"The people walking in darkness

have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned."

Merry Christmas from Colorado!

Skipping over the ocean, like a stone...

Now that my incessant status reporting on our blizzard can come to an end (I've been a bit giddy today, I must admit), I want to share a couple fun moments of my travels home.

I left LCC on Monday afternoon, with a flight to London, where I had to stay overnight before catching my flight to Denver on Tuesday. Fortunately, since it is the tradition of newly minted LCC grads to move to London to seek their fame & fortune, I have no shortage of friends to stay with there now! One of my friends from Miesto Baznycia (my church in Klaipeda) graciously hosted me. Egle and I enjoyed a wonderful, typically English morning walk along the Thames before I joined the crushing crowd on the Tube out to Heathrow.

Since it's the week before Christmas, the happy Picadilly line trains are currently jammed with holiday travelers (I counted what looked to be several parent with child pairings, probably students whose parent had come to join up with them at term end). I happend at first to get on a train that terminated earlier than I needed, and so at one point had to jump across the platform and onto the right train.

As I slid into the empty seat, I heard a guy say "Wow, I guess I must be more popular than I thought!" - and I looked up to see a guy with a guitar, who began playing "Jingle Bells" as the train took off. His words were something like, "Dashing to Heathrow... on a Picadilly train... " etc. It was hilarious because he'd interrupt the song at points to say things like, "welcome folks to the only show that is literally driving people out of London!"

I looked around at the faces of people on the train, everyone trying not to look at each other, but smiles clearly itching in the corners of their eyes, twitching at the corners of mouths. The guitarist began playing an old song (whose title I admit I had to look up), "Everybody's Talking At Me" - which has the most perfect traveling lyrics possible: "skipping over the ocean, like a stone."

It was one of those moments in life when it seemed like everyone there was feeling the same way, that for a moment everybody was lifted out of the crowded stress of the city and the hurry of making a connection and the worry about being on time - music pulled us all up out of the situation enough that we could see its beauty. Here we all are on a train, and a guy is playing music, and its Christmas time, and we're all on our way home, together.

One additional note: Though you may be in London, one of the fashion capitals ofthe world, but you will know that you're waiting for a flight to Colorado when you count no less that 10 people wearing North Face jackets, in addition to those people wearing fleeces, hooded CSU sweatshirts, or Mountain Hardwear equipment!

Status Report: Dec. 21st - everything, and I mean everything, is shut down. We're enjoying our capitivity in a warm, Christmasified house. If we're lucky, we'll make it out to the road by tomorrow! 

Today's entertainment consists solely of watching our neighbors try to dig out of their driveway. We are not so foolish to even try... yet. 

My beautiful mountains, peeking out from the snow 

Status Report, Dec. 20: The news stations are already calling it the infamous "Blizzard of '06!" I'm just SO greatful I landed yesterday, as the airport is shut down, busses aren't running, and the drifts in our driveway look like this! The prediction is for 24 - 36 inches, and we've probably gotten 2 feet already. My brother-in-law had an adventure getting home out of Denver, when they stopped sending buses north because none of the northbound were returning for pickups - they were all getting stuck! He caught rides with strangers, and ended up walking quite a ways. I know I was whining about how I hadn't gotten to see snow in Klaipeda, but I guess I didn't need this much. :)

Snow building up on the window 

Coming attractions

So much stuff I want to post here now... about not getting caught up using other people's success yardsticks, about just HOW dark it is here in December (both literally and spiritually), about a student who made a committment to Christ this past week, about the good end to my literature class, about fears, and how God, in the end, uses us even in dry times.

But, since I don't have time to elaborate until I'm back in the States for a break (yay Tuesday!), in the meantime, enjoy a few new pics on Flicker.

Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord

Deep breath, and … breathe.

The dust from my flurry of marking seems to have settled a little, and I’m still alive, and brimming with thoughts/anecdotes I want to share here. I have felt guilty about not writing and sharing here as much as I did last fall, although I’m in quite a different state of mind than I was then. A friend last night told me that I’m exhibiting classic “Year 2 at LCC” symptoms, which felt simultaneously patronizing and exactly on target. I think it was her way of saying that this year I’m a bit more, shall we say, open-eyed, than last. (I hope that’s not code for “cynical”!). And that is natural – the longer you’re in a place, the more you see the cracks, and have ideas for the ways you’d like to fill them.

Professionally speaking, this has led to me taking on some tasks on top of my regular schedule. This semester I’ve also made it a priority to try and get exercise at the pool, and also to work on my own writing projects, and to continue with both Russian and Lithuanian tutoring, and to stay consistent with the Women’s Fellowship nights. You can see why I’ve felt guilty for letting the blog slide a little!

One thought I’ve been having often lately is about how much of the time I feel a sense of “social obligation” - a sense that I should go to this party, or this event that my friend planned, or participate in this campus activity. But when I stop to think about how it makes me feel to go, or how I feel once I’m there, I usually just feel anxious about how much work is piled up at home that I should be doing instead! I hate feeling socially obligated, but when you are a real friend, that means that you often have to make relationships and time with people a more important priority than your to-do list. It’s a vicious cycle for me at times.

And in the midst of it all, I just long to have a clear sense of what God is telling me to do. How does HE want me to spend my energy? What constitutes being selfish and reclusive, and what constitutes needed alone time for prayer and rejuvenation? These questions get answered differently for everyone, and it’s often hard to hold the line on what you know is right for you may not be right for everyone else. Listening to God is key.

And so, today is the first Sunday of Advent. I love Advent. I really wish I could cobble together some sort of Advent wreath and gather my friends around to read about the angel candle, the star candle, the shepherd candle…. This morning’s sermon was on John the Baptist, and how his ministry was all about preparing a way for Jesus. I want my time and energy, and my work and teaching, to be about preparing ways for Jesus to come into people’s lives. And a lot of the time, I think that preparing a way for God simply means that I have to get my SELF out of the way and let Him in. I have to clear away the things that keep Him from moving. I even think that holiday busyness needs to be cleared away if I’m going to make space and place for God to enter. Right now, there isn’t much space for Him to occupy, and so He’s been creeping into that last empty place left in my schedule – those moments after I’ve turned off the light but before I fall asleep.

This week, I heard: “Be not afraid…. Be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord.”

And from Luke 15, the Father’s words to the older son in the prodigal story: “My daughter, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”

Just a quick note...

Well, we're down to days with only 7-hours of sunlight, and a few weeks to go 'til solstice. If you feel like coming this spring and brightening my life (or even just coming to Europe), I should mention that Scandinavian Airlines is having their yearly advent sale during the month of December. On their website, they have something like an advent calendar and each day they have a sale on flights to a certain city in Europe that they fly to from the US.

For instance, on December 18, you would click on that date on their website and then it would open a window to show you that you could buy a round-trip ticket to Copenhagen for $250 (not including taxes and fees). BUT, you only have that day to purchase the flight for that city. And you can’t see the cities they are flying to for the days ahead. They have some amazing deals, so check it out! If you wanted to come here, keep your eyes peeled for the deals to Riga or Vilnius, which are in my neck of the Baltic woods.

ADDENDUM: After a little more research, it'll probably be helpful for you to know that these flights are avaliable from Chicago, Seattle, DC, and New York. And the travel must happen between January 15 and March 22. (Yeah, I know, not the most scenic time to visit Scandinavia and the Baltics, but you gotta figure that's why they do these promos!).