Dear Bloggers,

Today is my Birthday! Yay! You have waited patiently for the great big announcement. Here it is.

Announcing a new weblog! As a gift for my second Sweet Sixteen Birthday my husband has given me the gift that I requested: a domain! You may now find me at…

www.angiewashington.com

Isn’t that awesome! I do so hope that you will come and visit me at my new place. Same me, just a new address. There are some features that you might be interested in.

- Sign-up to get posts in your inbox

- Interactive F.A.Q. page labeled ‘Bolivia’

- Your name added to my list of links to friends on the page labeled ‘Rides’

I hope to see you over there!

Much Love,

Angie

P.S. Please make the necessary changes to your feed readers, bookmarks and link lists. Thanks so much!

Revolving Door

A person’s first encounter with a revolving door can be a humorous event. First they just stand there and watch in wonder as a few people go through unharmed. Then they try a few false starts. Soon they get in, but it seems that they can’t quite figure out how to get out, especially if they are maneuvering a bag. They get up the guts to step out and they are right back where they started from. Sometimes a kind soul will try to coach and give pointers. Eventually the stressful experience is over and the person has made it through the crazy door.

My life feels like a revolving door. I am constantly saying good-bye or hello to somebody. Some people I am coaxing along and happy to see they make it through to the other side, proud of their growth and accomplishments. Others I want to hold on to and say just watch with me here for a bit more; but I know that they need to move on. Others I welcome in from the other side. At times their presence is surprisingly refreshing. At times I am challenged and grow because they are with me. Some people that I have waved good-bye to have later come back through the door and my heart is warmed. Others come through the door back into my life after years of silent absence, and I am enriched. Some come rushing through and leave so quickly, yet I am changed because they were with me even for that short time. The emotions attached with these arrivals and departures are most usually strong and have an enormous range of variety.

I am full aware that I am also, at times, the one leaving and arriving. It is overwhelming to consider how my comings and goings affect other people. Some times I long to go through the door and be with people I love; yet I am compelled to stay. I would like to say that I have embraced this aspect of my life. But I must say that I am still trying to figure it out. Maybe I am the one stuck in the door.

What kind of door would you use to describe your life and why?

Magnetic Attraction

It is fun to play with magnets. Seeing a long chain of metal objects stick together is fascinating. Have you ever tried to push strong magnets together with the non-attractive ends only to feel an invisible force prohibiting your efforts? These two forces (attraction and repulsion) are at work in relationships as much as they are in magnets.

In the same way that a simple switch in the direction of the magnets can reverse repulsion and create an attraction in relationships some simple changes in mindset can help bring people together instead of constantly being pushed apart. You can make adjustments in your thinking and the way you relate to others to create a connection.

Romans 12:5 & 10 “so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”

Switches:*

1. Switch, “This relationship exists to serve me,” to, “This relationship is so I may serve.” It is attractive to think about the other person

2. Switch, “I will look better if I belittle the other,” to, “If I lift the other up us both go up.”

3. Switch, “Trusting another means I will be taken advantage of,” to, “If I trust others I will be considered trustworthy.” Pushing someone down when in a panic and drowning will probably cause you to drown as well. Striving to pull the other up you will both be saved. A person who is suspicious of others will be thought to be a suspicious suspect.

4. Switch, “I have to be right,” to, “I have to have peace.” Which is more important to you: peace or to be right? In issues of blatant sin then you must hold your ground. But most arguments are not in regards to an issue of sin rather a difference of opinion. Better to let the other person be right and save the relationship.

5. Switch, “Vulnerability means I will be hurt,” to, “Vulnerability means I will be healed.” Take for example a hurt tooth: The dentist will have to inject and inspect and you will be painfully vulnerable to him, but in the end that vulnerability will lead to healing. Without the dentist help you will have greater pain and maybe even lose the tooth. In a relationship if you do not open up to the other person then the sores will fester and you may lose the relationship; just as you would eventually lose a tooth if left unattended. Opening up will lead to healing.

6. Switch, “Transparency means they will see my weaknesses,” to, “Transparency means they will see Jesus more clearly through my life.” In our weakness He is strong.

7. Switch, “Just a little lie won’t hurt,” to, “Lies of any size diminish my credibility.” Being a person of integrity and honesty – even when it is reference to mistakes – will gain you credibility in the eyes of others. You don’t always have to take the brutally honest route; there are ways to be kind and honest.

8. Switch, “Criticism makes me look bad,” to, “Criticism helps me become better.” The attitude with which you receive criticism reveals your true motives in a relationship.

9. Switch, “To get what I want I have to take it,” to “To get what I want I have to sow a seed.” Reaping a sowing is a continual theme throughout the word of God.

10. Switch, “People are things to help me reach my goal,” to, “People are the goal.” I know that when some people look at me my head is replaced by a big dollar sign; I want people to want to have a relationship with me not based on what I can offer them, rather based on who I am.

11. Switch, “These are the conditions so one may earn my love,” to, “I choose to love unconditionally.” Love is a choice, not an emotional feeling.

12. Switch, “This person will never change,” to, “Hope that God is still working is the only hope I have for a relationship.” They say that a relationship is dead when one loses hope that the other can change. This is not to say you must remain close to an abusive person. The bible gives clear instruction about not becoming closely tied to people that display certain characteristics. But if there is no abuse, and only annoying behavior, you can hope that God is working on both of you to grow and change.

* These are examples given in a relationship where both are equals (marriage, siblings, friendships etc.). Things may look slightly different when a leader / follower relationship is being discussed (i.e. parent / child, boss / employee, teacher / student).

Fashion Statement

Arriving fashionably late is the Bolivian lady’s permanent accessory draped haphazardly across heaving shoulders as she enters rushed, appearing as though it was simply unavoidable. The charming smile and friendly kiss on the cheek is penance enough to pardon any tardiness. Be it a tea, a party or a wedding, unimportant is the nature of the event, inevitably there are some that will show up late. Punctuality is simply defined as presence. Though they dwindle in upon commencement you can be assured that the departure is a corporate event. Not five minutes will separate the moment when the first woman rises to take her leave until you have kissed the final fair maiden farewell.

High Apple Pie in the Sky Hopes

My dear friends here in the blogosphere, you have made me feel loved! I truly hope that you are not gravely disappointed on Thursday. The scale of the surprise may be a few notches below your original expectations. But to know that you hope for such grandiose things for me and my family has touched my heart and made me smile more than once these last few days.

So far the guesses have equivocally been:
- pregnancy (that is why I cleared it up from the get go)
- adopting a child
- stateside adoptions approved for our orphanage here in Bolivia
- moving to a new house
- anniversary celebration trip without the kids
- getting a vehicle
- leaving Bolivia to go to a new mission station
- going home for a holiday
- bringing the whole family up to the States for a two week visit
- getting a pay raise

Wow, your high hopes for my life have bolstered my confidence and given me a revived sense of purpose. Thanks for dreaming big for me folks!

While we are on the subject, if you feel comfortable sharing, what is the biggest dream that you have for your life?

Mixing Birds

Mixing began. Pockets of people pulled together with the common interest of a new baby on the way. Pleasantries were exchanged as friendly facts were given and requested. Though unannounced there came a moment when all knew that everyone had arrived. At this precise moment the segregation began. The hosts floated between these groups defined by previous acquaintances. Eventually the spaces widened and it was clear that new relationships were not the top priority for many of those as the party. The church group huddled together over by one table. The missionaries had their spot. The non-missionaries-foreigners group chatted by the couch. The children were even split with the younger ones in the yard by the fountain and the older ones loitering on the basketball court. It is difficult for a group of twenty-some people to all enjoy the same conversation, thus the breaking off.

What are your thoughts about the phenomenon of ‘birds of a feather flock together’?

How do you respond when placed in a social situation with people you don’t know?

One Week

So I have been working you up for this announcement. (No I am not pregnant.) I am not quite ready to announce it yet. This post is just to whet your appetite. One week from now the announcement will be made. It is a happy thing, for a happy time.

WW on the WWW

On hump-day every week a friend of mine hosts a game on her blog called Whatever Wednesday. It's simple and fun. You read the question in the previous comment, then answer the question and leave a new one. And the game goes on like that till she closes comments. Anyone can play as much as they want. Usually there are upwards of 100 questions asked and answered each week.

So last week I got the final question which became the starting question for this week. I thought it would be interesting to know what my readers would respond to the question I left.

Oh, and if you wan to go play WW then head on over and visit Mandy after you leave your answer to my question here, of course. :-)

Here is my question:

When confronted by unavoidable and imposed change how do you respond?

Funny Fruit - Kaqui

On the corner near our house was a small stand under a colorful umbrella. Grabbing the plastic woven bag that my house help usually used to do the market shopping I took a deep breath and announced my departure. Not quite ready to leave my baby with the help I maneuvered the stroller over the pavement that was losing a futile battle with the roots of the ancient trees. The whole bumpy ride my baby gooed and gaaed while I rehearsed the few Spanish words I knew to prepare for my first produce purchases.

The people running the stand were taken by the baby, leaving me time to take in just what they had for sale. Vivid colors mixed with the fresh fruity fragrance wafting from the oversized baskets lent to a euphoric confidence bolstered by the giggles shared by my child and the venders. Over-pointing abounded but was quickly forgiven when I attempted speaking to them with my limited vocabulary being sure to smile real big. I purchased bananas, kiwis, apples, papaya, watermelon and tomatoes. That was all that would fit into the carrier under the stroller. The papaya was the only exotic thing I bought, or so I thought.

I made the proper leaving remarks and trotted home that cloudy morning. I was so proud of myself for this accomplishment. We began washing the fruit and my help made a comment about how much she loved this fruit as she indicated the tomatoes. The argument if the tomato was a fruit or vegetable was not new to me so I thought that I would practice some Spanish and present the opposing view. A comical discussion ensued that my help won only after she took a knife and cut the ‘tomato’ in half. Huh?! It was not a tomato! It was, indeed, my very first funny fruit encounter.

It is called a ‘Kaqui’. It, obviously, looks like a tomato. The taste is sweet with an extremely subtle hint of a cinnamon flavor. It is juicy yet firm. The flat pale seeds are edible while the tough skin is not. We are in kaqui season now. It is fun to eat it and remember my first market shopping experience about six years ago now. Oh, in English kaqui is translated persimmon.

Culture Collection

It was way back in March that I posted my first Culture Collection.

So now I am digging around in my pocket and feeling the well worn stones once again. Ah ha, I found it. Just by feeling it in my hands I know that this is the one I want to display. I pull it out and rub it a little with my thumb. It is a possession of mine. It reminds me of the possessions I want to talk about.

When you are graced with an invitation to a party here in Bolivia you can be sure that your attendance to such a momentous event will be acknowledged by a party favor. In Spanish they are called ‘recuerdos’ which can also be translated ‘memories’. For an adult party your gift will usually be given to you upon your arrival. Last night a group of ladies helped me organize the celebration of our first year of women’s ministry at church. Sure enough one of the gals had commissioned the creation of a tiny pin for each of the attendees that had a flower and a little ribbon printed with the name of our group, the date and the event. Such a nice detail! At a child’s party the favor is much more elaborate in the form of a goodie bag the size of the child’s head replete with candy, sweet breads, games, toys and all kinds of fun stuff. These bags are given to the children towards the end of the party so that there is an explosion of opening and immediate trading of the goods.

A special visit is also acknowledged with a gift. In the image you can see a very small sampling of some of the items that have been lovingly selected and presented to us during our visits around Latin America. Usually the gift is traditional of the country or includes the name of the country somewhere printed on the item. It is expected that the gift be displayed in your home and bears the name of ‘adorno’ or ‘decoration’.

Over the years this custom has become very endearing for me. When a carefully prepared gift is placed in my hands I receive it with gratitude knowing that I was remembered and that the giver is hoping that this token would create a warm memory of friendship in my heart.

200

That chart post was my 200th post. Cool!

Here is a question for you (since I am celebrating a bit of a milestone you can indulge me a bit) -

Ok, if you are one of the handful of people that read my blog could you name for me the top three things that keep bringing you back?

You can use the comment section for your answers (if there are any).

Chart of Servers

Here’s an interesting little thing. Below is a chart of the percentages of the blog servers of the people I read.

1. Blogger – 38%

2. Xanga – 28%

3. Personal domain – 17%

4. Wordpress – 15%

5. Typepad – 2%

Melodious Memory Lane

Spurred by a conversation with a friend last night I was taken on a reverie of my childhood cinema favorites. For fun I started making a list of some movies I would really like to have in my library. It would be fun to watch them with my kids and all that nostalgia and what not.

So I got done with the list and 20 of the 27 were musicals! Wow!

Since I know that you just have to know… here is my top 10 list of the greatest musicals ever (that I have seen).

10. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
9. Beauty and the Beast
8. The King and I
7. Fiddler on the Roof
6. Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory
5. Sound of Music
4. The Wiz
3. Wizard of Oz
2. Mary Poppins
1. Music Man

What is your favorite movie genre?