Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Entre Despedida y Bienvenida: Un poema para mis amigos Cubanos


Nota:
Ayy mis queridos Cubanos, cuanto los amo!!  Este poema es para todos mis amigos Cubanos y los que aman a Cuba y a veces experimentan esta maldita distancia y el dolor que se siente de no poder estar con gente a quien amas.   No es el mejor poema que he escrito en cuanto a estructura, pero puedo decirles que jamás ha nacido nada de un lugar mas profundo en mi corazón. Espero que lo reciban con todo el amor con cual lo escribí. Lo escribí en el avión de México a Chicago después mi viaje a Cuba la semana pasada. Describe emociones fuertes que he sentido anoche y hoy en esta pausa dolorosa entre despedirme de ustedes y ver a mi familia. Y entre despedirme de ustedes y verlos de nuevo.


Entre Despedida y Bienvenida


Lágrimas caen sobre el mar y nadie las ve.
Nubes se oscurecen y el viento levanta olas en el espacio entre amor y amor.


Una tormenta me azotea el corazón, viento, aguas profundas,
naturaleza, poder, ciclón.


Cierro los ojos y se que estoy vivo porque siento,
 y le doy gracias a Dios quien me dio esta preciosa batalla.


Emociones suben y bajan impulsadas por una fuerza invisible desde las profundidades. 
Olas marchan y lluvia cae sin cesar.


Gigantes del mar corren en silencio, atravesando una gran distancia,
desafiando que alguien o algo las impida.


Dolor, gozo, dolor, gozo, risa, lágrimas, marchan adelante, 
mezclando emoción con sentimiento y agua con agua, amor con amor.


Solo el sol los ve nacer y El solo sabe adonde van.  
Hacia Cuba mi preciosa Cuba.


¡Maldita distancia mi corazón te rechaza!


El silencio se rompe, los gigantes se caen, 
fuerza y impulso contra poder inmovible, 
gritos, llantos, el corazón se me parte contra las rocas,
La espuma se explota en erupciones,
y derrotada se desaparece en la arena.


La jornada en vano. Resignado. No se puede llegar hasta donde se quisiera,
emociones sin salida, gozo y dolor entre amor y amor, entre despedida y bienvenida.


Y se mandan de nuevo al lugar de donde salieron. 
Y lagrimas caen sobre el mar y nadie las ve, gozo y dolor entre amor y amor.


Las olas se levantan y el corazón se fija en algo nuevo. 
El sol brilla con rayos de una esperanza mas fuerte que el mar y mas inmovible que la tierra.
Lágrimas, gozo, esperanza, lagrimas fluyen como un río.


La profundidad llama a la profundidad. Se anuncia la eternidad!!
Juntos , juntos, juntos en su presencia viviremos!!  
Gloria, gozo, amor sin distancia, sin dolor. 
Se desvanecen despedidas y solo quedan bienvenidas.   
Y no hay ningún espacio entre amor y amor.


Con Gran Cariño,
Jaime

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

BUNCO NIGHT!!





What a wonderful time the missionary family ladies of KCK had when we got together again for another game night. We had fun laughing and playing bunco and and building new friendships. As I looked around the room last night, I was blessed by the team that God has called to serve people in the neighborhood and honored that I was able to work along side each of them. What a cool group of girls!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

There's a Teenager in the House!



On September 8, 1998, a delightful and most wonderful little girl was born into our family. Over time she has made us laugh and enjoy life more than we ever could have imagined. And now, 13 years later, our sweet Caroline is officially a teenager! She has embraced teenhood with a high sense of maturity, light-heartedness and responsibility, and we are super proud of her. She is in 7th grade now and continues to school at home but also enjoys her composition and science classes at Brighton Academy. She celebrated her birthday with some of her special friends with an overnight and with the Mission Adelante community at church. It was a great time and she felt very loved. (For all of you KU fans, notice the shirt she is wearing with the birthday donuts. It is from the 1988 basketball championship. I bought it back when I was single at KU after we had just won the tournament. It was stored away for my first-born child and now 23 years later, Caroline proudly wears it. :)

Welcoming New Members to the Family




Family is such a beautiful thing and this Fall we were blessed to welcome to new nephews to our clan. In August, sweet Lucas Owen Hammond was born to my brother, Mike, and his wife, Christine, living in San Francisco. I was able to take a little trip in October to meet their first-born. It was love at first sight and extra special to see what a great daddy my big brother is. In November, precious Owen Wardell Meek was born to Jarrett's brother, Luke and his wife, Holly. He is receiving lots of love from his two older siblings and ten cousins. We are so thankful for both of them. (first picture is of Luke Hammond and I, second is of Owen Meek on Thanksgiving)

Friday, November 11, 2011

Summer Bible Camp Fun




For the last several summers at Mission Adelante, both Emmanuel Baptist and Shoal Creek Community Churches have come to KCK and have summer bible camps for the kids in the ministry. These two weeks are some of the best days of the summer. This year, both the Bhutanese and Latin communities were brought together to make the events even more fun-filled.

Cookies Anyone?


Anyone who knows me (Kristen), knows that I love to bake. Come on, it's all about chocolate, isn't it? Ministering cross-culturally can be challenging at times as you try to navigate the language barriers of your new friends. I have found though, that we all have at least one thing in common: the love for food. Our Latin friends are more than interested in learning how to bake the delicious and simple desserts that we often take for granted, such as chocolate cookies. So it is fun for me to invite several of the women in our church community over to build our friendships as I teach them the recipe to chocolate chip cookies. It is good for them to hear the lesson taught in English while I also get time to practice my Spanish, too. Our next cooking session will be how to make puppy chow! Yum!

Piano Playing Girls


Caroline and Annie have been playing Suzuki piano for four years now, taught by the wonderful Charlotte Garwood. We are continually impressed with their progress and what they have gained from all of the practice and discipline required from learning a musical instrument.