Migraine Update

Woke up with a doozy of one this morning! Still went to school and tried to make it through the day!

I can't thank you all enough for your encouragement and concern during this very difficult time with my head. It's so strange that it came out of nowhere. Anyway, I appreciate the prayers and advice VERY much. I am changing my diet, resting, etc....
Saw the dr. today and he did a cat-scan. Good news is no tumors, aneurysms (spelling), etc.... Bad news - STRESS! Not sure how to manage it in this kind of environment. He said he believes I am having 1 LONG migraine that has yet to cease. He put me on a load of medications that will surely either jack me up or make me comatose. Kind of hard to learn a language, be a wife and run a household on all these meds, but I guess it's even harder to do life when my head is being plowed by a semi-truck on a daily basis. The doctor said to see how the meds work and if they don't bring things "under control" he will send me to a specialist to get a 2nd opinion on my cat-scan and to see what is best for these migraines. I'm going to try to stop trying to stay awake through them and I am going to just push my responsibilities aside when I need to. This is a major task for me, but I know that I can and should do it. Thanks for your prayers and friendship! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Some family prayer requests:

1. John wrote: Also, I just found out last that my father is having emergency surgery on his hip. Long story short, two months ago, he fell. He went to the doctor, who gave him steroid injections for two months. Pain didn't go away. Went to another doctor who x-rayed his hip. Found that he has been walking around on a broken hip for two months. He's been using a crane or walker. Thing is, my father is 75, diabetic and of poor health. My family is very concerned, because hip surgeries have the highest post-surgery mortality rates because of infection. So for all who prayed for our friend's son's heart surgery and recovery that went PERFECT, and for all who didn't too, please pray. He had the surgery today and is recovering. - John

2. John's sister is going to have neuroligical neck surgery next week on some disks. I don't know all the details but please pray for her. She has an 8 year old son and has been VERY sick almost all year. Her sisters are flying from the west-coast to come take care of her for a few weeks. :)

3. My step-father is having immigration issues. He has been having to go to court and it looks like he might possibly be deported back to England. He has been married to my mom for 5 years, but does not have a VISA or Green Card or passport. OUCH! They are obviously a bit upset and worried. My mom doesn't have a passport either and right now the wait is about a year to get one. They don't have much money to work on getting him legalized.

Migraine...yet again!

John wrote:

Not much to write except PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE Pray. Okay...now we're begging. Jessica has yet another migrane. It came on out of nowhere. We had some friends over for dinner, all was fine, but then after they left. Whammo!!! She's on migraine number 6 in 11 days. She really needs relief and understanding. This is the worst one yet. She will see the doctor on Thursday (didn't see him today). Please pray!

Migraines, verbs, Avery, snowcones and ox-carts!

Thank you all for your prayers for my migraines. If you could continue to pray that would be wonderful. I had another one Saturday night, but was migraine free yesterday and today. However, I felt that my body was trying very hard to bring another one on today, but I decided I wouldn't accept it AND I took an excedrin migraine. I am going to see the doctor again tomorrow b/c I feel that 4 migraines in 8 days is a bit excessive for a person who doesn't suffer from them.

In other news. Have you ever wondered how we remember so many vocabulary words? I'm sure this keeps you up at night. Here are a few ways I remember tricky things:

Alfombra (rug) - because ALF (the tv character) was very furry....just like a rug.

Colgar (to hang) - I'm going to hang my colgate toothbrush on the rack! :) Get it!

Cobrar (to charge) - A cobra charges. So when I want to use the word...I just think of a Cobra!

Aspero (rough) - because asp reminds me of Aspen, Colorado. And the people who go there DO NOT have it rough!

Espeso (thick/dense) - because it sounds kind of like espresso.....And I think of a thick, sloshy espresso and then I am reminded of Espeso! :)

And there you have it! Now you know my tricks!

I had to make this slideshow to show you the MANY faces of Avery! Too cute! Never the same face twice. She is quite the ham.

This slideshow is from the cultural parade we went to on Sunday. It was called the ox-cart parade in downtown San Jose. We had a blast. Take a look at the snowcones. They were made of ice, strawberry syrup, powdered milk (YUK), and condensed milk (double yuk). All I have to say is: DELICIOUS! Who would've thought? Enjoy the culture through our pictures.

Prayer Request

We are needing prayer! I (Jessica) have probably had 3 migraines in my ENTIRE life - usually after having babies from hormonal changes. John has, unfortunately, been stricken with migraines throughout his life and our marriage. SO, it comes as a complete shock to us that I have had three debilitating migraines in less than seven days (Saturday, Wednesday and Friday). They start with a strange aura in the eyes and then lead to a mind-numbing head pain, accompanied with nauseousness. They are virually impossible to stay awake through and they last anywhere from 2 -10 hours. I just have to quarantine myself in a dark, quiet room until it's over....although that wasn't possible today. John is the same way.

Anyway, I saw the doctor this week and he said he thinks it is the same headache virus that was going around last month. He said he saw 3 other patients with migraines this week - people who don't normally get them. Who knows?!? It is impossible to take care of our family and learn Spanish when this is hitting me on a regular basis. Plus, it takes a few days to return to a "normal" feeling. Anyway, if you could please, please, please pray this will stop I would appreciate it very much. John hasn't had one in many weeks, but you could also pray his will not return. I am seriously starting to wonder if these are from environmental changes (high altitude, pollution, strange food, STRESS, etc...) because these are VERY uncharacteristic for me. And.....John's migraines have increased in frequency since we arrived.

Thank you for your prayers. I am positive that after you pray, I will come back with a drastically improved report. :)

You like???

Welcome to my new and improved blog! She's a beauty, eh? I have my sweet friend from Florida...ugh, I mean TEXAS, to thank for the new look. Heather spent a lot of time creating this trendy, contemporary look for me. What a great Christmas gift. I couldn't have afforded a professional makeover, but it sure looks like I had one.

THANK YOU HEATHER! I love my bloggity makeover and I LOVE YOU!

If you are interested in updating your look, you can drop Heather a line for a free quote. She will charge a fraction of what the professionals charge. She is hmjaggie@yahoo.com. WHOOP!

Let us know what you think!

Feliz dia de accion de gracias (Happy Thanksgiving)

Welcome to our first Thanksgiving "solo." The day started out rough with lots of tears from Parker (sincerely missing Florida, friends and Papa Dean), but ended with fun, crafts and a great feast! John and I think this might be one of our favorite Thanksgivings yet - despite the 4 hours we spent in school and the 1o pages of homework my teacher assigned. Anyway, our day in pictures:

Making a craft in celebration of Thanksgiving. Check out Avery's Face! Hillariously adorable.

Ally is getting ready to start her Thanksgiving craft. She is all smiles!

Enjoying desert and our expensive pumpkin pie! But worth every penny....I mean, dollar!


Showing off our Turkey pride! Please don't get the impression that we're crafty, cause it just ain't so!

4 Little Turkeys of THANKS! Each turkey says what we are thankful for!

Getting ready to "chow" down!

Our Feast "before." It doesn't look like much, but it was and we were so proud of our abundant harvest. Thanks Lord!

The top 5 things our family is Thankful for this year(taken by poll during dinner):

1. Jesus

2. Our house

3. Each other

4. Each other

5. Each Other

We are thankful for our friends and family, too. But it was a resounding "each other" as we shared our thanks.

Good Eats

There are lots of foods to choose from in this lovely country. But the most readily available, at least in our house are....ANTS! Here are a few of our favorite dishes:

Peanut butter and ant sandwiches.

Granola bars sauteed in ants.

Pineapple and ant salad.

Coffee and creme and ants.

And our favorite, Bananas a la ants.

You can't say we aren't getting our protein! At first we tried to rid ourselves of these pesky critters, but now we just enjoy them - in every last bite.
Besides, food is expensive here and we like variety.

As our grandma always taught us....If you can't beat em....eat em....ugh, I mean join em.

Rapid Update

I've got 5 minutes for ya.....

Parker is healed. Praise God! No more pneumonia and he is back to normal. Thank you for your prayers.

We had a weekend visitor from Georgia. My friend, Jeanne, from InterVarsity came to spend 3 nights and 3 days with us. She discipled me while I was in college and was pivitol in my growth with Christ. We had a sweet visit and it was fabulous to share our lives with her.

John is continuing to soar in his Spanish language learning. He is involved in a start-up ministry here in town and is really enjoying it. He is also friendship building with a local taxi driver (they are teaching each other Spanish and English, as well). The taxi driver is is going to come to a Bible study. Please pray for this opportunity! His name is Melvin!

Also, a lady at our church asked me if we can meet 2 times a week to just talk Spanish. This is a huge answer to prayer since I am not in physical therapy anymore and need to practice, practice, practice - talking. We had our first meeting today and it was very nice. I am so thankful to God for taking care of every little detail and need.

On another note, I totally neglected Spanish during Spritual Emphasis week. Last week we had a test and I got the score back today. I thought it might be bad since my focus had not been on school. But once again, God showed His faithfulness to me and I received my highest grade yet on the hardest material yet! I just praise the Lord.

Thank you for reading and for your partnership with us. God is teaching us many things everyday and we are honored to be able to learn this language to share Christ!

Martha Stewart - eat your heart out!

You know you're a missionary when:

You make all your Christmas tree decorations by hand using only construction paper, glue and glitter! Martha Stewart would be very proud - and envious!

P.S. I didn't have time to rearrange the pictures. Sorry about that! The lady in the pictures with us is our sweet empleada, Louisa.

Track your eating

Don't know how many calories your consuming? Want to eat the entire food pyramid EVERY day? Want your skinny jeans to fit again? Do I have the website for you.....

www.mypyramid.gov

LOVE IT!!!!! I'm addicted. I can tell you every calorie I've consumed since Friday...including how many grams of fiber, protein and carbs. Definitely need to add more milk and veggie to my daily consumption.

Check out this gem! Let me know if you start doing this, too. I would love to know.

Jaxson Dean turns 4!

On Saturday, our biggest goofster, Jaxson Dean turned 4. We had a joint birthday party with another family at our school whose little boy, Sammy, turns 4 this week as well. We invited 2 other families from school whose little guys are also in Jaxson's class. It was a boy's only party because that's what Jaxson has wanted for awhile now. Anyway, we kept it small and simple, but we had a BLAST! The girls you see in the pictures are siblings of Sammy and Jaxson.

On Jaxson's b-day, we went around and shared our favorite memories of him. I shared about the day that he almost died when he was only 3 weeks old. I got teary eyed and Jaxson, in his sweetest voice said, "Mommy, please don't cry because I'll start crying, too. And I don't want to cry on my birthday." Ugh...he is so precious. I am so thankful that God has given us these past 4 years with him. On the day that he stopped breathing as an infant, God said to me, "If I take your child today, will you still say that I am good."

Yes, Lord, yes! I will! I will still proclaim your goodness.

God healed Jaxson and he has gone on to be a spectacular blessing to us. And yes, God is so good.

Lord, thank you for this time you have given to us with our dear son, Jaxson. He makes us laugh and smile everyday. What a great gift you have given to us.

Our last family gathering before we left for Costa Rica

Enjoying the food! And a pre-birthday Party for Parker!

My dad, uncle-Tom, me and Ally! And Avery, too!

Parker and his cousin, Jimmy!

My Goofy dad with the kids!

Pictures before we left for Costa Rica

Me and My kindred spirit, Anna - from Training! I miss her!

The Robinsons an Phams! 10 kids between us!

The sweetest Pastor's wife - Shannon and Heather! Whose the red-head?

Our going away banquet at church! :( Makes me want to cry!

Our last trip to Gainesville. Our dear friend, Amy Jo! :)

I know who I am

This is the truth of who we are thanks to Christ:

I KNOW WHO I AM:
I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15)
I am united with the Lord(1 Cor. 6:17)
I am bought with a price(1 Cor. 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt.5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ(1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil.3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31-34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God(2 Cor.5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God(Rom.8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor.1:21-22)
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8: 28)
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16)
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12)
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16).
I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).
I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1).
I am God's workmanship(Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected(Phil. 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven (Col. 1:14).
I have been adopted as God's child(Eph 1:5)


"The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make His face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn His face toward you
and give you peace."
Numbers 6:24-26

Phabulous Four

Pneumonia and Falling

Update:

Parker is feeling better, but his pneumonia hasn't improved. He is having bronchial spasms and is now on 5 different meds - including a nebulizer 3x a day. As you can imagine, he is pretty jacked up from all the necessary medications. He has to continue to see the doctor every few days until he improves. He is allowed to go to school for half days, but then has to come home to rest so that his body can heal.

Last night I took a pretty bad fall at school. I had the baby in my arms and we tumbled hard on the wet, slippery tile. Avery was actually in the "ergo" attached to my front side. I managed to protect her with my arms and she was safe and sound as we crash landed. It could've been really bad because it was a nasty fall. Anyway, my bad knee cushioned the fall. Of every place I could've landed on my body, I landed right on the knee I have had 2 surgeries on in the past year.

There are several amazing things about this situation: The first being that I was wearing a knee brace that I haven't worn in over 4 months and it actually cushioned some of the impact. The second is that Avery was totally unharmed. And the third being that the fall was exactly on my incision and was extremely painful and swollen initially. We were all very concerned and many, many people (thank you John and Jenny) were praying for me. But today I woke up and my leg felt the best it has in several weeks. I know this is absolutely 100% God. I praise Him for His faithfulness and protection. And I am thankful to the many who prayed for me.

What a Day!!!

Our Slideshow

This is the slideshow that we prepared and presented to churches before we left the states. A good friend of ours came up with the idea of putting it on our blog. Genius. The song in this version is not the same as the original and it's a little blurry, but it will do. Blessings

How do you say?

John wrote:

How do you say...? Obviously that question comes out of our mouths many times a day. Even the simplest things seem like huge grammatical mountains. I am forcing myself to put down my verbs list to share something that happened two months ago. It may give a picture of how important language school is to me.

Two months ago, we all piled in a taxi to Hipermas (like Walmart) about 30 minutes away. Jessica and kids in the back and me in the front seat with the taxi driver. About 15 minutes into the trip, I tried to bring the conversation with the driver to spiritual things. "Tried" being the key word. So I asked, "Do you believe in God?" He said, "yes". "Do you believe in heaven.”? He said "yes". So in the worst Spanish I asked, "Why God permit people in heaven.”? He said, "Obey the mandamientos." I said, "I no understand mandamientos." So he held up his hands and started counting up to ten. "Oh, the Ten Commandments." So I wanted to say, "What happens if you break them?" But the problem was, I had no idea how to say, "break" or "what happens". So I made two fists, said "What if you..." and gestured like I was breaking a stick. Somehow he understood and said, "Well God loves His children and wants them to be in heaven." About that time, there was this flood of things I wanted to say, but, yes you guessed it, I had no idea how to say any of it. I wanted to cry I was so frustrated and sad that I couldn't share the truth with him. Simple stuff like penalty for sin, Christ's payment, and grace.

I can't remember how the rest of the conversation went, but we pulled up to Hipermas and we said our goodbyes. But after that day, the value of language school became so real to me. I know I have said it before, but there is a sense of urgency, so I can talk of our hopelessness and God's restoration to those around me.

But here is some good news. Yesterday, only by the grace of God, I was able to memorize the "Roman Road" in Spanish, and understand what the words mean. So there is hope.

God is at work

First things first: Kind of out of left field, I know, but Parker has pneumonia. He started coughing like crazy in the middle of Sunday night and it quickly turned bad. I took him to the school doctor today because of my concern about how his chest sounded, and the doctor confirmed, as did the chest x-ray, what I had suspected this morning, that he has Pneumonia. The good news is that we can treat him at home and he does not require a hospital stay. Praise the Lord. Parker is on lots of meds and is resting somewhat comfortably. He had a big shot of antibiotics in his rump today, which has left him with some considerable pain. Also, his stomach is hurting - which the doctor said is very common with pneumonia. If you could lift him up to the Lord that would mean so much to us.

On another note, I know that I said I would share what the Lord is teaching me through SEW, but honestly, the stuff we are covering is very deep and hard to re-explain. But mostly, the issues that the Lord is working on in my heart right now is very personal and tender to me. I'm all about transparency, but these are things that God is still taking me through and I hope to share them one day when I am on the other side of them, not smack-dab in the middle. For now, I am enjoying the journey that God is carrying me through with Him.

I have stuck to my word about not blog-reading. UGH!! It's harder than I thought, but it has been good in helping me focus. Boy, it saves a lot of time to not read. I can't wait to catch up with my buds, though.

This week has been exactly what I needed. God, once again, has shown me his faithfulness in meeting me right where I am. I will write something in my morning journal and then the speakers at school will cover those exact issues that day. We are learning about the message of the Gospel penetrating our hearts and lives in all areas. Like I said, it has proven to be very deep, but quite necessary. I just give praise to our Heavenly Father for loving us and giving all of us in language school this time to refocus. I'm grateful to be worshipping each day with 130ish people who are being sent out all across South and Central America to take the news of Christ to a world that needs to hear. What a privilege and honor to worship our Lord with these fellow heirs to the thrown.

Funny

Don't ask me how, because I really don't know....but I stumbled upon this online and I HAD to share. I still have not stopped laughing. In fact, I was crying I was laughing so hard. Too funny not to share!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We had a "going away" party yesterday for a lady at our claims office. One of the supervisors called a Wal-Mart and ordered the cake. He told them to write: "Best Wishes Suzanne" and underneath that write "We will miss you." As the picture shows, it didn't quite turn out right. It was too funny not to keep it.

Divine Appointment

John wrote:

For those who have been reading our blog for a while may remember a local scam artist named Ronnie that we met in August, while on a trip to downtown San Jose. If you missed it and are interested in the whole story, you can go to "Homeboy Gospel" and "Follow-up to Homeboy Gospel", posted on August 3rd. Long story short, we met Ronnie downtown, shared the Gospel with him, and later found out that he has been around for years and has hit up countless other gringos and missionaries for money. But we said in our first story that when we go back downtown we would find Ronnie and see how he was doing.

So Friday, Jessica and I went downtown to see the sights. When we were on the bus, we said to ourselves, "We hope get to run into Ronnie." Well if you can believe it, a couple hours into our visit downtown, Ronnie actually came up to us and asked us for money. The same old line that he used on us the first time, "Do you guys speak English?" We told him that we had met him a couple of months ago and found out that he has been doing this for years. He said he remembered us and that we had talked to him about God. I asked him, what the real deal was and he told us the real story. He has been scamming for about 10 years, lives in a local hotel, grew up in California, mother lives in Cali, father lives in Costa Rica. We told him that we have been praying for him, we talked some, and I tried to share more of the Gospel with him. Then we parted ways again.

I can't believe in a huge downtown area, we actually ran into him again. But it is easy to believe knowing that we serve a God that creates divine appointments just like this one. I hope we will run into Ronnie just one more time, because there is still more he needs to hear. But mostly, I want to see God do something God-sized. What a trophy of grace Ronnie would be. What a testimony of what God could bring someone out of. I just want to see God do what He does best, transform and restore that which seems hopeless.

Spiritual Emphasis Week

This coming Monday is the beginning of a week long spiritual emphasis at school. Otherwise known as: Spiritual Emphasis Week. The REALLY good news is that this means we will have NO homework or tests for 1 solid week. PRAISE THE LORD!! We will go to classes as normal, but we will attend chapel every morning for an hour and will also return in the evening for more Bible teaching and encouragement - kind of like Life Action Ministries, I suppose.

So... in honor of SEW, I was going to fast from blogging during the week, but John and I came up with another idea instead. I am going to fast from reading OTHER people's blogs (this is a fun hobbie, you know, that can take up time). I will use that time for extra time with the Lord, instead. So.....after tonight, no more blog checking for me until next Saturday - I'll have so much good stuff to catch up on though when I do return.

AND....next week I am only going to blog about what God has taught me for the day through Spiritual Emphasis Week. Make sense? John thinks me sharing what God is teaching me is more helpful to others than me not blogging at all.

To say I am looking forward to this upcoming week is a gross understatement. I cannot wait for it to get here!

I am not going to blog again until Monday evening....so stay tuned. But for now, enjoy the pictures. They should tide you over for awhile. :)

Our field trip a few weeks ago

The two older kids and I ventured to Tortugero Island - world famous for turtles hatching their eggs there. Here are 2 slideshows of the wildlife we saw (and of us, of course).

Pictures

Parker got his very first report card today - 5 A's and 2 B's. Not bad for a boy who is in a new culture, with new EVERYTHING and is in school for the first time in his life. I was explaining his grades to him b/c he has no idea what any of that means. It means nothing. It's not eternal! :) Anyway, he says, "I don't think B's are good. Only A's." We quickly told him that B's are awesome, too. I totally don't want him to start down that "perfection is the only way" route. I'm trying to jump off of that train myself and now he wants to jump on. With God's help, we can detour him quickly.

Finally! The long awaited pictures of our La Paz trip. :) Here are people pictures (for the most part).

Here are the wildlife pictures:

I have found there to be the most beautiful birds here. I didn't know this before, but I LOVE birds. They make me very happy and I think everything about them (except the poo of course) is magnificent.

Christmas is coming.....and Parker wants.......

This morning we were talking about Christmas and I told Parker, "When people ask me what you want for Christmas, I am going to tell them that you could use a pair of....." I was going to say "crocs" before I was cutely interrupted.

He chimmed in "tell them that what I want for Christmas is to be with my family. Tell them I want to go back to Florida at Christmas."

As the Christmas season approaches, Parker is realizing that the holidays are about friends and family. He recognizes that what he has experienced the past 6 years will be incredibly different this time.

A few weeks ago, we were in a local store and he saw all of the Christmas decorations and he started bawling - right there in the store. He is a very sensitive young man - in case I haven't mentioned that before. In between tears, I heard something about Christmas not being the same. We assured him that this Christmas was going to be full of joy, Jesus and all of us being together.

I know that I mentioned it before, but praise God that my dad and step-mom are coming here for Christmas. When I reminded Parker of this this morning, he was thrilled and he didn't even think about going back to Florida again. Since we can't go to Florida, we are bringing Florida to us. :)