Losing Grandma...

Today I woke up to the shocking news that my grandma had passed in the night. Last I had heard before I went to bed is that she had gone into the hospital and was dehydrated, but was doing fine.  I found out that actually her cancer (from 23 years ago) had come back and within a few hours of verification of that she passed.

Living farther away has its drawbacks...I didn't get to say goodbye.  My heart is broken by this. However, all she has talked about my entire life is going home to be with Jesus...so I know she is dancing, worshipping, praising, and enjoying sweet reunion with family and friends.  But how we miss her already.

My mind has been rolling through so many memories today -
- Christmas lights - she always had a massive outdoor display
- the doll and lighthouse collections...
- her wonderful, meaningful hugs
- songs and whistling and unique voice
- stories of the "old days"
- her constant fascination with the rapture and the end times and daily praying for Jesus to come
- the house that was always the same.
- extra food always in the fridge to welcome her grandkids
- the same sights, smells, and friendliness
- her love in going the extra mile in loving us
- watching Disney movies as a child at her house
- Cinderella brings HUGE memories back
- when she introduced me to Oswald Chamber - My Utmost for His Highest as a teen and I just didn't understand it then, but this year it has become a life-line.
- without even finishing Jr High, she had learned bible study methods and taught me to read a whole book from the bible at once to get a better view of the whole book.
- how much Sae's heart for Jesus is like Grandma's!
- since I got married (interracial marriage) she added some african american dolls to her collection.
- the many sleepovers throughout the years that I had at her house and all the memories and conversations.



My heart hurts when I realize: 
- I will never be able to call her number and talk with her
- that someone else will live in her home and it will never be the same
- that I wont get one of her awesome hugs and love when I visit my family next
- I won't hear her passion for and encouragement to focus on Jesus & living with realness and not hypocrisy or legalism.

And I know it's just the beginning...we've walked this road of grief in losing our 2 last pregnancies and it never goes away.

This is grief for us - joy for her. These words were some of her favorites and were a huge comfort today.
  1 Corinthians 15:54 - 58

"When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory?    Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Crosscultural Communications #2

Many thoughts are heavy on my heart, so this might be a bit jumbled. I just wanted to get it out before I forget. While on my way to a new store, I came across a refugee looking, tent "town" under the bridge. My heart was so disturbed. How can I have lived here 15 years and this is the 1st time seeing this? How is it possible that in America there are such "tent cities"? My heart ached. I was glad to know that there is this ministry that helps this group and others: http://www.meetmeunderthebridge.org/about-us/. Do we care? My thoughts throughout this day were: why do we shy away from this? why do we not care? If Jesus were here, where would He spend His time? I am quite certain that it wouldn't be in the places we would think...didn't He say He came to heal the sick, not the well? Why are we so repulsed by those He would hang out with? Why do we run from His heartbeat? People often have no idea just how different it is here in the inner city. There are several different types of culture here...white, black, hispanic, "ghettobilly", and they all have more in common together than they would with me. I coined the word "2nd World County" as a discription of what it is like here. It's not like a 1st world culture - life and everything about it is difficult and different than mainstream American culture. This is the part most American's just can't understand - I have hundreds of illustrations of this, but here is just one. A mother was told (mockingly) at her daughter's school that her 6 year old daughter was too big to be in a stroller. In a 1st world country, that would be true. In a 3rd world county, a stroller would be a luxery and used for all sorts of things. In a 2nd world country...it is essential to a mother who is walking a mile by a busy street with 2 children, one of whom has severe ADHD to contain at least one so she can get from point A to point B and back. Another picture I saw today was a corner with 30-40 Hispanic men who sit on the corner of a busy street...just waiting for someone to come along to hire them so they can take a few dollars home. Reminds me of the parable Jesus told of the man who had a vineyard and went throughout the day to hire men who had assembled. Just my thoughts for the day...more to come another day.

Cross Cultural Contemplations

Sometimes I'm in amazement of our neighbors...and daily so thankful for what we have.  Most people in the USA would say that our things aren't very nice, as they are not new...but compared to many we know, we are SO well off. 

example #1: What Strength!
A young 9 month pregnant mother of 2, walked 5 city blocks in the bitter cold and howling winds to come next door and get presents for her children who wouldn't be getting anything otherwise.  She never presumed to ask me to come get her or take her home - they are just used to walking everywhere.  They not only walked the whole way, but organized all the donations we got next door while there were there!  Very humbled....I don't think if I was 9 months pregnant I would walk that far in the cold/wind for gifts or anything. 

example #2: winter snow
Since our roads and let alone the sidewalks are rarely cleaned off, people have to walk down the street...pregnant moms, mothers with several children, handicapped, etc... Right in the way of traffic!  To top it off, when cars go by, they spray the walkers with the slush/water. 

These incidents make me GRATEFUL for our blessed vehicles the Lord has bestowed on us and to have greater appreciation for the blessings God has given us.  It also serves to make me more compassionate towards those who do not. 

Cross Cultural Contemplations #1

1. Proverbs 10:15
   The wealth of the rich is their fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.
   
   
2. Proverbs 13:7
   One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
3. Proverbs 13:8
   A person’s riches may ransom their life, but the poor cannot respond to threatening rebukes.
   
   
4. Proverbs 13:23
   An unplowed field produces food for the poor, but injustice sweeps it away.
   
   
5. Proverbs 14:20
   The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.
   
   
6. Proverbs 14:31
   Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
   
   
7. Proverbs 17:5
   Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.
8. Proverbs 18:23
   The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.
   
   
9. Proverbs 19:1
   Better the poor whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse.
   
   
10. Proverbs 19:4
    Wealth attracts many friends, but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them.
    
    
11. Proverbs 19:7
    The poor are shunned by all their relatives— how much more do their friends avoid them! Though the poor pursue them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.
    
    
12. Proverbs 19:17
    Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.
    
    
13. Proverbs 19:22
    What a person desires is unfailing love ; better to be poor than a liar.
    
    
14. Proverbs 20:13
    Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.
    
    
15. Proverbs 21:13
    Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.
    
    
16. Proverbs 21:17
    Whoever loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.
    
    
17. Proverbs 22:2
    Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all.
    
    
18. Proverbs 22:7
    The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.
    
    
19. Proverbs 22:9
    The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.
    
    
20. Proverbs 22:16
    One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.
    
    
21. Proverbs 22:22
    Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court,
    
    
22. Proverbs 23:21
    for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
    
    
23. Proverbs 28:3
    A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.
    
    
24. Proverbs 28:6
    Better the poor whose walk is blameless than the rich whose ways are perverse.
    
    
25. Proverbs 28:8
    Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor.
26. Proverbs 28:11
    The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is poor and discerning sees how deluded they are.
    
    
27. Proverbs 28:27
    Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.
    
    
28. Proverbs 29:7
    The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.
    
    
29. Proverbs 29:13
    The poor and the oppressor have this in common: The LORD gives sight to the eyes of both.
    
    
30. Proverbs 29:14
    If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will be established forever.
    
    
31. Proverbs 30:9
    Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
    
    
32. Proverbs 30:14
    those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind.
    
    
33. Proverbs 31:9
    Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
    
    
34. Proverbs 31:20
    She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

A (couple) Week(s) in the Life of Sanders

I thought it would be an interesting note to jot down what a few weeks during the year look like for us. It will be nice to read down the road sometime and I'm sure you're just dying to know :)

So for starters, our preschool schedule is on the IPS (Indianapolis Public Schools) schedule which is now semi-year round. Just 1.5 weeks ago we ended our wild and crazy fun 2 week intercession. I'll give a short overview of what those 2 weeks were like...next time I'll do what a "normal" (ie...1/2 of the year is like...in spurts. lol...nothing is ever truly "normal" around here) week.

10th: playdate with friends who recently moved back to the States

11th: Preschool field trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

12th: BSF

13th: Family time (and major housework time!), bible study

14th: Family time (and major housework time!)

15th: getting things ready for Church at the park, shopping, calls, etc...

16th: Church at a local Park, visit with college friends of Rod's

17th: school/playdate with friends for Sae's "homeschool"

18th: Sae - dr appt.

19th: BSF, My birthday (crazy busy day turned out to be wonderfully calm!)

20th: Preschool field trip to the Children's Museum (and getting families signed up for the access pass), bible study

21st: MUCH needed family day! and our real birthday celebration for me.

22nd: Jewelry craft day for mom's, take a little guy and his grandma to the dr and 2 hours later go to pick up, take to the pharmacy, and home.

23rd: Church - teach the 1-9 year olds.

24th: out the door by 8:00am to take a lady from church to her surgery, bring her grandson home with us to watch for the day. Go to pick her up from surgery, relay all the details to her son and go to pick up her prescriptions. Get home at 9:00pm.

and lots of calls, emails, facebook messages, etc... It was a really nice break, and we are glad to get back to our "normal"...Sae especially is glad to have all the kids back 4 times a week :) You can scroll down for lots of pictures of the field trips. I have more pics I need to add, but haven't gotten to yet.

About me

Hello to all out there. This is a journal of our journey of walking by faith following Jesus in the ordinary of our days.