Mil Palmeras Baptism May 23, 2010

Mil Palmeras Baptism May 23, 2010

Vacation Time

These past two weeks have been GREAT! We finally got away from the heat and the bugs and "flew the coop" to Lima. The first week we rented a condo overlooking the ocean and it was gorgeous. Loved it. Loved the area. We only had to take the elevator to ground level, cross the street and we were in the most amazing parks ever. Kids playgrounds, families, dogs -- rollerbladers, skateboarders, bikers and walkers. I felt like I had just entered a great big happy family and I was content. A long way down was the ocean but one day we ventured down the steps and that was a lot of fun. I thought of my dad who climbs steps up and down an escarpment daily. Whew. That is some good exercise. Judah, who was riding David's shoulders back UP said, "Whew Dad. I tired." I was already winded so laughing at him nearly keeled me over!
We went bowling - a first for the kids. We went to an amazing fountain park and we all had a incredible time. We also went to a church in the town plaza called Iglesia San Francisco. Amazing. In this church we toured the catacombs which wasn't so exciting for the kids but David and I found it fascinating. Again, Judah had the tour group in stitches when he wanted out of his stroller to look into a well. We got him out to his tune of "I look, I look" and when he peered over the edge he said in a most disappointed and dejected tone - "oh". The well was full of bones and he wasn't even impressed with the design they had made from the femurs and skulls. Not impressed at all. It gave us all a good chuckle.
What else? Lauren got an MP3 player which she was thrilled with and we ate some really good food. You know your kid is an MK when you are sitting at the restaurant Chilies and your kid says, "mom, do you know what corn on the cob is?" I answered yes, that I certainly did know what it was. Adrianna holds up her corn on the cob on a stick and pointing to the stick says, "is this the cob?"
Other MK issues? Once again, we met up with automatic flushing toilets and that never ceases to confuse and frighten my kids. I'm assuming that is a unique scare only to MK's. After all the airports we have travelled through you would think they could get used to that phenomenon. After all the automatic faucets are quite a hit.
After that wonderful week of family and relaxation we met up with our SAM colleagues and we all went to a hotel on the outskirts of Lima for a 5 day conference. It was a good transition for me because I don't know that I would have handled coming straight back to Pucallpa with very much grace after the comforts of our vacation. The hotel was a step down but still very nice. The speaker was wonderful and the kids had a great time with all the other kids. They miss kids to play with. It makes me sad sometimes that I can't fix that for them but I am so very grateful for the times like they had at conference to just play their hearts content. The children's workers that came were truly ministering angels and the kids all loved them. They brought crafts and gifts and they played games and took them swimming. They hosted a movie night and sent all the adults out on date night - they were amazing. Thank you to Eternal Church in Fort Mill, SC for offering us such a loving and incredible team.
Now we are home. It feels good to be home. HOME. I can just feel comfort in the word. Yet if I were to be honest, it's been hard to come back to Pucallpa. All the little issues seem exaggerated - maybe in light of the comforts of vacation time and yet we NEEDED the vacation. However, I expected to gain strength and a new resolve for living here and I don't think I quite achieved that. I really am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that our family is right where God would have us, but it's still hard. Just last night David and I were talking about this and just how different life is here as compared to the life we had in the Philippines. It's hard not to keep comparing. I've come to my own personal conclusion that that is o.k. that this isn't easy for me as long as my heart is right with God and I'm being obedient. Obedience is the issue and not our personal comfort level. I do have much to be thankful for. I'm not in a desert in a mud hut! Isn't is selfish when you can see and you know how many blessings God has lavished us with and yet we focus on the parts we don't like. Hmmm. Now that's a hard one for me to swallow.

Psalm 100: 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 119:68 You are good, and what you do is good...even bringing us to Pucallpa.

I Wanna Go Home

There's not too much about life here that makes me want to pack my bags and head for the comforts of State-side. But last night, the one thing I've always hoped wouldn't happen to me...well, it did. There he was and he was in MY house.
I don't like spiders, and I despise snakes. Earlier this week I heard Adrianna screaming for me to come to her room. I went in and she was still in bed, curtains drawn and the light was out. She said, "Mom! STOP. Turn on the light." I had a creepy feeling starting up my spine but I turned on the light and there was big, hairy spider on her carpet right beside her bed. I wouldn't have gotten out of bed either. Yikes. What was I going to do? David had JUST left the house and my helper was more afraid than I was. I was going to have to be brave and get that spider. And I did. I popped a salad bowl over him. Then I slid a piece of paper under him in that bowl. Then I slid a clipboard under that so I could pick the whole contraption up and I carried him out and across the road. I would have preferred to see him dead but I wasn't that brave. At least he wasn't a tarantula this time. Nonetheless he was big and hairy and I wasn't brave enough to chase him.
So I braved the spider. I'm growing up in my ability to survive when it comes to critters.
Last night, David and I were both working on the computers. We heard a scream. We looked at each other curiously, listened, then went back to working. We heard it again. I said, "do you suppose that's one of our kids calling?" David jumped up and went out. David is our emergency caretaker. I don't do blood and hurts very well either. The scream sounded like an emergency so he is the one who went and THANK THE GOOD LORD FOR THAT! There was a snake in our hallway and Lauren had seen it, run back into her room and was screaming til Dad came. She did great. David killed the snake and then brought it to show me. I still have the shivers.
It's not that I really want to go home but snakes are definitely out of my personal comfort zone. We don't know if it was a poisonous one or not, but I can still thank God for his protection. I been bitten by spiders before and that's not fun either so I also thank God for his protection on Adrianna. She has had spiders in her room before but of all the kids, she is my bug lover and can handle it. Thank you Lord for that. So although I long for my "sealed" house in the States I keep telling myself - it could have happened there too. There are snakes in NC too.

What Kind of House Do You Live In?

It's pretty scary to some to think that I live in the "jungle". Actually, now that I think about it, it's pretty scary to me to think that I live in the jungle! What was God thinking? If anyone doubts the sense of humor God has - please, let me assure he just has to have a good healthy dose of it to bring me to this place.
We knew before we arrived that we would be renting a SAM house on the SAMAir base at Cashibo. Before we arrived in Peru my house was described to me. Big kitchen. Check, that's a good thing. 4 Bedrooms. Check, another good thing seeing as we have a larger family. A cool room (or better understood as a room with an air conditioner). Check, check. Need that when you're sweating away to nothing. Front porch, back porch. Bonus! Carport. Great! It was the next part that had me scared. We were told, "it's kind of built like a barn - it's the most barn-like of all the houses on center. Yeah, it's the barn." How would you take that?
Well, we've been living in this barn now for over a year and although we would love to continue renovations (or burn it down and start over) we have come a long ways. Let me share some pictures of our house.

The pictures aren't in a very good order but here goes:
top pic: carport with a thatched roof
next: our house is wooden and built on pillars. In a heavy rainy season the lake rises and floods under our house.
next: my kitchen is BIG. I LOVE the counterspace and David bought me really good appliances so I am very grateful for my kitchen. I spend a lot of time there.
next: front of our house. The high bushes are for privacy and to keep the dust down (seeing as our windows only have screen not glass) but we prefer to have them trimmed a little lower than they are in the picture. We would like to replace them with some flowering bushes that are actually bushes not leaves on the top of some sticks!
next: Adrianna's room. You'll notice the interior walls are not finished -- only one side of the wall exists on the framework. It also exposes the wiring which is quite ugly to me. Although this is not pretty, the rational is that you can see if termites start to work. That would be a plus.
next: my living room. Lots of windows but not lots of light. We have huge trees around our house which shades it (a good thing) but it makes a wooden house feel very dark. I wasn't able to post the picture of our "ceiling" or lack of... we have exposed rafters. You might be able to glimpse that in this picture or perhaps the kitchen picture.

That's not the whole house but it's a good part of it and it gives you an idea of the kind of house that is typical here. Some of the houses are finished nicely, the interior having been sanded and varnished but most of them are similarly built to ours. Houses here require a lot of maintance to keep them nice because of the tropical climate and bugs that like to invade.
David is constantly working to make improvements to the house.

We are grateful for the Lord providing a house for us here at SAMAir. We often contemplate if living in town would be better for our family and being near to the school but at this time we are sure this is where we need to be. So until the Lord moves us elsewhere - this is where we live :)

A Fresh New Year

I REALLY am not the type of person to set New Year's Resolutions. I always feel way to guilty when I can't meet my own expectations. Why put yourself through that?! But this year, this year is different for some odd reason. Can't quite put my finger on it. I made several resolutions and one was about keeping up this blog. But here and now I've realized I've already procrastinated. It's FEBRUARY already! How did that happen and where did the January blog go? Uh oh. This is not a good sign as to the potential of me blogging at least once a month. So I've marked it on my calendar. The first day of the month gets a big post-it note, "WRITE BLOG!" Maybe that will get my attention, eh?
Honestly, I want to give you a more day to day look at life here. I have friends who do such a wonderful job. I have one friend who writes and email weekly and often tells of how high the rat-killing count is up to... I don't think I'll do that, or details a day at school with the kids or tells us what shopping and cooking is like. I can relate to it all and I think it's the kind of stuff you need to know too. I have another friend who does a similar weekly update on her blog and when I read last night I burst out laughing because she wrote an article about "Where does all the trash go?" I laughed because it's so common place for us to sort and burn and blow up our trash but would you know that? Well just maybe she gave give me some inspirational topics to write about in the months to come so you might be better informed as to what life is REALLY like :) !
p.s. This one doesn't count for February.

A New Niche to Call My Own

I've been wondering where in the world I fit in our ministry for years...but my role has kind of been laid out before me as I raise 1, then 2, then 3 and then surprise! 4 kids. Whew. Although I am completely convinced my place first and foremost is taking care of my family, at times I have wanted "something" to call my own. At times I miss working outside the home, I miss talking with adults, or just getting out once in a while. I honestly thought homeschooling would be overwhelming and even more confining to our home. As you know, 5 weeks ago it was decided that homeschooling was the best option for our kids right now. So, despite my fears I determined I would do my best. After all, "this too shall pass."

Five weeks into school, I don't know if I want it "to pass". I am enjoying it. Yes, that is surprising to me. I admit, it is very time consuming, it's a lot of work, I get frustrated... in fact, very frustrated at times -- but then there is joy in seeing them grasp a new concept, pass a test, get excited about a subject, realize they remember something I've taught them... I really do enjoy teaching my kids. I love the variety of things we do. I love knowing exactly what they are studying, how they are doing and how they did throughout the day. I love seeing them get excited about a project and it sure helps us get through the nitty gritty stuff -- like math. There is a new connection with them in that I am a part of their learning process and it's become a part of our existence. "Oh guys, look at this spider! Count how many legs he has. Now is he a insect or not?" The unit on insects is going a long way! I THINK the kids are even enjoying it. Lauren won't quite admit that it's good but she will smile slightly and say "it's not so bad." I could jump for joy to hear those words. As it turns out, Adrianna has jumped up and does a lot of 2nd grade work while in the subjects that Dean struggles in (Math), I have held him back to join Adrianna in 1st grade. It works out well because I only have two grades that I'm teaching and Adrianna is an excellent motivator to keep Dean working. He needs the peer pressure even if it is from his sister. Lauren has to work a lot on her own which she does not prefer, but she is so capable and I'm right here to help her when she needs it.

Our favorite subject is called "The Mystery of History". World history starting at creation. I'll have to post some of their work for you to see. It's pretty fun and I love it too because I'm learning AND in one curriculum I give Lauren one project for her level and another for Dean and Adrianna and it all complements one lesson. Bless the woman who thought to put the study together so perfectly.

So on the days I sound tired and frustrated, remind me that there are days when I can honestly say, I enjoy this God-given endeavor. Maybe again, my role has been laid out for me, but for now, I am very content with where I am at.