From the Strawberry Patch...: Puerto Rico

This is our son, Kyle and our Pastor, Martha McCracken, on his confirmation day in July of 1996; we lived in Puerto Rico at that time and were members of Grace Lutheran Church in Santurce. Pastor Martha was a woman of many talents and was then, and always will be, a model of faith to me. I received word this morning that Pastor Martha unexpectedly passed away this week, I just know that she's having a glorious reunion in Heaven with friends that we have in common. Our English-speaking congregation in Puerto Rico truly operated on a shoe-string. Our weekly service bulletins were unapologetically photo-copied onto the back side of scrap paper. The church's most basic needs (paper towels, bathroom cleanser, coffee and cups) were always in demand and gratefully received on a weekly basis from members. Pastor Martha was eternally happy and upbeat, putting a smiling face on conditions and situations that could be frustrating and discouraging to most of us; they never seemed to get her down. Our church was located in a crime-ridden barrio, just on the outskirts of San Juan. One Sunday morning, on his way from the parking lot to the front door of our sanctuary, a fellow church member was beaten and mugged. Our fearless Pastor, witnessing what had just happened, took off on foot chasing the perpetrator down the street, she never caught up with him. When she walked in the front door a few minutes later, huffing and puffing from exhaustion, she continued down the aisle after checking on the victim who was, by this time, seated (albeit bruised and scraped up from the encounter) and ready for worship, she called us all into prayer... for the mugger! She prayed for his relief from drugs and panhandling, for a better life than the one he lived on the streets. I was dumbfounded, and in awe at the same time; she became my faith-hero on the spot. There were lots and lots of stories like this, living in Puerto Rico was an adventure on many levels, none of them were boring. Pastor Martha stayed in touch for years, she was faithful about sending the newsletter from Grace and keeping us abreast of the news and the needs of the congregation. She earned her halo. My heart is heavy this evening, her earthly journey was much too short, but I rejoice today in her heavenly reward; I am grateful to God for placing this woman of unshakable faith in my life, and in the lives of so many others. She lived God's love, she asked nothing in return. Thank you, God, for faith models~ every. step. of. the. way.

Life is Good!

My husband was cleaning out a drawer in his study, he found a memory stick and put it on my desk in the studio. It was the trial stick that came with the camera, only 16 MB; I never even realized that I had used it at all. We bought the camera when we were living in Puerto Rico five years ago... on our second "tour" there. Apparently I had tried out the stick that came with our new purchase, in and around Old San Juan that day. I am so happy that this memory stick has been found, it's jogged my own! These images are priceless to me, another place, another time; and just the thing for a cold and sleety January day! He and I lived on the island without children this time around, we were in the initial stages of setting up the new 'empty nest' stage of our lives together. The sweetest thing about these photos is the fact that they are a "gift", they came as grace comes... not expected, not searched for, undeserved. They just appeared! Saturday, June 8, 2002. That's the date on the upload.