Bound for Greece – about 30,000 feet above the Atlantic – with a stop in London. What place names to bandy about! It would seem that I am a world traveler!
I left Portland yesterday afternoon – passed through Chicago and overnighted at Boston’s Logan Airport. Not the best night. Airports are still noisy, even in the wee hours. Cleaning crews, TSA announcements for the travelers who are not yet there, elevator beeps. Then, at 5 am, the airport comes alive again, and I join the queue to check in at British Airways. At that early hour, things move quickly and I’m at the gate in no time. Is it time for breakfast? My body says no so I go with that.
So now I’m sitting in my middle seat, a bit glassy eyed, passing the time with movies and the occasional cat nap. This was a hard trip to get up for. Not because I don’t want to do this, but life has been so distracted. I will be having my house on the market soon after returning home. So the past weeks have been full of decluttering 38 years worth of stuff – some junk, some things past their save date, and some full of memories. Who would have thought going through fabric scraps and decades of patterns would be so fraught? But they are part of my story – patterns from college, Attie’s first dresses to her wedding dress, T-shirts for Paul and the boys, maternity clothes, costumes and so it goes. I even found a scrap of fabric from my bridesmaids’
skirts. Then there were all the old cards I have saved. Tears and laughter but mainly gratitude for the bounty of goodwill that has come my way over the years.
And, of course, the yard cries out for great attention this time of year and rewards me with the best rose display ever. The two old ramblers climb high into the surrounding trees and fairly burst with blossoms. One is called Paul’s Himalayan Musk. Peonies delight with their bushy heads and everything is lush and green and growing. And hence needs pruning!
This will be a new chapter in my life – one I am greatly looking forward to – but the process of letting go and being open to change costs. I will be glad when the bill is paid and the new life is in place.
So all that to say – I didn’t feel ready and even wondered whether I should go. Momentum and the prayers of dear ones got me through all the motions of packing and prepping and there was even a bit of time to watch some suggested videos. And here I am – on the 3rd leg of 5 – and in another dayish, I will be on the island of Lesvos, in the Aegean Sea, just about 4 miles from Turkey. There are some more place names for you!
Many have asked me what I will be doing and my answer has generally been – “What I’m told to!” I know we will work in the refugee camps, in 8 hour shifts but I will be reporting soon about what that actually looks like.
My heart has turned to this place, as my face is now, pointed in that direction. No more rooms shouting at me to clean them. No more windows crying out to be washed. No more bags to take to Goodwill or Scrap. Thank you, Lord, for focus and the stripping away of the normal accoutrements of everyday life in West Linn, Oregon. Now I am a world traveler for the Lord.