Sorry for the delay. This address can be used to send "non-valuable and non-urgent" items. If you send a box it will stop in Guatemala City, be taxed, and wait and wait and wait for me to come and pick it up. :) But the puffy manila envelopes should make it through.
Laura Amlin
Apartado Postal 315
Antigua, Guatemala
You can expect it to take 10 days (usually) to 3 weeks (occasionally). In other words, the postal system runs on "Guatemalan time".
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The Gift of The Cloud
I am in New York at Stony Point Retreat Center with over 60 other Young Adult Volunteers and many YAVA's (Young Adult Volunteer Alumni). Today we looked outside and said "What's that big yellow ball in the sky? Oh! The sun!" So, we have been playing all day. (Well, minus the hours that we've been in bible study/discernment 102/cross-cultural partnership 101) We had lunch outside, laid like vegetables, and some even brought back "red-rover--- as the elementary teacher in me cringes :).
But with the exception of today, it's been unusually cloudy.
And speaking of clouds, I have to share about the amazing gift that my cloud of witnesses gifted me (as if BEING a great cloud of witnesses is not enough.) Wow.
As always, there is a little back-story to this. About a month ago I called my Memo and told her that I had thought of something that she could do for me that would help me on my trip. I needed a Spanish-English bible and it would be very special to me if it was from her. Little did IIIII know... a plan was already in the making (Clouds are sneaky like that, sometimes) Still, she agreed. (Memo's can be sneaky sometimes, too.)
So on Saturday before I left, dozens of family members, friends, and loved ones gathered at the Lodge at the Parker Place in Bonham to send me off with love. My mom called me over at one point and gave me what was to become one of the best gifts that I have EVER received!
Rick Carus--my prayer buddy, mentor, mission partner, and friend--had teamed up with my mom to contact members of my "Cloud of Witnesses" earlier this summer, although she said that he gives her too much credit. I can't say it any better than Rick, so are the instructions that were sent out to everyone:
Dear Friends and Colleagues -- The is to be a top-secret correspondence! You are receiving this e-mail because we consider you to be part of Laura Amlin's "Cloud of Witnesses". As you know, Laura will be leaving in mid-August to serve as a Presbyterian Church USA Young Adult Volunteer in Mission. She will be giving a year of her life in ministry in Guatemala, and we would like her to take a tangible part of her "Cloud of Witnesses" with her. So ,,, her mom and I are conspiring. We have purchased a bi-lingual Spanish-English Bible for her to take on her journey, and we want to make that Bible especially meaningful to her. We want you to send us a verse of Scripture that you have found to be meaningful to you in your journey of life and faith. We will highlight that verse in the Bible -- both the English and Spanish texts and place your name by the verse so that everytime she sees one of the key verses, she will know that you surround her with your presence and prayers. Thanks for helping us plot this special gift! Blessings on ya! RICK
As I opened the gift, surrounded by family and friends, and read the letter to me, taped to the inside cover of the Bible, I asked Memo, "Is this from you?" "Keep reading," she said. Soon after I realized that it was from my dear friend Rick, who was many miles away. "Rick?!" The tears came as I began to flip through the pages of this thoughtful, thoughtful gift. I saw the names of youth with whom I had been on mission trips, family members, lifelong friends, husbands of lifelong friends, chapel intern friends from college, former SHYC planning team members, and the list goes on. It is truly a precious gift and makes this living Word even more alive.
Today in Bible Study we talked about Matthew 25:31--one of my favorites, and Tami Voyles, and Steven Barnes. :) Their names are lovingly written next to the highlighted text. I am always so excited to hear which verse that we will be using, so that I can turn and see whose spirit is surrounding me.
Funny that today, the discussion that led into the study of this scripture was one on friendship... how we take care of our friends, and how we let our friends take care of us. I knew that I needed a Bilingual Bible for my time in Guatemala, but my friend--through that gift--gave me so much more.
If for some reason you did not get the email, but would let me add your favorite scripture, I would love to.
Blessings to 'The Cloud". Love to all.
But with the exception of today, it's been unusually cloudy.
And speaking of clouds, I have to share about the amazing gift that my cloud of witnesses gifted me (as if BEING a great cloud of witnesses is not enough.) Wow.
As always, there is a little back-story to this. About a month ago I called my Memo and told her that I had thought of something that she could do for me that would help me on my trip. I needed a Spanish-English bible and it would be very special to me if it was from her. Little did IIIII know... a plan was already in the making (Clouds are sneaky like that, sometimes) Still, she agreed. (Memo's can be sneaky sometimes, too.)
So on Saturday before I left, dozens of family members, friends, and loved ones gathered at the Lodge at the Parker Place in Bonham to send me off with love. My mom called me over at one point and gave me what was to become one of the best gifts that I have EVER received!
Rick Carus--my prayer buddy, mentor, mission partner, and friend--had teamed up with my mom to contact members of my "Cloud of Witnesses" earlier this summer, although she said that he gives her too much credit. I can't say it any better than Rick, so are the instructions that were sent out to everyone:
Dear Friends and Colleagues -- The is to be a top-secret correspondence! You are receiving this e-mail because we consider you to be part of Laura Amlin's "Cloud of Witnesses". As you know, Laura will be leaving in mid-August to serve as a Presbyterian Church USA Young Adult Volunteer in Mission. She will be giving a year of her life in ministry in Guatemala, and we would like her to take a tangible part of her "Cloud of Witnesses" with her. So ,,, her mom and I are conspiring. We have purchased a bi-lingual Spanish-English Bible for her to take on her journey, and we want to make that Bible especially meaningful to her. We want you to send us a verse of Scripture that you have found to be meaningful to you in your journey of life and faith. We will highlight that verse in the Bible -- both the English and Spanish texts and place your name by the verse so that everytime she sees one of the key verses, she will know that you surround her with your presence and prayers. Thanks for helping us plot this special gift! Blessings on ya! RICK
As I opened the gift, surrounded by family and friends, and read the letter to me, taped to the inside cover of the Bible, I asked Memo, "Is this from you?" "Keep reading," she said. Soon after I realized that it was from my dear friend Rick, who was many miles away. "Rick?!" The tears came as I began to flip through the pages of this thoughtful, thoughtful gift. I saw the names of youth with whom I had been on mission trips, family members, lifelong friends, husbands of lifelong friends, chapel intern friends from college, former SHYC planning team members, and the list goes on. It is truly a precious gift and makes this living Word even more alive.
Today in Bible Study we talked about Matthew 25:31--one of my favorites, and Tami Voyles, and Steven Barnes. :) Their names are lovingly written next to the highlighted text. I am always so excited to hear which verse that we will be using, so that I can turn and see whose spirit is surrounding me.
Funny that today, the discussion that led into the study of this scripture was one on friendship... how we take care of our friends, and how we let our friends take care of us. I knew that I needed a Bilingual Bible for my time in Guatemala, but my friend--through that gift--gave me so much more.
If for some reason you did not get the email, but would let me add your favorite scripture, I would love to.
Blessings to 'The Cloud". Love to all.
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