Morley Update 2010 #44

Everyone,

I find I am feeling a little stressed. We leave for the states in only a month and there is a lot happening before then. We are having 4 large Christmas parties at the ARC plus one smaller children's party. I need to have a puppet show ready for the children's party and our church is sponsoring one of the large Christmas parties so I am helping to facilitate that. We have a short term team coming in one week. Short Term Teams are a big help but I need to coordinate airport transportation, settling them at the hotel, orientation plus making sure they know how to navigate around the city, use money etc. In addition I am gathering papers and sending off for needed documentation to apply for our residence permits again. I need to make sure we have all our ducks in a row so that when we hit the states we can get the process started quickly. I am also trying to figure out a speaking schedule for when we are home and make sure we have all the pictures and materials we need for presentations. I need to pre-purchase medications, arrange to have our rent and other bills paid, plants watered and all the other little details that need to happen in order to be gone for three months. To top all this off I started having some trouble with my eyes and had to go to the ophthalmologist. I was seeing long black strands and clumpy black dots as well as flashes of light. Turns out I have a vitreous separation, which is not dangerous once it separates but can cause problems during the process. I need to put a gel and some drops in my eyes twice a day for the next 20 days and then see the doctor again. Are you feeling sorry for me yet? I can hear my friend and team mate Ilir say "Do you want some cheese with that whine?"

Being on the mission field is interesting. Sometimes you feel like this is the best job in the world and sometimes you think of your old life and wonder "what were we thinking?" Sometimes that can happen on the same day with the same set of events. Wednesday is a good example. We started with a team meeting and then set up for a shoe give away. We received a donation of several hundred short, rubber, fur lined boots for kids in all sizes. My job at the beginning of the day was to escort families up the stairs, determine the child's size by having them stand on a chart on the floor, take them to the appropriate table and help them try on their shoes. When they finished I was to take them to a table to sign up for the children's party and escort them back downstairs. Depending on my outlook, I could tell about trying to get shoes on dirty, sweaty, stinky little feet with no socks, I could tell of a child insisting on a pair that was too big or a parent trying to get me to give them a pair that were too small for their preteen son because we didn't have any that fit. I could tell of standing in line at the Christmas party sign up while a mother argued that her small child should be allowed to come even though the invitation clearly said "7 to 12 years old only". I could tell of walking up and down the stairs until I was limping and finally trading jobs with someone just to sit down for a few minutes. I could tell how when Kent and I left on the bike there were demonstrations downtown and we had to go the long way around even though it had started to rain. I could tell how by the time I got home I was wet from the rain and from getting splashed by dirty water thrown up by a bus. I could tell how Kent built a fire because I was freezing but I still had to fix dinner before I could finally sit down and warm up. I COULD tell it that way.

Or I could tell about the kids. So many of them wearing flip flops or dirty ratty tennis shoes and no socks even though it is beginning to get cold out. I could tell about how excited they were to pick out which color of shoes they wanted and how they smiled when they slipped their feet into the warm fur lined boots. I could tell how many of them said "Thank you" in English. Or I could tell you about the parents. I could tell you how they looked on fondly as their kids tried to decide if they wanted red, black or blue and how I thought that it's probably been a long time since they were offered a choice about anything. I could tell how they knelt down and felt the toes to see if the shoe fit and how I remembered my own mom doing the same thing. I could tell about their grateful thanks and how they walked out holding the hand of a child who skipped along happily in their snug new shoes. I could tell how thankful I was after work not to have to ride the bus and how even though it rained, we rode along the sea. I could tell how my best friend and partner in life and ministry often reached back to pat me on the leg as if to say "I'm glad we are in this together". I could tell how when we got home I was grateful for my home, my fireplace and food to cook. I could tell how we finished the evening toasting our feet by the fire and doing a crossword puzzle together.

Wherever you are living your life you have a choice. You can look at things with gratefulness or with discontentment. Pray that we never forget how much God has done for us and all the blessings He has given us. Pray that God will give us a heart to love and care and to reach out to those less fortunate, for they are all around us. Thank you for all you do for us. We love you all and look forward to seeing you before too long.

Serving Him Together,
Kent and Myrna Morley
Tripoleos 76
Elliniko 16777
Athens Greece
011 30 210 96 38 625
backhoeboy1@juno.com
http://kent-uniquelymorley.blogspot.com
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Elgin IL 60123
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