On The Road Again

David says we love road trips...hmmm...well, they definitely are a part of our lives but I just don't know that I'd say "we love them." We spend a whole lot of time traveling and sometimes even he has to admit that we long for a few really boring weeks :)
Needless of how we actually feel about road trips, here we are...on the road again. This time the road is the PanAmerican Highway from Arequipa going south to Lima. We are packed in like sardines in our Mitsubishi Montero. All six of us, a dog, and all our worldly possessions which quite frankly amounts to a lot. Oh, and did I mention a motorcycle was in the car with us. Yep, we were definitely like sardines. David and Judah had it made in their seats. The rest of us had a bit of trouble keeping our attitudes on the "nice plateau" but we did make it to Lima with our sanity so we are thankful.
How did we pass the time in our sardine can for two days? Well, the kids played, slept, read and had a few sqwabbles in there too. Sometimes we sang and were silly and there were lots of snacks. At one point we were talking about a name for another dog and Adrianna was playing with her horses at that moment. She pipes up "mommy, you like my horses names? This is Appalosian and this is Saddle-line." She made us smile - o.k. laugh - but we thought she was being very creative.
On a more contemplative note, have you ever heard the song "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw? All you country fans know it and it is a song I really like. So we were belting it out and I thought, "I think we live like we are dying." We have been so blessed to see so many things in this world, my kids have seen and smelled and lived other cultures, we live a crazy good life and our work has a purpose behind it. As hard as it is...could life be better than that? I think unbeknownst to me, my lesson in life this year has been on perspective. It's all how you look at things and where your focus is. I can so easily be overwhelmed by ANOTHER move, ANOTHER change, I have to live in THAT house? and where do I fit in here in Peru? So many questions and so many unknowns but to live today to it's fullest with your eyes on the Lord and your heart at peace with Him - it's living like you were dying and it's a good place to be. (I'm secretly hoping though that soon a few of those days can be full of boring :)
This week our schedule is in Lima buying appliances, household items, doctors appointments, and visiting friends here. As you think of us, please pray that we would be able to get everything shipped quickly and smoothly, that David and our friend Dave Spyers would have a safe and uneventful trip over the mountains on Friday and Saturday and that me and the kids would fly safely on Saturday to meet them in Pucallpa - home. Pray for me as I am not completely comfortable traveling through the airport with all the kids and having very limited Spanish speaking abilites! It should be a quick trip though and we have a friend taking me to the airport on the Lima side and there will be friends on the other side to greet me. Pray this transition ends well.
David will be returning to Lima sometime next week to be part of processing the shipment. Please continue to pray that that would go well and that the customs officials would find no issue with it.
Thank you to all of you who support us in this ministry and are helping us get set up again. We couldn't be here without you. God bless.