Fare Forward

I've taken hiatuses from my blog before, but I'm pretty sure that eight months is the longest it's lain silent. A friend asked me if she should hope for any future posts and I told her that I just wasn't sure. Life these past few years or so had been one transition piled on top of another and I just didn't seem to have the same inspiration. Perhaps my children were my muses? And still in the midst of processing life transitions: moving to another city, launching four children from our Jordan nest to independent lives in the States in four different states, graduations, marriages, an engagement of our youngest daughter (who while we concur is ready for marriage to her loving fiancee, is still young), sorting out health issues, etc. , we found ourselves facing an abrupt transition out of Jordan.

We had sensed this transition coming, but due to visa difficulites, it came more quickly than we expected. And just like that, our life in Jordan, at least the the physical place of Jordan, was finished.

We've called Idaho home-base these last six months, but we've also traveled several times to visit family, and once to explore another overseas living opportunity. We've been so very blessed by the love, support, and encouragment of family and friends as we've journeyed through this transition.

A funny thing about transitions is that one can not be sure when they are finished.

"Fare forward, travellers! Not escaping from the past
Into indifferent lives, or into any future;
You are not the same people who left that station
Or who will arrive at any terminus,
While narrowing rails slide together behind you;
And on the deck of the drumming liner
Watching the furrow that widens behind you,
You shall not think 'the past is finished'
Or 'the future is before us'.
~from the Dry Salvages, Four Quartets, T.S. Elliot

A week spent with all our children, and one night in particular, brought great healing and resolution to our six months of wandering, searching for home. On New Year's Eve, our children prepared our favorite Jordanian meal, ma'loubi, or "upsided down".

As we shared food around the table, we shared memories of our years together in Jordan. Active Son honored us for the lives we had lived in Jordan and blessed us in our future endeavors:

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to  the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever." Amen. Ephesians 3:20,21

After dinner, Active Son put up my blog on the big screen TV and we scrolled through all those memories of life together in Jordan together. My blog! Who could have known how God would use it my life? What a balm that time of remembering was to my soul!

And now I am ready to say,
 "Not fare well,
But fare forward voyagers."

I even felt a surge of motivation to keep writing and blogging, but it is hard to say if this will last. Meanwhile, Dear Husband and I are preparing to depart for another land, and it too will have wildflowers and other treasures to discover. We are anticipating another couple months of transition/living out of a suitcase, but maybe I will be back. I hope so.

The Summer's Main Event

The cancellation of my late afternoon appointment gave me an opportunity to finally spend some time sorting and uploading photos from the Main Event of our summer: the celebration of Active Son and New Bride's wedding. And mostly, if gave me an opportunity to remember what a wonderful day it was and to give God thanks, once again, for his faithfulness to our families. These images brought many smiles to my face this afternoon!

Our family arrived in Boise just under two weeks before the wedding, but since I was mother-of-groom, this was no problemo--Active Son, New Bride, and most especially, New Bride's fantastically talented mom had all the wedding details in hand. This was a whole different wedding-feel than when we celebrated Oldest Daughter and Music Man's wedding two summers ago!

Relaxed though we were on the Big Day, we still managed to generate a few stressful pre-ceremony moments: The borrowed car that Oldest Daughter drove to transport Tayta, a friend and herself, stalled on the way to the pre-ceremony photo-shoot. Next, I discovered a awkward tan line, acquired by not bringing sunscreen to Artist Son's sun-baked graduation ceremony two weeks earlier. My friend's tan-in-a-bottle lotion (sort of) helped with that. Finally, Dear Husband misplaced the keys to our get-me-to-the-church-on-time vehicle. It was no problem to borrow a friend's car, except that this vehicle sans keys was also to be the getaway car. We did end up borrowing a car so as to get to the photo-shoot on time, and our friends tracked down a second set of keys and brought the getaway car to the ceremony. Whew!

It was nice to have a few minutes with Active Son before the ceremony. He was so happy, calm, and so ready to get married. (Smile)

 Active Son and New Bride's first moments together at the wedding venue, Scentsy Commons in Meridian, Idaho.

((Smile))

 What a blessing these two are, to each other and to so many who love them. 

Active Son and his groomsmen and ring-bearer

...and with his Best Man, Artist Son

This is just one snapshot example of the deep and wide faith community which surrounds Active Son and New Bride. 

Our families, united by Love and Marriage

(((Smile)))

I couldn't be more thankful for the wonderful family that Active Son has married into, and for the new parents he has gained--not to mention four more brothers, sisters-in-law, a niece, a nephew, two more sets of grandparents and a whole bunch of uncles, aunts, and cousins.

Indeed, New Bride's mom has become an esteemed and treasured friend. New Bride's dad shot this candid picture of us before the ceremony. (((Smile)))

Dear Husband had the privilege and honor of officiating the ceremony and pronouncing the eager couple husband and wife--after a well placed pause. ((Smile)) 

We returned to our home church for the reception, the church I have attended since high school, the church where Dear Husband and I had our wedding reception, and the church where John and Lisa put down spiritual roots during their college years at Boise State.

(photo credit to Oldest Daughter for this favorite photo)

These two pictures show a just a little bit of New Bride's mom's baking and decorating talent...

...and how Active Son and New Bride love to have fun together.

We brought an Arab tradition to the reception: The bride and groom where hoisted into the air amidst clapping, drumming, and chants of blessing.

Congratulations, Active Son and New Bride on your marriage and the beginning of your new life together as man and wife. You're off to a fantastic start! And thanks be to God for expanding our family and our hearts yet again. We are blessed.

#manningupforlife 

#loveit #lovethem #soverythankful 

Cashmere Wedding Throw

(...who by now, three and a half months on, is New Bride. And I really need to think of a better blog name for my Daughter-In-Love as just "Bride" doesn't really work. )

I'll never be able to back-blog all the happy days of this past summer but some Happy Days are not to be missed. One of those was our first official celebration of Active Son's and New Brides wedding week: a small family and close friends bridal shower for New Bride, well, Bride to Be, depending on how you look at it.

The ladies of our family hosted the shower at the home of our ever gracious and generous entire-Boise-summer hostess, with Oldest Daughter flying in just hours before the event. That's our hostess/friend pinching a berry from Tayta's awesome chocolate-berry trifle, and that is her punch bowl that we packed the trifle into.

And though not all the ladies of the family could attend this shower, the intention was to celebrate New Bride and her family, and the joining of our two families in marriage.

As I've had the great pleasure of getting to new New Bride's mother, I've gained sweet glimpses as to the loving and nurturing heritage that New Bride brings to our family. And I've gained a new friend--and prayer partner!

I prepared a couple special gifts for New Bride, with her and Active Son's colors in mind. Of course they would need some felted wool potholders for their first kitchen.

But the gift I really enjoyed creating for them was this recycled cashmere throw. The colors are a nod to the brighter palate of pinks and orange one might find in traditional Jordanian embroidery, with a little of the ubiquitous Jordanian aqua accent color thrown in, rounded out by the lighter earth tones of the arid land. And, magenta is New Bride's favorite color.

It is now gracing Active Son and New Bride's sofa in their Arizona apartment.

In Him All Things Hold Together~A Mother's Tale

As I visited the other day with a Jordanian friend, whose house is full of children, ages 10-21, she asked me in an empathetic voice, "But isn't it hard having all your children so far away?" Oh, yes it is, I replied, but it is good. I wouldn't have chosen it, but because of it I experience God's goodness to me and our family. Too many ways to recount in a blog post, but I want to remember a very significant and meaningful way God let me experience that at the end of my time in the States this summer. Here's the extended version of what I told my friend:

Due to some uncertainties as to where our kids would be in August, Dear Husband let me make my return ticket to Jordan for August 23, about three weeks after he returned to Jordan. As the summer and fall plans of our children slowly became clear, what also became clear was that these three weeks were a generous gift from God during which I was able to spend time with each of them, and in three different parts of the country.

This also meant saying good-bye four different times--and that's just my kids. About mid-way through the summer a phrase bubbled up and skipped around on surface of my emotions: Pulled apart. That two-word phrase expressed the tension I was feeling as a mother, as a daughter, as a friend, and as a wife. All at once and in too many places. A few weeks later, as this phrase was again resounding in my heart, God answered my new mantra with this precious truth from his word--well, it became precious to me at that moment.

 ...And he (Jesus Christ) is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17)

There are more awesome truths about Jesus packed into this passage, but this is the particular one that God brought to mind for my comfort and encouragement, the perfect antidote to my tension.

The first good-bye was to Active Son and his New Bride. We packed their moving van and hugged and waved goodbye as they headed to Arizona, New Bride's homeland, full of family, where they hope to work and study for the next few years. This good-bye was made easier by knowing that Active Son and New Bride go together, looking forward to establishing themselves as a family.

After Active Son and his New Bride pulled out of Boise, I had about a few days to spend with Tayta before she returned to college and a new job as a resident advisor in the dorm. We visited friends, shopped, packed, and had some sweet times together, picnicking on the Boise river and knocking around downtown, drinking coffee/tea in the District coffee house. It was a good time for us to debrief the and look forward to the coming year.

After Tayta left for Houston, I moved from our summer lodgings to my parents home so that I could spend my last two days in Boise with just them. I hadn't realized how physically and emotionally spent I was until I arrived at their house, but of course there is no better place to crash then at home with mom and dad. They took good care of me and we enjoyed two gentle days of watching the Olympics, a couple ladies meals out, and relaxing walks. Perfect. Thanks Mom and Dad.

And so I began my solo journey back to Jordan. My first stop: a little over a week with Oldest Daughter and Music Man in Chicago. They had recently purchased a townhouse in the city and as it turned out, I would arrive during a week that Oldest Daughter planned some new-house projects and organizing. We accomplished a lot, I think, and had fun doing it together. And we even had time for a day of shopping in the city, two trips to the Lincoln Park Conservatory, a trip to the Chicago Botanical Gardens, with the bonus of attending Music Man's last summer Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert at Rivenia Music Festival, Itzhak Perlman conducting. I loved spending this time with Oldest Daughter and Music Man in their new home and it is comforting to know just where things are and how things are in their house when I think of them throughout the days we are apart.

One final stuff-it-all-in packing job, and I was headed back to Jordan, flying out through Boston Logan international airport since this is the airport we flew into at the beginning of the summer to attend Artist Son's graduation. Earlier this summer, I wrote about Artist Son's plans to attend graduate school in Houston this fall. Through a series of soul-searching events, Artist Son, with the affirmation of all who care about him, including the recruiting professor, decided to withdraw his application and take the desired and needed year off from a formal study program. Thus, he is still in the Boston area, living, working, learning, and making art. And his senior exhibition is now hanging in a local gallery. I hadn't seen him since June and probably wouldn't be seeing him until next summer, so I was thrilled that I had a five hour layover in Boston and would be able to have dinner with Artist Son in the airport.

Four hours is not a long time, but God's economy is perfect. It was enough time for my mother's heart to be assured and encouraged that all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well. And what a wonderful thing it was to receive a great Artist Son hug before making my final turn toward home.

On the other side of the Atlantic and 20+ hours of travel, I was greeted by Dear Husband, smiling, alert, and fresh, even though he was picking me up from the airport at 3am. What loving and generous gifts he gave me by encouraging me to enjoy the time I had with each of our children while he lit and stoked the hearth fires of home, cleaning away three months of dust, bringing the seriously wilted garden back to life, and chasing away the cockroaches that took up residence in our apartment while we were away.

It is good to be home, even with pieces of my heart walking around Chicago, Phoenix, Gloucester, and Houston, because I know that in Jesus we are held together.

A Pleasure Full Grown III~Amman

A few days after Christmas we headed to Amman to visit a few favorite  places and so that Active Son could introduce Bride-To-Be to his hometown, the city in which he was born and raised. It was a beautifully clear afternoon and we enjoyed great views of the city from atop the ancient citadel.

We all enjoyed exploring and re-exploring the ruins. Some went this way and some went that. 

Active Son with the hand of Hercules

Meanwhile, I was enjoying some Jordan flora in its winter glory

We made a stop at our beloved Amman museum; there are always new things to discover and familiar artifacts to revisit.

                                             

Tayta posing with  an ancient Roman

Statues of Ain Ghazal

Discovered in 1985 at Ain Ghazal in Amman, made from plaster and dated from the Early Neolithic period, 8000-6000 B.C., is the earliest known statue. You may have seen it featured in a history book--it was in our high school Western Civilization text.

A few more poses before leaving the citadel

Photo credits to Tayta for this iconic engagement shot

Heading down into the heart of the city for some food, we stopped to do a little shopping. It was fun to watch Active Son enjoy the friendly repartee of bargaining as he showed off his skills to Bride-To-Be.

We stopped in at the Duke's Diwan, the oldest apartment in Amman, now turned into a little museum of sorts. Very old, vintagy, and artsy.

We ended our brief Amman tour at the famous Hashem Restaurant where we shared some hummus, fatah, falafel, mutabbel and of course, tea with fresh mint. Cheers from the beautiful city of Amman!