Where does my help come from?

Sometimes I like to just open my bible and read the first thing my eyes land on. I have a reading plan that I stick to (It's the one year bible in case you are wondering lol) I think there are several good reasons to have a plan when you read the bible but I'm not going to get into that here. Today I opened up my bible to Psalm 121 this is what it says
I will Lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand
The sun will not smite you by day
Nor the moon by night
The Lord will protect you from all evil
He will keep your soul
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever

It just struck me as so beautiful and so comforting. (I almost always think beautiful things are comforting)

This year has been amazing and wonderful and incredibly hard. It was full of great things we weren't expecting and difficult things we weren't expecting. Along with all the great and difficult things we were expecting. But in the end it's always a great encouragement to know that my help comes from the Lord. He never sleeps or misses a thing, He guards my going out and my coming in and he will do it forever. Who else could promise you that?

So I just want to remind any of you that read this. Whatever it is in your life that you need help with. Let your help come from the Lord.

Happiness and Cheer! Christmas for orphans

I hope every one of you had a Merry Christmas!

Every year La Casa Del Padre does several Christmas outreaches this year we helped with the one to bring Christmas to orphans and very underprivileged children. It took tons of people and together we were able to bless over 1000 children


my hilarious children being all "vanna white" here. and check out Tim's ever present jacket. It's really hot here but he still thinks he needs a jacket every.single.day. ah, children.

It was a long and exhausting day but it was awesome to see the children blessed


I loved that we took our kids too. Logan handed out snacks to the kids, a mini panaton (fruit cake thing-very popular and traditional Christmas treat)  and chocolate milk to each kid. We were in the room where the kids got their toys and they had to get the snack on the way to the toys. Many children were so focused on the toy that they walked right past Logan. All he knew how to say was "Feliz Navidad" so he would chase them down and shove the snack in their face all the while saying "Feliz Navidad" in a somewhat irritated voice. heartwarming, right? lol. O.k. I admit I thought it was ridiculously cute and understood his frustration. I go through it all the time.

This week we are going to Carmella's house to bring her some presents. God put it on some friends hearts to donate money for this project and we are all so excited! Jose and his dad went to her house yesterday to kind of get an idea what needs to be done. First of all *she* did all the wiring for her house and it needs to be fixed. thankfully Jose's dad is great at that kind of stuff and is going to take care of it! Next she doesn't have any fans in her house. Trust me it gets hot here. I am sitting with all the windows open and the fan on in hopes of getting some air circulating. I cannot imagine what it would be like if there were 8 children running around making it hotter in here! So we are going to get her a couple fans to cool off the rooms (Again Jose's dad is handling this because he's awesome) She also needs a rug, and would like a slide for the kids to play on and a shelf in the kids room. Aside from that we plan to put together a basket of food for her and her kids. This is all really phase one of a project that we think we could work on until we leave Lima. If you would like to make a donation into this project send me a message @ jkmission2peru@gmail.com that is also our paypal address. or you can give through the link on the right of the blog.

I will leave you with our Christmas card because I am super proud of it since I made it! (using pic's taken by my friend Jami)

Happy New Year!

Faithful

Around here we have been reading George Mueller. I was talking to my Mentor a few weeks ago and asked her what she is reading and she said "you know what? I'll send it to you" which sent little happy tingles up my spine because I love to read and books in english are not very common here. I waited (somewhat impatiently I admit) for the package and when it finally arrived it had a the biography of George Mueller in it. To be exact it had the exact one I read when I was a kid. Nostalgically I looked at the cover as Jose was reading because he jacked it from me. ;) But it's ok, I'm reading it now.
It's hard to imagine what it was like for him. His operating costs were about $400 a day and he never asked anyone for money. Only God. He never took matters into his own hands and got a second job he just relied completely on God. Now, I knew that. I had read it and it inspired me when I was 18 and single preparing to go to Russia. I worked hard to save money and told people what I was doing but I never asked anyone to give me money for the trip (as far as I can remember that was a long time ago) I enjoyed the adventure of it and the feeling of what I thought was total reliance on God. But in reality, if I had run out of money or had an emergency I wouldn't have called on God. I would have called on mom and dad. That was the real extent of my faith at that time. I knew that nothing would happen out of my control because my parents were there to help if I needed it.
Now it's 10 years later and I'm a missionary again. This time I'm not single. Now I'm a mom. And this whole living on faith thing is hard. When you are relying on a physical person you pick up the phone, hear their voice, tell them your problem and listen to their audible answer. When you are relying on an invisible God it doesn't work like that. Getting in touch with him is much easier. He never misses your call actually. But hearing the audible answer or seeing the results of your call for help are a little harder most of the time. It exposes you. You realize that maybe you aren't as full of faith as you thought you were. So that's where I am. Struggling to show myself faithful. Faithful to trust in God even when I think there will never be an answer to my call. Faithful to continue running to him when I have a problem instead of running to someone I can see/feel/hear. Just faithful.  
I want to be that person. The faithful, doubtless Christian.

Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy. Philippians 2:14-18

Ruined, Stripped Bare, Destroyed, Shriveled, Gone

God spoke to me today about his pattern and principles in his word through today's reading.  Joel 1:10 When the revelation of the Lord comes into someone's life it is so transforming that you see yourself as you really are. 
Ruined—un-fathered.  The birthright is so valuable in the life of a Christian.  When we become born again we receive a new birthright and become joint heirs with Christ.  For those that continue to walk in sin are as John 8:44 states and act as their father the devil and destined for ruin.
Stripped bare--uncorrected.  Without the father a Christian is stripped bare to the very core of sin.  Even in the natural world if someone will continue to break the law they will be ultimate stripped of every right they have.  Therefore as proverbs 3:12 and Hebrews 12:6 states the Lord chastens those he loves.
Destroyed--unfruitful.  Continuing to live a life that is not glorifying the father will lead you to a life that is destined to be destroyed.  Jesus states in Luke 13:6-8 that his desire is for us to bear fruit and anyone that does not will be cut off. 
Shriveled--unhealed.  The natural tendency for a malnurished child is to be shriveled, weak, and defenseless.  They will not live up to their full potential because there is something that has not been cured.  In Mark 3 Jesus approaches a man with a shriveled hand and brings restoration. 
Gone--untaught.  Psalm 27:11 the Lord teaches us how to live, to neglect his teaching is setting themselves up for a rude awakening in that the father's will was not done as in Matthew 7:21-23
Repentance and Restoration
Such a great pattern of regaining relationship with the father.
1) He calls to you turn to me Joel 2:12
2) its in your heart return to me Joel 2:13
3) he is eager to relent Joel 2:13
It humbles me to know that even in our repentance he is desperate to seek us out and longs for us to be right with him.  Even in his anger he still loves us and wants us to be in right standing with him.  He sets us up for victory even in our lowest points.
In God's restoration it will be visible and the blessings will be seen that those that follow his pattern will understand how great he is and how awesome and greatly to be praised he is.   His loving-kindness will be demonstrated to all who seek him and his faithfulness will be shown to all who humble themselves before him.
My prayer today: Joel 2:28 Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.Your sons and daughters will prophesy.  Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike.    Thank you Lord for your Holy Spirit that comes in power, and fire, and truth. 

Jose’s Daily Thoughts December 2nd

1John 2:12 I am writing to you who are God’s children
      because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.[c]
13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith[d]
      because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
   I am writing to you who are young in the faith
      because you have won your battle with the evil one.
14 I have written to you who are God’s children
      because you know the Father.
   I have written to you who are mature in the faith
      because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
   I have written to you who are young in the faith
      because you are strong.
   God’s word lives in your hearts,
      and you have won your battle with the evil one.
God's children, young in faith, and mature in faith
My thoughts:  We all start somewhere.  God spoke to me today that we all begin somewhere in our Christian walk, but God does not want us to stay there.  The maturing process isn't necessarily on how much more we can put on our plates instead it is how much more we can trust in him.  God showed me that initially we need to understand that Jesus has washed us from our sins in such a way that we do not sin.  We keep in mind that if we do sin he has already made atonement for us; but he does not want us to stay just in that revelation.  We need to understand that there is a battle and winning in that battle means that Christ is growing in our lives.  This understanding is strength in our lives because we no longer rely on ourselves but on him who continues to make intercession for us.  Finally there is a level we can call mature faith.  In this level we not only know Christ as savior, but as Lord and we begin to see his nature and his unchanging love toward us.  John writes that we know Christ is the same as Adam knows Eve and is intimate with her.  We too need to become mature and know Christ in such a way that we are in Christ and know that we have been chosen from the beginning. 
My prayer today: 1John 2: 15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

...and then we slept with chickens on a bus

Our great adventure to Ecuador was one of those things where you have a basic idea of the plan and a few ideas of how it will come together. But in the end it's really not much like you thought it would be at all.

We started out our trip by going to Piura. Jose has family there and we have connected with a Missionary there too. Our main purpose was to really just visit and see what it's like there. Piura is a region but there is also a city called Piura. That is where we went. After living in a big city it's easy to forget that Peru is a developing country. In Lima we have many modern conveniences that are similar to America. Fast food, better roads, etc.. There are still dirt roads in many parts of Piura.

(houses outside the city of Piura)
We still aren't sure if the city of Piura is where we will end up or if we will be going to another area. Jose's family was telling us about an area close by that is full of witch doctors. There are several parts of the region that don't have even one church. The word of God is so needed there. It's hard to know where to start.

After we spent a few days in Piura, Jose's dad wanted to go to Mancora. There is a famous beach there and people come from all over the world to surf. We stayed there a couple days and really just got to relax. Which was nice. It's amazing how hard it can be to relax when your not used to it. But once we did it was heaven. The boys loved playing on the beach chasing waves and then running away from them. Collecting rocks and seashells. One day I want to live on the beach.


After our mini-cation we took an 8 hour bus trip to Ecuador. The trip up was fairly uneventful. In Ecuador Jose and Victor attended a conference in the evenings. Saturday we went to the market and walked around. I'm noticing that if you want to experience the real culture of the towns here you go to the market.
 

Sunday night we took a bus back to Piura. The bus left at 8pm and I was feeling under the weather. I knew we were going to cross the border around 2 am and I needed to be able to get off the bus and walk up to the window with Jose so I was trying to rest. After we were on the bus for awhile something woke me up. It sounded like...a chicken? no, several chickens. And it was. A lady with a cage full of chickens got on the bus at the second stop and stayed on all the way to Piura. I'm a light sleeper. When I'm sick I'm a very light sleeper. So every time I would start to drift off one of those chickens would screech and all the rest would start to chatter at each other. Then the lady who brought them would "sh-sh-sh-sh" as if they were a fussing child. It was ridiculous.
Once we go to the border we found out that the system was shut down and we had to wait for 1 hour for them to turn it on. I was feeling so bad at this point that Jose told me to take a Dramamine. If I had ever been wild I don't think I would have gotten too much into drinking and drugs because I'm a very cheap drunk when it comes to meds. One Dramamine and I can barely stand up. Within 30 minutes I can pretty much fall asleep wherever I am. So, I waited awhile and took it at about 2:45. There I am standing leaning against my husband in line to get my passport stamped and slurring my words, trying not to fall asleep until we get in the bus. When I realize, I have to do this again in an hour when we get to the border crossing into Peru. Thankfully Jose was able to do it by himself. I was in a Dramamine induced coma by that time.

From Piura we took another bus which was much nicer and more comfortable to get home. The trip was Monday night-Tuesday morning.

Now we have 90ish days to get our visas or leave the country again. Please pray that God would provide the finances for the visas. The trip we took was an adventure, just not something I want to be doing every 3 months.  Thank you all for keeping us in prayer while we were traveling. We saw the hand of God in many ways.

A first time for everything

Happy Thanksgiving!
Today was our first time hosting Thanksgiving. I made everything but the Turkey! Our friends James and Marlith came over and they made an amazing turkey. My contributions were my "famous" (per jose) mashed potatoes, stuffing made from scratch, candied yams, and a dessert I decided not to serve because the chocolate pudding never got thick enough (but I made whipped cream for the first time! go me!)  Jose's Grandparents are visiting from America right now so they were here too. We were too busy eating and enjoying our time together to take too many pictures but I did take a few of the food, haha. Now you know what's really important to me ;)



I was really having a difficult time preparing because nothing is the same here. I was worried I wouldn't have everything the way I wanted it.  I "missed out" on some things like pumpkin pie because I just couldn't find the things I needed to make them. But in the end everything was perfect. We had a great time and the food was amazing *if I do say so myself*

A fellow first year missionary mentioned that they were starting their own family traditions since they are away from home and some traditions are impossible to continue. I liked that idea and we decided to start our own. One of them is we are going to do holiday crafts. Logan and I love crafting and timothy likes tearing up paper so it's a start. We even got daddy in on the action. :)

We made handprint turkeys as name plates. They didn't really get used since our food kind of took up the whole table.  But, everyone loved them and took theirs home and it was fun to make them.

So here's to Holidays, Family, Friends, Food, and Traditions. I hope your Thanksgiving was everything you hoped for. Happy Thanksgiving and now we can really say it! Merry Christmas!

Quick update

Hey ya'll
We are in Ecuador until tomorrow...had to leave the country to renew our visas fun fun. Pray for us tomorrow (Sunday) if you think about it. We will be crossing the border and waiting for our new bus at 2am. God has been so faithful this whole trip and has taken care of us every step of the way. I will hopefully post a more detailed account in a few days. Thank you for your prayers! 

Confession of a "Missionary"

Ok, so something has been bugging me ever since I found out I was supposed to be a missionary. I grew up reading biography's of amazing men and women of God. People like George Mueller, Amy Carmichael, Mother Theresa and Hudson Taylor. Those people were MISSIONARIES! I am not those people!
If I were catholic those people would be like saints to me. I mean in my mind you become a missionary you automatically know stuff. You obviously never sin (or think about sinning) and never, ever doubt. Obedience to God should come naturally and if you are not out helping out the poor and downtrodden you are probably just chillin' in your prayer closet or memorizing Leviticus (because you already memorized all the "easy" books)
Maybe I'm the only person who thinks like that. Actually, I know I'm not but someone has to say something. We have to stop the insanity!
So anyway, here I am minding my own business serving God. And we are so cool like that. I'm all, "where you go I'll go what you say I'll say God. What you pray I'll pray" and then I hear "really?" and I say "I can't hear you right now, I'm worshipping you. Can you see me here worshipping? you really shouldn't..., you know..., interrupt" Then I wait a second thinking I've got him there. Because when God says "really?" you can't say no, but it can be so scary to say yes.  So I try to pretend like I never heard the question. You know? I think for a little while that maybe God forgot that I had even said I would go where he goes and say what he says. But it's always there. This sensation in my chest like my heart will explode whenever I hear about "missions". This bizarre sense of jealousy when I hear other missionaries talking about their experiences. The way my eyes want to cry when I see pictures of unloved and abandoned children. But deep down inside I know. I know that I'm not good enough to be a missionary. I mean, there are a million ways I can think of off the top of my head that make me a horrible choice as a missionary. I get jealous. I have been known to lose my temper. I'm terribly selfish, I really like long hot showers with good water pressure and while I'm being honest. It is REALLY hard to trust God. I mean it's the easiest thing to say, but I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten irritated with people because they tell me to trust God. When all I can see is the ocean in front of me and the army behind me, coming to bring me back to Egypt. What kind of missionary would I make?

Then I decide to try something new. I say yes. YES! I will be a missionary...some day. I mean, I just had a baby and Jose is loving what he's doing and we bought a house. I mean now is just NOT the time. But you know in a few years. When we are ready. Then we will be missionaries.
Of course as you may already know God had already been working on Jose's heart. He had his own conversations with God. So we talked about it. I was settled on it, and I was starting to want to be a missionary. But there was still that feeling in my chest that would tense up and the voice in my head saying "YOU ARE CRAZY!!!!!! WHAT are you thinking? What about the showers? What about your friends and family? what if you DIE?"

Years passed. Jose and I grew in our relationship with God. We went through some trials that helped us to learn about trusting God. We went through some times of intense discipleship. We got a lot of time working "in the kitchen" at our church. And then almost as if Jose and I had been listening to the same song and it was just coming to the crescendo we both knew. We needed to go and we needed to go now. So we talked to our pastor about it and he said to go visit. We flew out to Peru for 2 weeks and fell in love. When we came we thought ok, we will go get our checkmark that we went and then go back to our regularly scheduled lives. But no. We got here and we knew we needed to be here.

The next year was spent preparing. Raising support. Getting rid of stuff. Trying to get ready to come back. We said to good bye, to family, friends, our church, and our water pressure. Then we boarded a plane and we went, this time it was to stay.

So now we are here. We live in Peru. I obeyed. I'm a "missionary". But, I still don't feel like a missionary. I'm still selfish, I still get angry and jealous. I still miss my shower. I don't have the bible memorized and I struggle to spend enough time in prayer. Obedience and trusting God still don't come naturally. I often freak out because I don't know what God is planning and it seems like he will never tell me. When I hear the term "missionary" in my head the definition is "perfect christian, self sacrificing, never does anything wrong because they are too busy serving the Lord to mess up." When in reality a missionary is really nothing more than a christian. Someone who loves God. Trying to work out their salvation just like any other christian. I'm still not "good enough" to be a missionary. I'm not good enough to be a christian either. Nothing I do will make me good enough. But that's not the point. Nothing any of those other missionaries did made them good enough either. They just had to make a choice. Every christian has a choice to make every day. Whether they are a Pastor, a missionary, a plumber, a stay at home mom or whatever. We have to choose to answer the call that God gives us. And let him be good enough. If I was good enough on my own I would not need God. But I NEED Him.  Everyday I'm reminded how much I need Him.

So my call is missionary. I'm almost used to being called that. Almost. What is your call? What is it that God is asking you to do that you can't do on your own? It might feel weird at first. It might not fit just right when you first try it on. But if you trust Him. If you are "confident that God, who began the good work in you will be faithful to continue the work until it is finally finished on the day that Jesus Christ comes" (Philippians 1:6) He will.

Happy November!

November is one of my favorite months. I love the Holiday season and the preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year we will be celebrating in Peru. I will be making Thanksgiving dinner for my first time ever! I haven't gone looking to see what they have available for a traditional style thanksgiving dinner. (I'm not even sure if they they have Turkey!) I'm looking forward to the challenge though
I have to say I thank God for the foodtv website and allrecipes.com without them I would be making everything up as I go along because I did not bring any cookbooks.

As I have mentioned before it is Spring here. Which feels really strange. I want to decorate the house with fall colors but everywhere I go there are pinks and purples and signs that say "welcome spring!" It feels a little weird. I have to admit though It was cold when we got here in August and I am ready for it to get warm (the weather here plays at getting warmer, then there is yet another cold snap and I spend my days in the house wrapped in a blanket) My children are getting stir crazy too they need to spend days in the park releasing their wiggles. So as much as I want to decorate the house like it's fall I am really happy that Spring is here.

I have begun a daily habit of drinking tea here. I have always liked tea. I mean I drink it when I go to starbucks and whenever I'm wanting a warm caffeinated beverage (I'm not much for coffee, though I have tried to be) I'm usually a cold drink girl though. Sweet tea (I'm southern alright?), coke and water almost frozen are generally how I roll. My favorite kind of hot tea here is Hierba Louisa. MMmmMM.

So anyway, I've been thinking of doing a giveaway on here. Peru is home to some of the best chocolate, and coffee (I hear). Plus they have some pretty cool little handmade things, and we can't forget the tea. So anyway. I'm still looking into the logistics of sending a package to the states and what I can/can't send etc...But if you want me to do a giveaway, comment on this post (with your name if you post anonymously) If I get enough responses I will do one 

Cineguilla

On Tuesday Jose and I went out with a guy from church to an area close to where we live called Cineguilla (I am totally guessing on the spelling there.)


This cute little lady was very proud to have her picture taken


and when I say she was little I mean it. I had to contort my body to stand next to her and I'm barely 5' 2"


We also met a lady who runs what is called a wawa wasi. It's a government program to help single mothers work. They put together 8 moms. One of them watches the kids and the other 7 work. The ones that work pay the mom that watches the kids S/. 2 a day to pay for their water etc...(the exchange rate is about S/. 2.78 to $1) And the government pays her S./ 180 a month. That's about $67 a month. She also gets a little bit of money from her child's father but NOTHING like American child support.
While we were talking to her we really felt God impressing on our hearts to bless her. Like I said above she watches 8 kids including her own and only owns 6 toys and they are old and broken (things like a naked barbie - they don't own any barbie clothes, and an old stacking toy that we would have thrown away,) She also had an 8 year old son with one toy of his own. An action figure that he was super proud of.

Aside from that her home is a shack built of things like cardboard and plywood. Her front door is like a gate that is held shut by a large stick propped up against it. She has no running water but is proud to have electricity.
These are some pictures of her "house" from the outside and some of the other "houses" around hers


We want to help this lady and we need your help to do that. There is a list about a mile long of ways we could help her and we know that we can't do everything but here are the things we can do.
1. Secure her front door.
2. get toys for children ages 6mo-4years
3. get toys for her 8 year old son.
4. get some shoes for her kids
5. give her some teaching materials. Wall decorations etc... she tries to teach the kids and all she has is her own voice.

If you would like to help with any of these things send me an email at jkmission2peru@gmail.com especially if you want to send a package for her. If you want to help financially you can use the link to give through our church (just email me at the above address that you want your donation to go to blessing her) or through paypal. Next time we go we will get some pictures of her and her kids. Jose had the camera when we were there and he was the one talking ;)
We cannot take pictures of the kids she takes care of though. There are very strict laws here about that.


After we left her house we came across some kids playing. All of them live in homes where the parents are not married. We are finding that is extremely common here. It creates an environment where the mother is insecure and the father is unstable. It also makes it difficult to track the divorce rate here. People really don't have to get divorced because they rarely get married


Anyway, the kids stole my heart. The girl in the blue sweater wanted me to take a million pictures of her. She managed to get into most of the pictures I took.

I also think it is very important that you know I climbed up this mountain in what I used to think of as sensible walking shoes

There are "stairs" carved into it but you can't even see them. unless you are right there looking at them.
I am so thankful for paved roads and construction. And don't even get me started on how thankful I am for my home.

You live in a blessed nation. No matter what the news says or how you feel about the current political or economic situation. Next time you spend $67 think about what your life would be like if that was your entire months paycheck

Daily Thoughts “My Light”

Isaiah 60: 1 Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.

2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the LORD will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you.

3 The Gentiles shall come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

4 “Lift up your eyes all around, and see:

They all gather together, they come to you;

Your sons shall come from afar,

And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.

5 Then you shall see and become radiant,

And your heart shall swell with joy;

Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,

The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.

As I read this morning I begin to understand that darkness, deep darkness is what covers the earth. The strong man oppressing Peru is not a lack of men; it is a strong man of Machismo and Matriarchy. Let me explain

When the Spaniards came over to Latin America it was not a migration full of families coming over together to start a new life, it was a conquest and for 200 plus years all that came over to this land were men. What began to be a common thing is that the men would kill the Indian men and then begin to have relations with the Indian women. Because the children being born of these relations would be despised of their fathers and rejected of their fathers they would come under the protection of their mothers. The children being left without a father would grow up only being cared for by a mother. So as it continued for over 200 years those children boys would grow up and instead of defending their mothers would actually reproduce what their Spanish conquistador fathers would do. This vicious cycle of conquest would make the men reproduce a machismo attitude that would enjoy the pleasure but would never take the responsibility of a father. This epidemic today is evident all over Latin America. Boys are not raised by a father but instead a mother takes all the Responsibility. It is evident on the streets and in the church. The men do not hang out with their sons, the moms or even in most dual working families the female maids take care of them.

I am so privileged to grow up in a church that has actually began to reverse the curse of fatherlessness. I was mentoring my timothy yesterday and as I was sharing with him our vision and mission here it became evident how we should see this work. We are ambassadors not only of Christ but our spiritual father and family back home. We came as Acts 17: 6 “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. 7 Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.” How evident it is that we bring something that is so foreign even to Christians here. The Fathers affirmation! I have had the opportunity to affirm about 4 men here so far and they are sticking to me like nothing before. They don't receive it, that’s why they don't do it, and that’s why they don't reproduce it

The beat goes on...

We are starting to work out a rhythm to our life here. I don't know how other people do it, but when I get in a new situation I feel like I just need to get my routine down and then I can feel comfortable. Ok, I admit it deep down inside I'm really 5 years old. I like to have a bedtime and a schedule. I don't like winging it too much.
Speaking of schedule's. We started school last week. I'm loving every minute of it. Well almost every minute the one's where Logan whines about stuff are not my favorite. But we are working through it. Logan has 3 favorite things about school. Math (I'm pretty sure he gets that from Jose) art (all me) and Lego's (no idea) Yes, that's right Lego's are a subject in our school. As a matter of fact if kindergarten had majors my children would be majoring in Lego construction. The amazing thing about Lego's is the boys will play with them for hours and they don't even fight over them. If I was catholic I would nominate the inventor of Lego's for sainthood. But since I'm not catholic I will just thank God for them. I never thought I would say Lego's that many times in one paragraph. Really, I never thought I would have any reason to talk about them. Who knew?

I may have mentioned this before but our house is actually an apartment. There are 3 other apartments in our building. One below us. One across from us and one on the third floor. Our front door is on the second floor but we have 3 floors to our apartment. Anyway, on Thursday the boys and I were home alone all day. It was a normal enough day. Friday morning Jose's dad went out to get some stuff and saw our neighbor. They told him that the apartments on the 1st and 3rd story had been robbed during a 3 hour period on Thursday. Our doors here have these crazy locks that seem impossible to break into but the robbers had a tool that broke them. I NEVER HEARD A THING. We believe that the thieves heard me and the boys in the apartment and weren't sure which one we were in so they skipped our floor. We also know that everyday we pray a hedge of protection around our home that no one with evil intentions would be able to come near us. God protected us and our stuff. We are going to use wisdom and have another lock installed and I think our landlady will be installing electric fences around the exterior walls soon. Just know that your prayers are powerful! We feel them every single day.

Daily Thoughts "My Word"

Isaiah 55: 10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens

and stay on the ground to water the earth.

They cause the grain to grow,

producing seed for the farmer

and bread for the hungry.

11 It is the same with my word.

I send it out, and it always produces fruit.

It will accomplish all I want it to,

and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

The word comes down from God and stays on the soil of our hearts watering us. As maturity comes into our lives through discipleship, fruitfulness is the evidence of the word growing in our hearts. The farmer, who is at that time in our lives the beneficiary of the word, can measure and see the good fruit in our lives so that it can be used to benefit others and provide spiritual food for them. I see this time and time again in ministry. I have seen the positive and I have seen the negative. As a positive I continue to watch men of God being matured in a church that loves them and cares for them and disciples them. I see the evidence of their lives because wherever God places them they continue to produce fruit and God confirms it through prospering them in the ministry. Also, the farmer in their lives is like a skilled surgeon knowing the right balance and nutrition so that it produces good fruit that lasts and ministers to many. I have also seen the negative. The word is so powerful and it pierces the heart of the man, but either through not wanting to be tilled or corrected that it becomes more of a pit of hard and unfruitful soil, or it becomes a soil that looks to be muddy or over watered and like any immature person looks for any kind of spiritual teaching and becomes more confused than fruitful. Both do not work and it is sad to see Men of God called to ministry but get brought down because of lack of correction or not understanding the farmer as a tool of God to help them and see them as a lid and not a covering in their lives. In this case too, the farmer needs to truly understand the condition of his soil so that he knows how to treat it or through perversion, passivity or abandonment that soil becomes just another pile of dirt. Help us Lord to be trained up great to be a great soil so that you can fulfill the call in our lives. Also Lord help us when you make us a farmer to be one that inspects what you expect and to be one that is constantly looking to produce fruit through that soil that is healthy to feed hungry people that fill this world.

Ask yourself first if you are being watered by God daily? Are you allowing God to fill your heart with his word so that fruit comes out and helps so many out there. Second are you being a good sheppard? Are you relying on the Lord to help train up others so that his word does not return void but prospers everywhere it is sent.

Daily Thoughts 9/27 My Servant

Isaiah 51:1 “Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance — all who seek the Lord! Consider the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were mined. 2 Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor, and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation. Abraham was only one man when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation.” as I read today such a beautiful pivotal point in the bible where Isaiah 53 describes the servant of God, Christ Jesus. I am having such a powerful time in prayer and meditation of God's word about how Isaiah sees our Lord Jesus as the sacrificial lamb for my sins. I don't even know how I could finish this or even start because I know the condition of my heart yet I rely on him so I can truly grasp what it means to be purified by the Lamb of God. It was my weakness, my sorrow, my sickness, my rebellion and my sin that were placed on him as the one and only offering for my sins. Such beauty of scripture yet my heart aches because we do not grasp this reality of how worthy Christ is everyday. Isaiah starts today's reading by saying that we need to remember the rock from which we were cut, to not forget the quarry which we were mined. Such as true today as when Isaiah wrote it. so many times we forget what God uses as a training ground for us to be multiplied. Dr. Cole says that everything in life is according to a pattern based on a principle of the Word of God. to help those that may read this: God tells you to remember. remember that he is using this time to form you (discipleship) where he placed you (church), with who he placed you with (pastor), so that he can use you for greater things (sent out). Three principles that you have to see in your walk with Christ. 1) God calls you 2) God blesses you 3) God multiplies you my prayer today: Lord mercy on us when we do not have a fresh revelation of your total obedience as a servant of the Lord. Mercy on us when we choose to be weak, feel pity, allow sickness, choose rebellion, and commit sin. Teach us to present ourselves in light of Jesus and his commitment level to the Father. God help us!

Daily Thoughts 9/26 Commissioned

1 Listen to me, all you in distant lands! Pay attention, you who are far away! The Lord called me before my birth; from within the womb he called me by name. 2 He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver. 3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.” 4 I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward.” 5 And now the Lord speaks— the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The Lord has honored me, and my God has given me strength. 6 He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” 7 The Lord, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations, to the one who is the servant of rulers: “Kings will stand at attention when you pass by. Princes will also bow low because of the Lord, the faithful one, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” Oh my Jesus how encouraging are your words that you have commissioned us to bring salvation to your people and the ends of the earth. Today was glorious in the Lord. Church, rest and then celebration time with all the volunteers that helped out with the "save the family conference," that was special. Dr. Cole taught us that we can't push string we have to pull it, and we can't push people, we have to lead them. The Lord has shown me that spending time with men and encouraging them and stretching their faith brings a level of leadership that is so needed in the body of Christ. To help those that may read this: Men you have been commissioned to take this salvation message to those that have fallen away in the faith and those that are perishing. What other words do we need to hear, what other books do we need to read, what new message has to played in our CD players, for us to know that we have been chosen by God! The Holy One of Israel has chosen you. My prayer again is that you may him who paid the ultimate price to bring this message to you and that you would be sent out because you have been commissioned to take this gospel to the ends of the earth. Isaiah in chapter 6 understood three things that made him willing to die to transmit this message. 1. He understood who God was verse 1 2. He understood who he was verse 5 3. He understood the provision of God for him verse 6 Jesus is that burning coal that has taken away our sins. Such a privilege to know that he touched, removed and forgave our sin. Only through this process can you say as Isaiah says in verse 8 "here i am, send me"

Daily Thoughts 9/25

Isaiah 45:11 This is what the Lord says— the Holy One of Israel and your Creator: “Do you question what I do for my children? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands? 12 I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command. 13 I will raise up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose, and I will guide his actions. He will restore my city and free my captive people— without seeking a reward! I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!” As i am reading today i notice a thread throughout both new and old testament and that is a calling. In the old testament he calls Cyrus a non christian to help the Jewish people and rescue them and to restore God's city for his people. So profound how he calls even though we don't think or understand why he does that except he does things for his name's sake. An applicable example of this in our lives now is our residence here in Peru. We have seen God's hand move here ever since we got to Lima. The home we are staying in belongs to some actress that was popular here in the late 90's. We told her what we were doing here and our mission and brief testimonies. She began to tell us her non christian beliefs, but then quickly wanted to help us. We told her we got here only with our 21 suit cases and that was all we had. She asked about bedding and furniture and we told her that we would get it as we were able to month to month. We saw God use her to bless us, God's people, in that she furnished our home for an extra $200 a month. She said that she would give us the furniture when we left to move to Piura in the north. She also added that she has trucks that go there monthly and that she would be willing to transport all the things when we get there. She told us that the house that we are staying in is made to lease for highly affluent business people who can afford $800 a month more than our budget. But when they showed us the house the realtor said for some reason right now she is leasing it for exactly the amount we had been looking for. SO GOD! We have seen his hand move in our lives and we are privileged to begin this new work in Peru. I truly feel like Israel sometimes that even when we are the guilty ones for disobeying him, rebelling and sinning as Isaiah finishes off chapter 46, God still rescues us for his names sake...Mercy Jesus In the new testament we see Paul begging us to live a life worthy of our calling. So many times I did not understand my Pastor used by God to stretch me because I am called. I have come to realize that if those called could truly grasp their calling we would as Paul says work in such unity, love, and harmony in the body of Christ. It is sad to see members of the body trying to jockey for position and be someone that God did not create them to be. The reason why we raise up other men in the ministry is not so that they can be a clone of us. It is actually the contrary in that the training God has brought through my life and the impartation that is transferred to their life added to the measure of grace of that persons' calling would catapult them to even greater works in Christ Jesus. We see that multiplication in Jesus' group when he said greater works will you do because you trust and believe that I have called you. God help the men in my life to grasp their calling by you so that they can believe and continue what you have done and greater. Listening to Paul explain the reason for the 5 fold ministry gifts it truly blesses me to know I have a pastor, evangelist, teacher, apostle, and prophet on my side that equips me to build Christ's church. It truly blesses me to hear scripture like this: Ephesians 4: 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. To help those that may read this: If you don't know if you are called ask your Pastor, Apostle, Teacher, Evangelist, Prophet. God put him there to help equip you. If you know you are called stop trying to be like someone else and be the best you that God called. If you are not doing your own special work in the ministry your hindering the body from being healthy and growing. Stop, repent and allow that special gift (5 fold minister) to equip you again!

This is the real me

I'm sure that there are many women in the world that have lived in a world similar to the one I find myself in. A world where being punched in the shoulder is a very meaningful sign of affection. A world where princesses on the television cause a quick dash for the remote but if there is gunfire or swordplay you better believe we will at least stick to the station until the next commercial. Yes my friends. I am talking about my home where 5 out of 6 residents are male. I happen to be the remaining 1.
Being surrounded by men has it's benefits and it's challenges. While I love it, every once in a while I miss the energy of women. I love how women can be 15 or 75 and they still think and act almost identical. Every woman I know looks at their reflection and can pick out at least 5 things that they don't like. But we deny that our friends have any physical flaws vehemently. And when we get together. It's magical. Like being transported to a place where there are no consequences for eating way too much chocolate. A place where feather boas are a must! Where no matter how tired you may be you still want to stay up and talk for 5 more minutes. That is what "This Is The Real Me" was like

Kari Jobe led worship. It was one of the first times in my life I went expecting a performance and experienced a worship service. I've always been one to prefer men's voices over women's. Just a personal preference, but listening to 600 or so women worshiping God from the bottom of their hearts was awe inspiring. And I got to sit next to Kari Jobe during the ministry time. So fun!

Isn't she cute? (and isn't that the girliest thing you have ever heard?)

Pastor Sheila Gerald ministered the first night and to start she told us all to look into the eyes of the person next to us and very sincerely say "your butt looks good in that" Then she said I know you where all worried about it and now you don't have to be. SO true.

I could go on and on about how much fun I had and how great it was but I will finish with this.

God has graced me with some of the best and sweetest friends on earth. It doesn't matter how far away we are from each other because I know they will always be there for me. I didn't get pictures with all of them but here are the few I did get.

 
                                   

You girls make me think of Philippians 1:3

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you"

I do. I am blessed beyond words to know you

Daily thoughts: Confidence 9/24

^{Isaiah 44:21} "Pay attention, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you. ²² I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free."

in todays reading we see how God says I will do a new thing in you for my names' sake. How awesome it is to know although we fall into the traps of the devil and through rebellion, sin, or unbelief we get trapped, God still has his plans for us.

Three things that come to mind how the enemy hits us he is called the accusser of the breatheren. first he tempts us then he brings us to a place where we feel there is no turning back second he brings us to a point where we believe all the negative will happen third he alienates us to a point that we feel no one can help us that kind of warfare keeps men daily from entering into God's presence, but as Paul says in Ephesians 3:12 only because of Jesus are we priveleged to confidently enter into his presence. I have come to realize that if the enemy can take your confidence in Christ he can wipe you out as a Man of God. I have seen times in my walk with the Lord that no matter how I try to go around or figure out why something happened or how to get out of this hole I dug myself into, the Spirit of God reminds me to just get on my knees and cry out to him the only one that can truly resolve anything in my life. That right there has taught me to break the pride that the enemy uses to pull me away from God's presence.

to help those that may read this, God has orchestrated for his servant (i.e. pastor, apostle, ministry leader, shepherd, spiritual mentor) to help you see the traps and wiles of the devil in your life. To not use him would be telling God we have a better way or method or plan. If the Apostle Paul, who gave his life so that his spiritual sons could have this information to take over their world, did it; how much more do we that allow all these distractions to come against us need it. HELP US LORD!

My prayer today is for those men who are struggling with confidence in Christ to do all he created us to do!

Ephesians 3 ¹⁴ When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, ¹⁵ the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. ¹⁶ I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. ¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

And now, what we've all been waiting for

I just spent about 2 hours researching some stuff for a video I'm making for the conference next week. I never, ever thought a phrase like that would be coming from my mouth...er, fingers?
I am now very tired of research and ready to be done with it.
Today is September 30th which means I am leaving in 5 days to visit my family and have a blast at "This is the Real Me" I have been looking forward to this conference for awhile and I can't wait to be there! Plus, bonus: My sister seems to have been blessed with the ability to have a baby girl which so far has been un-attainable for me. (Pray for me ya'll, I have been out numbered for years. This house needs some estrogen ;)
When I go to Houston I get to see her for the first time. Ya'll better believe I'm not letting go of her until I leave...if then. :p

Anyway, the next several days will be busy for me getting ready to go etc... Then I will be in Houston so I may not blog for that time but I get make a special announcement today!

JOSE IS BLOGGING! Prepare yourself for the awesomeness! He will be sharing his daily thoughts right here on our little blog. Now we can finally live up to our name (joseandkat.blogspot) so with out further ado I will hand you over to my very capable husband.

See you in a couple weeks
Kat ~*

Casa Hogar

Today we visited our first orphanage. (we plan to visit some more to get a better picture of what already works before we move forward on anything)
We went intending to take pictures etc...and quickly found out it's illegal to take pictures inside the orphanage :/ So I'm sorry I can't show you what it looked like but I will try to describe it. One side was all living quarters. They have about 8-10 children in each building with 2 mentors. The houses are separated by age and gender. They have 54 children living there right now. (the director said that is way more than normal because they have a second location which was flooded so they had to combine the 2)

The other side is a school. Most of the kids are the orphans, but there are a few students from around the town.
We were able to get a lot of information from the director but I won't bore you with all of it :)
The best part of the trip was when we met the kids. The older kids where in a large assembly but we got to meet the preschool/kindergarten class. (Oh my word I fell in LOVE with 2 of them) When we came to the door they all ran out and hugged us. One little boy named Jonathon melted into my side while all the other children took turns hugging me, Jose, Victor then Jose's Dad. Then there was a sweet bubbly little girl with pigtails named Andreita (here they add "ita" to everything to make it cutesy) She locked eyes with me when we walked past the class and had to climb over the other kids to get to me. I wanted to keep her.
When we were getting ready to leave the class I looked over and Jose's dad had at least 5 little boys hugging him around the neck. It was adorable. I wanted to keep them all. Bring them home and give them lots of hugs and kisses every night. However, kids in private orphanages are not adoptable. :( I guess that's a good thing because we really aren't quite ready to take on 10 more kids. But I cried. No weeping and wailing but a definite ache came over me. I looked at these beautiful little girls and boys who either have no parents, or were abandoned. And they crave love. Little Jonathon, only had one of my arms but he did not move. His teacher had to tell him to come back in to class. I gave him one last tight hug before I let him go. (and I cried)

Did you feel the mountains tremble?

This morning at 3am we experienced our first earthquake. It registered 5.9 on the Richter scale. Here is a news story about it. To be honest it is not that big a deal here. (Jose and my kids actually slept through it..except for when I reached out for Jose, because for a moment I thought I was dreaming)
I find it interesting because the day I wrote my last blog I almost talked about being nervous about earthquakes. All I knew is they start without warning and can be devastating. It scared the living daylights out of me (there's a little bit of Texas slang for you...proof of my roots) But a few days ago I thought. I wonder if there will be an earthquake here? Then I realized I really wasn't as afraid as I used to be. It's awesome the way God prepares us in the smallest ways for things. 

Speaking of preparing for things. Tomorrow (Thursday) Jose, Victor and I will be going to a local orphanage to talk with the director and see how they run things. There are lots of potential good things going on with that so please keep us in prayer. I'm so excited about this I can't even explain it.
God has already been flinging doors wide open everywhere we go. There is no doubt in our minds that his hand is on this ministry and we want to thank everyone of you that has been praying for us and supporting us financially. We are able to do the things we are doing because of your support. We love you guys

Learning my lesson

o.k. I admit it. I did not have the best attitude about my laundry taking 5 hours. I thought it was a pain to wait all the time just for one load. But then we went to the zoo. 

At the zoo we rode a train that went around the perimeter and I was sitting on the side where you can see outside the zoo.

Imagine living by the zoo.

Even in America the zoo smells nasty.

There is no getting around it.

Now imagine living here.

Yes those are "houses"

If you lived there you would do laundry

here

Or here

Which is also where you would bathe

(I saw people doing that but decided not to take pictures of it...I want to keep this blog "G" rated)

Remember all your washing is downwind of a zoo. There are no words. I am so grateful for my impossibly long washer and dryer.

What else can I say? God is good! - an update on us

Jose is out right now taking the men from Houston to the airport. We had fun seeing our friends and Pastor this week. The came for the "Salvamos A La Familia" (saving the family) conference that La Casa Del Padre was hosting. It's a little weird being considered a Pastor. I got to meet and share our testimony with Molly Godzich as we were riding to the convention center. We also got to visit with Pastor Craig and Jan Hill and ton's of other men and women of God who's names I can't remember. :/
Not to mention all our friends, including Jack King from Faithful Men's Ministry, and our Pastor G.F. Watkins. I have to say we are so blessed. We are just starting out in the ministry and God has already begun to place us before kings. (so to speak)

In other news I am really loving our home (have I said that already?) I walk around in it everyday and just thank God for his grace and his love for us. We were talking today about it. You know sometimes God will ask you to do something that may seem like it makes no sense. In our case give away all your belongings...not sell them but GIVE them away. Pack up your family and move to another country. Most people when we tried to give our stuff to them said "No, you should be selling this to buy new over there" Trust me that sounds like the most logical thing to do. And I'll be honest there were times when my faith wavered. I would see all the crazy stuff we accumulated and in my head I would start calculating how much we could have sold the stuff for. I know, I know, shocking! But when I walk around my home, with my new furniture (our fridge still has the label, and the plastic sticker to protect the finish on it!) Stuff that is nicer than we had in America. I think "WOW!" I am so glad we listened and obeyed. We had no idea what God had in store for us! As a blessing for our obedience he has given us a beautiful furnished home. Honestly if we sold all our stuff we could never have bought the stuff we have here. God is so good! I know, I'm gushing. I just wish those of you that read this blog could have walked along side us (some of you did actually) and seen the progression. There is such a blessing in obedience that goes beyond the material things and the meeting famous people. It's indescribable really.
Proverbs 10:22 says "It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it." We don't have a lot of money but we have the blessing of the Lord. I feel this verse very strongly lately. I live this verse right now. God is good!

When we met our landlady she told us that she was going to get a biopsy done on a tumor she had. Victor prayed for her with Jose and I agreeing that night. The next day she was at a memorial service and began crying. Tears were coming out of both her eyes. The next time she talked to us she told us about it. She said she had just been told by a Doctor a week before, that she would never be able to cry from her left eye again. Jose told her to get her money back from the other Dr because the great physician healed her! The next week when we were moving in we were talking and she told us she was leaving the next day to get her biopsy in the U.S. I prayed for her with Jose agreeing. A couple days later she asked her assistant to let us know that when they went to do the biopsy the tumors were gone! I'm telling you guys it's fun to serve the Lord!

Please pray for my sister. Her water broke over 36 hours ago (at 10:00 am Saturday 9/11) and she is not progressing. I know the baby will be here by the time most of you read this but please keep her in prayer. I know she will appreciate it.
Also, my camera is dying a slow death and I really need a new one. I am believing God for a dslr because I want to get more serious about photography. Please pray for us that God would provide for it. :) THANK YOU!!

Life in Peru

once upon a time I dreamed of owning a washer/dryer combo. I thought it would be amazing to not have to switch the laundry. I thought the laundry would never smell bad because it sat in the washer too long. I thought it would free me up to do so many things...
Oh the naiveity of me (and in case your wondering naiveity is totally a word...at least it is to me)

I got what I wished for. This is my laundry room. The lovely thing on the right is my washer and dryer. It takes a whopping 4 hours at least to wash and dry a  load of clothes that weighs about 5 kilograms. (It says 6 but it lies) So I'm definitely freed up to do other things while it washes and dries my clothes.
Are you wondering what the grey pipe looking thing is that's snaking into the sink?


 
 
                                                   
it's the drainage hose for the washer and dryer of course! Fun stuff!
 
But seriously I am getting a clothesline soon so I can hang up my clothes to dry and hopefully get more laundry done.
 
We have some friends from South Africa and Houston visiting right now so we have been able to visit some tourist spots. This is a 1500 year old temple thing in the middle of Lima. Notice the city skyline behind the ancient mud wall.

Not the most flattering picture of me but hey this is the real me :p

It doesn't rain in Lima so they can build things out of basically dried mud mixed with seashells and it lasts. If we built something like that in houston it would disolve within a month.

One result of the lack of rain is the streets are really dirty. My children look like street urchins when we go out because they just get soooo dirty. Which adds to my laundry problems...

Hand sanitizer is always on my person.

We have been living in our apartment for a week today. Once I find a place for everything I will do a video tour for you to enjoy. I'm really loving our apartment. It's nice to have a place of our own after 2 1/2 months of traveling and staying with people. This place is really beautiful too. God has really blessed us to be able to have a nice home. It's kind of a superficial thing. But one thing God has shown me in this short time is that he delights in giving us the desires of our hearts. Even the seemingly unimportant ones.

  

Fun Pictures

We just got the internet at our new apartment! So updates will be more often hopefully. 
I wanted to post some pictures my sweet friend Jami took when we were visiting in Kansas City. And you should definitely check out her blog she is one of the funniest people I know and does amazing crafts.
anyway here they are prepare yourself to see me spamming the blog and the rest of the internet with their lovely-ness

Thank you Jami!

Our first day in Lima in pictures + update!!!

The first day here was exciting

We were all up early and ready to see what we could accomplish...but we didn't realize Peru doesn't really wake up until around 10 or 11

so we hung out around the hotel for awhile

 

When we did get out to the stores they weren't all open anyway but we enjoyed a nice walk.

In fact we walked and walked and walked.

But the boys still had energy so we let them play at the playground.

They were not the least bit excited about it

  

We ate at my current favorite restaurant

They have a cute little flower cart outside.

After lunch we drove around for a few hours looking for houses with for rent signs outside...we didn't find many but that didn't really matter.

We finished out the day at a grocery store named Wong. Jose got our cell phones set up and me and the boys sat in the little coin operated car area.

They liked this one

We have really seen God's hand and just favor over us the whole time here.

Even when we were flying over here. We checked with the airline the day before we left to find out how much it would cost if we checked extra baggage they said $140 per bag. We decided to buy an extra suitcase and check it because we were just running out of options. Tuesday morning at 4 am we showed up at the airport with our 11 suitcases, 5 carry-ons and 5 personal items. We weighed everything to make sure we weren't over weight and had to move a few things to carry ons. Jose went to check the bags and they said it was only an extra $40 instead of $140. Jose decided to go ahead and check 2 of our carry-ons as well because it was so much cheaper (plus we really didn't want that many carry ons.) The lady called her supervisor over at the end to sign off on everything and the supervisor said "no, you were supposed to charge them $140 for each additional bag" then she told Jose "sir because of our mistake we are going to let you check these 3 bags for free" We didn't have to pay any extra fees for our bags at all!

Secondly when we went out with the realtor she had 2 apartments to show us in our price range, and 2 that were slightly higher than we wanted to pay. We looked at all of them and Jose and I both liked the first one we looked at (which was in our price range hallelujah). All the places in the area we need to be in were unfurnished though. So while we waited to get the contract from the owner we decided to go price furniture and appliances (houses don't even come with ovens here) I'm not going to lie. Looking at how much everything was going to cost and even just trying to furnish a complete house from nothing was a little intimidating. But I serve a big God. That night we went to meet with the owner (a former actress/tv host) We were there for about 2 hours talking about the house/living arrangement/her health/the realtors family/ etc.... this is Peru you don't have short meetings about one specific thing and then move on here. In the process of our conversation she asked if we have furniture. We told her we don't and she said "My daughter lived here for 3 months. She bought everything new and left it with me when she moved. I'll tell you what, if you want I can furnish the house for an extra $200 a month then when you go to Piura you can have it all if you want it. I even have trucks that go up there all the time you can take it in one of my trucks when you go."  All we need to get is linens and some kitchen items to have everything we need for our house.

Third. One minor hickup is that the house is brand new. When we were looking at it it didn't have light fixtures and was still being painted. Because of that the house won't be ready until Friday. But our hotel is only available until Tuesday then we were going to have to move to a different room. Not a big deal for us but it would cost us 4 extra night's in the hotel. Yesterday when we were at church we talking with the pastors and the couple that is in charge of the retreat center. They asked where we are staying and we explained the whole situation. When we finished they said "don't spend your money on a hotel we have a guest house behind our house you can stay there until your house is finished." Then Jose asked if we can start moving our luggage over today and the pastor said "just use the church van. I will send it over to pick all your sutff up on Tuesday so you can move everything in one trip"

We have an amazing God. It is so awesome to see his hand on every step of our journey. It is clear he is Jehovah Jireh our provider. We can't wait to see what He is going to do next! 

Please be in prayer with us for a vehicle. There are six of us so we need something that carries at least six comfortably. We are really praying for an H1 mini van (they carry 12 passengers but look like a mini van) We have called on a few used vehicles but they sell for almost the same as new...cars do not depreciate here. 

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support it is deeply appreciated! And we can seriously see/feel the prayers in our daily life!