Before Christmas I made a paper chain for the boys to count down the days until Christmas. Logan thought it was the single greatest idea he had ever heard. He loved it. Since then he has been looking for a reason to make another one. Last week he found one. We will be returning to Houston on February 23rd.
Our church is amazing and when we told them we wanted to take a break and spend a couple months at home they told us they would pray we could work it out and they started doing fundraisers of all kinds to help us make that happen. They blessed us with tickets and we are looking forward to going home for about 7 weeks. We will be visiting some covenant churches and look forward to meeting some new people and telling them what we are doing.
Thank you for those of you who prayed/gave/fund raised or all of the above.
Houston, we are coming home!
The story of two crazy people with one amazing God
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
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
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
Friday, January 28, 2011
Getting in touch with my inner gypsy
Growing up we moved a lot. Actually, that could qualify as the understatement of the year. We moved so much that people joked they wrote our address in pencil in their address books. (Which I think they were serious about so I guess that doesn't really qualify as a joke...) Anyway, we moved across town and cross country. I never really knew where to tell people I was from so I would answer "I was born in Amarillo, TX" and let the rest just kind of go unspoken. Sometimes people would ask why we moved so much and I thought it was fun to tell them we were in the witness protection program. The real reason is that my parents are gypsies, as in travellers. They like to move around try on new houses and new cities. Which if you think about it, is the perfect childhood for a missionary.
Which brings me to today. We are moving. When we got to Peru we were under the impression that the apartments available were really expensive. While we got a great deal on the place we've been living we have discovered there are less expensive places close to where we live. Since we are living on a tight budget and want to be good stewards we have decided to move. Please pray for us this weekend that all the loose ends get tied up quickly and nobody gets hurt in the process of moving from a 2nd floor apartment to a 3rd floor apartment. (thankfully there is no furniture to move) We will live there until our next gypsy dance takes us up to Piura
In other gypsy news it's looking more and more like we will be able to go to America next month. I found an amazing deal on tickets. Some friends are having a fund raiser for us and a few others have made direct donations! If you could see my face it looks kind of like this :^D God is good and I'm excited
And now I will leave you with a few pictures of my boys that I finally took off the camera. I took these when my Grandma was here
Which brings me to today. We are moving. When we got to Peru we were under the impression that the apartments available were really expensive. While we got a great deal on the place we've been living we have discovered there are less expensive places close to where we live. Since we are living on a tight budget and want to be good stewards we have decided to move. Please pray for us this weekend that all the loose ends get tied up quickly and nobody gets hurt in the process of moving from a 2nd floor apartment to a 3rd floor apartment. (thankfully there is no furniture to move) We will live there until our next gypsy dance takes us up to Piura
In other gypsy news it's looking more and more like we will be able to go to America next month. I found an amazing deal on tickets. Some friends are having a fund raiser for us and a few others have made direct donations! If you could see my face it looks kind of like this :^D God is good and I'm excited
And now I will leave you with a few pictures of my boys that I finally took off the camera. I took these when my Grandma was here
Timothy with his monkey
When there is a fountain nearby a boy must touch it
Or run in it
The giraffe posed for us too
Timothy was the one who was asking to see the girraffe's and he wouldn't pose for the picture
But he posed for this one
look in the lenses you can see victor, me and my grandma
Thursday, January 27, 2011
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.
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.
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