A limited visual field and other reflections about veils

These reflections were prompted while waiting for a bus in freezing -18 degrees Farenheit (that’s -28 for my Celsius using friends in Europe!).  It’s 8am, we’re on our way to the YWCA to work out at the gym, and I’m using my new ultra warm winter head gear purchased at the Christmas market in Brussels, Belgium years ago.  Funny thing…..it never got cold enough in Belgium to wear my ultra warm winter head gear.  But it’s getting a good workout here in Minnesota, and at the time of these reflections, the calendar still said “fall” even though we had definitely been catapulted into winter and its’ wonderland……

Check out the ultra warm winter head gear ~ purchased at another time and place in Europe, getting a workout in MInnesota this December ~

So, there I was standing on the bus stop, all wrapped up, couldn’t even hear Steve who was standing just a few feet away from me.    “At least the sun is out”, I thought to myself.  And that is really a redeeming factor about winter in Minnesota.  It can be harsh cold and loads of snow all around, but the sun will come out to brighten your day.

And it’s in that bright sunny space that I began to recognize how little I could actually see. Now, perhaps it’s because the sun was so bright and I didn’t have my sunglasses on!  But in reality, it’s because I’m all wrapped up in my ultra warm winter head gear.  And my visual field is pretty limited in that moment.  And that’s precisely when I began to remember all the beautiful women who have been a part of my world over the last many years in ministry….

The Fatimas and Aishas among the Fulani people in the Central African Republic, where the women always wore veils, mostly loosely wrapped around their heads, rewrapped throughout the day as they juggled water on their heads, straddled babies on their hips who would often tug at their veils and potentially put them in a place of cultural compromise if the veil slipped in the presence of men in the village….

Even the "mboundjou" (white person) gets in on wearing a veil in the village

Then the Marouas, the Myriams, the Jainabas, the Samiras, the Jamilas, and the list goes on….all the women who walked in and out of my life in Belgium, wearing any manner of veil….some with every hair on their heads fully concealed and covered,  some making a fashion statement in Europe even within the restrictions of their veils,some with only the hint of a veil, and others who wore no veil at all…

My prayer is for these beautiful women to be in that bright place of joy as they one day will meet the true source of Light, the Light of our world, Jesus Christ.  These beautiful women, perhaps with a limited view of their world, they all would be in that bright sunny space even if it would be the fierest cold that Minnesota could offer….if they could understand the true meaning of Light as it bursts forward into the darkness of our world.

How limited is your visual field?

Our favorite things

Familiar lyrics to the song My Favorite Things from the movie The Sound of Music…

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things”

Okay, for me with my cat allergies, I can’t say any more in life that whiskers on kittens are some of my favorite things…..getting that close to a cat would send me right to the emergency room of the local hospital!  But this blog post isn’t really a reflection on woollen mittens, though these have become my new favorite thing when winter descended with a vengeance on us just 2 weeks ago here in Minneapolis!

These thoughts are rather random reflections of our last weeks since Thanksgiving, hanging out with family, feeling blessed by life and all its’ joys, colors, decorations, traditions, friends…..enjoy the slide show!

All excited after 4+ hours with friend and missionary colleague Pete Ekstrand working on mission finances.....and in the end, the accounts balanced!  You gotta love the smiles :-)

Erickson cousin reunion in Indiana ~ 3 Boca girls thrown in just for fun (that would be me and my 2 sisters), and we had a great lunch at Which Wich in Schererville.  Congrats, Casey, store manager and cousin Ray's son!

On the way to the Swedish consulate in Chicago, we stopped by the Kriskindlemarkt....looking for that German Christmas market fix that we get every year when we're in Europe.  Steve even got the chance to speak some German, which makes for one happy camper...

Steve is always on the lookout for the roasted almonds at a Christmas market, and this year he wasn't about to be disappointed either....but in Chicago, the nuts are a mix of almonds and cashews (mostly just almonds in Germany).

Here I can only say "only in America!"  This treasure was found at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis.....somehow I don't remember those riding horses looking like that when we were kids!!!

Setting up our Christmas "tree" at home in Minneapolis, remembering how we carefully picked out 10 ornaments last Christmas in Belgium as we packed our decorations away, knowing that we would need to travel lightly to America this year.  The 3euro wooden tree (that's about $3.11 today) was a great find last January in the winter sales in Antwerp.