(Norman Rockwell)

to be continued

Many of you have seen this already, but here it is just in case:

[And here's my earlier one from February:  Letter I.   Below is the new one.]

Dear family and friends,

Three months ago I shared with you my plans to serve in Mongolia for six weeks this summer.  As I reread that letter and think of all that has happened since February, it seems long ago.  Lord willing, I’ll return to the states within three months from now.  Much more will happen between now and then!

In my earlier letter I shared briefly about my new role as a team leader for this summer.  Just this afternoon I got a call my team leader from last year, whom we called Momma J.  We nicknamed her that for a reason:  She was much more than someone who gave directions.  She rubbed our backs, visited our classrooms, brought us tea, prayed over us, kept us moving behind the scenes.  Her job didn’t end in Mongolia either; I’ve called her up many times since to ask for advice or just talk.  She’s become a mentor and friend.  While I was in Mongolia, I began wondering if I could become someone like her to others, something that Momma J encouraged me to keep praying about.

It’s a joy to share now that I’ll get to be Momma Caroline to a team of eight college girls this summer.  Just before I started writing this, I was Facebook-messaging with one of them (a wonderful girl from a small Christian college, majoring in education).  I logged off Facebook, ran and told my mom, and texted my fiancé and sister because I was so excited.  I’ve been praying for these girls each day, and I can hardly wait to start finding out who they are in the next couple weeks.  I’ll get to finally meet them on June 19, and I’m thrilled for the sisterhood we will form by the end of our six weeks in Mongolia.

As I type this, I am much anticipating marriage in less than two weeks.  These last few months have been filled with intense questions, conversations, prayers, fasting, and counsel as my fiancé and I prepare for both marriage and for my time away in Mongolia.  The story is too lengthy for this letter; but, as I shared with my church congregation last week, I am moving forward with a greater humility and reliance on God than before.  I wrote in my journal recently, “I’m claiming the promise that his strength will be made perfect in our weaknesses.”  And I’m remembering the truth I learned last summer:  “God does everything.”

This afternoon I was imagining the faces of my girls when we drive into the Mongolian countryside for the first time.  I can’t wait for them to experience what I did last summer – the sheep and horsemen roaming the grasslands, khorkhog (goat cooked with rocks) and airag (fermented mare’s milk), the horse race during Naadam celebrations.  Most of all, I can’t wait to see them open their hearts and lives to their students, and to see students open their hearts in return.  They – my girls and the students – will experience a love that is more than human – a love that will change them.

I am still raising the remaining $2,300 of my needed financial support and  would be truly thankful for your help.  [Click here for more information.]  Again, much more than finances, I covet your prayers.  Would you please use the enclosed photo as a reminder to pray for me as we prepare, and during the 41 days I will be away?  Please pray for me, for my husband-to-be, for my eight girls and their students, for our hearts to be ready and faithful.  As I did last year, I’ll be sharing updates on my blog, www.tea-with-jam-and-bread.blogspot.com.  And do feel free to contact me through email!  I love hearing from folks at home while I am away.  Thank you, dear friends and family, for your love and support.  I look forward to sharing this summer with you:  A story to be continued!

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.”

Sincerely,

Caroline Eckstrom

cgeckstrom@gmail.com

[Friends, thank you for not reproducing or displaying this letter elsewhere.]

more eloquence

Peter:  "I put a piece of my toenail under the microscope and it looked like part of a burnt fish."

[I respond instinctively.]

Peter:  "Dad laughed at that too when I told him."

a last Nebraska spring, and time yardsticks

Dad's plum tree blossoms.

Complete with Charles II, center.

Last week Peter remarked, "If one of the hens starts setting tomorrow, not all the eggs will be hatched by the time you get married.  That's not likely to happen though, I was just using it as an example of the time between now and when you are getting married, as a sketch."

An eloquent yardstick for measuring time.

names

Mailed these off this week:

Wedding invites.

As I was sitting on my bed and writing out names and addresses, I was blessed.  Many, many individuals from all parts of my life - professors, roommates, aunts, grandparents, Sunday school teachers, running buddies, mentors - these people have all shaped who I have become.  Or I could say that I am little pieces of all of them.

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; 
It tolls for thee.

John Donne

It was a delight to write their names and remember them in prayer as I did so.  Likewise, it is an honor to invite them to be part of this upcoming event, to symbolically continue to be part of who I am becoming.