"Just bloom where you're planted." {June Recap}

This past month in the midst of jam-packed activities and social interaction and traveling, I’ve been pondering some of my usual questions about what ministry should look like and mentally tackling some of those self-torture questions about whether my life is fruitful. What I have found in the midst of it is great encouragement that the best ministry starts with who you are in your ordinary life. My ordinary may not look like the average person’s ordinary, but it’s still become ordinary for me. While outside around my grandmother’s flowers this month, it was a comfort to note how restful the flowers blooming flowers are. There is no striving. There are no plans. There is no worry over whether they’re good enough. They simply bloom where their seeds fall, and they are, indeed, good. This month was full of things that were so wonderfully good. Nostalgia, connection, learning more about myself and others, and the echoing truth that being present and being willing is often enough. 

What I Ate:


Photo by Lynette Jones


1) Fried squash. This was a food of nostalgia for me. Childhood summers often meant fried squash, and since it’s not often that you find yellow squash in Honduras, I figured it would be a good idea to take advantage of the abundance here. My sister made this batch with squash cut length-wise, dipped in a mixture of flour, salt, spices, and cornmeal. It was awesome.

2) Calumet Fisheries’ smoked shrimp and salmon and fried scallops. This hole-in-the-wall place that is plastered with accolades from people like Anthony Bourdain was a true food highlight this month. If you are ever in the Chicago area, you have to check this place out. They provide all kinds of options of smoked fish and seafood as well as fried. I loved the seafood and their accompanying sauces.


Photo by Matt Antonioli

3) Chicago deep dish pizza. Raúl and I traveled to Chicago early this month, and we would’ve been remiss to not eat some deep-dish pizza though my husband, true to his form, actually ordered thin crust pizza for himself. I love deep-dish pizza, so that just meant there was more for me.


From chocolove.com

4) Chocolove Chilies & Cherries in Dark Chocolate. One of my favorite things to do when I travel to a new place or big city is to go to grocery stores. Growing up in rural West Virginia, my ingredient options at the supermarket were often pretty limited. I love finding new things to try. So, I bought this during one of those outings, and I was not sorry. While the combination sounds odd, it was amazing. Definitely worth a try if you like dark chocolate.


Photo by Coleur

5) Fresh raspberries. This is one of my favorite things to eat when I come to the States because raspberries as we know them in the States aren’t really sold in Honduras (or at least I’ve never found them). They do sell wild raspberries that are typically very sour and more seed than anything else. I can’t count how many times since I’ve been Stateside that I’ve bought a small pack of raspberries and have just eaten them all in one sitting.

6) Chicken Oscar and Roasted Red Pepper Gouda Cheese Soup from Food and Friends Restaurant in Lewisburg, West Virginia. This was a meal courtesy of my grandmother at one of my favorite restaurants in Lewisburg. It consisted of grilled chicken with lump crab meat sitting on top a bed of asparagus and mashed potatoes with bearnaise sauce accompanying. Also at Food and Friends, I had roasted red pepper soup. I love roasted red, orange, and yellow peppers, and I often try to find any excuse to include them in anything. The soup was flavorful and creamy. Food and Friends is worth checking out if you’re ever in the area.

7) My husband’s catrachas. Beyond the occasional egg or fried bologna, my husband has never been much of a cook (despite the fact that his mom has a restaurant!). But, after Naomi and I had made Honduran enchiladas one evening, and I’d made Eggs Benedict on a Saturday morning, he decided he wanted to make catrachas on a Saturday. He soaked some kidney beans (the closest bean we could find to the red beans they have in Honduras) overnight and cooked them the next morning. Then he blended them adding onion, cilantro, and garlic along with salt and pepper. Then he refried that mixture. He also made some pico de gallo (which is called chismol in Honduras) to go on top. We didn’t have any Mexican cheese much less Honduran cheese, so we settled for Parmesan or feta.

Overall, this was a month of good eating, and my poor waistline knows it!


What I Watched:
1) Parks and Recreation. I had seen several episodes of this show that my brother initially recommended years ago. I’d seen enough to get the Treat Yo’self references and to know that Ron Swanson and Andy Dwyer make the show. But, I’d never watched all the way through chronologically. I get that the humor isn’t for everyone, but I love the concept of a group of random, vastly different people forming a family in an unlikely place. The story starts with a large pit that a few people want to turn into a park, but along the way through lots of local government bureaucracy, there is much character growth and some truly hilarious laughs.

What I Read:

From amazon.com

1) The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman. This non-fiction book actually started out as a podcast, so if you’ve listened to the podcast, there isn’t a whole lot of new content that you’re going to encounter here. But, if you’re like me and have better comprehension, retention, and reflection from reading a book than from listening to something, it’s a great book to have. Emily P. Freeman centralizes her message on giving your soul enough margin to be able to truly know yourself, know God, and to make better life decisions. If you’re in the midst of making a big decision, have a big decision coming up, are fed up with decision fatigue in everyday life, or just want to listen to some unique wisdom for better quality of life, this is worth the read. The chapters are short and also include a prayer and a practical way to apply her advice. Here are some excerpts I liked:

"As you take your next right step today, trust that God won't let you miss your own future. Follow the arrows."

"That's one thing about an intentional no: it can open the door for a life-giving yes."

"Just because things change doesn't mean you chose wrong in the first place. Just because you're good at something doesn't mean you have to do it forever."

"Remember that no one has ever been shamed into freedom."



From amazon.com

2) The Ministry of Ordinary Places by Shannan Martin. I came across this non-fiction book because of a recommendation by Emily P. Freeman, and I love it. It’s one of those books I’d consider getting for other people because its message is so refreshing and needed. Part of the book is a reflection on leaving her comfort to turn her life upside down by moving into a marginalized neighborhood for the purpose of just being a good neighbor. But, in general, the book is a loving manifesto about what true ministry is—it’s being present and willing and learning alongside others. It’s offering who you are knowing fully that you are also broken and don’t have all the answers. It’s family and adoption, soup at a kitchen table, and opening your house to those around you. And, it’s so much simpler than the programmatic formulas that we want to compartmentalize as ministry while everything else is just the mundane aspects of life. I can’t express enough how encouraging this book was for me and how it captures on paper many of the thoughts that have been emerging from my heart lately. Here are some excerpts that resonated for me:

"Sometimes I offer hospitality as worship. More often it's wrenched from my hands by a God who wants me nearer and knows I need a nudge."
"What if we all made a pact to not invite anyone to church if we hadn't already invited them over for a meal?" 
"The temptation to measure our effectiveness by the world's standards causes us to prematurely declare defeat or success." 



From amazon.com

3) The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile. I had this book on my list to read for a while now. Last year, at a missionary women’s retreat, a whole session was devoted to how the Enneagram can be a tool for getting to know yourself and those around you but also even more so as a spiritual tool to address the areas in life that are commonly wounds for your personality type. The idea is that it’s easier to bring those wounds to God when we’re aware of them. And, when we’re aware of others and understand who they are and how they work, it’s much easier to operate in compassion. I really enjoyed this book. Ian Morgan Cron uses great anecdotes and personal stories as illustrations, and he has a great sense of humor. For being a topic that could easily lean on the overly dry and technical, this book is wonderfully personal and warmly human. I think the Enneagram is worth discovering, and this book is a great introduction.


Favorites:
1) Seeing missionary friends. At the beginning of the month, my worlds collided when I went to visit two missionary friends in Indiana. I’d never met with missionary friends from Honduras on US soil before, and it was wonderful. It was a quick breather to feel fully understood on new turf, and I felt privileged to be able to see their worlds, where they came from, and to meet their families. It was a lovely visit.

2) Family camping. Camping has been a long-standing family tradition, and I’d been looking forward for years to the opportunity to be able to introduce Raúl to the experience. Unfortunately, it rained most of the weekend that we went, but we still had some great family time, and Raúl still was able to kayak, catch a fish on a pole (first time!), and play in the river.

3) Strange Planet Nathan Pyle memes. Laughter is good medicine. I have seen several of these memes floating around on Facebook, and they make me both smile and think. It’s amazing the way we are as humans, the things that we do that seem to not make a whole lot of sense when presented in a new light. I think these little comics are clever and light-hearted. They brighten my days.

*I don't receive any compensation for any of my opinions or recommendations.

I hope your summer is shaping up to be full of fond memories and loving ministry in your ordinary places!