Yipeeeee!

Today I was totally and marvelously surprised!

I told friends this past weekend that I was fairly confident that it would be three weeks minimum before I go back to England. I finally have been resigning myself to the circumstances I'm in, beginning to make some plans in the States.

While I was waking up I glanced through my email on my iPhone. I saw an email from the visa agency and opened it before even thinking about its potential significance. Maybe my visa was finally assigned to an officer, which would be great.

When I read the words, "Your visa has been issued," I was completely flabbergasted. I wish I could replay my facial expressions. Actually, I probably looked something like this girl... except in my case the confusion turned into delight instead of horror:

Much of today was spent looking at airline tickets and buying some for next week. I'll make sure that they are still the best deal tomorrow -- plane ticket prices change on a day by day (or sometimes hour by hour) basis.

I am thrilled that I get to go back to be with my husband. I'm also thrilled that I'll have a visa which will give official status in the UK -- I will be able to leave and return without concern about borders, can get a supplemental job, and etc.

I am thankful that God has sustained us these crazy six months. And I am really happy that from here on out, Kagi and I should be able to be physically together even as we make decisions on where to live and apply for visas together. God willing...

Thank you all for your prayers and for the myriad of ways you have helped and encouraged us through a difficult time. I honestly didn't know when it would end, and today seems to be that day. Praise God.

So excited to get back to this man!

Yesterday in the beautiful weather I went for a walk just before the sun set. I decided to take some pictures and then to have some fun editing them. Here are some pictures from the neighborhood my parents live in.

I do love all of the evergreens in Washington!

I loved this pink hydrant!

See how much I liked it? :-)

Fun wood sign.

The barn.

Just a cool piece of wood.

This just makes me so happy! Caution... kids on teeter totters:-).

I may post tomorrow, but I also might not (apparently Sundays in Lent are "mini Easters").

Valentine's Day

Although I am disappointed that I am still not back with Kagi this Valentine's Day it has been a very nice day.

First of all, I woke up earlier than usual. I like it when that happens these days when my schedule is pretty flexible. I like the morning a lot.

Second, the sun came up. I realize I get too excited when the sun comes out, but I am not the best at handling the grey Washington winters. Today it was special. It was bright and the sky was beautifully blue.  About a third of the way into my run this morning it occurred to me that I was running in a tank top! I started wondering if my skin could take all of the rays or my body the Vitamin D. It seemed like a valentine from God, who even in a dark season was letting me know that He remembers and loves me.

Third, I have praying that there would be a way for me to go back to Maryland if I am going to be in the States longer. I was planning to wait until today to see if I got my visa before really trying to book something.  The reality is that I'm not in a financial position to be spending money on unnecessary tickets. As I was getting cleaned up and ready for the rest of the day it occurred to me that I have some frequent flyer miles. I checked into it, and it looks like I have almost enough for a ticket next week. I think my mom is going to give me the remainder of miles I need. I have a ticket reserved and will make a final decision by Saturday.

Finally, I got a very sweet Valentine from my husband and had some really nice phone conversations with friends and family. Tonight I'm hanging out with my mom and brother which should be fun.

To close, I thought I'd show you the one who has been on my mind:-).

The Church

There are times in life when we are disappointed in the people around us for one reason or another. I have experienced that. However, I would like to take this opportunity to share how I have had the opposite experience in recent months.

Many of you know that I got married on the 18th of August. Leading up to the wedding was one of the most wonderful and most stressful seasons of my life. Something that didn't help was that Kagi was wrongfully kept from travelling to Canada when he was supposed to. It was one of those "how can something this unjust be allowed to happen" moments, and there was a time when we weren't sure our wedding would be able to happen. Thankfully the situation was resolved(ish) and he was able to come to the wedding.

There were some other pretty difficult surprising things that have happened in the last few months. I admit now that a good chunk of the problems probably could have been avoided if I was more aware of my limitations. I tend to have a "I can do anything if I really try" perspective on things. I learned this summer that actually, there are quite a few things that I can't do. Planning a destination wedding in less than 5 months while traveling in 3 continents and 5 countries (including a month in a village in Africa without much internet access), all on a very small budget, probably falls into that category. I also can't control border agencies (to name a few examples).

But, miracle of miracles, even as I realized my limitations I was blessed with an amazing engagement time and a wedding that was beter than I would have dreamed it to be... even if I had more time and more resources and a better proximity to the location. Kagi and I had friends from the USA, Canada, England, Botswana, Turkey (:-)), Zimbabwe, and I am probably missing something. We had an incredible photographer and a brilliant videographer. My dress was exactly what I wanted. The food was top-notch. The music and dancing were SO fun. Even the weather was absolutely ideal.

And it didn't come together because of me... as much as I wanted to bear the burdon for the whole thing. Left to me, it would have been like a half-baked cake, because my oven died before the baking time was up. I totally burned out.

It was the grace of God and it was His people. It was the Church.

My amazing friends and sisters pulled off two amazing showers and a bachelorette party for me. Countless people helped with the wedding and there were about 10 super-star heroes who stepped in to make the wedding better than it could have been if my budget was 10 times bigger. I'm not kidding.

The bachelorette party in Toronto.

Although I know that weddings are important in a person's life, my wedding seems a very small thing in the scheme of all of the problems in the world. I can't tell you how loved by God I have felt in these last months -- like a little girl who was given a totally undeserved gift by her daddy "just because I love you." (I am now crying at the computer in awe.) Thank you, Lord.

And thank you, Church.

• Thank you Emily and Deb for being there for me the whole way through -- and especially for the shower and bridesmaid things you did.
• Thank you Allison for making signs and planning the best bachellorette party ever and for being so happy for us. Thank you for helping with the music and for the dress. Thanks for recruiting your friends for the documentation jobs. Thanks for the amazingly sweet speech.
• Thank you Jenni for speaking, for your huge part in the music and for being Kagi's advocate for years now:-).
• Thank you Jesse for making the trip even though it was so fast and inconvenient with your schedule. Thanks for not trying to beat Kagi up or anything. Thanks for being the life of the party.
• Thank you Catherine for making it possible for me to have fun... for making all the decisions and dealing with last minute issues. Thanks for good talks about marriage.
• Thank you Kara for the surprise lingerie shower.
• Thank you Meagan for playing violin and singing.
• Thank you Lish for singing.
• Thank you Moody family for really being my Maryland family. I am so blessed by you guys, it's hard to put it to words. Thank you for hosting my bridal shower as well as for feeding and housing me when I'm in Maryland. Thank you for your many prayers for me/us.
• Thank you Katie for jumping in and organizing things on the day of the wedding without much information to go on ahead of time.
• Thank you Steven for being a great Emcee -- for taking the time to learn the difficult names and for doing a great job of going with the flow.
• Thank you Gladstones for hosting so many people in PA. Thanks for doing the drinks, for hosting a shower and for hosting me so often! You guys are amazing.
• Thank you Jonathan for being the BEST man. My parents keep talking about how impressed they were with you.
• Thank you Uncle Fred and Aunt Beth for coming up early and for helping with so many things. Thank you for helping us financially as well.
• Thank you Dan, Seth, and Matt for running to our B&B during much of the reception to check us in.
• Thank you Amy for doing the photography in exchange for the trip, and for being such a great support throughout the whole wedding and rehearsal days.
• Thank you JP for making the trip as well! Thank you for videoing the whole thing so Kagi's family can feel like they are included and know they are loved.
• Thank you Rudy and Sharon for being such an encouragement to us. Thanks for serving God in Botswana and for using your experience to bless us and make our wedding so much more meaningful.
• Thank you Tim, Bethan, Ffion and Mererid for spending your savings to come to America to be with us for our big day. Thanks for doing the incredible decorations and Tim for the amazing sermon.
• Thank you Ronit for the invitation and save the date designs. They were awesome.
• Thank you Peter for doing the music and DJing for us. You did an amazing job -- my favorite dance party!
• Thank you Artaj and Judy for making the whole thing possible. Thank you for your incredible hospitality, your generosity, the use of your house, and your friendship throughout.
• Thank you Mom for my veil and bunting and decorating and hosting and for loving me so well. Thank you for being so excited for us.
• Thank you Daddy for being there for me. Thank you for writing blog posts about me and for loving me so much that I know it was hard to give me away. Thanks for being happy for us anyway. Thanks for being a part of things like the flowers, and for building me a gazebo and putting the doors up. Thanks for running errands for the chairs and dealing with the problems I caused by forgetting to tell you to bring cash for the caterer. Thanks for being generous with funds for the wedding. Thanks for dancing with me.
• Thank you David and Julie for being here for Kagi during his terrible days trying to get to Canada. Thanks for your help with our expenses and for being so gracious to us.
• Thank you everyone who came. You all travelled far and it would not have been the same without you!

Here is a preview photograph from Amy Birdsong (amybirdsong.com). I am expecting the rest of the photos to be arriving within the next few days, so I'll be posting them around as I go through them. In the meantime, if you want to see more visit Amy's web site. There are lots of pics from our wedding there.

And thank you, Church, for your prayers and encouragement throughout our visa difficulties and separation. I can't imagine this without you, but with you it has really not been that bad. Thank you.

The Beauty of Home

There is something so wonderful about coming home to friends who know you well, to a place you have been really connected and where you feel loved. The majority of my adult life has been spent in Maryland and it is a wonderful place for me. I am so blessed to have many friends still here, and love the opportunity to be with them.

The traveling life has some major down sides, and the biggest one is not getting to be around consistently with those you love. I'm thankful for the grace my friends have shown to me, welcoming me home over and over and faithfully keeping in touch. Really, they make this life so much better.

One of my great friends, Emily, after or 2012 New Years Eve Bake Fest (preparing for a very fun party).

Clean Water

This week I was reminded how normal, expected, demanded conveniences of my American life are really luxuries. There was a problem with our water softener, and suddenly the water in our house was salty and undrinkable. Clean water is a necessity for almost everything!

Even as someone who does not have a high-paying job at the moment, I have every imaginable comfort. I live in a big warm house with a room to myself and a nice soft bed with quality linens. I have a bathroom with a toilet which takes away my waste so I don't even notice it. I can take long hot showers without worrying about using too much water and then use luxurious body creams and lotions on my skin. There is always food in the kitchen -- enough food for three quality meals snacks every day. If anything my concern is that I will have too much. Never too little.

In America we have the biggest selection of the highest quality goods and services at the lowest prices. How can I remain thankful and keep from succumbing to the notion that I deserve these things?

Friday, I went to a dance party which was to raise money for a clean water project in Africa through Partners International. I also thought about Deep Springs International, an organization which was begun by some college friends which is providing clean water in Haiti. How amazing that people in those communities can not assume that they will have the water they need.

Upon reflection, I am very thankful for water, a bed, a toilet, and food. I'm also thankful that I have been places where I didn't have some of these things (I have never gone a day without clean water). I'm thankful for those I've met who will probably never have them, and live in a more thankful posture than I do. I want to be like them.

One thought I have is that through giving we can demonstrate thankfulness for the bounty we enjoy.

In case you're interested in donating, here are links to the ministries I mentioned:
http://www.partnersintl.org/partners/wa/seis
http://deepspringsinternational.org/

I'd love comments!

For the Beauty...

I wrote most of a post earlier about Thanksgiving but after singing this beautiful hymn in church this evening I decided to share the lyrics instead (or for now). I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For Thy Church, that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the martyrs’ crown of light,
For Thy prophets’ eagle eye,
For Thy bold confessors’ might,
For the lips of infancy.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thy virgins’ robes of snow,
For Thy maiden mother mild,
For Thyself, with hearts aglow,
Jesu, Victim undefiled.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For each perfect gift of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

Words: Fol­li­ot S. Pier­point, in Lyra Eu­cha­rist­ica, by Or­by Ship­ley, se­cond edi­tion, 1864. http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/f/b/fbeautye.htm

Spokane

Now, for some of you, the thought of me at my parents' house probably evokes an image of me sleeping in, watching movies, taking long walks, and having all manner of time on my hands.You visit your parents for vacation, right?

Well, in my case that is not exactly how things are going.

We are all working very hard around the Fritz house, seemingly around the clock. We're excited, a little stressed, and working to focus in one direction at a time.

Here's what we are up to...
1. Trying to get their rental units filled with college students. I just made this web site about the housing: bereahousing.wordpress.com. We have three units empty now, which has never happened. Apparently the housing supply went up drastically this year for students at the school they have been working with for several years.
2. Working to put together the necessary planning documents, communication tools, and raise funds for the ministry we have already started. More about that will come soon, but in brief terms my dad has already begun working with social entrepreneurs to cultivate good leadership practices and effective structure for their organizations.
3. We have a consulting appointing starting this evening in Seattle, so we're headed back there. We're going to go camping in the Cascades this weekend with Allison. Yay!

And actually that's not it, but since we are leaving in just 20 minutes for Seattle, I need to get moving. I have data on my phone, so hopefully can keep up with things even while gone, but we shall see. For those of you praying for us, thank you so much. We need it. I feel confirmed that I did actually need to come home, as I thought, for more reasons than I even knew. It is really good to be here.

Deep Creek

On Saturday Jenni brought me to Deep Creek Lake where my friend Deb, her awesome family, and several other friends were spending the day on boats and jet skis. It was great because it was a way for her to only need to drive me half of the distance back to Maryland, and also because we were able to have a wonderful, wonderful summer day. Here are some pictures:

Getting ready to go out in the boat!

My wonderful friend Deb modeling for me during a game of kub.

The Beauty of Home

After just a week, I am still basking in the lovliness of being home after almost a full year overseas. This week I have had meals with many of my closest friends, seeming to slide back into normal life here in Maryland. Last night a good friend made a dinner and about ten of us shared our hearts as we caught up on what we have learned thus year -- how we have seen God at work, and our hopes in our next steps.

As I have been away I have come to understand the ugly side of how America is perceived. I realize that I needed to learn to see my culture through the eyes of outsiders, and am interested in how I might be led to share my findings.

But as I talked with my friends during our evening together, sharing for hours about the situation in Israel an Palestine and our implication in the conflict, I was extremely encouraged as I experienced some of the most beautiful qualiies of my people. I was met by openness, love, a desire to learn, question after question, and unsolicited commitments that these friends would share the things they had learned.

My friends are action people who know their influence and desire to do right. We are all ignorant about many things, but when we seek to understand and when we look to act on what we learn, the ambitious American spirit is a beautiful thing.

Things I'll Miss About Palestine and Israel Part 2

Here's the promised Part 2 of the things I'll miss...

The International People

I really like spending time with people who are from different places, and the reality of the culture of the Land is that people are from everywhere, or from there and have lived elsewhere at one time or another. It's fun to meet people all the time from so many places, which helps me to constantly think about my cultural assumptions, leading me to learning opportunities about myself and others.

Walking

I really missed my car. I mean really, freedom of movement is one of my favorite things and highest personal values. But I really enjoy walking as well and often took the opportunity for the hour-long walk home from work. I know that with the distances in the US and fast-paced lifestyles it just isn't as possible to be a full-time pedestrian. I'll try to keep walking when it makes sense though.

Pace of Life... Work/Life Balance

This is one of the things that I think I learned most about while overseas -- in England and then even more in Palestine and Israel. I'll note here that I think we are crazy in our expectations for ourselves and others in American culture. This is from personal experience, but I think it is a cultural reality for most middle-class Americans. And I'll write a full post about this soon.

Things I'll Miss About Palestine and Israel Part 1

Now that I'm home with some time on my hands, I'm looking forward to getting caught up on the last few things I wanted to write from Palestine and Israel. I'll continue to share some more thoughts in the coming weeks/months as I reflect.

These are some of the things I wrote down as I anticipated leaving which I knew I would miss about life in the Land. Since I want to keep it short, I'll just put the first two today, and then I'll share a few more tomorrow.

The challenge of faith... needing to be so intentional... needing to rely so much on Jesus!
For me, it was spiritually very challenging in Israel and Palestine. Because there are so many strong opinions everywhere, I felt very guarded for much of my time there to share faith related stuff. This was silly, but still real. I also struggled to see so much religiously-based conflict everywhere. At first, I almost didn't want to be labeled as a person of faith. Later, though, I started thinking about Jesus, and came back to understanding, with new enthusiasm, that he didn't like religiousness either. I remembered how unbelievably hard and how opposite of human tendencies his commands are, and came back to the belief that His way is the only way. We must be humble to the point of death (Phil. 2), courageous in reconciliation, bold in faith, and committed to trusting Him, not ourselves, for the power to act in accordance with His will and for the results. In some ways, although learning these things can be incredibly exhausting, the battle can be more meaningful than the sometimes artificially easy way it can be for me to be "faithful" at home. (Please ask me if this doesn't make sense to you, I'd love to discuss!)

My friends
I was so blessed with wonderful friends in the Land. It's amazing how people can become like family -- trusting and taking care of each other in such a short time. I will truly miss my friends and am thankful that I really expect to spend significant time with many of them in the years to come. Some friendships are like that... you strongly suspect that they aren't just for one season.

Real, Yummy Fruits and Veggies
Fruits and vegetables in season, for great prices. Tomatoes that are really red. Apples that are normal sizes and flavorful, persimmons, pomegranates, figs, dates, orange juice squeezed in front of you. Amazing, healthy, affordable, always available. Heavenly!

Shabat

I have had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate Shabat the last two Friday evenings with Israeli friends, which has been really fun. I mentioned in an earlier post that it is really neat to understand a little bit better what Jesus was doing at the Last Supper... just from observing a related tradition with bread and wine.

I really like this weekly tradition to have a special meal with family and friends and remember the provision of God, and to speak blessing to God and each other. Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth... My understanding is very dependent on what is explained due to my absolute lack of Hebrew. What I do understand has been really cool.

So thank you, Ronit, for the invitations, and for some good times with new friends.

Arrival in The Land

This is a street near my house in Bethlehem.

I arrived in Tel Aviv on Tuesday and met my driver outside of security. With three bags and operating on very little sleep, I was very thankful to have someone there for me who knows this country and who could take me where I needed to go. He had a Jesus fish on his dashboard, but I'm afraid that, in my sleepy state, I didn't manage to make conversation with him about our shared faith.

The drive was beautiful! As the sun set, we went through rocky but green hills, and overall I was very surprised at how nice I found things. We pulled into Jerusalem around sunset and I went to Ronit's (a new co-worker of mine) house to stay the night with her.

Although I was pretty tired by the time I got to the house, Ronit was having some Israeli friends over for dinner and hanging out. It was good to get to meet them and I'm actually really glad to have gotten a little taste of Israeli-believing culture before heading to Palestine. Many of the people I met are are Messianic Jews originally from America and have attained Israeli citizenship and served in the army here. Very interesting!

Wednesday, Ronit and I came to the office in the morning and I got to experience my first daily prayer time and staff meeting. I walked to the store with Ronit to buy some office supplies (the good kind: coffee and tea) and then went to pick up my bags and run some other errands around town with another coworker. I think I expected there to be more signs in English, but I should be able to get around anyway.

In the early afternoon, Salim brought me into the West Bank to meet my family. We weren't hassled at the border. We just drove through, showed our passport/papers through the car window and continued on our way. My first impression of Bethlehem was that it seems peaceful! Not nearly as congested or seemingly intense (stressful) as Jerusalem. This really surprised me. I also was interested in the walls of separation between Israel and Palestine. They are huge and thick and bleak (ugly concrete) but, on the Palestine side, covered by all kinds of graffiti, including some really amazing art which Salim said is famous around the world. Someday I might spend some time hanging out at the wall looking at all of what is there. If I can, I'll post some pictures.

We went to Bethlehem Bible College, where Salim introduced me to some Palestinian young people. Then I met Ana, who is the mother in the family I'll be living in for my time here. She is in her thirties, full of energy and well educated, currently finishing a MA and teaching school, co-leading a 50 member youth group, and caring for her family of 5, and now me as well. She told me that she is happy to have me and dropped me off at the house, showing me my new home on the way to one of her final exams.

I was thrilled to see my room. It is big, on the roof, simply furnished but private, and with a private bathroom. So much nicer than expected! I was thrilled to unpack all of my things and start to see the room become my own.

Now I am pretty set up, and am settling in. Since moving in I have had several more experiences which I will write about later! Thanks for beginning this journey with me.

And We're Back!

Hi Friends!

It has been a long time since my last post. The last few months have been very eventful, spent back in the U.S. They have included big decisions for the future and a lot of planning! I am back in the UK now... ready to stay until December 20th.

Here is an update with pictures of these last few months:

This is me in London as I headed back to the U.S.

I have LOVED spending time with the International Friendship Group this summer! I will really miss these guys!

Cari-Jean, John, Justin and I lead the college Bible study at Grace this summer. These are some of the girls I enjoyed getting to know!

I got to spend some quality time with Emily. This is us in Baltimore for a "Mr. Green Jeans" concert.

My sister Jenni came to visit for a few days. Here she is with Deb at dinner before an evening of adventure!

Some friends ran in the Annapolis Ten Miler. This is me with some others who went to cheer them on. I was able to run part of the race with Emily, which was fun!

Deb joined me on a quick trip to my grandparents' house in Pennsylvania. On our way home we saw a sign for a town called Forks. Since some of our friends have visited the Forks near Seattle lately, we decided to get a picture with our own Forks sign!

I spent time catching up with friends I won't get to see for a while. This is one of my favorite pictures of the summer... me with my friend Catherine's daughter, Grace. I think she is SO cute!

On my final Friday night, some good friends met up for dinner together at the Cheesecake Factory. Jess and Laura walked up together looking so cute and pregnant... I couldn't help but get a picture of them with Christy. All three are due soon!

I will be in England continuing work in inter-cultural communication here. I'll teach some English lessons, and help with other projects in the city. I plan to spend January-July in Israel working on peace-building there, and then next fall hope to return to England to start a masters program here in conflict resolution.

I hope you are all well, and look forward to hearing from you!

Laura

Phil Wickham - You're Beautiful.mp4

Good Morning,

I love this and just thought I'd share it. Have a wonderful day!