After not really leaving the house except for absolute necessity and not speaking to any nationals for 5 days, I FORCED myself to get out this morning and go to the gym. I mean, I forced myself! I celebrated a small victory in my head once I arrived. I came to "a" conclusion when I was fumbling through the Tai-Bo class that, if the way I am accustomed to doing it, I could've taught. I was looking at myself in the mirror next to all of these Peruvians, and even if I changed my hair color, I would still have light skin, blue eyes, and would hover 2-3 inches in height over everyone. So there I stood, in the back of class, looking like the scared green giant. The teacher didn't explain the moves, he just did them. And they weren't moves, they were 45 second, choreographed, martial arts routines that ALL of the people have done many times before. If I was a master in martials arts, I might have been able to know what they were doing. Or if I had studied dance for like 10 years or had some inclination of rhythm, I might have had a clue as to what I should do. Aerobics, exercise and Tai-bo are NOT new to me, but I was seriously a "gringo" caught in the headlights! So what is the problem (the one I am experiencing, not the problem with the class)? The problem with the class is simply this: I AM NOT IN NORTH AMERICA ANYMORE! End of story.
MY problem is that I am experiencing Culture Stress. You see, I have been trying to adapt to this new culture, and things that were once easy and effortless have now become difficult, tiresome, and embarrasing. For example, running, the gym, speaking with people about daily things - all of these things used to be so easy and such stress relievers and now as I attempt to do them, they have become HUGE POINTS of stress for me. And guess what, IT'S ALL NORMAL! It just all came to me today during the class as I was trying get the stress out "through" exercise that I was feeling more stressed than ever.
So..... I fumbled around hysterically! My friend, Kitty, has a blog called youjustgottalaugh. And the rest of that sentence is....or you'll cry. Right there, in that class, I just started laughing. I laughed on the inside and on the outside, knowing that if I didn't, I would surely start crying right there.
John and I debriefed about what I'm going through and my experience and decided we need to do this everytime I come home. If you are interested, here is some insight into culture stress, which is different than culture shock. I am not in shock about the culture, I am just STRESSED trying to adapt to it. Make sense?
If you are interested, here are two links that share about culture stress:
http://www.missionarycare.com/brochures/br_culturestress.htm
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/10-22-2005-79509.asp
Even though Peru is new to me, Latin America is not! I think I jumped in and tried to "adapt" to Peru too quickly because I had already lived in Latin America for 13 months.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
First Day of Ministry
John wrote:
After weeks of moving, shopping, furnishing, waiting for installers, going to immigration, and settling in, today, I was able to go and visit a pastor and a partnering local school, in one of the areas that we will be working in, in preparation for a medical mission team that will be coming next July. It felt good to finally get started with ministry, though I had to depend on a veteran missionary to give drive me, since we still do not have a vehicle, which is being held up in red tape in customs. (a big prayer need)
Just as a summary, as church planters, we will be working in an area called the South Cone of Lima. This pretty much constitutes six of the thirty districts of Lima that are in the south part of Lima. Out of the six, for now, we will be focusing on the three largest and most densley populated. The areas are named "Villa Maria del Triunfo", "San Juan de Miraflores" and "Villa El Salvador". Each district has about 350,000 residents, while the square area of each is quite small, which makes the areas unbelievably densely populated. So in total we have over a million residents in our areas, not including the three we are not focusing on now. At the bottom of this blog, I found some statistics that can give you an idea of how some of our partner church cities compare in size, population and density to the three districts.
Anyways, I was such a blessing to shake hands with the pastor in Villa Maria, talk about ministry and strategy and then together visit the area where the medical mission team will be working. He also asked if I would preach this Sunday morning for there family emphasis weekend, along with another Peruvian pastor who is preaching Sunday night. But we have prior commitments on Sunday morning, as well as no way to actually get to the church, which is 45 minutes away. But I am sure he will ask again. I have been told to always keep one or two sermons in my back pocket, because pastors here like to have guest speakers, even if you are a first time visitor. Our friend John McLamb was sitting in church in Northern Lima and the pastor all of a sudden asked him to preach an impromptu sermon. That happened to me in Costa Rica. I showed up for a service at the House of Restoration and was asked to preach since the normal pastor did not show up. Just another fun part of living here in Latin America.
St. Cloud, Florida
- Population: 27,000
- Area: 9.2 sq mi (23.7 km²)
- People Density 2,934/sq mi (1,139/km²)
Orlando, Florida
- Population – 227,907
- Area: 101.0 sq mi (261.5 km²)
- People Density 2,180/sq mi (842/km²)
Yucca Valley, California
- Population: 25,500
- Area: 40 sq mi (103.7 km²)
- People Density 637/sq mi (245/km²)
Kansas City, Missouri
- Population: 447,306
- Area: 318.0 sq mi (823.7 km²)
- People Density 1,406/sq mi (543/km²)
Villa Maria del Triunfo
- Population: 355,761 (2005 census)
- Area: 27.2 sq mi (70.5 km²)
- People Density: 13,079/sq mi (5,041/km²)
Villa El Salvador
- Population: 367,436 (2005 census)
- Area: 13.6 sq mi (35.4 km²)
- People Density: 27,017/sq mi (10,362/km²)
San Juan de Miraflores
- Population: 335,237 (2005 census)
- Area: 9.3 sq mi (23.9 km²)
- People Density: 36,047/sq mi (13,979/km²)
After weeks of moving, shopping, furnishing, waiting for installers, going to immigration, and settling in, today, I was able to go and visit a pastor and a partnering local school, in one of the areas that we will be working in, in preparation for a medical mission team that will be coming next July. It felt good to finally get started with ministry, though I had to depend on a veteran missionary to give drive me, since we still do not have a vehicle, which is being held up in red tape in customs. (a big prayer need)
Just as a summary, as church planters, we will be working in an area called the South Cone of Lima. This pretty much constitutes six of the thirty districts of Lima that are in the south part of Lima. Out of the six, for now, we will be focusing on the three largest and most densley populated. The areas are named "Villa Maria del Triunfo", "San Juan de Miraflores" and "Villa El Salvador". Each district has about 350,000 residents, while the square area of each is quite small, which makes the areas unbelievably densely populated. So in total we have over a million residents in our areas, not including the three we are not focusing on now. At the bottom of this blog, I found some statistics that can give you an idea of how some of our partner church cities compare in size, population and density to the three districts.
Anyways, I was such a blessing to shake hands with the pastor in Villa Maria, talk about ministry and strategy and then together visit the area where the medical mission team will be working. He also asked if I would preach this Sunday morning for there family emphasis weekend, along with another Peruvian pastor who is preaching Sunday night. But we have prior commitments on Sunday morning, as well as no way to actually get to the church, which is 45 minutes away. But I am sure he will ask again. I have been told to always keep one or two sermons in my back pocket, because pastors here like to have guest speakers, even if you are a first time visitor. Our friend John McLamb was sitting in church in Northern Lima and the pastor all of a sudden asked him to preach an impromptu sermon. That happened to me in Costa Rica. I showed up for a service at the House of Restoration and was asked to preach since the normal pastor did not show up. Just another fun part of living here in Latin America.
St. Cloud, Florida
- Population: 27,000
- Area: 9.2 sq mi (23.7 km²)
- People Density 2,934/sq mi (1,139/km²)
Orlando, Florida
- Population – 227,907
- Area: 101.0 sq mi (261.5 km²)
- People Density 2,180/sq mi (842/km²)
Yucca Valley, California
- Population: 25,500
- Area: 40 sq mi (103.7 km²)
- People Density 637/sq mi (245/km²)
Kansas City, Missouri
- Population: 447,306
- Area: 318.0 sq mi (823.7 km²)
- People Density 1,406/sq mi (543/km²)
Villa Maria del Triunfo
- Population: 355,761 (2005 census)
- Area: 27.2 sq mi (70.5 km²)
- People Density: 13,079/sq mi (5,041/km²)
Villa El Salvador
- Population: 367,436 (2005 census)
- Area: 13.6 sq mi (35.4 km²)
- People Density: 27,017/sq mi (10,362/km²)
San Juan de Miraflores
- Population: 335,237 (2005 census)
- Area: 9.3 sq mi (23.9 km²)
- People Density: 36,047/sq mi (13,979/km²)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Taking a break
I'm taking a computer break. It's too easy of an escape and too easy of a connection from my past, which isn't a bad thing, but is when I'm running from the present. Just need to focus on the here and now and Christ. I'll be back when God says! :) Love to you all.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
:(
I humbly ask you to pray for me. I am very UP and down. One minute I am happy and smiling and loving life here and the next I just want to go home to my comfy life in America. But then I realize I don't have a life there anymore. The reality of the situation has hit me and I am just plain sad. Please don't interpret this as unthankfulness, because I am soooooooooo, beyond words thankful for all the Lord has given us. But my heart just aches at the same time because as much as this might be as close as I can get to my life in America, well....it's just a carbon copy of the original. And my soul aches for the original. Gotta go before I cry a river. Please pray.
Dental Update
Parker's visit to the Dentist was different than we had expected. The doctor does not want to do a root canal (yesterday I actually spelled it "route" - see what Spanish has done to my brain?).
Parker's mouth is very infected. The doctor has to wait for the infection to subside and is planning to pull the tooth and put a spacer in next Tuesday. This is a baby molar that he will be without for at least 4 more years. So it's kind of a bummer that he doesn't think it's fixable or worthy of being fixed; not sure which one.
He came home crying and sad, but this is an opportunity that he is taking to trust God in all things. :)
Parker's mouth is very infected. The doctor has to wait for the infection to subside and is planning to pull the tooth and put a spacer in next Tuesday. This is a baby molar that he will be without for at least 4 more years. So it's kind of a bummer that he doesn't think it's fixable or worthy of being fixed; not sure which one.
He came home crying and sad, but this is an opportunity that he is taking to trust God in all things. :)
Monday, September 8, 2008
Dissecting the Cow's Eyeball
Our homeschooling curriculum said to dissect some cow eyeball's. So I ventured out in Lima and found me some cow eyeballs. Once I purchased them I realized there was no way, EVER, that I could possibly dissect them. So, my AWESOME hubby stepped up to the plate. WARNING! THESE MAY MAKE YOU SICK! :) Don't say I didn't warn you!
Parker holding the lense! Can you tell he was totally grossed out?
The kids posing in front of the eyeballs! This was before Ally vomitted from the smell and disgust of all of it. YES, I'm serious!
The inside of the eye-ball!
2 cow eye's before dissection!A day
In 1 day:
I homeschooled 2 children while battling a screaming baby
did breakfast, lunch, supper and clean-up
6 loads of laundry
hugged, kissed and comforted 4 children at various times
disciplined and instructed 4 children at various times
Went to tutoring for 1.5 hours
Took a sick child to the dentist
Made supper
Mopped the floor
went to the grocery store
Tucked 4 sweety-pies into bed and then
Collapsed on the couch from exhuastion just praising God for the day.
And I had lots of help from my husband and kiddos! And I don't have a maid because.....? Maybe I should rethink that! :)
I MISS LOUISA, our empleada for Costa Rica. But I do love being the woman of my house and taking care of things that my family needs.
Anyway, please pray for Parker. He has a serious infection in his jaw from a tooth problem and tomorrow he is having a route canal. In the meantime, he has been suffering tremendously. Bless his heart! He is crying a lot, laying around and really miserable. He can't fall asleep tonight and could really use your thoughts and prayers.
I homeschooled 2 children while battling a screaming baby
did breakfast, lunch, supper and clean-up
6 loads of laundry
hugged, kissed and comforted 4 children at various times
disciplined and instructed 4 children at various times
Went to tutoring for 1.5 hours
Took a sick child to the dentist
Made supper
Mopped the floor
went to the grocery store
Tucked 4 sweety-pies into bed and then
Collapsed on the couch from exhuastion just praising God for the day.
And I had lots of help from my husband and kiddos! And I don't have a maid because.....? Maybe I should rethink that! :)
I MISS LOUISA, our empleada for Costa Rica. But I do love being the woman of my house and taking care of things that my family needs.
Anyway, please pray for Parker. He has a serious infection in his jaw from a tooth problem and tomorrow he is having a route canal. In the meantime, he has been suffering tremendously. Bless his heart! He is crying a lot, laying around and really miserable. He can't fall asleep tonight and could really use your thoughts and prayers.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Things my babies say
Baby girl is speaking quite a bit. Last night as I was about to go to the grocery store she said, "I wanna gooooo. I wanna gooooo."
And I said, "No Avery, you have to stay home with daddy."
To which she replied, "I neber go. I neber go."
Remember, she's only 2 1/2.
We busted out laughing and the kids must have had her repeat that another 20 times because it was adorable an unexpected. And of course, I brought her with me.
And she calls her sippy cup....."my sicky pop." "Mommy, I need my sicky pop." :)
During church today,J.D. leaned over me, as the music was incredible, and he said, "Mommy, I hear that thingy from homeschooling. You know, that thingy. I hear that "melody." It was so precious! He was actually listening last week. Who knew?
Deeper thoughts:
The other day when baby girl was taking a bath in a storage tub, she said to me, "Mommy. Sit down. Sit down with me."
And it reminded me of Jesus and how He asks us to sit down with Him to forsake the calls of life. He says, "Sit down with me. Just sit down with me."
And I said, "No Avery, you have to stay home with daddy."
To which she replied, "I neber go. I neber go."
Remember, she's only 2 1/2.
We busted out laughing and the kids must have had her repeat that another 20 times because it was adorable an unexpected. And of course, I brought her with me.
And she calls her sippy cup....."my sicky pop." "Mommy, I need my sicky pop." :)
During church today,J.D. leaned over me, as the music was incredible, and he said, "Mommy, I hear that thingy from homeschooling. You know, that thingy. I hear that "melody." It was so precious! He was actually listening last week. Who knew?
Deeper thoughts:
The other day when baby girl was taking a bath in a storage tub, she said to me, "Mommy. Sit down. Sit down with me."
And it reminded me of Jesus and how He asks us to sit down with Him to forsake the calls of life. He says, "Sit down with me. Just sit down with me."
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Saturday and Contacting Us
Does anyone still read this?
We are having crazy electrical problems. Things working and then not working. We can only get the outlets to work if the water is running, but then the lights in the bathrooms go off and the hot water heater won't turn on at all. Everything just turns on and off like a fun house, except it's not so fun. :) An electrician said he will come at 3:30 p.m., but I won't hold my breath. The last 4 times that someone was suppose to come out, they were no calls, no shows, never to be heard from again (for glass, a window, internet, cable) which caused us to have to find new people.
I met with my new friends this morning for some more torture. We ran 8 miles total and my little dedo (oops, I mean, toe) is MAD! It is swollen and red and very, very angry with me. It hurt really bad at first, but once it gets numb I don't feel it anymore. :) Anyway, I'm really surpised I could run 8 miles, non-stop, but if you knew how slow we were running you'd understand why. I could go forever at that pace.
John is playing his first Softball game today. How fun!
Well, our phone number is 3217664043 if you want to call us.
If you ever need to send us something, please note the following:
Unwrap the package, place it in a brown or white padded envelope (various sizes okay). No boxes! You can send several padded envelopes, but there is no guarantee that anything in a box will actually get to us.
List the YARD SALE value of the item when you are sending it and only write the generic names of stuff. Like if it's a C.D. - media mail or something like that. All packages will be sent to our mission that has a 24 hour guard and not directly to our home, so you don't have to worry that I am posting our home address b/c I am not.
John or Jessica Pham
Mision Bautista
Apartado 18-0765
Lima 18
Peru
We are starting to feel more and more like this is home. God is growing our family closer together and I am revelling in raising my babies once again.
We are having crazy electrical problems. Things working and then not working. We can only get the outlets to work if the water is running, but then the lights in the bathrooms go off and the hot water heater won't turn on at all. Everything just turns on and off like a fun house, except it's not so fun. :) An electrician said he will come at 3:30 p.m., but I won't hold my breath. The last 4 times that someone was suppose to come out, they were no calls, no shows, never to be heard from again (for glass, a window, internet, cable) which caused us to have to find new people.
I met with my new friends this morning for some more torture. We ran 8 miles total and my little dedo (oops, I mean, toe) is MAD! It is swollen and red and very, very angry with me. It hurt really bad at first, but once it gets numb I don't feel it anymore. :) Anyway, I'm really surpised I could run 8 miles, non-stop, but if you knew how slow we were running you'd understand why. I could go forever at that pace.
John is playing his first Softball game today. How fun!
Well, our phone number is 3217664043 if you want to call us.
If you ever need to send us something, please note the following:
Unwrap the package, place it in a brown or white padded envelope (various sizes okay). No boxes! You can send several padded envelopes, but there is no guarantee that anything in a box will actually get to us.
List the YARD SALE value of the item when you are sending it and only write the generic names of stuff. Like if it's a C.D. - media mail or something like that. All packages will be sent to our mission that has a 24 hour guard and not directly to our home, so you don't have to worry that I am posting our home address b/c I am not.
John or Jessica Pham
Mision Bautista
Apartado 18-0765
Lima 18
Peru
We are starting to feel more and more like this is home. God is growing our family closer together and I am revelling in raising my babies once again.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Getting Settled feels good
John went out to our place of ministry yesterday, the South Cone area, and scoped it out for several hours with another missionary. He is praying and seeking the Lord for a plan to reach these people. It is still difficult to truly "start" as we have another year of language aquisition that we have to complete and no car as of now. But John is eager to get THE WORD out there.
Please pray dilligently that our van would be released from Customs. We were told that it has been there for awhile for no apparent reason and one day they will just decide to release it or they will wait for a bribe. This vehicle is essential to our ministry. Please pray it is released soon. We trust it will be released on God's perfect day.
I'm starting a private tuturing class on Monday at a school right down the street. I will take pictures. The place is adorable and literally 2 blocks away on MY street. The money for the tutor will be coming out of our pocket, but I have GOT to keep speaking and learning. I took a grammar test today (6 pages) because I don't think the women truly believed I knew Spanish and she wanted to assess where I am at. After the hour long, unexpected test, she said I fell into the advanced category. I better fall into advanced after 1 solid year in language school and having studied everything Spanish under the sun. I still had PLENTY of errors on the test and definitely I need to work on my "tu" mandatos among other things. We didn't speak the tu form in Costa Rica so I really shouldn't know this and also my prepositional verbs. BUT these are essential for speaking here in Peru. We didn't specifically study prepositional verbs so it makes sense I don't know them either. And I would like for the tutor to help me with Peruvian "slang" and the vocabulary of all the things that are different here. I am SUPER EXCITED to have a tutor/language companion. For now, I am only going to do it for 4 weeks, because it is expensive, and then we'll see if it is still needed afterwards. The school is going to give me a price for setting up a tutoring class for 3 of my children. The original price was $30 an hour for all 3 of them. NO WAY! Can't do that, but maybe they can come up with something better.
Oh yeh, almost forget. We have a PHONE NOW and internet. We are really getting settled. Who thought we'd be so "together" in only 3 weeks? And, I found a place to get the kids registered for soccer or other activities.
Found out our crate from the states will be sent, Lord willing, on Tuesday. It was delayed last week due to weather. It should take 7 days via boat to get here and then it is the customs waiting game again! That could be fast or slow. Let's pray for quickly.
Also, Parker's b-day is Sunday, Sept. 14th. He has ZERO friends here and is bummed to be celebrating without his good buddies. However, he is happy to have us. If you could please take a few minutes to e-mail him a little letter or card, I know it would REALLY make him smile. Thanks, your the best.
Please pray dilligently that our van would be released from Customs. We were told that it has been there for awhile for no apparent reason and one day they will just decide to release it or they will wait for a bribe. This vehicle is essential to our ministry. Please pray it is released soon. We trust it will be released on God's perfect day.
I'm starting a private tuturing class on Monday at a school right down the street. I will take pictures. The place is adorable and literally 2 blocks away on MY street. The money for the tutor will be coming out of our pocket, but I have GOT to keep speaking and learning. I took a grammar test today (6 pages) because I don't think the women truly believed I knew Spanish and she wanted to assess where I am at. After the hour long, unexpected test, she said I fell into the advanced category. I better fall into advanced after 1 solid year in language school and having studied everything Spanish under the sun. I still had PLENTY of errors on the test and definitely I need to work on my "tu" mandatos among other things. We didn't speak the tu form in Costa Rica so I really shouldn't know this and also my prepositional verbs. BUT these are essential for speaking here in Peru. We didn't specifically study prepositional verbs so it makes sense I don't know them either. And I would like for the tutor to help me with Peruvian "slang" and the vocabulary of all the things that are different here. I am SUPER EXCITED to have a tutor/language companion. For now, I am only going to do it for 4 weeks, because it is expensive, and then we'll see if it is still needed afterwards. The school is going to give me a price for setting up a tutoring class for 3 of my children. The original price was $30 an hour for all 3 of them. NO WAY! Can't do that, but maybe they can come up with something better.
Oh yeh, almost forget. We have a PHONE NOW and internet. We are really getting settled. Who thought we'd be so "together" in only 3 weeks? And, I found a place to get the kids registered for soccer or other activities.
Found out our crate from the states will be sent, Lord willing, on Tuesday. It was delayed last week due to weather. It should take 7 days via boat to get here and then it is the customs waiting game again! That could be fast or slow. Let's pray for quickly.
Also, Parker's b-day is Sunday, Sept. 14th. He has ZERO friends here and is bummed to be celebrating without his good buddies. However, he is happy to have us. If you could please take a few minutes to e-mail him a little letter or card, I know it would REALLY make him smile. Thanks, your the best.
I HAVE A FRIEND
Thought I needed another challenge so I went to running club again this a.m. Apparently, they DON'T meet on Fridays. However, one lady showed up because she is Marathon training. So we ran 5, very slow, miles together. Her name is Diana and she is SUPER! She lives less than half a mile from me, stays at home with her 2 1/2 year old and 10 month old. She is training for the New York Marathon and praise God does not speak English. We spent over an hour together running and talking and stretching and walking back to our apartments. WOW! I have a friend. She invited me to run with a group of them tomorrow for a "longer" run. Good grief! How many miles are we gonna do if 5 isn't long? :) hehehehe...I'm up for 7 or 8, but NO more.
Anyway, just wanted to share this provision.
More later about ministry...good stuff is stirring.
P.S. The running club is $20 a month!!! What???
Anyway, just wanted to share this provision.
More later about ministry...good stuff is stirring.
P.S. The running club is $20 a month!!! What???
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Immigration
Early this a.m. we ventured out to acquire our resident identification cards that are necessary for living here. I think it is the last step in our Visa, resident process. We had no idea what to expect, except that this outing could take all day.
Lots of HEAVY pollution in the downtown area of Lima; so much so that I could hardly breathe. We were greeted by a mad house at the Immigration Office and having 4 kids with us didn't seem to make the process speed up. Fortunately, we had an IMB representative, who is also a National, with us. We would've failed miserably without her. She told us NOT to speak any Spanish. Well, I messed up one time and she gave me the eye, but I kept it under wraps (at least while we were standing at the counter) after that.
4 hours later we walked away with our cards. You read that right! 4 hours later. And I must say that today was the BEST day I have had here in Lima so far. Truly!
We met an American family from Arequipa, Peru that was in town for the day working on some immigration stuff. They had 5 children (by the way, Marisa, if you are reading this, please send me your blog and e-mail, because I think someone ate it) about the same ages as ours and for almost 2 hours our kids had best-friends and I had a fellow American mom with many children to converse with. It was beautiful!
After they left, I befriended another woman, a Peruvian national. She was a delight to speak with and we hit it off very well. We exchanged numbers and she said she would love to teach me how to cook Peruvian food (her suggestion) and that if there was ANYTHING, ANYTHING, ANYTHING that I needed, to please call her. She has a 1 1/2 year old baby and stays home. I hope she will be my first new national friend. Her name is Kary.
We treated the kids to McDonalds Happy Meals as a "thank you" for behaving so splendidly in the madhouse of immigration. The day was void of whining, fighting, tantrums and potty breaks (only 1). The kids didn't even get lunch until 2:15 p.m. and were still abundantly pleasant. I Definitely feel that the effects of me being home with them again are starting to ripple into our everyday life in a very positive way.
Who knew a day at the immigration office would be a day of thrills and my favorite day here so far.
P.S. Thanks to my friend Jenn for calling my mom.
P.S.S. This website has changed my perspective and brought it back to Christ in a beautiful way - www.aholyexperience.com
Lots of HEAVY pollution in the downtown area of Lima; so much so that I could hardly breathe. We were greeted by a mad house at the Immigration Office and having 4 kids with us didn't seem to make the process speed up. Fortunately, we had an IMB representative, who is also a National, with us. We would've failed miserably without her. She told us NOT to speak any Spanish. Well, I messed up one time and she gave me the eye, but I kept it under wraps (at least while we were standing at the counter) after that.
4 hours later we walked away with our cards. You read that right! 4 hours later. And I must say that today was the BEST day I have had here in Lima so far. Truly!
We met an American family from Arequipa, Peru that was in town for the day working on some immigration stuff. They had 5 children (by the way, Marisa, if you are reading this, please send me your blog and e-mail, because I think someone ate it) about the same ages as ours and for almost 2 hours our kids had best-friends and I had a fellow American mom with many children to converse with. It was beautiful!
After they left, I befriended another woman, a Peruvian national. She was a delight to speak with and we hit it off very well. We exchanged numbers and she said she would love to teach me how to cook Peruvian food (her suggestion) and that if there was ANYTHING, ANYTHING, ANYTHING that I needed, to please call her. She has a 1 1/2 year old baby and stays home. I hope she will be my first new national friend. Her name is Kary.
We treated the kids to McDonalds Happy Meals as a "thank you" for behaving so splendidly in the madhouse of immigration. The day was void of whining, fighting, tantrums and potty breaks (only 1). The kids didn't even get lunch until 2:15 p.m. and were still abundantly pleasant. I Definitely feel that the effects of me being home with them again are starting to ripple into our everyday life in a very positive way.
Who knew a day at the immigration office would be a day of thrills and my favorite day here so far.
P.S. Thanks to my friend Jenn for calling my mom.
P.S.S. This website has changed my perspective and brought it back to Christ in a beautiful way - www.aholyexperience.com
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
What A Mother Must Sacrifice
If you are a mother (or father for that fact), I BEG you to read this. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of art I have read in such a long, long time. The tears could not be contained nor could the desire to wrap a little one in my nest and to assure that I continue plucking the best for them. Please read, and comment...you'll be glad you did.
http://aholyexperience.com/2008/08/what-mother-must-sacrifice.html
http://aholyexperience.com/2008/08/what-mother-must-sacrifice.html
Update
Please pray for John's dad. We received an e-mail that he has taken a turn for the worst. He is back on the feeding tube, cannot walk, talk or do anything. He is extremely weak and the doctor's do not, so far, no what is happening this time. He has now been in the hospital for 3 months - since May 15. We continue to covet your prayers because as of right now the e-mail made it sound like things are not good. Our financial/savings situation from moving into this place is so bleak that if something happened to him, we wouldn't even have enough to send John there, let alone the rest of us. He was thisclose to being fully recovered. He was walking, eating, gaining weight, talking, and now he is back to ground zero. We know God is HUGE and can heal him once again. We covet this.
Ran with the running club today.
Observations:
Super friendly, amazingly friendly and welcoming.
Very cold and wet by the beach in the morning.
Running and Spanish DO NOT mix!
Still couldn't understand them. They must think I am so dumb! I said "como," "mas despacio" and otra vez at least 10 times. UGH!
Thought it would be a casual 3-4 mile run. They ran me for 6 MILES!! NOT KIDDING! Totally wasn't prepared for that. But I finished and it was 7 if you include the half-mile each way to get there.
Toe is good! Still swollen, but feels great ONLY in my running shoes.
Going to run a 7K in September 21 with the group.
Can't wait to go back.
BTW: that 10K that I COULD NOT RUN was only 6 blocks from my house. I seriously almost cried when I saw this. It would've been my first race in 22 months.
I met with my 2 new language partners today. Oh, I forgot to mention this. I will in another blog, but I am just way too tired from getting up at the crack of dawn to run a gazillion miles. It went well and they were such a blessing to me. We also got cable today so at least now I CAN HEAR SPANISH and learn at my own pace from the television. Never thought I would be thankful to have a television in my house. I sure am now!
Tomorrow we go to pick up our resident ID's. We were told it could take ALL day. We are bringing all 4 kids. Please pray for us! :)
Homeschooling is back on with a vengeance. We did ALL subjects today (Bible, spelling, reading, writing, language, science). I thought I was going to fall over dead at 2:30 p.m. And I was only schooling 3. How do public school teachers do it? I do feel like it just gives me great time with each of them, but caffeine has become my new best friend.
God is working in my heart a lot these days as he is preparing us for ministry.
Still no car, internet or phone. We are ready for all 3, but God knows when it's best.
Ran with the running club today.
Observations:
Super friendly, amazingly friendly and welcoming.
Very cold and wet by the beach in the morning.
Running and Spanish DO NOT mix!
Still couldn't understand them. They must think I am so dumb! I said "como," "mas despacio" and otra vez at least 10 times. UGH!
Thought it would be a casual 3-4 mile run. They ran me for 6 MILES!! NOT KIDDING! Totally wasn't prepared for that. But I finished and it was 7 if you include the half-mile each way to get there.
Toe is good! Still swollen, but feels great ONLY in my running shoes.
Going to run a 7K in September 21 with the group.
Can't wait to go back.
BTW: that 10K that I COULD NOT RUN was only 6 blocks from my house. I seriously almost cried when I saw this. It would've been my first race in 22 months.
I met with my 2 new language partners today. Oh, I forgot to mention this. I will in another blog, but I am just way too tired from getting up at the crack of dawn to run a gazillion miles. It went well and they were such a blessing to me. We also got cable today so at least now I CAN HEAR SPANISH and learn at my own pace from the television. Never thought I would be thankful to have a television in my house. I sure am now!
Tomorrow we go to pick up our resident ID's. We were told it could take ALL day. We are bringing all 4 kids. Please pray for us! :)
Homeschooling is back on with a vengeance. We did ALL subjects today (Bible, spelling, reading, writing, language, science). I thought I was going to fall over dead at 2:30 p.m. And I was only schooling 3. How do public school teachers do it? I do feel like it just gives me great time with each of them, but caffeine has become my new best friend.
God is working in my heart a lot these days as he is preparing us for ministry.
Still no car, internet or phone. We are ready for all 3, but God knows when it's best.
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