THIS WEEK

September 22, 2010

Everyone loves the hammock (even the chicken?).




A common sighting – cows in our yard. Ginny is trying to shew this one away. This particular cow finds his way in several times a day.


Another common sight around our house is one of the kids taking care of Julia. They love her so much.


Julia is smiling all the time now. She is so precious!






Ryan won – he had the first pique of this term (a burrowing flee)….sorry no picture this time.

Ryan and Jeff took a bus to Asuncion Monday and brought back the mobile clinic the following day. They were covered in red dirt when they got back. The mobile clinic sucks it in. Many people have been asking him when he will start seeing patients. He has decided to see patients every weekday here at our house from 8-12. Last term he also worked at the health outpost, but it isn’t the optimal place for evangelism. At our house, Jeff is free to share the gospel, share bible stories and pray with each patient.

Pedro came over to pull weeds in my garden and prepare the soil for me to plant. He brought with him a gift of small tomato plants (which he planted) and lima bean seeds (which he also planted). While he was working, Titiana brought me baby lettuce plants, so he planted those and Alva brought over cucumber seeds. All I had left to plant was carrots and green beans, so I asked him to do those while he was at it. I feel bad that I someone else planted my garden, but it just kind of worked out that way. I also have green onions, squash, and watermelon growing.
People have given us all kinds of things to show their thankfulness that we are back - mandioca, eggs, honey, bunches and bunches of bananas, cabbage and other fruits and vegetables. We feel very blessed. Some people truly give out of their “widow’s mite”.

Our neighbor brought us a gift of a mother chicken and her 11 babies (born that day). What an incredible gift! Plus, this week we had 9 chickies hatch. The kids are excited! Jeff worked hard the first few days back to repair our chicken coop.


Joshua and Ginny holding the new ducklings - Joshua's is still wet.


Micah trying so hard not to squeeze the duckling too tight


Micah swimming with the experts


In some ways life is so much simpler here. We don’t have the hustle and bustle and constant coming and going like we did (and many do) in the states. However, sometimes just the everyday household tasks can consume all your time. Our house has to be swept and mopped everyday because of the red dirt. Clothes are hung on the line. Dishes are hand washed. Bread is handmade in order to have sandwiches for lunch. There are no shortcuts to cleaning or cooking. Want meat? You have to track it down by asking various neighbors if they know anyone who has recently killed a pig. Sometimes you wait days and sometimes you hit “the mother load”, as Jeff did recently. We had no meat in the house (chicken and ground beef I have to get in the capital 5 hours away), so I sent Jeff to find some. He came home with 35lbs of pork (for $40). We spent the next 1 ½ hour cutting it off the bone and packaging it up to freeze.

The kids have been a tremendous help. I employ them anytime I can. Tyler and Ginny love working in the kitchen and Joshua loves going to the store for me. We’ve assigned jobs – Tyler waters the garden, Ginny feeds the animals, Joshua pick up all the fruit in the yard, and Ryan burns the trash. The 3 older kids rotate dishes each night.


Ginny uses goggles when she cuts onions.


The kids definitely enjoy having more freedom here than in the states. They can walk to the store for me and ride their bikes on the “street”.


Ryan's trash burning chore


Ginny asked Joshua, “How long have we been here in this house?” Joshua replied, “6 days.” Ginny said, “Wow! That’s a long time.” I laughed to myself. That is a definition of a missionary kid – always on the move. When I stopped long enough to think about it – I figured we’d been living out of a suitcase for 4 months! May 17th we left on our West Coast trip (which brought us back to Belton for a week before flying to Paraguay) and September 15th we were finally able to unpack in our house. Through it all, the kids have been such troopers and I am thankful for their adventurous spirit. I am also so thankful for our close-knit family. One of joys of raising a big family (something I missed out on growing up as an only child) is that we can easily share each other’s burdens. When one person says, “I don’t know how to speak to my friend in Spanish.” We ALL can relate because we are ALL learning a new language. When one says, “I wish we could stay in one home forever.” We can ALL empathize, because we all feel a bit of that too. I tell my kids all the time – what a blessing it is to have so many siblings going through the same things….who better to know how to pray for you.

About prayer – THANK YOU so much for your prayers over our family. We covet them, we feel them and we need them! God is so faithful and allows us to lack nothing. We’d feel honored to share your burdens too. You too are in a mission field and need spiritual covering! Please never hesitate to write us with prayer requests. We serve a great God.