The City of Pucullpa, the Ucayali River and the Shipibo People

This is harder than I thought it would be, putting my thoughts in some organized fashion, describing and detailing our time in Peru.  Literally, so much share and chronicle, and as my mind spins in countless directions regarding all the ways in which I could present the information, by day, or by sight, or by adventure... I am just going to start with our arrival to our service portion of the trip that began on Sunday, July 9th.

We flew into the city of Pucallpa, population around 100,000 persons, located on the banks of the Ucayali River.  Founded in the 1840's by Franciscan missionaries.

We departed from the airport as a team with our luggage on one bus and ourselves on another, through the streets of the city to the river bank, where we were greeted by our home away from home for the next five days, the Evangelista.

We unloaded from the bus, and took our luggage on board, walking down a slight embankment to the wooden gang plank and on to the boat.

Once we were on board the boat, we received our life vests. (which we were required to wear in the harbor, and had to know where they were at all times once outside the harbor.)

The team enjoyed a few moments taking in the sights of the city, as we traveled by bus, but even more so once we were on the boat.  

The Ucayali River is one of 70 tributaries that feeds into the Amazon River.  The Ucayali along with the Apurimac and Ene and Tambo Rivers are considered the main headwaters of the Amazon River.  Its length is 994.3 miles long and averages 3.1 -3.7 mph currents.  

I wish I could show you a photo of the elusive Amazon River Dolphin, or the pink dolphin, but alas while I witness them dropping into the waters briefly after a sighting by someone else on the team that yelled for us all to look,  all I know about them is what I managed to research.   The Amazon River Dolphin is a real thing.  It is has a pink tint to its gray skin,  and has some serious mythology behind it.  There are only a few places in the world that claim the pink dolphins in their waters; South America, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Venezuela and of course Peru.  Some of the myths that surround the dolphin include, but are not limited to: If you make eye contact with the dolphin, you will have a lifetime of nightmares in your sleep.  It is also said that they are guardians of the Amazon Manatee and if you desire to find a manatee you must first make peace with the pink dolphin.  It is unknown how many of these animals are in the waters, as the water is thick and murky, looking like a watered down version of chocolate milk, or never ending muddy water run off after a big storm.  

Our journey down that Ucayali River was a long trek.  We were told that it would take nine hours to arrive to the village and that we would have to stop for the night once the sun set.  The Evangelista like the other boats on the river have no lights, so all boats are prohibited on the water after sundown.  

Of course we were not disappointed by our first sunset and its splendor on Sunday night!  While I think many of us were sad that we had to stop for the night, which would only delay our arrival to the Shipibo Village of Vista Alegre,  it was just one of many ways that we had to exercise our flexibility on this this trip.  We shared dinner and were blessed by Riccardo and his son Levi and their team with some games, songs and a devotion on board our first evening.  

Monday am, Morgan and I were up on deck at 5:15 am to do our quiet time and wait for the sun to rise.  Sadly, for us, this would be another opportunity for us to exercise our flexibility, as we were delayed in our departure a few hours because the sunrise was a fog rise... and again, lack of lighting on the boats caused us to sit still for a large part of the morning.  There were cheers all around as the engines began humming and we were chugging back up the river.  

There is no way to describe the site that met us when we arrived at our final destination!  We were greeted by the Shipibo villagers and a group of ladies dressed in traditional Shipibo clothing.  All waving and cheering at our arrival!  There was music playing, and we eagerly awaited the gang plank to be placed down for us to go greet this village and its people! The ladies, to the best of my understanding, are a group of villagers that stand as part greeting committee, and dancers and singers that are used in celebrations (such as our arrival) and the dedication at the church days later.  Their head bands showed the name of their "group" LAMEC, which is an acronym, but for what I never got a clear answer.  The song, we referred to as the "song that never ends" goes on as everyone dances in a circle holding hands, and swinging your arms back and forth in a wide downward arch, occasionally, rotating the the direction of the circle, or taking steps in while lifting your arms high, or taking steps back while dropping your arms.  Eventually, they form an inner circle, and I was honored to be part of that small group.  I am not going to lie though, it was hard to keep up with their enthusiasm and pace, and additionally as you can see, I am much taller than these lovely women, so I felt like they had to work extra hard to get me to move in the right direction, and make my arms do the correct moves.  But their welcome so sincere and contagious!  What an awesome experience!  

The Shipibo people are a group of indigenous people that live along the Ucayali River and have approximately 150 small villages up and down the shore line. In conversations with Riccardo, via a translator, I understood that there are many many villages that have not yet been reached along this river.  Additionally, on the second day of our trip, a small portion of our team went to another local village, that required them to take "locals" with them to gain admittance, and walked through the woods that to the mere observer would not look like a pathway to anywhere, much less a village of people. 

 The proper term for this people group is the Shipibo-Conibo  people group as these two indigenous people groups over the last several years have combined through marriages to become one.  This particular village was a little larger and was made up of 625 families.  It had been 12 years since any Americans had stepped foot in this village.  We were surprised, even though they lived in a very rural area, there was a path that by motorkar, you could reach the city of Pucullpa in three hours.  Morgan and I both got to ride in versions of this vehicle, one time pictured below, a passenger type and once in what would resemble a smallpick up truck bed, each attached to a motorcycle driven by a villager.  

Additionally, they had access to some electricity in their village, and had a cell tower.   Completely speculation on our part, but we are assuming that the village was paid handsomely to allow the cell tower to be located in their village, and as an off shoot of that there was also electric run, at least as far as to where we were working. Again, we are assuming that the electricity came with the cell tower.  None of their homes had electric, nor did the church that we built, but we could use some power tools run off generators, like the chop saw and nail guns. Since I do not speak Spanish, and the Shipibo have their own language that is not Spanish, I was unable to find anyone that could help me get the real story.  

The women of the village make textiles, do beading and make pottery.  It is unclear to me what the men of the village do, or if they are even concerned about work.  Several men were present each of our work day to help with the construction and were clearly strong, smart and willing to do hard work, but there were also many that sat and watched from the sidelines.  It seems in my conversations that the men that worked alongside of us, were men of the church congregation, but again that was not clearly confirmed for me.  

The history of the Shipibo people is one of great resistance and courage.  They were never conquered by the Incas, nor did they allow themselves to be colonized by the Spanish priests.  They live off the land and they use the provisions that are naturally provided to treat their sick,  and feed their people.  They have a strong spiritual, physical and cultural connection to the rain forest. 

Of course this is only a scratch on the surface of this amazing village and its people.  A great starting point for me as I organize my thoughts.  Many thanks to Morgan, for faithfully capturing over 4,000 photos, it will be a few days until she gets them all posted and organized, but until then, I hope you enjoyed the sneak peak!  

You can't make this stuff up! 

What is 25 Cents Worth to You?

Twenty five cents.... a quarter, two dimes and a nickel, 25 pennies, one quarter of a dollar.

Here is what 25 cents meant to Happy this week:

• It made him feel like he was part of a team! 
• It made him feel important! 
• Bragging rights, none of his other siblings have gotten raises at their jobs this year! 
• It gave him a renewed purpose for his current working position! 
• It made him feel like an adult! 
• It made him smile, like an ear to ear smile! 
• It caused him to do some math!
• It lead to great discussion about hard work and following through! 

Now, I am not going to lie, I was starting to wonder if his job was going to ever bless him with an increase to his salary.  We have had many job reviews in the past year and it seemed to me that they always found a way to skirt the issue of increasing his pay.  For a person with special needs it is hard to take an evaluation or several evaluations worth of feed back, process it, and then work on those goals while still doing your job as well as you can. Something inevitably suffers and you end up letting an area that you do well already, slip into an area that you get dinged on at your next review.  

I am grateful that Happy works somewhere that they are getting more comfortable with either the Prince or I attending meetings for discipline issue or for evaluations and reviews.  While this is not the best practice, having your mommy and daddy at work with you, it does help us help them, by reinforcing the areas of weakness and encouraging him daily at drop off on how to stay on track and not loose focus throughout the shift.  

It doesn't aways work the way we think it should, as sometimes the distractions are just too great for him to overcome, but it seems that the longer he is employed at this location, the more they are starting to see his uniquenesses and understand the limitations of what can be asked and what is understood by Happy when they are talking to him.  

All this to say, Happy got his 180 day evaluation and review this past week and at the end of the overall assessment, received a high enough score to finally get a raise!!!  I had the privilege of watching his face as he processed the news!  High fives with his manager and a smile that would not disappear from his face!  Heck, the Prince and I have done a lot of work for this raise too... I was jumping for joy inside as well! While twenty five cents to you or I may not seem like a lot, to Happy it was as if he had won the lottery!!  He could not wait to text the Prince from my phone on the way home and tell him the good news, and as soon as we got home he could not get the words out fast enough to tell the other dwarfs about his raise!  

It was nice as his mom, to reiterate how hard work, diligence and consistency pays off!  His math skills still need a little fine tuning, but he is working on his plan to become the first millionaire grocery bagger in the world!! 

Sometimes I am glad that I don't make this stuff up!  

If these boots could talk...

If these boots could talk...what would they say?  Would they share the story of the miles and miles of ground that they covered, or would they share the story of the boy who's feet were inside of them?  Would they share of their wear and tear and reason for the glue that keeps them together or would they share of the boy who's journey they were part of and his struggles to keep it together?  Would share the pain of the journey or the joy of arrival? 

These boots came back from a 19 month tour with Bashful, from an outdoor facility for young men with struggles.  Boys that struggle with respect, relationships, authority, processing skills, anger issues, just to name a few.  When these boots left for camp with the dwarf, they were brand new.  Ready for the challenges ahead. Bashful left home with a renewed purpose, and a plan.  The miles that these boots carried Bashful in his 19 months away are unfathomable, too many to track or count.  Just like the measure of his time away escapes us in many ways.  Oh sure, there are some tangible ways that we can see he has grown and matured. But at the end of it all, he did not graduate, he did not complete the course before him.  

These boots are a good reminder to us all that the journey of life is long and hard and it often times leaves us battered and bruised.  Clearly we can see these boots are held together by glue and duct tape (actually you can't see that in the photo, duct tape is holding the tongue together inside)  and yet the things that hold us as people together in this journey are not so visible to the casual observer.   In light of this dwarfs sudden and unplanned return to the kingdom, I am not going to lie, I am full of questions.  As well as a bit of anger, well more like strong aggravation and irritation.   Why, when we answered the call of the Lord, and are following a biblical mandate to care for the orphans, has this become so hard? 

The struggle is real.  The dwarf is returned to our home, and the 19 months of intervention has done little for his over all growth and change.  He went in angry and violent and has been returned to us in the same fashion.  While physically he is taller, weightier, and stronger I can't say this is true for his mental or spiritual appearance.   His struggles are obvious, in daily life you can see it in his face as he wrestles with himself to do the right thing (which does not come naturally) and to make the good choice. This continued effort on his part is labor intensive and exhausting to him and to those that care for him.  The bad choices almost always leads to consequences, and still after years of said consequences, he is still unable to make the good decision on a regular and consistent basis.  His life for 13 years has been filled with great external joys and blessings, but most times even these are times filled with great anxiety for him and our family.  For 13 years, I would like to think that the Prince and I have modeled for our dwarfs a great work ethic, a sound religious base, a model of how to be healthy mentally, spiritually and physically. Yet none of this has yet to resound with him.  Hence where my frustration lies. How long will this journey be? I am weary.  I am broken.  I am angry.  I am frustrated.  

Yet in the review of the actual scripture passage, I find that I may be missing a vital piece of the instruction:

"Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this; to care for the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27 

Have I been polluted by the world.  Have I allowed the world to dictate to me what success looks like, or what the world expects the product or outcome of our adoption of special needs kids will look like?  Have I allowed my own frustration to overtake my common sense?   Bashful is broken. (Regardless of if he will ever admit it.) He has real struggles.  Am I looking for a quick fix when there is none?  The world is full of quick fixes.  

If I acknowledge that God does not make mistakes (a phrase I repeat to my kids all the time) am I just repeating a trite phrase or do I really believe it myself?  It has become even more clear to me in the last week, that the Lord is not finished refining me.  That in the midst of these struggles and difficult times I am standing in the gap for the orphan(s) that were and are still in many regards in distress.  At no point in this process did God call me to fix them.  Just love them unconditionally.  Even if they do not want that love, and especially when I feel like they do not deserve it.  It is at that time when I think about how God loves me, and more so, when I do not deserve it, because He calls me back to Him.

Never once does the Bible offer us a promise of ease when we follow the Lord in service.  The problem is that when I remove my eyes from the Lord, I allow myself to be polluted by the world.  My circumstance have not changed.  But my view of them does.   I see others living a life that seems so care free and easy, whom can not fathom the depth of my situation,  and I feel resentment, yet God has not left me with needs.  I hear others proclaiming the successes of their children and I fall into distress not being able to articulate my dwarfs success, yet they are there.  I just need to remember that while they are different they are still successes for them.  I often feel alone, and in that God will send to me a friend, that is in the same situation, and our faith can grow and we can encourage one another in a time of need.  Wishing and hoping that my circumstance were different only sets me up to be discontent, overwhelmed, distressed and discouraged.  I am grateful for the promises in His word that bring me back to center, and grounds me so that I can continue to minister to the needs of my family.   No, the journey is not easy.  Being called to serve is not for the faint of heart.  Often we are asked in our service to do hard things.  Things that others can not understand.  God has gifted us each uniquely. What He has called us to, He equips us for. Our responsibility is to keep our focus on him and not to be polluted by the world.  

You Can't Make this Stuff Up

An Eggstrodinary Story!

There is no way when easter egg season "rolled" around this year, that we could have anticipated how God would show Himself faithful to Sleepy, and me, her momma!

Last November, Sleepy and I committed to a ten day mission trip through our church to serve in Peru. While Sleepy has had the privilege of serving on the mission field with Doc and Dopey and the Prince, she and I have not ever served in or out of the country on a mission trip together.  We entered into the process excited and eager to follow the steps that have been followed by our family for years as we prepared for mission trips.  We wrote and mailed tons of prayer letters (which also included information if folks wanted to make a financial contribution) and we threw ourselves, along with our other 27 team members and leaders, into hands on fundraising.  We have taken care of children for parent's night out, we have served dinners to marriage retreat attendees, I have driven to and from Amalie Arena and "volunteered" to work the concession stand for a 10% cut of the sales donated to the group, we have made candles, sold tickets to pancake breakfasts, hosted community nights at Culvers and Chick Fil A (just to mention a couple). Personally Sleepy and I have been sending everyone that donates a thank you gift of either homemade dog treats or a hand crocheted dishcloth. However, around the end of February, we were faced with the fact that our funds were just not coming in like we had hoped.  The team was a month away from ordering the airline tickets and we (Sleepy and I) still did not have that amount in our accounts that we had hoped to have by that point in the planning.

We started having some passionate discussions around our house about the trip and the feasibility of us actually going. We could not self fund. The cost is higher than any other trip we have ever participated in ($2,500 a person) and we did not have any financial benchmarks assigned by the team leaders to assist us in gauging our progress, but going off how we had always done fundraising, we knew that we were woefully below our personal benchmark of having the cost of the airline tickets raised and in our accounts by the time the airline tickets needed to be ordered.  Sleepy and I postponed our immunizations from early March until a month later, thinking that if we did not get more financial support, we would remove ourselves from the team, return our funds that were designated specifically for us, and allow the remaining team members to split our group raised funds. Additionally, the immunizations were a $500 commitment for the two of us as we needed yellow fever and typhoid as well as Hep A and we did not want to get the shots if indeed we did not end up going.

After more prayer and discussion, as a family, the Prince and Sleepy and I determined, that just because this trip was being handled differently than we were used to, it was not necessarily a bad thing, it was just different from what we were used to... and that because we felt that God was calling us to this trip, now was the time to trust Him to provide.  We made a plan for what we would do if when we left for the trip we were not fully funded, and began praying about how to work on raising the remaining funds needed.  I contacted a few place regarding getting a part time job as a bus boy, Sleepy considered picking up another shift a week at the restaurant and putting all those funds into her account, but this options did not pan out for us.

About a week after we decided to go, Sleepy was approached by the owner of the restaurant she works at and he told her that we could place bottles of water on the tables in the restaurant with labels on them talking about our Peru trip and they would sell them for $1 each, and the whole $1 would come to us!  Doc's husband had someone design a label, and we printed them and started wrapping water bottles to sell.

About two weeks after that, a woman sat at a table and asked her server about the water bottles. The server indicated that Sleepy, who works there, was going on the trip with her mom and she would send her over to the table to share with her about the trip.  Sleepy went over and struck up a conversation with this woman, who asked a lot of questions and was also curious about how our fundraising was going.  Sleepy shared that it was not where we wanted it to be, but we were trusting that God would provide, He always does.  She then added on the side, that she has been bringing her mom's homemade peanut butter eggs to work to "share" with any of the servers that sold her water bottles.  Both shared a chuckle about Sleepy's creative salesmanship, and then the woman asked if she could buy 40 eggs.  Morgan said she did not see why not, and they exchanged information and set a tentative time deliver the eggs.  This woman told Sleepy that she would donate $300 to her trip! Wow!  Sleepy was so excited.  Truth be told, so was I!!

The week leading up to Easter, I texted the number Sleepy had given me for the woman that wanted the eggs, and she indeed confirmed that she did want the eggs, and that she was going to donate $500 to Sleepy's trip.  I sent the text to Sleepy at school and said, "look at this, are you sure you heard her correctly the first time?"  Sleepy confirmed she was positive the woman said $300 for 40 eggs, but was cautiously excited that perhaps there would be an extra 200 added.

I started praying immediately that this would be a moment for Sleepy to look back on over the course of the next several years and claim it as a "time that God showed up in a BIG way"!!  We all have had these moments!  They encourage us in life and in our journey.  I also, had a small part of me, concerned that this could be a big "people stink story" where this stranger does not follow through on her promise.  So when the nagging thoughts pricked me,  I doubled down in my prayer efforts for this to be a "God showed up moment" for Sleepy.    Guess what... He did !! This wonderful stranger, followed the prompting of her heart to bless Sleepy by writing a check for $500 for her trip!  Of course eggs did exchange hands, and as she was blessing us, we gave her an additional eggs!

In the sharing of the story with ANYONE that would lend me their ear, I got another taker one day at lunch for the "original deal" of 40 eggs for $300!  The following day, I sold 100 eggs at $1 each, for a total of $900 for 180 eggs.

Now if the story could not possibly get any better... my last egg interaction happened last Thursday night when we sold our travel trailer.  Some where in the midst of looking over the camper, haggling a deal, and finalizing the transaction, it became clear to us this young family loved Jesus.  As we tend to do with other believers we start sharing among the adults how God has been faithful to our families.  At some point we discussed the Peru trip, and I shared briefly the egg story.  The family was preparing to pull out with their new to them vacation vehicle, and the man said sort of off the cuff, "Do you happen to have any more of those eggs?  They sound amazing."   I sort of panic at this point because I had one dozen left that morning, but one of my co-workers was supposed to pick them up after their shift and I was not home at that time to know if she had done so or not... and the Lingle dwarfs have NO self control when it comes to my eggs!

I went out to the freezer and opened the door and there was the bag.  I grabbed, them knowing I could make more for my co-worker later,  picked up some napkins and prepared to gift this wonderful family the last of my seasons eggs!   I was so excited about how God had orchestrated the sale of the camper, I wanted to give them these eggs as a gift, and figured they would make a great distraction for their kids as they headed down the road towards home.  Dessert before dinner from that crazy family that they just bought their camper from!!

I handed over the bag of eggs, and the man handed me a 100 dollar bill!  To say that I was shocked would be an understatement.  I guess God wanted me to have a "moment" too!  I am astounded by the generosity of strangers hearing our story about desiring to serve in Peru, and then how they followed through on the prompting in their hearts to be part of the process to get us there in their own small ways!

While Sleepy also sold eggs to classmates at school for an undetermined amount of money, (we were really not tracking those funds closely), and a few contributions from others that we gave eggs to, our total raised in "egg" money for our Peru trip is now close to $1350!!!

I will be honest, if I had purposed to make my mother's handed down, special recipe eggs to sell, I would have been rolling thousands of eggs, especially when you factor in all the dwarfs in the kingdom and the speed at which they love to eat them... well it would have been a full time job!  As we currently stand we need to raise, for the next 10 weeks, $185 a week to be paid in full before our departure on July 5th.  We covet your prayers for continued fundraising success, and more over, your prayers for safe travel and for the good news of God's greatness and love to be proclaimed to those in Peru that may have never heard of His love.  Our hearts desire is to love through words, and actions, to be the hands and feet of Christ to a people that we have never met before.

God in His goodness and grace, saw a way to use our skills and talents and love of something that we were already doing, to show His faithfulness to us as we prepare to go outside our comfort zone and serve Him in Peru.

This is one of those times where I am happy to report, You really can't make this stuff up!!  God is good all the time!

Walking Historical Tour of Downtown Sarasota

I have lived in this area for three years now, and often I struggle to find interesting and fun things to do when company comes to visit.  Aside from the beaches (of which there are many) if you need a break from the sun and sand, we always sort of scratch our heads attempting to come up with other, inexpensive and interesting activities to do.

When I heard about Sleepy's class taking a walking tour of downtown Sarasota, I thought I would really like to be part of that activity.  Since she asked me to go along, I eagerly accepted.  I was able to combine some of my favorite things, learning about the area I live in,  seeing the great architecture of the area, and spending time with my favorite second youngest dwarf.  

We started the tour at the Municipal Auditorium, of which I do not have a photo of, because they were waiting for me to start the tour. ( see previous post about the van).  The auditorium was built in 1938 and is one of the few examples of Art Deco architecture in Sarasota.  The auditorium is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  

Our next stop was the Art Center of Sarasota.  This was opened in 1949 by the Sarasota Art Association and hosts many regional and national artist exhibits.  In 1996 they added a sculpture garden to the grounds. 

 Our next stop was the Sarasota County History Center, which was the first and only public library built in 1941.  As the collection outgrew the space Sarasota joined the county to create a countywide library system in 1976 and the collection was moved the Selby library.  Currently this location rotates historical exhibits and is open to the public for view at no charge. 

I think that the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau was close to the top of my favorite sites on this tour.  The architecture of this building is amazing.  Designed by Victor Lundy, of the Sarasota School of Architects the structure has many unique qualities.  The walls are all glass, the roof overhangs around all four walls of the building, creating shade and cool in an era when there was not air conditioning.  The roof tiles were all imported from Japan and in this particular location are a direct reflection of, and add to the feel of the Japanese garden sculpture nearby. It also adds to the appeal of the Sarasota Garden Club landscaping at the side and rear of the property.  

The Sarasota Garden Club was established in 1960 to add more green space to downtown Sarasota. But the surrounding gardens were in place long before that.  The building style of the club was designed to be compatible with the nearby Chamber pagoda and the tool shed was built the following year which also is patterned after a Japanese garden house.  

 The Belle Haven is a Mediterranean style of architecture built in 1926.  New York Architect Dwight Baum and local builder Owen Burns built these as fully furnished (down to the linens and silverware) apartments.  From this location on the corner lot residents could access the water.  The building is currently boarded up and is not being used at all.  It is rapidly falling into disrepair, although it is owned privately.  It has been office space in the past as well, but has not had people in it since the 1990's.  This building is also one of the rare locations in Sarasota that has a basement.  This was my favorite site on the tour, and if there had been a particular aunt of the dwarfs along, we would have gone back to check this beauty out further for sure!! 

The Sarasota Times Building, built in 1926 was home to the Sarasota Times and News.  Sarasota's first newspaper opened in 1899 when only several hundred people lived in the area.  The paper was purchased by L.D. Reagin in 1920 and in 1926 moved the paper to this location.  The newspaper folded in 1929 and this location has housed many various organizations over the years.  When we were on the tour it was being remodeled.  

The Gompertz Movie house opened in this building in the 1920"s.  During the depression the movie house closed and did not reopen and maintain a steady business again until the early 1950's when the Palm Tree Playhouse moved in.  It has been vacant on and off and is the current home to the Florida Studio Theater's Gompertz Hall.   

To this day the Sarasota Opera house is still a bright spot in the city's night life.  The building was built in 1926 by A B Edwards, Sarasota Mayor, when then the ground levels housed businesses.  Will Rogers and the  Ziegfeld Follies performed here.  The building was home to silent movies, vaudeville, and the opera.  If I heard correctly our guide also said that Elvis performed here the year before he made it big.  There were apartments on the third floor that at one time are also rumored to have been brothels.  The story goes that the building is haunted by a woman who's young son died in an accident at the opera house.   After a major renovation in the 1980's this building has found a home on the National Register list for the Sarasota Opera Association.  

The Frances-Carlton Apartments were established in 1920's.  These were high end apartments that gave residents a view of the bay across Palm Ave. However, today, while they are still rented as high end condominiums, there is not a view of the bay any longer.  These were fully furnished apartments were designed by a Scotsman Alex Browning who immigrated to Sarasota in 1885 and Tampa architect Francis James.  They were named after the owner's wife and son Frances and Carlton Teate. This property is listed on the National Register -listed apartments.   

Now the details on this particular landmark, I do not have much clarity on, however when I do I will update further.  What I recall the guide saying, this is the oldest high rise in Sarasota.  

As we wrapped up the tour, we stopped for lunch.  The group was very excited because their guide had pumped up lunch from this pizza shop, as the BEST Pizza ever with slices as big as your face! He was indeed on point!  Best cheese pizza ever, and the slices were as big as your face!  I had two pieces and I think Sleepy managed three! Yum! 

There will come a day, when field trips will be a thing of the past.  I am so  happy and blessed this dwarf still loves and desires to spend time with me!  I am also so grateful that I have the flexibility in my days to rearrange for events like this!  This tour was wonderful.  Pizza amazing, and I loved spending time with this dwarf!  

The great thing about history is, You Can't Make this Stuff Up!  

We are close to the end of an era... but this was not the week!

When you think of the Kingdom and our transportation, there is one thing that stands out...our white 15 passenger van!  Well the last 9 days have been hard on this old gal, and we are starting to see clearly, that we may be close to the end of an era! 

We purchased this van used, when it became clear that we were upsizing our kingdom from three to five dwarfs.  The Prince was in ministry, and so even if it seemed a bit large for a family of seven, we knew we would put it to good use with the church kids and activities.   Little did I know this would become an extension of me.  My sports car, my go to for hauling, for camping, for kids shuttling... who would have ever thought I would get emotionally attached to a 15 passenger van? 

I remember the night I drove my new to me vehicle off the Ford lot on Rt 22 in Harrisburg.  The day had faded into the twilight and as I glanced in the rear view mirror, there were rows and rows of empty seats, and in the front row, right behind me one crazy troll haired toddler, strapped in a car seat, staring back at me with a big smile on her face, because she got to ride with momma in the "wan"!  I also remember saying in passing to the Lord that night, "This seems crazy, but if it is your desire to fill this up, we are willing."  

What we did not know was the plan that the Lord had for our family and that van.  Countless team sport transfers, mission trip hauling, trailer pulling, camper pulling, mounds of groceries, pets, family vacations, and field trips to name a few of the exciting events the van has endured. 

Speaking of field trips, this leads me to the last 9 hard days for this old girl...  I had the van signed up to go on a 200 mile road trip, with a school group last weekend.  When the "check engine" light came on the Tuesday before I determined to take it to the shop.  If it had been just staying local when the light came on, I would have most likely just ignored it, but in knowing it was going to be transporting other peoples kids so far, I wanted that peace of mind.  So, on that visit to the shop, she got a new throttle body motor.  However, transportation to the orienteering meet that Saturday was a success!  

I fast forward six days.. I am excited when any of the dwarfs want to spend time with me, much less be seen in public with me, and Sleepy still wants me to go on field trips with her!  As long as they ask, I go... So I head out in the van to meet her duel enrollment history class, for a walking tour of downtown Sarasota.  Sleepy and I were super excited about this event, and had been talking about it for weeks!!  I left the house Thursday morning, 45 mins before I needed to arrive at the designated location.  I would rather be early and wait on them then, have them waiting on me!   I put the location in my GPS and head out... about a mile from home, I think about turning on the radio.  

Now I know that seems silly to most to think about turning on the radio,  but you see, the last 5 years of the vans life she has developed some funny quirks.  Like you can hop in and turn the ignition on without the keys being in the ignition, when you hit a bump the heat turns on, even when the air is on.  Or when you step on the gas to accelerate, the air turns off.  If you have your head lights on and stop the car, no longer does the sounding ding sound, twice in recent months I have forgotten to turn them off to return to a dead battery.  Most recently, if the radio is on, and you open the door, after you turn off the vehicle, it does not shut off.  So there have been occasions where 30 mins or an hour after returning home, when walking past the van in the driveway you can hear the radio playing...

So, I am thinking about the radio because I know I have to remember to turn it off when I reach the field trip location or risk a dead battery when I need to come back home.  I determined I would remember, so I turned on the radio.  Another mile and the radio started to act funny... sort of got a bit scratchy, wavering in and out, and I am not sure if it is the station or the actual radio.  I flip the dial, and it seems fine for half a mile, and then it shuts off completely.   I attempt to turn it back on, but it would not work.  None of this gives me pause, and I remember thinking, "Well at least I won't have to remember to turn it off when I get there!"  

About three miles down the road, I see all the gauges bottom out.  No RPM's, no speed, no gas, all levels at zero, even though I am driving. Sort of like she stopped breathing.  So as I approach a red light I think, "lets just see what happens."   Again, not as alarmed as I probably should be considering the odd issues my van has regularly.   I stop at the light on red, and go on green and all things are working, however still no readings for speed or gas have reappeared.  At this point I am thinking that I have enough time in the schedule, that I should go ahead and circle back to home and get Dopey's car, when I stop at the next light, and the van makes a few popping noises and flickers out completely.  

Now for the record I am on a road that at this point is five lanes.  It is a congested area at all times of the day, and I am in the center lane, as I was going to be making a left turn in one mile, and there were two turning lanes to my left at this light.  As soon as I know the van is not moving under her own steam, I place my flashers on.  I proceed to methodically look for my calling card for a tow, and attempt to reach the Prince on his cell phone at work.   The first two cycles of the light change are fine... and on the second cycle, I see Sleepy's field trip bus pass me by.  Well at least the teacher knows I am not lying about having car trouble!  I am so glad that dwarf is not easily embarrassed!!    

I am now starting to panic as the Prince, when I reach him, is asking me if I can get the van in neutral (which I can't) and other questions that I also can't answer.  Additionally, the roadside assistance number is amazingly not user friendly if you are in a crisis and now the drivers are starting to get mean.  Really mean !  Honking at me and flipping me off.  Zooming past in rage.  Like I stopped this beast to have a sandwich or finish a good book on a whim in the middle five lanes of traffic!! 

As I am engrossed in all this, and am trying to make a plan... I completely miss the fact that an officer has approached the van from behind, and as he knocks on my window, I am startled to the point where I think I a m going to wet myself.   He asks me to roll down the window... not possible... he indicates that he is going to open my door, I think to myself, not if I can get it open first!  

He says to me upon opening the door, "Are there others in here?" " No", I said, " Just me in this sports car." "What is going on?" was his next question.   I explain that the vehicle just shut down. It won't do anything or go anywhere.  I also indicated that I had not gotten anywhere yet with the roadside assistance people,  and frankly I was at a loss as to how to get the van out of the roadway. He called in the situation, and then asked me if I thought he could push the van.  I said, that I could not get it to neutral, so after a few minutes of him man handling the steering column we were able to get it in neutral. He told me not to take my foot off the break, and that he was going to go put on his vest and then come back and push the van back so that we could work it into a parking lot off to the right of the road across two lanes of traffic.  Then he stopped and looked at me and asked, " Ma'am, are you alright?"  Oh, no... I can't stop the water works.  "No I am not alright, I am supposed to be on a field trip, and my daughters bus already went by, I don't have time for this..." blather, blubber, a little snot and few tears, and then 30 seconds later, water works off, and he and I  are solidifying the plan to get the van off the road!   I so did not expect that just a kind inquiry into my well being would cause such a melt down, and while it was brief, it happened.  So much for being a mom who can handle it all.  

The officer returned, with his vest on, and started to push the front of my van backwards, towards the front of his cruiser so we could align with the entrance to the parking lot.  As he began to gain some speed in the push, I at one point put on the breaks because I was fearful of him pushing my extra large vehicle into the front end of his vehicle.  About this time back up has arrived to close the two lanes of traffic so that I could steer the vehicle into the lot.  As a side note, I find it amazing how quickly the attitude of drivers change from angry about their delay, to helpful once they notice the police are involved and they HAVE to stop moving.  About three others, joined the police is pushing my one ton vehicle off the road into a parking space.    

I let the van sit for the day.  Once out of harms way, my focus was back on the field trip.  If I was quick about it, I could still get there and only be 10 minutes late.  I was not about to miss this field trip. They clearly saw that I was not making up my car problems, so pretty quickly help arrived in the form of Dopey and an employee who was working at the house at that time, and I was able to take Dopey's car and he went back home with his co-worker.  The class waited the ten minutes for me to arrive, and Sleepy and I enjoyed a great field trip together! 

After the field trip, I got back on the phone with the not surprisingly, still painfully slow roadside assistance team as they processed my need for a tow.  Of course as with all things in life, nothing is simple. It was more for the tow, because she is a one ton vehicle.  It took longer for the tow to arrive. While I watched the driver hook her up to the truck, I realized we are just a breakdown away from this vehicle not coming back to us one of these times.  In reality sooner, rather than later.   

For this go round, I am grateful that the mechanics could fix her.  I am glad that the small motor replaced the week before, which blew because of the alternator, because it was under warranty, was replaced for free.  I am glad that out of the three options for alternators, my replacement was not the most expensive.  I am glad fuses are inexpensive.  I am grateful that the resources were in our account for another repair in a week's time. I am happy that I was safe.  That no one rear ended my van while I was stopped.  That the angry drivers as they zipped by me honking and making gestures did not injure themselves or anyone else on the crazy busy stretch of road.  Thrilled that I made it to the field trip with Sleepy! 

 Moreover, I am grateful for the fact that I rely on the Lord to order my day, mishaps and all!   You can't make this stuff up!  

Sometimes there are lemons, sometimes lemonade!

Around the kingdom, there are periods of time when we experience rough patches. Sometimes of our own doing, sometimes brought on by others and conditions that we have no control over.

If the rough patches are extended or compounded in any way, I typically find myself weary and defeated.  Sometimes the affects are physical, other times just mental, but at the end of the day, it all leaves me in the same place.  Crying out to the Lord for some indication that I am not loosing my ever loving mind, and pleading for a glimpse of His goodness and grace!

I rejoice that I can always find that hope and encouragement.  A letter in the mail, a phone call or a text from a friend.  Then, when I least expect it, today, I was reminded in a staggering and mighty way, that God is good all the time, and I need not worry because He has the details and knows just when this heart needs to be encouraged!

Now before I go bragging about my great day, I understand you may not see the significance or the wow factor, and that is okay.  In a series of crazy events over the course of many weeks, including but not limited to; stepping repeatedly in fire ant hills in the dark while searching for a child at a school event,  struggling with some sore and aching joints, a major meltdown from an overworked exhausted dwarf, going to an appointment for travel shots three weeks early, and scheduling a "free house cleaning" that was a christmas gift, from the wrong company and no one realizing they were the wrong cleaning service until the house was half cleaned... I feel like today was a gift.

A big fat juicy milk bone, to be savored... or a pile of lemons turned into the sweetest lemonade I have ever tasted!

Let's start in the beginning.  The Prince had the day off and so we had a leisurely morning at home, and then headed to meet up with the oldest dwarf, Doc, and her hubby for breakfast.  It seems everyone has had such busy schedules lately and so the time to catch up was a great start to the day! There is no substitute for spending time with your dwarfs face to face!

From there, I had to make a run to the post office.  Dopey went with me willingly, and we enjoyed good conversation on the ride.  As the dwarfs get older it is harder and harder to catch glimpses of them and to keep current on all that is important to them.  It was nice upon returning to the house for him to give me a kiss and a hug just because!

The prince left for a visit with friends on the other coast, and I headed out to a track meet with Sleepy.  One of the highlights of my last 24 years of parenting is cheering on the activities of my dwarfs!!  If I may recount, and my there have been so many....
                    Doc danced and played soccer, basketball and volleyball
                    Sneezy played field hockey, and soccer
                    Dopey played baseball and basketball
                    Happy wrestled and played baseball and soccer
                    Grumpy played baseball, basketball, football and soccer
                    Sleepy danced and played basketball, soccer, participates in JROTC events and throws                         shot and discus
                    Bashful wrestled, played t-ball, baseball, basketball

I digress, after that rabbit trail, we jump back to track today.   Sleepy not only set two personal records one in each of her field events; discus (103 feet) taking second overall all, and shot put (32.125 ft) first overall, but she broke the school record (unofficially) for discus. (According to the head coach.)  And she made it look so easy!! Best part in my opinion, is that I was able to be there to witness it all!  That feat made possible because Dopey was willing to transport dwarf's home from school for me today and transport one to work so that I could be away from the house during a tough transitional part of the day!  Again, win for team Dwarfs as they kill it with the team work!

In other news, while we were an hour from the kingdom in the wonderful Florida sunshine, which is always a mood booster, a friend of a dwarf was helping another dwarf win at the art of asking a young lady out.  Said dwarf friend, took Happy for a hair cut, offered wardrobe assistance, took him to purchase flowers and then took him to do the "ask"!   So much nicer to be accompanied by a peer than your momma!  Guess what?  She said yes!   For any of you that know either Happy or recognize his adorable date in any social media posts,  please know that they are just going as friends.  She was super kind to accept and I would expect that Happy will be on cloud nine for days. I am amazed at how brave he was,  and how handsome he looked!  Best part the dwarf friend took and sent photos so we will have the memories for a lifetime!

A call from Grumpy's work early, started to send my near perfect day into a downward spin.  On a Friday night at a pizza shop, no one should be finished working before 8PM...  As Grumpy is relaying to me that he needs picked up, I ask him, "Why?  Did something happen? It is so early!"  His manager hops on the phone to say, we were slow and he is first out tonight, but he did a great job while he was here !   Bam!  Yet another win for the day!!

As I sit here, I am rejoicing in the greatness of the day, and how blessed I feel.  Just as I think this day can't get any better, Grumpy, after showering comes down the stairs and congratulates Sleepy on her killer day today on the field, and congratulates his brother on the fact that the girl said yes!  Insert head shake here.  So out of character for Grumpy!

I have no idea what tomorrow will bring!  What I do know is today was filled with so very many sweet moments, that even if it all falls apart in the morning, I can recall today with a full and grateful heart! I praise the Lord for these moments!  Each one individually would have still been a win, but combined has made for a stellar day all around!  We have applauded and enjoyed each victory, including a big spontaneous round of applause a few minutes ago.  For now this is exactly what this momma needed.  God is good all the time!

You really can't make this stuff up!