A Reading List For An Excessively Long Plane Ride

It is time to start seriously thinking through the minute logistics of our trip to Tanzania. You know what that means, right? Prioritize and attack from most important task on down. So, first things first. Time to make my picks for the books that will help me survive an excessively long plane ride, of course. We can figure out where the kids are going to stay tomorrow. (Just kidding. We know that. How exactly they are getting from place to place...well, that we can figure out tomorrow).

I am starting with a couple of books that have been hanging around on my Kindle half-read for too long now. Time to wrap it up.

Orphan Justice
Evangelical Catholicism

Then it'll be time to gain a little cultural knowledge about Tanzania and read some inspiring stories. There are a ton of great choices here, but I am going with these for this trip:

Tanzania: Culture Smart
Tanzanian Women in Their Own Words
Facing the Lion

I've got a running list of the stories of Jesus-loving world changers to read. This time the winner is

No Greater Love

I tend to keep a book about the issues of poverty, trafficking, or other global issues going at all times too. I read them rather slowly because, quite frankly, they usually break my heart. But it is important to dig in to the hard places if you are going to do the work of justice and loving the poor well, so I am committed to the discipline of learning. I am both excited and a little terrified to finally get to this one:

The Locust Effect

I was feeling a little guilty that I wasn't choosing a "harder" spiritual reading list since it is Lent. But then I realized three things:
1. I have no idea what that actually means.
2. It's part of my fear of not appearing knowledgeable and competent that Tanzania is helping me let go of.
3. I think facing my brothers and sisters in Tanzania will immerse me in Lent perfectly well.

So I am going with two books I have really been wanting to read:

Jesus Feminist
Girl at the End of the World

Of course, every traveler needs to load up on her favorite genre. I tend to vacillate a bit, but, generally speaking, I love a good memoir, so I am adding two of those to my list:

Bird By Bird
I Am Malala

And lately, I am have been devouring young adult fiction and not feeling the least bit guilty about it, so I am going with these two for my "fun", actual books in the hands reads:

Divergent
The Book Thief

And since I hate linking a thousand links, and I like pretty little visuals, I just made a pretty little Pinterest board with all these titles. I like the idea of changing it out as I read one and add another and keeping a current list going, since sometimes I honestly forget what I had in mind to read next and miss getting to something I really wanted to read. So here it is, my Current Reading List board:


Follow Colleen Mitchell's board Current Reading List on Pinterest.

So what should go on my list for after Africa? What's on your reading list these days?

A Letter Tanzania: On Not Knowing Anything

Dear Tanzania,
I am headed in your direction in less than two weeks, and I feel like I just want to write you ahead of time and set the record straight about something. I have no idea what I am doing.

Whew. I am so glad I can just say that. Because, you see, all these people keep asking me why. Why are you going to Africa again? What are you going to be doing there? And I feel this compulsion to have something good to say. A professional sounding answer that is certain and sure.

I talk about water wells and chapels and young priests with lots of new converts who need help. And I do hope to find out more about all those things. But I have no plans for you, Tanzania. You have been you for a very long time and I have had nothing to do with it. I hardly have the right to make a plan before I ever set foot on your soil, listen to your people, learn your ways and your wants and your hopes and your dreams.

And even then, it may turn out that I have nothing to do with it. And I am good with that.

So why I am coming? I am coming in obedience to the Spirit of the Holy One, who built a dream of you in my heart long ago, wove a contact, opened a window, blew through it and said, "Go."

I am coming because I need this time to drink in something new. Step away from my all my knowing and walk in knowing nothing for a while. Hold the hand of my beloved, cling to him, and be good with having nothing to offer.

You see, Tanzania, I think the Lord is sending me to you for something. I know He wants me to open my eyes to His glory that shines is in you, to the myriad ways He has been at work at you, to all you will have to teach me and show me about who He is.

I pray He has a little role for me to play in your story. I hope there are faces and places for me to love and feel forever linked with there in your wide open plains.

And yes, there is a little part of me that dreams of a community of faces having fresh water again and a zealous young missionary priest stepping into a newly constructed chapel for the first time.

But I have no guarantees. And I am coming anyway. And I don't want to have an answer yet.

Because God is teaching me something and using you to do it, dear Tanzania. You see, I fear not knowing. I fear feeling like God is calling me to something and then finding out that, well, no, not so much. I fear that maybe He is calling me and what He is calling me to is having no answers, no way to help, to just sit in the hard place.

I like being capable, having visions, seeing solutions, knowing who to plug in where to get things done. I like knowing. And I fear not knowing.

But you, Tanzania, you are worth stepping into my fear for. I have waited long for you and I will not mess this up with my presumption, my need to have a good answer, to appear professionally competent.

I'm coming on a dream and wind of the Spirit, Tanzania. You will be part of my story. Perhaps I will be a tiny dot in yours. Only our God knows. And I am good with that.

And I'm trusting you Tanzania. Because every time I step on a plane with my whole family, I am comforted by the thought that if we all go now, at least we were all together and we were going somewhere. But when I have to do that same thing without my children? Gripped. By. Fear. Anxiety. Barely breathing in the take off moments. Wondering what on earth I was thinking.

But I am going to fight through Tanzania, because God said go. And you. You are going to make it worth it, right? I know you are.

Linking up at The Grove at Velvet Ashes today.
Join us as we talk about fear.

The Well-Traveled Mama's List of Plane Packing Tips

So, we are traveling this week, heading to the States to wait out the layover between rental homes here in Costa Rica by spending some time with family before my beloved and I head to Tanzania in mid-March and then we all head back here in early April.

And I've been packing. I can't say I follow the same packing science every time I do it, but I will say that having packed our family of seven for long road trips in our own car, 37 hours of bus travel, multiple border crossings on foot and various plane rides, I am, if anything, an experienced packer. So I thought I'd share some tips I've learned along the way.

Road trip packing and plane packing are two totally different things in my mind, and since we are packing for plane travel here, let's go with that one for now. With so many airlines now charging for bags, efficiency is dollars in your wallet, so it's worth the effort to get the packing done right.

For our trip, our family of seven will each carry a back pack as his personal item, and we'll check two bags and carry on one. We'll be in the States a month, but it's not like we need that many clothes, since we'll be staying with family and doing laundry regularly.

So let's work by category, personal items, carry-ons, checked bags.

1. Personal Items:

• Don't underestimate how much packing you can do in these. Remember they are free weight! You can load them up with as much as the carrier can carry! I used to tend to only see these as busy bags and snack holders for the kids and fill them with things to entertain them during the plane ride. Now I still put a few busy bag items and snacks in their back packs, but I also try to use them wisely.
• Pack each person's heaviest pair of shoes in his back pack. Obviously this won't work with say, ski boots, but tennis shoes? Fit easily and all total that's a lot of weight and space saved in your checked bags. My boys are wearing crocs on the plane and each carrying his tennis shoes in his back pack.
• Books are heavy too. So my guys each carry whatever school books and their own personal reading in their packs. Greg and I carry our own books and all the family prayer books we want to take along.
• Put each person's tooth brush and a travel sized tooth paste in a small ziploc bag in his pack. One, it makes it easier when you get to your final destination to start getting people either freshened up or ready for bed, and, two, fresh teeth are a great cure for travel grumpies and plane boredom.
• Tie jackets or sweat shirts to the top handle. Save space and keep them handy for the million times your kids will take them on and off during the trip.
• Mom keeps travel documents, Dad keeps photo copies of travel documents. This everything is in one place for the million times you need to pull it out these days, but their are emergency copies in a second location should some horrible thing happen. I had to replace my passport from a stolen purse recently, at it was a breeze because I had a photocopy of the old one. Carry copies with you and leave copies with someone who can fax to you while traveling if necessary. 

2. Carry-Ons:

• I know so many people love to only carry on if possible. My advice when traveling with kids is to limit carry-ons. It's hard to navigate the airport with lots of people AND lots of stuff in tow. Overhead space is more and more limited all the time, and trying to get everyone seated plus store carry-on luggage can be overwhelming. And it's one more thing to remember when it's time to get off the plane and everyone is antsy and distracted.
• We are taking one carry on this time as I usually do. In it are packed a couple of towels, our pajamas for the first night, and clothes for the following day for each family member. So we are covered if luggage gets lost. We are covered if someone gets sick in an airport (been there, done that). And if all goes well, only one bag has to be opened on the first day and night, which is a sanity saver to be sure. We'll be traveling nearly 18 hours by the time we add plane and car transport. A quick transition to warm showers and pajamas will be really, really helpful.
• If you are bringing gifts or souvenirs to people that you know you will want to access right away, stick them in your carry on inside another small tote bag. It's quick and easy to open and pull out and a better presentation than your belongings strewed all over your hosts' home while you dig for their bag of coffee (well, that's what I'll be carrying anyway).
• You'll likely carry most of your electronics in your back packs, but if you have spare chargers, stick them in your carry on. Easy to find and a handy replacement if someone accidentally leaves on in a random airport electric socket. It happens. I'm telling you.

Checked Bags:

• I have one brilliant solution for making your large suit case packing easier, whether you are plane traveling or road tripping. It is experiential learning at its best. And it is this:

PACK BY DAYS NOT BY PEOPLE.

• Rather than putting some of the children's items in one bag and other's in another and the adults in another, pack three days worth of clothes for the entire family in each bag. 
• While traveling, you can pull one bag out at a time, use up what is in it, close it up and move on to the next.
• You can plan for special clothing needs, climate changes and adventures. If your bags are specific to the days of the trip, stick a little duct tape around the handle and number it.
• I love packing in those large duffle bags that have zipped bottom section under the main compartment. I put socks and underwear, toiletries, and jewelry accessories in the bottom, and then in the main compartment, I roll outfits together, pants and shirt, and pack them rolled up by person.
• It really does cut down on bags somehow. By following my above strategies for personal items and carry ons, everyone has one jacket, both pairs of shoes, pajamas and one outfit already on hand. I can get three outfits per person in each checked bag, giving us a grand total of seven outfits and two sets of pajamas each, two pairs of shoes, socks, underwear, accessories, toiletries, school books, electronics and personal items and snacks for seven people in two checked bags, one carry on, and a backpack per person. 

I hope you'll find these tips helpful next time you need to load your crew up and head out. Have a favorite packing tip to inspire me this week? Leave it below! I need all the help I can get.

Week(Ends) and Such

I wanted to get a Weekends With Chesterton post up this weekend and have time to keep my new Pinterest planning trend going, but a bum ipad charger and a lot of other stuff didn't let me get that far.

So, I'm all off kilter, but I did get the ipad going again, so I am going to pretend it's still the weekend and share these quotes I read this week in Chesterton essay entitled The Advantages of Having One Leg. I loved it and had a ton of highlights, but here a couple of my very favorites:

"But I am afraid that the maxim that the smallest worries are the worst is sometimes used or abused by people, because they have nothing but the smallest worries...We need not deny that the grasshopper on man's shoulder is a burden; but we need not pay much respect to the gentleman who is always calling out that he would rather have an elephant when he knows there are no elephants in the country."

"This world and our powers in it are far more awful and beautiful than even we know until some accident reminds us. If you wish to perceive that limitless felicity, limit yourself if only for a moment. If you wish to realize how fearfully and wonderfully God's image is made, stand on one leg. If you want to realize the splendid vision of all visible things--wink the other eye."

As far as plans for the week ahead, we are pushing through core subjects, reading a bit of Robin Hood and a lot of Percy Jackson, and the boys are hanging with Dad for some jungle survival lessons while I ask IF with an amazing group of ladies, so that is pretty much it. No pinning that. Just living it.

Oh, and tomorrow, a trip to the Embassy in San Jose to replace my stolen passport. Because in case you haven't heard, I"M GOING TO AFRICA!!!!!!! My husband and I will be making an assessment visit to the communities in Tanzania that St. Bryce Missions will be advocating for in 2014. Take a minute to watch this video that outlines our hopes and dreams for these communities:



So, my life requires a lot of planning right now, but it's not really the blog worthy kind. But I can keep counting thanks, claiming all things as eucharisteo...so that I will do. Here are some of the ways He reached down and out and in last week:

#1755...a new home for our mission
#1757...plane tickets to "home"
#1759...some rhythm to school work
#1764...people willing to give us tangible help
#1765...little boy drawings of the Pope
#1766...reading multiple perspectives on this story of a miraculous Haitian birth...love these midwives and their people and their work

Don't forget to spread the word about the new Pope Francis link up happening here this Friday and come back and link up yourself!

Have a blessed week, friends!

A Common Depravity

So I stepped off a plane in the U.S. mid to end of September and then made my way toward Austin, TX. Without really knowing why or plumbing the depths of it, I had felt a magnetic pull to get myself to the States to attend Idea Camp/Human Care the moment I read about it on Jen Hatmaker's blog (which I present to you because if you don't know about it and you like to laugh while you love Jesus and ask hard questions, you should). I had already been trying to get to New Orleans in early October so this opportunity sealed the deal. I jumped on it and what developed was a month long whirl wind tour of the States for which I left my husband and five children behind in our mountain mission post caring for a 37 week pregnant woman and her four year old (a story for another day). I told you, there was not much in-depth forethought here...a blowing of the Spirit, a tongue of fire, and BAM I was off.

It wasn't really until I woke up the morning of the first day of Idea Camp in my friend Nickie's house that I started to question myself. First of all, my most wonderful hostess allowed me to prevail upon her and her family even though we had only reconnected since high school on Facebook. She jumped to open her home to me when I zipped off a message saying. "Um, if I randomly come to Austin in September to go to this thing (insert Idea Camp link), can you provide me food, lodging and transportation for free?" Because she's a good girl and she loves Jesus and a NOLA girl so loves company, she was all, "YES!"

But I woke up on Friday morning to get dressed and await the ride she had arranged for me with a neighborhood friend and had a moment AKA freak out. What the heck was I doing? My family was far away, my husband holding the home front and ministry fort, while I was about to head to some hybrid conference/conversation thing with people I did not know to meet other people I did not know who did really awesome things I did know about. And all I could think was 1. I'm way out of my league and 2. Don't genuflect and make the Sign of the Cross when you get in the pew at that Church because you are totally going to creep these people out.

You see, I was pretty sure that I was going to be the only Catholic girl at this rodeo (That's a Texas reference, get it?) And that freaked me out because...well, I don't really know why. I think it's because I really do not care. I feel comfortable, inspired and hopeful about the future around Jesus-lovers and world-changers of all sorts. But I am never quite sure if that feeling will be reciprocated. I feel like I have to awkwardly work the fact that I am Catholic into the first line of every conversation to allow people the opportunity to walk away from me if they like. So I did. And they didn't. Not one person walked away.

What I found was a space where there was a unique commonality among those gathered. It went way beyond our antiquated "we all love the same Jesus" platitude (which by the way does nothing to cross ecumenical bounds and reach out to our deepest common places and is really just kind of dumb). It took me a while to figure out what it was that was there.

There was a van ride where two women became my instant friends. There was praise and worship that just felt right. There was a room and a conversation where I felt confident that I had something worthwhile to say. There was the lady who slipped into the pew beside me and then it turned out calls Costa Rica her second home. There was excitement about the work we are doing, and ideas and thoughts and offers for collaboration. There was lunch where we broke every health code and walked straight through the kitchen to our table. And where smart women had insightful conversation.

And that was all really, really cool. But it wasn't quite the heart of the matter. There was something deep happening in the hearts of the people I watched and listened to and talked with and prayed with over those two days. Something that bound us together differently than I had found myself bound to a group of people before. I heard in their voices, sensed it in their countenance, watched it glisten in their tears. We were not made brothers and sisters by some vague same Jesus we believed in.

If you heard the conversations that took place in that space out of context and without being surrounded by that atmosphere, you would have likely though the lot of us crazy. We cried and we were angry and we were disappointed and we were confused and we felt like we had no answers. Yet we were hopeful and we were brave and we were raw and we were in the fight. And we had been broken. Fallen in love with a real God who did the hardest thing for us, broke Himself wide open. And who had in turn sent us into the world with bleeding hearts that had broken for the least of His people. And we stood there together with the pieces in our hands and wondered what came next. We shared a common depravity.

And in that broken, depraved place where we admitted that we had fewer answers than we ever thought we could and that when we really were honest we knew less now than when we started, there was a new hope born. A hope that in admitting to our common depravity we could find ways to help each other keep being brave, keep asking hard questions, keep walking through the muck and the mud of relationships and Church and Christianity and charity and what the heck does it all mean. That the blind leading the blind often find their way in the dark faster than those who think they see and so need no one.

I left that space a little timid to face the world again. There was something so, so nice about being a mess among messes and knowing it was good. And knowing that even after we had quietly admitted to our common depravity in that space, we would take the pieces of our hearts, go back out into the great wide broken world and dig in again. Do the hard stuff. Ask each other questions. Invite one another into our craziness. It framed the entire rest of my time in the States. It changed me. It gave me new friends. Friends who love my Jesus, but not only that, love Him to that point of broken wide, messy crazy. Friends with whom I share a common depravity.

I have made many friends in the last couple of years with whom I do not share denomination. And yet I am drawn deeply to them in so many ways. This is my final explanation of what it is that draws me. It may not make sense to you. That probably just means you're not crazy. Yet.