a Happy Birthday!! :)

I had a wonderful birthday! We got to spend time with friends on our prayer meeting night (Sunday) and then also on Monday night (suprises engineered by Javkhaa!). :) It was good fun and a great blessing to share the day with special people.

sad news: Madeleine L'Engle

One of my most favorite authors has died. Madeleine L'Engle wrote stories of all kinds, and I've read as much as I could. Though her theology may not have always matched mine, I was often encouraged by her great sensitivity; her characters were heroic and also flawed. They could hurt deeply and yet she gave them hope. Though evil is real and terrible, good is stronger than evil, love is stronger than hate, and every person matters... these are the themes that come to mind as I think of her.

I wish I'd written a letter to her... maybe I'll still write one now. I'll pull out a copy of The Small Rain (her first, I think) and remember her. With thanks and love.

"A book, too, can be a star, 'explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,' a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe." http://madeleinelengle.com/
reference/newberyspeech.htm

From the NY Times: Her deeper thoughts on writing were deliciously mysterious. She believed that experience and knowledge were subservient to the subconscious and perhaps larger, spiritual influences.

...“Why does anybody tell a story?" she once asked, even though she knew the answer. “It does indeed have something to do with faith,” she said, “faith that the universe has meaning, that our little human lives are not irrelevant, that what we choose or say or do matters, matters cosmically.”

Read more of what the NY Times wrote about her.

No time to read much these days...

A book I want to read:

The Tiger Ladies: A Memoir of Kashmir by Sudha Koul

This was mentioned on my friend's facebook site and I checked it out on Amazon. Looks good!

~~~~

Not much going on these days... yet things feel way too busy. Work is busy, life is busy, just with normal things.

Though I don't have much to say, I just felt like making a new post. Not sure who even looks at our blog... (say hi if you do!) :)

Please pray for us to have good time management, focus on the important things, and be able to say no to all the GOOD things that leave us (or just me?) running on empty for the BEST things.

Thanks!

Wedding Pics!

A funny story... better than our candle mishap! ;)

Bold, this is for you! :)

A Wedding Fire (NOT our story!!) ;)

At the beginning of my daughter's wedding ceremony, I was to light one of the candles. Not realizing the potential hazard, I got too close and set my acrylic nail on fire.Trying not to ruin my daughter's big day, I calmly lit the candle from my flaming nail and then, like a gunslinger with his six-shooter, I blew it out. Needless to say, my blackened nail was the talk of the reception.



—Linda Huckins, Malden, Massachusetts. "Rolling Down the Aisle," Christian Reader.

Our Wedding (another one!) ;)

A beautiful day. :) We're so thankful to all the people who helped (a lot!) to make it happen!

(for more pics, try going to www.mglwedding.shutterfly.com) :)

After almost 30 hours of traveling, we're back in Virginia Beach :)

Wow, being in Mongolia... it felt like I'd been there just a few months ago, not like almost 2 years had passed. We had a wonderful time with Javkhaa's family and visiting with good friends.

Haven't downloaded our pictures yet, but here's one of the new Chinggis Khan statue in Sukhbaatar Square. I had thought they were removing the old one of Sukhbaatar on his horse, but happily, Sukhbaatar is still at his post in the center of the square, while the Khan surveys his land in state from the southern outlook of the Parliament House.

More to come! :)

PS--The last I know about former Prime Minister Elbegdorj is that he was doing much better and was sent to Korea for further treatment. Thanks for your prayers!

the midnight hour...

we're 30 hours away from our departure... plus 20 minutes or so. javkhaa is hard at work putting the final touches on his paper and presentation, to be given tomorrow (Wed) night at 8pm. we leave eeeeeaaaaarly on Thursday morning.

just wanted to put a little word in and ask for prayers for our trip to Mongolia. good travel, smooth connections, our luggage staying with us the whole way there and back, and especially, great reunions with family and friends.

thanks!

A Great Visit with Great Friends

We do have one picture of Josh, but... it wasn't very flattering, so it remains unseen. ;)

Elbegdorj situation severe but stable

from http://www.mongolia-web.com/content/view/1168/2/

Saturday, 14 July 2007

Yesterday several TV channels broadcasted the first public announcement regarding the car accident of democratic party leader Ts. Elbegdorj. His doctor stated that Elbegdorj has suffered injury to the brain, but is stable now.The accident appeared to have taken place under slightly different circumstances than initially reported. The latest take is that the car didn't necessarily hit one of the motor[cycle]s but in trying to avoid a motor[cycle] without light, the car got off from the road and turned over four times. The motor riders that actually caused the accident have not be found, but the police have been talking with several witnesses to the scene who might shed more light on the chain of events that led to the tragic crash.

UBS television had a poll among pedestrians on Sukhbaatar square whether they thought the crash was a real accident or not, hinting that it might have somehow be arranged by opponents. No officials from either side however have mentioned this as a possibilities and based on statements of the democratic party it is assumed that this was a genuine accident.