She's back and on the move

My brief 1 1/2 hour visit with Margie yesterday was totally packed with great stories about the experiences of the past 3 months. I could close my eyes and just imagine the places and how life was for her. But just as I had expected, re-entry was difficult and maybe more difficult than even she had envisioned.  After living in "community" for that length of time, coming home to an empty house was tough.   However I found her in the middle of preparing lunch for a college roommate and her husband who were stopping in on their way through Valparaiso less than 12 hours from the time she arrived home.  The empty house was being filled with the familiar sounds of the Miller household...friends and hospitality were already intersecting.  

Leaving her UBL friends behind was not easy for Margie. She connected with folks at the Latin American Bible University in a special way.   Even though we have numerous photos to select from, there is no way to introduce you to all the people who welcomed her, loved her and have returned her to her family back in the US.   In the photo above Margie indicated that little grouping included a professor, an administrator, staff person, mission volunteer, and students.  She knows everyone that teaches at the university, attends the university, cleans and keeps the grounds around the university, and all the volunteers who came and went while she was there.  Is it any surprise that she's been invited to return next year?

The best way to get a story is  to ask her about this young Benedictine Monk shown at the left.  You'll love his story and her smile as she shares it. 

Also, please notice her new hat.   Margie always has a hat, usually the blue one or the red one.   Her special friends gave her a new hat as a going away (but come back soon) gift so she wore it all day for the farwell gatherings.  

Today, Margie leaves her home again for a 4 day trip to visit family in Ohio.  Soon she'll be on the road in her little red convertible to attend a special family reunion of Lloyd's family and be with all her grandchildren and children for the first time in 3 months.  As her sister Sarah says -"You go girl"...and she does just that, hat and all. 

Bittersweet...leaving Costa Rica and coming home

My friend Lorena (Canadian) and I hard at work!

Margie sent a photo of  her and another new friend in her work environment... the library at the Latin American Bible University.  As you read this today, Margie is competing her last day on the job and getting the apartment packed ready for her re-entry back to Valparaiso, her home, her family and friends.  Margie leaves Costa Rica and is expected back in Valparaiso on April 24 around 10:30 p.m. 

For the past 3 months Margie has connected through the memories of  her life in the mid 60's with her beloved Lloyd and her young family and has added to those old memories a time, place, and people that was designed by God just for her.  Individual Volunteers matched her perfectly for this time.  Thanks, Nancy Eubanks. 

Last night she wrote:

I am just wanting to forward on to you the absolutely BEAUTIFUL, poetic message of love and friendship which is immediately below in Spanish, written to me by Cesar, a student here from Lima, Peru, and a Benedictine lay monk who most recently has been living and serving in the religious community near to Puno, Peru.  I have translated it for you here. 

  "To you, also, Margarita, for being the real presence of God in the midst of our lives. Always I will remember you with admiration for being BREAD broken, sweet and pleasing, in this brief experience of knowing you and of your having allowed us to know each other.  Happy Sunday, Margie.  Cesar Augusto Barahona--Lima, Peru"

It is a bittersweet day here for me as I pack up my things here in the apartment, then to up to UBL to spend my last day working among my new and dear friends there.  I am looking forward, of course, to being home again among ALL of you.  I love you, each one, so very much.  Margie 

 
  A ti también Margarita
  por ser presencia real de Dios
  en medio de nuestras vidas.
  Siempre te recuerdo admirablemente
  por ser Pan partido, dulce y agradable,
  en esta bereve experiencia de conocerte
  y de que nos hayas dejado conocernos.
  Feliz domingo, + Margie.-
  César Augusto Barahona.- Lima Perú.

Winding down, preparing for re-entry

I've tried to find a photo but ... not happening today. You'll need to use your imagination.  Margie wrote (after one of her parties I suspect) the following:

Yes, my dearest sister Bonnie--these have been REALLY busy social times for me, as these Ticos here are fabulous in hospitality, love, farewell parties, etc...and I've been quite included in all of that! Actually, this week another volunteer (UM from Iowa left, so we were all involved in her farewells--then now this week and even thru Monday are a series of many loving invitations for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, evening parties, etc. on my behalf. In addition, there are some of these special friends for whom I am the one doing the inviting to MY apartment!!  That means, for example, tonight a little coffee/tea/snacks time with 5 of my close neighbors, then on Friday night this week quite a large gathering of all our fellow apartment mates, plus about 4 others who will come together for a potluck dinner, squeezed into my little living room, 3 tables pushed together for mine and two other apts, then each one brings his/her own dishes, etc. as no single apt has enough for every one--and we will have several very talented latinos providing guitar music, singing, other south american instruments, etc. Should be quite a wonderful "bash"--I'm excited!  Well, yes, there IS still work for me to do here! Tomorrow I'll spend all day with two others painting an apartment owned by UBL and getting it ready to rent out to some new client--a way by which UBL can earn some extra income. I'll be painting and refinishing wooden cabinets, doors, etc. all day in a nearby section of San Jose--so YES, my time is still very full with volunteer labor, spending quite a few extra wonderful hours in conversations with my student friends here, going out with staff and professors, etc.  God is good, all the time.!  For sure, you can imagine that my feelings are definitely mixed in saying all these goodbyes--along with the wonderful anticipation of being back with all of my dear family and friends in Valpo, Indiana, midwest!!!  So...once again I affirm that God is good, all the time, and I am so very, very grateful for the fullness of JOY which I know here every single day, as I count my daily blessings.

  So now just close your eyes and I think you can just see her in the height of her glory, surrounded by her new best friends and talking just a bit.     Looking forward to getting her back in town.    See you soon my friend. 

Celebrating Easter in Costa Rica

As Margie's return to Valparaiso draws near, she is adding more and more special events and gatherings with both old and new friends.  I'm going to give you some of her words from her joyous account of Holy Week in Costa Rica.  

I attended a loving, lively, and full-of-joy celebration worship service this a.m. at the El Redentor (The Redeemer) Methodist Church in the center of downtown San Jose, Costa Rica.  The service was preceded by a tasty, typical Costa Rican breakfast--light sandwich, tortilla and cheese, sweet cake, fresh pineapple, melon, and papaya, fruit juice, and the ever-present, delicious Costa Rican coffee with sugar.  A fellow volunteer here at UBL and a good friend of mine also went with me.  We can easily ride the city bus to downtown.

The pastor mentioned that all over the world literally millions of brothers and sisters in Christ were worshiping this very day and repeating "Christ has Risen" in all the many ways that that message is shared.  This pastor concentrated on this idea: the risen Christ needs to be personally accepted and then proclaimed in our own lives.  I was hoping he would have said more about that Jesus of LOVE and JUSTICE that I know needing to be making a difference in our WORLD--making our WORLD a better place and not just our own personal lives!  Ah...well... That is the resurrected Jesus I am wanting to proclaim!  And you??

Margie goes on then to explain the custom of Holy Week is a time to enjoy family and to celebrate the risen Christ.   Schools close and many businesses are closed from Thursday on.  It is almost like the country goes on vacation.  Margie writes: 

for those who have the means to "get away" to the beaches of the Caribbean or the Pacific, or the countrysides, or the hometown "pueblos" to spend time with family and friends in rest and enjoyment.  I have been so blessed as well during this past week--spending it with friends who have generously included me in their plans,.  God is good...All the time.

Margie will be spending part of her time in the next few weeks in the homes and saying farewell in anticipation of her return to her family here in Indiana and the US.   We'll try to get an update on these events to share.