Roomies: Casey and Rachel

After a rain there came a beautiful rainbow. This is from our new front door!

A shot from the sun room into the living and dining room. The couch and table are from the person before us. As of right now, we don't have any couches or tables. We ate lazania on the floor last night. Fun adventures!

10-10-10

Rachel and I ran the Broad Street run on Sunday. It was TEN miles. The race went well. The last two miles were hard to push through but Rach challenged me and we finished strong. It was exhilarating to run with 22,000 other people! I'm so sore though- I can barely walk.

You can click here to see a picture slide show from the newspaper.

Philly skyline in the background.

Broad Street is the straightest street in Philly. The race is from the start to the end of Broad Street. It runs through many different kinds of neighborhoods.

We averaged TEN minutes per mile.

The finish line was the Navy Yard near all the stadiums.
That night we went to TENth Presbyterian for church.
It was a day of 10's.

Running

Spring is here in Philadelphia. It makes my heart so happy. Running is a gift from God to me. Erik Liddle said it perfectly, "when I run I feel God's pleasure." When I run I think, dream, pray and let my mind wander. A run will aways do me good if I'm happy, sad or moody.

My favorite place to run in the city is Boathouse Row along the Schuylkill River. All the trees are in bloom. I'm not a sure all the names of the trees but I know some are cherry, weeping willows, lily trees and dogwood. I can't describe the beauty.

A few friends and I are training for the Broad Street 10 mile run. Last week I brought my camera on one of my runs to try to capture the beauty along the river. Below are a few of my shots. You can see more on my flickr page.

Good Friday

I went to my church's Good Friday service. The church was dark and solemn, a few candles were light at the front of the church. We sang hymns about Christ's death. At the end of the service, we were given the opportunity to be prayed for by the elders and anointed with oil. We left the church quietly and in the dark.

This service was so powerful to me. The service didn't end on a happy note, it ended in the reality of Christ's death. He died a terrible death for me, for my sins. What amazing love. The Gospel is too good to be true and yet it is true. Easter Sunday was much more special for me because of the reality of Good Friday. The contrast of the two days was vivid. Thank you, God, for sending your only son to die for us. Thank you for raising him from the dead so that we can live in freedom and live forever with You. This is good news!

Lunar Eclipse

A friend called me late tonight and said a Lunar Eclipse was happening as we talked. I had no idea. The next full Lunar eclipse won't happen until 2010. In the words of Emily Haymes' a Lunar eclipse is "the only time the Earth sees its own shadow."

Covenant comes to Philly

Last week three girls from Covenant came to be assessed to join the Kenya team for a year. They were approved- no surprise there! I loved hanging out with them. We had dinner in Manayunk and then met with up with my roomie- Rachel- to see 27 Dresses.

Still Sick

It's been a week of being under the weather. It's kind of a bummer but it's forcing me to rest. WHM has the day off tomorrow so that means one more day of low key activities. I look forward to catching up on emails and phone calls and getting back to life soon.

Donovan...

Many of you know Dr. Donovan Graham. He taught at Covenant College for many years and was the school's chaplain for his last few years. He is now a missionary in Ireland with World Harvest Mission. He and Wilma travel to our fields to do missionary care. I am always blessed by their friendship. They were at the team leaders' retreat this past week. He's been trying for the last two years to get me to call him "Donovan" instead of "Dr. Graham." It's been hard but I think I'm now comfortable calling him "Donovan."

Austria... is magnificent! Where we have been staying for the team leaders' retreat is absolutely beautiful! We had a day of skiing. I know I'll barely be able to walk tomorrow.

View from our room














Jamie & David- two of the three childminders for the missionary kids this week. They are apprentices in Spain with World Harvest.

A Florida Christmas

It was wonderful to be home for Christmas. Mom encouraged all of us to take lots of pictures because at the end of the week we were going to scrapbook as a family. All 6 of us created a page for our new annual Christmas scrapbook. Each of our pages looked creative in different ways.

I've grown up in with warm Christmases. I've never thought going to the beach on Christmas day was a strange event. Well, when I went home this year I just couldn't believe that we went to the beach on the 25th!

Another thing I noticed during vacation was the safety in my home town. I hadn't realized how much I need to think about safety in Philly. I found it quite refreshing to be able to leave the front screen door open while I was home, not having to lock the car door for a quick trip into the store and not having to be painfully aware of my surrounds all the time. I was able to breath easier.

The West coast Linde's came for a few days. On Christmas day, my dad made arrangements so we each had a bike. The 12 Linde's went for a nice ride. It was so fun! The weather was perfect. My skin hasn't seen the sun in so long my shoulders got quite burned.

Other Christmas break highlights:

• Sara dyed my hair- twice!
  
• Went to the gym with my buff brother
  
• Sale shopping was a must
  
• Lot of yummy food including our yearly Swedish tradition of meatballs and Yule kaka (bread)
• Matching sister shirts (see above pic)
  
• More memories here
  

Ebola Outbreak in Uganda on WHM website.

Want to donate to the Africa Response Fund?

Brokenness

The last two weeks have been full of brokenness. There have been daily, even hourly reminders that we live in a very fallen world. I've always known we live in a broken world but it's hitting close to home. I want this to be an honest and yet hopeful post so I'm not going to run through the list of reminders of this broken world. In the midst extreme sadness, confusion and tiredness I know God is who he says he is. I know the Holy Spirit is giving us grace to make it through each moment. A friend reminded us this morning at staff prayer that when life doesn't make sense at deep, deep levels, we can only run to Jesus because he has the words of life. John 6: 68-69 says, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." It's King Jesus who hangs on to us when our faith is weak.

Many of you have heard about the Ebola epidemic in Uganda. Our WHM team has been greatly affected. The tone at home office is heavy, sad and clinging to Jesus and his promises. I greatly encourage you to read the blog of the doctors who have stayed in Bundibugyo to help with the Ebola epidemic. Their children and the rest of team were evacuated to Kampala earlier this week. Each post is powerful. Click here for the blog link: Myhre's blog

Last night Rachel and I were at Young Lives Club. I said hi to a friend and they asked how I was doing. I can't lie when life is rough. I don't have the gift of faking it so I said I was tiered and worn out from seeing all the brokenness in the world. They wrote me an encouraging email later that night. "You are at the point where your gifts will not help, but his Grace will be sufficient for you. Without ignoring the pain or denying the weight you carry for yourself, your friends, Uganda, your missionaries-- God is placing you right where he wants you-- naked before him, open to the cold-- ready to rest in the warm blanket of his embrace... Monica, go there!

Tears came to my eyes as I read these words. God will still use my gifts in the midst of the sadness but I'm realizing that my gifts won't fix the problems, pain and sadness. The graphic picture of my expose before God was hard to read and yet beautiful. I can be as I am before him and he loves me. May He give each of us the strength to "go there" with him.

Thanksgiving in Philly

Thanksgiving dinner was small and wonderful. Christie came from Florida and Brooks came from Boston. Janine, a dear friend from work, came as well. We had a boxed and canned Thanksgiving dinner. We splurged on the ham and bought a real honey baked ham. Delicious!















Brooks playing the guitar at our cousin's house


Will's (my cousin) 2 of 3 daughters















Christie showed Olivia how to play a duet









More Thanksgiving pictures here.

A Marshmallow World

Usually I show great restraint in listening to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. This year is different. Bethany and I are the only staff in the MOB department today. She had Pandora Macy's Holiday mix on her computer. I gave her a hard time about it but within 10 minutes I was listening to Christmas music. So much for restraint! A Marshmallow
World by Frank Sinatra is one of those happy, get-you-in-the-mood-for-
the-holidays songs.

Christie (sister) and Brooks (cousin) come to Philadelphia tomorrow to share Thanksgiving with me. My friend, Janine, from WHM will join us for Thanksgiving dinner. She and I went grocery shopping yesterday. Our theme is "Boxed and Canned." No fresh or homemade dishes allowed! I'm looking forward to a relaxing Thanksgiving dinner at my house with family and a good friend.

God is good. All the time, God is good. Happy Thanksgiving!

Parking Tickets

My sister, Sara, and I chatted a few minutes last night. We decided parts of center city Philly are so look nice because the city gives out lots of parking tickets. Ask Sara sometime about her ticket adventures in Philly because she got a few tickets and was only here 2 months.

I contested a parking ticket last week for a ticket I got about a month ago. They forgave the ticket! Yeah! The story: On a beautiful Saturday morning, I went to the South Philly Aveda Institute to get my haircut. One of the girls ran out to feed my meter. There was a parking ticket on my windshield with FOUR minutes still on the meter! She returned to tell me, I quickly paid for the haircut and ran out to my car. I spent 45 minutes looking for a meter maid.

The ticket was only $26 but still- it was an unfair $26. Lesson learned: take a picture with my camera phone to prove I had 4 minutes left on the meter.

Last night I was in Manayunk and happened to find a meter that was broken so I got 2 1/2 hours of free parking. Thanks, Philly!

Living Sacrifices & Love

Romans 12 is the chapter that I'm reading these days. The themes are living sacrifices and love. As I read it this morning I was hit with how impossible it is to live this chapter out without the Holy Spirit. Who wants to be a living sacrifice? That sounds painful. It calls for constantly laying down our lives for others. I'm called to be "joyful in hope... patient in affliction... faithful in prayer... live in harmony with one another... if at all possible as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." My heart is not responding to these words this morning. It's too hard. I don't have the strength to do these things. I know in my heart that I'm never able to do these things in my own strength but I trick myself into thinking it's in my strength that I lay down my life and love others. Holy Spirit, I need you to invade my dead heart today.

Will Fall truly come this year?

Global warming- the leaves are FINALLY starting to turn. Guess how warm it is outside though? 75 to 80 degrees everyday! It's crazy to see leaves turning and being outside in a tank top and flip flops.

I'm thankful Winter will be shorter this year but I'm going to be sad if we only have two weeks of fall. The switch has been made: winter clothes are in my closet and dresser and the summer clothes are packed away in the basement.

This is a picture from my front porch- our leaves haven't turned much yet but our street will be beautiful when the trees are full of color.

Went to a friend's house for a fun Friday night. Guess what we started doing after dinner? You'll never guess so I'll tell you. We colored. That's right, Jennifer is into art these days and she bought professional level pastels, water colors and colored pencils. We colored for a while- it was so relaxing. My picture was a Florida tropical scene including palm tree, sand, water, sharks and a bright sun. After our art session was over we watched Dirty Filthy Love. It was a 2007 Sundance movie. The preview made it sound hilarious and light. In reality, it was slightly depressing. The main character has turrets syndrome and also has a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. During the movie I felt I had OCD and turrets. Needless to say, not a good feeling. This movie is still haunting Jennifer.

My next post may deal with life instead of movies. :-)

A friend and I went to see Across the Universe last night. We didn't have plans after dinner and thought we'd go see a movie. I always plan ahead when I go to a movie but last night we drove by a few theaters to see what and when they were playing movies and then picked one. Thankfully, the Ritz theaters in Philly are close together. We killed an hour before the movie started.

Ever since I saw the preview for Across the Universe I was excited to see it. The movie exceeded my expectations! I recommend this movie. I was worried that the movie was going to be depressing because it was about star crossed lovers during the Vietnam war. I was also worried that they weren't going to use the Beatles' songs wisely and well. Boy was I wrong. The movie was a beautiful musical that used the songs ingeniously. The timing and rhythm throughout the movie was beautiful. I'm not an excellent movie critic so I found a review that phrases my thoughts well.

One of my favorite scenes was when Jim Sturgess sings Strawberry Fields Forever. It's an emotional scene as Jim creates art using strawberries that , like his heart, are depicted as bleeding.

Watch it. You won't be disappointed.

Fun Quiz

My friend showed me this website by HG- TV. You can go to their website and take their 10 question quiz. Then they tell you your decorating style. Fun.

They said I'm Ethnic Eclectic...

Your style is a mix of bohemian chic and contemporary ethnic flair. Whether you travel extensively or shop locally, chances are good that your home is filled with a collection of interesting accessories. By contrast, a neutral color scheme and furniture with simple lines is the best backdrop to accentuate your most colorful pieces. To achieve this mix-and-match design style, look to nature. "The concern with the environment is playing a big role in interior design trends – from colors you find in nature, to high-end natural fibers in wall coverings, to exotic woods and stone being used throughout the home," says Denise Turner, an interior designer in Alta Loma, California. It's all about simple lines and natural materials as a backdrop for your collectables and artwork.