Hola

Hola, mi nobre es "Rosalind." Yo soy de Estades Unidos. Yo estudio espanol con mi amiga de Peru porque deseo hablar con muchas mas gente. Yo enseno Latin y musica en la escuela donde su hijo de mi amiga estudia. Yo deseo viajar a Espania, Peru, y Paraguay cuando habla espanol.

I am learning, though it did take me a long time to write that...

"All this fresh air is getting into my lungs."

When she opened the window that morning, she didn't expect it to completely change her life. It was a simple, thoughtless action, but it set in motion the events of the day. Perhaps the most unexpected part was that nothing happened. Well, nothing, except sounds.

There were the most obvious sounds, the cars driving past and the various people on the street and about town. The train whistle sounded throughout the afternoon and dogs barked from time to time. Occasionally an extra loud truck started or a motorcycle roared past. But in the left over time, there were the quiet sounds. The sound of wind shaking the leaves on her neighbors trees and the wind-chimes next door and the "cheep-cheep" of the bird on her porch would have been unnoticed, except the window was open.

The window was open and the sounds confronted the silence of her house. She dreaded to break it with the vacuum cleaner. She just listened and dreamed. Once the dishes were done, the open window called to her again. Again she had to rip herself away from it and accomplish other tasks. But she kept finding herself being pulled back to the open window and the sounds of the wind.

Esperar - to hope, to expect

In response to a conversation with my sister, and my sister-in-law's poem.

When the world is so empty
And falling apart
The things that are strong stay the same

When going gets tough
And the tough get going
There not really a place for the pain

The little things crumble
The weak ones break
And those that can fly away

But I'm broken and hurting
And just lying here
In the middle of all of this wreck.

When a new rhythm enters my heart and my soul
And beats out a brand  new song
The pieces of life now form wind chime music
Joining in with the one note hum.

There's beauty in raindrops
There's light through the cracks
There are stars in the darkest of skies

So although not everything's right with the world
There's a hope in the One we can't see
That somewhere there's safety for those that are weak
And somewhere there's a place just for me.

CJK 9/2010

Sadness

Tuesday was my grandfather's funeral. Although we would rather different circumstances, it was good to see all my cousins again, as well as the many other relatives and family friends that came. Mom's cousin lead the services. One of the things that stuck in my brain in what he said, was that death was never meant to be part of the human experience. It isn't good; it is the consequence of sin. But because Christ died, and rose again, and promised the resurrection of all believers, death can be precious. I liked that way of thinking about it. It is bad that we have to deal with death, but it is a precious time to remember the gift of life, both our lives, and the lives of all that we love.

I was also reminded that grief never goes away. While grieving for my grandfather, I also find myself grieving again for my baby, my grandmother, my aunt, and many others who have died. So though I may be sad often, it is a precious time. A time where I can remember the beautiful lives of those I love, and am reminded to share the love that was given to me.