Moving On

It has been a year since I left to work at Hope International for what is, at this point, the best summer experience of my life.  I never posted a conclusion to my summer all those months ago.  I kept writing and re-writing and just could not figure out what to say, so I didn't say anything at all.  Now, I realize why I could not write that last blog post... the adventure wasn't over yet.  My senior year at Mississippi State came to a close 3 weeks ago.  On May 12, I walked into The Hump with my best friends, and walked out a graduate of the best university that I could have ever chosen to attend.  This year, looking through the lens of my time at Hope, I have learned to be intentional, not accept things as they are, and step out in great leaps of faith.  One of those leaps is the decision to attend Wesley Theological Seminary beginning in the fall.  My original intention was to attend as a Master of Theological Studies student, which leads me to another leap.  I will attend Wesley for the next three years as a Master of Divinity student and Mission Fellow.  God has led me to a path of not only working with the church but working in the church, and I am planning to do just that.  Please keep me in your prayers as I continue on this journey.

Below is a slide show of pictures from my trip to the Dominican Republic with Homes for Hope.  This was truly a great experience.  There, I got to spend quality time with my supervisors, Mike and Kara, who I still miss interacting with on a daily basis, meet many amazing people, and see another country for the first time in my life.  The person I met there that made the most impact is Carmen, an Esperanza (Hope's DR partner) loan officer.  She started as an Esperanza client.  She brought herself out of poverty, and eventually was offered a job as a loan officer.  She travels to small communities on a dangerous motorcycle, and there, collects loan payments from the community banks.  The people in those banks trust Carmen, and she uses that trust to share Christ with them.  Carmen told me that this opportunity to share Christ is what drives her to keep going.  She puts her life on the line everyday just for this.  We should all take a lesson from her.

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Though this period in my life has come to a close, I am going to continue blogging.  This blog will remain active for anyone that wishes to read through my adventures at Hope.  My new adventures will be posted on aakopp.wordpress.com.

Are you salty?

Two weeks left.  Two.  T-W-O.  2.  It doesn't seem real.  I have absolutely loved my time here.  I have learned and grown so much in this time, and am so thankful to have had this experience.  I take a quote from a movie (maybe not the best movie ever, but it's a good line), "A place is only as good as the people you know in it."  Well, I have to say that Lancaster is pretty AWESOME!  Though home is even more.  Can I just move all my friends and family here?  I promise the weather is better.


It's great for creek stomping!

We are HOPE interns!

With a bit of editing...

One of the best things about being here has been my spiritual growth.  My soul has been so nurtured in this Christian fellowship.  I've said before, and I will say again...I'm so lucky to have been able to intern in this environment where not only do I get to do meaningful work, but I get to pray and study God's Word with my co-workers every single day.  Yes, we all have distractions in our work and problems that get us down...  We struggle with thinking that we are in control and can do things ourselves...  Yet, when we come together in prayer, we confess these struggles before each other and before God, and we are better for it.  Our trust in God is strengthened.  It's truly an example of the wisdom stated in Proverbs 29:17, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."

Yesterday, in staff prayer, we read this passage from Luke:

Luke 14:34-35

³⁴ "Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? ³⁵It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 

If you know your Bible, you know that this concept is mentioned in two other gospels:

^{Matthew 5:13
13}"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.


^{Mark 9:50
 50} Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."

Are you salty?  How do you stay salty in the world today when distractions keep you focused on yourself and your work, when the people around you seem to drain the flavor out of you?  How do you keep your flavor, and not stay in the salt-shaker?  It's been so easy being here in this nurturing environment, but sometimes, it has felt like the salt-shaker.  I'm about to leave the salt-shaker in only two weeks and go back to the Bible-belt, where the faith isn't radical, it's cultural.  Where people don't go to church for passionate worship and Christian fellowship, they go because they are supposed to (and sometimes for the food).  I'm about to go back to work in academia, where faith is sometimes present, but never outspoken.  How do I stay salty?  Some ideas I have...deep Christian fellowship and accountability, abiding in the word, limiting distractions...but is this enough?  I don't want to be worthless.  I want to be used by God to spread the truth of Christ around me.

Are you salty?  If so, how do you stay salty?  I would love to read your comments on this.

Marble Runs and Nerf Guns

Wow! Five weeks left if this internship!  I can't believe it.  Five weeks left means that I have been here for NINE weeks.  I don't believe that either.  It has gone by really quickly, and I have not been able to get as much done for the summer as I thought I would.  Successful internship--check!  Study for and take the GRE--not happening.  Finish county project for agecon--I am praying that this will be done, but its slow going.  I can't seem to get in a groove on Fridays when I need to work.  Plus, it was delayed for 4 weeks by my computer crashing.  While I feel such peace here, I have to say that having this project hanging over my head is a source of anxiety, one that I hope will be eliminated quite soon.  Please pray that I will find some time and motivation to finish it up.

You may be wondering about the title of this blog.  Well, I have to say that one of the reasons I have not had a ton of extra time is because of the fun of marble runs and nerf guns.  Josiah is 4, and he really enjoys playing, like most little boys his age, and these are the things he enjoys.  He was really excited to find a kindred spirit in his love of nerf guns when he found out that I had one in the back of my car.  We have since played with it several times.  Marble Runs are a whole different story.  They are just downright cool.  Below is a video of a marble run.  This is the same type of track the Josiah has.  The marble run stays in the basement, and sometimes I cannot help putting on a few marbles and watching them go.

so cool!

Let me get to an update of the past few weeks.  I have been very busy at Homes for Hope lately working on some marketing initiatives.  SO MUCH FUN!  I never have enjoyed my marketing classes as much as my economics classes, but I have to say, I really enjoy putting them into practice.  I enjoy thinking of things to do, and I really enjoy writing.  I enjoyed writing in high school, but I have found a new love for it.  I like watching my thoughts come to life and shape a picture as I put them into words.  I hope that this means that I am on the right track!  For some of my writing please see www.homes4hope.org later this week.

My parents came to visit for the weekend of the Fourth.  We spent two days in DC and several more in Lancaster.  Though I wish I could say that their trip was invigorating, I did miss my weekend rest, and was physically and mentally exhausted by the time they left.  I did more in those few days than I have done the entire time I was here.  However, I did finally get to go to Hershey Chocolate World!

While we were in DC, I made some progress on future plans.  I met with admissions at American University and Wesley Theological Seminary.  I love both campuses, and would really feel at home there.  If only I can get in...  The dual degree program that I desire to complete typically requires 2 years of full time work experience.  I really hope that when I contact the graduate professor in the fall, that he says that I should go ahead and apply.  I am keeping my options open, and am willing to go where God wants me to go, but that doesn't make me love this place any less.  I would be so lucky to be able to go here.  Especially knowing that I have loved DC since I was a sophomore in high school!

Well I hope that this update on what is going on in my life finds all of you having wonderful summers! I love you and miss you all.

I will leave you with Psalm 41.  I have always loved Psalm 40, and have sadly overlooked Psalm 41 in the past.  Hopefully you will find this Psalm as much of a blessing as it has been for me.




O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

41:1 Blessed is the one who considers the poor! [1]
In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health. [2]

4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, [3] for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me. [4]

8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out [5] on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!

11 By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.

13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

Isn't it such a blessing to know that in the midst of our troubles, God delights in us and will uphold us as long as we are faithful.  It should be simple in the fact that God returns his faithfulness for our faithfulness, but I am constantly overwhelmed at the fact that quite simply, I am so small, and God is so big, yet he still delights in me, and will uphold me in the face of my enemies.

Blessings from PA,

Aislinn

Jehovah Jireh

One thing that being here has taught me is how to pray and read the Bible.  By this point, you are all thinking, you are a good Christian girl. You've followed God to Lancaster, PA!  You know how to do these things. In theory yes, but I am finding that in my personal walk, I did not.  There are all kinds of things that ministers have told me to use over the years to "improve" my praying.  There is the ACTS acronym, the PRAY acronym, and even the one where your prayer corresponds to your fingers-all ways to make a prayer more efficient.  I'm not sure that's the point though.  Until I started this internship, I didn't realize that the best way to pray was from God's Word.  I'm not saying that all the ministers that have told me to use the other methods listed are wrong. Many people do have trouble praying, myself included, and sometimes using one of the methods is the best.  However, when the disciples did not know how to pray, Jesus taught them this: 


Luke 11:1-13
¹ One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” ² He said to them, “When you pray, say:
   “‘Father,^[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.^[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
⁴ Forgive us our sins,
   for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.^[c]
And lead us not into temptation.^[d]’”
 ⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
   ⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
   ¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for^[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”


In this teaching, one of the main points that Jesus makes is that when you pray, God just wants you to knock and to ask.  This is where most people come into trouble.  What should I ask for? How do I know that what I want is what God wants?  Now, I will be cliche, but I have heard many pastors over the years call the Bible "God's Instruction Manual."


Hello!!!!!! Why didn't I see this before?  What God wants for our lives is right in front of us.  In every passage of scripture, he is revealing to us what he wants us to know.  In the past few weeks I have learned one of the most valuable things that this internship could give me.  Now, when I read the Bible, whether at home or at work, I pray in response to the scripture.  I thank God for the wisdom of the words, and I reflect back to Him what I have learned from his word that day, and what I want to know more about.  This response often leads to confession and peace. 


Which leads me to....
Today, in our afternoon prayer time, we read Luke 9:1-27 and Proverbs 8:22-31.   These passages are vastly different, but together were incredibly enlightening.  What is amazing is that there are several different scenes in these verses, and they are often read separately, but together, paint a beautiful picture of God as Jehovah Jireh, our Provider.  He provided for the disciples as they went from town to town spreading the gospel with nothing, not even their extra tunic.  He then provided food for the five thousand with 2 fish and five loaves of bread, but what this all leads to is this: 


Luke 9:23-26
²³ Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. ²⁵ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? ²⁶ Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.


We just got through reading through so many examples of God's provision, and then Jesus, with His perfect timing, says this, which is often a curveball of a verse for many people.  However, when read in the context of Luke 9, we see that this verse is obvious.  God is Jehovah Jireh.  If we have faith that He will provide, these verses should be no trouble to act out daily.  It is our desire to control our own lives and our own fate that make this verse so troubling.  This brings me to Proverbs 8:22-31.  Wisdom is speaking.


²² “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works,^[c][d]
   before his deeds of old;
²³ I was formed long ages ago,
   at the very beginning, when the world came to be.
²⁴ When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,
   when there were no springs overflowing with water;
²⁵ before the mountains were settled in place,
   before the hills, I was given birth,
²⁶ before he made the world or its fields
   or any of the dust of the earth.
²⁷ I was there when he set the heavens in place,
   when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
²⁸ when he established the clouds above
   and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
²⁹ when he gave the sea its boundary
   so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
 ³⁰ Then I was constantly^[e] at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
   rejoicing always in his presence,
³¹ rejoicing in his whole world
   and delighting in mankind.


The fact that Wisdom is speaking here was hard to wrap my head around at first.  I did not understand how Wisdom came into play, and I'm still not sure that I thoroughly understand it, but as we were praying in response to these scriptures, I began to understand that the wisdom here for us, and for me today, was that this was OUR GOD that was creating this world.  OUR GOD who is so big, so omnipotent, so omniscient, that he "marked out the foundations of the earth."  This is God, OUR GOD, that wants to provide for us as we take up our cross daily.  Who am I to want to control my own life, when the God that created the universe, OUR GOD, has a specific plan for me?  I have no right to want to know immediately what his plan is for me.  I have no right to worry about my daily activities when the God that created the universe is my provider.


If you are still with me, thank you for sharing in what God provided for me today.  Thank you Kara for setting me on this path of revelation today after reading your blog this morning.


Join me next time for Marble Runs and Nerf Guns.

Quick Update

Hello Readers (if there are any of you left after my long absence),

I apologize for my absence from the blogging world.  The last few weeks have not been that eventful, but unbelievably busy.  As of, I guess 3 weeks ago now, I began my internship as the Homes for Hope intern.  In the three weeks that I have been in my official position, I feel that I have accomplished 50% less than I did in the first 2 weeks in my temporary position.  Unfortunately, that is just how it is I guess.  The projects I am working on now are longer term projects, and while I am incredibly efficient, contact lists are always slow going, and not very thought intensive. I am hoping that as the summer progresses, I will be able to work on some projects that are not only meaningful to Hope and H4H, but are also thought intensive and challenging to me.  Don't take this as meaning that I am unsatisfied though.  God has used these last few weeks to motivate me to get involved in other things.  In my much needed 2 minute breaks from Excel, I have been able to organize intern lunch, step up and be a leader for the interns' book discussions, and get to know people in the office.  It has also given me a lot of time for reflection and prayer.  I am really searching for God's direction in my life.  I know he led me here, and I have absolutely fallen in love with this area (if only for the 75 degrees and sunny weather in June), but I am at a loss for the next move that I need to make in my life.  That aside, I will continue with updates. :)

Hope has a mentoring program for its interns.  My mentor is Erika, Peter Greer's assistant.  She is wonderful. She took me to coffee last week, and we talked for an hour straight.  Erika lives in Delaware and commutes every day.  She was a soccer player at Georgetown before she got the job at Hope.  At first, I was afraid that Erika and I would not have anything in common, she being a college athlete, and me being one of the most un-athletic people I know.  However, I foresee that not only will Erika be a wonderful mentor, but we will be able to encourage each other.  

There are a lot of things that I have failed to mention in this blog post, and I have cut it very short, but below are some more pressing matters.  Prayer Requests.

1. Hope ex-pat employees and interns (ex-pat means that they are American citizens living in another country)

2. Sickness among Hope employees and their families (There is a lot of sadness in the office currently.)

As part of this request, specifically pray for Christine.  She is pregnant and has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  They wanted to postpone chemo until the pregnancy was far enough along to be induced, but the disease is progressing faster than anticipated.  Please pray for wisdom and healing here.

3. Friendship

4. I hate to put this on here because it makes me feel selfish, but please pray that God will show me his direction.

I love you and miss you all!

Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary to the BEST Parents in the WORLD!!!!!!

So I know many of you are expecting an update on the goings-on of this past week and weekend.  Don't worry.  It will come.  But that will wait until tomorrow.  Because today is an important day.  A VERY important day.  Today is my parents 25th wedding anniversary.  If the events of this day had not happened 25 years ago, yours truly would not be here, so, needless to say, I am happy that those events happened.

All joking aside, I want to take this opportunity to share with the world how wonderful these two people are. My Dad, though he has always worked very hard, has always take time to have fun, both for himself and with me.  I've watched him play the drums all of my life, and I've never seen anyone have quite as much fun as he does.  I still remember our special Daddy/Daughter days when he would take me to dance class or piano lessons when Mom was busy, and we would go to McDonald's for dinner.  Those are still some of my favorite days. :)
My Mom has always been my teacher.  In the classroom she taught me how to write, and at home she taught me how to embrace my thoughts and feelings and think big while following God's plan.  In a way, these are perfect complements.  Anytime I would write, the way that my mom taught me to think would shine through.  My thoughts were always much bigger than any paper assignment required.

My parents' influence in my life is the reason I am where I am today.  They have always encouraged me and been supportive, even when they were not sure of the outcome themselves.  Thanks Mom and Dad for just being you--the best parents in the world.  I love y'all!!

Hebrews 12:10 (The Message)
While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best.

Interns on the Run!!!!! j/k

Hello all!!  Wow!  It has been a whole 2 weeks since I blogged.  I have had a lot of people asking when I am going to post again, so here it is.  Sorry it has been so long.  It has been a crazy couple of weeks, and I have not had access to the internet for most of that time.

So here is what has been happening the past few weeks...
I finished my last week of working on the golf tournament, so I moved into my position as the Homes for Hope intern this week.  My work on the golf tournament was really successful.  I mailed 100 letters, made 100+ phone calls, and made a really cool looking fundraising meter all in 7.5 days on the job.

This past week has been spent at the HOPE Leadership Summit/Intern conference.  This was an amazing experience.  We got the chance to interact with HOPE's managing directors.  This only happens for HOPE staff once a year, so we were really lucky to be a part of it.  Thursday, May 19, the other interns began arriving.  No one, even the staff, expected this group of interns to get as close and work together so well as we did.  The interns also had lots of fun together, whether it be setting up for the Celebrating HOPE Banquet or walking around downtown Lancaster singing around and playing every piano we saw. (Downtown Lancaster is covered in painted pianos. You can see one in my description of Sunday events.) Oh, and I found out that I will have a roommate at the Caslers, Alison.  We already get along really well!

Saturday night was the Celebrating HOPE Banquet.  The interns spent all day working on decorating a ballroom in the Lancaster Convention Center.  That night, the ballroom was filled with influential donors, HOPE staff, and managing directors from all over the world, all dressed in culturally traditional clothing.  The most beautiful of all had to be the managing director of HOPE Congo, Jacinta, who looked like an African Queen. See some pictures below :) unfortunately there are none of Jacinta :(

 There was a silent auction.  See some of the displays below.

 This is the division I am working for!

 INTERNS!!!!

Sunday, we were interns on the run.  We had the day to ourselves, so a group of us went to Community Fellowship Church.  That night, we went to downtown Lancaster, and entertained the locals. SO MUCH FUN!

The Summit began on Monday.  This began a week of learning about HOPE and all of the work that it does.  I thought that I knew a lot about HOPE before, but now I feel that I could teach a class on it.  One of the sessions that was most influential was on Holistic Ministry.  This is what is different about HOPE, though HOPE is still working at perfecting this part of its work.  HOPE ministers to the entire person, spiritual and physical.  I could talk about this for an entire post, so if you would like to hear more about it, make the request as a comment, and I will post more about it.

Thursday night was the most fun night of the week! At the end of every Summit, HOPE holds a skit/song contest complete with "celebrity" judges and prizes.  The interns DOMINATED!  We did a skit poking fun at HOPE's President, Peter Greer, who happened to mess up one of HOPE's numerous acronyms the first day of the Summit.  Then, we sang the song that we wrote to the tune of LOVE.  The song is funny, while still communicating HOPE's message.  We did this song complete with a violin opening and an acapela base line.  SO GREAT! Here's the song:

“H is for holistic ministry

O is for the Only loan you need

P: keep praying, praying, Peter Greer is always saying

Loans, they’re made for you and meee…

Ooops, we messed up our acronym,

PASSION, FISH, there’s no way to keep track of them,

Oops, we skipped a letter

Peter Greer we must do better

HOPE, there’s hope for you and me.

E, we’ll add it on to H-O-P

HOPE, our products help you physically

Not to be dualistic,

But our SI…it makes the difference

HOPE, it’s international.

Loans aren’t all the HOPE can give to you

Loans are more than a board game for two

Trust alone can’t make it, take my loan but please repay it

HOPE…it’s international”

So.... I'm getting close to the end.  Thursday night was our last night out together, and we went to downtown Lancaster one more time.  We had a wonderful time, but it was sad to be our last night with the ex-pat interns.  However, Mari Pili is our designated intern reunion coordinator, so I hope this happens.  I know that I made some wonderful lasting friendships, and though some may be across the world, I think we will be able to pick up right where we left off.  As I said to all of them that tried to tell me "goodbye" and you know who you are if you are reading this, "This is not goodbye. I'll see you soon, and I mean it."

Friday evening was very special.  We had been staying in a large house with an Ethiopian family the duration of the summit.  As they found out that we were leaving, they wanted to have an Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony for us.  We didn't really know what to expect.  Alison and I had discussed it and decided to go get a cup of coffee and leave.  We were in for a big surprise.  When we arrived on the main floor, where the family lived, we arrived to lasagna, salad, bread, and peach pie.  Everything was delicious, though all but the peach pie had a slightly Ethiopian twist.  In other words, SPICY! After dinner, it was time for the coffee ceremony.  In Ethiopia, the coffee ceremony is done 3 times per day.  The beans are roasted on a special stove, and are ground by hand, then steeped in a special pot.  However, being in America, Ebenezer (our host), roasted the beans on the stove, and used a coffee grinder.  If you have never smelled roasting coffee beans, make a point to.  Ebenezer made the coffee in the special pot, and the coffee was served in small china glasses on a special tray.  Pictures are below.  No filter is used in the coffee pot.  It takes skill to pour the coffee without spilling the grounds.  That said, this coffee was the best that I have ever tasted.  I am spoiled now, and must learn how to do this.

Saturday, I moved into my new home for the next few months, the Caslers'.  Jesse works for HOPE and his wife is a professor.  They have two very cute little boys.  Alison and I share the basement "apartment," a bedroom, bathroom, living area, and kitchenette.  It might not be much, but it is definitely the coolest place that I have been all summer, and I am thankful for that.

I still have such a peace about being here and working here I know that it must be that God has put me here.  I believe it more everyday.

If you have been praying for me, please add the following people and causes to your prayer list:
(I have left out last names for privacy)
1. Elizabeth: Ghana (with Edify)
2. Tara: Moldova
3. Cooper and Mari Pili: Dominican Republic
4. Meghan: Rwanda
5. Sylvie: India
6. Nathan: Philippines
7. Russel: Ukraine
8. Ana: Republic of Congo
9. Alison, Liam, Kira, Tabea, Maria, Margaret, Jabez, Josh, John x 2, and Joe: Lancaster interns
10. Safety of Managing Directors in various countries and stability in the micro-finance markets.

A few things to add:

If you would like to comment on the blog, click follow.  It will ask you to either register with google or blogger.  Then, you can get an email when I have a new post and comment on the posts.  I know several of my readers had asked my mom how to do that, so here are the instructions.
Finally, if you want to send me anything, send me a message or post a comment, and I will send you my address.  I would post it, but this blog is public, and I would rather keep the address private.

I love you and miss you all.

Blessings from Lancaster.