tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29308661.post6908605428731309361..comments2023-05-14T08:06:41.594-05:00Comments on Creating My Own Little Nirvana: This Place I LoveKerihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04886116438383281567noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29308661.post-5328257007322895532010-09-26T18:46:48.760-05:002010-09-26T18:46:48.760-05:00I was skimming my Reader's Digest this afterno...I was skimming my Reader's Digest this afternoon and one of the feature books this month is Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier. I just went to the library website and put a hold on it..matryoshkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04159644735944561441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29308661.post-88258861402334989242010-09-26T15:50:41.281-05:002010-09-26T15:50:41.281-05:00Keri, will you email me? I can't seem to find ...Keri, will you email me? I can't seem to find your addy, and I want to ask you some questions about winter hosting. gardenhat (at) hotmailMamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18124894626273484839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29308661.post-47882231446351042352010-09-26T13:59:23.879-05:002010-09-26T13:59:23.879-05:00okay, this is how addicted I am to your blog. On ...okay, this is how addicted I am to your blog. On the Blogger Dashnoard I can see you posted a new entry "Great Kids Terrible Life" but I can't see it on your blog and I have been trying all morning to see it! I am sure it will show up soon but I just love reading your entries. How is Anya doing? How is the apartment? Hang in there!Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15395354571429997291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29308661.post-29370016671698103192010-09-26T04:13:45.801-05:002010-09-26T04:13:45.801-05:00Beautifully written post. I can feel the depth and...Beautifully written post. I can feel the depth and bredth of your love.<br />ThankyouAriadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10664753428007951602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29308661.post-141453034140976472010-09-26T00:54:36.242-05:002010-09-26T00:54:36.242-05:00Love the comments, friends. Olivetti, that is the ...Love the comments, friends. Olivetti, that is the biggest compliment I think i'e ever beem given. I WANT to be that person, that flower, wiling to break through... I love that image.<br /><br />And Blessed, I cant tell you how wonderful it is to know there is someone who understands the value of suffering. In some ways I think that knowingthat truth could transform our world right now -- were more people willing to suffer. Yes, the pain is real ansd I cry myself to sleep pretty much every night, but I know I am doing something so worthwhile and I know that in doing it, I am brought closer to God.<br /><br />Annie, like you, my DREAM would be to live in one of the gingerbread siberian cotages, but i think God chose this place to make me laugh...something I SORELY need every day!Kerihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04886116438383281567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29308661.post-70593946034222681882010-09-25T21:24:04.676-05:002010-09-25T21:24:04.676-05:00Great post. I enjoyed reading it. During our 6 tri...Great post. I enjoyed reading it. During our 6 trips to Russia over the years we constantly heard how like was so hard for Russians. Especially when in Novo, we heard it over and over again. At the time, I didnt really get it. Over the years I have learned to kind of understand it. You post confirms it. We really have no idea how others live.Brenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08357317796902135833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29308661.post-75841178253605936452010-09-25T21:12:34.574-05:002010-09-25T21:12:34.574-05:00I'd want (and expect to) live in one of those ...I'd want (and expect to) live in one of those cottages on that road. I can. not. get. over. that. apartment!!!!!Anniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12623179886908222942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29308661.post-82418557860607900992010-09-25T13:57:57.849-05:002010-09-25T13:57:57.849-05:00Beautiful pictures and beautiful writing. You are ...Beautiful pictures and beautiful writing. You are in my thoughts and prayers, Keri!BrunhildeCrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03332418194883472591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29308661.post-82399871802314406532010-09-25T12:25:23.261-05:002010-09-25T12:25:23.261-05:00Oh, oh, God wanted me to hear that: "we think...Oh, oh, God wanted me to hear that: "we think of it as a long, lonely spiral in the wrong direction" . . . "Suffering, true suffering of the heart and spirit, is a spiritual gift that catapults us into the arms of God." <br /><br />Oh, yes. <br /><br />I have always lamented how women in the States are taught that birth is scary and the pain cannot be borne without drugs--yes, it is scary, but also beautiful and even empowering when a woman partners with her body in its labors to bring that new life into the world. . . fighting the way God created women to birth leads to indulgence in fear (and someone once told me that it is sin to fear anything but God) and to disconnect from the awesome experience of childbirth. We have been taught that pain is bad, and we fight it and run from it as much as possible--and yet the miracle of birth would not be possible without it. It is part of the experience of birthing--why do we insist that it is a bad part of the experience?<br /><br />And I used to think that pain in childbirth was the result of the Fall--that women did not have pain in labor before sin entered the world. But a few years back I more carefully considered that piece of Scripture, and it says that the woman's pains would be "greatly increased." So that means that even in the garden of Eden, God planned birth to have discomfort, even a little pain. And when he passes his judgement on Eve, and womankind to follow, he says "I will greatly increase your pains. . . ." That means the pain is still directly from the hand of God. If I believe God loves me as a father and as a mother, He does not intend me harm--he seeks my growth, for my own good. So even those greatly increased pains He must have always intended as part of His plan for us, "His plan to proper us and not to harm us."<br /><br />Anyway, the parallels between your views of suffering and the pains of birth--and all the beauty and LIFE they are created to bring--are so clear. <br /><br />I'm going to be thinking more about this today. Thank you so much for sharing your inner workings. Your story is just getting more and more beautiful. <br /><br /><br /><br />SinceBlessedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09079902364989480862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29308661.post-30968641686948546222010-09-25T12:23:52.348-05:002010-09-25T12:23:52.348-05:00love that comment olivetti!
beautiful entry keri....love that comment olivetti! <br />beautiful entry keri.Christine G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17781551364340088590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29308661.post-53179356802385322092010-09-25T09:46:23.694-05:002010-09-25T09:46:23.694-05:00Keri, I just want to remind you that what you'...Keri, I just want to remind you that what you're doing is truly remarkable and not many people at all would have the courage to do it. There's a poem that my English class read the other day that made mt think of you. It's called "Identity" by Julio Noboa Palanco. You may have read it before, but just in case you haven't, it's about a person who doesn't want to live as a "flower" or something "always watered, fed, guarded and admired." They say they would prefer to "have broken through the surface of the stone, to live, to feel exposed to the madness of the vast, eternal sky". I think it sort of applies to how Americans avoid suffering and prefer to stay in our own little world, and you've chosen to leave that behind and go to this extreme place to help people who really need it. You're amazing, Keri.Olivettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303791185694362574noreply@blogger.com