a one-bedroom room, which is probably 7'x7' in size, with no bathroom and no kitchen. A bed in the corner and a little "dining table" (i.e. a low coffee table with some small wooden stools around it) on the other side. She had 3 small woven baskets hanging on the walls as decoration, and so few material possessions to her name that I could count them on my 2 hands. A Bible on her dining table (2 Bibles actually, one given to her by our wonderful former housemate Marie). A Bible verse hung on the wall (the verse was Hebrews 13:2 "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Oh the beautiful irony and symbolism here.... I know God was smiling down....). She had placed nicely embroidered fabric over her table and stools and draped it across the pile of stuff in her corner (clothes, pots & pans) to make it look "nicer"... fabric which was clearly only brought out for the most special of occasions and likely even borrowed from a friend.
As we sat in her small home, seeing where and how she has lived for the past 10 years, we spoke with her in our very minimal and broken Swahili. We pulled out our Swahili dictionary and looked up words we needed.... we surely butchered our grammar.... but we did our best, God helped filled in the rest, and we were able to have a beautiful time of conversation and relationship. Laura complimented one of the baskets hanging on her wall, and you know what Esther did in that moment? She took 2 of them down and gave them to us as gifts. Oh, the tears are coming now as I write this. 2 of the 3 decorative items that she owned, she took down and GAVE to us. To us blonde city-girls who live in a big home, with so much jewelry that she can't even dust around it.... and she gave us 2 of the very-few possessions to her name.
We prayed with and over her before we left, and in that moment I know that God worked in even greater ways than He already has this year. We prayed that she would find continued employment as Laura and I both move on this next year and will not need her, that she will find employers who honor her and treat her with respect and dignity. That He will bless her in her inmost being with the spiritual riches of Love, Joy, Peace. That He will provide for her *every* need. Please continue to pray these things with me.
There were many tears, many smiles, much laughter, and much love on this day.
Oh, I will not soon forget this day.
And even now, as I look back on this situation, I am so humbled to the core at the reality of what God has done here. A beautiful woman that He loves, living in an impoverished slum area in the middle of impoverished Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In the middle of Africa. This woman living in a one-room home, living hand-to-mouth, with so few possessions to her name. Day after day, year after year, working hard and loving God as she returns to her home at the end of each day in this tiny poverty-stricken corner of the world. And My good Lord looked down and cared so much about her that He chose to take 2 blonde city-girls living in 2 of the biggest and most materialistic cities in the world- Dallas and Los Angeles- to pick them up and transplant them here to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, so that He could use them to bless and change the life of this one woman that He loves.... neglected and forgotten, oppressed.... He transplanted us into her little corner of the world because of the value He places on her and on her life and the great love that He has for her. That He would choose ME. I am so humbled.
As Hagar proclaimed, "You are the God who sees me... I have now seen the One who sees me." (Genesis 16:13) Oh, our God is one who SEES us. How awesome is He.
Esther's Home
Me, Esther, & Laura
****
"'He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so *all went well*. Is THAT not what it means to know me?' declares the Lord." -Jeremiah 22:16
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Endurance
Finishing a great weekend and a great few weeks here.... As this year is {very sadly} beginning to come to a close, it has been really, really awesome to see lately some of the fruits of efforts made over the course of the year. How God has worked and how He has blessed and grown relationships and ministry opportunities here. At the beginning of the year and through the first several months here, things were HARD. I really can't overstate that.... I don't feel like I spoke much about that on this blog b/c I didn't want to dwell on the hardships or complain, but in reality things were very difficult, very often. Transitions in *every*single*area* of life (any one that you can imagine, name it). Going through crazy intense hot season with power outages almost every single day for 2-3 months straight (meaning no a/c, fans, refrigeration, or oven). I won't take the time to list all the hardships, but just know that God taught me a lot about what it means to suffer for His name... that being His disciple isn't and shouldn't be *easy*... that I am to lay down MY self for the sake of others.
And through the hardships, it was so often difficult to see the point in enduring... the light at the end... the fact that fruit WOULD come. I just had to keep going where God called me, doing what He asked of me, clinging to Him for strength and hope and for dear life. I knew that there really was no other option. That He had called me here and that the only option (at least, the only one that I wanted to take) was to follow. To go. To do. To give. To serve. To endure. Even when it was HARD. I am not and certainly was not flawless in these areas. I complained. I moaned. I questioned Him. I questioned others. But in the end, more or less, clinging to Him, I somehow managed to endure. To get involved in the areas where He wanted me to, to lay down MY self so that He could use me in the lives of others.... Whether or not every step along the way was pretty or perfect.
And now that time has passed, I can see some of the fruits of where He has called me and where He is using me. To name a few: My relationships with my students at Hopac (oh, how I love those kids!). My role as an art teacher, bringing out the innate creativity within each of my students. My Saturdays volunteering at a local village ("William's Village") helping to run Bible lessons/crafts/games days with the kids. Spending time at a local orphanage and showing those children that they are *loved*. Investing in the lives of the 2 ladies who help with cleaning and other duties around our house and helping to give them a sense of dignity and worth. WyldLife with the Hopac 6th-8th graders and my relationships with those kids- pointing them to Jesus. Studying Swahili and finally being able to carry on basic conversations with the local people and children. Taking advantage of the simplicity of life here and reading through about half of the Bible this year (never have I read so much in such depth in such a short period of time). Making friends with the local Bajaji-drivers, the duka (shop) owners, the "regulars" that hang around our street. My involvement with Karama (which I am going to be on staff with full-time next year! more to come on this soon!) and bringing dignity and sustainable income into the lives of African artisans. My Service Learning group with Hopac students where we serve in local schools doing arts & crafts activities with them, bringing joy & creativity into these children's lives. Helping to get a previously non-existent Art department up and running at Hopac. And these are all just the *start* of ministries that will be continued next year.
Yes, God has done a LOT and worked a lot in and through me this year. It's been so hard to adequately blog over the course of the year as there has always been SO much going on and SO much to process. One of my hopes & goals for this summer (which I'll be spending at home, then coming back here in mid-August) is to blog more about my experiences here over the course of this year. I think I will be able to more adequately reflect on the experiences I've had once I step away from them all. (I also think that will be one of the only ways for me to emotionally & therapeutically get through the difficult transition & culture shock of being back in America!)
Again, My time here and my actions here have not always been pretty or perfect. I've messed up, complained, fallen down (haha, literally- many times on this terrain in Africa while I've been running!). But HE has picked me up through all of it. HE has continued to lead me. HE has continued to bless me and to use me. HE has been my strength when I have been nothing but weakness.
I look back at the 2 marathons I've run.... and neither of them were "pretty" all the way through. They were ANYTHING but that. My times weren't what I wanted them to be, mistakes happened, unexpected issues arose, PAIN ensued.... That first marathon I ran was by far the hardest- and easily ugliest- accomplishment I've ever attempted. But as I DID endure through those ugly, difficult, painful (injury-inducing!) 26.2 miles, I was able to cross the finish line and know that I had accomplished the purpose I set out for. It didn't always look the way I'd hoped it would look and my results at the end were not all that I'd hoped they would be, but the endurance paid off and I was able to reap the benefits that come with that amazing finish-line "victory".
And though that marathon victory was simply a personal one, I can so easily relate it to the endurance of this year. My experiences have not always been pretty. I have made mistakes and unexpected issues have arisen. Things have been difficult and painful. They have felt like they were injury-inducing at times. But in the end, God has accomplished His purposes in the midst of it all. And now that I am standing in that open, spacious place on the other side, I am filled with SUCH JOY as I see and feel and experience the blessings of the fruit that has been reaped from what has been sown.
I am currently reading through the book of Acts and this past week I came across the verse, "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 13:52) That verse has come back to me again and again this week, as the Lord has filled me with SUCH joy in the areas and ministries He's called me into. And His Spirit has continually filled me as I walk into the places He has for me. What more could I ask for? If this is the result of following hard after Him, of suffering for His name, of enduring through the hardships He calls me to.... I want more of it. "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces ENDURANCE. And let *endurance* have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4)
Endurance having its perfect result. "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." Sounds like a pretty perfect result to me.
And through the hardships, it was so often difficult to see the point in enduring... the light at the end... the fact that fruit WOULD come. I just had to keep going where God called me, doing what He asked of me, clinging to Him for strength and hope and for dear life. I knew that there really was no other option. That He had called me here and that the only option (at least, the only one that I wanted to take) was to follow. To go. To do. To give. To serve. To endure. Even when it was HARD. I am not and certainly was not flawless in these areas. I complained. I moaned. I questioned Him. I questioned others. But in the end, more or less, clinging to Him, I somehow managed to endure. To get involved in the areas where He wanted me to, to lay down MY self so that He could use me in the lives of others.... Whether or not every step along the way was pretty or perfect.
And now that time has passed, I can see some of the fruits of where He has called me and where He is using me. To name a few: My relationships with my students at Hopac (oh, how I love those kids!). My role as an art teacher, bringing out the innate creativity within each of my students. My Saturdays volunteering at a local village ("William's Village") helping to run Bible lessons/crafts/games days with the kids. Spending time at a local orphanage and showing those children that they are *loved*. Investing in the lives of the 2 ladies who help with cleaning and other duties around our house and helping to give them a sense of dignity and worth. WyldLife with the Hopac 6th-8th graders and my relationships with those kids- pointing them to Jesus. Studying Swahili and finally being able to carry on basic conversations with the local people and children. Taking advantage of the simplicity of life here and reading through about half of the Bible this year (never have I read so much in such depth in such a short period of time). Making friends with the local Bajaji-drivers, the duka (shop) owners, the "regulars" that hang around our street. My involvement with Karama (which I am going to be on staff with full-time next year! more to come on this soon!) and bringing dignity and sustainable income into the lives of African artisans. My Service Learning group with Hopac students where we serve in local schools doing arts & crafts activities with them, bringing joy & creativity into these children's lives. Helping to get a previously non-existent Art department up and running at Hopac. And these are all just the *start* of ministries that will be continued next year.
Yes, God has done a LOT and worked a lot in and through me this year. It's been so hard to adequately blog over the course of the year as there has always been SO much going on and SO much to process. One of my hopes & goals for this summer (which I'll be spending at home, then coming back here in mid-August) is to blog more about my experiences here over the course of this year. I think I will be able to more adequately reflect on the experiences I've had once I step away from them all. (I also think that will be one of the only ways for me to emotionally & therapeutically get through the difficult transition & culture shock of being back in America!)
Again, My time here and my actions here have not always been pretty or perfect. I've messed up, complained, fallen down (haha, literally- many times on this terrain in Africa while I've been running!). But HE has picked me up through all of it. HE has continued to lead me. HE has continued to bless me and to use me. HE has been my strength when I have been nothing but weakness.
I look back at the 2 marathons I've run.... and neither of them were "pretty" all the way through. They were ANYTHING but that. My times weren't what I wanted them to be, mistakes happened, unexpected issues arose, PAIN ensued.... That first marathon I ran was by far the hardest- and easily ugliest- accomplishment I've ever attempted. But as I DID endure through those ugly, difficult, painful (injury-inducing!) 26.2 miles, I was able to cross the finish line and know that I had accomplished the purpose I set out for. It didn't always look the way I'd hoped it would look and my results at the end were not all that I'd hoped they would be, but the endurance paid off and I was able to reap the benefits that come with that amazing finish-line "victory".
And though that marathon victory was simply a personal one, I can so easily relate it to the endurance of this year. My experiences have not always been pretty. I have made mistakes and unexpected issues have arisen. Things have been difficult and painful. They have felt like they were injury-inducing at times. But in the end, God has accomplished His purposes in the midst of it all. And now that I am standing in that open, spacious place on the other side, I am filled with SUCH JOY as I see and feel and experience the blessings of the fruit that has been reaped from what has been sown.
I am currently reading through the book of Acts and this past week I came across the verse, "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 13:52) That verse has come back to me again and again this week, as the Lord has filled me with SUCH joy in the areas and ministries He's called me into. And His Spirit has continually filled me as I walk into the places He has for me. What more could I ask for? If this is the result of following hard after Him, of suffering for His name, of enduring through the hardships He calls me to.... I want more of it. "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces ENDURANCE. And let *endurance* have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4)
Endurance having its perfect result. "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." Sounds like a pretty perfect result to me.
{with the kids at Kurasini Orphanage.... JOY}
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Barefoot Running
So, this isn't really Africa-related (well, kind of) but just want to make a post to endorse barefoot-style running. I switched over slowly this year and am never going back! After suffering a very bad running injury last year (stress fracture in hip/femur bone.... took 6 months to heal and almost didn't heal), I transitioned over slowly after reading up on the benefits and philosophy behind it. I totally believe that it's the way our bodies were created to run .... it's how we would naturally run if we were "barefoot" and distributes body weight with each step much more effectively so that injuries are much less common.
Check out these articles that first got me thinking about it:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-painful-truth-trainers-Are-expensive-running-shoes-waste-money.html
and
http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/technology/4314401
I don't actually run with no shoes on- I run in Nike Free's, which have very little support (basically none now that I've run in them all year) but the difference is that in them I land on the forefront of my foot instead of striking with my heel first. Again, the short of it is that the front part of the foot is much larger and can take and distribute weight with each pound much more efficiently than the small point of the heel (which running shoes basically force your feet into doing). [and this summer I'll prob. buy a shoe that is even flatter with less support than the Nike Frees.]
Since it's a completely different form of running, your body uses totally different muscles/etc. so you HAVE to transition over to it very slowly; otherwise you'll incur injuries in the process (most likely in your feet). I have spent all year transitioning and started with very short runs but am now up to long runs and actually ran the Kili Half this way in February.
I know there is a lot of debate on the issue and definitely read up on it and do your necessary research, but I highly endorse it. I'm not going back. And I believe my injury-free/pain-free runs will continue to prove it. This is the way tribes in Africa and South America run hundreds of miles on end without injuries and have done so for centuries and the way I believe God created our bodies to run.
Also check out:
www.barefootrunner.com
www.barefootrunning.org
Happy Running! :)
**When I run, I feel God's pleasure.** -Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire
Check out these articles that first got me thinking about it:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-painful-truth-trainers-Are-expensive-running-shoes-waste-money.html
and
http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/technology/4314401
I don't actually run with no shoes on- I run in Nike Free's, which have very little support (basically none now that I've run in them all year) but the difference is that in them I land on the forefront of my foot instead of striking with my heel first. Again, the short of it is that the front part of the foot is much larger and can take and distribute weight with each pound much more efficiently than the small point of the heel (which running shoes basically force your feet into doing). [and this summer I'll prob. buy a shoe that is even flatter with less support than the Nike Frees.]
Since it's a completely different form of running, your body uses totally different muscles/etc. so you HAVE to transition over to it very slowly; otherwise you'll incur injuries in the process (most likely in your feet). I have spent all year transitioning and started with very short runs but am now up to long runs and actually ran the Kili Half this way in February.
I know there is a lot of debate on the issue and definitely read up on it and do your necessary research, but I highly endorse it. I'm not going back. And I believe my injury-free/pain-free runs will continue to prove it. This is the way tribes in Africa and South America run hundreds of miles on end without injuries and have done so for centuries and the way I believe God created our bodies to run.
Also check out:
www.barefootrunner.com
www.barefootrunning.org
Happy Running! :)
**When I run, I feel God's pleasure.** -Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Karama Website!
The Karama website is officially up!
Check it out for beautiful products that you can purchase to support beautiful woman [by giving them dignity and sustainable, fair wages through meaningful work]. Proceeds also go to send kids in Africa to Young Life camp.
Check it out!
www.karamagifts.com
Check it out for beautiful products that you can purchase to support beautiful woman [by giving them dignity and sustainable, fair wages through meaningful work]. Proceeds also go to send kids in Africa to Young Life camp.
Check it out!
www.karamagifts.com
Friday, May 6, 2011
Reflections on Teaching
So today was the first day of good-byes for me. There is still quite of bit of time until the end of the school year (June 17th is the last day), but today was the last day that grade 10-12 students have classes before their "Study Leave" before/during their exams. It started to hit me that the year is coming to a close and made me start to reflect on the year as a whole.
In coming out here, I really had no idea what was in store for my year with my students. I knew that God had called me to Africa. I knew that the Art teaching position was a great fit for my talents & abilities. But I had no idea how much He would bless me through this role and specifically through these upper-level Art students. I taught elementary school right out of college, but I'd never taught secondary students before, and I had never before taught Art. I knew I was "capable" and that God would equip me to the place where He had called me, but I didn't know how much of a challenge it would be at times and how much of a blessing it would be in the end as a result.
I have been able to witness the birth and growth and evolution of dozens of artists this year, and most specifically, these 16 G10-12 students. These students have grown & flourished in ways that way exceeded my expectations at the start. They have persevered through incredibly intense curriculum & exam requirements with diligence and excellence, and they have come out as emerging artists on the other side. I have been able to meditate and dwell on the beauty and complexities of art with these students and literally live in an evolving Art gallery day by day! I have engaged in great conversations with them, each of which revealed a little more to me of God's creative spirit and the creativity He has instilled in each one of us.
I have had many moments this year when I am simply blown away by the fact that God has given us ART. And He has given it to us for our ENJOYMENT as much as for anything else. What a great God we serve. The more I grow in my creative talents and the more I dwell on these facets of creativity and art that He has instilled in us His children, the more I am left speechless at how good He is. He didn't have to give us art. He didn't have to give us the enjoyment of the creative processes. He didn't have to create a world that is full of beauty and rich in color. But He DID. He chose to, and He said that it is GOOD.
My students have revealed to me more and more of His character this year. They have glorified Him as they have expressed their creative talents, revealing His image that they have been created in. And I have been left amazed and speechless. These students have allowed me to know God more deeply through this and to thus love Him more fully for who He is. And for that I am eternally grateful.
I still have several weeks of classes with my grade 6-9 students, and I will still be seeing my G10-12 students around campus, but today was the beginning of the end in many ways. Please pray that in these final weeks I will be an *encouragement* to my students (every single one of them!) and that I will point them more and more to God, just as they have done for me.
In coming out here, I really had no idea what was in store for my year with my students. I knew that God had called me to Africa. I knew that the Art teaching position was a great fit for my talents & abilities. But I had no idea how much He would bless me through this role and specifically through these upper-level Art students. I taught elementary school right out of college, but I'd never taught secondary students before, and I had never before taught Art. I knew I was "capable" and that God would equip me to the place where He had called me, but I didn't know how much of a challenge it would be at times and how much of a blessing it would be in the end as a result.
I have been able to witness the birth and growth and evolution of dozens of artists this year, and most specifically, these 16 G10-12 students. These students have grown & flourished in ways that way exceeded my expectations at the start. They have persevered through incredibly intense curriculum & exam requirements with diligence and excellence, and they have come out as emerging artists on the other side. I have been able to meditate and dwell on the beauty and complexities of art with these students and literally live in an evolving Art gallery day by day! I have engaged in great conversations with them, each of which revealed a little more to me of God's creative spirit and the creativity He has instilled in each one of us.
I have had many moments this year when I am simply blown away by the fact that God has given us ART. And He has given it to us for our ENJOYMENT as much as for anything else. What a great God we serve. The more I grow in my creative talents and the more I dwell on these facets of creativity and art that He has instilled in us His children, the more I am left speechless at how good He is. He didn't have to give us art. He didn't have to give us the enjoyment of the creative processes. He didn't have to create a world that is full of beauty and rich in color. But He DID. He chose to, and He said that it is GOOD.
My students have revealed to me more and more of His character this year. They have glorified Him as they have expressed their creative talents, revealing His image that they have been created in. And I have been left amazed and speechless. These students have allowed me to know God more deeply through this and to thus love Him more fully for who He is. And for that I am eternally grateful.
I still have several weeks of classes with my grade 6-9 students, and I will still be seeing my G10-12 students around campus, but today was the beginning of the end in many ways. Please pray that in these final weeks I will be an *encouragement* to my students (every single one of them!) and that I will point them more and more to God, just as they have done for me.
one of my G10 student's pieces
"One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness." ~Psalm 145:4-7
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