Always Something to Miss by : Mair

On a regular basis, as one of my children is mentioning something she misses about home, I am heard to say, “No matter where you are and what you are doing, there is always something to miss.”    I don’t know why this statement stuck with me from some movie or another, but I ponder it often as we adjust to our new normal. 

I have come believe missing something or someone cannot be equated with regret.  Missing can be the same as treasuring , taking the time to notice how important something is to you.  And I think we can all afford to treasure our blessings more.  At the same time, missing should not replace the value we put on our current circumstances.  The statement “There is always something to miss.” says to me that we need to look around and appreciate what we’ve got, when we’ve got it, because when we move on in this journey of life, we will regret not noticing it when we had it.

So my blog today is about missing… what I miss currently and what I will miss when we leave.  What I currently miss will be the treasure component of the blog… what I will come to miss will be the daily gratitude part.  These lists are a kind of extended, more-thought-out version of my “First Impressions” list from August.

What I Miss: (The Treasures of Home)

- those boxes of fresh salad that have been pre-washed three times and you  just rip them open, dump them out and EAT!  (I know I should have said “Friends and Family” first… but it is hot here and I really miss SALAD!!)

- bags of raw carrots and you just rip them open, dump them out and EAT! (I know, I know, continuing on a theme is all.)

- Friends and Family ;)

- dependable electricity

-  hot showers

- hot water that can actually cut through grease while washing dishes

- my dishwasher

- clean streets

- wide sidewalks that don’t have giant, unmarked caverns in them, barbeques springing up unexpectedly in the middle of them,  or roosters lining them. 

The Boracay Sidewalk

- Northern Ontario in the summer time

- fresh water lakes – parasite free

- good sewer systems

- immunizations for all (we have already had friends with Typhoid and Mumps since we have been here)

- universal health care

- being able to flush toilet paper (here it goes into a garbage can beside the toilet… I know… UGH!)

- toilet paper (here you have to bring it with you… and it is called “toilet tissue”)

- Children’s Aid

-  the changing leaves of Fall

- being able to wear jeans, a thick sweater, and hiking boots

- being able to talk to my family on a phone that doesn’t fade in and out

- being able to wear my hair down

- worship time at our church

- sermons in English

- being at the entrance of our trusty Zehrs, shopping cart in hand, money in pocket,  with an endless plethora of good, clean, food surrounding me all for the picking

- freshly harvested corn on the cob and strawberries

- homemade (by someone else) preserves

(Okay… I shouldn’t have written this when I am hungry!)

- a big school photocopier ,you know the kind that can copy 100 pages both sides in 3.6 seconds flat?

- dependable school computers (yes, I said dependable… it is all relative)

- small class sizes for all (yes, I said small… it is all relative)

- educators who are paid a living wage (see above  :)  )

- a refreshing absence of security guards with rifles in the banks and other public places

- being able to sleep in a bed without this impending sense of doom that some kind of creature is going to land on me in the night… or burrow in my ear or get tangled in my hair

- no roosters crowing… all DAY LONG

-a blessed lack of ants, ants, ants, ants, ants

- Friends and Family

What I Will Miss When I Leave: (The Daily Gratitude of my Heart)

- the people… the warm, friendly, kind, helpful, Godly, humble, loving, gentle, always laughing, randomly singing, people

- looking out my living room window and seeing palm trees, beach and ocean

The View from our Deck

- being able to swim in a warm, blue, beautiful ocean whenever I choose

- walking everywhere I need to go

- mission groups that come, support, inspire, pray and share

- big parties of love, singing, worship and celebration as a way of thanking those mission groups

- wearing nothing but summer clothes and sandals in October

- cheap anklets and earrings

- the adventure of newness

- typhoons (not the scary, dangerous type, but rather the crazy, windy rainy type that closes the school,  cools things down slightly, but doesn’t  cause any real damage)

- the 20s (this is a group of young, energetic, happy, service- minded,  full of faith, inspiring, fun missionaries that we work with and who live in the apartment below us)

- the peaceful whirl of ceiling fans

- being daily amazed at the feats of strength our Filipino neighbours perform on a regular basis- everything is done manually and when you are surrounded by constant construction you see some pretty incredible things… pretty incredible things done by men - average height of probably 5’5”- average weight of maybe 140 lbs (this guy below is carrying a washing machine … up two flights of stairs… then back for more!)

A Man Carrying a Washing Machine

- being able to get a pretty good therapeutic massage for 10 dollars

- white, soft, warm sand as far as the eye can see

- living in a more spontaneous, flexible, laid back (well… I’m trying anyway) manner

- Cracker Nuts (a delightful combination of peanuts surrounded in a crispy, light cracker shell in various yummy flavours… not sure why we don’t have them in Canada!) Big bag - one buck

- Butter Coconut Cookies  - a wonderful little, sweet cookie/ cracker kinda thing… super yummy with a cup of Green Tea (the only hot drink I can tolerate in life) on a “coolish” typhoon day (where it might drop to 24 degrees)  Twenty cookies – twenty cents.

- Mario’s Pizza on the beach

-Mario’s Mocha Shakes

- Fruit shakes… four fruits, a little sugar, ice… pure bliss - available EVERYWHERE

- Mangos… best in the world… period. (This from the Lonely Plant travel series books.. .and they should know.)

- the children in my class – the sweet, curious, big-smiled, loving, laughing, enthusiastic, grateful, fun children (especially now that we have a common understanding of how to behave in school !)

- people spontaneously pulling out acoustic guitars, singing, clapping, praising God, laughing and dancing

-Laughter.  Everywhere.

- lots and lots and lots of time with my children and husband – they come to work with me, they eat with me, they walk with me, they shop with me, they live with me, they socialize with me… and I LOVE it! (except of course when I need space.. but that is surprisingly less than one might think!)

The Family Walking to the Jungle Barn

- challenges in work, challenges in living, challenges in mind, challenges that require me to grow as a person, as a servant of the Lord, as a lover of mankind

-hearing cheesy music from the 80s and 90s everywhere – Flashbacks! – better yet, hearing cheesy Filipino versions of music from the 80s and 90s everywhere – distorted Flashbacks!

- meeting interesting, inspiring, wandering people from all over the world

- going to Panay island on a trike, boat, bus and looking out the window at the Filipino country side – completely beautiful

- never really having to think about what I need to wear when I leave the house.  I mean it is either going to be hot and sunny or hot and rainy.  When it is hot and rainy it is usually too uncomfortable to wear a raincoat and too windy for an umbrella… therefore we often just get wet… or wait it out.  So basically I just need to make sure I’m dressed modestly for stinking hot weather, wearing sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat – and I’m good to go.

- Sundays spent at the “Jungle Barn” – the mission building on White Beach where many of our Filipino friends work and live.  We love to go there on a Sunday afternoon following church and play cards, swim, and visit.  The children love to play with their new Filipino friends, cuddle the babies and paddle around on the surf board that is stored there.  Sometimes we even get to go sailing.  Sailing isn’t really in a boat, as you might think about in Canada, but rather this vessel has two large netted arms on either side that you balance people onto according to weight.  You zip through the water, getting soaked to the skin as you dive in and out of the waves.  It is a blast! It makes me whoop!  We all need more “whooping” in our lives.

Tesha and our Friend's Sweet Baby

The Children and their Friends

The Jungle Barn where many mission groups stay

The Children at Sunset

The Children and their Friends

- the wonderful animated conversations that ensue when I am being accosted by locals on the beach wanting us to buy whatever they are selling “ Sailing? ATV? Buggy Car Mam??” and I whip out my ID bag from the school, explain in Tagalog that I live on the island and am teaching the local children.  (Don’t be too impressed by my speaking Tagalog… I really only know a couple things… but one of them is that I live here!) 

- the people… the warm, friendly, kind, helpful, Godly, humble, loving, gentle, always laughing, randomly singing people

So, there are my two lists as they stand this sunny, hot October 15, 2011.  I wonder what you might put in yours?  What are you grateful for today? What specific, little simple things warmed your heart?  Put them on the blog (we will post them after reading) or send them in an email if you are too shy to share publically. (You had to know there would be homework at some point… I am a teacher!)  Attitude of Gratitude.  I am constantly working on mine.  God Bless, Mair