I've just gotten the call from Orlando that I've been waiting for since Thanksgiving. The list of Officer In Charge jobs (several that he competed for) has come out, and he's not on it.  But, we knew it was a very competitive field, and one of the jobs he competed for was filled with a Captain, 2 ranks above Orlando (well, until June when we find out he's selected for Commander!!). AND, get this.....the Key West job wasn't listed! So who knows what's really going on with all that. But the bottom line is, it's a good thing I didn't start packing.

So now, Orlando starts what I call "the dance" with his Specialty Leader (top guy in the USN Aerospace Physiology community - in charge of making sure all the billets {jobs} are properly filled) and his Detailer (personnel guy who tries to make sure it's good for Orlando.) There are several possibilities, and a few that we're more interested in than others. We have friends in Norfolk, VA, but we'd both rather be in DC if we're going to be east coast / not in Florida.

Anyway......that's the latest on that. I've got a TON of stuff I'd love to blog about, but today is not the day. I've got to call & fuss at the Housing folks (again!), get my workout in, get the house straight(er), finish my dive homework (detailed planning for 3 & 4-dive days), get Sky some exercise in this daggone cold wind, and get all her poo out of the yard so the yard guy can come today (and cut what, I don't know.....hel-LO, it's WINTER...).

May you all be warm, safe, & blessed. We love you!!

Orlando and I began a new part of our faith journey recently, after finding out that he is almost certainly descended from Jews who once lived in Spain. We’ve done a bit more digging, and have found that there is a very good chance that some of my ancestors in Poland were Jewish as well. This has excited us a great deal, as I have always had a heart for the Jewish people, and Orlando has always found himself very strongly drawn to them.

Early this month, Orlando met with the Rabbi here on-island, and we attended our first Sabbath prayer service. It was a beautiful, powerful, and moving experience, and one that we intend to make a regular part of our life. We also celebrated our first Chanukah this year (just finished last night), and this has enriched our Christmas season in ways we never imagined. As we came to the end of Advent, when we spend 4 weeks examining our need for Jesus and looking forward to celebrating His birth, we began Chanukah. We celebrated the miracle of the Nativity and many of the other miracles God has done for His people, and spent time each night focused on this. And it’s not over! Now we anticipate our celebration of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, when Jesus was first revealed to people other than his earthly parents.

While this experience has indeed been powerful and refreshing, I have to admit to some difficulty. Every night, as I sat looking at the Chanukah candles and meditating on God’s ability and willingness to intervene in the lives of His people, I couldn’t help wondering, “Where’s our miracle?” Orlando and I have prayed, hoped, cried, even begged for more than 2 years now, and still God has not granted us a child. I have been reduced to a strange combination of numbness and piercing despair. Orlando, ever the optimist, remains sure that God intends for us to have a child of our own, that it’s just not time yet. I, on the other hand, cannot get myself away from, “why?” He has performed so many other miracles; why not this one? The question I have asked all the doctors (roughly a few times) is the same one I put to my Creator and my Savior. Why?

I was prayed and prophesied over by a prophetess while I was part of New Covenant church in NC. This has always stuck with me; that she finished with the lady next to me, stepped in front of me, looked in my eyes and laughed. I thought, “Ok, that’s not exactly what I was hoping for.” She smiled at me and said, “Oh, honey! You just want to see God be God!” And of course, she was right on. She then proceeded to pray that I would get just that. And I HAVE seen Him be God, so many times. So is it selfish to be saying, “Yeah, that other stuff was nice, thanks, but now I want to see You be God this way?" Have I left off praying and turned into the spiritual equivalent of an obnoxious child who has already been told, "No?" Please, Daddy? Why not? WHY NOT?!!!" (insert temper tantrum here - which has not been far from the truth at my house, several times).

I don’t intend this post to be a downer for anyone. As my friend Tom Walker says, this is just “where I’m at” right now. I’m kind of camped out in this place of waiting for God to either act or explain Himself. And something tells me He's not worried about my timeframe, and I shouldn’t be holding my breath.

 Fair warning: this is a long one!

We had a rather unusual, but nonetheless beautiful, start to our day this morning. Today (Dec 12) is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the apparition of Mary in 1531 to a poor Aztec named Juan Diego. So with no small amount of planning and cooperation between a few Mexican families, our favorite Franciscan priest Father Targonski, and our local council of the Knights of Columbus, we had Mass at 5am this morning. Yep. 0500. It was even earlier than "o-dark-30," which is when the Marines like to get up and go running.

We gathered in front of the chapel, where we found a surprisingly large number of our fellow parishioners (maybe 50 of us??) ready & waiting. We even had kids in attendance, 2 of them dressed up as Juan Diego. It was too cute, and they were TOO energetic for so early in the morning. There was one little one in a stroller, and she was sensible enough to alternately watch everyone silently and sleep in complete peace during the goings-on. Several of the Knights were carrying a litter with a wooden image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, surrounded by flowers. They carried her down the hill (WAY down the hill, dang it), and we followed. When Father Targonski (Father Ski) arrived, he greeted everyone in Spanish (really good pronunciation for a Polish guy), introduced the guy who was directing the event, and our procession began.

The Knights (Orlando too - so awesome) walked in front, carrying Our Lady, and Father Ski walked beside her. The rest of us fell in behind, and several people sang as we processed up the hill to the chapel. It was hard to see the words in the dark (no one remembered flashlights), but the words were powerful and sweet, as was the singing. We were about halfway up the hill when a couple of runners passed us on their way down the hill. I chuckled to myself as I wondered what they were thinking. "What the? At 0500?! I'm sure we made an impression.

We arrived at the chapel, still singing, and the Knights processed down the aisle and placed the litter down gently across the tops of 2 pews. There was more singing, and Father Ski started Mass. It was such a beautiful celebration. Before we heard the scripture readings, we heard the story of Juan Diego's encounter on Tepayac Hill. And at the end of Father Ski's homily, he told us of how he came to have that image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and what she'd been through.

He bought her in Tijuana, during his free time when his ship was in port in San Diego and he got some Shore Leave. He took her with him to Iraq in 2004, when he was camped just outside of Fallujah with the Marines. He set her up in his tent, and many Marines and Sailors came there to kneel and pray before going out on patrol and into the fighting. The image was also damaged by mortars while they were in Iraq. Several of the sun rays on each side have been broken off. A Marine repaired it for him, but the rays once again broke off. Father Ski decided to let it remain broken, so he will always remember the things that happened and how God protected him, and the Marines and Sailors he was there to serve, in that terrible time.

It was a beautiful way to start the day. We prayed, sang, recieved communion, and marveled at the beauty of the full moon as we processed up the hill. We also marveled at the beauty of the story, and the significance of all the little details that are part of the icon.

*She wears the robes of an Aztec princess. It is said that whenever Mary appears to someone, she appears in a likeness they will be comfortable with, something familiar to them.

*The rays of the sun come out from behind her. The Aztecs worshipped the sun god, and it was significant for the sun to be behind her.

*In many images, the moon is under her foot. The Aztecs also worshipped the moon god, so this was also significant for them to see.

*Her eyes are cast down, and her face shows a gentle expression. It is said that Juan Diego was amazed that a woman who was obviously so great would appear so humble.

I think I will work to have a quiet, comtemplative day (not so easy for me - I'm too driven, "Type A," or, on the DISC profile, a "D-I / I-D" personality). As a Protestant, I was taught that the Proverbs 31 Woman was a great ideal to aim for, and she is. But I was wondering yesterday how Mary compares to the Proverbs 31 woman ~ I think I'll look into that today. It's bound to be much better for me than any stressing I could be doing about anything.

I'm including some images I found, as well as some websites that have more info on Our Lady of Guadalupe and Juan Diego.

http://www.sancta.org/

http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=456

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=our+lady+of+guadalupe&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title

Well, our Christmas tree is officially decorated. It leans a little, and still looks a little sparse, but it's ours & we decorated it with love. We were able to hang Orlando's throw with the picture of the Holy Family on it, and that's so pretty it will probably be up there a while.  Things have happened this week that are making it hard for me to keep my peace and joy (ok, at the moment it's impossible, I confess), but when we sat in the darkened livingroom last night with just the candles lit and the tree lights twinkling it felt like Christmas, and that helped. So, I'll share the photos we've taken, and hope that all of you are touched by the magic and wonder of Advent and Christmas this year.

Orlando and I have just returned to Okinawa from a very difficult month in the states. We initially planned our trip so we could share in the joy of Jennifer & Jerry's wedding in the mountains of Georgia. But, we had to add several weeks to the trip so we could work on our house in Pensacola. The trip was a mixture of high highs and low lows. We worked like crazy scrubbing, fixing, and clearing the yard in Pensacola, and we agonized over having to deal with this kind of issue with our family members. Then, we got several visits with dear, sorely missed friends (all of whom worked alongside us at the house - we plan to "pay it forward" and hope to get a chance (or 5) to pay it back), and we were able to drive up to Georgia for a whole-weekend celebration.

 Jennifer & Jerry's wedding was beautiful, rambunctious, and joyous, and we wouldn't have missed it for the world. We laughed, sang, danced, ate good food, drank good wine, and froze our socks off (ok, so I was the only one who was cold). And the icing on the cake: how our girl took everyone's breath away in her beautiful dress. I wish I could have watched Jerry's face when the doors opened and she stepped in on her dad's arm.

We arrived back in Okinawa on Friday night, on separate planes and 30 minutes apart. My ticket routed from San Francisco to Osaka to Naha. Orlando's ticket (paid for by the Navy) routed him from San Francisco to Tokyo to Naha. So we had breakfast together at the San Fran airport, boarded separate planes, spoke on the phone from opposite sides of the japanese mainland, and I was waiting for him when he came out of the baggage area in Naha. It doesn't qualify as our craziest trip, but it comes close.

I'll get the photos of the house and the wedding loaded asap, as well as the latest photo of our avocado tree, Pablo. For everyone who remembers my growing him from a pit at the apartment on Panama City Beach, I'll have you know he is now about 10 ft tall, has bark, and survived the latest hurricane very well. It's just amazing!