These are excerpts from my journal while I spent 2 days in the mountains with a group of English volunteers who came to build houses for the needy: "Words get tangled up as I struggle to describe these mountains and views I am experiencing. Each word that comes to mind makes me realize that they are inadequate and that no word has yet been invented to describe what I see and how it makes me feel. Words rattle about in my brain, colliding with each other and are found lacking. "Beautiful" "marvelous" "spectacular" "awesome" and "incredible" are words so commonly used that they've lost the magic that needs to be conveyed when speaking about the Tien-Shan Mountains. And, there it is! - magical - This word, together with "peace" touches on what one feels while standing by the rushing rivers and under a sky full of thunder and power." "Yesterday as I rode through gorges, passes and rivers, I felt small. Over each mountaintop, there laid dozens, hundreds more, each beckoning and calling. My horse (which I called Salamanca) heard the call and stretched its neck to reach further and to get "there" quickly. I held him back, though, in an effort to take it all in." "What was it that made me want to yell in exultation, yet keep quiet at the same time? What was it that made me want to wrap myself into myself, yet led me to spin around in circles in the middle of a meadow? Was it the cry of the eagle, which I heard from far away? Was it the sound of the roaring river, speaking secrets from ages past? Or, was it the sight of alpine beauty, the taste of wild berries and the smell of wild flowers? "The generosity of humans, combined with the beauty of God's nature, is enough to make a person feel humbled by it all. Tears come to my eyes when I realize the gifts I've been given: a good, loving husband. An incredible job. Marvelous family. Surrounding beauty. The stillness among the fullness of silence and sound." "Riding on a horse….reaching a high place where I felt the road ended and I would just ride to the sky. Feeling my leg muscles scream as the horse took off across a mountain."· - seeing yurts in the distance with chickens cackling close by· - Edik's (our guide) smile when he saw how pleased we were by it all · - Tajik cook with a Chinese wife and a gravelly-voiced young son· - Smoke and fire· - Watermelon and honeydew· - Encouraging words, smiles and a Kyrgyz horseman "Feeding the fire at night until the smoke engulfed me, seeping into my pores and becoming a part of me. I felt as light as that smoke for a moment, savoring God's goodness in creating diversity of color, texture, feel, temperature and experiences." "The generosity of spirit of the team - willingness to try anything complemented with true graciousness and kindness made them an incredible group to get to know and from whom to learn. Constant smiles, yet their humanity and realness were a gift, along with their servant hearts and attitudes. They touched many lives, including mine." "This land of great economic decline, poverty and want, is contrasted by beauty beyond belief, generosity without borders and lovely people." "I am unable to grasp the feeling that is flowing through me. I cannot hold it long enough to name it. Wonder? Gratitude? Amazement? Whatever it is, I want it to last. It is mingled with missing Eric, who stayed behind in Bishkek. I know he would love this place, this spot on earth where rivers run deep and grass grown in tens of shades of green. We will have to come back so he can get this feeling too. It is good for the soul, I think, to feel this, to touch this crisp mountain air, to wash hands in freezing mountain rivers, and to drink tea huddled around a campfire, to know God make it all possible." August 16, 2001these are exerpts from my journal while i spent 2 days in the mountains with a group of english volunteers who came to build houses for the needy: "Words get tangled up as I struggle to describe these mountains and views I am experiencing. Each word that comes to mind makes me realize that they are inadequate and that no word has yet been invented to describe what I see and how it makes me feel. Words rattle about in my brain, colliding with each other and are found lacking. "Beautiful" "marvelous" "spectacular" "awesome" and "incredible" are words so commonly used that they've lost the magic that needs to be conveyed when speaking about the Tien-Shan Mountains. And, there it is! - magical - This word, together with "peace" touches on what one feels while standing by the rushing rivers and under a sky full of thunder and power." "Yesterday as I rode through gorges, passes and rivers, I felt small. Over each mountaintop, there laid dozens, hundreds more, each beckoning and calling. My horse (which I called Salamanca) heard the call and stretched its neck to reach further and to get "there" quickly. I held him back, though, in an effort to take it all in." "What was it that made me want to yell in exultation, yet keep quiet at the same time? What was it that made me want to wrap myself into myself, yet led me to spin around in circles in the middle of a meadow? Was it the cry of the eagle, which I heard from far away? Was it the sound of the roaring river, speaking secrets from ages past? Or, was it the sight of alpine beauty, the taste of wild berries and the smell of wild flowers? "The generosity of humans, combined with the beauty of God's nature, is enough to make a person feel humbled by it all. Tears come to my eyes when I realize the gifts I've been given: a good, loving husband. An incredible job. Marvelous family. Surrounding beauty. The stillness among the fullness of silence and sound." "Riding on a horse….reaching a high place where I felt the road ended and I would just ride to the sky. Feeling my leg muscles scream as the horse took off across a mountain."· - seeing yurts in the distance with chickens cackling close by· - Edik's (our guide) smile when he saw how pleased we were by it all · - Tajik cook with a Chinese wife and a gravelly-voiced young son· - Smoke and fire· - Watermelon and honeydew· - Encouraging words, smiles and a Kyrgyz horseman "Feeding the fire at night until the smoke engulfed me, seeping into my pores and becoming a part of me. I felt as light as that smoke for a moment, savoring God's goodness in creating diversity of color, texture, feel, temperature and experiences." "The generosity of spirit of the team - willingness to try anything complemented with true graciousness and kindness made them an incredible group to get to know and from whom to learn. Constant smiles, yet their humanity and realness were a gift, along with their servant hearts and attitudes. They touched many lives, including mine." "This land of great economic decline, poverty and want, is contrasted by beauty beyond belief, generosity without borders and lovely people." "I am unable to grasp the feeling that is flowing through me. I cannot hold it long enough to name it. Wonder? Gratitude? Amazement? Whatever it is, I want it to last. It is mingled with missing Eric, who stayed behind in Bishkek. I know he would love this place, this spot on earth where rivers run deep and grass grown in tens of shades of green. We will have to come back so he can get this feeling too. It is good for the soul, I think, to feel this, to touch this crisp mountain air, to wash hands in freezing mountain rivers, and to drink tea huddled around a campfire, to know God make it all possible." August 16, 2001