Too Many to Love

More than 10 million people live side-by-side in the Rio/Niteroi Bay area, sometimes peacefully, sometimes not.

10 million. I can't even imagine it.

In a world where numbers like 700 billion and 10 trillion are thrown around, 10 million seems like such a small number. But not when you're talking about people, each one an individual with his own problems, concerns, joys.

How can you love so many?

The Roberts live at street level a few streets off Icarai Beach. The city is at the doorstep, often on their doorstep and inside their house. A steady flow of visitors comes in and out and, even when no one is visiting in the house, they shout comments and conversation over the walls from street to courtyard.

They chastise Pedro, reminding him that his parents want to see him back in church. They offer an area rug that they can't use in their new place to a neighbor. She insists on wiping down their new closets in return. They chat with the fruit seller, looking at pictures of his baby girl, then carry on their conversation with the bread seller, the street sweeper, the taxi driver.

How can you love 10 million people? You do it the way these missionaries are doing it--one person at a time.

All You Can Eat... and more

Brazil seems to be the mecca of all you can eat dining and last night we experienced the pinnacle.

At Verdanna Grill, there's an extensive salad, seafood and sushi bar. But that's not what people come here for.

They come for the MEAT.

All you have to do is sit at your table and wait for the food to come to you. Waiters walk around with huge skewers of meat, offering their fare at each table.

See something you like? With the nod of your head, it's yours.

To the best of my memory, we ate:

• filet mignon
• filet with cheese
• sausages
• beef hump
• pork
• capybara
• quail
• chicken
• turkey
• bacon
• pork belly and skin
• rib eye
• shrimp
• chicken hearts

It was extraordinary amount of food with an extraordinary family. I couldn't help thinking how much my dad and Ben's dad would have loved the meal. Wish they were here!

The bay is only a twenty minute walk through the park, past the shopping district and to the sand. The temperature drops from 82 to 75 as the sun sinks behind a nearby ridge. The city comes alive at sunset when individuals and family take to the streets. You are never truly alone here. The sounds and sights and smells of the people wrap around you like a protective blanket. Across the bay, the Jesus statue spreads his giant white arms over the ten million people. He knows them all by name and loves them, each one more than the next.

The Roberts are at home here, happy to be a part of the neighborhood they are ministering to, opening their home to foreign visitors and next door neighbors, being God in the flesh to those around them.

Border to Border

It's been a big week for the older kids.

Sunday, they turned 16. We celebrated with high tea in Victoria, BC.

Monday, we crossed back into the USA in time to hear the fireworks, if not see them.

Tuesday, we traveled south 200 miles. Each of them took a turn at driving. Highway 101 is not for the faint of heart.

Wednesday, they got acquainted with their new laptop computers, a birthday gift that is cooler to them than any car.

Thursday, they said good-bye (from bed) to their NM grandma. One of the girls cranked out most of a quilt top that day. Packing began.

Friday, they squeezed in a birthday party with one of their friends.

Saturday, we dropped them off for their mission trip to Mexico. They'll be helping build a house for a poor family. They should be crossing the border by now.

Canada to Mexico in a week. What a way to turn 16!

2 weeks

13 states

10 beds

4 colleges

3 fast food restaurants

2 sit down restaurant

3 cafeterias

5 traveling companions

15 days

109 driving hours

6410 miles

1 catalytic converter

a million memories

Good Friends, Good Times

A friend dropped by the other day to bring me something--Snapple Amazing Race Papaya Mango Tea. She knows me well. My favorite show, my favorite fruit, and good conversation. Can't beat it.

Another friend and I are loading in our car tomorrow, throwing some kids in the back seat and some luggage up top, and taking off on our own amazing race. All the way to Tennessee and back in the next 2 weeks.

Wish us luck and--if you think of it--say a prayer for us.

More from the road.

Are We There Yet?

We used to have a navigator, but by the time she broke down, I was so sick of her telling us to make a legal u-turn that we never replaced her.

I've been wanting a new one lately, though, not so much to help me find where I'm going as to help kiddo number 3 not have to ask, "Are we there yet?"

The kids and I and some friends are heading out on a long road trip next week--100 hours of driving, 2 weeks on the road.

I do NOT want to answer the "are we there yet" question every 10 minutes.

So... tomtom will join the family trip. And maybe, jjust maybe, he'll get us there and back again.

Shadowing Eli

My youngest has been worth her weight in gold this week (which you know is worth more than ever) as she chases, entertains, and keeps up with her young cousin. Both are sound asleep right now after a long, busy day of 2 trips to the beach and 1 to the glacier. It's been a good day and a good trip.

You Can't Get There from Here

When they say "you can't get there from here," they're talking about downtown Portland. As we got into the car, I said it out loud...as a joke. That was before I drove the scenic tour of Portland, forced ever further from my destination by signs that read,

NO TURNS
BUS ONLY
ONE WAY
NO TURN ON RED
LEFT ONLY
NO LEFT TURN
ROAD WORK AHEAD
LEFT LANE CLOSED

You get the idea. The poor people I was driving around must have thought I just dropped in from another planet. Obviously, I didn't know any of the local customs. I can understand having one way streets in a city. I can even understand dedicating 2 of the 3 lanes to bus and MAX lines. I don't understand why, when there are only 2 2-way streets, you can't turn off of one and you can't turn onto the other.

It was a wonder, but we actually made it to OMSI, Powells (I forgot my gift card. Guess I'll have to go again), and McMennamins, and back to the train station before their train was leaving.

Quite the 2 hours. Thanks for the adventure!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

Excited? Yes.

Nervous? A little.

Ready? You betcha.

The hardest part about leaving? I'll miss my kids.

But I'll be back, full of stories and hope and experiences and dreams for God's people around the world.

Check back every few days for updates and photos.

The Farthest I've Been...

North: Barrow, Alaska

South: Soweto, South Africa

East: Mombasa, Kenya

West: Barrow, Alaska

You?

Community

"So, what were you doing this week?" The lady next to me on the airplane asked the polite question.

"Some girlfriends and I had a weekend together," I said, but the words didn't really convey what our time together was about. Yes, I'd spent time with 5 ladies from my mission team, but it wasn't just a few days with some girlfriends. It was much more than that.

We're so much more than friends with a common experience. We've experienced trials together, joys and sorrows, triumphs and tears, and always, always, commitment to a common cause that is bigger than the sum of its parts.

We're church, we're family, we're team, we're friends and colleagues, we're sisters. The word of the weekend was "community," that elusive quality of sacrificing your personal goals for the sake of a bigger group, a greater goal. We found that community with each other in Africa and now we search for it across America. We've had a taste of what Christ's church can and should be and we hunger for more. I believe true community can happen. 

Do you?

Where in the World?

I plan to write a little about my trip after I have a day or two to decompress, but here's a little taste. Can you guess where I've been?

Don't peek at the comments if you want to figure it out for yourself. Someone just might give it away!

Maybe You HAVEN'T Been There

Have you stood at that spot in Four Corners and known that you could mark off 4 states from the ones you've visited? Not so fast. Turns out the Four Corners marker that is supposed to be on the border between Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado has been a little off all these years.

Well, actually, 2 1/2 miles off. 2 1/2 MILES? That's not even on the dartboard!

What else did they misplace? I'm worried about this now. What if I'm not where I think I am?

For those of you who used this marker to check off those four states, looks like you have some traveling to do.

Cutting Apron Strings

If it weren't for non-stop flights from here to Nana's house, I never would have let her go. But since there are non-stop flights (and the added blessings of Southwest Airlines allowing parents and grandparents to go to the gate), one of my twins went to Nana's a few days ahead of the family for some extra spoiling and some quilting instruction.

She swore she wasn't nervous to fly alone. She didn't have to be. I was nervous for her.

She thought of taking her art supplies, her DS, her book, her math homework, and the chewing gum from my Christmas stocking. But she forgot her comb. And her watch. And the answers to her math homework.

She used a pay phone for the first time. And learned to watch airport signs for the information she might need. And got there without any problems.

She'll be fine. I know. She'll try her wings and enjoy the freedom.

I'm just not too sure about me.

Flamingos and Penguins

My youngest spent her day yesterday planning a trip to Florida. She dressed in a tropical skirt and put on purple sunglasses and (don't ask me why) a white bandana. No one gave her this idea. No one even told her about Florida. She was coloring a map of the USA and when she got to Florida and its large flamingo, she was sold.

That was that place for her. She wants to go hang out with the flamingos.

I told my neighbor, who's from Florida, about the kiddo's plans.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry," she said. "The only flamingos in Florida are in zoos or they're plastic ones stuck in people's front yards."

Can I just say I'm shocked? All these years, I thought the only state whose reputation was messed up was Alaska's. We used to laugh at pictures of polar bears hanging out with penguins. (News flash: no penguins in Alaska, but I'm sure you knew that.)

Now I don't know what to think. Did they make up the whole thing about Idaho having potatoes? Or cowboys in Texas? Or teepees in New Mexico (I swear, that's on this map, too. The only teepees I've actually seen in NM were huge tourist traps)

What lies have we been told about where you live? What has surprised you when you've visited somewhere new?

Countdown

As we drove from mile 88 to mile 9, I was treated to a play-by-play countdown of highway miles that went something like this:

"That said 79. Did you see it? 79. That means next we'll see 78, but not until we see 2 more 79's, right? Exit 79. Exit 79. E-X-I-T. Now we'll see some 78's. You watch for the signs and I'll read them, okay?

"Hey, that said 77. What happened to 78? Did you see it? I didn't. Did you? 77. 77. I'll count to 77 now.

"1...2...3...4...5... (and so on) ...77. 77 is not a big number because it didn't take long to count that high. Exit 77. Now 76. Watch for 76, okay?"

I'm not kidding. It was an 79 mile monologue, punctuated only by a couple of grunts from me. The miles went quickly, but my goodness, all that talking makes me tired.

Oh, and did I mention we're in countdown mode for birthday #6?

Deep in the Heart of...

... Texas? Yes, in a physical sense. Together for Togo 2007 met in Dallas.

But it is deep in the heart of missionaries past, present and future that I spent my weekend. When I surround myself with those who have shared in the mission of God on a foreign field, I know what it means - in a limited way - for deep to call to deep. God planted something in these messengers that I cannot put words to. All I know is that it is my privilege and honor to be counted among them.

Thank you to all who came - Bryan, Matt, Crowsons, Neals, Jana, Kennells, Baileys, Hollands, Bunner, Koonces, Hausteins, Mark, Parkers, Amy, Tom and others I don't know yet. You revived my spirit.

You awoke what was sleeping in the depths of my heart.

Small Sky

I traveled today with my family to Texas for a missionary conference/reunion. Since there are five in our family, we always sit 3 on one side of the aisle and 2 on the other. Which means we always have a stranger in the row with us.

On our flight from Houston to Dallas, I shared a row with a flight attendant on her way back home after getting off work. We chatted through several subjects during our 43 minute flight - Why she became a flight attendant, To Kill a Mockingbird, modesty for young girls, Beth Moore.

As our plane started its descent into Dallas, she noted that she could tell I'd traveled with kids before. What gave me away? The snacks? The coloring books? The toys?

"We were missionaries in West Africa," I said, intending to explain that we were headed to a missions conference. But she didn't let me.

"I was a missionary in East Africa!" she exclaimed.

"Really? What part?"

"Uganda."

"Really? What city?"

She told me. As it happened, I knew some people who used to work there.

"What group were you with?" I asked.

"Well, there are lots of denominations in Uganda, but I worked with a Church of Christ team."

You could have knocked me down by blowing on me. I started naming people I knew on that team. You guessed it. Same team. In fact, we even attended the same retreat in Kenya 6 years ago.

Small Sky!

of dust

Adam and Eve left their garden paradise, shoulders bent, heads down, longing to return to the land God had granted them.

The Joads packed up their last belongings and said good-bye to the useless red and gray dust of Oklahoma. Useless, but home.

Scarlet O'Hara returned to Tara when all had left her, staking her tomorrow on the place that would not forsake her.

My family has no ties to the land. As generations moved westward, then northward, each generation leaving the home of its fathers, we lost our bond to the dust under our feet.

This week I slept, my face separated from clods of hay and dust only by the thin canvas of my tent and the thinning air in my mattress. The land on which I slept has belonged to the same family for many decades. As I observed the four living generations, I caught a glimpse of what I've missed. When a family shares the land for so long, they put down roots. They know each other and they know their history. Stories of old are told and retold and the children learn what it means to belong.

I think it's a blessing, this belonging, a blessing no longer enjoyed by so many among us. It was an honor to be witness to a family who knows what it is to be a family, for better or worse, in sickness and celebration. Thank you for sharing your dust.