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

Share some love

I've been thinking a lot about friends lately. When you aren't in a position to just call a girlfriend up and grab a coffee (or whatever it is you normally do) it makes you realize how much you miss those people. 

I have some friends I grew up with. Some I met as an adult. Some I've never met in person but feel like I have because we've known each other so long and talked almost every day online. Some friends I've spent a lot of time with and other friends I haven't spent much time with them at all. But I know that most of the people I call friends would be there for me the moment I need them. For that I am grateful and blessed. 

I know this is a random blog and it's uncharacteristically short for me. But as I was thinking of my friends I thought. I need to share some love. So I'm putting it out there as a challenge to all of you. I think everyone has at least one person they know who deserves a shout out, a hug, a text saying "you are the best!" or some other show of love and affirmation. So do it! Tell someone you love them. We all need a little love every once in awhile. :) 

All you need is love

Have you ever been on a roller coaster, gotten to like the crest right before the big drop and you really want to get off but theres no way off? So the only thing you can do is just ride it out and wait until the end even if that means putting your head down and trying to ignore the jerky motions the whole time... That feeling kind of describes what I'm feeling right now. 

In the world, especially the U.S. there are so many situations right now that are "hot button" or controversial and "Christians" are taking both sides of the issues. But love has lost its voice. I'm not saying that we should stop talking, not at all. But there are times where we should listen to Paul's advice to Timothy.

^" Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants."

2 Timothy 2:23-26

Maybe it's just me, But when someone starts yelling at me or saying awful things in an angry way I either walk away, curl up in a ball or block them out (mentally or literally) But if someone I disagree with presents their thoughts in a kind, "I still love you if you choose not to agree with me" way I'm way more likely to consider their point of view. 

It's easy to search scripture and find verses about loving each other. But this is probably the best one to me. 

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first. 1 John 4:7-19

I'm so tired of hearing about people who walked away from Christ because of the Christians. Truthfully I almost was one of those people. What do we gain by being hateful? I'm a southern girl so I'm going to play that card and use a good old southern idiom here. You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. So why are we throwing vinegar everywhere? Life is hard and we were meant to build each other up. Not tear each other down. 

So I'm offering you a challenge. Show love. Next time someone posts something on Facebook that makes you angry, do what your mama taught you. If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all. Next time you see someone walking down the street that you believe is living life the wrong way give them a hug and tell them Jesus loves them (or if you can't do that just smile) We might now change the world or our city or even everyone we know doing this. But what if we did? What if you could "be the change you want to see in the world" 

What if all we need is love?  

9 years!

Nine years ago today I married this guy. 

Since then life has been crazy, hectic, happy, sad, adventurous and beautiful.

Being married to him has taught me so much about love. 

Saying "I love you" is wonderful, but acting out "I love you" is 100 times better.

Love is a verb. It's taking care of the kids when I'm not feeling well. Or choosing to see the romantic comedy because the movie we watch is not what matters its who he's watching the movie with that matters. 

Love can be seen in the easy times but when life gets hard love makes it easier to walk through.

Love is full of surprises.

Love is fun but sometimes it's hard.

Dr Cole says that Marriage can be the closest thing to heaven or hell in this life. 

I got heaven 

Jose you are

the pickles to my ice cream

the milky to my way

the peanut butter to my jelly

the cheese to my macaroni

the flip to my flop

the blue to my sky

the cherry to my sundae

the han solo to my princess leia

my best friend 

and the love of my life

I love you

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 

To Timothy

6 years ago today I went to my drs appointment not expecting to meet you for another 4 weeks. 

Little did I know you would be born about 2 hours later. 

Ever since then life has been an adventure and full of surprises.

You and I have a very special connection. 

I'm fairly certain it's because of all the hours I've spent praying about you. 

You have always danced to the beat of your own soundtrack and you often sing it to us.

Nobody else knows the words but that's ok, it's your song.

You are great at cheering me up and getting me to laugh when you are in trouble.

You love spending time with your family.

I love it that no matter what we are doing you want to be in the room with us.

You are just like your daddy. 

I love this picture because it shows how much you look alike. 

Sometimes you give me a glimpse of what he was like when he was your age.

I know that you will follow in his footsteps and be a great man one day. 

Timothy means Servant of God and Joseah means Fire of God.

You are already so full of faith that whenever you want something you pray for it until it happens.

You never doubt that God will do what you ask him to.

This year we lost your baby brother Caleb. 

You were really looking forward to having him here.

When we talked about it you asked if they have a bed for him in heaven.

You are so sweet and straightforward about everything. 

I love that you aren't shy about talking about Caleb. 

Logan is your best friend. You love him so much.
I love watching you follow him around and trying to be like him. Most of the time you guys go together like peanut butter and jelly. Other times...not so much. But I know you will always be there for each other.








One of your favorite things in the world right now
is movie credits. When we watch a movie you
always want to watch until the music is over and
the screen goes black on it's own. This is just one
of the ways you are uniquely you. Daddy and I
joke that one day you will be the guy who designs
movie credits. You already play at it with your
Jengas.
Some other things you really love are
Snoopy and Charlie Brown.
Happy Monsters
Pirates &
Chocolate.

Happy Birthday Timothy

You brighten up our lives in ways you can't imagine.

We love you!

Mommy & Daddy

To the boy who made me a mom

7 years ago today you came into my life and changed my world.

I suddenly knew exactly what Jesus meant when he said our love for him should make our love for everything else seem like hatred in comparison. 

sophisticated baby loved sushi from a young age

You are one of the kindest, most generous people I know. 

You make me laugh all the time.

You really think about stuff. Way more than I ever expect you to.

You take care of your brother. You serve in our house without being asked.

You show us love every day in a thousand ways. 

This year so much has happened in your life. I want to always remember that this is the year...

You lost your first and second tooth. You were baptized. 

You discovered that super heroes are awesome. Also Wolverine is the best because his normal name is Logan. You discovered that you are super awesome at math. So awesome in fact that you do extra math so you can finish your book early. You love reading. Especially the Proverbs.

I hope you know how much I love you. How special you are to me and how proud I am of you. 

You are awesome!

Happy Birthday 

Healing Rain

I love rain...
When I was 14 I heard a girl speaking about falling in love with the Lord. She was talking about the desire girls have to feel loved and looking for that love to come from God instead of boys. She mentioned that one thing she loved was purple flowers and God would often give her purple flowers. She told us to have a special thing that could only come from God. Mine was rain. There is just a peacefulness about it that can't be matched. I held onto it for a little while and then I just sort of forgot about it. I still loved the rain but I forgot about my special attachment to it.

We live in a desert area. There is usually a rainy season but we are told it hadn't rained here for the last couple years. That is until February 1st. It rained here the day that Caleb was born. I was in my hospital room trying not to worry and just pray for my baby when I heard the sweet sound of rain drops on the roof and window. The next night as I was trying to sleep after my son went to be with the Lord it happened again. And the next night and the next and the next. For 4 weeks it rained every single night. Even if just a little it still happened. Theres not a great irrigation system here so the streets flooded. The once dry riverbed near our house filled and anything left on the clothesline to dry overnight needed to be rewashed. It was beautiful. Evenings were the hardest for me at the beginning and that is when it always rained.

After about 3 weeks Jose and I were going somewhere and trying to navigate around flooded streets and it was lightly sprinkling and I thought "mmm, I know it's making things difficult but I love this rain" Then it hit me, I remembered the thing about love letters from God and I just broke down. He was there. He knew what I was going through and what I needed most at that time. A reminder of His love for me. God is always there you just have to pay attention.

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....

Fog heart

This morning as we stepped out of the house to begin the days adventure Logan said "wow, it sure it is foggy" as we were driving his mind was stuck on it and as we were getting close to our destination he said "hey, I just realized something. My heart used to be foggy like this and then Jesus swept all the fog away so that now I can see with my heart!"

He is only five years old but he put it in such a sweet way it stuck in my head and I started thinking about how we do allow things to cloud our vision. We start to see people through the mistakes they made. We see ourselves through our own intentions instead of our actions. We see God through the cloudiness of what we think he should do. A lot of us even Christians allow that fog to seep back in and keep us from seeing things that are right in front of us.

Sometimes I get frustrated with other people. I wish that I could make them love God. I wish I could make them stop doing drugs, drinking, cutting themselves or any number of other self destructive things. I wish I could change the world just by telling people how. It seems simple enough. Most people want the world to change but we all get hung up on our fog. We want to save all our friends but not so much our enemies. We like being wronged because it gives us something to be indignant about.

I was thinking about the verse below that is underlined. I couldn't remember where it was found but when I found the chapter I loved how it fit. One of the biggest keys to "removing the fog" is to live by this chapter


If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.
 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13

and before you go thinking your good because you treat all your friends and family like ^that says to remember this

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. ⁴⁴ But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
Matthew 5:33-34

Over commercialized?

I don't know that any men read this blog but this has been on my heart and I wanted to say something for the women I love. If you are a man and you read this understand that doing what I'm suggesting will only encourage your wife. (and probably get you some) so seriously, what do you have to lose?

A few women I know were talking about Valentines day. One of them mentioned that her husband hates valentines day and the best gift she could give him would be to cancel the day (I am totally paraphrasing here) Some of the other women agreed and still others starting talking about how horrible that attitude is. To the best of my knowledge every woman involved wanted to celebrate the holiday. This whole conversation got me thinking. I've heard a lot of men complain about the "pressure" and "commercialization of V-day" but I don't think those guys really think about what their complaints say to the woman in their lives.

The average married woman with children gets officially celebrated about 4 times a year. V-day, mothers day, birthday and anniversary. Yes, there are other holidays that are celebrations and some of those include gifts but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about days where people tell this woman how happy they are that she is around. (in more than one way) Again, I'm talking about the average woman so I am generalizing; but most women spend their whole life taking care of other people, making other people feel important, giving up things she wants/needs for the greater good of her family.

When a man says he hates valentines day no matter how rational a woman tries to be there is a message that comes across to us that goes a little like this. "I don't find you important enough to plan ahead a little. Set aside some money for a gift and a date, make a reservation at a restaurant and take you out." I have heard women say their husbands are just so stressed or money is just so tight or restaurants are just so busy and he hates all that. And as women we all know that if you have no money. none. then you can write a really heart felt letter. If you are bad with words then a woman who loves you will love reading something from you because we know it took a huge effort. If you don't like going to restaurants that are busy, order in and set up something nice at the house.

Here are a few ideas for those of you that are out of practice
~ Take her to dinner and dancing or turn your living room/bedroom into a bistro. Make your bed the table and clean up so that you can dance after dinner and you never even have to leave your room
~ Do research! Find out if there is a restaurant she has always wanted to try or a type of cuisine she loves and you never eat. Find a great place and MAKE RESERVATIONS!
~ Recreate your first date.
~ Buy her flowers. Ask her way ahead of time (like today) what kind of flowers she likes. Not every girl likes roses. (WARNING: if you aren't going to buy flowers don't ask this question right now. It will only set her up for disappointment)
~ If she likes old movies see if there is a revival theater in your area like landmark theatre in river oaks (Houston) they may or may not be showing something old and romantic. If not rent one of those black and white classics she loves and watch it with her. Worst case scenario your bored and she's happy...who knows she might watch sports with you sometime because of this
~ Most theaters show some kind of rom com or girl friendly movie. Let her pick

Girls if you have any other ideas leave them in the comments section! Help the men out

And another thing ladies. If Valentines day is not the perfect fairy tale you envisioned BUT you know your man tried say thank you. Also do your part. Don't make valentines day be all his job. If you want to make something amazing at home let him know you got that part and the rest is up to him. Make valentines day a mutual thing.

I will leave with this. There is a song that is a little old and might seem dated but the overall message is a good reminder for you boys. Read this and think of your wife

She may be weary

Women do get weary

Wearing the same old dress

And when she's weary

Try a little tenderness

She may be waiting

Just anticipating

Things she may never possess

And while she's without them

Try a little tenderness

It's not just sentimental

She has her grief

And her cares

But a word

Soft and gentle

Makes it easier to bear

So much easier to bear

You won't regret it

Women don't forget it

Love is her whole

her whole happiness

And it's all so easy

Just to try a little tenderness

You've gotta try

You've gotta hold 'er

You've got ta squeeze her

You have to try

You've got ta try

And always please her

You won't regret it

You won't regret it

Oh

Try a little tender-ness

The Loving House

You may have noticed I have made some changes to the blog. Feel free to explore ;) I have added some new information. I have to say I'm feeling pretty proud of myself figuring out how to do all this technology stuff (lol) I'm especially proud of my tabs ^up there^ yay for organizing!

I've been thinking a lot about child rearing lately. I was at a playground the other day and overheard a grandma (I think) tell her grand daughter "you are not more special than anyone else" because she had fallen from a very high place and wouldn't stop crying. I didn't witness the fall but I saw where she was sitting before she fell. (about 7 feet up) Now I am not a confrontational person and I'm not one to undermine a person's authority in front of their charge but it took everything in me not to go give that lady a piece of my mind. Really the only things that kept me sitting down were my charges talking to me. Another lady who happened to see the fall then walked up and told the woman she should take the child to a Dr because the fall was quite far. I didn't listen anymore because I already was feeling bad for eavesdropping. ::embarrassed::

My problem with that situation was this child was hurt, obviously hurt and instead of nurturing this woman chose to belittle her. I know there is a fine line to walk to keep children balanced and not have a princess complex but seriously. I hope my children think they are the most special people in the world because they are to me. I have seen so many grown people make horrible mistakes because they are not sure if they have any value. And yes some of them were very spoiled as children. So where is the line? To me possessions should not be made too important (and gifts are very strongly my love language) Children should be encouraged, loved, protected. Home should be a safe place where you always know that even when you make mistakes you are still accepted. There should always be consequences for bad decisions so the child doesn't think they are always going to be bailed out but the consequence should never be a removal of love. My kids are 4 and 5 so I'm no expert but I pray every day that this will be how I raise my children. I hope my house is what they think of always as "The Loving House"

How do you think you raise a kid that is not spoiled but doesn't have to spend their life in therapy?

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!

Stream of Consciousness...

Most little girls play cinderella or sleeping beauty. Not me, I played Wendy from Peter Pan. I loved pretending to be a mother taking care of my "lost boys." I should have known God would give me little boys. It's hard to recapture the fun of being a make-believe mother living in a forest when you are wiping noses and bottoms, making lunch and taking care of bloody noses. When you live in the forest it doesn't matter if you have dirt on the floor. The floor is dirt. (consequently my floor might as well be dirt right now. I sweep and before I can even "swiffer wet jet" my floor it's dirty again.)

Sometimes I look at my day to day life and think "wow, how much longer is this going to last?" I have a hard time just living in right now. When I start to see a dream coming true I want to run up to it and wrap my arms around it. I don't like the waiting part. Which you would think I would be used to. A couple years ago when we would talk about moving to Peru I would get kind of nervous. The nervousness that comes from not knowing what your getting yourself into or what it will be like. I still don't know what it will be like. And I'm sure I don't know what I'm getting myself into. But I'm deliriously happy to be going now. When we arrived in Peru last September I was less than dazzled by the airport and exhausted from the trip so I can't remember exactly what my first thoughts there were. I do remember the first day there. I fell in love. The way I hear people describing their feelings for Italy or Paris. That is how I felt there. All I could think was "I get to live HERE!?" So now I'm counting down the weeks and days until I get to go back. Only this time we actually get to do something! We get to minister the love of Jesus to a nation of hurting and dying people.

When Jose initially spoke to the pastor we will be working with the first year he told him our heart is for Piura. He said we were the third couple that mentioned Piura to him and nothing has happened. No one has followed through. Can you imagine what God must have in store for that part of the country? I am giddy just thinking about it.

(aren't we cute...especially him!)

Jose and I were both in wedding's last week. Mine was Sunday (and I have NO pictures) :( His was Saturday. Both had brides named Melissa. (odd) They were both beautiful and I am so happy for both of them. I've been able to see both of them grow up in their relationships with God and I've been able to watch both of their relationships (with their husbands) blossom. I love you girls! I pray for both of you and we take our roles as your sister and brother in Christ very seriously! Congratulations Mrs. Greenwade and Mrs. Echevarria!