So, contrary to common sense and both of our husbands' best judgment, my mother and I recently undertook a 700 mile (1400 round trip) road trip to visit my sister in Chattanooga, Tennessee. While extremely long, the trip was definitely worth it as we had some well-needed reconnect time with my sister and also got to spend some time with her fiance. In addition, we got to play wedding planners and help my sister with flowers and invitations for her upcoming wedding. Below, find some cool pics from our little tour of downtown Chattanooga. Unfortunately, no pics of the restaurant where she works or the fiance, as I am a little out of practice in remembering to take photos. Hopefully I will remember next time! LOL.
https://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/Chattanooga2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCLP6sJLjhNCkhQE&feat=directlink
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Direction
My drive to school the other day was met by an exceptionally foggy morning. At one point along my commute, there is a windy road which follows a river. Even on a good day, I must slow down significantly to manage the tight curves and avoid driving off the road. On this particular day, however, I knew I would have to be even more careful, as I could not see the road more than about 10 feet in front of me at any given time. Thankfully, some forward thinking city planner must have realized that foggy weather conditions and a windy road would be a treacherous combination, and so signs were installed at every curve, directing drivers as to when they would need to begin to turn. While I still could not see the road, I saw the sign, and was able to trust its guidance to get me around each and ever turn safely.
Even while driving that morning, I thought of the uncanny connection between those signs along that foggy road and the spiritual life. Many times, we have no idea where God is leading us in life. We cannot always see the road ahead. Sometimes, we may not even know how close we are to falling off the Way completely. Those daily temptations and choices we make are each a turn in the windy, narrow road that we must navigate. But, as the most thorough planner that He is, God has foreseen these treacherous circumstances and given us signs - godly family and friends, priests and spiritual guides, the saints, the Scriptures, the services and teachings of our Church - who tell us: "Watch out for this turn", "Slippery here", "Slow down". If we only have the faith to trust what God has given us, we too can safely arrive at our ultimate destination - His Kingdom.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Loss
It’s strange how the people we love the most, we often keep in touch with the least. We often take our relationship for granted since, whenever we meet, it’s as if the last time we spoke was yesterday - even if it's really been years.
Perhaps some of this attitude is due to overconfidence, and some due to laziness, but what I have learned is that no reason makes up for the pain of realizing that, when our friend or loved one is no longer with us, it’s been months, or even years since we last spoke to them, and that we never did get the chance to tell them what a difference they have made in our lives.
This reflection stems from news I received early Wednesday morning that my dear friend, Christine, had passed away from breast cancer in Santiago, Chile. Christine was an American emigrant that had married a Chilean iconographer and was the choir director at the Orthodox church I had attended while studying abroad in Santiago. She was energetic and always busy with one church activity or another. Her kindness and openness helped me to feel at home away from home. She and I would constantly discuss music, St. Vladimir’s Seminary (where she received a Masters degree), and the U.S. to Chile transition. Singing with her was one of the most enriching activities I have ever participated in. Since being back in the States, I had emailed her a few times, but quickly the business of a new marriage, house, and job overtook my already few opportunities to keep in touch.
This last Sunday, my family sang at a wedding for another dear friend. Because the bride’s goddaughter was from Guatemala, I offered to sing “What Shall I Render to the Lord”, in Spanish. Christine had taught it to me in Chile, and I thought it would be appropriate. The entire time I was singing it, I was thinking about how I couldn’t wait to email Christine to tell her about it and how cool she’d think it was. However, too quickly the business returned and I didn’t even check my email until Wednesday morning.
As I was getting ready to leave for school, I stole what I thought would be an innocent 5 minutes to look at my inbox. However, what I read were 2 emails from the past week that contained the shocking news that 1) Christine had been admitted to the hospital with cancer, and 2) she had passed away on Tuesday.
I’d like to think that somehow Christine knows about the hymn that we sung unknowingly in her honor at my friend’s wedding, and I pray to God that somehow my thoughts for her that day transcended time and space to give her comfort in her final hours.
The lesson I learned, which I hope I am articulating well, is that we, or more specifically I, should never be too busy to call a friend just to say hi. That I shouldn’t wait for Christmas, or a major life event to communicate how much I care about my friend or family member who is physically far from me. It is my goal that those of you who read this, my dear friends and family, will be receiving a phone call from me soon, just to say hi, and to let you know how dear you are to me and what a difference you have made in my life.
God bless you all!
¡Que la memoria de Christine sea eterna!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Updates on Life
So, nothing too deep this time around. Just some updates on how life is going, and a few pictures from the last few months.
In August, my husband, parents, and siblings and I went out to Los Angeles to visit with family. My grandmother was having her 90th birthday party, and combined with my uncle/godfather's recent diagnosis of cancer, it was finally time make the trip out there. We had a great time reuniting (and in Frank's case, meeting) with family, lounging at the beach, and going through old family pictures.
When we returned, I began a new stage of my life which has so far consumed every ounce of free time that I thought I had (and then some): full time teaching. I was offered a job in June to teach Spanish and Social Studies at a local high school (well, actually about 40 minutes away), and started at the end of August. So far, things are going well, although, as I said, VERY time consuming. I usually leave for work around 6:30am and get home around 7:00pm. Needless to say, by Friday afternoon I am EXHAUSTED! However, the kids are great, the lessons are fun, and even my Current Events class (which I have never taught before) is slowly progressing into something more than just summarizing the newspaper :)
Another unfortunate side effect of full time teaching is missing the weekday services of the church. This year the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos and of the Elevation of the Cross both fell during the week, and I was not able to get to the morning services. However, the Lord has blessed me with things like church Podcasts and lectionary calendars which helped me celebrate those days at least in some sense at home and on my way to and from work. Not the same, but hopefully at least a small difference.
Anyway, check out the links below for some pictures from our California trip and some other random things. God bless!
Vacation Bible School: http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/VBS2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCN_Njc2nmaub8QE&feat=directlink
California trip: http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/California?authkey=Gv1sRgCO6Y8_Di3ZGzWA&feat=directlink
Founders day picnic at Church: http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/FoundersDay2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCNOa-YbSmqCFWg&feat=directlink
Labor day "picnic" (it was raining, so we stayed inside): http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/LaborDayPicnic?authkey=Gv1sRgCMSc7Iz1xZH8Vw&feat=directlink
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Breadmaking: an act of faith
Once again, I have given my best effort in the making of prosphora - the holy bread used in the Orthodox Church for Communion. I can't say that I've exactly mastered the art, but I have managed to produce a few acceptable loaves for use at our parish of St. John the Baptist. Nevertheless, this latest attempt truly seemed full of life lessons for me.
1) I can do nothing without God.
While baking bread, the most stressful part (for me at least) is making sure the yeast works. Waiting anxiously for the bubbling, foaming sign that, yes, it's ready now, before adding it to the flour and water truly feels like forever. And even then - is the air pressure right? is the oven too hot? too cold? will it raise properly? did I leave it long enough? what, exactly, is double the size? Although I add all the right ingredients and give it the right environment, this is a part of the process that seems entirely out of my control. Anything could happen and result in a flat mass of dough (this has happened to me before). I suppose much of this will come with more practice (I've only made it about 3 time so far), but I find myself in these tense moments, prayer fervently that God will bless the work of my hands and produce an acceptable offering.
Similar to the process of baking bread, I've noticed a similar pattern in life. Oftentimes, we must make large decisions - take this job, move to this city, etc. - with a sense that the ultimate outcome is entirely out of our control. We add the right "ingredients" (research, planning, prayer, preparations), but there's a mechanism in the dough-rising process that we can't quite control. And so, we pray that we may produce with our lives an offering acceptable to God.
2) I can do nothing without my own effort.
Although this seems contradictory to the last lesson, it is in fact quite complementary. While I definitely rely on God to grant my bread dough to rise, I must also add to it my own effort. I can't have bread unless I first mix the flour and the water, add the yeast, and then knead (sometimes 45 minutes!) till all the air bubbles are gone and it is no longer sticky. A great deal of my own personal effort must go into this bread - I suppose it would not be considered a "sacrifice" otherwise.
Similarly, in life, God will bless our efforts - but we must first put for the effort! We cannot ask God to grant us grace to give liberally to the poor, and then go out to eat every weekend, see one or two movies a week, and buy every new electronic gadget that hits the market. Some amount of our own effort is necessary if we are to grow in the grace of God, be it budgeting money or time, showing up that extra half hour on Sunday morning to help set up coffee hour, or that extra hour to hear all of the Orthros (Matins) service.
So, with this combination of my effort and God's blessings, God produces (note, I did not say "I produce") an offering acceptable to Him.
1) I can do nothing without God.
While baking bread, the most stressful part (for me at least) is making sure the yeast works. Waiting anxiously for the bubbling, foaming sign that, yes, it's ready now, before adding it to the flour and water truly feels like forever. And even then - is the air pressure right? is the oven too hot? too cold? will it raise properly? did I leave it long enough? what, exactly, is double the size? Although I add all the right ingredients and give it the right environment, this is a part of the process that seems entirely out of my control. Anything could happen and result in a flat mass of dough (this has happened to me before). I suppose much of this will come with more practice (I've only made it about 3 time so far), but I find myself in these tense moments, prayer fervently that God will bless the work of my hands and produce an acceptable offering.
Similar to the process of baking bread, I've noticed a similar pattern in life. Oftentimes, we must make large decisions - take this job, move to this city, etc. - with a sense that the ultimate outcome is entirely out of our control. We add the right "ingredients" (research, planning, prayer, preparations), but there's a mechanism in the dough-rising process that we can't quite control. And so, we pray that we may produce with our lives an offering acceptable to God.
2) I can do nothing without my own effort.
Although this seems contradictory to the last lesson, it is in fact quite complementary. While I definitely rely on God to grant my bread dough to rise, I must also add to it my own effort. I can't have bread unless I first mix the flour and the water, add the yeast, and then knead (sometimes 45 minutes!) till all the air bubbles are gone and it is no longer sticky. A great deal of my own personal effort must go into this bread - I suppose it would not be considered a "sacrifice" otherwise.
Similarly, in life, God will bless our efforts - but we must first put for the effort! We cannot ask God to grant us grace to give liberally to the poor, and then go out to eat every weekend, see one or two movies a week, and buy every new electronic gadget that hits the market. Some amount of our own effort is necessary if we are to grow in the grace of God, be it budgeting money or time, showing up that extra half hour on Sunday morning to help set up coffee hour, or that extra hour to hear all of the Orthros (Matins) service.
So, with this combination of my effort and God's blessings, God produces (note, I did not say "I produce") an offering acceptable to Him.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
I Am Thankful
On Monday, Frank and I will celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary. A great deal has happened over these last 12 months, and at the end of it all, all I can say to God is: "Thank you".
Thank you for my wonderful husband, who helps me through my struggles, both physical, spiritual, and emotional. He teaches me to be a better person by lovingly (although firmly) revealing to me how often I delude myself into thinking I'm perfect, when in fact I am FAR from it. And even though I am so far from perfect, he stands by my side no matter what mess I've gotten myself into this time.
Thank you for my beautiful house, which, though trying at times, keeps us warm and sheltered. As our major housing projects finally are coming to an end, we are beginning to be able to open our house more and more to our friends, practice hospitality, and create an environment in which we feel surrounded by God, His saints, and the Church.
Thank you for my family who is close by, and my parents who are supportive; for my father, without whose handyman experience our house would never be in the shape it is now; for my mother, who teaches me daily about the little trials of running a household that I had never realized before; for my brother, who is growing up so much, and inspires me to be a better sister and friend; and for my sister, who although far away, daily gives me opportunities to grow into a better, more loving person.
Thank you for my loving church community, with friends who help and support my spiritual growth. Thank you for the opportunities to serve God through singing and teaching Sunday school, as well as through service to my community. Thank you for our priest who teaches us as often as he can, through word and deed, the Truth of the Gospel.
Thank you for my employment, which is hard to come by these days, especially for new teachers. The staff I work with is supporting and helpful, they pay for me to continue my education, and the students appear hard working and earnest.
I could go on and on, and please don't get the impression that I am boasting. For, most honestly, none of these "accomplishments" are in any way shape or form of my own efforts or abilities. My gratitude stems from the sure knowledge that my husband, my house, my family, my parish community, my job, all stem from the One Good and Loving God who knows what I need at this moment in my life, and knows that I may need different things as life moves on (only He knows what is coming next). I can only trust that, no matter what turns this path of life may take, He will provide for me and my family what we need to grow closer to Him.
That is why I want to take this opportunity to express my thankfulness for everyone and everything God has brought into my life; without them, I would be a far sadder person. I pray God will bless the year ahead with His love and peace. Amen.
Thank you for my wonderful husband, who helps me through my struggles, both physical, spiritual, and emotional. He teaches me to be a better person by lovingly (although firmly) revealing to me how often I delude myself into thinking I'm perfect, when in fact I am FAR from it. And even though I am so far from perfect, he stands by my side no matter what mess I've gotten myself into this time.
Thank you for my beautiful house, which, though trying at times, keeps us warm and sheltered. As our major housing projects finally are coming to an end, we are beginning to be able to open our house more and more to our friends, practice hospitality, and create an environment in which we feel surrounded by God, His saints, and the Church.
Thank you for my family who is close by, and my parents who are supportive; for my father, without whose handyman experience our house would never be in the shape it is now; for my mother, who teaches me daily about the little trials of running a household that I had never realized before; for my brother, who is growing up so much, and inspires me to be a better sister and friend; and for my sister, who although far away, daily gives me opportunities to grow into a better, more loving person.
Thank you for my loving church community, with friends who help and support my spiritual growth. Thank you for the opportunities to serve God through singing and teaching Sunday school, as well as through service to my community. Thank you for our priest who teaches us as often as he can, through word and deed, the Truth of the Gospel.
Thank you for my employment, which is hard to come by these days, especially for new teachers. The staff I work with is supporting and helpful, they pay for me to continue my education, and the students appear hard working and earnest.
I could go on and on, and please don't get the impression that I am boasting. For, most honestly, none of these "accomplishments" are in any way shape or form of my own efforts or abilities. My gratitude stems from the sure knowledge that my husband, my house, my family, my parish community, my job, all stem from the One Good and Loving God who knows what I need at this moment in my life, and knows that I may need different things as life moves on (only He knows what is coming next). I can only trust that, no matter what turns this path of life may take, He will provide for me and my family what we need to grow closer to Him.
That is why I want to take this opportunity to express my thankfulness for everyone and everything God has brought into my life; without them, I would be a far sadder person. I pray God will bless the year ahead with His love and peace. Amen.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Housing Projects
Well, since our first day in our new house, we have had LOTS of projects. As we are frequently reminded, such is the life of a home owner. While we've been quite busy and have had to put off our "open house" for a few months now (we're hoping for Labor Day weekend), we've finally made significant progress. Here are some before and after pictures for our two biggest projects: the exterior paint, and the basement (please excuse the mess in the basement; it's still not 100% done, but at least you can see the new floor).
Before painting: http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/BeforeHousePaint?authkey=Gv1sRgCLG_48rB4bSh_wE&feat=directlink
After painting: http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/AfterHousePaint?authkey=Gv1sRgCOu34tK9vuSSowE&feat=directlink
Before basement (after the flood): http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/BeforeBasement?authkey=Gv1sRgCL6o9s3w6_nWJw&feat=directlink
After basement: http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/AfterBasement?authkey=Gv1sRgCMbWyY33uPyfaQ&feat=directlink
Oh, and here are some pictures of our backyard in bloom:
http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/GardenAndBackyard?authkey=Gv1sRgCMeq4Ya82YzaEQ&feat=directlink
Before painting: http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/BeforeHousePaint?authkey=Gv1sRgCLG_48rB4bSh_wE&feat=directlink
After painting: http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/AfterHousePaint?authkey=Gv1sRgCOu34tK9vuSSowE&feat=directlink
Before basement (after the flood): http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/BeforeBasement?authkey=Gv1sRgCL6o9s3w6_nWJw&feat=directlink
After basement: http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/AfterBasement?authkey=Gv1sRgCMbWyY33uPyfaQ&feat=directlink
Oh, and here are some pictures of our backyard in bloom:
http://picasaweb.google.com/julianadancer1/GardenAndBackyard?authkey=Gv1sRgCMeq4Ya82YzaEQ&feat=directlink
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