March Update

I keep wanting to sit down and write a nice update on all the great things that are happening (because they are. Really) But I'm having trouble getting it all down. Life is kind of kicking my butt right now. (can missionaries say that?) And everything I try to start gets overwhelming about halfway in. I think Zoe realized this about me because she decided to be potty trained and just started telling me she had to go and that was pretty much it. That's the only explanation I can come up with because I honestly did not want to deal with it right now. Or maybe ever.

Anyway, the boys started school this month because the school year here runs March-December. Logan is doing great mostly because he's social and works better with other kids his age doing the same thing as him. The only part that is hard is homework. I thought homeschooling was tough (it was) trying to help a 4th grader do homework in Spanish is ridiculous. I could probably easily help with the homework in english but naming the tools used in a chemistry lab is a little out of my depth. Every day he asks for help and I end up telling him to ask dad when he gets home.

Timothy on the other hand has been struggling with every aspect of school but he's finally getting in the groove. Autism and sensory integration issues are not very well known here. So we are trying to teach his teacher about it while also trying to help Tim with Spanish, cursive, and anything the teacher sends home for him to work on. Thankfully we found a great tutor who doesn't speak any english but is extremely patient and seems to like working with Tim. Timothy can understand her because it's one on one with no distractions and she speaks very slowly. Every day is a new test of my creativity to help him get through different challenges. We have learned he works best with some kind of reward looming in the near future to help him push through the hard parts.  That and lots of squishing, pillow/tickle fights or wrestling are what get us through the days.  




Zoe had her second birthday. I threw my first big party in awhile for her. She adores princesses and it was all pink and princess themed just for her. She loved it even though she only kept her tutu and tiara on long enough to take one picture. I did my best to just be a part of the party so I didn't get very many pictures. But it was a lot of fun and many people who love her were there to celebrate my sassy & sweet little 2 year old. She is constantly surprising us with how much she catches. She loves to sing and dance and draw on things with magic markers. She speaks her own version of spanglish and she imitates people perfectly. She often likes to run through all the names she knows. Repeating "awella" (Manuela) her hands down favorite person in the world. Having a daughter has been an adventure and a challenge but I wouldn't trade her. She lives up to the "life" part of her name for sure.  

For the last couple weeks we have had a lot of rain. Peru isn't used to rain...at all. When I have said it rained I was referring to Peru's version which is basically a light sprinkle. The kind of thing where back home everyone would be asking "is it raining?" Because you could stand outside in it for 10 minutes and still be completely dry. But the last couple weeks it's been good, solid, flood the streets raining a little every day. Because of that we've had a few setbacks, the church and our house flooded. The roof at the church caved in and even the school Logan goes to closed for a day because they had some rain related issues. It's amazing how much damage can be done when you aren't prepared.

God has been doing some really exciting things in the midst of all of this.                                    In coming here we had a few goals.                     One of them was to plant churchES.                 We've been in Piura for 4 years now and have been steadily growing that whole time. This Sunday we will have our grand opening at Powerhouse Chulucanas.                                     The second official church plant of Powerhouse Peru.                                                                       We have a great couple that have been working with us and learning a lot about ministry.           They will run the location and we will go every so often to make sure things are running smoothly.                                                              

This has been a huge undertaking along with everything else going on.                                      But we are so excited to see what happens.  Chulucanas is about an hour East of us here in Piura. It's a beautiful little city that's kind of in the mountains. The famous black and white pottery from Peru originated there.                       The location we found is right in the center of town.                                                                    About one block from the "Plaza de Armas" it's actually about 3 times as big as our Piura location so we are hopeful it will be filled with people seeking a relationship with Jesus.                    Starting tomorrow night we will have our own version of "The glory and the fire" put on by our awesome Powerhouse Peru people!

  

Thank you all for praying for us and to those of you who send us notes of encouragement on Facebook or email or whatsapp or by carrier pigeon.

 However they come they mean a lot to us when the days are hard. 

Thank you also to everyone who supports us financially. 

Your sacrifices help us to continue the work and often come in right at the moment we need it the most. 

We thank God for you and we thank you for you! 

Love from Peru! 

The Lopez's 

My best friend

Yesterday Jose officiated the wedding of a couple from our church.

with the bride and groom

Jose officiating <3 br="">

We wanted to look nice so he got a haircut and I got a manicure. While I was getting my nails done he took the kids and got them a snack and they brought something back for me. Logan brought it up to me because Jose was downstairs with the other kids. The manicurist started asking me questions about my family. She was shocked that my husband was taking care of my 3 kids while I was busy. I didn't really understand why that was surprising and I said "of course, he's a great father. He even changes diapers" "No puede ser" (I can't believe it) she replied. Then she asked if he gives them baths, cooks, helps put them to bed. It was probably one of the funniest conversations I've ever had about my husband. "Yes, he does all those things. He makes some of the best eggs I've ever tasted. My children prefer he put them to bed over me. He's a really great dad." "That's amazing" she said "Peruvian men aren't like that at all."   "Oh, but he is Peruvian" I replied "many american men aren't like that either." I told her that my husband was taught that manhood isn't machismo but servant leadership. I told her that our ministry here is focused on helping men learn to lead their families with love. I told her my husband is teaching men to be like he is. She asked me what our church is called and where it is. :) (and if you were wondering. No, she did not speak a single word of english. I had the whole conversation in Spanish and managed to get my point across...GO ME! lol)

after the wedding enjoying the reception 

I'm really proud of Jose for so many reasons. He has taught me a lot even in the last few months about serving, humility and love. He sacrifices more than anyone could ever understand because of his desire to really truly serve God.

Jose helping a family move into the place he found them to stay 2 hours after they called to tell him they needed a place

He rarely gets a break and never complains when people (myself included) ask him to do "just one more thing." He does things that are outside of his comfort zone just to make me happy. He has one of the funniest senses of humor ever. I mean he can make me laugh like nobody else.

But most importantly to me he loves God more than anything else.

Preaching at the university to psychology students the kids with raised hands got saved that night

No matter what else is going on in our lives I'm confident that he will seek God and listen. He loves me and our kids second only to God. He is always seeking to be a better husband and father. I love him so much and am so grateful to God for giving him to me. I recently heard this song and it made me think of Jose.

Close your eyes
Let me tell you all the reasons why
Think you're one of a kind.
Here's to you
The one that always pulls us through
Always do what you gotta do
You're one of a kind
Thank God you're mine.

You're an angel dressed in armor
You're the fair in every fight
You're my life and my safe harbor
Where the sun sets every night
And if my love is blind
I don't want to see the light.

I love you Jose. 

Thank you for always being there, always showing up and always loving me.

~Kat

Thanksgiving Missionary style

Yesterday we had the privilege of celebrating Thanksgiving with our Missionary friends here. I only take random pictures and we all got wrapped up talking so I didn't get a group pic. But I did get these

Makes you feel like you were there with us right? check out Logan, looking like he is about to do  something he shouldn't. He probably was. As you may notice the Ens (our friends who hosted us) have 2 boys close in age to ours. They also have an older daughter. Sadly I don't have a girl for her to play with but Timothy thinks they were sent here because he prayed for a boy his age. So God sent the Ens with their 5 year old named Timothy. Our Timothy has dubbed him 2nd Timothy. So we went biblical on the nicknames and call them 1st and 2nd Timothy

1st Timothy swiping some of the cheese ball prematurely

Logan and 2nd Timothy...have you ever noticed how hard it is to take pictures of 

little boys when they haven't seen each other in awhile? 

Real Men help with the food prep

Real men also get food for their kids 

Here in Peru we don't have canned or instant stuff so we had pretty much everything made from scratch

(except for the cranberry sauce I imported ;) 

I learned how to make cheese balls which I've never attempted before but they came out pretty great if I do say so myself. :P One of the girls there made her first ever "from scratch" sweet potato casserole 

everything was amazing. I'm actually a little sorry I didn't think to swipe some leftovers. :)

I will be making Thanksgiving dinner for our church next week though so hopefully I can do 

justice to the food we had yesterday. I'm hungry again just thinking of it. 

I haven't participated in any of the 31 days of gratitude things people have been doing on twitter (and FB I think...) But there are a few things I'm especially grateful for that I wanted to mention.

God and his grace, mercy and faithfulness. I know it sounds like just the right thing to say but I am seriously feeling so grateful for Him lately.

Jose. I could not have found a better man or husband if I searched for 1000 years. He isn't perfect but he's perfect for me. I love him so much

Logan and Timothy. They make me laugh all the time. 

They are always there offering to do all kinds of helpful things. Like sleeping in my bed at night 

or mopping the floor with lemonade before I wake up.

But they are sweet, sweet boys and I thank God for them everyday. 

My life would not be as full without them.

A healthy pregnancy and baby

True friends here in Peru and also in the states. 

As Philippians 1:3 says "Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God."  

It is really amazing to know that there are so many people I could call up and they would 

be happy to hear from me even if I just need to ask for help or prayer or a listening ear.

God is so faithful to provide for all of our needs no matter how big or small. "friends" might not seem like that big of a deal but sometimes they are more valuable than you can imagine.

And now I will leave you with the one picture of me. 

Right before we started eating I asked for this picture to be taken. 

Enjoy our goofy faces.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pregnancy after loss

The last couple months have been a bit of a roller coaster for me. Since everything seemed fine with my last pregnancy I feel this hesitancy to totally get comfortable. Planning for the future seems so silly. I mean I did that last time. I had a baby registry and planned out how I would decorate the nursery. When he didn't come home with me though, any baby stuff I had out only served as a reminder of the big hole in my heart and my arms. But if I don't think about the nursery and the baby, if I don't plan then does that say I'm expecting the same outcome as before? This is the difficulty in being pregnant after losing a child the way I did. I want this child so much and I'm afraid to lose it. I'm also afraid to give into the joys of expecting in case I do lose it. I'm told it's normal to feel this way and I'm sure it is. That doesn't make it any easier.

The good news is that I have now had 2 ultrasounds with great results. The report that the Dr sent home with me listed my amniotic fluid level as "normal" both times. There is no way to explain how happy I am to have a normal amount of amniotic fluid. The baby has wiggled all the way through both ultrasounds and that is another great sign. Last time we took the boys with us hoping to find out the gender (no dice, the baby is still too small for Peruvian ultrasound technology to be able to tell) and we got to see the hand and the feet. We told them the baby was waving and they were excited about it. Both of my boys are voting for another brother. Apparently they like the boys club we've got over here.    Everyone in the world is wishing for me to have a girl, so the rebel in me thinks I should have another boy. It kind of seems like thats what I'm wired for anyway. Honestly I'll be happy either way. I just really want a healthy baby. Seriously, that's all that I care about.


If you are praying for us please continue to pray for the baby's health and peace for our family.
Also the value of the dollar has been plummeting over here. That means our money is not going as far as it was before because we are losing value in the exchange. God is faithful and has been providing as we have needs but we are praying that the dollar turns around and at least stabilizes. Hopefully it's just temporary.

We have a lot going on in the next few months that I'm just waiting until it's all finalized before I share. But please continue to pray that God opens doors and brings the provision for the doors that he has opened

So Thankful

I'm almost a week late but we have a lot to be thankful for this year. 

We had 25 people at our house on Thanksgiving. I made my first Turkey ever (actually 2 turkey breasts because my oven is tiny and I was afraid a whole turkey wouldn't fit), I also made my first pumpkin pie complete with crust since you can't buy pre-made crust here and gravy for the turkey. Aside from that I made stuffing, sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes. All of those things were new to the Peruvians we invited over. (mashed potatoes are actually somewhat common but not the way I make them ha) the pastor Jose has been mentoring came and brought his family. His wife wanted to help and was walking around the kitchen as I was cooking saying "what is that?" "Are you sure you don't want to peel these potatoes?" "what are you doing?" She was very helpful, but I did for a moment want to banish her from the kitchen. In the end we ran out of almost everything and everyone was surprised that they liked the american food cooked by the gringa. ;) Apparently US americans have a reputation for not being able to cook. How we got the reputation I don't know.

The one picture I took of the night/food.
It was an awesome night and I Tarzan-ed my way through several conversations before I just started telling people I don't speak spanish after 10. Actually I barely speak english after 10 so I'm doing ok I guess.

I am now 30 weeks or 7 1/2 months pregnant.
We are trying to get family pictures today or this week so I will hopefully have some to put on here soon. I'm not that great at self portraits. I thank God for sustaining this baby and keeping her safe. She moves around a lot and every kick and hiccup is a reminder that God is watching over her.
We are only 8 weeks away from meeting her on the outside. I cannot believe how quickly this pregnancy has flown by!

Some highlights of the past month have been
~Pastors GF and Rose and the team from Powerhouse that came to visit
~Jose's dad Pedro came and spent a month with us. He also took time to make lots of improvements on the house while he was here. Such a blessing!
~3 day trip to Ecuador to renew our visas
~Powerhouse Church Peru had our first baptism's Logan and Jose's dad were 2 of the people baptized
~We hosted our first men's/pastors meeting with 20 people
It has been an awesome and full month

We are looking forward to a few things in the next month and year and will update more as the details are put together.
We have also updated our Prayer Needs tab. Please continue to pray for us!
 

Lucky number Seven...or something

There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.  ~Martin Luther

Wednesday Jose and I will celebrate our seventh anniversary 

Come, let's be a comfortable couple and take care of each other!  How glad we shall be, that we have somebody we are fond of always, to talk to and sit with.  ~Charles Dickens 

Sometimes I find it hard to believe we've been married that long and sometimes I feel like we've been together all my life.

Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.  ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

He knows me better than anyone else. He always gives the best advice and makes me laugh a lot. He is my best friend and my all time favorite person. 
Sometimes he drives me crazy. Sometimes he just drives crazy. :) 
But he's always the person I want driving. 

He's the best dad I've ever known. He's always really busy with ministry stuff but he still takes time to hang out with our kids and play with them. 

Wrestling with daddy. 2 against 1

He has a true Fathers heart and is passionate about raising sons. 

Natural and Spiritual

Jose with some of the men he mentored in Katy.
One of his proudest moments was seeing these men get commissioned

Have I mentioned that he's my favorite person?

That's right ladies he washes dishes. I told you he is awesome! 

He's also incredibly romantic

Grow old with me!  The best is yet to be.  ~Robert Browning

Honestly, I'm really, really blessed to married to this crazy, hilarious, awesome man of God. And I wouldn't trade him for anyone. He's not perfect and I'm not perfect but we are perfect for each other. I thank God for giving me such a fun husband!

A happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short.  ~Andre Maurois

I love you Jose. Thank you for being my husband.

Happy 7th anniversary!

Heres to 77 more (because we are definitely living to be at least 113) ;)

Next week will be my 29th birthday and my 100th blogpost so I am celebrating by giving stuff away.

Stay tuned....

Prayer Needs

This week we have been enjoying a visit from my Grandma Doris. We have done tons of touristy things with her that we had not had a chance to do. I really love Lima. There are times I forget how wonderful this city is but it's fun to see it with a first timer. And I have decided I need to live by the ocean. I absolutely love listening to the ocean and feeling the sea breeze. I always feel so mellow and content by the ocean.

If you are on the blog right now you may notice that I made some changes to the tabs on top. I added a prayer needs tab. I will keep that updated as things change so if you are ever in the mood to pray for us and want to know what we need prayer for you know where to look. At the moment most of our needs are financial. Maybe that is a chronic thing for missionaries. idk? I will post what I said there here so at least right now you don't have to click the tab (unless you really want to)

A few have asked what we need people to pray for so I thought it would be good to post a list of the things we are praying for right now so you can pray with us. As things change I will change our list.


As always thank you so much for praying for and with us!

~ Total financial support
~ 5 Tickets to the U.S. 4 of them leaving by February 20th
~Protection and provision for Victor while he is traveling to the north of Peru for a youth conference the end of February
~ Protection for our family
~ A camera with HD video for filming updates
~ A second computer
~ Visas for all of us
~ Healing for Kathryn (fatigue, dizziness, headaches) and Victor (gout and osteoarthritis)
~ Strengthening of our team
~ Funds to travel to Piura once a month
~ A home in Piura by September
~ Land for the orphanage
~ 40 men from La Casa Del Padre commissioned while we are here
~ 20 men from Peru to Intense in April
~ Kathryn's spanish
~ a fan for victor

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 ~*

First Day In Lima

The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, and it's not over! We arrived in Lima last night around 12 with all of our 13 suitcases. Jose's dad had alreay secured and checked in to our hotel so he picked us up at the airport with a taxi-van and his rental car and we managed to fit everything into those 2 vehicles. We got a great night of sleep (8 hours! I can't remember when the last time we got that much sleep in a bed. maybe a week but it seems like months)
Today we will start looking for a place to stay a little more permanently. We also plan to stop by Casa Del Padre and check in with them.

There are so many ways we recieved favor and have seen the presence of God in our lives in this time it is absolutely amazing! We feel everyones prayers and are so thankful for them.

Next blog I plan to put up some pictures...but for now I gotta' run. God Bless!

at the zoo

On Monday we went to the zoo

We splashed  

Ok, mostly we ran away from the splash...because thats how we roll

(we are not big fans of water in our eyes...)

    

We had fun with our friends

       

Logan and his buddy Matthew

(and some random girl...what can I say he's a chick magnet)

           

               

We called through the pirahna tank

              

We sat in the middle of the tank and blocked the other kids

            

               

We made silly faces at mommy

               

We...looked at the animals

               

and force fed daddy chips

              

We smiled our best when we were not all the way in the picture

 

We sat on a dinosaur

and sat in the wagon

Then we sat in the car

and we crashed (not literally, we just fell asleep)