Untangled

I think I've spent the last ten years of my Christian Walk "doing" good things and trying to "be a good person." I want to spend the next just "being" God's girl.....just basking in His love and giving that love back to others. I don't want to be entangled in a legalistic web of do's and dont's that aren't scriptural and don't necessarily point people back to Christ. The freedom I feel in the Lord is truly invigorating. And because of that freedom, each day I am experiencing His love in a new way. Instead of having a relationship with God that exemplifies the word "conviction," I feel that I am moving into a relationship that echos "freedom and hope." After all, He is the one that gives me hope and He came to set the captives (me and you) free. Why I ever tried to entangle myself in a bunch of rules and regulations, in the name of Christ, makes no sense, when Christ came to untangle us. This next season of ministry in Peru is going to look totally different for us. But more importantly, I hope this next phase of being God's Girl is radical and life changing for myself and for those God places in my path.

Thought I would pop in and say hi so that they don't close down my blogger account. :)

We are plugging along in our stateside assignment. We are less than 3 months to go and then we return to Peru. It is with great anticipation that we go "home" in January.

The kids are all doing very well. Miles is walking and talking up a storm. Parker just turned 10 last month, Miles turned 1 and this week we will celebrate Jaxson's 7th birthday.

John and I have been in a rough patch these days, but we are confident that God will guide us out of it and sustain us while we are in it and that are marriage will only be stronger and better on the other side of this.

I'm still running a lot and am currently training for the Walt Disney World Marathon for 2011. One of my goals, that day, is to break the 4 hour mark. :) I am training hard and am feeling like it is a real possiblity.

Well, that's all for now. I'm off to a 5k with my 3 oldest kids this morning.

Have a great fall morning.

Love,
Jess

We are traveling and visiting a lot of churches. Day by day, little by little, we are being renewed spiritually. Many of the churches are super encouraging and we leave skipping and smiling. God is doing a great work in my heart and I feel a peace that I haven't had in a long time. I had a huge spiritual breakthrough last week at our missionary renewing time in Virginia.

I am running a lot and enjoying my friends at the running club. I have a few big runs coming up and am now training for the Disney Marathon, again, in January. YEAH!!!!

Miles is now walking more than he is crawling. He just got over a booger of an ear infection and double pink eye which left him very crabby. He is back to his happy self. He still has super bad skin, but we are weaning him from the bottle and the soy formula. We introduced him to organic soy milk today and he drank 3 glasses out of a sippy cup in one setting.

John is working on his public speaking and is getting better and better each time he does it. He knocked it out of the ball park last night.

This week I am going to New York City to visit my cousin. The entire trip is pretty much free since we got a free ticket and my cousin lives there. I found a half-marathon in Staten Island and I am super stoked about running it. :)

Well, that is life in a nutshell. I'll try to check in more often. I just have gotten out of the habit and am back on Facebook. :)

Love you all....

Jess

Pasto, Colombia

We had the opportunity to stay in Lima long-term, but we turned it down. We sense God asking us to give up more and live in faith, with less and trust Him in ways we didn't have to in Lima. We also feel that our work there is done and that it is truly a reached people. God is calling us to the unreached in Colombia. We are pursuing an assignment in Pasto, Colombia. It is a place of about 400,000 and is 9,000 above sea level and is about 57 degrees all year round. There are several indigenous groups around that area and we would be trying to engage them. Our goal is to leave Lima by June of next year but we have to see what the IMB has planned and most importantly what God has in store. Thank you for praying with us.

You can google Pasto, Colombia to see pictures. It is beautiful in comparison to Lima.

First Steps

This past weekend, my precious baby Miles turned 11 months old. In just a few short weeks we will be celebrating his first year of life.

He has taken a few steps here and there and should be running circles around us in no time at all. He is still the sweetest little guy. He weighs about 26 pounds and loves to eat, eat, eat. His sister, Ally, is his favorite sibling. She is like a 2nd mom. He is definitely a daddy's boy and he is sad when all the kids are gone. His skin is still acting up, but we are trying to get it under control with new medication. Honestly, if I searched for something negative to say about him, I would not be able to come up with one thing. To us, he is perfect in every single way.

I am looking forward to celebrating Mile's birthday on September 28th. Here is a picture of him the night he took his first steps.

Only God Knows

We almost did something permanent in regards to "bearing" more children. God blocked it on three accounts. On the third account I said, "Okay, God....what do you have planned for our family?"

Our plans are to not have anymore children. But I wonder what God's plans for our family are? I can't wait to see. Lately I have been feeling like there is one more little girl missing from our family. It started a few months back and has only gotten stronger. The problem is that I do not ever want to be pregnant again, but yet it seems as if someone is missing from the Phams. When I talk with John about "our next baby" or "being pregnant again" he doesn't say anything to the contrary or anything negative. That is odd, too! So at this point, only God knows. And it's interesting that that is enough for me with "family planning" but it's not with COlombia or Peru (see previous post). I hope that "Only God Knows" can be enough in all areas of my life. I don't need to know the answers or plan everything out. I just need to trust and walk in faith; for me...so much easier said than done.

By the way, if we have another little girl, her name will be Alani Bella.

Colombia or Peru???

AAfter almost two weeks of having my blog shut down completely, I opened it back up because I'm just not me without my blog. It is an extension of me and an outlet. I am not advertising that it's open or open to the public, so at this point I have no readers. But that's fine because I am doing it for me.

Being back in the states was hard for the first two weeks. Now it is incredible on all levels. I have gotten into a good schedule with the kids, exercise, church, friends and family. My heart already feels sadness about returning to Lima. Here I feel so alive and happy and like my old self. I am constantly smiling and just refreshed. In Lima I sit around and mostly feel down and yuk!

God has a place for us to serve next, but we are confused as to where that would be. Our flesh clouds our judgement on many levels. We would love to stay in Lima so that we don't have to move, leave such a great house and school. We would not like to go to Colombia because Colombia means more change and transition and that equals YUK!!!! But Colombia possibly has people that God wants us to reach. Lima is pretty much reached, but there is a work we can do there as well, but not the kind of work we feel passionate about. But does the work we feel passionate about exist in Colombia as well or is it only available in in Asia or the Middle East where Christ is not known? And if we moved to one of those countries then we are talking about starting at ground zero again. Why can't I just be up for that? Why not just throw caution to the wind and start a new life ALL over again (yet again) with a different language, culture, values, etc...?? I wish I could be so brave. I feel like the missionaries in the East are REAL missionaries and we are just phonies taking the easy way out. But nonetheless, we need an answer...Colombia or Peru??? Only God knows. He's just not telling us yet.

I'm still alive, just very tired and too busy. I do miss my slow life in Peru.

The novelty of Wal-mart has worn off.

John and I are heading out bright and early for our Dominican vacation. :) See you when I get back!!!

Any readers left?

I have probably lost ALL of my readers by this point. I am going to start chronicalling (spelling) my thoughts about Stateside to help me debrief and process all of this. There are so many things in my heart and mind and I wonder if anyone else has ever felt the same. Maybe if I have it in writing, one day God can use it to help someone else who is in similar shoes.

The past month of my life has been a whirlwind. It went from packing up, saying goodbye to friends, hosting a mission team, flying here, settling into the house in less than 24 hours, packing up again and going to stay out with John's family in a timeshare on Disney property, 2 days with them out there, coming home and unpacking and then driving an hour each way for three more days to be with John's family in Deland while his sisters and mom were here. By the time we pulled out on Friday night from her house, at 10 p.m., I literally cried ALL the way home and had a huge meltdown. I guess I had been bottling everything inside of me and just putting on a "I'm fine, everything is great. I'm so happy to be back in the states," face. I was also beyond exhausted. Seriously, it was inconceivable how tired I was and still am from the enormous amount of activity and huge life changes we have just experienced.

It might seem like I have a lot of energy and go, go, go, but the truth is that I need about 10 hours of sleep a night, cannot have too much activity every day and need lots of "margin" in my life. The need for margin became so apparent as we were just hustling from one thing to the next. And don't even get me started on my kid's behavior through all of this. Actually, their behavior is fine, it's just that they have lost their manners and some of the fundamentals we have taught them. But they are transitioning as well, so I have a lot of grace for them.

Here are some things I would like to post about in the next few days:

My new itty-bitty, tiny nose-ring. (No negative opinions please. It's already done and I have no conviction about it).
God's awesome provisions!!!!
The sadness I have felt being here in the States and how transitioning to a new place is hard, no matter where it is.
Looking like a complete moron in public because I don't know how things are done here anymore.
My thoughts about my first term.
Running Club!
Materialism and how I am responding different than I thought I would.

Well, it's late and I want to read a cookbook my aunt is letting me borrow - 1,400 Best Slow Cook Recipes. Yummy!

Our number

We are in Florida. It is late. You can reach us at 407-715-6846. :)

Just popped in to say that our team is here from our home church in St. Cloud. I am so glad that we are leaving the same day that they are or we would be so sad staying here once they leave. We are having a great time of ministry.

The baby is now saying "Hola and Ciao" (chow) on a regular basis. He also says mama, dada and it sounds like he tries to mimic other words. But the hola and ciao are incredible! :) We think he is going to be a very early talker. He'll be 10 months on Wednesday.

Hope you all are doing well. So crazy to think that in just a few days our first term in Peru will be over and we will be in sunny Florida.

Break

We leave in 2 weeks from yesterday. Lots to do and much activity in these days. No time to blog! I will be back in 3-4 weeks! Blessings to you all!

waving bye-bye

This morning after I was done feeding the baby, John carried him out of the room for a second. I said, "Bye Bye! Bye Bye!" And I waved my little hand at him. Low and behold, he waved bye-bye back to me and then proceeded to do it on command 3 or 4 more times this morning. I'm going to try to snap a picture of it. It is so precious. So when I say "Bravo" he claps his hands and now when I say "Adios" I hope he will wave good-bye. This morning I went into where he was playing and I said, "Miguel!" He looked right at me and smiled and came to me. He definitely knows he as two names. I think I call him Miguel or Miquelito more than I call him Miles. Such a smart boy and one of the greatest joys of my life.

Please pray

http://joshuajoelhunter.blogspot.com/2010/07/up-down-up.html

Please pray for Ava, a 5 year old little girl who was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. She is diagnosed with 12-18 months to live with little hope for successful treatment. I use to work with her father, Josh Hunter. I read his blog from beginning to end and her sickness just came out of nowhere like 3 weeks ago. Please beat down heaven's door for this little girl. She is too young to die.

Goodbye

This morning at 9 a.m. our fired empleada showed up to beg for her job back. It was so sad. She was crying so much and then I started crying and then John was about to tear up. It is so hard to have tough love at times when you know it is hurting someone, but yet at the same time know that it is the best for everyone involved. She was crying so hard, it just broke my heart. We affirmed our love for her over and over, but we also had to discuss the events that led up to our decision (which by the way we had already repeatedly discussed). She took full responsibility, which is a rare thing in this culture. If you think it's hard firing someone in English, I can assure you it is 20X harder in a foreign tongue.

One of the things that I was thinking was that we have now had 3 empleadas. 2 of which we have had to let go for different reasons. And everytime we have always ended things on good terms with lots of hugs and kisses. Our workers spend about 16-24 hours weekly in our home, so they see the inner workings of EVERYTHING - the good and the bad. The fact that Maria was so sad to leave our family is, in my mind, a testimony to the Glory of Christ in our Home. It is often not easy to live set apart or differently than the rest of the world. My prayer has always been that our workers would enjoy being here and that they would feel the love we have for one another and for them. As sad as it was to see her sadness, I knew that God had been glorified over the past year that she worked for us or else she would've left with her middle finger up while slammin' the door and dusting the dirt off of her shoes. I feel like a failure on so many levels every single day as a Christian. Even letting her go made me feel like a failure, but at the same time I could truly see that it was the best decision and also that we had been really good to her and God was given honor through her time here. And in some small way that helps ease the sadness.

***Please pray for Maria as she is going through a lot right now and needs direction as well as a stable job. She currently has two other homes she works for so it is not like she is without work completely.

A new empleada

We had to let our house helper go on Friday. It was a hard decision that she made quite easy by her choices. You guys know how much I love her, so that made it a little sad.

Anyway, we have a new woman, Mary, starting tomorrow and she will work for rus 2 days a week until we leave and then once a week while we are gone and others are living here and then she will be our empleada once we return. She also cooks and came with glowing recommendations, a superior "I can" attitude and a personality that is full of life. The kids loved her already. I am so thankful that we found someone so quickly and it's like there wasn't even a lapse in time. Did I mention she cooks? Now we don't want to go back to Florida so that we can stay and enjoy her yummy Peruvian meals.

My friend, Angela, who lives in this neighborhood hooked me up with Mary and even the days she is available are exactly what we need. So thankful!

Grace.....oih how I need you?

I am still in shock over my language evaluation. It's quite amazing, actually. All I can say is "Thank you, Jesus."

Right now, I am going through something extremely personal that I cannot publish on my blog. It has shaken me in a way that it should not. It has really got me thinking about the verse that says, "Your grace is sufficient for me."

As a Christian woman, I have a hard time living in grace and letting it just be enough. What if everything in my life completely fell apart, would the grace that God has extended to me, through faith in Christ, be enough to sustain me? It should be. But sadly enough, this situation has squeezed me and I see that at moments it definitely is not enough for me. Why not? I am shaken to my core in a way that just brings me to tears and sadness. And if you knew the situation, you might even laugh and say it's not that bad. But it feels like the biggest deal in the entire world, right now, and I am having the most difficult time experiencing God's peace and comfort. I feel guilty that it is ALL my fault and I have this image of God shaking his finger at me in disgust.

Anyway, I have to reconcile this situation to my faith and truly receive God's grace, live in it and experience the peace that comes from knowing no matter what happens in this lifetime, that it is all so temporal and something better is promised to me in the future. Once I figure out how to do that successfully and actually do it, I will surely let you know. :)

We have a busy day around here, so I need to get going.

Espana Gano!!!!!

YEAH! Miles' team won the world cup. He was so happy he poohed his pants. Oh wait, that didn't have anything to do with his team winning. :)

He sported his Espana shirt all day and looked as cute as ever in it. I sure am glad that out of 5 shirts, one that I chose won the whole series. And the fact that it is a Spanish speaking country makes it even better.

Woohooo Espana!

Discipline

Discipline. I need more discipline in my life. Not the kind of discipline you give to your children when they disobey, but the type of discipline that develops good habits and keeps you on the right track.


Discipline like:


Waking up early to be with God everyday.
Going to bed earlier so that I can wake up early to be with God everyday.
Spending deliberate time with each kid.
Being disciplined in my eating and exercise and not all over the map with it.
Being purposeful in speaking the name of Jesus from lips.
Being intentional about sharing what God has rescued me from and praising him more to others (not just on my blog).
Keeping my mouth shut when I ought to.
And being disciplined enough to do hard things that are good for my life.


The most successful people in the world, I guarantee you, are not lazy or purposeless. They are the exact opposite and every day has a purpose for them. I know what my purpose is, but I am definitely not intentional everyday. I am praying, today, that God will make me more focused, intentional, disciplined and obedient on ALL levels.


He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. (Proverbs 5:23)

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

Drum roll please....language evaluation results

Have you ever heard of the song by Rebecca Saint James that goes like this?.....

"God.....truly God!"

The language results are in and I echo those words. God....truly God!

John and I BOTH received Advanced High scores. Advanced HIGH! The next step is superior which will take several more years.  It was fully expected that John would make Advanced High, but me? No way. The evaluation they use is for ALL languages and is recognized by the United Nations. So it's not just something the IMB made up.

All I can say is that God showed up in a big way and that he rewarded me for focusing on my family and not my language. I tried very hard to not sacrifice my children on the alter of ministry or language.

What does all this mean? We are free! We met the IMB's requirements for language learning and we NEVER have to take another language evaluation again. Never!!!

I'm skipping and hopping and jumping around like a little kid (not as I type this, of course) with my hands held high. God....truly God!

Miles

I need to snap some photos of Mile's skin condition. It is not improving. We went to the doctor yesterday and we saw the dermatologist and pediatrician and they both have differing opinions to what the source of the problem is. I am more apt to follow the ped. since he  is more homeopathic and I have such a great history with him over the past 2 years. I will surely miss the doctors here. I am dreading American healthcare. Anyway, if you could pray that God would give us wisdom how to best treat it and for little Miles, I would greatly appreciate it.

We are leaving in 3 weeks. I can hardly believe. I am filled with anticipation and excitement. It is surreal that after so many years of waiting for this day that it is right around the corner.

I kind of through homeschooling out the window until we get settled in the states. It is too difficult to transition, do everything that needs to be done and homeschool. I want homeschooling to be a pleasant experience for all of us.

Well, I am still waiting on our language results. Hopefully we will receive them today or tomorrow. I will let you know when/what I find out.

Very thankful that the language eval is over. I think I actually did very well. I am hoping for an advanced low. 2 years ago I was an advanced medium. My friend, Angela, who is also a missionary told me that if I go down a level than that is actually a good thing because it is an indicator that I am focusing on my family. :) I like that kind of thinking. I should know by the end of the week and I will be sure to inform you once I receive the results. John said he didn't do very well.

Also, will you please pray for this little girl named, Ava. I use to go to church with her father and we also worked together at Northland Community Church. His father is the pastor at that mega-church. Anyway, his five year old daughter got a really bad headache and it turned out to be a cancerous brain tumor. She has a very rare condition that is fatal. My heart is aching for them. Please pray for them. You can follow them on their journey here....  
Pray for Ava

This has reminded me of how fleeting life is and how tomorrow is not guaranteed. I want to cherish every moment with me kids, which is why I need to sign off now. Thanks for praying and have a great day!

Parker Again

Since my last post, I have finished almost all of the Narnia collection besides one of the books. The last one is called the Last Battle and it is the last book. And I finished The Hobbit. Umm, I don't think it is the most appropriate book ever for like five and six year olds. I think my sister Ally would have nightmares. Seriously. I like it a lot, a lot, a lot.....AAAAAA LLLLOOOOOOTTT! I am excited that I am going to finish the last book because my mom said after I finish the collection, I can watch the movie with her and my dad. The only thing is that my brothers and sisters are not allowed to watch it.  I like your comments on my last blog.

I forgot to tell you that I have read Charlotte's Web like 4 or 5 times. It is a good book, too!

From, Parker

language evaluation

My language evaluation is in 3 hours. I am really nervous.

Yesterday, John played Mr. Mom and I spent 14 hours with the mission team. I was la jefe (the boss) for the day) while we did door to door invitations, a small VBS for about 20 kids and a small Church service for about 15 adults. I think I did a decent job. We had a great day and it was good to switch roles for a change. That is the first time we have ever done that. I REALLY needed it!

Did I mention my language evaluation is in 3 hours? UGH!

We are celebrating the 4th of July TODAY with a bunch of Americans. I would be looking forward to it if I didn't have to have this eval. first. :) I hope we have a ton of fun celebrating America's independence in Peru. That seems kind of strange.


Anyway, off to take a shower, have a quiet time, drink some coffee and prep for this evaluation. I hope my tongue is NOT tangled today.

I have all the kids books for our upcoming homeschooling year. We did manage to get in 2 days this week.  This next week will be absolutely crazy with busyness. And unfortunately, it is not stuff I can get rid of. It is things that HAVE to be done before we leave. One of them being my language evaluation (yes, AGAIN) on Monday morning via Skype. I will be doing it with Rebecca Alexander (for you IMB folks). I am glad to be doing it with her instead of a stranger, but I'm not so sure how it will go over on Skype. We'll see.

John is with the team ALL day today until 11 p.m. tonight. Tomorrow night I am taking the girls to a special place that they ate at last year called Crepes y Wafles. It is so delicious.

I am a bit bummed to find out that our raise will not start for several months. If you can believe it, there are things we have not yet completed for the IMB. I am so tired beyond belief of their checklists and things to do and never ending "requirements." So, we will be living off of like $1,5000 a month (for a family of 7 because every "unit" makes the same no matter how many kids they have) in the states or something ridiculously low like that. In all of our busyness, I am going to try to have to figure out, all over again, how to eat cheap in the states. It is so stressful to move from place to place and figure out how to shop and cook, to save money and feed a large family on a tight budget. I know it can be done because I have a friend who does it. I just have to gear up for it. Thank goodness for Wal-mart and Publix.

Well, I better get off the computer and stop escaping the reality that is screaming (that would be my kids :), all around me. Love em! HAve a great Saturday!!!

World Cup Fans

Soccer is bigger here than you can possibly imagine. We bought each one of the kids a world cup shirt representing a team. Each team was chosen for each individaul child very carefully. I went to the mall, found a sale, and grabbed the cheapest shirt that was available in each child's size. And thus, they each have the team they are supporting. As the soccer match comes on, they watch it and cheer for their team.

The teams represented by the Pham family are as follows:

Parker: Argentina (won)
Miles: Espana/spain (won)
Avery: Inglaterra/England (lost)
Jaxson: Brasil (won)
Ally: Portugal (lost to Spain)

Chicken leg anyone?

You know you have many children when you forego biter biscuits for chicken legs!

One day last week, I was tearing off pieces of chicken from the leg to give them to the baby. He decided I wasn't doing it quickly enough and he grabbed the entire leg and had a blast with it. This is his favorite food now!

dream it, achieve it

When we are homeschooling the kids NEVER receive grades. And they don't take tests and they don't get report cards. Well, I have one child who loves grades, tests and report cards. She also loves to set goals and achieve them (hmm....wonder where she got that from?). After trying for the past 18 weeks, Ally finally met her goal of straight A's. Although it doesn't mean much in light of eternity, it means a lot to a little 8 year old girl who studied hard, did her best and sought to please the Lord through her studies. She couldn't be happier at achieving her goal.

And yes, we've already been through the whole process of "your identity doesn't come from the things that you achieve." It was a hard taught lesson, but she finally got it and once she did, the straight A's came naturally and almost as a reward.

Miles

The baby is changing almost daily. Here are some new stats:

He is 21 pounds. YIKES!

He turned 9 months yesterday.

Little Miles, who is not so little anymore, has 4 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth for a total of 6. Wowzers! He has received 4 teeth in the last three weeks alone.

He's a great sleeper. Each night he averages about 12 hours straight and takes 2-3 daytime naps anywhere from 1.5-2.5 hours each. The only negative is that when he ready to get up he cries until we come to get him.

He crawls everywhere, pulls up on everything and is trying to stand on his own without holding onto anything. We are in trouble!!!

Our house has a ledge from one floor to the next in the living room. He fell off of it once and now he crawls back and forth right at the edge of it because he knows it is dangerous. So smart.

He has said "ma ma" a few times, but now his favorite word is "da da da da da!"

And today he is clapping. He is so proud of himself.

I LOVE BABIES!!!!

A post from Parker

Hi, this is Parker. I just wanted to write that my favorite thing to do is reading. The most I have read in one day is 340 pages. At my school, I won the award for "having a love of the written word." I am a book worm. Most kids like to play sports, but I prefer to read.  My favorite type of books are the ones that have conversations and I also like the classics. Here are just a few of the books I have read:

The Magic Treehouse books
Moby Dick
Beverly Cleary books (if my mom approves them)
Robinson Carusoe
Around the World in 80 Days
Peanut Butter Friends in a Chop Sewey World
Oliver Twist
Pilgrim's Progress (my favorite)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Treasure Island
Black Beauty
Huckelberry Fin
Little House in the Big Woods
Where the Red Fern Grows
4 books from The Chronicle of Narnia Series
The Hobitt (I'm only half way through it)

Thank you for reading my post.

PARKER

Getting my groove back

I'm still alive. Just getting use to having 5 kids with me again constantly. I am enjoying it, but trying to get into a "new" groove. We had a great day today and did a little bit of homeschooling and we loved it. The school uses Abeka and although I have NEVER like it, my kids love, love, love it. And it actually is pretty easy and straightforward for many different grades. I enjoyed our time of schooling today.

Maybe more tomorrow!

Amazing Hubby

I must say that I am married to quite an amazing man. Some of our good friends, the McLambs, have a 5 month old daughter named Hope. Well, Hope had 3 seizures on Sunday, out of the blue, and she has been in the hospital ever since. Last night, we had there 3 boys over here for about 5 hours (which equals 8 kids) and then this morning one of us had to be at their house at 7 a.m. so that the husband could go be with his wife during this ordeal. Well, I was sleeping when he got the phone call last night about this morning. Not only did my hubby offer to go over there, but when I woke up this morning he had made the baby his bottles, set out breakfast, started the kids lunches and volunteered to go watch the McLamb kids. I was just blown away by what a servant's heart he has. Sometimes I seriously take his acts of service for granted. Even last night when we had the kids over I wasn't feeling so well because of a new cold that is popping up. So he ran to the grocery store to get some Ramon Noodles and then cooked them for the kids while I stayed here to keep the peace. He could've easily demanded that I make a big meal to feed everyone, but he was so happy, once again, to serve me lovingly. There is nothing that he won't do. I know in the beginning we use to fight about socks being left around and the fact that he doesn't clean toilets or whatever. But honestly, he shouldn't have to clean toilets! :) He is such an iniciative taker and goes out of his way to love and serve me and the people in his ministry. People always ask how I can run so much with 5 little kids. Well, the key is definitely John Pham. Without him, I could not exercise like I do. He is always willing to lay the kids down so I can go exercise at 7 p.m. or do breakfast so that I can do a long run on the weekends or even brings the kids out to watch a 5k race or marathon. He never EVER complains! Even now that the kids have been in school, we have a little routine where I feed the baby, make lunches and then take a shower. He takes a shower, does breakfast with the older kids and then feeds the baby solids while he is sitting there. He takes the kids to school, I exercise, and when I get back he leaves for the entire day. I pick the kids up, do the homework and what not and then he comes home and we start back to our teamwork. It is definitely a tag team effort. No WAY could I have 5 kids without the constant help of this Godly man. Just wanted to brag on him a little after what he did this morning.

And I just remembered that, as I type this, he is spending the day doing ministry, but also taking around 2 kids from the states with him so that they can see the poor parts of the city. He just never stops giving and serving - seriously!!!

Little Jaxson Dean Pham is officially a kindergarten graduate! :) The ceremony was absolutely adorable. Each class in the school gave a Character award based on a verse in Timothy. I was shocked and delighted that Jaxson was given the award for his class. And for Ally's class, she was given an award for a great attitude and effort. I was so proud of both of them.

Please pray for me. I am having wedding stress!!!!!!!! And it is not even my wedding. I am out $300 dollars so far because my friend keeps changing her dates and venue. She is now on her third set of dates and location. I have already rearranged my vacation once and paid a stiff airline fee and then I booked a hotel, that she told me to book, and it is non-refundable on hotwire.com. So, we are starting from scratch again. I love her dearly and I feel that I have been kind and gracious, but I don't have anymore money to flush. :)
3 more days of school and my cuties are back home with me.

Sword Drill Champion

Congratulations to my oldest, Parker, for winning the Sword Drill contest at his school and now he is the reigning Sword Drill Champion of his elementary school. The word "sword" stand for the Bible since it is to be our sword of faith. The drill is really quite simple and can be done in several different forms.  To be sword drill champion, you have to go through several drills of finding a passage in the Bible when it is called out. Parker is so fast that I don't even think I could beat him. We are so proud of Him for loving God's word and knowing all the books of the Bible so well. Now you can say you are friends with a Sword Drill Champ!


Other news:

We met with our boss last night and were told that we have many different options for our next term. Please keep praying as to where God will send us and what position we will be working in.

I weighed Miles and with his clothes off he is 19.6 lbs. WOwsers. THat's a big guy for an 8 month old.

Avery had the 2nd part of her root canal yesterday, but then last night she was up with pain and a fever again.

Did I mention Jaxson is graduation from Kindergarten on Friday? He memorized the entire Psalm 23 in the King James version. It is so sweet. I hope I can video him doing it and put it on the blog. Jaxson's last day of school is Friday.

Parker and Ally will finish next Wednesday. I am looking forward to having them home all the time, but just not so excited about the "educating" them part.

The mission team has seen almost 1,000 patients. They are doing so much to help out the Peruvians physically  and spiritually. The team is so sweet and they all give me huge hugs everytime they see me and they make me feel so special. I am going to cry my eyes out when they leave. This is the 2nd time that this team has come and we are so in love with them. I would join their church in a heartbeat, just based on the kindness of the people. :)

Tomorrow Avery will go for the rest of her root canal. Thank God it will be over. She is doing much better.

Jaxson's kindergarten graduation is on Friday afternoon. He had a super successful 4 months in school and really matured quite a bit.

The other kids will be wrapping up school and will be done next Wednesday. They will be homeschooled again, with curriculum for the school, at least until February 22nd of next year. We willd decide at that time what we think is best for our family. If I had to decide RIGHT NOW, I would allow them to go back because the school is so wonderful and it was a positive experience for ALL of us in every, single way. But for the next 8 months we are a homeschooling family again. Please pray for me as I start this endeavor again.

In case you missed it, Miles' two top teeth are coming in. Now he will have 4 top teeth and 0 bottom teeth. Is that not hillarious?

The mission team came over and spent the afternoon with us yesterday after the morning service. They stayed for about 7 hours and it was wonderful. We had a time of worship together and I can't tell you how special it was to worship the Lord in English. This is one of our favorite teams and we adore them. We all love them so much!

A trip to the Desert

In April we went to the Desert in Ica for an IMB team retreat. We took a crazy ride on the dune buggy and it was absolutely the insanest thing I have experience! During our ride, we stopped so that we could snow board down the dunes on our bellies. Fun times! It was incredible to truly be in the middle of a desert.

John has lost so much weight since we came overseas that the baby actually fits in his pants. That is what those pictures are about! LOL!

Baby Miles

Little Miles Loves baths in the sink. He also enjoys playing with his big sister. I love these picts with the natural light coming in. They look dark, but I appreciate the shadows that were cast.
He is 8 months old and can sit, crawl, grab everything, pull himself to a full-standing position, grab food with his pincers and he cries when you leave him in a room by himself. His newest thing is to start fussing when you carry him up the stairs because he knows that means he is going to bed. I think he is 19 pounds. His smile still melts our hearts.

Me Being Silly

I seldom get dressed up and do my hair, but 3 weeks ago I did and Ally snapped these shots of me. I am sorry I am not editing these slide shows. I am just throwing up the pictures we took and moving on to the next slide show. Enjoy!

Yes, it is winter here! Do you like my new jacket? John HATES my scarf! LOL! I Love it!

Oliver Twist

Here are some shots of the kids during their Oliver Twist Musical.

Crazy Hair Day

Last month the kids had a Crazy Hair Day at their school. John and I enjoyed doing their hair. Even Miles and Avery got in on the action. There were too many pictures to pick and choose so I just chose them all!

Half-marathon and Marathon Slide Show

These are pictures I took as the Marathon was starting. There was no one to take pictures of me running it since John was watching the kids. My running partner, and friend, Isabelle finished in 4:15ish. You will see her coming in and blowing kisses. She is always so much fun. There are a few pictures of us together. The half and full started at different times. Next year my goal is to run the full marathon here in this city. :)

The baby still has ZERO bottom teeth, but now his top two front teeth are coming in. He will have 4 top teeth and no bottom teeth. How funny is that?

Avery's tooth is doing MUCH better. Praise God!

The mission team is coming to our home church with us tomorrow and the preacher will be preaching at our church. YEAH! We will then take them to a local mall for lunch. They will come over and hang our all afternoon and just love on us and us on them and then we will have supper here. A Peruvian lady from our church (we are paying her) is making a typical Peruvian dish, one of my favorites, of Estofado de Pollo with rice, yucca, sngochado (a yummy soup) with a homemade fruit drink. Their homemade juices here are the best. I am truly looking forward to the day.

Discrimination - comes in all shapes and sizes

Today, the kids and I walked to a local hamburger place (think McDonalds) called Bembos for their weekly treat of ice-cream for doing their checklist well. The entire experience from ordering to getting my food was not very pleasant. I will spare you the gorey details, but it boils down to discrimination. If you have ever lived in a foreign country long enough and tried to speak the language, you will definitely be able to relate to this post. As soon as they see my blonde hair and blue eyes they turn off their ears. They decide to not listen before even a word has been spoken from my mouth. They have deemed me "dumb" and "ignorant" to their culture and ways before even a word has left my mouth. And today's experience just showed me that. I have NEVER asked to speak to a manager, EVER, the entire 3 years I have been overseas. However, today was just too much and I spoke to the manager and told him that I felt that just because I am a "gringa" that his people were not listening to a word I was trying to say and were being rude and talking about me thinking that I can't understand or hear them. I said, "Look, I know I don't speak PERFECT Spanish, but I do speak Spanish and I can communicate myself and the words "mixed" and "vanilla" are not even similar words. I told him I had been treated very poorly by his employees from the moment that I walked into the restaurant (and you would agree if I told you the story). He apologized and said he just had "too many" people working and there was a lot going on and that he understood me perfectly and there are no problems with my Spanish and that he assured me it wasn't because I was a gringa. I felt a little better after I spoke with him, but honestly this happens ALL the time, but not quite as severely as what happened today. Most Peruvians (not all), just don't want to listen to each other or to you. I left thinking about how many times I have discriminated against someone in the states who doesn't speak English perfectly or has a strong accent and I just assume they can't "communicate" when in fact if I would just look at them and listen I would see that they can. Or maybe I could help them along instead of just putting a big ol' "ignorant" stamp on their forhead and sending them on their way like they did to me today. By the way, I was speaking VERY well today. So, as you can see, I didn't have the most pleasant experience, but I beg you to help internationals along when you run across them. Speak really slow, make them feel welcome in our country and give them a listening ear. You might find that they are really great people!

My day today

Not proof read!!!

I've had better days AND I've had worse. Last night Avery was up for several hours with really bad tooth pain. She has had a bad infection in her bone for the past week and antibiotics have not helped it. So my morning started off with waking up too late, John heading out the door really early (I will hardly see him for the next 7 days) because we have a medical mission team here. On the way to school, the baby vomitted all over himself and then tried to pick it up and eat it. It smelled horrible! I forgot how much I dislike vomit. Anyhoo, I was able to get to school while almost running out of gas. Upon arrival, I cleaned up little bit and then I made it back home to a very disasterous house, only to find out that the empleada couldn't come until much later. Normally I don't let it get bad unless I know she is coming. I finally got an appointment for Avery and we sepent 2 hours at the dentist while she was getting a root canal. She had a lot of blood and puss and it almost made me sick. There was an equal amount of crying as well. It truly made me sad. Then I came and found out that Parker had lost his allowance and Ally lost her glasses. Did I mention my pet peeve is "lost" stuff. And then the empleada had "cleaned" the house, but honestly she did a terrible job today. I don't know what was up with that. I kept having to go around and tell her things she missed. And to top it all off, I had to change our vacation dates because my friend changed her wedding date and accidentally forgot to tell me. After an hour on the phone with Expedia, it cost me $160 extra dollars to move the dates earlier up in August. So nothing major bad happened today, but it just seemed like small little fires all today. There was no reason in sharing all this except to give you something to read.

It does always seem that things get chaotic whenever there is a mission team here.

If you get a chance, please pray for Avery's infection (she did have a fever from it today) and the medical mission team.

Finally!!!!!

Just very recently God has blessed us a little financially through the yard sale and some love offerings. It is so refreshing after struggling so much the past 6 months with our money. Anyway, we were able to book a vacation for just John and me. It is the first time in almost 3 years we have been alone together overnight. We need this time of refreshing BADLY! The child care, in Florida, is all lined up and we will be going to the island of the Dominican Republic to spend time on the Caribbean Beach at an adults only ALL inclusive resort. We got such an incredible deal (thank you God). We will be gone from Aug. 28 - Sep. 3. Take a look at where we will be staying ALONE and try not to covet too much. All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you LORD!!!!! You are so good to us.

And this is where we are going!

We are going to be like little kids, newlyweds and life-long partners all rolled into one.

We're in the money

Yesterday's garage sale was beyond successful. We had two van loads of stuff and we left with one small box of leftovers. And...we made a whopping $1,100. Yes DOLLARS! We now have enough to buy our waterpark passes and for Ally and I to go on a 3 day Disney cruise with my friend Jenn. YEAH! We are so happy. Last night we took the entire family to eat Sushi as a special treat! Yes, my kids eat sushi! :) I have never had such a successful yard sale before and we only sold "extra" stuff that we had. I will write more about the experience later because it was quite different than a typical American garage sale. Have a blessed Sunday!

Garage Sale

Okay, so I closed it down and opened it up again - the blog that is. I can't make up my mind.

Anyway, tomorrow is the GRAND Garage Sale at the kid's school. We spent all day pricing our items and are hoping for at least $300 to go towards our Disney Waterpark Passes. Say a prayer for us. We are expecting about 300-400 Peruvians and we are told it will be a mad house. We are taking all of our kids with us and Maria is coming to help us out. I have no idea what I would do with her. She is like paid family! :)

Okay, please say a prayer for Jaxson as he is sick now. Ally feels better, though. And I hope to post some pictures of our recent happenings. Miles is such a cutey. I can't wait for you to see him. He is everywhere and into everything. He is now pulling up as much as he can and I suspect once he gets his legs underneath him that he'll be toddling around everywhere. Oh how I wish he would stop growing. :)

Have a great night!

Life Goes on without the Phams :)

We found out that Sunday's event continued without us. The 1 p.m. lunch was not ready until 4 p.m. and the 2:30 p.m. service was held at 5 p.m. I wonder if God was just trying to get us out of the way. :) About 20 adults, plus a ton of kids, showed up to the outreach. I can't imagine if my kids didn't eat until 4 p.m. for lunch. They were already climbing the walls at 2:30 p.m. Oh well! At least it continued and apparently went well for those involved. I am glad to hear the good news.

Jaxson is still having urological issues.
Avery is having behavior issues.
Ally has been sick for the past 2 days.
Parker has been healthy, happy and joyful.
Miles has a nasty diaper rash again. I think he is having a food allergy on his bottom.
John has had a super busy ministry week.
And me....well, I am happy, joyful and a bit tired.

Sunday's Story

Instead of retelling a very long story, I will quickly tell you why Sunday's ministry event was a bust:

Another missionary returned our tent to us on Sunday, an hour before the event, without the instructions. You can't set it up without the instructions and it is a ministry tent. Thus, it is no good and we couldn't use it.

John got a migraine as soon as he found out about the tent. I had to rush to where he was to give him an injection in his rear-end. That is not my favorite thing to do.

The people who were hosting the event at their "house" were tearing it down. And they continued to tear it down while we were all there. It was so digusting. Think bugs, spiders, tons of dust, dirt, mold, broken wood, nails, etc...

And there was a lady cooking in the house while they were doing this. Everything was flying over to where she was cooking.

The food was suppose to be READY TO EAT at 1 p.m. and then the service at 2:30 p.m. By 2:30 p.m. the food still had at least an hour left to be cooked. We had talked about the plan with them at least 3 times before the day of the event. My kids were breaking down from hunger and lack of naps and the filth of the walls they were breaking down. They did not stick to the plan we made and made their own plan.

The men were suppose to be enjoying the day, not tearing down walls.

If they invited any neighbors, they certainly didn't show up before we left. We never saw the first person besides the regular church people. And several people were VERY sick from that house being torn down. Now Ally is sick and I do believe it was from that house.

We finally had to leave because John was so sick with the migraine, the kids were starving and the event was just a bust. We were just sitting around waiting and waiting. John had to preach that night at a local church so he really needed to get home and get better because he could NOT cancel his commitment.

The entire day was very disappointing. We have never left an event before, but if you saw the conditions we were in, you would've left as well. It was not safe or sanitary to have children in or around that. I don't understand why they couldn't wait until after the event to do this. Anyway, not sure if anyone ever showed up or not. So that was our day in a very, very brief nutshell. It could not have been any less successful! We both were struggling culturally with all that was going on around us. I was sitting in the sun with the baby and John came over and asked if I was okay. I said to him, "John, I am just really struggling right now." And he sweetly said, "Me, too! Me, too!" If John is struggling as well, then I know it's a difficult situation.

We still have a lot to learn and a lot to adjust too!

Sweet Baby

Yesterday's ministry event was a failure on ALL levels. It was one of the lowest points we have had as missionaries. I will write the story out in a few days when I have more time. It was a bummer and really a disaster.

But some sweet news: this morning when I went to get our little peanut from his crib, He was sitting straight up all on his own. I'm so glad we changed his crib this weekend. He was just smiling like he was all proud of himself.

After a great, besides yesterday, 3 day week, the kids go back to school tomorrow. Jaxson will be home with us and it's a good thing since I think he has a UTI or something going on. The kids have 3 weeks of school left and then they are done and will be home with us until next February (if they go back to Fetzer in Feb.).

Well, it's almost midnight and I need to go to sleep. The sun will be rising before I know it.

Life Stuff

Babies grow up way to fast. Yesterday Miles turned 8 months old. And today John had to adjust his crib so that the matress is lower. Miles can finally go from an all fours position to sitting up by himself. You know what that means is next? Pulling up on EVERYTHING and then walking! He is already grabbing onto my clothes and pulling himself up a little bit. The good news is that as active as he is, he is still super content to just be in my arms and chill. Praise God, he is such a calm, non-hyper boy.

Do you know how I always say that it takes me 20 minutes to drive about a mile and that I can run there faster than my car will take me in the bad traffic. Well, last night we finally put it to the test. We were stuck in miserable traffic and I happened to be wearing my running shoes. So picture me in a long sleeve shirt (regular bra....ouch), with a black hoody, jeans and my running shoes. I hop out of the van, with John's permission of course, in rush hour traffic and take off running to see who is going to get home first. All I could think was that I wish I had my sports bra on. I wanted to take the jacket off so badly, but it was an extra measure of support that I need. :) I was sweating so badly as I was booking it as fast I possibly could. Unfortunately, the street that I was counting on for the traffic to continue to be horrible on, was actually REALLY clear so John was able to make MUCH better time than he normally would. He picked me up 3 blocks from our house. Not bad, huh! I was seriously running like someone was chasing me. I wish I had my GPS watch on to know how fast I was running because at times I felt like I was in an almost sprint to beat him home. It must've looked soo funny to the passerbys to see a white gringa racing in jeans and a hoody. It probably looked as if someone was chasing me, but there was no one behind me. It was so much fun to do that and I hope we can put it to the test again because I know I can beat him if the other street is as busy as it usually is. I'll keep you posted!!! :)

Tomorrow is a HUGE ministry, outreach event that we are having in Gosen. It is going to be so much fun and we are taking the whole family. Please pray for new people attend and for it to be successful and for lives to be touched.

Honesty

Every since last week's drama I have had zero desire to "put myself out there" and blog. I know I am among friends (like 10 girlfriends who KNOW me), but my spirit was a little crushed. I have talked to hubby about it extensively because blogging is just an outlet for me that I REALLY need while we are living overseas. So many things happen that I want to blog about. Like today, I found out that my favorite Peruvian entrada, La Causa Rellena de Pollo, has 1,100 calories. But will you think I'm obsessed for sharing that I was duped by my neighbor into believing that it is actually healthy because it's made with potatoes? By the way, it's unbelievably delicious. I should've know that nothing that yummy could actually be low in calories. But to blog about something like that would be showing you a part of me that might open me up for judgement and I feel overly judged and critiqued already, from last week. So....I'm kind of in limbo and seeking the Lord and asking Him to remind me that what people think of me is not what is important. Living a life that honors Him and is genuine and righteous IS important. And the rest....well, I can't worry about it now can I?

But...I should be worrying about a yummy peruvian dish that packs as many calories as a Big Mac. :)

There is a mission team coming here at the beginning of June and if you need to send us anything, you may send it to this man and he will bring it to us!

Kyle Ray
209 S Beech St
Winnsboro, TX 75494

Last night we received an e-mail from our boss asking us to pray about serving in either Bolivia or Columbia. WOW! Honestly, I want to go to Columbia so bad that I would simply prefer to just toss out Bolivia, but I will pray and seek the Lord and His direction about this. One good thing, so far, about BOlivia is that one of my running girlfriends from language school lives in Bolivia. She was a huge blessing to me and I would love to live in the same city as her since we connected so easily. But that is obviously not what I would base the decision on. I'm rambling. Just pray!

Why can't I?

As Christians we are called to be "peacemakers." This might sound like an easy charge, but honestly it is one of the hardest for me. When someone steps on my toes or attacks me, my natural response is to pounce like a tiger and destroy using my tongue. And as we all know, the Bible says that just a spark from the tongue can start a huge wildfire; which is why we are also called to control our tongue and not lash out like the so called "fool." But there have been moments in my life this week when I have wanted to just be the fool. I have wanted to forget peace and pursue my own personal justice and let the other party know exactly how they can step off. But God's word is right beside me, nudging me, prompting me, begging me to make a choice that is truly different; a choice that is not natural to my flesh; a choice that most of the world doesn't make. And that choice is to set my so called "rights" aside and pursue brotherly love, pursue kindness, give a gentle response, and to turn the other cheek. I asked my hubby yesterday why other Christians get to "speak" their minds, put other people in their place and tell me what they think of me in a less than gentle way out of a so called "concern" but yet my response has to be pretty much nothing in order to not sin and damage my witness? Why can't I just lash back and say what I am really thinking and observing? Why can't I just step up to the plate and swing really hard; you know, hit a home run with my words? I can't because I am a follower of Christ. I bear the name Christian and to follow Christ means to go a different way. But I still ask my self why other so called "followers" can do and say the things I really want to do, but yet I can't and I don't. Do you get what I'm saying? Sometimes that is the hardest struggle for me. I want to justify and defend myself. But then I think of the ONE (Jesus) who was beaten, accused, killed and yet he answered in peace and wisdom or He was silent. He didn't respond AT ALL, the way that I want to respond. The verse that has come up in my mind these past few days is the verse from Hebrews that says, "Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." And as I meditate on this verse, I think of how many of those "sinful" men really believed they were doing the right thing as they mercilessly beat our Savior to death. I have a Savior who I can look to that understands, set the example and through His example I should not grow eary and lose heart. But I confess....I am tired, beat-up and really angry inside. My outside has been that of a peace-maker, but my heart is anything but peaceful. I share all this to say that making the right choice is not always the easy choice. I know God is going to calm the storm inside of my heart and mind and I truly hope that in some small way He is honored by the fact that I am not retaliating like my flesh so badly wants to.

Oliver Twist

I'm still alive. No worries. I had a few emotionally rough days, but God uses all things to draw me closer to Him and to teach me areas that I need to be strengthened in.

My blog only has very few readers, all women, and only my closests girlfriends. If you are reading this blog, it is because I trust you greatly and you have been a blessing to my life over the years and I know that you understand me and accept me - the good and the bad. You are one of my dear friends!

Tonight the kids were in their first ever musical, Oliver Twist. It was so adorable and they all did excellent jobs. John and I were the proud parents of 3 very excited and nervous children. Afterwards, we made sure to bring them flowers. Ally kept hers, but the two boys decided to give theirs to the director of the musical and also to one of the teacher's who played the piano. I was so proud of them for sharing. The entire night was so special and it was one of those moments were I was glad they were in school so they could have this kind of wholesome, fun opportunity. Pictures to come!

Cookies, Cookies and Money

Be on the lookout one day this week for new pictures. I have been saving them up and will have quite a few.

Yesterday John was not feeling well so as he was resting in the morning, the kids and I made about 10 dozen, at least, chocolate chip cookies. We packaged them up, made signs, prayed over our endeavor and off they went around the neighborhood to sell them. They only took about 15 at a time and I explained to them "supply and demand." We only made a few dozen cookies the first batch, but when the kids kept returning home every 20 minutes or so with an empty plate of cookies, we decided to whip up some more. We even had girls coming to our door to by them. The kids made sure to hand out free samples so that people could taste how delicious they were before they bought them. This is a popular thing here in Peru and I can't tell you how well it works. So many times I have purchased a product I didn't need or want just based on how good the free sample tasted. I digress! We sold every single last cookie as fast I could possibly bake them. At the end of the joint venture, we hade made a grand total of $26. I really think we need to raise the price next time. The kids split the proifts 3 ways and the person who was in charge (the boss), usually got a dollar more than the other kids because that is how it is in real life. It was such a great experience and an incredible lesson in business and economics. I feel like they learned some valuable lessons yesterday about team work, getting along with your fellow workers, marketing your product, selling your product and cost revenue. We are going to try to do this more often since the neighbors were so in love with our chocolate chips cookies. I might add that chocolate chip cookies are not really common around here. The chips costs a lot of money and aren't that easy to find. Of course, mine were brought in by a mission team. I think if we wanted to start of a business of just selling homemade chocolate chip cookies, that we could do quite well here. Some of my neighbors have asked for my special recipe, but I will never give away my secrets. mwwwaaaahhaaaaaaahaaaaaaa!!1

We are off to love on the people in Gosen where John is trying to plant a new, small house church. Please pray that we are an effective witness. I wish I had some cookies to take them.

I almost forgot to tell you that this morning John took the kids to the local mercado so that they could by a few little things with their well earned money.

Nothing Interesting

Ever since my hospital stay last week, I have been uninspired to blog. Maybe it's because I don't have anything interesting to write about at this particular stage in our life. We are extremely busy meeting the needs of five little kids. And any free moment we have we are probably sleeping so that we can have the energy to meet their needs. :) As of late, we have been having at least 3 doctor's appointments a week because we are trying to get all of our medical paperwork submitted to our mission so that we can return to America. All missionaries have to do this each time they go back for furlough and since there are 7 of us, well...you can imagine, I'm sure.

Some recent happenings:

Ally had to get glasses as well. So now 2 of my 3 oldest children have glasses. I wonder how Avery and Miles will fare as they get older.

One of my college friends, who came to Costa Rica when I lived there, is engaged. She is marrying a guy that I, and a lady from my language school in C.R., hooked her up with. 2 years later and they finally got engaged this past weekend. And guess who will be a Bride's Maid? Yep, your's truly! I am super excited.

Baby Miles is crying A LOT these days. He has had a constant cold for about 8 weeks and now he is teething. He is about to cut his 3rd tooth in less than a month and this one is really hurting him. His clothes are constantly wet and I feel so bad for him.

We are busily preparing for our Stateside Assignment. There are so many little odds and ends that we have to do. Our calendar is filling up fast, so if you want us to come to your church, please let us know as soon as possible. John has finished with his seminary class which means we will be getting a raise soon (praise the Lord because we really need it) and it frees him up to be able to work on the stuff for America. With all these kids, I find it very difficult to make phone calls and do paperwork type stuff. That is probably another reason I haven't been on the computer much lately - no time. Anyway, thanks for checking in. Hopefully our lives will get interesting and I will have something to post soon!

Mother's Day Happiness

This marks our 3rd mother's day out of the country. And FINALLY....no tears! God has shown me over these past few years that I can be a mother anywhere and that I can honor my mother figures anywhere! :) I am so happy to have my five children and I am striving to be the wife and mother that God wants me to be. The biggest lesson I have learned is that I can't be successful in that if I am not studying His word everyday. I just can't! I fail completely on my own.

The weather is perfectly spring like today and it is such a perfect way to celebrate this wonderful day with my five blessings here in Peru. It's taken awhile, but I can say that I am finally at peace with being away from my loved ones on holidays.

April-May Newsletter

Dear Friends,

We are on a countdown to our Stateside Assignment that will begin on July 31 and will carry us through to January 31, 2011. Can you believe we packed up, sold our home, went to training in Virginia and then moved overseas 3 years ago? And what a crazy, up and down, adventure we have lived over that time. Recently, we had the privilege of Baptizing 8 believers, some new, in the Lurin River here in Peru. That day was such a testimony to what God is doing here among the Urban Poor that we work with. As I sat, watching the baptisms and snapping Photos, I was filled with 'awe" at my husband and how "effective" he has been. I would be lying if I didn't admit there was some jealousy as well. I wanted to be responsible for these new believers coming to Christ. I wanted to be the one that they looked up to. I wanted to be able to say that I had come to Peru and that I had done "all of this." I shared my selfish sentiments with John that night, while I was praising him for how proud of him I am, and he lovingly remind me that everything that has happened since we got here, the two small church plants, the 100's of new believers, the new believers bringing a ton of people, the visibly changed lives in several folks, the 14 Baptisms, the nationals that have stepped up to lead the churches, NONE of them have been because of us. We went through each scenario and realized that behind the scenes God was already working, already preparing a way, already had planted seeds, moved in hearts and had been doing things that we never could do for these people. It is easy, as a missionary, to want to take credit when things are going well, and we probably easily could, but as we ponder and review the happenings of our last 2 years here in Peru, and our year of ministry in Costa Rica, we humbly confess it was all the work of God's hand. So many things have happened that we could not have construed, constructed or manipulated to happen. They have just, so to speak, fallen in our lap. And, of course, we know who dropped them there. :)

The church plant that was started in Oasis is going well. There are about 15 solid members/believers and they are dedicated to reaching their own community. They desire for their neighbors to know Christ and for him to have Lordship in their lives. John is continuing to train, Alberto, the national Pastor that God is raising up to lead the people there. And John has started another church plant, also a HUGE God thing, with a sweet family called the Pena's. Orlando and Brigida are hosting a church service in their home each Sunday afternoon. Usually their small little shack is packed full of people. A mission team will be coming next month to help us continue to reach that area to help grow the church plant as well as to disciple the believers and sew seeds for new ones as well.

Since March, we have already had two teams: First Baptist McComb from McComb, MIssissippi and William Carrey from Mississippi. This summer we will host 3 more teams: one from Winssboro, Texas, one from Mandeville, Louisiana and the other from our home church, First Baptist St. Cloud. It will be a busy few months as we continue to do our medical paperwork for the IMB, host the teams, and prepare to pack up and leave our Peru home and ministry for 6 months. While in Florida, we plan to rest and work diligently to motivate the local churches to partner with the Southern Baptist Missionaries around the world through praying, going or giving.

On the home front, I (Jessica) am doing a weekly Bible study with our house helper, Maria, who is also a part of one of the church plants. Since she works in our home twice a week, it is easy for me to do this study with her. We are learning a lot together and it also helps me practice my Spanish. We also attend a church here in Lima, when we have time, and two of the Pastor's daughters have been coming over weekly to practice Spanish and English with me. We trade off languages and since we all speak at about the same level it is a good fit. The kids are doing well, but there is at least one child who is sick weekly. This has been going on since November of 2009 and we are hoping that the illness will end sometime soon. Parker, Ally and Jaxson are thriving in school while Avery is happy to be the big sister to her little brother, Miles, who is now 7 months old. Avery is learning to write and loves to help me in the kitchen. Miles has two teeth now and they are his top incisors so he looks like a little vampire. He is also trying to crawl and sits up very well.

As for the future, right now, the plan is that we will be returning to Peru in January, but it looks like sometime after we return we will be relocating to another assignment IN South America. Please pray for us as we are going to accept a future position that was offered to us to pray about. Please pray that God would make it clear to us as to what country and city we should be relocated to. We both have HUGE hearts for Columbia (don't freak out) and are hoping this is where God opens the doors.

Thank you for partnering with us in encouragement, friendship, e-mails, phone-calls, care-packages and prayers. We love each one of you dearly and it your dedication to this work that keeps us going through the difficult seasons.

Sincerely,

John, Jessica, Parker, Ally, Jaxson, Avery and Miles.

If you would like us to speak at your church (Sunday school, Worship service, women's group, men's group, etc...) during our Stateside Assignment, please let us know as soon as possible. It would be our pleasure to help get your church excited about what God is doing in other parts of the world.

Baptism Pictures are on our private blog: phamilyof7.blogspot.com Let me know if you need an invitation to view them.

Rip-Roaring and Ready To Go

This morning I felt a little weak and tired, but now I am rip-roaring and ready to go. Boy do I bounce back fast! It is taking ALL of my energy just to keep myself in bed and resting. My tummy seems to be 100% and I feel energized and ready to run another half-marathon. This must TOTALLY be from all of your prayers. I can't see how I could go so quickly from to the state I was in to how I am now without God's hand of grace healing me through medicines and in His own way. I feel so good. I am sticking to doctor's orders by resting, but it is so hard for me. I want to make supper, clean the house, start working on my IMB list, clean out all the closets, etc., etc. But instead, I have read 5 children's books, cuddled with 3 kids, put together 3 puzzles, watched Avery and Miles dance to no less than 10 songs and have nursed my baby, happily, as often as I wanted. Oh yeh, and I ate a chocolate bar since the hospital insisted on serving me prison food. I am suppose to stay in bed tomorrow, too, but there is no way that is going to happen. I am feeling way too good. I am going to be the judge of my own body. Hopefully tomorrow, Lord willing, I will be up and at em' and then we will go from there! Thank you so much for your prayers and concern. It certainly was a very difficult, painful dilemma and I am glad it too has passed.

Home James Home

I am home from the hospital; weak and tired, but home. I am on bed rest for the next 2-3 days and can resume normal activities on Monday. Thank you for your prayers. The mission team left tonight and I was able to say good-bye to them. I cried my eyes out. I love them so much. Thank you for your prayers. I am so excited to be home and with my babies. And the baby is nursing again because I found out that I CAN nurse while taking Cipro. Hopefully, tomorrow my tummy will be back to 100% normal and then my strength will come back. I am looking forward to the rest and cuddling with the kids in bed.

Alive

Long story, but after monitoring me in the ER yesterday for about 8 hours, they admitted me into the hospital. I was suppose to go home this morning, but it is not looking good since the main symptom, if you know what I mean, has flared up with a vengence. The dr. said I was extremely dehydrated with Salmonella poisoining from something I ate. The baby cannot be nursed while I am on all these meds because he refuses a bottle. John cannot visit because it takes almost an hour to get here and an hour back even though it's probably only 10 miles each way. It's just not feasible, so I told him to stay home to make his life easier. I am really struggling. I want my family and friends and just to feel better. I know I can hold out for 3 more months. Thank you for praying. I better go read Ephesians and take every thought captive.

Ready to be in Florida....

Prayer needed

Remember when I was in the hospital a year and a half ago for a bacterial infection (shigella) in my intestines? Well, it's that bad or worse this time around! It started yesterday morning at 8 a.m. and has continued to go strong for the past 24 hours, adding to it body aches, fever and headache from dehydration. I might as well just make a bed on the bathroom floor since I'm in there ever 8 minutes anyway (literally). It hasn't started to let up AT ALL and I am sure that I have E-coli from my adventurous, Peruvian eating. It was bound to catch up with me sooner or later. John is having to cancel working with the team today to take care of the kids and get me to the doctor ASAP so I don't end up hospitalized again. At this rate, it is leading to that. Anyway, please pray for Him has he wears many hats today, for me to get some relief quickly, for the kids, and for the mission team as they work without their missionary today.

Half marathon

I ran and completed the half-marathon yesterday. I accomplished my "time" goal and had a wonderful, inspiring, tearful (in a good way) day. If you ever get a chance to be at the finish line of a full-marathon, I suggest that you put it on your list of things to do before you die. I wept as people finished the marathon and gave all they had to cross the finish line. Maybe since I know the training and hard work that goes into being able to beat your body and conquer 26.2 miles, it was exceptionally emotional for me. I was the tall, blonde gringo standing at the finish line hollering, "Se puede, se puede. Bravo. Bien hecho. Vamos. Da le, da le. Muy Bien. Bien hecho!" I had a blast and loved encouraging the runners as they came in the llegada. :)

I was also greatly inspired by the man who I saw running the 10k (6.2 miles) who only has one leg and used a crutch for the leg that was missing. He only used 1 crutch!!! I got goose-bumps when I thought of him, and when my leg start hurting when I was running, I recalled the immense pain that he must be in with that crutch under his arm and it inspired me to keep going and suck it up. When we ran passed him, the entire group start cheering and calling him "Champion." He is a champion and it is people like him, who keep going and fighting despite adversity, that help drive me to run better, harder faster and to not give up and also to be so thankful for my incredibly excellent health! :)

There were about 9,000 runners for all 3 races yesterday. Maybe next year you can think about coming here, in May, to run your first long distance road race. We would love to have you. It is one of the best races I have ever done in my life and I hope to do it again next year, but I am going for the full marathon next year.

And I thank the Lord for allowing my leg to hold up for 13.2 miles. I couldn't have asked for a better day or experience.

To top it all off, we joined the team and John in Oasis and I successfully translated 2 Bible stories from English to Spanish and I had a few errors, but I actually did it. Wow! My Spanish is still there, improving daily and coming back to me rapidly. I am gaining more and more confidence and it felt so good to be sharing with the Peruvians again. I loved it!