Reflections II

Sometimes things happen... Sometimes some not so nice things happen... but even when you are faced with situations that leave you floundering and wondering what in the world you are possibly going to do next I have found that there are two constants that will always be reliable... #1 Jehovah of course!  (He may leave you wondering how it will work out. But he will never leave you wondering if it will work out.  After all with him all things are possible.  And just when you are ready to freak out something always does... work out)  #2 Family.  (No matter how old you get.  No matter how far away you live.  No matter how hectic the schedules.  Family will always be there to help. Truly a blessing from Jehovah!)

Those of you who know me well know that I am a planner.  (Yes I can hear the whishing sounds of wind as you all fervently nod your heads in agreement.)  However the funny thing about being such a planner is that many times... ok most of the time... my plans usually don't work out the way I expected or originally hoped.  (again loud whishing sounds.)  However often they turn out better than I had hoped or expected.  So again some of my plans have had to change due to circumstances beyond my control leaving me wondering and praying for answers.

Jehovah's beautiful blessing of a family though has with open arms (despite the fact that it I know it is difficult to adjust to) been willing to welcome me into their home.  I am currently writing from the comfort of a quaint and sweet room down the hall from my brothers that some how already feels like home.

 I'm surrounded by the things I love, my turquoise chair, my multi-colored chain of candles that softly glow in the corner, the small pillow my mom made me when I was young, my great-grandmother's quilt, and most of all... my family.

Something so comforting about hearing the sounds of the house breathing at night.  Tony's feet shuffling down the hall.  Stefan and Shayne giggling.  The scent of Mum in the fabrics and the light in her eyes when her creative juices start to flow.  And the scraping noises of Pops working on his latest project.

The dynamics have changed so much.  Being apart for almost a year really helped us cultivate a different outlook and respect for the adults that we all are and also the adult that Shayne will be.  Some things will always remain the same, no matter how old any of us get.  But one thing that never changes is change and we are all becoming accustomed to adjusting quickly and adapting to new things that come our way.  Mum and Pops have been going through such mile stone changes as of late and with the loss of some of their comforting sentimental items from the move I know it has been even harder than we can imagine.

But through it all they remember the real reason any of us have ended up here in the first place.  To grow, to learn, and to be used in whatever way Jehovah sees fit.  Sometimes you could cry with joy and sometimes you can just plain old cry.  But in the end you go to bed at night and your sleep is sweet.  A smile is on your face because you know that even though things hurt, times are tough, and the going is rough.... you have the satisfaction of knowing it will be brief and miniscule when compared to the joy we will feel when we reach that new world and can say, "I made it!"

Reflections I



So as most of you know my 'lil brother' (Yes I know not so little anymore) Stefan has popped the question.  It was incredibly romantic and adorable.  For photos check out my mom's blog http://www.floursandfleurs.wordpress.com/ 



Saturday evening we were able to spend time with the whole congregation as we met everyone at the cafe "Corner Bakery" for a lite dinner.  Have I mentioned how much I adore our congregation?  We have such a variety of personalities and cultures and everyone has truly become family, all of us accepting eachother for the good and bad.  A dear younger sister (I say younger as my view of age consistently changes as I realize that time keeps ticking away even if your mental state doesn't)  has been in our congregation for quite some time and we heard the fabulous news on Saturday that her sisters and mum will be joining our congregation as well!  It's even more exciting since they live East of El Paso they will be supporting our new Satelite group.  What a privelege watching Jehovah's organizatio continue to grow. 

One of our Elders who will remain in the Northeast mentioned however and I must admit that I agree, that it is even harder in the sign language to have to seperate.  Even though we know it is a necessary and exciting change you literally feel as though part of your family has moved away.  My answer to that however is, now we have even more of an excuse to have get-togethers!

Yesterday

Suddenly I am getting flash backs to my 4-7 grade years of guitar classes with my Beatle-Fanatic teacher playing in my head ;)  (the title may have something to do with that)

Yesterday was a day of beauty and worry.  Recently my Mum and I have had the joy of spending Wednesday mornings waking up extra early to head to a Bible study on a young girl on the other side of the mountain. Sadly yesterday she had midterms and so was unable to hold our normal routine.  However, our Wednesday was of course ready to be spent in the ministry.  Since the assembly was last weekend we decided to consolidate all of our studies that had to be postponed over the weekend to Wednesday.  Off we headed with a few dissapointments of more cancellations along our way but also with a few surprises of finding some home that we didn't expect. 

The afternoon ended up a bit crazy when a Medical Emergency in a dear family at our hall came up...but once again I had the joy of watching my as all those in the congregation pulled together to make sure everything went smoothly.  Smoothly yes, unlike Stefan's hair which was proudly styled by the children of that family.  You'll have to ask him for pics.  Quite amusing! 

In the evening I started my first night of interpreting at UTEP for a Business Quantitative Statistics Course. Can I just say one word, "HELP!"  Those of you who know me well know that I DON'T ENJOY MATH.....In anyway shape or form...Unless it is Geometry. And that is only because I can see it in a real life situation that I would use.  Others may use Math regularly from Algebra and Calculus but not I!  So this class is absolutely a challenge but a fun one.  Signs such as, "Standard Deviation" "7!" (7 factorial for those of you who are just as unskilled as I)  "Exponents"  etc........ leave my head spinning.  Slowly some things are coming back to me but when you add a thickly accented somewhat quiet professor's voice on top of it I was ever so thankful to have another interpreter that I am supporting as we are struggling together to make heads or tails out of it (or should I say Numerator and Denominator out of it)  Ok I promise I'll stop with the Math jokes now.

Tomorrow evening I will be heading to pick up a dear friend to spend a girl weekend while I still have my boy-less apartment.  Sure I will have some stories to share :)

Hope you all have a lovely day!

Warm and Fuzzy Vintage Prints

Vintage  Modern   Prints

Denver Special Assembly Day

Good morning to all!

Just got in last night from our long haul to Denver this past weekend for our Special Assembly Day.  What a true-biz shot in the arm of energy and spiritual strength!  Our C.O. Jesse Gorneault shared some wonderful thoughts that really hit home.  One of those points was that the Bible Students who attend our congregation meetings are truly Jehovah's Bible Students and it is the ENTIRE Congregation's responsibility to teach and help that student progress.  Although this idea wasn't new the way he explained it was so much more clear.  For example he explained that when someone asks that Bible Student who is teaching them, they should readily explain, "Sister so and so shows me how to research with the index, Brother so and so teaches me how to study the Watchtower, Sister so and so teaching me how to study the KM, Brother so and so teaching me how to look up information on http://www.jw.org/..... and so on and so on.  Just thought I would share that lovely point as it is a reminder to us all that we are each an integral part of every student as they come into the Truth. 

The assembly hall in Denver is currently in the process of pre-construction which means that our assembly is held in the Marriott Renaissance Hotel near the airport. 

Let me tell you, there is a part of me that will be very sad when the assembly hall is complete.  The entire hotel is full of Witnesses.  We all sleep, wake up, get ready, and literally take the elevator down to the large ballroom which is converted into an assembly.  (looks just like one too! You would never know it was a Hotel till you take the Elevator up to the lobby)  The Hotel is absolutely beautiful too with the world's MOST COMFORTABLE BEDS!  We were considering taking some home on top of our Giant Uncle Rico Van which we had rented.  But we thought it may be a problem getting the van out of the parking garage.  It was tall enough as it was!  What a blessing to have the Brothers working so hard for us to make sure we are comfortable during our conventions!

Our car group was such a joy as well.  We had two sisters and a brother from our congregation all of whom we were looking forward to getting to know more closely as now that our congregation has grown and is split for one meeting a week it makes it harder to get to talk to everyone as often.  All of them have such interesting life stories and by the end I can say we truly felt like family :)

Our special speaker at the assembly was Brother Jeremy Mallory and he gave some tremendous illustrations!  However for those of you who haven't had your Special Day yet I don't want to ruin any illustrations that may also be given at yours.  If you have had it however, email me and we can compare notes :) 

Well I had best get going.  On to work now.  I hope you all are having a gorgeous day and I send my love!

Meg

(Yes I realize this is more like an email than a post....however it is so much more simple than forwarding an email)

John Waterhouse

One of my favorite artists is John Waterhouse his rich colors and ability to capture the essence of classical stories in a 2-D image never cease to amaze me.

Autumn

There is something about the Autumn that makes one crave sweaters, cloudy days, warm apple cider, and poetry.  So to usher in the Fall I have found some sweet melancholy poems that drift slowly down the page as leaves fall from the trees.

Verlaine’s “Chanson d’Automne”

Les sanglots longs

Des violons

De l’automne

Blessent mon cœur

D’une langueur

Monotone.

Tout suffocant

Et blême, quand

Sonne l’heure.

Je me souviens

Des jours anciens,

Et je pleure.

Et je m’en vais

Au vent mauvais

Qui m’emporte

De çà, de là,

Pareil à la

Feuille morte.

 

 

(The long sobs of the violins of Autumn wound my heart with a monotonous languor. 

 

 Stifling everything, and wan, when the hour sounds, I recall the old days and I weep. 

 

And I depart with the ill wind that carries me away, now here, now there, just like a dead leaf)

 

 

Goethe’s “Herbstgefühl” (“Autumn Emotion”)

 

Fetter grüne, du Laub,

Am Rebengeländer

Hier mein Fenster herauf!

Gedrängter quellet,

Zwillingsbeeren, und reifet

Schneller und glänzend voller!

Euch brütet der Mutter Sonne

Scheideblick, euch umsäuselt

Des holden Himmels

Fruchtende Fülle;

Euch kühlet des Mondes

Freundlicher Zauberhauch,

Und euch betauen, ach!

Aus diesen Augen

Der ewig belebenden Liebe

Voll schwellende Tränen.

(A fuller green, you leaves, up here to my window, along the grape trellis! Swell more crowdedly, indistinguishable berries, and ripen more quickly and more fully gleaming! On you broods the mother sun’s parting glance, all around you rustles the lovely sky’s fruitful abundance; you are cooled by the moon’s kindly and magical breath, you are bedewed—ah!—by the tears overflowing from these eyes of eternally

enlivening love.)

Artistic Ideas

So those of you who live near me know I've been requesting bottles of all shapes and sizes....the reason?  Similar to this photo above (though much more artistic and varied) I plan on making a sun catcher of sorts or a hippie type beads to hang over the window.  The bottle will be hung at various levels and on a much larger scale.  Hard to visualize but when I complete it I will post a photo :)

Yo Quiero Taco Bell!

Alright a trip down memory lane for this 90's child but I am sure you all remember this famous little guy.  Sadly I think he recently reached an end to his doggie years.  However, point of this all being this guy is truly my back yard neighbor!  To the "T"! (for "T"aco) :)

Lookin' Back

This past week my parents exprienced the epic move into their new maison.  It has had its ups and downs but mostly ups.  Jehovah has certainly blessed them for their patience and willingness to completely change their lives upside down.  However with that comes hassles and irritations that are unavoidable in this world.  I am so proud of them for all they have done to simplify and all they will continue to do.  To hear some of the hilarious stories check out my mom's fabulous new blog http://www.floursandfleurs.wordpress.com/ 

With my parent's move though has come a bittersweet ending to this chapter of our lives.  Moving down here first with the three of us is an experience I will never ever forget.  The day we left Ohio in our minature scion caravan wiping our tears and wondering what lied ahead, seems so.......distant.  I can't believe we are coming up on a year of living here November 1st.  It truly feels as though I have been here all my life, except for my lack of general knowledge of Texas geography (for instance did you know that the Bush's were from Midland, Texas only 4 hours from here...trust me we've been there... you would never ever guess that town was rolling in oil money)  and the on-going struggle to learn Spanish of course.  I can truly say this is home.  Soon our family was able to make the long awaited haul down and we bunkered in as close and I mean close roommates.  Now with the moving out of part of my family the house seems empty almost too empty.  The walls literally echo....but these growing pains 

With my parent's moving truck came a small box of my highschool yearbooks, old ballerina shoes, and pamphlets from Ballets....such memories that I could fill pages and pages with and they fit in small file box.  Amazing.