Random Musings
I find myself soaking in the details and the changes around and within lately. Noticing the rustling of palm tree branches as the breeze sweeps through the house and blow the now curled up photos from home around on our otherwise bare wall.
Catch myself that I’m no longer holding my breath as I start the gas burner with its clicking on our stove that sits next to the giant gas tank. (My coffee addiction proved stronger than my fear of gas stoves). Realizing simultaneously I hadn’t thought about the lack of microwave in awhile.
The excitement and internal happy dance I do when I realize I understood a português conversation (responses are a work in progress). Bonus points when I remember details like dates and times.
A smile appears when I pass the church garden on my vintage rusted cruiser that this was bare land when we arrived and noting that it has produced several harvests of chives already. The men faithfully watering each morning that I greet now with a more confident “Bom dia!” on my way to português classes.
Seeing people who had left the church years ago come back with new energy and desire to participate in what it’s doing (or not doing) and some even leading.
A few new faces and few faces that have left the Lar in the time we’ve been here. Saying a quick prayer over the kiddos who’s story I’ll never know the end to.
Comparing acerola juices and realizing no ones can compare to our neighbors. Tart yet sweet, ice cold and fresh. 8 months ago I didn’t even know what acerola was, let alone if I should be drinking it.
I make note of the pauses in this season and things that have changed and grown and even withered away. Even in a seemingly constant tropical climate- the weather has shifted, the breeze is stronger and cooler, and the sun shines slightly more golden. I can’t help but notice undertones are moving and are now different… that I am now different.
And things will change yet again. I still have room to grow, firm, refine. This is not the end, the stop, or conclusion. There is more to go, more to take in, more adjusting to do. More moments to work through, more to discover, more details to note. I say another prayer of thanks but in conjunction with a plea for extra strength and energy and motivation to carry me as I am so very finite and human in these moments.
-Ashley
