We were given a ride to the airport by a very interesting young Mennonite from Paraguay. He was volunteering for a year with MCC’s meat canner and planned to enter seminary on his return home. Originally, he was drawn to working as a Missionary in Nepal but had since felt called to the Low German…
Tag: Leaving
First Flights
We will soon be boarding American Airlines Flight 772 to Los Angeles. We are scheduled to arrive around 11:30PM. Our flight to Hong Kong is scheduled to depart at 1:30AM and we have to switch from domestic to international, so we probably won’t have time for an update then. You can track our flight to…
Orientation Plus
We started our final week of orientation today, packed with sessions on international leadership for human resources, responding to trauma and finance. It’s been a great set of weeks with so many conversations about best practice. While I am new to the organization, learning from others about the many positive changes Mennonite Central Committee continues…
Program Skills Week
Orientation has been a whirlwind. While I think that the pacing would be absolutely perfect for someone who doesn’t have responsibilities outside of the session hours, we are finding ourselves with too many things to do. The girls are finally settling into the routine here after so many weeks of a different schedule each week….
Stages of Grief
Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. The 5 stages of grief have been outlined in a variety of books, articles and internet pages. I’ve heard about how these stages are not often linear but cyclical, intertwined, and complex. Grief has certainly never been linear in my experience. But this week I am fully practicing grief in…
Last Day at Peaceful Living
This morning I ran out to the store around 5:30AM to pick up ingredients for stuffed bitter melon. When I stepped outside I saw a rainbow in the sky. The angle of the dawn on the morning mist was just right. What a sign as today was my last day at Peaceful Living. I have…
Last Day at Salford
Yesterday was Charlotte and Catherine’s last day at Salford Mennonite Childcare Center. We were first introduced to the center long before we had children when Crystal’s father, Dan Graber, was the interim pastor at Salford Mennonite – the congregation that hosts the Childcare Center. It was our first choice when Charlotte started day care but…
Start the Countdown
Our tickets have been booked! We leave for Phnom Penh on August 8. Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s going on for us between now and then. Tomorrow: Our first meeting with the wonderful support group from Plains Mennonite (our wonderful home church) June 7: The girls’ last day at Salford Mennonite Childcare Center June…
Big emotions in a little person
Charlotte has been showing a lot of anxiety over the week – expressed as bursts of excitement, ‘out of body’ clumsiness, more intense relations with her little sister (both fighting more and being more caring of her), and moments of sudden emotion (crying over things like not liking what’s for dinner). Crystal’s trip to Cambodia…
Storage Tubs as checked luggage
On Saturday, Crystal will be flying out for a week long orientation with the departing MCC Country Representatives. They’ll be finishing their term in June so this is the only overlap we’ll get but they’ve been wonderful to communicate with via email and video conferencing. I wanted to share one piece of advice that they…