Showing posts with label Mountain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mountain. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Feeling Behind

Wow!  I am feeling behind on all my updating.  It's been a whirlwind here.

First of all...stuff happened.  Namely, my boss telling me out of the blue, "if you feel lonely or scared by living out in the woods by yourself, then you can get a dog."  I promptly told him that I did not want a dog, because those things live longer than goldfish, and I already hit my commitment quota by joining a gym.

Later, someone else teased me about getting a puppy.  And then I promptly told God, "People keep bringing up this topic, but you know I am not going and getting a dog.  If you want me to have one, you just have to drop it in my lap."  One Saturday morning, I was rushing out the door and, yep you guessed it.  A puppy...a little 4 month old hound/lab mix was just looking miserable at my doorstep.

She was so covered in fleas that as she scratched, she would whine because it hurt.  I just cried.  I knew I couldn't take care of a puppy, but I just couldn't leave her in that state...so I said, one step...I will just take one step.  So I washed all her fleas off.  Then I called my friend who owned a kennel and told her I didn't know the next step.  I wasn't keeping her but I needed help.

Well my kennel friend showed up with puppy supplies, and that dog ran right to my side for protection...apparently she already adopted me.  So now, I can't imagine life without her.  It's been a full month and I love my baby Jade so much.  We are doing all the right things with the vet and I am reading more about puppy training online than I am school work.  But she does make my heart smile.

This is Jade playing with her husky friend who likes to visit.


Other than puppy and school, the most recent excitement was a trip to the mountains.  My mother has a birthday this week, and it being labor day weekend, we had a longer one than normal.  My mother said in passing, "oh I wish I could come down and see you...."  And between the two of us, within 48 hours we had her plane ticket booked and a cabin in the woods rented.  We spent an awesome weekend grilling out, visiting the small mountain town of Blue Ridge, sampling chocolate, visiting a winery, and hiking to a waterfall.  I had a great deal of rest and enjoyment with her, and brought her back to the airport.

Unfortunately, my car broke down about an hour away from home, so I am even more behind on the many things I should have done this weekend...but I wouldn't change it for the world!

One topic that keeps coming up in my Quiet Time is the need to breathe.  To just rest, to not have to do all the time, despite the fact that doing gives me a semblance of control...but just to be.  To rest, to breathe...to truly trust that all my needs will be met, that not every single thing has to be in order for me to move forward, and to rest.  So I think in lieu of giving myself an ulcer...I should breathe and rest.  SELAH!  :-)





Sunday, October 5, 2014

Not so Restful Days of Rest

The View From Our Hostel
I am typing at a Hostel here in La Paz, Bolivia.  We are in a time called 'Debrief' which is a time to rest before our next ministry.  We get about 4 of these this year.  We have meetings and sessions, but also some freetime.  So in my freetime I chose not to rest, but to have an adventure!  Of course...haha.

I set out with two friends to climb a mountian.  The elevation at the peak was approx 17,000 ft and we could feel it with every step.  A British lady in our hiking group gave us some coca leaves for the altitude (its the leaf of the cocaine plant).  We´d chew and rest them in the side of the mouth which helped a lot for the headaches.  I made a little video at the peak which I will eventually put on my mission blog at http://carolineritchey.theworldrace.org if it ever decides to load.

After that we were scheduled to go to a valley to see the ecosystem differences due to the elevation, but the bus broke down a block from our hostel, and with the headaches we all had, it was better to take it easy that afternoon.  So we left the group.  Which was a good thing, because God redeemed that afternoon.

I was given the chance to walk the markets here in La Paz with two ladies that I am blessed to have gotten to know a little better.  We had coffee at a little coffee shop and got to see some parades in the street.  Overall, a very good day of rest in which I did no rest at all.  HA HA!


Our Group´s Shady Coca Leaf Dealings

Making a Snow Angel in the Andes...CHECK!

LLAMASSSS!!

Our Broken Bus in the Hail.  The End!