Packing and Pondering

 

A beautiful day on the prairie. A home day on the prairie. I like these kinds of days. I am trying to figure out what to pack for the Israel trip. The temperatures have been consistently in the 50-60 degree area during the day and in the 40s at night. I know I am going with the layered look but I am trying to take the bare minimum and that is clearly a challenge for me...I am a mood clothes wearer. Since deciding to go on the trip many months ago, I've been buying things that would travel well but I am coming to the conclusion that I am mainly going to wear Nike and Addidas pants so that I can wear a knee brace for the climbing and rough terrain walking. Only taking a couple of pairs of jeans and going to rotate fleece/sweater like tops over long sleeve t shirts. Not only have I considered clothing but bought a small Bible for the trip in the summer. I've been using it expressly for this time. I have read, prayed, studied, and devo- ed with this trip in mind. In a little over a week we will be on the plane or should I say planes. Sprint does not carry a data plan for overseas travel that is even remotely affordable so...I will be silent for about 10 days unless my roomie lets me use her phone because AT&T has a data plan that is reasonable. As I think of things to pack believe me I am putting them in my stack. These days a thought comes and it doesn't come back as quickly so I pounce on the opportunity.

Roy and I picked up the trundle bed mattress last night and then grabbed some dinner. There is a serious design flaw with our day bed from Pottery Barn. Anyway, once our company leaves we can decide if we will try to put it under the bed or store it someplace else.

I just looked at what Facebook thinks are the highlights of 2012 for me. Looks like friends and Biltmore dominate the timeline. Those aren't bad highlights at all. Roy and I consider ourselves so blessed with such good friends. The other day while I was getting things ready to take to the storage unit I saw a black and white composition book. I knew exactly what it was and deemed it important enough to stop and take a look. My mom had done Grandma Remembers books for the girls. When she did those she also hand wrote one for me. It was fun looking through everything and she had included photographs in it as well. Something caught my attention and this is something I hadn't noticed before. My mom was writing out what she had learned from her mother and father. She said kindness for my grandfather; she thought he was the kindest and gentlest person she had ever known. From my grandmother, her mother, she had learned the importance of friendship. My grandmother taught her to be intentional and thoughtful with her friends. My mom went further in her remembrances saying that she learned from her family integrity and truthfulness was one of the most important character traits to have. Wow, what a legacy. When I was a child spending summers with my grandmother, she and her neighbor across the way, Ruthie Blackburn, talked at least twice with each other every day. In the morning and in the evening before bed. Although Ruthie's voice scared the bejabbers out of me, my grandmother assured me that Ruthie was one of the nicest and kindest people and Ruthie was her good friend. I know I have written this before but one thing I remember, they were both nearly deaf. My grandmother wore a hearing aid and had a volume control for her phone but Ruthie refused to get a hearing aid. She had lost a leg as a child, I believe in a roller skating accident but the story told me by my father is, she lost her leg when she disobeyed her father. Guess I was willing to lose a leg if need be. She told my grandmother, I already have a fake leg, don't need a fake ear. When I was younger I remember my mother being a lot more social than she was later in life. She had such good friends but I think maybe my mother was dealing with dementia and Alzheimer's long before we recognized it. She who was light hearted and fun became a tad negative and complainy about her friends. I think that came about after her two best friends had passed away. Maybe she dealt with their deaths in comparison to her other friends and no one held a candle to Mary Jo and Billie.

I have always believed that I have been blessed with some of the best friends anyone could ever ask for. I am fortunate to have lifetime friends, (not the gym, one would have to be going there to make friends) friends I have known for a long time, friends that have recently become a part of my journey and me with them, friends that I have learned so much from and unfortunately friends that have come and gone because maybe their purpose in my life was; don't become or make their mistakes. You know life lesson friends. I am sure I have played that role in other's lives. I don't really like to think about that.

This tweet has made me ponder;

Margaret Feinberg‏@mafeinberg

We need a place where we pray for a replenished wonder of friendship and wait for God to answer in unexpected ways

If you are reading this and a little discouraged that you're not making good friends or you feel like your encounters of late have been "life lesson" friends...fair weather friends, let me encourage you to keep planting those friendship seeds. Don't give up because those seeds of friendship will reap a harvest. During this Christmas season I am asking God to give me a replenished wonder of friendship. Friendship is a truly wondrous thing. So on this trip to the Holy Land; I'm expectant for God to answer in unexpected ways. On this trip there are friends I have known for years, two best friends, newly discovered and loved friends, those who I know by name and those I haven; met...we'll become friends.

Just remember to pack baggies and I'd better get some snacks ready too. I am not a fan of hummus so I'd better be prepared with cheese crackers and Pria bars.