Traveling Nona

Well we have now been state-side for one month, I cannot believe how quickly time is passing. We drove our motorcycle down to Southern California and then across to Arizona. Our pastor friends from Sri Lanka met us in Central California and preached at a couple of different churches (two in Central California and then two today in Southern California). We are currently enroute to have lunch with Craig's Dad tomorrow. His health is failing and it is best for him and Grandma Mary if we just come for the day; so that is our plan. We will go from there to see Craig's Mom in Boise and then head home for a few precious weeks with our beloved grandchildren and their parents. My aunt is coming for a few days from Houston, Texas and that will be a special treat. I will spend a few days with her and my Mom in Portland, Oregon. I will fly to Califonia mid August to celebrate my Dad's 80th birthday. We have been shopping along the way for the things we will take with us back to Sri Lanka. One of the biggest rewards of coming to the Los Angeles area was that we were able to apply for our five year multiple entry visa to Sri Lanka and were given the visa in a very timely manner. (Like less than thirty minutes) God is always faithful and we are ever in awe of HIS provision in our lives. It is so amazing to simply follow HIM and have HIM direct our paths. I am sure I will post a few more thoughts before returning to Sri Lanka. Enjoy your summer and please take time to enjoy your families...they are precious! I am always aware of how much God wants to enjoy HIS relationship with each one us. We are precious in HIS sight. Don't forget HIS eyes are ever upon you. The Nona with time racing by.

This will be my last post from Sri Lanka for the summer.  In less than 36 hours Popa and I start the long journey towards Springfield, Oregon.  We are excited to see our family and friends.  I think we may even be looking forward to some rainy Oregon weather.  One of the things we have missed the most is driving our own vehicle.  The partially red 1988 Silverado Pick-up in the garage will be a real treat to drive; hopefully it will get a paint job this summer.  Popa is so looking forward to a motorcycle ride in the cooler climate.  I am looking forward to good cheese, good ice cream, and a nice juicy steak.  Our time here has been wonderful and profitable in so many ways.  It is a joy to be able to call these people our friends.  They have been so gracious and kind.  We will miss them.  Seems wherever we are ..... there are those we miss.  I am hoping that our grandchildren and children will find a way to visit in Sri Lanka in 2010.  Some of the greatest news about Heaven is that there will be no sorrow there, we will not know the pain of separation anymore.  We will forever be in the presence of the ONE who loved us and gave HIMSELF for us.  I trust each one of you know where you will spend Eternity, if you are not sure please ask me and I will gladly share with you how to know for certain.  That's all for now from a truly excited Nona......can't wait to see those six little darlings.  

Nona's Thoughts on Aging

Today is Monday and I am getting ready to start another hot day in Sri Lanka.  I am thinking that in just one month I will be standing in the airport in Eugene, Oregon with my grandchildren jumping up and down all around Popa and me.  The trip is long and hard on our bodies, especially these days (we are not getting any younger).  Popa has been talking with me about the fact that our bodies age but our spirits never do.  I need to be looking at the fact that my spirit says I can pack in an hour but my body knows it will take me a few days.  There is a much to be done here as we wrap up our counseling appointments for the summer months and finish up our teaching assignments.  My thoughts are in a bit of a whirlwind as I contemplate seeing four sets of parents in four different locations around the USA.  My dad will be eighty this summer and Craig's dad will be eighty-five.   Our mothers will be seventy-seven and eighty-two.  I cannot help but wonder about the spirit in each of them, do they still feel young on the inside?  The body begins towards an end from the first breath, the spirit however lives forever.  Knowing Jesus has persuaded me that my life is eternal and only this body will be laid to rest.  I am sure God knows my days and there is a peace in being in HIS eternal care.  For now, I am just enjoying the life I now live; forever grateful to have extraordinary children and superb grandchildren.  The contemplative Nona. 

Thoughts from a home-sick Nona

What am I homesick for?  My children and grandchildren.  My friends.  The life I am accustom to?  I had a very emotional encounter with a woman yesterday who is consumed with loving the Lord Jesus Christ, she just kept saying to me over and over again " I just love HIM, I just love HIM!" and then she would ask "do you understand?".   I did understand but was also ashamed of myself after listening to her story.  Everything and everyone she has ever held dear have been taken away from her, she was evicted from her home and stripped of all her finances and yet she sat across from me and kept saying "My God is so good, so great and awesome in HIS power, I just love HIM, I just love HIM!"  After a few hours of contemplation I realized I should be homesick for the presence of Almighty GOD!  I should miss the consuming desire to be pleasing in HIS sight above all else.  I have spent the last twelve hours greatly convicted of my petty desires.  I really do want the testimony of my life to point to Jesus Christ and HIM alone.  May you find HIM in the center of your thoughts, your desires, your time and in fact your entire life.  As always a contemplative Nona.

Nona's thoughts about living in Extreme HEAT!

Extreme HEAT has convinced me of one absolute for sure....I don't plan to go to hell.  There are days when I think I have found that eternal lake of fire.  The heat is so intense it takes my breath away.  The beauty of Sri Lanka is fading as I view it through sun scorched eyeballs.  They tell me before I loose sight of the beautiful isle it will cool off and my love of the place will be restored.  So, with that knowledge in mind I am gearing up for one more month of heat in hopes that knowledge of the fleeting hot season will sustain me through April.  The saddest news is that many could escape the eternal lake of fire we refer to as hell, but they choose instead to go their own way, do their own thing, and plan their own days here on earth.  How sad to be so caught up in the moment that they loose sight of eternity?  With age comes a realization that life is so short, the bible describes it as a mist that is fleeting; a vapor that was but is no longer.  I hope my days here on earth are spent storing up treasure in Heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt.  I am excited to know Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Master.  I have learned so much about the Master living here in Sri Lanka the last few months.  My prayer is that my life will remain always fully subject to the Master's Will.  In HIM and HIM alone we find peace that does not end.  I close this blog with only this thought why go to Hell when Heaven is an option?  As ever, A NONA who does not like extreme HEAT!

Crazy Nona Thoughts

Well, it should be interesting keeping this blog tied to the title.  Am I really crazy or do I just think that would be the easy way out?  Does sleep deprivation contribute to my crazy thoughts?  Is anyone really sane?  There are days when I know I know I am crazy....my thoughts spin around in my head and I can't seem to make sense of life.  Just when I think I have it (life) figured out it changes.  Sleep is a wonderful thing; on the other hand the lack of sleep can be a terrible thing!  I know first hand; as a teen-ager sleeping was my hobby and I loved it; now, as an adult lack of sleep can turn me into a raging maniac.  Right now I am not feeling so bad, because, as I look around I am having trouble identifying even one sane person!  I have been going through the school of difficult learning this past couple of years trying to own for myself the knowledge that my perspective becomes my reality....so having said that I better sign off as any sane person would do and find another topic to write about.

NONA

True to Form Nona

Almost one month has passed since I composed my last post.  I cannot believe how quickly time is passing.  Popa and I were able to extend our tourist visa here in Sri Lanka until June 15th.  We can relax and focus on the passion of our hearts.  The people here are very engaging; we attended the 25th Wedding Anniversary of some friends here this past week.  It was very moving and we so enjoyed the festive celebration.  Popa has gone this morning to a cricket match, the heat is extreme so I am hoping he survives the bright sunshine.  I have been busy re-arranging our bedroom which is totally out of character for me.  I cannot help but wonder how many times God would like to rearrange our lives but we say 'sorry that is totally our of character for me'.  We may not say it with our words but our actions really convey the message that we are in control of our lives and that God is truly not the master.  I am seeing a level of surrender in the Christians here that is convicting and inspiring.  Daily I meet people who have truly suffered persecution for the sake of Christ and I am must examine my own dedication to the One I call LORD!  For our own sakes it would be in all our best interest to find total surrender to the will of Heaven!  If we truly want the provisions of Heaven to become the manifestations of earth we will have to find ourselves in sync with the precious Holy Spirit.  I find myself thinking of my adorable grandchildren this morning, knowing they are all together in one house back in Oregon is emotionally compelling to me.   I love them dearly and am so grateful for their addition to my life.  I often think about how God feels when people are added to HIS family, the word of God says  'all of heaven rejoices'.  May each of us find a new-found passion for the thing that concerns God the most.  Love to all, the faraway Nona.