At home today.

Non-working holiday here in the Philippines.

Inauguration Day!

So, on the agenda today is...

• sleep in (which I did :) ).
• continue my search for a solution to import my Outlook emails into either Mac Mail or Entourage. URGH!
• work on a few documents for work that I want to finish and get emailed out today.
• and...watch the activities throughout the day as the new President of the Philippines, Benigno "Noynoy" S. Aquino III, takes office today.

I've been thinking about Inauguration Day in the States.

The only one I really remember watching was the latest one for President Obama.

I remember watching the activities of that historic day while packing to move here to Manila.

And now here I am!

I'm in Manila, watching the inauguration of the 15th President of the Philippines.

Apparently, you can watch the same thing I'm watching too. The channel I watch is streaming their broadcast throughout today.

By the way... Friday is a non-working holiday for our office too... Pasig Day!

Welcome back...

• mornings stirred awake by the sound of strong rains.
• mornings waiting ... waiting ... waiting for a break to quick rush it over to the office.
• being sooo close to the office doors thinking I've made it ... just when the skies open up and dump wet all over me.
• laughing and smiling at the hallway decor of umbrellas left open to dry out.
• shivering cold in the office thinking -- oh, I really should leave a change of clothes here.
• clothes drying out just in time for the afternoon downpour -- also known as ... the walk home.
• slipping and sliding because I really should get better flip flops to wear in the rain.
• uselessly holding an umbrella because the rains fly sideways at every which angle. No matter what I'm wet.
• knowing this and yet still buying an umbrella at the closest store because I forgot mine ... at home, in the office, in the taxi...
  
• having to laugh at myself when inevitably my umbrella flips out and almost takes me with it.
• beautiful, powerful storms -- skies electric and sounds rhythmic and rumbling.
• cool, breezy nights.
• gorgeous after-storm skies.

Today was the first REAL rainy season day that I've seen this year.
It was glorious!
It was beautiful and breezy. The lightning was bright and brilliant. The thunder was roaring.
I watched as it moved across the city -- the sky was cleared up in front of me and just down a ways, the storm raged on.

It was beautifully romantic.

Likely I felt this way because I worked from home today (nursing what was lingering of some ear pains).
I watched it from my 16th floor unit with the windows open, breezes playing my wind chimes and the storm being accompanied by my iPod playing a mix of classical songs.

Perhaps it was best way to spend my first rainy season day of the year.
Now as I walk to work with soggy pants, I can think back to this day and find the beauty in the season.

Finally. After almost a year and a half I accomplished a goal I had set for myself.
DRIVE IN MANILA.

I set the goal when I first arrived for it to happen sometime within my first few months.
That became my first 6 months.
Which became before Christmas.
Which then became before my parents' visit (March).
Which then became before my birthday.

FINALLY! A goal met.
(Does it count when it was postponed so many times??)

Last week I got this email from one of my friends in the office...

Subject: pst What are you doing after work? How would you feel about getting your first driving experience in Manila? I don't know about you but I'm in desperate need of a run to the grocery store. Would love the company. :) Let me know!

Well, it just so happens the night before I was thinking about how long I could survive with what I had in my cabinets and how much I wanted to order out in the week. So, in my mind I had made plans -- this was going to be the time that I would take the BIG STEP and actually borrow the office car to go grocery shopping.

Well how great was it to get that email the very next day?? I'm not really one who is motivated by "I dare you!" challenges. But, nudges and encouragements from people who want to help you succeed in reaching goals and want to help you to be willing to take steps forward -- that motivates me.

And so, I checked out the car. After work I unlocked the car, welcomed my two brave passengers and drove a whole SEVEN KILOMETERS round trip. Yeah... I know... the odometer hardly turned. It shouldn't even count.

But... IT DOES!
CHECK. DONE!

A goal was set. I had someone who helped motivate me. I had friends cheer me on.
And now I'm not as intimidated by the thought of driving in Manila anymore.

Now parking... that's a whole other story!!! (Really...hahaha!)

This week there were some sweet surprises...

Finished
Okay, I confess. I haven't been following the World Cup. I do know that it's been going on. As a matter of fact, I've been collecting the glasses. Yup! McDonald's has a collector's set of World Cup glasses.
While I was gone last week I had wondered if the promo would still be happening when I returned. When we lunched at McDonald's one afternoon I was able to get the rest of the glasses that I needed to complete the set with the purchase of just ONE meal. Yay! I was relieved because that was the 3rd day in a row that I ordered from the golden arches. Whew!



Driving Day
On my list of things I wanted to do before my birthday.
DRIVE IN MANILA.
Check. Done.
One day this week one of my friends at work asked if I'd be interested in going grocery shopping after work -- and if I might want to check out the company car AND drive us. Well, I had actually had that very thing in mind to do. So, her initiating was the push to actually do it. After work I took out the Crosswind for the very first time. It was fun to be driving again. And even nicer to have my very own cheering section while doing it.

Guarded
The night I went out driving I had a few challenges in parking lots -- getting out of parking lots, a car alarm that wouldn't shut off, and a trunk full of BOXED groceries (Wednesdays the grocery store tries to do its part for the environment and doesn't bag using plastic bags). With each challenge security guards came to the rescue. All night long the guards displayed incredible amounts of patience, grace and generous helpfulness. Sooo wonderful!


Musical Theater
I miss going to plays and other live art performances. One evening this week (Tuesday) I was at home searching online for local performances of anything. I really wanted to go see something. Came up with nothing.
The very next day out of the blue a friend at work said, "Did you know that they're showing Legally Blonde at the Meralco Theater?" The next night she told me she was able to get my name on a list for the show. What I didn't know was that it was opening night so it was an energy-filled night (And the leading actress's celebrity boyfriend was sitting just a row behind us in the next section!) The whole evening was fun and a huge blessing. I couldn't believe the timing of it all. It was a sweet, sweet, sweet surprise!


Dr. Generous
I woke up on Wednesday with an earache. Thursday (Legally Blonde night) it was fine - gone. Friday it hurt worse than it had on Wednesday. So, I decided to go to the clinic. The first sweet surprise was that I was first in line to see the ENT doctor. So my wait was a total of 30 minutes -- and that's because I arrived 30 minutes before the doctors do. Whoa! That never happens!!! He checked me out and said everything looked okay -- my ears were very irritated, but he didn't see any infection. He wanted me to take drops to reduce the swelling and prevent any possible infection. He wrote up the prescription, went to a cabinet and pulled out a box. "Here, so you don't have to spend money on the prescription. This should be enough for the 5 days."

WOW! Nice. I wasn't expecting that AT ALL.


2 for 100 pesos
Picked up this VCD in the 2 for 100 pesos pile at the video store in the mall.
I hadn't heard of it before. But, reading the blurb on the back I thought it would be worth the 50 pesos.
It was definitely worth it. I would be willing to pay more for it.
Great movie.

One last one...



Chunky Choco Mocha
I went in to the Mini Stop to pick up some snacks for the guards who helped me out at the parking lot at my place. Walking by the freezer case I saw this LIMITED EDITION ice cream flavor. Hopefully it is not TOO limited, it is YUMMY!!!!

Chocolate layers. Chocolate chips. Crushed cashews. Peanuts. Mocha ice cream.

Email.
Skype.
YouSendIt.
Intranet.
Dropbox.

There are so many things available to us that makes our virtual workplace -- work.
And for the most part, it works pretty well.
When we use these tools we have the ability to close the gaps of geographical space, time zones, and financial restrictions.

BUT, there is still GREAT value in having face-to-face time.

I just got back this afternoon from spending 4 days with colleagues in South Asia.
This team wants to develop a website and get it live soon.
My co-worker, Oliver, and our friend, Sam, got to sit side-by-side for about 4 days learning Drupal (software for building a content managed based website). They got to ask each other questions, search around the web together for solutions, and work on things until they figured it out.

I think the 4 days helped to build this new working relationship between these two men and I HOPE that it will help Sam to jump start the work he'll be doing in the next couple of months to get the site built and up live.

One of the men who had planned to join us was sick so we didn't have as much time to spend with him as I had originally thought. But during the time we did have together, we got to talk about the content that would be needed for the site, we worked on a plan for getting that content done, and we talked about other communication needs that were still remaining.

Face to face.

Yes, we could have gone through these things virtually. And actually, we have been doing that -- over email. But even in the limited time we did end up having together, we were able to talk through things more thoroughly. I got to hear the questions that he had. I feel like I got to hear and understand some of the challenges they face better than I have heard and understood.

Face to face.

And being face to face I'm reminded too of their hearts for God. I'm reminded of their incredible, hard work ethic and commitment. I'm reminded of their passion for their country and their people. I'm reminded of how great their desire is for their work to be known by more people -- not for their own sake, but for His.

Face to face.

It's easy when you have a long to-do-list to put things that feel faraway at the bottom. Seeing them in person and seeing their vision being pursued... in a way it's like it re-kindles and reminds me of our commitment to them. No, the face to face isn't always necessary. It's not even possible or reasonable at times.
But it sure is great to be face to face with my brothers and sisters once in a while.

So come Monday, I have some things to follow up on. Hoping that the momentum that's been built in our 4 days together will last a while.

End of Day Two of Four.

My co-worker, Oliver, and I are here in South Asia working with colleagues on their web development. Oliver’s training one of their IT guys on how to use Drupal to build their site.
Mostly I’ve just been watching, listening in and working on my own stuff while they work on theirs.

Basically I’m here to give input when it comes to website flow and content development. Not much of that has been happening so far. They’ve been having too much fun conquering techy challenges.

Tomorrow another colleague, who's been sick, will be able to join us. The two of us will likely sit and talk specifically about these two areas while they continue conquering the world of Drupal.

I’ve been keeping myself plenty busy. I’ve been continuing to work on some ideas regarding their web content. I’ve been working on some email (fun… emailing offline and then doing quick send/receives when I can steal the USB network stick from one of them to connect) and taking care of some other work responsibilities.

These meetings haven’t been too much. They're not like other meetings when I have been constantly “on” – mentally and physically. And yesterday (unlike most times when I’m gone for meetings) we went out and actually got to see some of the city (we went on a boat tour!)

So, this week’s meetings don’t feel as demanding as others, but for some reason --- today I’m so tired!
I’m just exhausted. Physically mostly. I’ve been sleeping okay – except for last night when I had to get up at 2:30 AM to reapply “OFF” as I was being attacked by mosquitoes.

Maybe it’s not so much this week but more the culmination of the last couple of weeks when I had been “on” physically and mentally. I’ve learned that as a high introvert, meetings that I help to lead tend to extremely wear me out. So, maybe it’s that -- who knows?

Anyway, (especially as we’ll start getting more into content and other “non-techy” stuff tomorrow, :)) I’m praying for more physical and mental energy so that I would do my job with excellence and serve my colleagues well. Would appreciate your prayers as well!

Back in South Asia. This time I'm visiting a different city...a different state.

It’s been a good day. I traveled here with a colleague from Manila. We arrived in the country about 11 or so last night. It was a pretty uneventful journey. Nice.

There was no movie on the 4 hour flight from Singapore here. That was a bit disappointing. Thankfully I was sleepy AND I had a fun book with me. Unfortunately, I finished it on the plane and now I have no fun reading with me. (Okay, I do have a "Long Obedience in the Same Direction" with me – but I’m in need of some mindless reading.)

We arrived at the "Y" by 12:30 AM so I was able to get a good night's rest before we started things off today.

Our first day of work was filled with lots of techy talk and great food.
After we finished work for the day we took an auto-rickshaw (the local version of the tricycle, tuk-tuk...) to the shoreline. We took a nice walk and had a fun boat tour. We saw the big industry boats, local fishermen, and the tourists' palaces and yacht clubs. It was cool, overcast and at times a bit drizzly. It made for a nice end of our first day working together this week.

Enjoying being back here...

Last night... 1:30 AM
I was up late... again.
Working on taxes ... again.

But this time was different.
I had finally gotten to the point where I was desperately in need of HELP.
So, I was up in the middle of the night preparing all the materials to send to a colleague in Dallas who agreed to work on my taxes.

While I was up at 1:30 AM working on tax preparation stuff, colleagues who are serving in different places around the world were gathering in Orlando, FL for the organization's tri-annual conference.

The folks in Orlando are streaming live some of the segments of the conference.
So, from Manila (at 1:30 AM!!) I got to join in on a bit of this year's conference.

One of Orlando's local pastors, Pastor Isaac Hunter, shared the first day's message.
His message was incredible. There was so much in his message that I wanted to jot down. Among the many things that really struck me, he said...

"Ask for help frequently, and WAY before you need it."
He then gave a personal (hilarious!) example of when he failed to do just that. He reflected on the incident,
"Why did I not ask for help? It's flat out pride."

So I found it ironic. There I was listening to this wise pastor (who by the way... reminds me much of his dad , my pastor at Northland -- Pastor Joel Hunter) while furiously trying to gather up documents to send to someone on the other side of the world to rush to avoid missing the already extended tax deadline.

"Ask for help FREQUENTLY, and WAY BEFORE you need it."
How do I get myself in situations like this???
"It's flat out pride."

How often do I not want to risk looking incompetent, incapable, inexperience, under-qualified, stupid...
and so I waste time and energy trying to do on my own what can be done so much more effectively and efficiently by or with someone else -- if I would just be willing to ask for the help I need.

Or how often I struggle alone, out of fear of someone else knowing that I don't have it all together.
Like that's a shocker! And so for nothing, I continue to struggle. And I continue to go through it alone.

"Ask for help frequently." "Way before you need it."

Pride -- URGH. I want to not care about my pride. I want to care so much more about my relationship with God that I could care less about what people think about me and be willing to ask for help way before I even think I need it -- to keep my relationship with Him right. I want to care so much more about serving others well and others being served well that I'm quick to ask for help -- regardless of how it makes me look.

In my relationship with God and in my relationships with others ... I don't want to look at reaching out for help as a bad thing or a last resort.

Rid me of my prideful attitude, Lord that keeps me from being willing to admit when I'm in need.

Continuing to learn ... and desiring growth and change from the learning.

There was a lot in his message that struck me. Hope to find a video or recording of it so I can listen to it again -- next time I won't be doing taxes while listening!

(Oh and yes... Mr. Taxman. Less than 24 hours and he's already done. And, he got me more than I would have if I had proceeded to file what I worked on online).

[Side Note: Every 3 years our organization has a conference bringing in delegates from around the world.

I LOVE THIS CONFERENCE!

During my time in Orlando, God used the 2 conferences I was able to sit in on (because of my role in the communications department) to inspire and motivate me to be willing to GO! - wherever He might ask me to go and to serve in whatever ways He might want me to serve.

I loved hearing the reports, I loved listening to the things that people seemed to care deeply about, I loved meeting people who are committed and care about how our organization contributes to change worldwide, I loved hearing what issues seemed to rise to the top and how people responded to it, I loved thinking about the potential ways that God would use the conversations, the worship, the people there, to initiate changes in thinking or direction of our organization. Inspiring. Motivating. Plus it was always an adrenaline-charged, team-building time for our comm crew -- running mics, operating cameras, working the switcher, pulling out long days -- sooo fun!!!

And so, a late night to watch some of the conference ... well worth it to me!]

...don't know why.

This actually happens a lot.
I'm sitting with my computer on my lap doing one thing or another.
(Tonight it's been taxes and emails).
The TV is on in the background and all of a sudden... it goes to static.
And that tells me it's waaaaay past my bedtime.

So I've been sitting here with static on the screen for probably the past hour.
Been thinking today about the people who give leadership to the organization I'm a part of and those that I serve in my work.

Wow.

When I think about many of these people I think...
incredible experiences.
impressive minds.
dedicated.
passionate.
driven.
powerful.
influential.
wise.
humble.
committed.
servant-hearted.
visionary.

And I think about all things that they frequently have to deal with...
the responsibilities.
the hard, hard decisions.
the people.
the stress.
the misunderstandings.
the never-ending demands.
the unknowns.
the temptations.

And that on top of all those things, there are their own personal struggles within and those hardships in their own lives and in the lives of those they love.

I want to be more appreciative, more affirming, more prayerful, more mindful of those people that God has chosen to serve as leaders (whether in role, position, influence, whatever...).

Happy Monday, friends.
Here's probably the most random mix of random thoughts... Hehehe!

Love it / Hate it.
My love / hate relationship with technology and social media rages on.
It frustrates me at times how incredibly dependent I am on my computer. My computer has been in the shop for the past month. I'm surviving -- mostly because I was provided a loaner laptop to use. But even still -- it's not my computer so it's unfamiliar, uncomfortable and inconvenient at times and it makes my work a little bit stunted. A sign, I think, that I'm overly dependent on technology. :)

And social media -- a few weeks ago I realized that I had a very unhealthy relationship with FB. Okay -- Addicted and too easily effected by what I was reading. You get the picture. So I've cut back. I think it's helped. But the thing I love about FB and other social media is staying connected. So I miss that. Finding the balance. Meantime -- continuing to love Skype and being able to see and talk to those I love.

Makes Me Want to Dance!
Oh how I love music that makes me want to dance.
That's all.
Love it!
Still on my list of things I want to learn.

Grateful
The past two weeks I've been working with a group of colleagues developing how they present their work to the public. I continue to be amazed at the opportunities that I get to work with incredibly passionate and wise people. To be part of a work that truly desires to see people and communities restored to wholeness is really a blessing. And I'm grateful that this truly is God's work. There's something in remembering that fact that brings a sense of peace and confidence -- even when I don't feel all that confident in myself. I feel God worked with us in the process -- grateful for the wisdom, the direction, and the inspired thinking.

Church
I miss my churches in PA and FL. I miss being a part of a church community. I miss being a part of a family of believers. I miss experiencing worship with people I know -- standing beside someone I know and singing praises together, receiving communion from a familiar face, talking with friends about what we heard in the message... living and serving together. While I still am looking for that here in Manila, I'm so thankful for Northland's online worship -- that has been SUCH a blessing.

Out of Tune
My guitar has sat in its bag for months. I pulled it out this past month to continue once again my pursuit to learn to play guitar. It's horribly out of tune. Working on tuning it...still. :)

Pizza Hut Misses Me
I'm sure Pizza Hut is missing me. It's been a long, long time since I've called them. Hehehe. Since I've been home for more than a month I've actually gone grocery shopping and have regularly prepared my own food. [GASP!] The fast food delivery industry has experienced a significant decline in their income this month.

There's Always Something
I have done a TERRIBLE job keeping my ministry partners updated on all that has happened this past month. It was a priority to get a newsletter out this past month. I haven't. I was also planning on taking one day as a personal day to get away, spend time in prayer, read. I haven't. There's always something that seems to get in the way of these two things -- that are important to me -- from happening. So, when I get back from my trip I plan to take my day-away and to get my newsletter out. REALLY.

My Love Flower
My love flower has returned!!! Walking to work one morning last week I looked down and was pleasantly surprised to see a little splash of pink. What a sweet, sweet gift!! It's not the same flower that grew there last year, but still... a beautifully, sweet expression to me of my Father's love.

Leaving...
Next week I leave for a quick trip. It's been a while since I've traveled, so I'm looking
forward to packing up and heading out. Less than a week in S. Asia -- a place I've heard much about and looking forward to seeing myself!

And... to my Wycliffe friends in Orlando... HAPPY DELEGATE'S CONFERENCE! Praying for all the energy, strength and joy as you serve all the delegates and the organization in this upcoming week. Have a great one!!!!