Category Archives: Life

The Return Home

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“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”

-George Moore, Irish poet

Life is ironic sometimes…you feel dissatisfied, restless, yearning to roam somewhere new and just see something different.  You save, you plan, you go to this new place.  You walk around looking at the new buildings, sceneries, faces; moved but sometimes overwhelmed by the sheer amount of newness.  You look for glimpses of familiarity in the faces and language swirling around you, and sometimes you see & hear it and it brings a modicum of comfort.  Could it be?  Do you actually miss home after all this wanting to escape it?  You face the last day of the journey, feeling nostalgic already for the place you are leaving.  But then, you make it home…the familiar bumps in the driveway feel more endearing, the rise of the house in front of you makes you happier than it has in a long time, and the love that you feel for home, for those dear to you that you left behind, becomes very clear and poignant.  You are home, and you are happy.

Slainte, Lisa

Rambles, Plans, Dreams

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It doesn’t take much reading between the lines to figure out that I love to travel.  I adore planning out new holidays, pouring over travel books and reviews, searching the internet for the best deals.  I am a frustrated would-be pilot (maybe one day!), so I love the airport/flying part, the thrill of sitting in the airplane seat, feeling the roar of the immense engines as we tear down the runway for lift-off.  I love seeing the new sights, smelling the new smells (well, sometimes)  and trying out new foods.

I found a great passage from Last of the Donkey Pilgrims by Kevin O’Hara that encapsulates many of my thoughts:

” ‘Tis the beauty of travel, isn’t it,” she looked wistfully upon her poor but scenic domain, “seeing things you’d never see if you just kicked about the old place.  And you’ll take it all home with you, won’t you, these memories, and be all the better for it.  Well, be off with your rambling, so, and I’ll keep on with my dreaming.”

“It’s only a half-door you’re standing behind,”  I told her.  “You could easily hop over it.”

“Oh, I know,” she smiled, “but could I ever hop back in again?”

Enjoy your rambles, planning, and dreaming.  Slainte, Lisa

Originality

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“Originality is not doing something no one else has ever done, but doing what has been done countless times with new life, new breath.   – Marie Chaplan

Creativity, originality is placed carefully into all of us by God.  Because He is like that, and we are made in His image.  Whether it be music, writing, drama, art, decorating, gardening, caregiving, athletics (the list could go on indefinitely), we all have that originality within us.  Find that thing in you, even if it is very small right now, and breath new life and new breath into it.  Nurture it and let it come alive.  What a blessing you will be to the sad, worn-out world that needs a spark of hope and life.

Shine!  Slainte, Lisa

“You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden…Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” – Jesus (Matthew 5:14,16)

Sweet, Beautiful Freedom

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So….I’ve been thinking alot lately about freedom.  What a precious gift from God it is.  Freedom of speech, to be able to state what you believe in, even if it may differ from someone else’s beliefs….freedom to play soccer in Sudan, to just be children while the country continues to war on…Freedom from guilt and sin, to be able to start again and make a new and better life.

Children in a refugee camp in Jaac, South Sudan, playing soccer.

Children praying for freedom from war.

Freedom is…………….you fill in the blank.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves by burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  (Galatians 5:1)

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  (John 8:32,36)

“Oh, sweet, oh, beautiful, oh sweet, oh beautiful freedom…” (Intro to Beautiful Day, U2, U2360 Live)

Contemplating, living, and always trying to love more.    Slainte, Lisa

For more information on these pictures and how to help, please visit www.savethenuba.com and www.persecutionproject.org .

My husband works for this organization, and I can vouch for their accountability and compassion for the Sudanese people.

My Tribute to a Great Writer

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Maeve Binchy, born 1940 and passed from this world two days ago in 2012, was my favorite Irish writer.  She wrote fiction set in rural Irish villages, and filled that fiction to the brim with characters of all types, realistic daily happenings that somehow never seemed boring, and some of the best dialogue writing I have ever read.  When you read her books, you felt as if you were transported to that Irish town, and had suddenly become close personal friends with the characters by the intimate writing voice she used.

I didn’t always like her characters or the choices they made…sometimes they made bad decisions that I didn’t agree with.  But they were always real.  Binchy’s characters weren’t flimsy, stereotypical fabrications; they seemed like people you run into everyday.  People making good and bad decisions, people making decisions that affect the rest of their lives one way or the other.

So thank you, Maeve Binchy, for giving me so many wonderful reading hours beside your stories.  I enjoyed every one of them, and will enjoy many more when I re-read them.  Slainte, Lisa