Slow
My life since moving back to the States has been characterized by one word. Slow. It's been slow going finding a full-time job. My days are slow. My schedule is slow. My part-time job as an elderly caregiver is a particularly slow and patience-cultivating endeavor.It's been a struggle to set a schedule, a pace, and to find meaning in the slow moments. To view the moments as SLOW and not (as my productivity-oriented mind is want to do) EMPTY or USELESS.I wake in the morning and my mind races to all of the things I know I SHOULD BE doing: working out, sending emails, scouring the 7 different job sites that have become my daily hang outs.But what happens when I don't jump to attention? Would the world end if I spent a lazy morning in bed?Here are some thoughts.Maybe it's ok to have a SLOW (not lazy) morning. To write while snuggled in fleece sheets. To not jump up and out of bed to pound the pavement. 
To have no pressure to start the morning with military-like discipline and self-control lest the day "gets away from me."The pull to take advantage of every opportunity--my time, this city, every meal low in calories and bursting with nutrition. Maybe it's enough to say, "I'm here now and I'm okay."I'm not avoiding, I'm savoring. I'm slowing. I'm listening. Not because I CAN'T be productive, but because I CAN be here in this moment. I don't have to be on the top of a mountain or on the edge of the ocean to experience God. 
I don't have to but be here.Because He is here.
Send me on a Global Immersion
Hello! I’ve missed you. Missed this.Today I am posting for the first time since coming back to the States to tell you that I’m leaving again. No, I’m not moving again. My heart and my feet are planted firmly back here in San Diego.But I am excited to tell you that I’ll be traveling to the Holy Land for two weeks at the end of February. 
I don’t know much the about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the politics or the history--besides the colorful maps that accompanied the pink Precious Moments Bible I had as a kid. I do know it is a region of great hope and expectation as well as a place of injustice and pain for Jews, Christians, and Muslims worldwide. I don’t know much, but I want to learn more.Israel is a far cry from salsa dancing and mangos, but my desire to go stems from the same goals that led me to Central America. I’m excited to search for the bright spots. To learn from men and women who are seeking third ways and actively working toward peace. To open my heart to yet another region of the world in order to more thoughtfully and intentionally care for those in my immediate world.When I was in Guatemala last year I was very lucky to live with a family that taught me so much about how to engage thoughtfully in really complex and overwhelming problems—poverty, civil war, genocide. They introduced me to the idea of choosing a third way in a conflict, not taking sides, but being pro-peace. Throughout my year in Guatemala, I met some courageous and creative men and women who are working to bring hope and peace to their communities.I'll be joining with a unique learning community made up of men and women who span the spectrum of society to learn and travel together to the Holy Land. The experience is being guided by The Global Immersion Project (TGIP), a humanitarian organization that seeks to cultivate peacemakers through immersion in global conflict. TGIP has carefully developed a network of Israeli & Palestinian leaders and friends who will help train us for the work of local and global peacemaking.
Our cultivation will take place in three phases: (1) Understanding; (2) Exposure; and (3) Integration. The Understanding phase has already begun as our learning community is exploring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as developing a practical grid for everyday peacemaking. The Exposure phase will occur from February 28-March 9 on the ground in the Holy Land and will involve shared tables & friendship-making with the everyday peacemakers embedded within the conflict. The Integration phase will help us to process and learn from our journey as a whole while gaining the necessary resources to live as everyday peacemakers within the familiar soil of our North American contexts.
I’ve had the opportunity to do some grant writing for TGIP this past year, and I have been struck again and again by their thoughtfulness, integrity, optimism, and commitment to peace. There’s no one else I’d rather learn from or journey with to the Holy Land. Plus, one of my bestest friends and favorite processing pal—the daughter of the couple I lived with in Guatemala—is going too. Icing on the cake.As you know, I am someone who longs to participate, locally and globally, with God in His work of restoration & reconciliation. I view this experience as an environment where God's cultivation of me will further focus and fuel His just and compassionate reach to others through me. Would you prayerfully consider financially investing in my growth in this way?The entire cost of the experience is $3000 + flight. All donations are tax- deductible and will be processed through TGIP’s organizational sponsor: a registered nonprofit called Thresholds.To contribute financially to TGIP via Thresholds’ secure website:1. Please go to: www.thresholdscommunity.org/, click “Contribute”, then choose the “Give Online” option. From there, select my name (the first one--woohoo!) from the pull down list of people and projects. (To reach this page directly, click here.) You will receive an email confirmation of your gift that can also be used for tax purposes.2. To give by check, please go to the “Contribute” page on Threshold’s web site. From this page, under the “Give by Mail” section, you will be able to print out a pledge card and return it with a check made payable to “Thresholds” at the address given. You will receive a printed receipt from Thresholds for tax purposes.I also welcome your prayers and encouragement, questions and feedback. I’ll be posting updates and musings here and would love you to journey with me here on my blog or over coffee or chai tea lattes or Skype dates.Thanks for your love and support,Aly
Leaving on a Jet Plane
That's right. My time in Guatemala is coming to a close. Tomorrow marks my one-year anniversary of living in the land of eternal springtime, volcanos, cobblestone streets, and tortillas and mangos to boot.
My original goal/plan was to live abroad for a year, and the time has come for me to move back to San Diego. I've learned a lot about myself this year, who I am whenno one's looking, what I really value, and, especially, how grateful I am to have the friends and support I do back in San Diego. I'm sad to leave my new friends and this magical place, but am excited about the next chapter in my life. I don't have a job or a place to live lined up yet, but I trust this is the right step for me.I'm sorry the blogging has been few and far between lately, but I've been trying to soak up the last of my time here. I'll get back to a more consistent schedule once I'm in the States. I'm sure I'll have tons of processing and percolating to do with the new transition.Thanks for reading, and I'd appreciate your prayers for the next few weeks and wisdom for my next steps.