Sharing....

The snow,  and the snowman Kaela made after school that day, have melted, but I can share the photo!

Today, the sunshine is streaming in my windows, and it was good to go out and walk.  I love the feel of a chilly, fresh breeze in my face!   A year ago now I was ready to leave for Argentina.  It is summer there again, and preparations for conventions are beginning.   When I think of the summertime heat, I remember my friend's statement - "It is always better to be hot than cold".   Hmmm!   I will agree that it is better to be too warm than to feel too cold and not be able to do anything about it!  But, if it is the weather that is cold, I can dress for it.  The heat? well - a fan helps.   I'm not really looking forward to the months of winter ahead,  to frost and ice and more snow,    I've missed the last few Nebraska winters, so likely it's time to experience one with the rest of you, eh?

Sharing.....I looked around my pretty, newly painted and decorated rooms this morning with satisfaction.  Even  though there are new curtains yet to make, it does look nice!   Then the thought washed over me that it doesn't mean much to me if I can't share it.  For a short while, I can wrap myself in it, revel in the quietness, but the value soon fades.   There is a need in us - at least in some of us - to share; to share our ideas, our good thoughts, our burdens, our joys; our delights; to share our pictures, our experiences, our fears, our hopes, our frustrations. Isn't that why we write on a blog?  why we post on facebook?

I've spent time and thought the past few days writing a birthday letter and a New Year letter.  I write, and then the dscouraging feeling comes that they probably won't even read it - that it is "too much" or "not enough".  Maybe I shouldn't have written it; maybe I won't send it.  But, what if I don't?  What if I don't share my care, my love?  It could make a difference for one....even if others don't read it.

What about sharing our faith?  Sharing our love?  What if we don't?  What if the Gospel isn't shared, because most won't pay attention?  What difference does just one life given make?   But, what if it is not given?

Going back to my last post, I stopped before it was finished.  I stopped because I didn't know how to express my feelings about the days that followed.  I still don't know!  The messages at Bird City convention were great.  Afterward, my time in the home of Steve and Cynthia near Brush was memorable and so was my short visit in Brandie's home in Longmont.  I'd like to use a better word than "memorable", but some visits just cause us to feel a joy that is deeper than description.    Then, I flew from Denver to Bismark, North Dakota and  was at Mandan for convention.  My feelings, the messages and all that touched my heart there really are deeper than I can tell about.  Maybe it is best summed up by the verse brought out so clearly - I Timothy 1:5 "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned".  Could I live that? Share that?

When I returned to Denver, a friend and I shared a couple days there before I came back to Nebraska - by way of Sidney and a delightful visit with family!  

Thanksgiving week came, and it was special to share the days and the holiday with my good friend in Columbia, Missouri!  I so seldom have the privilege of seeing her!  Since then, we've valued our Special Meetings in Nebraska, and the company that has come our way along with them.  Such wonderful sharing!  

Tomorrow is Christmas Day, and I look forward to sharing in the fellowship meeting in the morning - and time with family in the afternoon.  I wish all of you the very best as we go forward through the holidays and into 2012!

Late November 2011

Months have gone by since I last wrote.  Did you wonder where I've been?   Well, I doubt if many even thought about it - but I'll try to give a few brief sketches!   They've held a kaleidoscope of views and many privileges.  Along with it was the need for rest and restoration after many busy weeks in a foreign country.

The first scenes when I returned from Argentina the end of June, were in New Mexico.  Friends and visits were special.  The two convention weeks at Mountainair were wonderful again.  I enjoyed, too, the day tour a few of us took to one of the ancient Indian ruins in the area.

A long awaited visit to my son and family in Arizona followed. Those visits just never come often enough! It was school vacation time and good to have lazy days.  My regret was that it was too hot to take the walks I usually enjoy along the canal.

Then, it was exciting to be back in Nebraska the end of July after seven months away! It always takes some adjusting though, changing cultures...changing roles.   For a few special days in early August, I visited Jana and Sheila in the northwestern part of our state.  Rain had made the sandhills lush, green, and beautiful everywhere.  It was a joy to be with the girls and with other friends in that part.   And, there was the excitement of Laura coming from Finland after four years away - and a pot-luck at Maxine's with a host of family and friends to welcome her home!

Preparations for our convention at York followed; convention there; on to Marysville in Kansas.  No use trying to describe those convention days, other than as days of heaven on earth.    Afterward, there were 10 days at home, having granddaughter Kaela here while Maxine went to North Dakota.  The days fell into the schedule of taking her to school in the morning and getting her in the afternoon.  I did enjoy those days!

Time to stop writing for this time.  But, I want to say why I posted the picture at the top....Maxine and Luanne have been texturing and painting  my living and dining rooms.  The gold color of the storm clouds is very close to what they've put on the walls!   It is different - but I do like it.

It's Autumn now in Argentina

   The days, weeks and months have flown. Hot Summer days have cooled into Fall days that sometimes need a sweater.   Gold leaves show their glory, but are falling fast.  Roses are still blooming..
    Our weeks have fallen into a pattern.  We joke that we really just live on a bus!.  There is a multitude of bus lines here to chose from, according to desired schedule and destination.  We've been on a lot of them.  Most of my pictures are taken through a bus window.  I do enjoy watching the landscape pass.  We've looked out over the sea and crossed the Andes Mountains.  Sandhills, farmlands, pastures full of cattle - always with windmills - and empty miles of mesquite-covered wilderness  (or something like mesquite).   A lake with groups of flamingos, wide rivers to cross....all this seen as we pass by in the bus.  
      But, these views out the window are only a pleasant background.  There is so much need, so many to care for....not enough time or even strength to get around as often as we wish we could.  The area is large and those we care for are scattered in three directions.   Our little two room "home" in Rio Colorado suffices to come and go from, and in between we have several there who want to learn more from the Bible.  We've come to love them, too.
       At the end of my first three months here, Lois and I crossed over to Chile for a few days visit in Osorno with friends there, and then back over the border into Argentina to obtain three more months .  Already one of those months is gone.  On one hand I look forward to returning to USA, to seeing family and friends.  On the other hand (as always) the love for (and of) those here and the need that is so evident, twist my heart and make me wish it were possible to stay longer.  
       I am very thankful for the privilege of the months here, and for faith that God, who has planned the way, has already planned the way ahead.           Priscilla
       


      

January 2011 - Summertime in Argentina

Temperatures will reach the high 90's today.  I've been hanging clothes in the backyard and thinking of the ripening grapes shading above.   The gnarled branches and thick trunk of the vine that produces these grapes shows it has been growing there for many years.  I counted three of them around the walled-in yard.  Three seeds that took root long ago.  The fruit since then would be uncountable.   Could that be like our lives?

I've been here in Argentina a little over two weeks now, first in Buenos Aires, then Rio Cuarto, and now in San Rafael.  I've been in this place twice before, and it is special to see these people again.   Some things here are different; others much like we are familiar with.    The language is Spanish.  I find myself thinking in it.  I catch myself speaking in Spanish to our visitors who don't understand it; in turn, I say things in Engish to the people here who don't understand English.  Ha

People here mostly come from a European background, and look very much like us, though blonde's are much less prevalent and do stand out.  Young people and others on the streets look altogether TOO much like us....not dressed up.  Of course, summertime, school vacation, and a warm climate have a big influence on that.

I suppose this part of the country could be described as west central Argentina.  It is mostly west of Buenos Aires.   On the day bus trip last week,  the view out the bus window could have been in our Platte River valley of Nebraska.  It is prairie land with pastures, windmills, cornfields and such.  In Spanish it is called the Pampas, which is prairie in English.   South America shows itself plainly in the towns, though.  They are distinctly different than ours.  

I've tried to compare things here with the Russian countries I've been in, and at first didn't see much similarity.  One thing lacking is the endless apartment buildings that make up every town and city over there  .    There are a few here - and of course many more in Buenos Aires, a city of millions.

 Time now to go out to a different home for lunch.     Happy New Year to all, and I'll to enclose a little warmth from here to there!