A day I thought would never come

The average christian parent has certain expectations or at least assumptions that they live with. One of them being that their children will be christians and get baptized or follow whatever example they set. Even so those parents are thrilled and excited when the expectations are met. A child coming to christ is a huge celebration and the same can be said of baptism. However sometimes there is a kink. Some reason why you might set your expectations aside. For example you might have a child who has sensory issues and can't stand the idea of water on his head because it might get into his eyes. For a child like that the idea of putting your head under water for any reason sounds like a really horrible idea. (and that's putting it mildly.)

I just described Timothy. Logan is the one who led Timothy to the Lord and ever since then has been trying to talk him into getting baptized (Did I ever mention that 3 different people who don't know each other or me prophesied that Logan was going to be like John the baptist while I was pregnant with him?) Sometime last week while Jose was talking about this baptism service Timothy volunteered to be baptized. I wasn't there so when Jose mentioned it I looked something like this

I should mention that Jose and I have different kinds of faith. When we have no money or are getting close. I have gotten to a place where I just expect God to take care of it. While Jose does a lot of math. I know he's worried about money when I find sheets of paper with numbers scribbled all over them. I on the other hand really struggle to have faith that everything will work out with Timothy. In my heart I know that God is taking care of it (just like Jose knows that God will take care of our finances) But when I'm looking at it day in and out it gets easy to think that he will always be set in whatever particular way he's currently set in and will never change. But Jose doesn't have that problem. He pushes him and believes he can and will get and be better than what he settles for currently. So, I admit, I got annoyed with Logan for continuing to ask. I even told him that Timothy would do it when he was ready (which was true) but I realize now that he needed that peer pressure from his brother to recognize the importance of making that decision. 

We asked him several times if he was sure he wanted to do it. Jose mentioned it every day this week and every day Timothy affirmed that yes, he wanted to be baptized. I let him wear his swim trunks to church and he was dressed before we woke up actually. He wanted to do it first thing when we got there but alas, he had to wait. 

He literally buzzed with excitement all through church. He sat with me and kept humming and clapping and asking me when he would get to be baptized. Then the moment came. He was by the pool the second they announced it. 

I love the progression of these photos. You can see how happy and excited he is and when he comes out of the water you can see how much he hates the water in his eyes.

I have been a mess all day. A happy mess. Every time I think about it I start to tear up and think about how good God is and how proud I am of Timothy. He may not act or think like most kids his age. But he has a very real relationship with God that he is working out in his own way. 

Today my son inspired me and showed me that he (and everybody really) has the ability to push through his discomfort and obey what God is telling him to do.  

And he did it with a joyful attitude.  

He was excited about being uncomfortable.

I wonder, when was the last time you got excited about being uncomfortable?  

someday we'll laugh about this

I'm sure you've heard someone say "someday we'll laugh about this" maybe you've even said it yourself. 

A few days ago we had a mid-week servolution. We went to this area called "El Indio" and gave clothes and shoes away in a school.

so many clothes were donated by people in our church! it was awesome

one of the kids peeking through the broken door while we set up

this little guy was so sweet, he kept asking me to take his picture

Waiting to pick something out

It was a great day and we got to help a lot of people. It broke my heart to see some of the people looking for something for their kids and happily taking newborn size clothes for their toddler or boy clothes for their girls. Really they took what we had because at least it was something. 

One of the little girls came in at the end when we had barely anything left and she took clothes for her baby sibling and shoes for her mom. She didn't want anything for herself. 

the team

We always leave these time elated and exhausted. It's a lot of work ya'll! 

We were in an area where there aren't a lot of taxis and it's at least 2 miles to the street 

where you can pick one up. 

Out of all the people working we had one car between us...ours.

Now, our car was given to us when we first got to Peru. 

It has been through a lot, we have loaded it down with people many times. 

(I should add there are no laws about seatbelts in the back seat and the speed limit in piura is something like 30 mph) 

This time it was a little trickier than normal since we had 7 adults, 2 children 1 infant with a car seat, a stroller and about 5 folding chairs. (plus all the stuff that was in the car before we started)  

Somehow we managed to all fit inside our car. 

We got most of the way home when the car started to stall out. 

This happens sometimes...

well, a lot...

ok, lets be real it happens every time we drive the car.

So nobody worried, Jose just put the car in neutral and tried to restart it. 

Did I mention we were on a bridge? 

Yeah, that.

So anyway, the car does what it always does. It makes it's little pre-starting noise

kind of like this "ngggngnngngngnng" but it never turns over. 

We have been coasting this whole time which seems like it was maybe an hour but was probably a lot more like 5 minutes. People just pass us and keep going. That's Peru for you. Nobody is fazed in the least by the dying car full of people.

Right about now I was thanking Jesus that we had a car full of grown ups, 3 of whom were men. 2 of them jumped out and started pushing until we got off the bridge then Jose jumped out and did the push and steer until we got to a "parking lot" (more like a parking space) on the side of the road.

From here we all went our separate ways. The plan was to get a mechanic to come look at it (tow trucks are not the norm here.) So we got a Taxi to go home. 

We got home and paid the Taxi driver with the only money we had between us.

It was a counterfeit bill, we didn't know. 

Thankfully, Logan has a piggybank and is a saver. 

We paid the Taxi driver. 

Peru is not exactly a country where urgency exists. Mechanics work certain hours no more, no less.

So our car had to spend the night on the side of the road. 

The next morning Jose went to try to figure out what to do about our sad little car. 

This story just writes itself.

Someone broke the window and stole everything inside, 

from the phone charger plugged into the cig. lighter to the toolbox in the trunk. 

Even Logan's Astros cap (but they left his shoes...can't say that I blame them, those things are toxic) 

We finally got the car to the mechanic (I'm not even gonna' tell y'all how. Some things are just too hard to believe if you don't live here) 

The car won't start, that's true, but theres nothing wrong with it. 

It just doesn't want to work anymore.

 It just turned 30 maybe it's having a midlife crisis? 

I guess it lost it's will to live. 

Now, I would love to tell you I responded at each step with some of the grace that Job had when he lost his stuff. 

I sound so spiritual and wise right?

 But seriously Job may have temporarily reacted with grief but in the next verse he's all 

well I came into this world naked I guess that's how I'll leave. 

!

(warning, do not read this next paragraph if you like thinking I'm perfect and selfless. 

It might ruin things for you) 

Nope, that's not me. I had a nice little pity party. 

I don't love that car I actually have been praying we could get rid of it and get one that is a little more reliable. You know little things like not stalling every time we drive it.

A working air conditioner too.. Those are my top 2 requests. But I digress. 

I started telling God all the things we have done for him. 

I'm all, we left our friends and family and church God. 

We came here were we have no guaranteed paycheck.

We've given so much  

We built this thing you told us to, 

we've been obedient and we were actually driving home from helping people when this happened. 

It's not fair! Why do selfish people get nice cars and we are giving everything just to drive this car that needs to be pushed 90% of the time. (yeah, I'm not selfish *rolling my eyes at myself*)

Then this thing happened. I don't know how to explain it.

 It wasn't instant but it did happen. I stopped caring.  

I started thinking about the lady with a baby that took the outfit that Zoe grew out of for her child who was clearly older than Zoe. 

She actually smiled when she picked it up like it was the cutest thing she had ever seen, and it was hers.  

The baby is on the right (her mom has the sleeper in her hand)

I thought of the pregnant woman who made a beeline for the baby clothes pile and 

I remember how I had to get rid of some of the clothes I was given for Zoe 

because she was given so much and I couldnt bring it all.

I think about the basket of baby clothes I have. Full of stuff that fits my little one.

The other basket with stuff for her to grow into.

And then I told someone else the story of the car. 

I laughed. I kept laughing. My "someday I'll laugh" happened today. 

I joked "next time I'll be more specific when I pray we can get rid of something" 

God answered my prayer. Ok, so we don't have another car. 

Yes our car is basically worthless now. 

But is that a surprise to God?

Is that more than he can handle?

Is that the worst thing that has ever happened to me?

No, no, no. 

The theme of my life seems to be letting go of control. 

Letting God be in control and not freaking out when I'm surprised.

Sometimes I get it right but most of the time I don't.

Most of the time I freak out.

I'm a control freak. 

I "need to know" what is going to happen. 

 Someday I'll learn.

By the way, does anyone want to buy a "classic car" for display only? 

it needs one new window

 

 

April showers

Its amazing how much time and energy one little body added to the family can take.

Zoe is officially 8 weeks old and I'm finally starting to get a rhythm down. That does involve me spending hours in bed nursing her. (I'm really hoping to get a chair in my room soon so I don't feel so lazy nursing her all day) But I do manage to shower almost everyday so I'm feeling pretty good about my ability to function with a newborn.

Shes still a bit confused about night and day but every few days she sleeps for a few hours in a row *pure bliss* I tell you. She is deliciously chubby and happy as long as somebody is close by.

But if she realizes she has been left alone we get this face

I prefer these so I spend a lot of time with her

I love April because it is the month 2 of my favorite people were born. 

Jose's birthday was April 19th. I'm so proud of him for being the man of God that he is. I can't begin to explain how difficult the last year has been for our family. But you would never know from the outside that Jose has had any difficulties he bears the brunt of every hit we've taken and keeps moving forward. He is definitely a soldier, nothing can deter him from accomplishing his mission. 

If I was going to choose a husband based entirely on what kind of dad he would be there would have been no other competitors even close to Jose. He comes home from a long day of slaying dragons and putting out fires and everything else a missionary/church planter/american living in a foreign country has to do and he takes whatever child responsibilities I need him to and is happy to do it. I almost never change diapers when he is home because he does them all.

Oh and the dishes too he does the dishes every night (and we don't own a dishwasher) I have a certain way I like them washed and he does them my way and doesn't act like I'm crazy for thinking its important
I thank God every day for giving me such an awesome husband. But I especially thank him on April 19th the day that Mr Incredible was born. <3

April 27th is another special day in Lopez history. The day our first child was born. 

Logan was our first little miracle baby and we have been in love with him since day one

He has the most sensitive heart and loves his brothers and sister. He led Timothy to Lord a few weeks ago and always wants to help me with anything he can related to Zoe. He loves to hold her and is trying to get her first word to be Logan or Mama 

He is really into Super heroes now...like a lot. Ask me anything you want to know about the avengers, super hero squad or Logans own invention the "super duper troopers" and I probably know because that is 90% of what I hear about from Logan everyday. But if you really want to know ask him. The child is a facts sponge. He's even invented his own super hero "Thunderbolt" complete with powers and a costume he designed (only drew pictures he didn't actually make the costume though it wouldn't surprise me at all if he did) 

 He is generous and caring. Loves to give gifts to other people. Prays for more kids to come to church and wants to be a pastor, dad and superhero when he grows up (just like his dad)

I am so proud of my 8 year old super hero boy. I can't wait to see what this year holds for him. 

Happy Birthday Jose and Logan 

and happy day to you 

Fall on your knees

My all time favorite Christmas song is "Oh Holy Night" every time I hear it I am moved almost to tears. It's more than the words it's also the way the music ebbs and swells at the exact perfect moment. But this part gets me every time.

"The thrill of hope, 

a weary world rejoices 

for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. 

Fall on your knees..." 

Just think about that. The whole world was in the darkest of places, weary really.

If you have every really felt hopeless you probably also experienced weariness. 

It's just this feeling of being so completely drained of anything left to keep going. 

When suddenly something new and glorious comes. 

Hope that makes your heart race. 

Hope that makes everything stop as you fall on your knees to worship the savior of your soul.

Without a doubt 2012 has been the hardest year of my life so far.
There have been good and difficult things this year but when I look back the difficult things seem to overshadow everything else.
I had started this post yesterday morning with a much different idea of which way it was going to go. Then I got word that a dear friend lost her 3 year old son in a car accident.
My heart dropped because I know that pain all too well.
I spent the last day of 2012 crying and praying for my friend
and grieving all over again for my sweet Caleb.
I doubt anything shatters your heart like losing a child.
Nothing anyone says can help.
It's a hopeless, weary feeling.
And yet, I woke up rejoicing. A new day, a new year broke and it is glorious.
I could hear my boys playing in the other room.
I could feel the baby inside of me wiggling and the man I love had his arm around me.
Yesterday all I could see was the pain in this world and today I see
HOPE.
I have no guarantee that this year will be easier than last year.
But I do have hope that it can be.


God gave me this passage last year and it carried me through the difficult times so
I wanted to end this post with it.

 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:11-14a

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

A Rainbow

February 2nd was one of the hardest days of our lives. We lost our sweet baby boy Caleb when he was only 2 days old. While we know he is in Heaven and that gives some comfort it doesn’t completely take away the pain of what happened and the fact that we miss him.  

But God is faithful and has sent a rainbow in the midst of our storm.

"Rainbow Babies" is the understanding that the beauty of a rainbow does not negate the ravages of the storm. When a rainbow appears, it doesn't mean the storm never happened or that the family is not still dealing with its aftermath. What it means is that something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of the darkness and clouds. Storm clouds may still hover but the rainbow provides a counterbalance of color, energy and hope.

~Courtney

This week we discovered we are expecting another baby he or she is due April 7th 2013. Please pray for us that this would be a boring and happy pregnancy. It was a surprise but we are thrilled beyond words.  

2 Sundays 2 guests

Sunday was our second service here at Powerhouse Church Peru. The first week was a little disappointing because it was just the 5 of us. I kept thinking that we should not despise small beginnings so we keep pressing forward. This Sunday we were happy to have 2 visitors! So excited to see increase. Jose and Victor go out everyday to minister and invite people to our church. I stay home most of the time and work on school with the kids. We are getting settled into our life here in Piura.
It's still not easy but we are getting used to the differences of living here. It's funny how something as simple as a new grocery store can take some getting used to. I'm really happy to know that we will be here for an extended amount of time. I'm ready to let my roots stretch out some.

I have updated our prayer needs in the pages tabs. Some things will be there for a long time and some things change almost daily. We really appreciate every one of you that prays for us, as always we can feel them and see them working.

For those of you that are interested we will be visiting the dr on Monday. I will be 6 months pregnant and he will do an ultrasound to check on my amniotic fluid level and find out the gender. I can't wait! Girl or boy I'm ready to call this child by name :) Please keep us in prayer for all good news, especially about the amniotic fluid. I'm praying for a miracle increase.

Baby steps.

Yesterday, August 25th was the one year anniversary of our arrival in Lima. It's hard to believe it's been a year. Sometimes it feels like it's been longer and sometimes it feels like it has been only a couple months. The past year has been a time of stretching and growing. Trial and error, and tons of learning.


Last night Jose and I went for a walk and we were talking about our move to Piura in less than a month. In Lima we have been renting a furnished apartment so when we get to Piura we will just have the stuff in our suitcases. Houses here don't come with any kitchen appliances so we will have to get a stove, fridge, along with a washing machine and furniture. So we were discussing what the priorities are considering we are not millionaires. It reminded me of our first week in Lima when we were thinking we would buy everything here. We were looking at big refrigerators, etc... and thinking like americans. That we need the biggest of everything we can find. Here most of the refrigerators are about as tall as me (5' 2") or shorter. The ovens and washing machines are also much smaller. If you want to get U.S. sizes you have to pay a lot more.


This time around we were talking about things like "we only need a small fridge because we mostly use it to keep water, meat and dairy cold, and I don't have to have an oven that lights automatically unless we can get it for a great price." There was a lot more to our conversation and honestly the logistics of furnishing a house on faith can make your head spin. But the conversation we had made me think. A year and a half ago we were giving everything away but we still weren't as selfless as we thought we were. We thought we could live the american dream as missionaries. We expected to live in an American house with american amenities. But reality hit us hard and we had choices to make. We had to choose to give up the nice big apartment for a much, much smaller one. We had to learn to prioritize.


In Piura we saw some amazing houses. But we knew that even if we could afford them they wouldn't be the best use of God's money. So we told the realtor our price that we could pay and asked her to only show us the ones we could afford. She only had one. It was ok. The neighborhood was not as nice and there was only one bathroom on each floor (2 total). It had no closets and was quite frankly nothing like what we thought we wanted. I knew that I'm the one Jose was thinking of as he looked at the house so I told him. "I know this sounds crazy but I think this house can work". It was actually about $100 below our minimum price and I was thinking we could at least live there until the baby came. He looked at me skeptically and said let's think about it.


The next day we found out about a house through a friend. It was one of those "I know a guy who knows a guy" kind of things so we didn't have a lot of details. It took us 2 days to go through all the people to even find out more about the house and then get to see it. We saw it our last day in Piura. It was perfect! There is a small yard, a garden area and 4 bedrooms which is really important to us. There are even 4 bathrooms! Plus, it's on the low end of our budget. And it's ours. The landlord had one other person interested in it but in the end God worked it out so we got it. When we found out about the house I told Jose "I wonder if God had this house all along and was just waiting for us to be content wherever we go."


Whatever it was God had a plan and we are so happy to be a part of it. He is still doing a work in us and we still have a ton of learning to do. But when I think of who we were and who we are now I'm amazed at the grace of God.


As a side note if you have not read the book Radical by David Platt I highly recommend it. Especially if you are interested in missions it is a great book.

Pieces of the Puzzle ~Part 3

Part 3

The last week has been an amazing time of seeing what God has been doing behind the scenes. So full of confirmation that what we are working on is what God wants us to be doing. But first let me tell you what God did to bring us to this point. The story is long so we will be breaking it up into parts. To start at the beginning go here

For the next several years the missionary thing got put on the back burner and all but forgotten. We had babies and jobs and ministry work. Life was busy and good. Every once in a while Jose would mention to someone that we wanted to be missionaries and I would nod and smile and think it was never gonna' happen. 

In 2007 the pastor from Lima our pastors had visited 5 years before came to Powerhouse. He spoke about Peru showed pictures of the people. Something inside of me broke. I was in tears the whole time he was speaking. I realized that I had hardened my heart toward missions even though I spoke a good game I had no intention of ever doing it. That was the beginning of the end for me. I told my mentor what was in my heart and Jose and I began to talk about going to Peru in earnest. 

Suddenly the future became crystal clear and for almost a year everything fell apart in our lives. We lost material things, friends and family left our church and relationships changed, and our business failed. The enemy tried to destroy what God had called us to do. This was just another piece of the puzzle. 

At the end of 2008 we were just beginning to recover. We still had embers of our vision burning. Jose invited his dad to attend an Encounter and in the beginning of 2009 he did. Jose was his small group leader and it was an awesome time for them. After the encounter Jose's dad told him that whenever we end up going to Peru to start the work he wanted to go with us and be a part of it.

We started making plans to visit Peru as a family including Jose's dad. Jose says he knew that this would either make the desire unquenchable or put it out. One month before our trip he had a meeting with our pastor. We knew that if this was God it would be confirmed by our spiritual authority. He gave us some direction about who to contact in Lima and asked us to report back after the trip.

In August we took a 10 day trip to Lima. Jose and I fell in love with Peru and saw the great need here. We both knew we could never go back to living the "American Dream."

In Jose's follow up meeting with Pastor he said "this is it, we want to move to Peru and plant a church." Our Pastor said he knew and he had just been waiting for us to level out after the shaking we had undergone the previous year. At that time we said we will leave in one year.

We started planning out how we would get there and what we would do. We planned to sell everything except what we could carry in our suitcases.

In March of 2010 our Pastors invited us to accompany them to the Remnant conference hosted by Pastor Larry Stockstill. One of the speakers was Robert Morris. We had heard of him as the pastor of one of the most prosperous churches in America so our mindset was that he was going to talk about money and how to have a prosperous church. Instead he spoke about the heart and having a heart of sacrificial giving. He had written a book called "The Blessed Life" which was basically about being willing to give up everything for God.

Let me just pause and tell you something about how Jose and I operate. We are both givers. We love to bless other people and are known to be a little bit out there in our willingness to give. However I'm usually quite a bit more reserved than Jose. I know that anytime Jose leaves the house anything on his person is subject to being given away. I'm more likely to figure out what the needs are and go from there.

So when we were sitting in this session God told me we needed to give our stuff away. Not sell it. This does not make sense. We planned to buy our plane tickets and maybe fund ourselves a little bit with the sale of our furniture and other personal belongings. But I knew what God told me to do. So before I could push it back or ignore the thought I whispered it to Jose right there. This only served as confirmation for Jose who had been feeling the same thing for a little bit. So that was it. We were going to give everything away.

Part 4 Tomorrow

Dream On

I've been thinking a lot about dreams lately because I have some pretty enormous ones. The funny thing about dreams is that not everyone has the same ones. Some people dream of being rich and famous. Some dream of accomplishing a great athletic feat like running a marathon or becoming a professional athlete. There a millions of kinds of dreams and they are as varied as the people that have them.

I know that most people think my dreams are crazy. Who would dream of giving away everything they own, moving to a third world country, (away from most of the people they love) and living totally by faith in God? Not many at all actually. It has to be a God given dream. I can't imagine ever having dreams of being famous, a politician, an athlete...those things seem crazy to me. Necessary (I guess) but crazy. But that's not my dream. Maybe it's yours.

Living your dream, no matter what it may be takes work. Hard work. Sometimes you will feel like it's impossible. Sometimes you will doubt if that dream is really the right one for you. The thing about dreams though is, if it's worth doing it won't be easy. Athletes aren't just born good at their sport. It takes years of hard work and practice to build up the skill and strength to be good. It takes the perfect balance of skill, discipline and talent to do what they do.

Even something like being a parent can be a dream. But any parent will tell you becoming a parent was (for most people) the easy part. Raising kids requires decades of self sacrifice, discipline, and lots of hard work. Which seems to me like its the recipe for living any dream worth dreaming.

A long, long time ago, I tutored 2nd graders. In those class rooms I would always see signs that said things like "go confidently in the direction of your dreams" "if you can dream it you can do it" "DREAM BIG" "Shoot for the stars, if you miss you will still reach the moon" and tons of other little statements about dreaming. I loved it. I'm a strong believer in dreams. I'm a dreamer. But the real world is hard on dreamers. The real world says "be practical" "be normal" "how can you even think of doing something like that?" "Maybe you should rethink this" Strive for a big house, a good job, a nice car (or 3), 2.5 kids and maybe a dog. Or as my Pastor says "get all you can, can all you get, and sit on the can" People long for comfort. I'm not going to lie, one of my dreams involves an ocean view with a bay window and a good book.  Total comfort dream. But I know that God made me for greatness and that is not going to happen if my only desire is to be comfortable.

So if you wonder how I feel really. Overall about everything we are doing. This is the answer. It's hard. Really, really hard. But I am living my dream and I love it. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

What's your dream?

Remember the time we accidentally broke the law?

A few weeks ago we were driving home from the airport late at night. There was this freestanding red light in the median separating us from the opposing traffic about 25 feet from another red light at an actual intersection so Jose coasted past the first light and stopped at the second light. We both thought the first one was a part of the second one. Jose feels that we should follow traffic laws just like any other law. Even here in Peru where the rules of the road are generally treated like suggestions. Stop signs in residential areas might as well be political posters for the amount of people that even seem to notice them. So this was for sure a mistake. Now you rarely ever see police pulling people over BUT right as we stopped a police cruiser pulled up on my side and started questioning Jose about not stopping. He decided we needed to be pulled over.

At that time we were right in the middle of time of faith stretching. (money was tight) We both had heard stories of police trying to extort money from random people so we prayed quickly as we were waiting for the officer to come talk to us. At first he asked Jose to get out of the car and asked for his documentation. Jose gave him his American passport and drivers licence. Peruvians think that Americans are all wealthy. The police officer started yelling at Jose that the penalty for running a red light is s./850 which is about $300 the next time he said the amount it went up to s./870 ($310...Jose later spoke with a police officer who told him there is no traffic violation that costs that much and the actual fine for running a red light is about $60) the policia wanted us to drive to the bank and take out the money to pay them right then. They said they would not give Jose's drivers license back without the money.  Jose told him "listen we are missionaries. we live by faith. we don't have that much money anywhere. if people don't give we don't have money. that is how it works for us." The police officer went back to his car to talk to the other officer. When he came back he told Jose "look the lights on our car aren't working can you help us?" Jose responded "what do you want me to do? Do you want me to pray for your car? Or follow you to the police station so I can tell your supervisor that you need your car fixed?" the officer responded "no I want some money" Jose said "oh, ok I have 10 soles on me. ($4) you can have that" the police officer seemed disappointed but said ok. Then Jose asked if he could pray for him. The officer agreed and  Jose prayed things like "Lord I thank you that you make this man an honest man, a man of courage, integrity, and good character." at the end of the prayer the officer was acting like an old friend. He was saying things like "wow, are those your kids? and is that your lovely wife?" It was funny and kind of a relief. So many bad things could have happened that night. (and I was thinking of them while I was sitting in the car trying not to have a panic attack.) But they didn't because God is taking care of us.

The truth is we all have crazy/freaky/"God, what are we going to do?" moments. Some more than others. We may not always have the cool headed instincts that my amazing husband has. But the important thing is no matter what we go through God is not surprised by what we are going through. And as hard as it may be to see He has a plan through it all.  One of my all time favorite verses is 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast your cares on the Lord for he cares for you" but I googled it because I'm horrible at remembering where verses are found and the first verse that came up was Psalm 55:22 "Cast your cares (or burden) on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never suffer the righteous to be moved." I love that these verses say to cast your cares on the Lord. Cast means throw. I don't know about you but for me it's really hard to throw something and keep it close to me at the same time. (and I have a terrible throwing arm) So if I throw my cares or my burdens on the Lord, they are no longer mine unless I go and take them back from him. Now I'm not always the smartest person and sometimes I do try to take them back but this is me reminding myself all those burdens and cares belong to God. Anyone care to join me? Lets start a revolution of throwing our burdens to the Lord and letting him sustain us.

What do we do?

Sometimes when I read missionary blogs I think. "so what do they do that makes them a missionary other than live in another country" I'm pretty sure other people think that about us. And while we will have a very different focus once we move north I wanted to share this list Jose made of his weekly, bi-weekly and monthly activities. So you can get a taste of our missionary life

With the men

Make video for intense in Spanish to show to la casa del padre
Signing men up for intense
Plan weekly man church Peru service
Plan weekly teachings and schedules for men's network and continue to recruit men


Keep track of books and curriculum to distribute to men
Meet with men's cell leaders weekly to strategize to bring men to next level
Keep track of progress of men ready to be commissioned in September
Plan monthly men's breakfast
Plan year schedule for conferences, retreats and events for the men


Personal growth in Spanish
Attend class on Tuesday and Friday all morning for the focus on the family courses in Spanish
This semester it is Christian counseling, the blessing of the father,
preparation for marriage, potential principle


Oversee the worship team
We meet every other week spiritual cover the team
Oversee the group weekly to be accountable to practices and songs and next level in training another team
Sunday morning make sure team is on stage and ready


Armor bearers
Weekly coordinate with victor who helps me on Sunday for armor bearers
Help train and recruit and use the men who are not serving as lead to help with ushers.
Make sure we have order of service and any final changes clear


Transportation and sound
Every week we coordinate to transport the church to the convention center
for the services.


Arrive early Sunday with team pick up all items and load on trucks and
transport and repeat after service


Continue to recruit and train men to recruit so we have 3 transport teams
before we leave in September
Also make sure all sound is coordinated for the various activities at the church every week


Weekly stay with the boys on Monday and Wednesday and Saturday to help
Kathryn do school with them and spend time with them, use those days to
extensively read, study, pray and take the kids to the park or out so they
can play


Meetings
Conference call with pastor on Wednesdays
Upper Elder meeting with pastor Guillermo on Thursday morning


These happen either weekly or every two weeks
Cell meetings with worship team
Cell meeting with men's leaders
Cell meeting transportation team
Cell meeting with armor bearers
Mentor my wife weekly and date night
Mentor victor weekly
Spend at least one good hour talking to my dad weekly over lunch or project


Once a month we help a single mom with her poor house in the mountains.
We have been helping her rewire her house, help make it secure, fix and
install some fans, buy toys for her, bring her food and
supplies. She takes care of 8 children in a poor part of town and it's our
family outreach while we are in Lima.

He's a busy guy isn't he?
My list is much shorter.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday I work on School with the boys
Those days I also try to do Spanish lessons and clean my house
Wednesday I attend "women who pray" the women's bible study La Casa Del Padre does
Monday nights Jose and I have date night - a word on this. We are blessed to have Victor and Jose's dad here to help us by watching the boys when we need a babysitter. Without them we would never get to go out. We learned a couple years ago that as hard as we run in ministry we need that weekly date to reconnect. It has been a great thing in our lives and I can't say enough good things about it.
Every other week I help a lady from church with her english. When we get back from the states I am hoping to start english classes once a week

So now you know what we do here.

Language Studies

About 5 1/2 years ago Jose and I really started talking about our desire to spread the gospel in another country. He felt called to Peru because he knew first hand the need there. I had personal reasons for not really thinking Peru was the right fit. (God eventually changed my heart obviously) Jose said I want to move there in 5 years. I thought "yeah ok, that sounds good" because the way things looked 5 years was really far away and yet I thought we would still be living in Texas preparing to go "someday".

2 years ago the call to Peru became more urgent for both of us. We planned our trip to visit and decide if this was really God or as Jose says "bad chinese food" (causing hallucinations) I started using a computer program we had that was supposed to teach Spanish. I learned the colors I didn't know and maybe a few fruit names. Aside from that it was not the most helpful software. We visited Peru for almost 2 weeks in September (2009) 5 years of marriage to Jose with his spanish speaking family helped some. I was able to understand quite a bit of what was said to me. So I got a little bit cocky. I thought "Spanish will be easy for me to learn". Jose's dad got me the Rosetta Stone program and I started using it some. I admit between the cockiness and the feeling that all I was learning on the program was what to call a man, woman, boy and girl I didn't stick to it well.

6 months ago we moved to Peru. I found out that non stop spanish wherever I go is hard to follow. Also I get a headache when I'm inundated with it. I think from all the translating in my head. I have started trying to do Rosetta stone more often. I do great and usually get 100% on my tests at the end of each lesson. Of course I'm still just learning observations. For instance I can tell you "Ellos Cocinan" (they or the men are cooking) or "Ellas Cocinan" (the women are cooking) Go me! But then I get into a situation where I'm trying to talk to someone they ask me how I'm doing to which I respond "bien" then they ask how my children are doing and again I respond "bien". Most people smile and move on but then there is the occasional person who believes their job is to force me to speak nothing but spanish pronounced correctly and in detail. That person would respond "bien, bien, bien. Nothing but bien!?! DAH!" To which I would love to respond "If you asked me those questions in english my response would have been "good" not "bien" so I don't really see what I'm doing wrong here. That is not exactly a get deep into conversation question to ask. Unless of course I were an oversharer. Then instead of "Bien" I could have responded. "Bueno, Timoteo tiene esta erupción extraña en el trasero y yo creo que es de nuestro detergente para la ropa, pero realmente no puedo entender por qué sería sólo en su parte inferior" (Which means -Well, Timothy has this weird rash on his behind and I think it's from our laundry detergent but I really can't figure out why it would only be on his bottom.) But the problem is it would take me a good hour to figure out exactly how to say that unless I had my translating program on me and then I would say pretty much exactly what I typed above even though it's most likely slightly off or incorrect.
But instead of all that I usually just try to avoid people like that and speak the little spanish I'm comfortable with so far. I know for fact that I attach the wrong genders to items and I pretty much hate the fact that in spanish everything has a gender.

On the other hand there are the people who get excited when I speak spanish to them. That is a little embarrassing really. I feel kind of like a dog doing a trick with them. They are all "oh look she's doing a trick isn't that cute?" When what I really want is to not draw attention to myself anymore than I already do. 

After all I look like this... 

 

                                                         

                                                                           Notice the pasty white-ness



In a sea of this

 

So it's really not hard for me to stand out. 

Important things I've learned from being a mother of boys

Some days I walk around my house thinking I do nothing but break up fights, talk children down from their current crises, pick up laundry, wash laundry, fold laundry, put laundry away, wipe up messes, wipe off noses, fix broken things, sweep...the list could go on and on and probably put you to sleep. So let me just say that I feel like mom/housewife duties take up so much of my time and energy that when it comes time for me to blog my brain feels like mush. But today as I was wiping off the toilet seat in my own bathroom I thought "there are some things I have learned about life since I had my boys" so *lucky you* I'm going to share them here
* a little boy not putting the toilet seat down after he pees is better than him not lifting it in the first place (see my paragraph above for the reason...yes, gross)
* sometimes boys have to check to make sure they still have...the thing that makes them a boy if~you~know~what~I~mean even if they just checked 5 minutes ago
* kids can have the exact same toy and still fight about them. "he is looking at my toy" is a very valid reason to be upset when you are 5
* children wait for the exact most embarrassing moment to say inappropriate things
* the favorite "hugger" will become invisible and disappear at bed time, mommy will be the only one who can find it
* as a parent sometimes all you want is a little peace and quiet but when you get it you will be worried because your kids are *never* that quiet unless they are doing something wrong
* if a child is inconsolable and/or getting upset a lot over nothing they need sleep no matter how old they are or how long they have not been taking naps
* girls are not the only ones with high pitched screams
* as a parent you will do, say and think things you would have never dreamed of doing, saying or thinking before you had children
* no matter how often you wash your kids hands they will get dirty again (I know what charles shultz was thinking of when he created "pigpen")
* there is no rhyme or reason to what makes something a favorite for a child. They can become attached to the strangest things for the strangest reasons and you just have to work with it.
* kids can cause you to feel every emotion there is in a single day
* pretty much nothing compares to the feeling of your little boy climbing in your lap or giving you a hug
* every one says that being a parent is worth it in spite of all the stuff kids put you through and it is, but it's hard to really understand what that means until you are there

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

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!

Friends and Girlfriends!

It's been 3 weeks since we moved out of our house and started staying with friends. In those three weeks we have not had a single night in. SO fun! I've spent so much time with friends these past few weeks that in a way it makes leaving a little harder. I'm still excited to go and I have never doubted this call on our lives. I will however miss these sweet people I do life with. I have also seen how much our friends love us. It takes a good friend to let a whole family invade your house for weeks at a time.
My friends have changed their plans so they could spend time with me, babysit at the last minute for me and have just generally been awesome. And that's just in the last month or so.
Thank you to all my friends! You guys are awesome! I love you

I'm sure I will continue to gush about my awesome friends over the next few weeks especially in August when I visit my 2 childhood bff's Jami and Lydia (It's gonna' be like Christmas for me :)

In other news I will be returning to Houston October 8th & 9th "This Is The Real Me" A women's conference at Jordan Ranch. They will be featuring our ministry and I am super excited about it. Kari Jobe will be there and Sheila Gerald and Pastor Rose Watkins will be speaking. It will be amazing! If you want to go you can register Here for more information go here
It doesn't get much better than that. Girls night (can we say slumber party?) Awesome ministry and radiant worship. And did I mention I will be there? Come hang out with me!

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)