Travel and Me... and a Home!

Most people think I like to travel just because I call myself a gypsy.  While it is true that I adore the feeling of traveling down the open road, there is something I love and long for even more...A place to put down roots and call "HOME" for long term.  And that is Robby and my goal.  As soon as the lease here in Scottsdale expires... we are heading out one last time... and going to give every effort in our being to settle down in along term home.  Home sweet home...and a place I can wander out from...and always know is waiting for me to come back...that is what I dream of, long for, and greatly desire in life...

~ Morria

Gypsy Soul

Gypsy soul, fettered down by world's cares,

Gypsy soul, battered & broken by pain,

Gypsy soul, tattered & seeking rest.

How long is this road before us?

How long till this path divides?

How long shall this trail be?

This Gypsy longs for a place of rest,

This Gypsy longs for a home to settle,

This Gypsy longs for His peace to remain.

© 2015 MMN

~ Morria

Itchy Feet!

We have been basically stationary for the last 6 months, and my feet are getting itchy to travel.  We have not been this stationary, in well... our whole marriage.  We were always on the road at least part time, raising support as missionaries, traveling to help family, traveling to the churches we worked in on the rez or elsewhere...
Now?  We are so settled it feels like my head is spinning.  This overly hot valley which houses the Phoenix metro is not a place I want to be stuck in for long.  Our lease is till October, so I will abide till then... Hopefully my health will hold out over the summer... as the 90 F it has been already this spring is doing a number on me already.

Maybe God is trying to teach me how to settle down.  How to be a good wife.  How to be a "Stay at Home Gypsy"...
All I know is I am climbing walls and restless trying to figure out who I am looks like in this new chapter that is beginning to open up... and I am not doing to well in the adjustment phase, as Robby can tell you.  Restless "Gypsy Gal" is not a happy "Gypsy Gal".  LOL.

Honestly though, I do think God is trying to teach me to be a good wife, homemaker, and to learn to be a gypsy without always being on the open road.

I don't know where the days and months ahead are leading me and Robby, only that we are on a grand new adventure... bumpy as it may be.
I don't know where this new "road" in life is going, only that the Journey-Giver has set it before us.
"Daddy, help me to be all that You wish for me, in this our new adventure! Amen."

~ Morria

Gypsy Gal's Song of Reflection

Be still, my wandering soul,

Rest, my gypsy feet,

Be at peace, my sojourning heart!

The Journey-Giver is with you,

The Story-Maker is your King,

The Refuge-Keeper is your God!

O, sing my soul!

O, dance my feet!

O, rejoice my heart!

Magnify His Holy Name!

© 2015 MMN  

~ Morria 

Who is Morria?

Who is Morria?  That is a question I find myself asking more and more.  As a child I had an ideas of who she would be grown up: strong, brave, a singer, a writer, a well traveled woman.  As a teen, I started carving a path: a dash of goth, a bit of gypsy, an herbalist, a wanderer, a warrior woman, a poet.  As a twenty something, I got lost in a fog: death, sorrow, betrayal, broken heart, shattered dreams, new dreams, and true love.  And now as a thirty something, I am trying to find out just who she is.  But the piece are not so easy to figure out.  Am I just the woman I am day to day?  The woman who works a 10-7 (nightshift), comes home, sleeps, drives her husband to college, and longs for more?  Or am I that herbalist, gypsy goth, writer, that I still envision myself as?  I am not sure, but I sure am going to find out...

~ Morria

Motherless Mother's Day

Mother's Day is here again, and for the first time ever, my dear "Merami" is not here with me.  LOL, for those who knew us well, you know we never did see eye to eye on many issue, but we still had a deep reckless love for eachother.   She was the one who put wings to my dreams, but also taught me to see where the ground was to land, without crashing... Not that I am great about the not crashing part.

She could see all my flaws and still see the strong woman beneath.  She could see the wild, untamed spirit, the recklessness, and the dreamer, and found a way for me to harness them and become both a woman, missionary, and a gypsy.  For years I did not see how she was helping me do it, but know grown and over 30, I see it.  Thusly, this first year without her for Mother's Day is very hard.  So much I wish I could tell her...

While I will always miss her greatly, I will always know the woman I am today is largely in part to her.    Thanks, Merami!

~ Morria

Earth Day: 2014

 When we first entered this plant with Adam and Eve, God gave us but one job, tending the garden.

Now many years later, we have to be reminded that we have been given only one Earth, and it is our job to take care of it.  As broken, tattered, and gypsy souls as we are, we only have one dwelling to remain in until we enter heaven, and we best be busy caring for it.

Some might say, we are heaven bound, what does it mater what we do to the earth?  First off, God told us to care for earth.  Secondly, it is a good witness to those who have yet to believe.  Thirdly and personally, there is so much joy to found working with earth and in desert/beach/forest/gardens.  So, if nothing else, take time to day to stop and smell the flowers!

~ Morria

Battle of Camp Wildcat

 150 years ago today, there was a Battle here at Wildcat Mountain  and the Confederates were camped here at Camp Wildcat.   This ground on which which we are standing, and especially the tree covered mountain and wilderness road behind us are hallowed grounds.  Men fought and died here.  Men died in the military hospital at this very campsite.  Who died for the ideals they believed in.  And who gave us that strong back bone, that right now is all the keeps us afloat.

Today, reenactors are gathered to represent a portion of the battle and remember those who have gone before us, and died to make and keep this land free.  Yes, Robby and I spent most of Saturday and Sunday at the "Battle of Camp Wildcat" Civil War Reenactment.  It was so much a feeling of home to me.  LOL, yes, I use to reenact at Cowtown all the time as a teen, and prior to that would dress the part every museum and living history site I went to.


If I were to say anything to you, my readers, my fellow traveller, gypsy goth, and gypsy friends, and those who read around the world, see if there is any sort of historical reenactment in your area, whether you take part or just watch, tis an experience of a lifetime for all who go.  ^_^  And charish ever minute you have with those you love... as life is fleeting.

~ Morria

Fellow Gypsy Gal..

Today, there was a fellow gypsy gal, standing on the curb at the edge of Walmart. As is my custom, I went into the store and bought a bottle of icy cold water for her.  Sadly, today I was out of food bars in my purse, having just finished a trip moving east, and not having had a chance to replenish as of yet.  Then I ran back out to her, in my good clothing from my job interview.  My turquoise necklace pounded on my chest as did my sliver Celtic cross, but I had to get back to her, as the day is so hot and humid in this Kentucky late summer weather.  I handed her the bottle of cold water, and she smiled, "A cup of cold water in My name.  God bless you!"

How often do we over look blessings because we fear strangers?  It makes me think of the old Celtic Christian blessing/proverb.  "May there always be food in the eating place, may there always be drink in the drinking place.  May there always be music in the listening place.  May there always be a bed in the sleeping place.  For, oft, oft, oft, goes Christ about in stranger's garb."  Please my friends consider how you to might aid other gypsies, vagabonds, and travelers.  Blessings!

~ Morria

What Do They Know?

As I am sitting here, working at the homeless shelter in Chicago, my thoughts wonder to all the homeless, the Roma, and the gypsy/bohemian/nomad/travelers of the world, especially those in dire situations...

~ Morria

What Do They Know?

I sit here in this room,

nothing but this bag to call my own

Why am I here?

What has happened?

They say I am a streetrat, 

an outcast, a vagabond.

What do they know?

I sit here praying,

Family's still on the move,

Why are we hated?

What have we done?

They say I am a streetrat, 

an outcast, a vagabond.

What do they know?

I sit here in this slum,

nothing but rot to call a home.

Why don't they care?

How could things change?

What do they know?

We have a history,

We have names.

We are humans.

We are everyone. 

MMN - 2009 

"Bardic Circle"

Today our friends the Grover's hosted a "Bardic Circle".  This weeks theme was Native Drum Circle, Aaron was there for it of course, as were many of our other gypsy, goth, subculture, traveler, and nomadic friends.  As we began to share music, songs, and stories, my heart began to cry.  What are we doing here?  Our hearts for helping other people, maybe living in Dine Bikeyah, but not in the city here.  It hurt to much, but now I realize I cannot put the open road and ministering to fellow outcasts out of my mind or heart.  Tis in there just too deep.

What now?  I dont know what this means for the future... I dont know what roads this means we will go down.  But I do know that it means Chicago is not the end point, but just a stop on the trail...

We are here in Chicago for until at least next August or September, and after that I have even less clue where we shall journey.  God, You have to be in this, because I have no clue what You are up to here...

~ Morria

Interning in Michigan!

I am now doing an internship  at a church here in Michigan. Work as an intern is starting slow... but I am enjoying it.   I will be back in Kansas for the holidays as of the 16th, then come back home to Michigan on the 5th. This is going to be a very, very good testing ground for me.   I just pray I do not fail the tests.

"The gypsy road, the gypsy road, what a life for me!" ~ Gypsy Gal

~ Morria

The Gypsy Goth Gal

PEACE....
now that is a word that use to be so easy for me to explain.  Life was good.  I knew where I belonged in those days.  Well, at least in terms of at my church.... took me years to find out I belonged reaching out the the youth.

UNREST...
O, my soul is restless!
I know it now.  I have the restless, wandering spirit of the Irish missionaries and gypsies of old.  I knew by now I would be preparing to leave home.  I knew it when I was 16.  I wish I had listened to myself better.  LOL! Oh to wander the open lands, going where He sends me!

PAINED...
The Sorrow and Loss of the past year, the Year of Sorrow, have left it's bitter scars.  Death, losses, unwise choices, bitter wounds, and lessons learned. I may not be strong yet, but I am stronger from these trials.  I am not praying for this life to be easy, just for the strength to make it.

ACTION...
With this all summed up, I am starting to really prepare and pack today.  My goal? That I might be able to give up  all that which is no longer needed or useful for the journey.  My time in Kansas is over... No matter how much longer I physically stay, I will live as if I am a visitor, a gypsy goth on the way to their next stop.

Father to You this Life, I commit!

~ Morria

Revelation...

What a revelation... Spoke with Matt today, I knew he was Christian Punk, but I just didn't realize subculture was what you would call that.  He helped me figure out some really good stuff both about me, and who I am.   Hippie, Gypsy, Traveler, Bohemian, those are the names for what I am, with a touch of course of Goth...  Gypsy Goth... that is what I am... that fits... if I use any kinda title, I guess.  Just good catching up with Matt!

Guess Gandalf will be saying of me next, "Not All Who Wander Are Lost."

~ Morria