Everything seems a little unreal.  Eric is finally a Senior in grad school which means two things.  The first and craziest is Eric becomes ordained and second I get to start applying to grad schools.  I can feel my heart pounding at the thought of having the career of my dreams.  Of course, all this is in a years time.  There is still that last year in seminary for us and not to mention Africa which is creeping up on us as I write.  

We did it!!! Going back to Africa and I could not be more excited.  What will I be doing?  Other than having the experience of a life time, I will be work in hospice care for children with AIDS.  How long will we be there for approximately two and a half months.  For June 1 to August 18.  I will be freezing my … well everything off.  Yes, it is cold in South Africa and there is snow an the beautiful mountains.  I can not wait to wake up in the morning and see Eric’s face when he sees’ just how beautiful it is in Africa. We will be living in Grahamstown South Africa which is about an hour and half from Port Elizabeth.  Grahamstown is a small city with townships that surround it.  I am not kidding when I say Africa is my beginning!!  I truly feel as though I came alive in South Africa.  I grew to know who I was and what my purpose was in life.  Now I will return and grow into a greater self.  

I will keep everyone who reads this posted during our venture.    

It is unbelieveable that Thanksgiving and Christmas are almost here.  I feel like I’m in a whirlwind during this time of the year.  I love seeing family and friends and the cold weather were snuggling is necessary.  Something about this time of year seems to warm and magical.  My mom and sister are coming this Saturday and I can’t wait for them to see the different colors of leaves and have fun with them.  Then Christmas will be here soon and that means fun with brothers, sisters and parents.  Oh yeah and friends too.  I can’t wait to have fun girl time with my sisters.  This is totally my favorite time of year.  It’s a guarantee see family time. 

Lately, I have been working at the hospital, which I love, and it is great.  It is everything I was hoping it would be and I feel completely comfortable there.  I am learning a lot about the medical field and myself.  I work in Geri-Pshyic which can be very difficult at times but them other times just completely rewarding.  Eric has been busy with school and we try to make time with each other as much as possible.   Middler year is definitely time consuming and it seems to be going by really fast.  I can’t image next year without all the seniors that I have become so close to.  I especially do not want to think about having to move all our belongings back to TX next year.  Well at least we are not there yet.  Next month, we are traveling to Indiana to see Sean, Rachel, Arron, and Julie ordained deacon.  Wow!!!  I am soooo excited.  

Tonight we are doing a prayer visual for the desecration of the Bishops Common, one of the buildings here at Sewanee.  The visual is at 5:45pm and the Seminarians are the ones that have put this together, not the University.  Way to step up in response to the undergrad plea for response.  Not to many people would.

 Love ya!     

When I was first invited on the trip I was not able to prepare myself for what God had in store.  I knew I would become educated about the history and living conditions of South Africa, but never did I expect to learn about myself. 

“Africa my beginning and Africa my ending”, these words of Ingoapele Madingoale with the beat of the drums echoed through my ears and into my soul after the visit to The Hector Pieterson Museum.  This one quotation, this one phrase of empowerment, sums up my journey in South Africa.

             My journey started in Grahamstown.  I felt, for the first time, consciously engaged with my brothers and sisters of the Anglican community and the world around me.  I began to realize that tolerance of others, which was engraved in my mind during public school, was a lacking position in life.  During a class on Christianity in Africa, I observed situations with conflicts between the students’ cultures and the Anglican Church of Southern Africa similar to my internal struggle. 

            On the way to the local hospital, accompanied by students from the College of Transfiguration, I was not certain what I would witness.  I saw babies abandoned by their parents as a result of AIDS, poverty, rape, and other struggles.  Hospice patients were suffering of Elaphatitis, malnutrition, and effects of HIV, which again, could be linked to poor health care and financial struggles.  A new friend, Gina, shared the story of her brother’s death.  She also expressed concerns involving health care in Swaziland, where she resides.  

            Later that week, we took a trip to a township called Ellinge were we visited a childrens’ AIDS clinic.  We danced and sang songs with as many as forty children, possibly more.  I have never seen so many beautiful faces.  Afterwards, we visited some houses of “GoGos,” or Grandmothers.  They care for the children abandoned by their parents due to AIDS, poverty, or the search for a better life style.  The houses were put together with scrap metal and the presence of holes where the roof leaked during rain was noticeable.  It was hard not to feel sorrow for what these wonderful people endure.  I truly have never felt so rich in my life.  The people in townships were forced to leave their homes and move to desolate areas.  Everyone here is struggling to survive and yet still keep smiling.  I suppose that is one thing that can not be taken away. 

            On our journey to Johannesburg, I wanted to learn more about the Apartheid, AIDS, and the way of life in South Africa.  The world I grew accustomed was dying and my heart became overwhelmed by this new world.  Since we went from place to place, I watched little to no television.  I started to buy newspapers and we listened to the radio on car rides in the Eastern Cape. I began to listen with utmost intent when any one of our wonderful guests was speaking.  At the beginning of the trip I was nervous about contributing to the conversation, but toward the end I felt inspired to know more.  Opportunities which I could only dream about became available.  These involved spending next summer working at a children’s AIDS clinic as a nurse assistant. 

            My journey in South Africa meant more to me than words could ever express, changed me in ways I could never describe, and opened my mind to play a conscious role in the world.  Africa was my beginning and in a strange way was my ending.  I will never forget this journey in my life.

             With Eric and Charlie gone the house seems so empty.  The seniors are no longer seniors but graduates, and we are no longer juniors but middlers.  It’s hard to contemplate that in 1 year we will be seniors and in 2 years we will be graduates.  It is very hard for myself to express the emotional roller coaster that I am currently experiencing.  Like I said Eric and Charlie are gone and I know that when we get back all the Seniors that I have grown use to seeing almost everyday will be gone.  Especially the spouses at PMO and most of all the kids.  It will be hard not returning to PMO in the Fall and it will be really hard not being able to see the beautiful faces of the now graduate kids (or shall I say PKs).  I know that this year will not even come close to how I will feel when the seniors graduate next year.  This is an unusal situation and the only time where I will be around other spouses going through a simular situation.  Good luck graduates, their spouses, and children, and God Bless!!!

        As you all know, or at least most of you know, I am leaving for South Africa in two days.  TWO DAYS!!!  Holy Moly, Africa!!!  How do you prepare for that??  I mean packing wise and emotionally.  So far the latest up date is that we will possiblly be staying in a children’s AIDS clinic, go hiking up a mountain (WOW!!), go on a Safari  (Double WOW!!!), and eat a lot of interesting food.  We will also be going to poverished areas in Africa, have lunch with Desmond Tutu, and go to Robin Island.  Some people going on the trip are really hoping a baboon will take their sandwich away (Sean Maloney).  I hope I’m not around when all the baboons come for more sandwich handouts.  This is going to be an amazing trip and everyone has told me that it will be life changing.  I hope it is and I hope it makes me uncomfortable so I can better understand what my brothers and sisters in Africa are facing and I can share it with everyone I know.

TWO DAYS!!! Holy Moly, Africa!!!

Yes, it is hard to believe that I would breakdown and actually get a blog page but I did.  I figure with all the morphing that the trinity is doing in my life, I might as well put it to words on a blog for all to witness the beautification of my soul.  It still amazes me that an insignificant event, such as getting to know a stranger or praying for God’s guidance, can spark a small change that will bloom into actions and directions in life which I never thought I would take.

About four months ago, drove our GMC truck to a place in the middle of nowhere Tenneessee, in a town called Sewanee so that I would be with my husband as he attends Seminary at the University of the South.  Who would have thought this one action to this one place would change my life and start to mold me into a better person.  Within two months of being up here, I could not find a job as a teacher (my chosen profession) and could not really find a job at all.  So I started to pray and pray, and pray until finally something wonderful happened.  I listened to God.  I began to feel this strong inclination to the medical field.  The more I thought about it the more I would felt I was stepping in the right direction.  For the next two months I thought about it and wondered if this is really what God wants for me and as of right now the answer is yes.

Last week, I met a great young lady named Alision.  She is an undergrad here at Sewanee.   As we were watching children together she was telling me about the Invisible Children of Northern Uganda.  She lent me a video about three guys who decided to make a documentary on the situation in Suadan but when they got there their story was no where to be found.  So they decided to go to Northern Uganda where the Sudanese people had to relocate to.  They were slapped in the face with the realization of night commuters, children that commuted during the night to medical facilities and community centers for safety from the Lords Resistant Army (LRA).  During the night, the LRA abducts children ages 8-14 (easily brainwashed ages) to train, desensitize, and recruit.  When I saw the video I knew I had to do something.  I learned about an event that happened this past weekend called Displace Me.  This was an event to gain public awareness and to address the political leaders of America in effort to take action toward peace in Northern Uganda.  We were in a field, made homes out of cardboard, listened to guess speakers, and wrote to our political leaders.  We were told when and who could get crackers and water for our dinner.  From a film, a small child addressed us and told us to dream of them while we slept.  At that moment I felt my heart melt.  It is easily to go about living in our privileged lives and forget about our brothers and sisters that are suffering elsewhere or to want so many material objects, money, or classier living conditions and forget that others will never get that opportunity.  Instead they are forgotten, abducted, abused almost until dead, and even rapped sometimes all at once.  We should be so fortunate. 

Great and wonderful changes are happening and I am ready to be placed in uncomfortable situations so they can continue to happen. 

For more information on invisible children go to www.invisiblechildren.com and become part of the solution.