Greetings from the Kitchen Cafe!

BRADDY’S ANNUAL UPDATE

. . . Musings and Moments from 2009

What kind of pathetic, sentimental sap gets all choked up watching their unmatched, 30-year-old washer and dryer being hauled off?

Guilty.

Those were the appliances, after all, that washed our now-grown boys’ dirty duds and got us through a lot of grime—in more ways than one. Years after the kids were on their own, they continued to serve us well. No wonder it was akin to putting a beloved pet to sleep.

For you less-sentimental skeptics who scoff that machines aren’t human, consider this. The very morning of the new delivery, my old washer gave up the ghost, stubbornly refusing to finish its last cycle.  A coincidence? I think not.  Surely even the most cynical have to wonder. Did it know? Was it trying to make the switch easier?

Whatever. 

All I know is that, shortly after Christmas, two identical, unscratched, shiny-white enamel goddesses sporting airplane motors and matching control panels took up residency in my laundry room. I’m still figuring out the settings and getting used to the new (admittedly quieter) noises they make.

Okay. By now you’re undoubtedly wondering: Why is she starting a new year letter with an anecdote about appliances?  Stay with me for the annual update and you’ll see. (No fair skipping to the end.)

For most of 2009 Jim spent the usual amount of time in the office, traveling his assigned NorCal/Nevada territory and attending compulsory at-home and cross-country committee meetings. However, unlike most years, he didn’t plan any overseas missions trips. Partly this was an economic decision, partly a hankering to stay home, but mostly we were saving up for something else.

As for me, eagerly awaiting the June  release of my newest book, Camp Gramma: Putting Down Spiritual Stakes For Your Grandchildren , I made the tough decision not to take on another book project for this year.  Instead, true to a personal commitment to better mental health, I spent most of the year going through the house room-by-room, cleaning and getting rid of unwanted clutter. Then I had a glorious garage sale scoring almost $400.  No tears were shed when the local thrift store guys came to claim those unsold items.

That’s not to say we didn’t make a few fun and productive forays throughout the year: 

March - Enjoyed a short Mexican Riviera cruise sponsored by Builder’s International for the purpose of acquainting people with their church-building ministry.

July -  Gathered all the grands in Coeur D’Alene, ID and made up for missing last year by putting on CAMP GRAMMA ROCKS.  It was a blast. Everything had a rock theme, including the Vacation Bible School lessons surrounding the story of the Apostle Peter—the “rock” on whom Christ built the early church (Matthew 16:18).

August -  Sponsored our own church-building trip, taking a team of seven guys to work on the much-loved mission church in Pelican, AK.  It was our third summer in a row to revisit and we were so excited to introduce others to that little-known window on the wilderness. They got a wild experience all right. The second day there, the entire town’s water source exploded and we spent a week with only the rain water we could collect and what the townspeople could spare for cooking, washing and flushing. Even so, what they accomplished was amazing!

To recoup, later that month we made a week-long trek to Orlando, FL for the Assemblies of God General Council. Judi did a Camp Gramma booksigning and we reunited with friends and one of Jim’s long-lost nephews.

September - Spent a few days of meetings in Monterey, Coeur D’Alene and San Diego, respectively.

THEN ON OCTOBER 28th … drum roll, please… we started a long-postponed but much-anticipated two-month SABBATICAL.

This took us first back to the Midwest and put us in touch with our roots by exploring Jim’s adorably quaint home town of Edwardsville, IL, as well as parts of nearby St. Louis, MO.  From there we traveled by car to Springfield, MO where Jim was honored by Central Bible College as an Alumni of the Year in the area of Leadership. He was also asked to speak in chapel. These were both great times of reconnecting with friends and family, not to mention reflecting on where we started our journey of marriage and ministry 42 years ago.

Driving back to St. Louis, we then boarded a plane for the second lap of the sabbatical—Berlin, Germany. There we spent 10 wonderful days of rest and relaxation with dear friends, John & Gayle Butrin, in their gorgeously-decorated (thanks to Gayle’s creativity), 100 year old apartment. During this time we had the amazing experience of gathering at the famous Brandenburg Gate to participate in the 20-year celebration of the fall of the Berlin wall. This also meant standing for five hours with several thousand people in a chilling fall drizzle. Still, we somehow  managed to escape starting our sabbatical with pneumonia.

Other day trips included Wittenburg—where Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door, opening a door of religious reform to all following after—and Potsdam—a picturesque German town, most famous for a World War II treaty signed there. 

The rest of the week we walked the autumn tree-lined streets of Berlin, ate wonderful German food and met interesting people.  I did accept one amazing opportunity to speak for Christian Women of Berlin, an international group embracing those from every faith.

From Berlin, it was on to Dublin, Ireland and another week-long foray into Jim’s ancestral roots.  I could write an entire newsletter about this part of the trip alone, but will attempt to condense. With only five days to see the country, we rented a car, whereupon Jim took on the daunting task of driving on the left side of the road.  In fact, everything in the car was reversed. On top of that, we were totally unfamiliar with the roads and had no real idea where we were going (save for the map and a mostly useless GPS). No wonder we got lost just trying to find our first bed and breakfast. Little did we know, this was a harrowing harbinger of the wild week ahead.

 Our first full day was spent in a picturesque suburb named Malahide, famous for its centuries-old castle. From there we made a quick morning train trip into downtown Dublin, then hopped a bus to see a few famous sites. The highlight was Trinity College and the Book of Kells.  In forboding form, we got on the wrong train coming back which made us late leaving for our next destination—the southern coastal town of Cork. By the time we arrived, it was late, dark and the weather had taken a nasty turn.

Not to be put off,  next morning found us climbing to the top of nearby Blarney Castle in a heavy drizzle just so Jim could kiss the famous stone (like he really needs the gift of gab!) From there we caught a ferry to Cobh (pronounced “Cove”) and visited an Irish immigration museum.  

Still taking no thought of the weather forecast, we dashed merrily on to the Dingle Peninsula only to be blown in five dark hours later by gale force winds. Braving the sideways rain, we landed at a local pub for dinner, then stayed the night in a five-star bed and breakfast. This turned out to be the best part of our visit.  Waking to another day of wild weather, we finally decided to take a far-sighted weather watch before continuing our pre-planned itinerary to the west. That’s when we discovered that Ireland and the UK were experiencing some of the worst flooding in years. We quickly determined to make a beeline back to Dublin, where we finally enjoyed a sunny break on our last day.

Lest you think the week was wasted, let me tell you that we laughed more on this leg of the journey than any of the rest and still managed to see some of the most gorgeous country and meet the most delightful people on the face of the earth. We also learned to give each other a lot of slack. In the end, the lessons learned and memories made navigating that unnaturally wet week together stand out as some of the best taken from our time away.

The last 10 days of November we spent in Spain where the weather was mostly better--even enjoyed some sun. We stayed with dear friends, Dan & Kathy Stump, who showed us around their seaside community of Barcelona (our second trip to that fair city) and accompanied us on a three-day trip to Madrid where we enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (yea--American food!) with 90 other Spain-based missionaries.  It was all fun—no real ministry, save a “sharing” time or two.

By the time we boarded our U.S.-bound plane on November 30th, we were both ready to spend our final month of R & R at home.  We did take a few early December days to visit San Antonio, TX, joining fellow-Superintendents for an annual, fun conference. But the last four weeks we spent decorating for Christmas (something, due to book deadlines, I hadn’t done full-out in years), sitting by our own fireplace, and anticipating an after Christmas visit from all our kids and grands. This proved to be one of our best times together ever and a great way to end our sabbatical.  Since it would take another newsletter to describe, I’ll simply include a picture taken during that week of our ever-growing brood.

Once the kids were gone and the house quiet, we had only a few days left to rest and reflect before, as Jim recently described it, “jumping back on a running horse”. And what insights might we share from those ruminations?

•   There are definitely cheaper places than Europe.

•   There are definitely warmer months than November

•   If you choose November, consider a tropical climate  

•   No matter where you go, you’ll occasionally make a wrong turn.

•   Even with the best planning, there are some things in life (like the weather) that you simply can’t control. 

•   The only way to make life less stressful is to learn patience.

•   Unfortunately patience is mostly learned when life is stressful.

•   Don’t wait 42 years to tell someone how you really feel

•   No matter how much time you take off, it’s never long enough. 

•   Whatever you do, wherever you go, make the most of the time God gives you.

•   Life encroaches quickly

•   Keep an attitude of sabbatical 

 Believe it or not, this brings me back to my new washer and dryer. When first looking at those twin towers, I couldn’t help but wonder: Will these last as long as my old ones?  Doubtful, considering our modern, made-for-obsolesence technology (guess that’s where my skepticism shows).  But if they do, they’ll be the last washer and dryer I ever own—a rather sobering thought to take into the new year.

For that reason alone, I’m so glad Jim and I took some time off to put our lives in perspective. It’s something we highly recommend. One of the most therapeutic things we did during our time away was to keep individual journals, recording not just the places we went and things we did, but our honest thoughts and feelings.  Then, after about two weeks, we began reading our entries to each other.  This is a great thing to do even if not on sabbatical.

I won’t tell you what we wrote. Just that we decided, unlike our appliances, we’d hang onto each other even if we break down.

And that, friends, was a great way to end one year and start another.

BEST WISHES FROM THE BRADDYS FOR A BLESSED 2010!

Updated 03/21/2011 using Microsoft FrontPage 2003