The Zoo

We had an interesting week-end. Saturday morning Christian and Gabe got up bright and early to go play soccer with some of the students and teachers from our school. They had a lot of fun and got a lot of sunburn. Christian was still feeling the effects today as he has a body full of sore muscles. Gabe on the other hand has been receiving complements all day on how well he played. Looks like the grown-up boys will be glad to let him play again.
Saturday night we had a cook-out with some friends. The Charcoal here is actually chunks of wood. It took forever to get the grill ready but the burgers were good and so was the strawberry shortcake. (I love strawberries for $.70 a pound.)
Sunday we went to church – which was shortened due to the fact that all the kids teachers and worship team were away on vacation. I have to admit that we were glad because it is hard to sit there for an hour listen to a sermon of which you only understand 50% or less. I just found out that Impact has the sermons on “TV” on their website. We may have to watch what is going on in Mi until we can understand what is going on in church here.
Sunday afternoon we got a nice phone call from Germany form some friends that lived in MI the same time we did. Volker went to SMAT with Christian and we haven’t heard from then since they left MI back in 2006. They are living in Germany, have 7 kids (they had 5 last time we saw them), and are still hoping to go to the mission field. We got a call on our house phone at the same time from a Swiss German couple who are here in Arequipa with us. They invited us to go to the zoo with them that afternoon.

(kids at the zoo with new friend Jan)

They meet us at our house and we took two taxis quite a ways out to the edge of town to visit the zoo. We saw many interesting animals and saw things that would make Northern zoo keepers cringe. Most of the workers in the zoo were selling ice cream. I did see one picking up trash but that was it. All the animals had just being feed but the monkeys weren’t interested in their fruit, they wanted the fruit all the visitors were handing to them. I found it amazing that people brought in bags of food to feed the animals even though the sign clearly said, “Do not feed the animals. They bite.” We got to see condors and armadillos, though. I’ve always wanted to see those.

(the kids, doing what they do . . .)

When we were leaving the zoo we decided to take a combi (bus) back to town, It would be much cheaper than the taxi. While walking to the combi stop Christian looked up and exclaimed, “I can’t believe we live here!” This was our view when he said that.

Yeah, we live here . . . and really, we are enjoying it. It’s a whole new adventure.

Late Start and Chifa

This morning started out like every other on here but then . . . .
we had no water. We thought it was just the gas for the hot water heater so we called the Llamagas man. He can right away with a new bottle of gas, but that wasn't the problem. Christian took our little hot water heater apart and the gas man thought it was the batteries (for the electric start) . . . well one of the hardest parts to find at 8:00 in the morning are D size batteries. He went looking and ever got taken by a taxi driver who insisted that Plaza Vea was open that early. The driver dropped him off and took off, leaving Christian outside a very closed Plaza Vea. He caught another taxi home and by then we realized we had no water at all.
By this time Christian was going to miss his first class. We sat down for some breakfast (yogurt and cornflakes) and decided to call the land lord in Lima.
We only understood 50% of what she said but we did get the part that she would call some one and call us back. In 30-40 minutes we had water again. The hot water was out due to low water pressure. I heard later on that a mud slide had broken a water pipe and whole chunks of the city were out water. So other getting a very late start to the day it all turned out well.
We decide to go have Chifa tonight for dinner. We had some of the best Chinese food ever. The kids all tried really hard to use chopsticks and got to drink Inca Cola. It was a lot of fun. I tried to get some pictures but my camera is being very fickle. it only works some of the time. But I think I got at least one picture good enough to share.

Waiting for Chifa:

One stick for each hand, right?

Our Street: Los Jazmines

Christian and kids in front of our house.

View down our street.
View up our street. If you could see through to the next block you would see the kids school.

Shoe Shopping

I left the house early this morning with the kids when Christian left for class. We grabbed a taxi and found ourselves over in the San Camilo area at the place where they make and sell shoes. I guess we jumped the gun a bit because they are just unlocking gates at 8:30 in the morning. We walked around killing time and I took the kids to the big market and other surrounding shops. It was interesting to watch everyone set up their stands. We picked up a few miscellaneous items for school and then head back to Acma, the shoe place. This place is a huge building with 4 floors, on all of which they make or sell shoes. We stayed on the first floor where there were at least 30 little 6ft x 6ft shoe shops. everyone sells things a little different than the others and every one different prices. It is really odd to ask to try on a shoe and have the sellers run outside and across the street to get your size, or whistle to someone 3 floors up.
After many, many shops and pairs of shoes we got everyone every thing they needed. We had to leave after only buying two pairs because I had to get to class, but after class Christian went back with us. He had never been over to that part of town before. I plan to back 1 or 2 more times this week to get the kids school supplies.

That area of town doesn't get much traffic from tourists so we were quite the sight. Really, almost every vendor and half the people on the street stare and count our kids outloud . ."uno, dos, tres, cuatro, y cinco. CINCO HIJOS!!" I think the word '5 ' and the word 'kids' are the first words our children understood well.

What Do On A Rainy Day????

Our kids have gotten very creative with the space they have to play in. We have a tiled driveway and no car so that gives them plenty of extra space. They have used that area to play soccer with covers from water bottles (that was before I bought the soccer ball last week.), they have played bowling with the water bottles, sword fighting and war with the the empty water bottles . . . . but when I arrived home after class on Friday their creativity had peaked. It had been raining for quite a while and , well, I'll let the video explain.

With or With Out Me

This week my Spanish classes has not consisted of the typical grammar and speach practice. Twice this week class has been replace by "cultural learning". I've gotten an earful of what the school the kids will attend is really like, found out that we will continue to buy more and more things through out the school year, C and I must attend parenting classes and PTA meeting or we can get a fine and it will effect part of the kids' grades . . . this is going to be quite an experience.
I am learning all about a part of town I haven't been to yet where all the Peruvians go to shop. I am hiring my friends house lady to bring me there on Saturday. It is a huge commercial area just east of el centro. Apparently if you wander too far off the main streets you are in a "red" area where all the drug sellers, addicts, prositutes and theives live. You can buy everything you could imagine over there - cheap too . . . .I am looking forward to going and glad someone will show me the places to go and not to go before I go there alone on Monday with the kids to buy black shoes for school.
Today we talked about this area some more . . the converation turned to the pain in peoples lives and how much culture and society won't change by legislation . . .the bad things in life like STDs, AIDS, Abortion, adultery, feeling unwanted and unloved, the feelings of worthlessness that lead to desperate behavior - these things can only change one person at a time, one heart at a time. As I sat in class chatting with Julio about all this I was overwhelmed by a feeling of helplessness. I can't do anything about it. I have such a passion and heart to see families healthy and see marriages succeed and thrive - yet in the States where I speak the language and understand the culture I still have to sit by and watch as friends' marriages fall apart or exist in daily turmoil. There I know what to say (how to express my heart), I understand the problems (at least I can listen and understand as others share their hearts) . . .yet unless hearts are turned to God for truth and healing my words do nothing . . . I guess that should actually make me feel better - I am simply a tool used by God the results are not depended on me . . .but it seems daunting when I am here and I don't speak the language and I don't understand the culture (ie. .having a mistress is common place) . . .how does our/my being here change anything. I guess what I am realizing as I type is that I am powerless and always have been to change anything in the world around me - it is only God that has power. I am truly thankful for that truth, but it makes us being here all the more crazy.
God has a plan and it seems more unbelievable than ever and I see less and less clearly how we fit into the plan but I know we do . .so I guess we will have to wait and see what he does. We have fit perfectly and he has used us everywhere else we have gone so why would here be any different - the barriers of language and culture are nothing to God.
When I started typing I was a bit discouraged but now I am reminded that my hope is in Christ - everything good in me comes from him - every good thing in this world comes from him - all power in heaven and on Earth finds its source in him - through Christ all things are possible. I can love because he has loved me - I can trust him because he died to be with me - TRUE LOVE. His love casts out all fear - His love changes things with or with out me.

An Honest Heart

God, thank you for giving me such a nice house that I forget I am in Peru. I month ago I thought it was this awful place (but now I know it is not) and thank you for my family. Amen
-Emma

Domingo Estupendo (Super Sunday) and other lesser days

Well …we hosted the first Superbowl party of our lives. It was a lot of fun if not a little sad that we had to move to Peru to do so. Since we have five kids, we have the largest house in the missionary/language student community. Therefore, we hosted the night at our place and our friend Scott provided a projector to simulate a 60” TV. Initially it was a little spotty but in the end it was way better than any TV I’ve watched the game on in the past. (Aside from the Spanish commentators.) We had a diverse group. It was us and various new friends from Delaware, Oregon, Montana, Nottingham England and Switzerland. At one point I was explaining the rules of football to Christian, a Swiss-German, who in turn was explaining them to his 11 year-old son Jan who only speaks German. Between my utter lack of knowledge of the rules and Christian’s limited English it would be interesting to know what Jan (Yan) thought of the game. We had a great time and to top it off it was a great game.

Today we were back at school. Spanish learning is going well. My mood varies from moments of encouragement to moments of dread over the huge task before me. I think that by the end of this week I will have surpassed everything I retained from my two years of C- high school Spanish.

Amy spent the whole afternoon after language school out by herself finishing the kid’s uniform shopping. I am so proud of her. She had to tell the woman from Friday that we decided to buy some of the stuff from another store. I think in all Amy saved us a couple hundred dollars by asking questions and being willing to suffer through a few extra hours of using Spanish she hasn’t learned yet. Rest assured that we will post a picture of the kids in their costumes (I mean uniforms) once we get them all.

Thanks for taking the time to read these posts and for being interested in what God is allowing us to do for him. Feel free to leave a comment. We love to read them.

For all of the Listros,

Christian

Another Day, More Rain

O.K. - it rained again today. the second time since we've been here. I convinced its because I washed the rest of our bed sheets . . there was plenty of sunshine but as soon as I hung the last one the clouds rolled in.

We had quite the experience today. We had to go see about the kids uniforms for school. We went to two places for prices. The first one right down the street wrote out a price list for us. The prices for everything vary based on the size. Seriously, a size 8 shirt will cost $.60 less than a size 10. This makes getting prices time consuming because we have to give every one's sizes for each piece. The first place was pretty fast but we realized later that we didn't get a complete list. We spent well over an hour at the second place, which is on the other side of town, having the kids try on everything. Poor Christian has never taken the kids to buy clothes before - he was tired, hungry, and overwhelmed by the amount of clothing getting passed back and forth. The nice lady in the shop kept a good list and managed to get every one's sizes.
The kids need a uniform and a gym suit. The lady at the second shop offered us the minimum amount of everything and she'll through in the school hats for free. Even still, the total was 2,000 soles (3.16 soles = $1). We need to talk to someone tomorrow about what is REALLY required and what is extra. We don't want to buy more than they need. Then we have to buy books and we have lists with two million bullet points of things the kids have to have for school. Gavin has to bring a toothbrush and toothpaste among other things.
That reminds me, today in the public bathroom at Sagafalabella, THE fancy store in Arequipa, the girls and I had to wait in line to wash our hands because at 4:00p.m. there were 10 ladies brushing their teeth. Not quite sure what was going on there but is was certainly odd.
The kids and I cleaned the house yesterday. There is a constant layer of dust/ash on everything. We swept and washed all the floors. It reminded me a lot of our house on Wopowog Rd. in CT. Our house here is spacious, has a strange layout, and tons of windows. Very much like our old house. We are enjoying Arequipa very much. Our outing today fried our brains - all that Spanish and we need to understand and be understood. Afterward we went to find a place to get Christian hair cut. We found a place, Christian brought pictures and tried his best to explain what he wanted but it didn't quite come out like he wanted. But lucky for us when it was over and we asked how much we were told, "5 soles." His hair cut only cost $1.58. I guess that was a good price for a not so good hair cut.
I took a lot of pictures while we were out to day I will try to post them later.

Flip-Flop

I will have to bring my camera with me the next time I go to the market - my words won't give you the full effect. I have made a second visit to a very sweet lady named Adela. I am going to make couscous tomorrow. The price of food here is flip-flopped from the States, which is good for us. It makes eating well a lot cheaper than at home.

small jar processed peanut butter: $5
10 white flour tortillas: $4.50
Betty Crocker cookie mix: $5.00

2 eggplant, 2 red peppers, 2 yellow pepper, 2+ pounds carrots, fresh basil, 3 turnips, 3 leeks, 4 cucumbers, 2+pounds onions, 1+ pounds of green beans, 3 zucchini, and a bag of hand washed chick peas: $10
She also threw in a free pepper for mi esposo. Last time she gave me some free ginger root.

I have to say that I probably look pretty silly with my dictionary in the market and at the grocery store, but oh well. I am managing to get what we need and am even managing to speak and be understood rather that smiling, pointing and grunting.

School is going well for the kids and us. I know Christian is looking forward a break this week-end. We are both studying hard. The kids are doing great and working very hard on their studies. They have a few more weeks to work on their current schooling full-time before they start at the International School.

Keep praying for us. Honestly, everything is going great but I am very tired. The air up here at 8,000 ft is a bit thinner. I get winded going up to do laundry. It actually rained a little today. That was only because I decided to water the lawn today and wash our bed sheets . . .

Crazy Gringos Play Ball

Well, Christian is feeling much better today. Thanks to all of you who prayed. We had an adventurous afternoon and evening. After siesta we went to the park down the street and played a little soccer with the kids. We played half court (the field is a basketball court) because some other kids were playing on the otherside. Well I noticed that eventually they stopped playing and just watched us. I think we were better than T.V. - A large family of gringos playing soccer was a sight to behold. We were slipping and sliding on the painted concrete. It was fun and I'm sure the Peruvians had a good laugh.
After a little futbol we headed off to get a taxi and go to Plaza Vea. It is like Walmart, kind of. We were able to get some school supplies, a froggie trash can (for all that toilet paper), and hair clippers. It is a little embarrassing that the lady working at the store spoke more English than we did Spanish. But we got what we needed and then headed of to the centro. We walked many streets looking for a bookstore to by a Spanish/English dictionary. Funny we didn't own one. Now many streets and two book stores later we own two.
We took a taxi back across town to Pollo Real. Picked up 2 chickens, 2 fries and 1 Inca Cola and headed home. The chicken was great but I feel a little sick to my stomach - maybe it is because the chicken man put five raw chickens on a spit, tied them, wiped his hands on a towel and put our food in the containers with his salmonella ridden hands! Oh, well. I'm sure its not the first time and I know it won't be the last.
Spanish classes are going well. I am thoroughly enjoying going to class, and so is Christian. Really, we are blessed in a very special way to be living here and learning Spanish - it is such a blessing - parasites and all. There have been many moments since we arrived that I have wondered why we are here. We, in and of ourselves, have nothing to offer Peru. They don't need our culture, habits, cooking, language . . . .nothing. We have nothing to give worth anything except Christ. I pray HE will be seen in us.

Revenge of the Germs

We've been here for two weeks and we have all been fairly healthy until now. Christian has a terrible gastrointestinal issue. He can't eat, can't sleep, can't study, can't throw up . . . .he is just down right miserable. Please pray for his health. I don't think I ever seen him quite like this. Nothing seems to help, so just pray, He has class at 8:30 in the morning.

We started our Spanish classes today and the kids started home school again after a month and a half break. It has been a busy day. I still have a couple of hours of home work to do so this will be short. Christian is in class for 4 hours a day, 2 hours of practice and 2 hours of grammar. I am only doing 2 hours of practice in the afternoon right now so I can be home with the kids while Christian is at class, then we switch. We were supposed to do 2 hours of grammar together so I will do that at home until March when the kids start at the International School.

Please pray for good health for all of us.
Homework is calling me . . . .

Rock concert

Hi this is Gabe on the Sunday be for we left. I went to a concert staring Toby Mac and Hawk Nelson. Dad,Emma,Kenny,and I went. It was at the Bob Cat stadium we sat really high up. Here is picture of Emma, me and Hawk Nelson. The movies are of Hawk Nelson and Tobymac.

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More Tid Bits

Here are a few more things that make our life here all the more interesting and comical:

The washing machine is plugged into an extension cord that runs down the side of the house into the kid's bathroom window.

I have to unplug the washer to plug in the nightlight so the kids can find the bathroom in the dark.

The meat counter at El Super is self serve - pick your steaks and scoop your own ground beef.

The garbageman rings bell so you know he is coming - he doesn't come even close to the time marked in the paper.

Our district in Arequipa, Yanahuara, is Quechua for "black underwear"

Tid Bits

As we were landing in Arequipa Tuesday I pointed out El Misti to the kids and told them it was an active volcano. Gavin's first question is, "Are we going to die?" I quickly explained that the volcano was sleeping and we had nothing to worry about. A few seconds later he looks at me and says,
"We're going to die here? I hope it doesn't happen (volcanic eruption) because we'll all die and that will be the end of our mission . . but we'll be in heaven so that's O.K."
Boy that kids keeps us laughing and on our toes. Today he went to hail a taxi for me w/o permission. No fear . . .
Classes start on Monday for Christian and me. The kids are all registered for school, too. I will be going to school 1/2 time until March when the kids will be in school all day. I will then go the full 4 hours while they are at school. Until then We will continue to home school in the mornings while Christian is in class and then I will go in the afternoon. The kids will have to wear uniforms to school. All the kids wear white shirts, gray pants or skirt. and a green sweater. Gabe get to wear a green Blazer and a tie instead of the sweater. I am looking forward to seeing this.
I wish you could all be here and see, smell, and experience everything with us. I will do my best to share all that with you.

Here is a short list of things that make life here different and interesting:
I do the laundry on the roof.
I look at a volcano when I do laundry.
Toilet paper goes in the trash can.
Paper napkins are single ply.
Cold water only to wash clothes and dishes.
We have cable T.V. - first time ever.
The meat counter at El Super was self serve.
We live 8,000 ft up and the air is thin.

View of El Misti from our roof.

A Nice Steady Closet

Getting out of Lima was not as simple the second time around. We had a taxi pick us up around 9a.m. to take us to the airport. Our flight to Arequipa was supposed to leave around 11:20. We planned to have enough time to check our bags, eat breakfast at the airport, and get through security. All was going very well. We checked our carry-ons so we wouldn’t have to lug them around, not to mention that they we VERY over weight for carry-on luggage. We took our time at the food court (did you know Papa John’s serves breakfast?we opted for McD.), paid our airport tax of $6.25 a person (tickets are invalid w/o the paid tax sticker), got down to the gates, checked the board only to find written next to our flight CANCELADO. Even you non Spanish speakers can figure that one out, CANCELED. The flight had been canceled while we went through security.
So back to the ticket counter we go. The line at the LAN counter was huge! So being resourceful Christian put the Latin culture to work to help us out. He got the attention of a LAN worker and pointed out our predicament : canceled flight + last in line + 5 kids=remove blockade and put family with kids at the head of the groups line. People down here don’t like to see kids cry or make them wait. We were thankful to not have too long of a wait. However, it almost didn’t matter because the next flight to Arequipa was at 3:50p.m. we now had 5 hours to wait in the Lima airport.
We found the nicest spot we could near a fountain, under a skylight and set up camp. We ordered the most expensive cookies (not realizing what we were ordering) just to sit in this café. The price was worth it since we spent a good 2.5 hours sitting there playing cards and trying to figure out how to call the school in Arequipa to tell them our change in plans. With that dome we made our way back to security to head to our gate. We bypassed the tax booth since we had already paid several hours earlier, well – since our tax stickers had already been scanned once they weren’t valid anymore. I was about ready to scream. The lady at the counter said it would be fine but now we were being told to go back down to the ticket counter to get it fixed. The kids and I planted ourselves on the floor along the glass wall in front of the security entrance. Christian returned in about 10 minutes with new stickers and we were on our way – through security again and to our gate. At this point all went well. We got on the plane – got to Arequipa just fine, and so did our luggage. People from our school meet us and brought us to our house where we meet the owner and signed our lease, we went shopping for some necessities, moved around a lot of beds, and got to bed very late.
The next morning we left the house at 9:45a.m. to go to ABC (that is the language school)to talk with some people there and see where it is. It is about a 15 minute walk from our house. We then proceeded to walk all over Arequipa. It is a beautiful city – we walked 4.5 hours that day. At almost 8,000 feet up the air is thinner and the sun stronger. We were all exhausted and sun burnt by the time we got home. Our boxes also arrived in Arequipa without a problem. It was nice to unpack our things and make this place home – even if it is only till August. As Gavin put it when we put his laundry away, “It is nice to have a nice steady closet.”

More Bus Pictures

Emma, Hannah and Tasa in front of the Murray's purple house.

We leave tomorrow and are not sure when we will have stable internet again. We are heading to our new home and are looking forward to getting settled. Please pray for our Spanish - we want to learn quickly and we want to learn well. Here are a few more pictures of our bus trip. Ciao, I am off to pack.

They looked thrilled, don't they?

Th view of the ocean off the cliff on the side of the road.

The Road to Puerto Supe

We had a great time with Tim and Hannah - it takes a lot to host the 7 of us.

Not many people hop on a bus to P.Supe during their first 5 days in Peru, but we did. With some much needed help from Adela we caught the bus in Lima, traveled to P.Supe - everyone on the bus thought the gringo kids were so cute (they would pat them and touch their hair when we got on and off) - everyone made sure the gringos got off at the right spot. They were almost cheering for us as we pulled up to the bus stop. We managed to get a taxi and arrive at the Murrays house.

Sunday morning Tim and Hannah took us to the next town over, Barranca, to catch a bus back to Lima. We got tickets and got right on the bus. We were lucky that the returning bus was cleaner than the first. We followed Tim's directions and got off at this plaza in Lima and managed, on our own to get a taxi, go to the store and get another taxi back to the house. We were tired but very happy we managed to do all that. The little boys fell asleep on the bus and wouldn't wake up when it was time to get off. Max sleep-walked off the bus and I had to throw Gavin over my shoulder. We were quite a sight. A very nice lady asked about the kids while we were figuring out where to catch the taxi. It was great how much I could understand. It is frustrating how little I can say (for those who know me well, that is exceptionally difficult for me.) The lady did warn us not to pay more than 6-7 soles for the taxi. Glad she did, the driver tried to charge us 12 soles.

Christian went back to the bus station today with Julio to drop off our boxes. We are going to have them bused to Arequipa. We leave tommorow for our new home. I can't believe we've only been here 6 days.

Here are some pictures of the road we traveled on

The Ocean in January

There is nothing quite like swimming in the Pacific Ocean in January.

This movie was taken yesterday on the beach in Puerto Supe, Peru (3hrs north of Lima), where we came to visit fellow SAMers, Tim and Hannah Murray. The sky was white as usual here but we still managed to get burned. P. Supe is a small fishing town - the fishing industry is in decline, however. It is a pretty depressed area. The trip on the dirty crowed bus was well worth it. We got to catch up with Tim and Hannah, go to the beach, and to watch Prince Caspian (in Spanish). The kids have been dying to see that movie and it is kind of ironic that they had to come to Puerto Supe to see it. God seems to blessing them that way - the kids are being great about everything. They got to see Hawk Nelson and TobyMac last Sunday night in Charlotte. (Gabe is working on a post about that.) When Tim said they were showing Prince Caspian for the town (only 3 people came besides us) the kids were so excited. I am so glad knows the desires of our hearts and shows his love in such small but specific ways. You can't doubt his love when you remember all he does.

Good sleep after playing hard -

A few more pictures of Puerto Supe

INTERPOL

Well, we went to INTERPOL this morning. They are the ones who put the warning at the beginning of all the DVD's warning you not to pirate them. It actually went quite smoothly. It was a challenge to find a taxi. i guess no one wanted to drive and hour across town. Once there we had our mug shots taken, several sets of finger prints made, and had our mouths examined so they could map our fillings. Loads of fun. We got our passports back, which was very nice and were told that we should get our visas when we come back through in March. (We have to go to Pucallpa for the field conference in March.) At that time we can begin the paper work for the kids. It really couldn't have gone better.
Tomorrow we are going to visit fellow SAMers up in Puerto Supe. We are taking a 2.5 hour bus ride. It should be interesting. I have finished REpacking our boxes. I made the 6 boxes into 5 because we are going to have them shipped by bus to Arequipa. I took out all the valuable things and put them in the carry-ons. I will be very glad to unpack once and for all when we get to our house in Arequipa.
As I sit here and type I am wondering if I shouldn't have been more careful about eating local produce. You really shouldn't eat salad and things that you haven't properly washed - but while out we've all eaten a few tomatoes and some lettuce. My stomach isn't so happy right now. Everyone else is fine (thankfully). The kids are all outside playing crazy jumping games. We are waiting to go out and get some dinner - pollo a la brasa. (That is Peruvian fast food).
I have to admit it is a bit frustrating not being able to speak Spanish . . but not as much a you might think. We are getting along pretty well for our few semesters. I am really looking forward to learning and speaking well. The kids are already picking up a few things. I hope we learn half as fast as them.

Taxi Trouble

I wish you could all be here to experience some of the crazy things we are doing. We just went to see the man who will help us get our resident visas. The office had piles of passports and paperwork everywhere. It was a bit scary to watch as people came in looking for their papers and the man dug through drawers and piles looking for them. We are learning that nothing ever goes as planned and a quoted price means nothing. We ended up paying twice as much for the papers and leaving our passports (C and A) and the kid's legalized birth certificates. I am so glad God is so much bigger than the government of any country.

We went with Adela, she is the house help. She is very sweet and speaks no English - the man at the visa office spoke no English . . . it was interesting. We all piled in a taxi to get there - kids in back hatch-grown ups in seats. Well, on the way home we stopped a taxi drver with a sation wagon purposing to return the same way. He said the kids couldn't get in back so we quick piled in the back seat, all 7 of us. We did it fast and the kids aren't so little anymore . . . we were squished. We couldn´t move at all. Seriously, there was zero movement. I made it two blocks before I started to freak out. I have never had a panic attack or any such thing, so I don't know what happened to me. I couldn't breathe and the thought of riding for 10 minutes like that was too much. I started shouting, "No puedo! No puedo!" I can´t, I can´t. Christian thought I was kidding but eventually we stopped and reloaded a little better - I was fine but that was scary. Next time we will take our time and get in the cab well.

New Friends

We have now been in Peru for a full day and night. Other than being a little tired we are all doing well and enjoying the sights, sounds, and new friends. Our flight was late getting in so we didn’t get to the guest house in Lima until 1 a.m. or so. Julio, Olga, and Heather meet us at the airport. We got all of our boxes back to the guest house without a problem. There was no meal on the flight so we were all quite hungry when we got in. Christian and Julio went out got us braised chicken and fries. We all ate together at 1:30 in the morning. Gavin was so tired he was like a zombie walking in circles. Then we all went off to bed. The house is really nice and having been to Africa and Indonesia nothing here has really surprised us. I have to remember that this IS all new for the kids. Things smell and bit different and look abit different but they are using “all their courage” and doing a great job.
We spent the day out and about with Olga, Julio, and their two youngest girls, Miranda and Natalia. Mimi is Emma’s age and Nati is Beth’s age. They seemed to have a great time together. We saw some sights in Lima. We went to Miraflores (I thought of you Shelly W.) Then after a long day we came back to the house. All the kids played crazy games of tag in the yard (VERY small walled in grassy area.) while Olga, Heather and I went to the grocery store to get things for dinner. I made the kids quesadillas with avocado on the side and watermelon for dessert. Not to different. Baths for all and then off to bed. I have to get the boys up – they are in a separate room across the hall. Today we have an appointment for our resident visas. Pray that goes smoothly. Emma and Miranda (Mimi)
Beth and Natalia (Nati)

Olga and Me

Gabe - Live from the airport

Hi I am Gabe were in the Fort Lauderdale airport in this restaurant called Nathan's. It is soooo boring max fell a sleep bye gaBe.

Mystery Gift Giver

This is a special note to say, "THANK YOU!" To the kind person that has been leaving us gifts in cars and in-boxes. You are a blessing to us. God bless you.

I Did It!!!

Yesterday I (Amy) ran my first 5k! Saturday night I was dreading the thought of going to run but it was great. I ran with two friends, Emily and Olivia. We signed up for the non-competitive run/walk. That was a mistake. There were over 15,000 people in down town Charlotte yesterday for the Susan G. Komen run for the cure. I think 14,000 of them were walking. It was difficult to get through the crowd if you wanted to run. But I didn't train the last 6 weeks to walk. So I weaved my way through the crowd and completed the race in 38 minutes!!!! I say that it was my first 5K because now that I have done it once I just might do it again.

Our latest news letter went out on September 30. If you didn't get one and you want one let us know.

Maggie

I knew that someday I would have to post this blog, but I didn't think it would be this hard. Last Saturday our 12 year old boxer, Maggie, died. We aren't quite sure how. Sun-stroke, heart-attack . . .old age. We actually had hoped she would die before we left the country. We wanted closure for ourselves and the kids. But it was extremely difficult and emotional. They have never lived without her. Saturday was an awful day. We said our good-byes, dug a deep hole together out in the woods, wrapped her in her favorite blanket, and buried her. The kids each picked something special to bury with her or wrote a note and placed it with her. It was really sad. It has been almost a week now and I still automatically go to let her in or out. We miss her but such is life. We are thankful to have had one of the BEST dogs ever in our family.

New thoughts for the here and now

Christian and I have spent the last 4 days in Union Mills, SC at the Center for Intercultural Training. We have just completed a church planting class. It was really good. We are headed home today. Larry and Lorraine have been at our house watching the kids this week. I haven't spoken with the kids since Monday (ZERO cell reception out here in Union Mills and a 15 mile radius.) I assume all is well. This was the last of our requirements that we need to "go do". We still have some books to read and Bible courses to finish but those can be done at home. For the first time in very long time we don't have anywhere we need to go. God has to work some amazing networking now. We have asked everyone we know to join our team and we still have 25% left to raise (that = $1,300 a month.) He has already done some really neat things in SC. We just pray he continues to do more.
Pray for us that we - all seven of us - will learn what ever God has for us to learn in SC, in this season of prolonged waiting. I do ask that you pray that God will provide the rest of our support but for the first time ever I am not placing time frame on that. I don't want to guess or demand that God do anything not in his plan for us. I don't want to be prayed out of a hard situation - I want to champion the situation through God's might and power. A good friend was always pointing out to me how our family was going through major change and how the kids or I were acting accordingly. Well, God has kept our family in a constant state of flux for the last 8 years . . . change seems to be a constant in our family so God must want us to get good at handling it.

I have never really prayed for that. I have always prayed to get to the next phase, or the next "known quantitiy" as quickly as possible. So please pray in a new way for us. Pray that through God's strength we are able to champion the difficult circumstances in our life right now and that we would feel free to enjoy the life God has given us.
Pray that the rest of our support comes in soon - we truly believe that is God's will for our family, to go to Peru. But I am done putting dates and time limits on my prayers - I have caused myself much frustration and disappointment by making plans (even if they were just in my head) that I really had no authority to make.

Thanks for loving us and reading this.

Somewhere in Kentucky

Yes, we have to go to Kentucky to use the internet!!!! No, we really only have to go down the street to the office but we happen to be in a hotel in the middle of KY with free wifi. How nice!!
We are on our way to visit friends in MI. We are looking forward to seeing everyone.
I had a bunch of clever quotes and interesting stories I was going to tell you but I don't feel cleaver anymore. I can't remember what I wanted to write. So good night to you all. Tomorrow we leave the beautiful rolling hills of KY for the flatness that is Ohio and then on to MI.

A la prochaine.

Off Line

We have no home phone and no internet at home either . . . hence the lack of posts. My gratitude to those of you who have kept checking our blog. We are all doing well. We are loving the weather, and Christian is really enjoying his job. We just mailed out a newsletter last week that gives a few more details on that. If you didn't receive one just let us know and we will add you to our mailing list.

There is a block party scheduled for our neighborhood today so the kids got out their littlest dirt bike and all took turns zipping around the streets. It was fun to watch them ride. They love it.

We have gone to some very interesting churches over the past few weeks. We attended a baptism at one last week. It is always so amazing to watch people commit their lives to Christ. I didn't know anything about the people professing their faith in Jesus in the pool, in the parking lot outside the cinema. I am sure they were just like the rest of us. They have a story to tell. A life full of trials and heartache with a scarred heart to prove it. Yet, in that pool, the hope and peace that washed over them because they know God now was almost tangible. God is so amazing, the way he has chosen to love us, and know us, and change us. But most of all, I am so thankful for the hope gives.

We have a new address!

God is amazing!! Christian made it to SC Tuesday night. He made some phone calls the next day and found a condo for rent only 3 miles from the office. It has some woods and a stream to play in and a community pool (our kids prayed persistently for a pool!)

Our new address - as temporary as it may be . . .

2149 Midnight Blue Ln
Fort Mill , SC 29708

Thank you to all who have been praying for us. They land lord was very nice and gave us a good deal on the rent and a very short-term lease and we can have Maggie (our dog) come with us!! God is faithful. The plan from here is to pack and leave next week-end. Christian will be home Saturday night and has to work his last week here in CT. Packing is proving to be the most trying aspect of this move. It looks like a bomb has exploded in our rooms. Well, I will just pray and keep plugging away . . .

The song says it all

Something changed inside me,
broke wide open all spilled out,
till I had no doubt
that something changed.

Every word I believed in,
'til I felt it in my own heart
in the deepest part
the healing came.

And I cannot make it
and I cannot fake it
and I can't afford it
but it's mine.

Something so amazing
in a heart so dark and dim
when the walls fall down
and the light comes in

And I cannot make it
and I cannot fake it
and I can't afford it
but it's mine.

I thank you, Lord . . . .


-heart/life: Amy
-words: Sara Groves

The Latest . . .

Christian leaves on Tuesday to go a look for a place for us to live in the Charlotte, NC area. He accepted a position at the SAM home office and will be working there TEMPORARILY until we leave for Peru. We are still waiting our full support to come in but in the mean time we thought this job would be a great opportunity for Christian and our whole family. Pray for him, Finding a rental with 5 kids and a dog at an affordable price is not as simple of a task as I had once thought. We will be coming back up to CT in early May and we still plan to travel to MI. Our address is changing but that is all - we are still raising support and will leave for Peru as some as we are at 100%.

Other noteworthy news:
Max lost his first tooth (ripped it out himself)
and
We are officially finished with our history book!!! (it has taken us 2+ years to get though world history from the fall of the Roman Empire to the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the colonization of North America - Story of the World volume 2)

Table Games

Our kids have always been very creative and they become more even more so as there minds are opened up to the realities of other cultures around the world. It is interesting to see how their minds process and accept the idiosyncrasies of other cultures. People who eat bugs for lunch is not really gross anymore. It is a matter of fact.

For lunch today we had pasta. I didn’t have quite enough penne so I broke up so angle hair and through it in the pot, too. While eating, Gavin and Beth had some sort of game going but I couldn’t quite tell what it was. Then Beth blurts out, "We are playing American and Indian!" It took a second to put it all together, but they meant Indian: a person indigenous to the rainforest, and not American Navaho. I had a pretty good idea what was going on but I had to ask for an explanation of the game. Just to hear it in their own words.

One person is the Indian and the other person is the American. The "Indian" gets to make up what they are eating - for example, the angel hair were the skinny worms and the penne were the fat worms/grubs. The "Indian" acts like they LOVE the food while the "American" sheepishly puts the "worms" into their mouth and tries not to get grossed out.

I allowed them to continue the game as they were still remembering their table manners. Then Gavin(who was the "American") looks at Beth and asks pleadingly, "Can we stop this game, my belly is really starting to hurt." I guess he got into his role a little too well.

Chocolate cream pie

We scheduled several small group presentations about Peru for this month. We had great turn out at the first one, great turn out at the second, and zero tonight. Two families couldn't make it and the others never RSVP'd. So, admittedly, tonight was a bit discouraging but over all, four new people have joined our support team in the last week. That is AMAZING!!!!! God never ceases to astound us with his goodness and his foresight.

Having no one show up tonight actually was a blessing. We were able to take our time with dinner and eat chocolate cream pie for dessert. Gabe had gone to my mom's for a birthday sleep over tonight and the three younger ones went to bed as usual which left us with just Emma. We let her stay up late and played a great game of "Settlers of Catan". It is always exciting to spend time with the kids one on one or when they find themselves in a new roll (ie. oldest sibling for the day).

To Infinity and Beyond!!!!

Well, we didn't quite make it to infinity but we did travel to/through 13 states and 1 Canadian province in 20 days. We are all a bit sick of the car, but it was a fun adventure none the less.

We stayed in Ontario with our friends the Harris family. God blessed us with their friendship shortly after moving to MI in 2004. They have 6 kids - what a house full. It was such a blessing to reconnect and spend time with them. We were able to see their new home in Canada. That is good because I like to be able to picture where someone is standing in their house when I talk to them on the phone and to know little things about their everyday life . . .like the fact that they by milk in a bag. (Its a Canadian thing.) Bobby took us all bowling one night. Most of our kids have never been. Of the 15 of us guess who won . . . . Gavin!!!! He scored a 155 and beat us all!!!

In Michigan our wonder friends, Jim and Natasha, opened their home and let us invade their basement. We always wanted a large family so we would always be a big group of people doing things together - unfortunately . . .we are a large group of people every where we go. It is hard to be discrete in another's home when you are like the invading Saxon horde moving onto their land. J and N - you guys are saints!!!

The kids (and us too) had a great time with baby Max. Natasha is an amazing first time mom. She was patient and calm as my 5 hovered over Maxon James like vultures. They had more fun with his baby toys than he did. Maxon also got a great work out as the kids helped him do lap after lap around the house helping him walk.

We had fun catching up with friends and renewing acquaintances. It was great to see everyone at Impact. We plan to travel back to MI in April, so if we missed you this time we hope to catch up with you then.

Apart from fellowship, our main purpose for this trip was to raise support. We are at 40% of our monthly support and are praying we see that double in the next month or so. We hope to be fully funded and leave for language school by the end of the summer. After language school we will be church planting in Peru. All of this is in God's timing . . it always has been. I just forget sometimes.

We went south after 9 days in MI. We drove through OH, KY and TN. KY is beautiful!!!!! We stayed in this place called Pigeon Forge, TN because the hotel room was dirt cheap. Little did we know we were staying in a mini, less risque version of Las Vegas! As we headed south off the highway in the direction of the Microtel we were accosted for miles by lights, signs and shows. It was crazy - tacky to be more precise. Turns out we stayed right near Dollywood. (It was closed for the season.)

The next day we drove through Smokey Mountain National Park. The mountains were beautiful. We hit Asheville, Morganton and Hickory, NC on our way down to SC to visit the South America Mission office in Fort Mill, SC. We stayed with friends and enjoyed beautiful weather.

God has opened some doors and placed some great opportunities in our lap during this trip. Pray that God's desire for our family and our remaining time here would become our desire as well.

I will try to post pictures later.

We're Headed West

Tomorrow we pack up and head west. (Yes, we will pack tomorrow. I am still doing laundry) We are going to visit with some dear friends, formerly from Alto, who now live in Canada. We can't wait!!!!! Then it is on to the Lowell area where we get to visit more great friends and stay at Baby Max's house. God has been doing amazing things through a lot of different people. It is so amazing to watch God unfold the story of your life.

Gabe's first blog entry

Gavin and I went out to play in snow. He fell and hurt his leg so I teased him and said,"Want me to bury your leg?" He said, "Yes." So I buried all of him.

Good idea . . in theory

We were making lemonade today: lemon juice, real maple syrup, and water. As usual, we weren't measuring anything. The "Guess and Taste" method works pretty well in our house. Well, the first attempt was rather sour and we were out of maple syrup. I went to the cabinet to find some stevia packets when Gavin shouts, "I know, through some flax seed in it!"
Ah, I have taught my kids well. They love their Omega 3's.

(I know what some of you are thinking . . . . No, I did NOT let him do it.)

Musician Max

This really needs no explanation.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Max . . . .

Key Change

In the aftermath of Christmas morning presents Max and Gavin find their way to their instruments and begin to make magical tunes. Gavin thought the guitar needed a bit more tuning so watch closely and you will catch him giving big brother a hand.

Holiday Fun

We had a great holiday and we pray all of you did, too. We took advantage of family time on Christmas eve and the seven of us opened our gifts while L&L went to church. It was so fun watch the kids exchange gifts with each other. Gabe, Emma, and Beth used their own money to buy gifts for their siblings. Max and Gavin had a little parental help. The smiles, hugs and kisses we witnessed that night among the five of them was such a blessing.



We have always had this rule: one gift per kid. When you only have one shot to get it right it had better be the perfect gift. This year I don't know who was more excited about their gifts, us or them.







Beth opening earrings from Emma (Clip-ons Emma had gotten from Nana and saved for Beth)








Emma showing Gabe a little gratitude for the mood bracelet he bought her.







Max has wanted to learn guitar so he finally got his own.





Gavin was so excited for his eye-patch from Gabe - he didn't even seem to notice the tag on his nose.



All-in-all it was a musical Christmas. Max got a guitar, Beth got a how-to harmonica book (she has had the harmonica for a while), Emma got a sustain pedal for her keyboard, and Gabe can practice drums while he listens to his MP3 player. Gavin, well, he got an eye patch and he's missing a tooth - the perfect front man for the band.

Lexicology with Gavin

The other day the kids stumbled upon a really bad video recording of a musical I did in high school with the church youth group. The kids thought it was hilarious to watch. I was a bit embarrassed to hear for myself that my singing wasn't as good as I had thought back then. Emma was glad that I am not as large as I had been and glad I don't wear that much jewelry any more. Gavin just wanted to know what a youth group was. With his face a screwed up he demanded, "Mommy, what IS a youth group?" I answered very simply, "A group of youth who get together and do things." Annoyed he asked again, "What is a youth?" "Oh, a youth is a young person." Annoyed and exasperated he finished the conversation, "Uh! Why can't they just say young people!!"

Biology II with Gavin

Gavin complimented me on a dress I was wearing yesterday. I thanked him and told him Daddy liked my dress, too, and that I have had it along time. I even had it when Mommy and Daddy were dating.
"You mean like crickets, Mom, when they meet each other for the first time. You had that dress when you were mating?"

Biology with Gavin

The other day I was assisting Gavin in the bathroom when a discussion ensued about the differences between boys and girls. I pointed out that he and Daddy were boys, to which he quickly corrected me. "Daddy is not a boy. He is a man!" True enough. I then pointed out that he and Daddy were males, to which he responded, "Oh, we are males and you're a she-male!"

It was quite cute.

More Lovely Locks

Beth just got back from Grandma's shop . . . minus 10 inches of hair. We LOVE her new do. We will mail her ponytails off to Locks of Love this week.

We are proud of you, Beth.

For those of you who noticed - yes, her ponytail fell apart. The elastic fell off when she was shaking it around. We had to pick some of the hair up off the deck. She also managed to stab herself with the back end of an arrow yesterday - hence the mark on her neck. (That happened yesterday while we were on the phone, Nancy.) She is an apple that doesn't fall far from this tree (mom).

The Goat Kart

The kids love playing with the new go-kart they built with Daddy. The neighbor kids and the cousins like it too. Max mistakenly spent several days calling it a "goat kart" in stead of a go-kart before we realised the miss understanding.

A Day at Home

So, today was the first Saturday in months that we have not needed to attend a soccer game (or two or three). We ate in our jammies - well, mom did. Read stories, played Legos and cars, made jewelry, planned a birthday party and best of all . . . helped Daddy make the neatest go-kart/soap box derby car ever. I made three meals, finished the laundry and never set foot outside (it was raining and cold.) Tomorrow the schedule is full again but that fact only leads me to appreciate today all the more.

Lovely Locks

In the Spring of 2004 our girls had some very lovely long locks. Beth was not quite 4 and Emma was 5.

They each cut off 10 inches to donate to Locks of Love.

Well, here we are in 2007 and Emma did it again. Last week she cut off 10 inches of her hair to donate to Locks of Love.

It was a hard decision for her this time. She didn't have to do it but she chose to. We think she made a good choice. We are proud of you, Emma!!!

Emma's Baptism

I can't believe I didn't post this earlier. It could have something to do with the fact that I just down loaded the pictures off the camera. Any way . . . . . . .


Emma was baptised in August. It was so amazing. We have never approached our kids about baptism. They know what God has to say about the subject but we never asked or pushed. We want their faith to be entirely theirs. Emma has opted not to over the last few years whenever the opportunity presented itself. Well, our church was having its regularly scheduled picnic/baptism at a local park at the end of August. We never mentioned it. She never mentioned it. Then the day before the picnic I was helping Lorraine (my mother-in-law) frost a cake for the picnic and Gavin was watching us, cracking his usual jokes. Gabe went outside to find Emma and tell her what we were doing and about Gavin's silliness. She just said, "What, the baptism is tomorrow??" She scrambled out of the tree she was in, ran inside to find Christian, and told him she wanted to be baptised. We were a bit surprised but very happy for her. She was baptised by her dad in the lake the following day. (the other guy in the picture is the new pastor at FCC, Chuck Redfern.)

Truth, Lies, and Little Hearts

One of the reasons we home school is so we can speak truth into the lives of our kids. I have been ever so grateful for this privilege this week. I truly believe that God created us to be told who we are - BY HIM; yet we usually aren't tuned into what he is saying to us. We have our ears tuned to the fallen, imperfect people around us.

A few of our kids are struggling with some things this week. I was so thankful to be the one with whom they were talking, sharing their deepest secrets and hurts. I was was truly saddened at how much of what they were thinking and feeling were lies - untruths about themselves and others. The lies are nothing new to mankind, yet to see our little ones wrestle with their feelings and hurtful encounters with others it is really frustrating and heart wrenching. The worst part is that you can see the sparkle dim in their beautiful little eyes as some part of their heart believes the lie that was just spoken to or about them.

God wants us to allow him to tell us who we are - he already has. The God of heaven and Earth chose to die than to live eternity without us. That makes us very special and valuable. Yet I stand amazed at how we quickly exchange our value for the filth and lies our "friends", enemies, and others choose to toss our way.

You can't really learn first hand about God's ability to "bind up the broken hearted" unless you have a broken heart but where do you draw the line as a parent? No situation is going to be perfect but every situation is a learning experience about people, life, God and human nature. So tonight we struggle with knowing where to draw the line. Let them continue where they are, learn, and get wounded or pull them off the front lines?

Tuesday Nights

I don't know what the rest of you do on Tuesday nights but I spend mine on the couch at Dunkin Donuts in Marlborough. No, I don't go there for the coffee, the doughnuts, or the new pizza (although inside sources tell me the flat bread sandwiches are really quite good). I freeze to death every time I go there and sometimes have to listen to the likes of KORN (not my favorite band) - so why do I go there every week? - because I get to spend the evening with a group of great young women.

I think God was very serious when he asked the older women to teach the younger women how to be kind and love their husbands and children (Titus chapter 2) - God has shown me so much over the last several years - he has taught me things I wish I had know BEFORE I got married or involved in a relationship at all. I wanted to encourage, bless and teach the younger women. That is why I invited these women to get together to read scripture and talk about life. I never expected to be so blessed and take as much away from our Tuesday nights as I do.

I love where these girls are in life. Not the easiest time of life but so exciting. So many new things, so many unknowns, so many preconceived notions. I love watching their lives unfold and seeing God work in, bless and challenge them. They may not see him in their everyday but I do and am so encouraged. Talking with them and working through some of the issues that arise when you're 19 takes me back to when I was faced with some of the same issues. I can see now that God was there and helping me through all the trials and difficulties.


So why do I go on Tuesday nights - because of the people. I love the relationships and am so blessed by them.

"I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessing." - Paul 1Cor. 9:23

Anonymous Gift

Whoever left the envelope on our windshield last week, we want to thank you. God really blessed us and encouraged us through your actions. Thank you for letting him use you.

I Just Had to Share

I handle the check book in our house. I don't wear the pants or control the funds I just write the checks and keep track of where our money is and how much we have (or don't have.) God has never ceased to amaze me in the area of our finances. I can't tell you how many times our "ends" should not have met but they did. Do you have a budget? Do you stick to it? We don't really have a budget. We make one every year or so and review our spending but we usually don't bother with it because it doesn't work. Our expenses are more than our income - we don't spend frivolously. Toys, like motorcycles and race cars, are purchased with money that has been saved and set aside for that purpose over the last 12 years. We have no extras to cut out. Granted we live with in-laws right now but in the past we haven't had cable, cell phones, car payments . . . we had nothing to downsize or cut out. The only extras in the budget were a Grassroots Motor Sports subscription, soccer fees, and dining out (a few times a month). I am not sharing this info for any reason but to point out that other than the grocery bill there was no where to cut the budget. We would laugh every year because somehow there was always enough money. On paper our financial situation was truly impossible but God always provided and he still does!!!
I just finished paying our bills and God did it again. I have been preoccupied wondering how a certain bill would get paid on time with out taking money out of our savings account. I had just balanced the books two weeks ago - everything was up to date - no way for God to work a "mistake" in our favor that was forgotten about last month. Well, I am learning to NEVER underestimate what God can do. Some how I forgot to enter a deposit from last week - we had plenty of funds to pay bills. Funny thing is that deposit was made by me, not electronically (I found the receipt) but I have no idea where the money came from. GOD IS SO AMAZING AND FAITHFUL!!!!!!
I just needed to share that.

Edited post

Check out our Waxhaw post - I added some pictures of Candidate orientation.

A Craving for the Bitter-sweet

I (Amy) had a great conversation the other night with a friend of ours in MI. We chatted about life : school, marriage, and blind dates; and God: church, sanctification, and justification; and what the christian life should really look like. It is easy for me to see what those last things are NOT supposed to look like - but to get a true handle on those things is not easy for me. I still carry with me a very warped view of my creator and of myself. I am thankful that God is more patient and faithful than I ever thought he could be. He has been revealing more and more of himself to me and more and more of my brokenness and need for him. I am captivated and impassioned by the God I am encountering. I feel like Lucy, having returned to Narnia, and she sees Aslan again - the more I know of God the bigger He gets.

Jason, a pastor friend in MI, wrote about unspoken prayer requests in his blog awhile back. Some of you my have never heard of such a practice - it is when you ask people to pray for you but you won't tell them what for. What other good does the church serve then to come along side those in pain and difficult circumstances and empathize and pray. How else will others know that they are not the only ones struggling with sin if no one ever talks about it? How will anyone be encouraged by tales of God's power if no one mentions the what he triumphed over?

"Unspeakable sins are bred by unspoken requests." - Jason

That statement speaks so loudly to my heart. I grew up with the idea that to follow God meant that you were perfect - at least in the way every one else in the church was "perfect" - bored, unhappy and righteous in your own strength. Hypocrisy and lies were all I saw - so many "unspoken" requests. I thought God didn't deal with the real matters of the heart and of life. I regret the amount of years I spent in the presence of good meaning "godly" people but knew nothing of God. The God who made me, loves me, knows my inner most thoughts and desires and died for me anyway. All 13 years of church, 3 times a week and no one ever told me that my creator chose to die than to live eternity with out me.

It breaks my heart to watch people go in and out of church buildings week after week pretending life is just grand - maybe the occasional prayer for a better job or "traveling mercies" (what exactly does that mean any way?). Church goers come in and feel the need to hide their imperfections and shortcomings from everyone else. They role play what they think others want to see. Everyone pretends - Everywhere. I'm not speaking of my local area. I am speaking of the American Christian culture in general. It doesn't make any sense. If we are all just fine and dandy then we have no need for a savior and that just makes us all a bunch of idiots for getting up early for no good reason on Sunday mornings.

I so long for a place where people can come in and take a load off - they can drop the facade of perfection and goodness. We are all sinners. We all struggle with life, love and relationships. Why are people so afraid to be real? I long for sincerity. I long for a community where people can openly share about there problems with family, spouses, finances, pornography, addictions . . . . and find help and encouragement - not condemnation. I find it so bitter-sweet when some one shares their struggles. Bitter because the reality is the person is hurting and it is a reminder that we all are broken people. Sweet because I now have the privilege of seeing God do something amazing in their life.

Colorful Casts

Well, it has been close to a month and we have already been through three casts. The first one Beth got after the procedure at the hospital (which went very well, by the way) was bright orange, the following week she got her first waterproof one - blue. This past Tuesday she needed to get a new one since the blue one was falling apart. She now has a green one. The doctor told her it would glow in the dark. It doesn't. She was pretty disappointed. She gets it off for good on the 31st. We pray it has all healed properly so her finger will continue to grow along with the rest of her.

A Broken Finger

Beth broke her finger yesterday. She was running on the side walk, fell, and broke her fall with her pinky. It was quite unnerving when she picked her self up off the side walk and showed me her hand. Now, falling down is nothing new for Beth. Graceful is not on the list of adjectives for our sweet middle child. She tends to be a bit dramatic so I wasn’t to concerned when she got up crying. Then she screamed, "My finger!" and there was her right pinky twisted sideways and curved over her ring finger. I could feel the bone sticking out in the joint at her hand and knew we needed to head to the ER. The poor thing had to walk the rest of the way home from the play ground (about .3 of a mile). She needs to go next Thursday, after the swelling has gone down, to the hospital to have the finger externally manipulated and set - they will put her to sleep, pull it out and straighten it, and cast it. It is pretty smashed up at the growth plate. We pray they can fix it right. Meanwhile, she has a ½ cast or a splint to wear. She is not to thrilled with either one and hates the sling. Luckily the orthopedic Dr. Said she could go w/o the sling. She was so funny at the ER. She told me that she knew she was going to fall and had tried to make it to the grass but only her forehead made it. Also, she was glad her finger was broken and not dislocated so no had to pull on it. She may not be graceful but she is quite practical.

"I'm going to heaven on a motorcycle!"

-Gavin, age 4

Way Down in Waxhaw

Well, we made it to Waxhaw, NC. It has been in the low 90's thus far and quite balmy. Orientation has been filled with many hours of sitting but well worth the achy bottom. We have gotten to hear the stories of so many interesting people and understand how God has glorified himself in their lives and how so many different people have ended up in the same room with the same over-all purpose. Having the opportunity to answer questions and tell our own stories has reminded me of all the amazing things God has done in our lives.



The kids are having a great time. Gavin goes to a preschool class in the mornings. He is separate from his siblings and I was afraid it would be very hard for him. He did great when I dropped him off yesterday. He didn't even cry (I almost did). The older 4 are loving the MK Safari (MK stands for Missionary Kid.) They play games, do crafts, and go swimming in the pool everyday. It is odd being away from the kids all day, but they are having a great time and we are learning a lot in our sessions.

We added some pictures of our time in Waxhaw. The kids all made new friends. Here Gavin plays with his buddy Parker (Parker's family is headed to Columbia) and Max show's off his friend that he found at the 4th of July parade. (We picked this little guy off the railroad tracks. God graciously provided a nice lady to take him home so we didn't have to put him back where we found him (the firemen told us just to put the kitty back where we got him, they didn't want it.)

We are living on the JAARS campus here in Waxhaw. So the kids, our meetings and our apartments are all with in walking distance of each other. Our apartment has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We are loving it. One of the kids asked if we could live here forever. Grandma's house is great and we are so thankful to have family that will share their home with us - but there is nothing quite like having your own girl's room.



Once again Gabe is the oldest child in the South America Mission group here. According to Miss Faith and Miss Caroline, the college girls who watch the kids in the afternoons, he is a huge help to them. Gabe has been getting up and running every morning. He is very faithful to practice. He wants to run a 5K later in July. Christian and I have been trying to run with him but are not nearly as faithful to it as Gabe. Fortunately for him we are in a place where he can go run without us.

I love the way the Holy Spirit works. God gave me a verse a week ago that really ministered to my heart -



The Lord your God is with you,

he is mighty to save,

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing.



Zephaniah 3:17



I have heard it quoted by at least 4 different people in 3 different states this past week. I am amazed by God's pursuit of me. He is so amazing.

Strawberry Trees

We went strawberry picking on Tuesday. It was hot and sticky work but the kids and I had a lot of fun. Gavin ate way more than he picked. Max was picking machine - he loves to work hard. I think Emma was most juice covered by the time we left. We picked 28 pounds of strawberries that morning. Would you believe that most of them are already gone!



When we first got to the field the nice lady showed us where to go pick. All the kids knew what we were there for. We had been talking about all morning. As we walked along Gavin said, "What are we going to do?" "Pick strawberries," I said. Then in total shock he said, "But where are the trees?" He is too cute.



We are off to NC/SC for our candidate orientation with South America Mission tomorrow morning.

To Michigan and Back

We got back from Michigan last week. I just asked Gavin what he liked best. He said, "Playing with Chase because he's so funny." Then I asked if he liked the car ride and he said, "What car ride?" Oh, to be 4 and so easily forget the 30 plus hours spent driving there and back again. We arrived back in CT just in time for a busy weekend of soccer. Thank you so much to all our friends in MI who make us feel so loved. We had a great time visiting with you. Baby Max, it was great to meet you but since your arrival the demand for a new baby brother around our house has increased. We will have to visit you again soon because there will be no more babies in this family.

We will be off and running again in two weeks. We are going to NC/SC for candidate orientation with South America Mission. We will be there for two weeks. We are all looking forward to the experience. Please pray that God will give guidance, wisdom and encouragement during that time. Leaving for the mission field overseas has been a long and interesting road thus far and I trust that it will remain that way. Sometimes my endurance fades. We will keep you all posted.

Here are a few photos of our trip.

Pox, Pox, and More Pox

Well I received that wonderful phone call about three weeks ago from my dear friend Lisa V. "Hey, my kids have chickenpox! You want 'em?" I made plans to visit the next day. The kids didn't know what they were in for. I sent two of the younger ones into the kitchen to tell Christian that they were going to David's house in the morning. "We're going to get the chickenpox!" they shouted with joy. Then they stopped. "What are chickenpox, Daddy?" It was really cute. The next day we made poor sick David stay up and play Uno with us. (You were a trooper, David. Thank you.)
Fast forward 13 days . . .Two of the kids have a few spots. Not quite sure if they are pox. Given another 24 hours we knew for sure. With in 3 days all 5 of them had it. Each case slightly different than the others. After 9 days we are officially on the mend. I think we are safe to leave the house again.
What a strange thing, the varicella virus. It is a virus I wanted my kids to get and we even had play dates to expose two other families. I had it when I was 18 years old and it was such a dreadful experience. I am thrilled that our kids won't need to worry about it. It has been sad to see them blistery and feverish but it has been amazing to watch the full course of this virus from start to finish. God made our bodies in such an amazing way - our bodies get sick, they fight infection and usually win, finish with immunity to that virus. Hundreds of itchy, puss filled blisters come from inside, damage our skin and then our skin heals leaving only a few minor scars. Truly amazing.
One night while rubbing Aveeno cream all over a little polka-dotted body Christian looked at me and said, "Can you imagine how freaked out we would be if we weren't expecting this? All of a sudden our kids are covered with itchy blisters?" I'm so glad we were able to schedule this sickness.

Back in CT

HI! We are back on line! Our move to CT was long but we made it! Thank you soooo much Alan and Elisa. We are finally settled in to Lorraine and Larry's (Christian's mom and step-father). They have been so gracious and have allowed us to turn their house upsidedown. My sister-in-law's wedding went great. It has been fun to run into old friends. Nobody recognizes Christian w/o glasses and with the added facial hair. This blog stuff is new to us so please bare with us as we learn. I will try my hand at adding a picture to this post from the wedding. We'll see if it works. Friends in MI know that we think of you and pray for you often. We miss you.