Zorionak, Edurne!

¡Feliz cumpleaños!

Our lovely hostess in Basque Country completes another year of life today (the literal meaning of cumpleaños). So, I would like to wish her a very happy day and at the same time introduce her to all you bloggy friends.

We were privileged to visit her at the clinic where she works as a general practitioner.

"Wednesdays at noon I visit home-bound patients, but today I did not have any home visits scheduled, 

so there was a one-hour open slot."

All other days and times she sees patients in the clinic for a ten-minute consultation with the help of her nurse.

Laurie attempts the two-kiss-customary-introductory greeting.

Dane pretends to be a patient.

"That's such a cute pen," says Laurie.

So Edurne gave it to her.

Lindo recuerdo.

Edurne's role at meal time is to serve the food.

The men cook, the women serve and clean up.

There is much more I could say about this delightful lady, and probably many more photos, but for now this will suffice as I am already late with this greeting due to the six-hour time difference.

Happy Birthday, Edurne!

Memory Monday: Church and Faith

Sometimes life is too full for any extras; one only has time for the basics; blogging becomes a luxury item.
However, I do so appreciate Mocha with Linda's Flashback Friday prompts. I look forward to them on Thursdays, and begin to ponder the subject. Digging through the rubble of long-ago memories is a very good exercise and my findings will contribute to the memoir I hope to continue writing. Therefore, I have decided to respond anyway and give it a different title, one I have used in the past--Memory Monday. I may even attempt to link up with the others, but first I must compose this post.

Did your family attend church when you were growing up? What are your earliest memories of church? Did you attend VBS (Vacation Bible School) when you were young? Sunday School? Other church activities? Was faith a Sunday-only thing or did it impact your life and the things you did? If faith and church were not a part of your growing-up years, when and how did you begin and what drew you to God?

My parents were missionaries so I grew up in the church, almost literally. At first the services were held in our living room until the congregation grew and was able to build.

My father was not only a 'church planter', he was also a church builder, literally. And my mother always worked right along side him along with the men and boys that joined in the digging, brick laying, plastering, painting and all the aspects of construction.

Over the many years, Dad must have been involved in building four churches and three houses as well as making many pieces of furniture. This Templo Evangélico is the one I hold dearest because this is where I grew up, in Don Bosco, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I have memories of listening to many a sermon. As children, even as babies, we sat in the service, there was no nursery.
Dad was not only good with his hands, he was a great Bible teacher and preacher. He could sing beautifully and play several instruments. I took piano lessons and eventually became the 'organist'. Well, not really, the instrument was a harmonium, a small pump organ that looked something like this:

I was very young, maybe three and a half, when I heard and understood that the Lord Jesus wanted to have a relationship with me personally and with each one who would simply invite Him into their lives. The famous image of Jesus knocking on the door and the words of Jesus in Revelation 3:20 (Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him...) are what stand out in my childlike experience. What has been true my whole life is the ongoing relationship that follows ...and dine with him, and he with Me--a wonderful friendship and fellowship.


I don't think I ever confused 'church building' with the Church, meaning the body of believers worldwide. In our travels we have seen a wide variety of church buildings. Some huge and ornate, built over centuries, still standing and in use hundreds of years later. (See Saturday's post.) Others smaller, simpler. Our tradition tended to put less emphasis on the physical structure and more on the spiritual teaching, just different.
God is worthy of great honor and glory, even pomp and ceremony. Yet He looks on the heart of each person no matter where or how they worship.
Jesus said,  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24 
He also said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.  
John 14:6

2010 Week 31

Last Sunday we said goodbye to our Basque teens. The flag was on our friends' mailbox--a symbolic farewell.

Monday and Tuesday I started the day working in the flower garden. Can you believe it, these impatiens came up on their own this year.

Mike and Skye worked at the Red Barn this week.

Wednesday all of us spent the morning walking under heavy laden branches, helping a friend pick peaches.

What do you think of this big-nosed peach?

And Wednesday was the last day to adjust Kayla's expander.

July 29th we have two family birthdays--Mother's 89th and Skye's 13th.
So Thursday I traveled up to Warsaw for a small celebration at Grace Village and Friday we had a cookout here for the new teenager.

An unplanned funny thing happened--the last candle was a trick one!

The cousin pals enjoying the birthday family time.

Today we sent two of them off to camp. Before leaving they gave us an idea of their theme-night outfits.

Willy Wonka and his Oompa Loompa

El destino final

Camino de Santiago--continued

To wrap-up this segment of our Adventures in Europe, let me take you to the final destination of the popular pilgrimage.

These glimpses of what we experienced that day are meant to give you a feel of the massive structures and of the masses that throng the Catedral de Santiago.  I can't imagine what it must have been like last Sunday, the day of St. James, and on Holy Year at that!

There were so many entrances and crowds of people everywhere. Reviewing the photos, I have become very confused as to what was where. No matter, this will give you an onlooker's first impressions.

Is that supposed to be St. James up there, and which one--James the brother of Jesus or James the Greater?

Wikipedia says:

According to legend, the apostle Saint James the Greater brought Christianity to the Celts in the Iberian Peninsula. In 44 AD he was beheaded in Jerusalem. His remains were later brought back to Galicia, Spain

 I have enjoyed this travelogue-of-sorts because it has forced me to research and learn a lot of interesting things.

Did you know that Spain has the second largest number of UNESCO-declared World Heritage sites (41 in all) and Santiago de Compostela is one of the main ones?

For more fascinating facts go to history of el Camino.

Los peregrinos

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I would share about the pilgrims we encountered in our travels.

We saw many the day we visited Santiago de Compostela, all making their way to the final destination--the cathedral built as a shrine to James the Apostle, said to be buried there.

The pilgrims come from around the world for different reasons. The report says: 55% for religious reasons; 5% cultural, and 40% both. Some want time to think and reflect, others seek adventure. 

They carry their gear, a walking stick, and the symbolic scallop shell.

They come on foot, on horseback, on bicycles. If the walkers (Caminantes)100 kilometers (200 km for the bikers or horse riders) and can prove it by getting their passport-of-sorts stamped along the way, when they arrive at their final destination, the Cathedral of St. James, they are awarded the compostela, the document that certifies the completion of the Way for devotionis affectu, voti vel pietatis causa--for devotion, to fulfill a promise, or for piety.

This older man had been walking two months all the way from middle or northern France. He was asking  Alberto about lodging for the night, if there were pilgrim-hostels nearby or whether he could just camp out at a farm house. Our host assured him (in French) that people would be very helpful.

I first saw the old man kneeling in a small chapel on the marked route.

When we first met this lady in the circle of friends, she had just returned from walking the Camino with a friend for eleven days. The aspect they enjoyed the most was the community feel, sharing with the people they met along the way. She had funny stories to tell of enduring terrible snorers, osos (bears) they called them.

We saw a good many more pilgrims, some fellow passengers on the flights coming back. And since then I keep hearing of others who have experienced the Camino or want to in their life time.

My favorite story, written by a woman from Wisconsin, tells what she did and why. She ran and prayed.


Nearly one thousand years ago, Pope Alexander III declared that during a year of jubilee or holy year, i.e. when the day of St. James (July 25th) falls on a Sunday, the faithful could have all their sins forgiven.
I am grateful that long before that, Jesus Christ took the punishment for my sins on the cross so that I could have my sins forgiven and have eternal life!


P.S.:  Our girl Amaia arrived safely as of last night very late.

Arrivals

We said goodbye to our girl on Sunday and she is not home yet! This is the third day, that's THREE days.
Sunday night we heard that the plane out of Chicago had problems, was turned around, but not allowed to land until it had burned up more fuel. They finally flew out  Monday afternoon. Amaia's group, the last one, had a 14 hr. layover in Brussels and should finally be landing about now, Tuesday afternoon, four o'clock our time, ten theirs. We will not rest easy until we hear that they have arrived safely.

Looking back on our own overseas adventure, almost eight weeks ago, I realize how fortunate we were that in spite of a couple delays, our flight schedule was not interrupted and we arrived in Spain as planned.

I remember how new and different everything was. We had to find our way to the car rental place; they didn't have the GPS we'd ordered. We asked for directions to La Coruña, Galicia, on the far western corner of Spain and they gave us three main cities to look for. We stopped and bought a map and were busy following it and reading signs. Oh, and figuring out the car with all its bells and whistles!

We chose to follow the Northern coast. Midway across Northern Spain  we were too tired to continue and decided to spend the night in Gijón, Asturias, the capital of the Costa Verde. Interestingly, one website says,

Visiting the city of Gijón is a great way to begin an adventure into the rural countryside of northern Spain. Gijón is a mid-sized city of about 270,000 people with all the comforts of being modern while displaying a historical taste of the region of Asturias surrounding it.

So, we had done the right thing!
We asked around and found a reasonably priced nice place to stay--Hotel Arena .
I mentioned this briefly here, in the recap of our trip.

Now let me move on to the signs that caught our attention all along the way. They mark the way for the many pilgrims that come from around the world. Read about the famous pilgrimage here. I will write about the peregrinos I met next. Would you like to do this some day? Would the experience make your bucket list?

2010 Week 30: A VERY FULL WEEK

Sunday 
Invited to dinner, music and many life stories. 

 

This last week with our Basque students, we were trying to do all the things on our wish list.

Monday

Amaia was gone with the youth to Cedar Point; Mike worked at the Red Barn, and I planned and shopped for her birthday party. Kayla had an expander put in her mouth. Ughhhhh!

The roof is finished! The guys, all volunteers, worked very hard even in such hot weather!

One of the ideas for this addition to the Red Barn, is to have a pottery studio. (For those who do not know, the Red Barn offers an after-school program for kids in grades 6th-12th.)

Tuesday
The outing of the day began with a picnic lunch at Taylor Lake, some shopping and a visit to the 4H Fair in Muncie, where we got to see our friendly robot on display.

Palindrome was beeping, lights flashing, ready to 'kick' the soccer ball.

 Wednesday--Amaia's 17th birthday! 

We had a big party at Wandering Wheels--lots of food, games, swimming pool, miniature golf, but mostly family, fun, and fellowship.

We sang the birthday song in Basque--Zorionak zuri.

Thursday
Another big day that wrapped up with a rousing game of spoons.

.

Friday
Began with visits to two hospitals where Amaia was given tours of their NICUs and pediatric wards and ended with a farewell-thank you meal prepared by our Basque teens.

Saturday

  Time to pack!

One last visit to Ivanhoe's.