Too close to the edge...

This weekend we were hiking with some of our friends up to Kalidonia Waterfalls. It was refreshing to walk beside a stream of water with tree cover and be surrounded by green vegetation. The coolness of the brook and the shade seemed to wash over the blistering hot days with no cloud cover we had been enduring the past few weeks. The children on the hike couldn't contain themselves and any moment the trail came near the water they stopped to wade in it. One mother chided her children not to get to close to the edge of a cliff. Charis who wants to understand everything asked what "the edge" was, and we laughed as we attempted to explain (it is harder than you would think).

On our way back, we decided to take a different route which had a wider path of switch backs. It was suppose to be less scenic (I still found it beautiful!) but quicker. The children ran and laughed giving the parents time to chat. Suddenly Charis' ear piercing scream interrupted the peaceful mountain air. I turned to see my precious child sliding down a cliff. Her eyes were full of fear and her hands surrounded by sliding rocks reaching upward. Adrenaline kicked in and with little thought of being almost 8 1/2 months pregnant, I threw off my bags and jumped off the edge as if I was sliding down a slide. My momentum caught up to my sweet girl and her hands got stuck under my backside giving me a chance to grab her. At first I was afraid I had crushed her hands or broken something because she cried out again in pain. Pressing my feet into the loose ground I grabbed her. I hugged her tight assuring her everything was going to be okay. Joshua who had been up ahead was there already and with help of another holding onto the trees around, they helped us up. 

When we got back, Charis recounted the story in her own words on video: "...I fell down the mountain. Daddy told me not to go close to the EDGE and I DID. And I FELL down the mountain and I scratched myself..." I am so grateful for my heavenly Father's mercy and grace who takes care of us and our children even when we get too close to the edge.

"Daddy, why is it cold in here?"

Here is a video of Charis (completely unprompted...we only asked her to repeat the question) asking why it was cold inside the large mall here.  Just a few days prior she asked me what "Air Conditioning" was while watching a show...

4th of July

Curry Leaves Lessons

A little over a week ago I got an exciting notice in our village mail box. A long awaited box was in customs at the main post office in Limmassol. Quickly we changed our plans and jumped in the car since the office closes at 1:30pm. We decided to swing by the home of one of the youth in our church. Joshua was going to try to help fix a car door window. My plan was to drop Joshua off and go to the post office and complete other errands on my checklist. I was in my task oriented mode. Before I got to drive off, Joshua let me know that the youth's mother wanted to meet me. Quickly I had to change my mode so I would enjoy the visit. While I visited, I had a tasty Sri Lankan chickpeas dish. The flavor reminded me of an amazing Indian dish a friend had taught me to make in the US so I asked the lady of the house where there was a good Indian store and if I could find curry leaves here. She joyfully said she had some curry leaves in her freezer and explained where the Indian store was. I accepted her gift only to later understand that the curry leaves had come from Sri Lanka and couldn't be found fresh or frozen here! I proceeded to I try to tell her I couldn't take them, but she would hear nothing of it. As we drove off to get our package from the post office, it hit me further what this sweet lady have given me. It would be like giving up MY chocolate chips from the US. Those are precious to me. Would I have given them if someone had told me they use chocolate chip in a recipe? Would I have given them to someone that wasn't from the US because do they really like them as much? The Holy Spirit wouldn't let me lie to myself...I probably wouldn't have. AND if I had my way that day I wouldn't have even learned this humbling lesson of giving joyfully from what is precious.