Thursday, March 26, 2015

Ahhh, the simple life

La vida sencilla

Ahhhh the simple life. The mission got a little sidetracked. The mission was interrupted for 10 weeks because Dianne was inflicted with an unusually bad case of Chikungunya. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chikungunya.  Most people have it for 7-10 days and that’s it. Its name is of African origin and means, walking stooped over. I had it for about 8 days and that’s what it is like, the pain in my joints had me stooped over. For Dianne almost all the symptoms went away except for the joint pain. We ended up back in the U.S. so she could be checked out thoroughly after she put up with this pain from the middle of November till the New Year. Long story short she was tested for everything under the sun and it came back as a severe case of Chikungunya. After 10 weeks of rest in the U.S. she is improving. The pain is not gone but it’s more manageable for her. Being the way she is, she’s tried to fight through this but with this joint pain, that doesn’t work. The Dr. said it could be one to two more months. To her credit she’s decided to return to the mission and just let it play out. The Doctor said the reason her case was so bad is because she is a “delicate flower” but that said her dedication is inspiring, she has more than enough reason to stay home longer but she may look like a delicate flower but that’s far from the case.
So we landed in El Salvador on March 15th. Our 2nd year Anniversary of the mission was March 4th and in a way the interruption was a good thing although the reason was not good at all. An interruption like this gave us time to reflect on what we have learned. One thing we learned is that we like the simple life of El Maizal. It’s not easy but it’s simpler.

One observation is that this simple life is addicting. Remember, we live in los campos (the country). It’s not remotely like the big cities of El Salvador. At 6-7 PM this community and the surrounding communities are finishing supper and preparing for bed. It’s nice and quiet. Even during the day it’s quiet. There are the buses and cars on the main road but they aren’t that loud. We mostly notice the chickens clucking along as they graze, the many beautifully colored birds talking back and forth to each other and the chatter of kids playing and adults talking. Vida esta tranquilo (life is tranquil)
Life is simpler because most decisions are made sensibly and prudently. We initially found ourselves shaking our heads in disbelief in some decisions but we were normally proved wrong. We forget that all the tools and supplies that we have at our fingertips at home don’t normally exist here. People improvise here all the time and they are very good at it and since they are used to it, they don’t get flustered as easy as we would.

We also find it simpler because we rest more, not because we can but because we must. For a while we were in the full march mode, we must be productive at all times and be available 24/7. But that’s a quick way of making service to God become a grind. That’s not conducive to living the message of our Lord and Savior because you forget to see Jesus in everyone you meet. Well intentioned friends or strangers become impediments to results. You also don’t connect to God in prayer or studying scripture as purposely as you should. You can forget to accompany people with a smile and calming words about life and faith. After all that is what mission is about first and foremost, accompany people as their brothers and sisters in Christ.

The other noticeable thing that simplifies life is that literally all plans are not set in stone. We’ve experienced so many plans that get either cancelled or changed at a moment’s notice that now we expect it. I’m not saying it didn’t drive us crazy and that on occasion it still does but remember decisions are made sensibly so if something comes up more important, things change immediately. They don’t imprison themselves in a system that requires that you sometimes put more emphasis on maintaining a schedule versus addressing an immediate need. In fairness to my North American friends the complexity and difficulty of daily lives here create more emergencies than in the U.S. so it’s much easier to maintain schedules in the states. There’s a relaxing effect to life when you can shrug off changes and reschedule meetings and move along instead of being aggravated and feeling inconvenienced.
Our advice based on what we have learned is that we need to remember to relax and rest sometimes. If you’re the type of person that must have a daily plan then put rest into the plan.

Mark 6:31 - Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

 
En la paz de Dios

 
Tomas y Dianna

2 comments:

  1. Good morning, how are you?

    My name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.

    I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because through them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are very small countries with very few population, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.

    For all this, I would ask you one small favor:
    Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from El Salvador? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in El Salvador in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:

    Emilio Fernandez Esteban
    Calle Valencia, 39
    28903 Getafe (Madrid)
    Spain

    If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.

    Finally, I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.

    Yours Sincerely

    Emilio Fernandez

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  2. Welcome back "home" to El Maizal, Tomas y Diana! You must have been greatly missed!

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