Well we've been back over 24 hours now. Naphtali has just finished the show that we came back to the States for and we're trying to keep our attitudes in check. We've had a hard time transitioning back. We...well mainly I was pretty nervous about seeing the house as we had a little bit of drama with the girls that were taking care of it. But things are generally in order, a few broken things here and there which I guess is to be expected.
Our biggest adjustment has been our attitudes for sure. Now that I know this part of my husband's life, I want to have it forever. I've never had as hard of a time leaving a place as I did leaving Chile. When we arrived in Dallas for our connection flight one of the welcomers said "Welcome Home" and Naphtali just got so frustrated.
But we're starting to reconnect with friends, praying more about where we are suppose to be in life and know that God has a bigger plan than this. I'm trying to keep my tongue in check because I'm still having hard feelings towards these girls and gossip is rampant in this town.
So we're back, we're bitter, we're praying and hopefully we'll be thankful before the sun goes down.
Thanks for prayers!
Lys
Friday, September 25, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Time Flies
I'm dying here friends! I can't believe we only have a week left! Hypothetically of course, because we still haven't gotten our tickets! Hopefully that isn't going to be a problem.
Eric Larsen came down to visit for a couple days on his way back from some conferences he was having in Colombia. Eric and his wife Rebecah are our marriage councelors and life partners. Eric has lead two missions trips that we've been on and there are going to be plenty more. He is in charge of a new branch in MTW (Mission to The World, Naph's parent's mission) called GYFM (Global Youth and Family). He goes to different country and talks to people about the struggles and realities of third culture kids.
It was really special to be able to spend some time with him even though we really missed the rest of the family.
Sadly I got a bit sick and am still fighting a little cold right now. Tonight I went to the music practice at Naphtali's old church here in Chile and had a great time, though now I really have practically no voice.
Tomorrow the kids have a program full of dancing and entertainment at their school because the day after that is the Chilean independence day and through out this week there are tons of different activities. It's going to be quite fun.
I've started having slight epiphanies/obvious revelations. I've been rather attached to this girl with whom I've had a slight miscommunication. Now, though I thought everything was discussed, I'm getting more of a cold shoulder. I've had a rough time with this because for me, it is hard to find good girlfriends who are stable and constant. But after talking to my in-laws and my husband I have a bit more of a peace about it. I've decided not to take responsibility for more than I can. At this point I can only apologize for a few things. Whereas I feel like, just because we are having a hard time, I need to apologize for everything so that we can be friends again.
Naphtali and I were talking a bit about that last sentence a bit today. I tell you it's so good to have a guys perspective on things, it's so different and really refreshing. We are beginning to see how friends are for different seasons, which is really hard for me to grasp.
Some friends, especially when you are at different levels (i.e. someone who is still finding themselves and is single and a few years younger, vs someone who's married and has matured in different areas that come along with that). And especially in these types of circumstances there may never be ronciliation until my friend is in our shoes. There will just never be any comprehension on her part until that happens.
So, yeah it's hard but I'm relying on the Lord to allow me to grow from it, refrain from hurting so much about it and allowing it to consume all my thoughts as they so often do at night and I'm going to try and enjoy my last 7 days here because they'll be the last for quite a while and I need to make the most of it. Obviously prayers are always welcome!
To finish things off I've left you a few pictures I've taken recently. There are thousands so these are just a small fraction of what we've see.
1. The view of the coast from our apartment when we were on our vacation to the coast.
2. A seagull on a fishing boat. The colors were amazing! I got some great shots there I'm going to have to work on a bit.
3. The sunset hitting the mountains. This was taken on our ride in from the coast. A beautiful end to a great couple days alone together.
4. A picture of us. We met this woman at the same place where #2 was taken. She said she had one of these cameras back home and asked if she could take pictures of us. Well she took a ton and they all turned out really great. It was a huge blessing!
Eric Larsen came down to visit for a couple days on his way back from some conferences he was having in Colombia. Eric and his wife Rebecah are our marriage councelors and life partners. Eric has lead two missions trips that we've been on and there are going to be plenty more. He is in charge of a new branch in MTW (Mission to The World, Naph's parent's mission) called GYFM (Global Youth and Family). He goes to different country and talks to people about the struggles and realities of third culture kids.
It was really special to be able to spend some time with him even though we really missed the rest of the family.
Sadly I got a bit sick and am still fighting a little cold right now. Tonight I went to the music practice at Naphtali's old church here in Chile and had a great time, though now I really have practically no voice.
Tomorrow the kids have a program full of dancing and entertainment at their school because the day after that is the Chilean independence day and through out this week there are tons of different activities. It's going to be quite fun.
I've started having slight epiphanies/obvious revelations. I've been rather attached to this girl with whom I've had a slight miscommunication. Now, though I thought everything was discussed, I'm getting more of a cold shoulder. I've had a rough time with this because for me, it is hard to find good girlfriends who are stable and constant. But after talking to my in-laws and my husband I have a bit more of a peace about it. I've decided not to take responsibility for more than I can. At this point I can only apologize for a few things. Whereas I feel like, just because we are having a hard time, I need to apologize for everything so that we can be friends again.
Naphtali and I were talking a bit about that last sentence a bit today. I tell you it's so good to have a guys perspective on things, it's so different and really refreshing. We are beginning to see how friends are for different seasons, which is really hard for me to grasp.
Some friends, especially when you are at different levels (i.e. someone who is still finding themselves and is single and a few years younger, vs someone who's married and has matured in different areas that come along with that). And especially in these types of circumstances there may never be ronciliation until my friend is in our shoes. There will just never be any comprehension on her part until that happens.
So, yeah it's hard but I'm relying on the Lord to allow me to grow from it, refrain from hurting so much about it and allowing it to consume all my thoughts as they so often do at night and I'm going to try and enjoy my last 7 days here because they'll be the last for quite a while and I need to make the most of it. Obviously prayers are always welcome!
To finish things off I've left you a few pictures I've taken recently. There are thousands so these are just a small fraction of what we've see.
1. The view of the coast from our apartment when we were on our vacation to the coast.
2. A seagull on a fishing boat. The colors were amazing! I got some great shots there I'm going to have to work on a bit.
3. The sunset hitting the mountains. This was taken on our ride in from the coast. A beautiful end to a great couple days alone together.
4. A picture of us. We met this woman at the same place where #2 was taken. She said she had one of these cameras back home and asked if she could take pictures of us. Well she took a ton and they all turned out really great. It was a huge blessing!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Bueno, life just always throws curve balls eh? Naphtali and I have a hypothetical 2 1/2 more weeks here in Chile. I say hypothetical because now that I don't have a job waiting for me back in Greenville and he only has one show forcing us to go back by the end of September, well we're just really tempted to cancel everything and stay down here for good...or at least for another 2 weeks.
Yes, losing my upcoming job was one of those curve balls. I was going to be taking over a dear friend of mine's maternity leave. We had it all worked out and I pretty much had the job starting this upcoming November. But the school went on a hiring freeze as well as laid off over 30 people while I've been here in Chile...so obviously they denied her request for an external fill for her maternity leave despite my qualifications!
But I have to tell you, when I got the e-mail from my friend I wasn't super suprised. I was actually slightly relieved. Is that bad? I was so thankful for the flexibility. That was when I found out. Now I'm realizing we have no income other than Naph's business which is still picking up and we still have bills in the States, so we have to get back and get some mula at some point soon!
Still, I know that God has a much bigger plan for us. I have several different job opportunities in Chicago that could move us up there much much sooner than March 2010 which is when we were projecting getting up there before. Now we've considered possibly going as early as the end of October or middle of November.
Coincidentally three other band members and their spouses have actually had an equivalent unstable change of plans as well. In fact one couple just moved in to their apartment in Chi-town two days ago. The other couple is still figuring out what they are doing, one guy found out his lease is up in October and can't renew and one is close enough he can drive in. So we are all sensing God has a bigger plans for us and we are trying to be faithful and listen. I feel like this is easier said than done the closer we get to returning Stateside.
Either way this time here in Chile has been going by at just the right pace. Obviously we'd love more time but I think if I was here much longer I'd be ready for us to get our own place and set up house for good! It's been wonderful getting to know Naphtali's family in a new and more intimate way. We've done touristy things and we've done normal every day things too. I've gotten comfy with driving down here, getting myself to the malls, having phone conversations and paying for things all by myself with out feeling like a complete retard. I know that sounds odd being I'm in a Spanish speaking nation and I grew up speaking Spanish, but let me tell you! Even the Chilenos agree that they eat their words. It's rather hard to follow a conversation when they go from word to word in one single breath! But I'm catching on to all the phrases, and in fact, I'm back to that place where I can think a little bit better in Spanish than in English...it's just easier to express myself I think.
It's been really great to see my hubby interact with his people. This is where his life was for 20 years and he has friends here that he's know that long! It's so cool to see him laugh with them and talk with them as if they'd never been apart. I've seen a more "wild" side of him, in a really good way. He's definitely more alive down here, I think I am too. We both know we were made for something more than the American Dream.
Last night Naphtali and I went an asado (a grill out) and watched a soccer game with a family he'd known since he was very young. The whole family was there, the grandparents, the kids, their kids, the maid, it was just like I remember from growing up. It just feels like this is where we are meant to be, investing in other people, participating in their families, making memories with people who hold such value in the families.
It's been an encouraging trip to say the least. Naphtali and I are going to the coast for 3 days to celebrate our 1 year anniversary...3 months later! But we knew this was when we would want to take the time to do that. I mean it does sound pretty cool to say we celebrated our 1 year anniversary on the coast of Chile! It'll be nice to have a couple days of solitude too!
Well, it's a late one as usual. We'd like to get up early and take advantage of a beautiful day after a full day of rain so I'm going to hit the hay.
Yes, losing my upcoming job was one of those curve balls. I was going to be taking over a dear friend of mine's maternity leave. We had it all worked out and I pretty much had the job starting this upcoming November. But the school went on a hiring freeze as well as laid off over 30 people while I've been here in Chile...so obviously they denied her request for an external fill for her maternity leave despite my qualifications!
But I have to tell you, when I got the e-mail from my friend I wasn't super suprised. I was actually slightly relieved. Is that bad? I was so thankful for the flexibility. That was when I found out. Now I'm realizing we have no income other than Naph's business which is still picking up and we still have bills in the States, so we have to get back and get some mula at some point soon!
Still, I know that God has a much bigger plan for us. I have several different job opportunities in Chicago that could move us up there much much sooner than March 2010 which is when we were projecting getting up there before. Now we've considered possibly going as early as the end of October or middle of November.
Coincidentally three other band members and their spouses have actually had an equivalent unstable change of plans as well. In fact one couple just moved in to their apartment in Chi-town two days ago. The other couple is still figuring out what they are doing, one guy found out his lease is up in October and can't renew and one is close enough he can drive in. So we are all sensing God has a bigger plans for us and we are trying to be faithful and listen. I feel like this is easier said than done the closer we get to returning Stateside.
Either way this time here in Chile has been going by at just the right pace. Obviously we'd love more time but I think if I was here much longer I'd be ready for us to get our own place and set up house for good! It's been wonderful getting to know Naphtali's family in a new and more intimate way. We've done touristy things and we've done normal every day things too. I've gotten comfy with driving down here, getting myself to the malls, having phone conversations and paying for things all by myself with out feeling like a complete retard. I know that sounds odd being I'm in a Spanish speaking nation and I grew up speaking Spanish, but let me tell you! Even the Chilenos agree that they eat their words. It's rather hard to follow a conversation when they go from word to word in one single breath! But I'm catching on to all the phrases, and in fact, I'm back to that place where I can think a little bit better in Spanish than in English...it's just easier to express myself I think.
It's been really great to see my hubby interact with his people. This is where his life was for 20 years and he has friends here that he's know that long! It's so cool to see him laugh with them and talk with them as if they'd never been apart. I've seen a more "wild" side of him, in a really good way. He's definitely more alive down here, I think I am too. We both know we were made for something more than the American Dream.
Last night Naphtali and I went an asado (a grill out) and watched a soccer game with a family he'd known since he was very young. The whole family was there, the grandparents, the kids, their kids, the maid, it was just like I remember from growing up. It just feels like this is where we are meant to be, investing in other people, participating in their families, making memories with people who hold such value in the families.
It's been an encouraging trip to say the least. Naphtali and I are going to the coast for 3 days to celebrate our 1 year anniversary...3 months later! But we knew this was when we would want to take the time to do that. I mean it does sound pretty cool to say we celebrated our 1 year anniversary on the coast of Chile! It'll be nice to have a couple days of solitude too!
Well, it's a late one as usual. We'd like to get up early and take advantage of a beautiful day after a full day of rain so I'm going to hit the hay.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Waiting for a Sunny Day
I've had really great days, really great ones since we've been here in Chile. It's been two weeks yesterday and we've gotten to see a lot of the City that my husband grew up in. But sadly, there have been events in the USA that have made me just ache to be back there to settle them.
My husband is a great man, I can't even begin to explain. But through this whole emotional ordeal for me, he has decided to take over and be the mediator. He's so great at speaking wisely and swiftly and with out adding in all these sentences of nonsense that I just can't seem to get myself to avoid.
I'm trying to get over it, so I'll leave you with a couple pictures that I've been taking to enhance my photography skills:
A portrait of my hubs, it took quite a while to get this shot...if only there were enough space to show you all the ones that lead up to this
A picture of a man playing chess in the Plaza de Armas downtown
Artichoke, 5 for $2.00
My two Marshall sisters playing Boche Ball
My husband is a great man, I can't even begin to explain. But through this whole emotional ordeal for me, he has decided to take over and be the mediator. He's so great at speaking wisely and swiftly and with out adding in all these sentences of nonsense that I just can't seem to get myself to avoid.
I'm trying to get over it, so I'll leave you with a couple pictures that I've been taking to enhance my photography skills:
A portrait of my hubs, it took quite a while to get this shot...if only there were enough space to show you all the ones that lead up to this
A picture of a man playing chess in the Plaza de Armas downtown
Artichoke, 5 for $2.00
My two Marshall sisters playing Boche Ball
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Transfer of Sights
So on to new beginnings and new screen names! I've changed over to a different e-mail addy and therefore have changed over my blog as well. I figured licialene didn't roll off the tongue so easily and wouldn't be the greatest e-mail to give to an employer.
As I hadn't updated the other sight in quite a while I'll fill you in a bit on what has been going on in the Marshall's lives as of late.
Naphtali and I just hit our 1 year anniversary but weren't really able to celebrate it since it was right during Graduation Weekend. My parents were able to come down and stay with us for a week which was marvelous! My mom made dinner most nights and she did a lot of cleaning and dish washing and general tiding up which was so nice because I was going a bit crazy with all the things I had to do.
Naphtali and I also just recently got tickets to Chile! We will be there for about two months. We have yet to get our return tickets but that is part of the fun and mystery of it all! We actually were blessed hard core by his parents who let us just transfer some of our miles over to them and then they got the tickets with their miles. We will get the return tickets when we get to Chile as it will be off season there so it will require less miles. This is especially exciting for me as I have yet to see any of that part of Naphtali's life from Chile. I'll get to stay in his home (probably even his bedroom ;-)) , meet his friends, see his hang out places and just experience his life. It's going to be great! His parents are also in the process of starting yet another church with a lot of recently married couples so that will be really fun to have a hand in a bit. Naphtali and I have both been really craving some major ministry investing time!
To that end we were able to hang out this weekend with new and old friends that we do our international trips with. Naph went to Spain a little over 2 months ago now and all the leaders from our area were able to get together and have a little hang out time and a debriefing of how the trip went.
It was so fun to meet new people and establish good solid relationships with other Christian couples who are around the same phase of life as we are. It was also awesome to work through different issues and visions that we all share together for this ministry we've been working with over the past 3 years. More on that in a later post.
SO the long and the short of it is that I've graduated college, we're going to Chile for 2 months and Naphtali's job is starting to take off. He is doing free lance work as a web, print and and other multimedia designer. It's all work from home and it's terrifying and exciting all at the same time.
I'll write more later,
Lovies
As I hadn't updated the other sight in quite a while I'll fill you in a bit on what has been going on in the Marshall's lives as of late.
Naphtali and I just hit our 1 year anniversary but weren't really able to celebrate it since it was right during Graduation Weekend. My parents were able to come down and stay with us for a week which was marvelous! My mom made dinner most nights and she did a lot of cleaning and dish washing and general tiding up which was so nice because I was going a bit crazy with all the things I had to do.
Naphtali and I also just recently got tickets to Chile! We will be there for about two months. We have yet to get our return tickets but that is part of the fun and mystery of it all! We actually were blessed hard core by his parents who let us just transfer some of our miles over to them and then they got the tickets with their miles. We will get the return tickets when we get to Chile as it will be off season there so it will require less miles. This is especially exciting for me as I have yet to see any of that part of Naphtali's life from Chile. I'll get to stay in his home (probably even his bedroom ;-)) , meet his friends, see his hang out places and just experience his life. It's going to be great! His parents are also in the process of starting yet another church with a lot of recently married couples so that will be really fun to have a hand in a bit. Naphtali and I have both been really craving some major ministry investing time!
To that end we were able to hang out this weekend with new and old friends that we do our international trips with. Naph went to Spain a little over 2 months ago now and all the leaders from our area were able to get together and have a little hang out time and a debriefing of how the trip went.
It was so fun to meet new people and establish good solid relationships with other Christian couples who are around the same phase of life as we are. It was also awesome to work through different issues and visions that we all share together for this ministry we've been working with over the past 3 years. More on that in a later post.
SO the long and the short of it is that I've graduated college, we're going to Chile for 2 months and Naphtali's job is starting to take off. He is doing free lance work as a web, print and and other multimedia designer. It's all work from home and it's terrifying and exciting all at the same time.
I'll write more later,Lovies
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