Encore: Whirlwind Tour

In the coming weeks, I will be re-posting some of my favorite posts from the past six years on this blog. Yes, I have had this blog for nearly SIX years! I have revisited some of these posts lately. It is interesting to me how much life has changed. For those who are new around here, it will give you a glimpse of the journey. I am calling this series "Encore." If you'd like, you can vote on your favorites.

Best of 2008

Here is one of the nominees from February 2008. This is one of my all time favorite adventures. The photo is from a rural part of Indonesia. That destination left me feeling like I had lived a National Geographic experience. Notice the number of days on the road and stops along the way. I lived in a state of sleep deprivation for over two-years. It must have been the adrenaline rush that kept me going!


I just returned from a whirlwind tour of Asia (beginning in Africa). In 21 days, I visited Uganda, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and India. Whew! The longest I stayed in any one hotel was two nights. I took 31 airplanes and was in countless time-zones. Though the trip was absolutely exhausting, it was also completely unforgettable. I can't possibly share all of the stories from the trip, but I just had to share this picture.

This man greeted us at one of our stops. He lives in a remote village in the interior of Indonesia in the area of Papua (different than Papua New Guinea). There are two options to reach the village; Option One: trek through dense jungle along steep mountain ranges for days, or Option Two: take a helicopter. We chose to ride in a heli (my first helicopter ride). I've only seen men like this on National Geographic specials, never in real life - until now. He's got all the accessories - dreadlocks, face paint, the pig tusk through a giant hole in his nose, beaded necklaces, his spear, and yes, the most important accessory of all, the penis gord. It was described to me as "accentuating his manhood." I imagine it can't be comfortable. The killed a pig in our honor, gutted it and opened it up for cooking in the hot rock oven. What an experience! I can hardly believe I lived it!

I visited this area because these rural people, who were previously so isolated, are dying in mass from AIDS. It is estimated that they will loose an entire generation to this disease. We aim to do something about that and will begin work in these villages this year. I will likely return in October for a scheduled training event. Simply unbelievable

Encore: The Concept of a Calling

In the coming weeks, I will be re-posting some of my favorite posts from the past six years on this blog. Yes, I have had this blog for nearly SIX years! I have revisited some of these posts lately. It is interesting to me how much life has changed. For those who are new around here, it will give you a glimpse of the journey. I am calling this series "Encore." If you'd like, you can vote on your favorites.

Best of 2008

Here is one of the nominees from February 2008. I LOVED my work. The only down side was how often I was away. It wasn't so much a shared adventure, as it was Kenyon taking and picking up Sheri from the airport. The end result of that was Sheri being gone more often than she was home. I was committed to the dream, but struggling through the reality of living it.


I've been thinking a lot about the idea of a calling. I believe everyone, yes everyone, has a calling. I believe God put each of us on earth for a purpose - no exception. That doesn't mean discovering or fulfilling your individual calling is easy, in fact it is quite the opposite. I believe callings are revelaed in quite promptings from God (almost whispers), they require obedience even when they don't make sense or are unpopular, they often bring with them a burden. There is a book titled, "Answer Your Call." I read this book in graduate school...one of the few for fun. I picked it up again recently. There was a quote in there that I can relate to. The author says, "Responding to your call means accepting the burden that will set you free." Burden and freedom? Can the two co-exist? They seem paradoxical. When you have heard the call and respond, you understand. It is a burden that brings freedom, it is freedom that comes along with a burden. I feel both simultaneously, but yet, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. So many people spend their lives wondering what their purpose is? I don't wonder. I'm living it. It isn't easy and there are plenty of days that I long for "normal," but at the core of my being I wouldn't have it any other way. I am enjoying living the great adventure of life and I'm still discovering where my calling may lead next...

Encore: boiled peanut?

In the coming weeks, I will be re-posting some of my favorite posts from the past six years on this blog. Yes, I have had this blog for nearly SIX years! I have revisited some of these posts lately. It is interesting to me how much life has changed. For those who are new around here, it will give you a glimpse of the journey. I am calling this series "Encore." If you'd like, you can vote on your favorites.

Best of 2007

Here is one of the nominees from October 2007. Sometimes we reminisce about this experience and laugh.


So, everytime I move I learn a different cuisine. I may still be in the same country, but the food preferences change. Southerners like sweet tea (and by sweet I mean VERY sweet). They like fried chicken and greens. I found out something else they like - boiled peanuts. Kenyon and I saw signs all over the road advertising places where one can buy boiled peanuts. Kenyon said, "what's a boiled peanut? That doesn't even sound good." I didn't know what it was.

My friend Sarah here said her family once took a road trip and stopped to ask. Her dad got out and asked the man, "What's a boiled peanut?" The man replied in a heavy southern drawl, "A boiled peanut is a boiled peanut." Well, duh!

This weekend I tried my first (and likely my last) boiled peanut. We were at the Woolly Worm festival and Lori got very excited and said, "ah, boiled peanuts! Have you ever had one?" No. She bought a cup full. They really are peanuts, like the kind you eat at a baseball game. They take salt water and boil it, then they dump salty peanuts in to the salt water and let them soften. You open the shell and eat the salty, soft peanut. Some people love them. I am not one of those people. One peanut and I felt like all the moisture in my mouth was sucked right out from all the salt. 


So, if you've never heard of a boiled peanut...now you don't have to ask.

Encore: saying good-bye...

In the coming weeks, I will be re-posting some of my favorite posts from the past six years on this blog. Yes, I have had this blog for nearly SIX years! I have revisited some of these posts lately. It is interesting to me how much life has changed. For those who are new around here, it will give you a glimpse of the journey. I am calling this series "Encore." If you'd like, you can vote on your favorites.

Best of 2007

Here is one of the nominees from August 2007. Shortly after saying "I do" the first time. I accepted my dream job. Following the dream required a relocation to the East Coast, North Carolina to be exact. Kenyon was born in Kansas City and had lived there his entire life. He supported the dream and joined me on the adventure.


This week I have started saying "good-bye." I don't like it much. Though Kansas will never be home - I used to say, "I could live here twenty years and it won't be my home. I won't be a Kansan." - it has been a great place to live. I have made the best friends of my life here. The best! In my nearly nine years in Kansas (I will be short of my anniversary by a couple of weeks), I had many people leave me to greener pastures, but I remained part of a vibrant, close-knit, wonderful community. I've already shed many tears about leaving these friendships, this community. I'm sure these will not be my last.

Last night I was at a going away dinner hosted in my honor and one of my friends said my absence will leave a void that cannot be filled. I feel that way about so many people here. My departing will leave a void in my life that will not be replaced. I'm confident I will make new friends, but the wealth of friendships I made in this community is irreplaceable. I can't conceive of replicating this experience in a new place. So, my leaving is bitter-sweet.

I was asked at a going away lunch, if I viewed this as just a job or as a calling. I view it as a calling. I believe the series of events that brought me to this place was not by chance and was more than coincidence. I would not be leaving my community, uprooting my life, and forgoing my PhD (for now) if I believed otherwise. There is some solace in knowing that, in feeling there is a larger purpose behind it all, but that doesn't mean it's easy to relocate.

Friends, you have impacted my life in more ways than you will ever know. I am so grateful to all of you, and indebted to many of you (debts I can never repay). I am going to miss you - miss just doesn't seem strong enough; I'm going to long to be with you. Thank you for making this place that I came to reluctantly such a beautiful experience. I love you. Know there is always a room waiting for you in North Carolina.

Encore: legally wed

In the coming weeks, I will be re-posting some of my favorite posts from the past six years on this blog. Yes, I have had this blog for nearly SIX years! I have revisited some of these posts lately. It is interesting to me how much life has changed. For those who are new around here, it will give you a glimpse of the journey. I am calling this series "Encore." If you'd like, you can vote on your favorites.

Best of 2007

Here is one of the nominees from June 2007. Kenyon and I had what we call "The Wedding World Tour!" It was held on two continents and in three States. RSVP cards included a check the box for the events a guest will be attending. This was the start of the tour and the first wedding ceremony. The second wedding ceremony was held in India at my favorite place on earth, including the attendance of about 1,500 people, press, a parade and so much more. If I think about it, I still can't believe it really happened to me. Crazy!

As if my life isn't crazy enough with a multitude of projects, summer school, work, not to mention the largest India trip we've ever had coming up in a few weeks...add to that chaos - a wedding.

Kenyon and I were legally wed Saturday, June 16 - exactly one year to the day of our first date. We had a small garden ceremony with only a few in attendance. The minister is a man Kenyon has adopted as his dad - Father Jones. A small reception followed at a friends home. She went all out with a three tier cake, decorations and a sparkling apple cider toast. We had friends come from Chicago and the D.C. area to celebrate with us. I wore a hair pin from China and a hot pink outfit from India. Kenyon wore the suit we picked out for him in China. We may have been in Kansas, but this was an international/multi-cultural wedding! I wouldn't have it any other way. We party, party, party from here - in India in August, in Kansas City in August and in New Mexico in September. Hope you can make it to one of the parties.