What's happening around here?

Well, yesterday I completed 16 miles in my marathon training. Towards the end of the run I was asking myself WHY? in the world I am doing this. I really don't have an answer except that I paid for the race, it's helping me to lose weight and I get to run it with Jenn. Other than that, I think I'm just nuts! :) I crashed and burned yesterday afternoon and was absolutely exhausted and took a 2 1/2 hour nap and then was still in bed by 10 p.m. And, I probably ate more calories than I burned off b/c I was so hungry.

Today, we went to church again and the people there are just extraordinarly (is that a word?) kind to us. They all love the baby and our kids. So many people talk to us each week after the service. We love it! Today, a woman named Rosita invited us to her house after church next week to eat a typical Peruvian dish that they make in the jungle. John won't be able to make it, but I will take all 5 kids and enjoy some Christian fellowship with her. Can you believe that we have been here for 15 months and this is our first "dinner" invite from a Peruvian? It takes a long time to make friends here, I guess. The culture is extremely different than Costa Rica.

In about an hour, we are ALL heading out the door to Oasis for an afternoon of ministry and showing off the baby. This is the first time he has been out there since he was born and ALL of our friends that live out there have been asking for him. In fact, 2 women who haven't been attending are going to come today just to see Miles. Isn't that sweet? Although, I do wish they would come regularly. Anyway, we are praying that the fleas do not get him or the rest of us. We are all looking forward to seeing people and attending the service in Oasis.

We have decided that we are going to have a Christmas party in our home for the church leaders in Oasis. There are about 7 extremely faithful attendees (as well as their families) that we would like to bless. These are the ones that are taking the evangelism course and have helped with all the construction on the building. We have decided we are going to make sure that not one person leaves our home without a present and that we fill their bellies with typical Peruvian food and typical American Deserts. There should be about 20 people coming. I am so excited to be doing this for them. I hope it is an evening where they feel very loved and blessed. We just want to let them know how thankful we are for their commitment and service to God and the church.

On the homefront, this week we will have a very "light" schooling week since it is Thanksgiving and I also need to refresh and recharge. We have lots of plans. Tomorrow our new friends that came over last week will be coming over again (but this time with all 4 of her kids). Tuesday I have a lunch date with another missionary that is my good friend and like a mom to me. Wednesday we have Mile's 8 week check-up. Thursday is Thanksgiving and we will be celebrating with a missionary family that works for another organization and they have 5 kids as well. They have a pool so we are so excited to get to go swimming! :) And Saturday I have another long run of 16 miles with my German/Peruvian friend, Isabelle, and Sunday I have the luncheon with Rosita. So, it should be a good mix of cultural activities as well as with other missionaries. I am really feeling MUCH more connected to Peru since we started attending this church. I have even been dreaming in Spanish again. :)

Well, off to start round 2 of the day.