DOORS...WHO NEEDS THEM?

In the new room there is a door to the outside.  The guy who installed the door accidentally took the key with him back to Asuncion, so it is temporarily locked.  We haven’t been able to get the key delivered via bus because of all the rain.  That means the construction workers have had to traipse through my kitchen 100 times a day carrying buckets of water and cement, loads of bricks and tiles, plumbing supplies and tools, not to mention mud from their boots.  2 weeks later, we finally were able to get the key.  Our joy was short lived as we realized that cement had fallen into the lock and the key would not go in. 

Due to the high humidity inside and out this time of year, all our door and door frames are wrapping making life a bit more frustrating.  Cabinet doors swing open, bathroom doors won’t lock, and bedroom doors won’t close.  Our front door required 2 people to unlock it each morning and lock it back at night – one on the outside pulling and one on the inside pushing.  Yesterday Jeff was resolved to fix it, but he only managed to get the key stuck in the lock.

Thankfully we have a third door leading to the outside located in our bedroom.  So this week the construction workers, the interns, our family and our Paraguayan guest will be trekking through my bedroom and then through Ginny’s bedroom to get to the rest of the house.

JOSIAH is ALREADY 3 MONTHS!

June 21, 2013

The past three months have flown by!  Josiah has grown so much.  He has an adorable smile.  He laughs at us and talks to us, stares at his hands in wonder and chews on his thumb.  He reaches for toys with such concentration and loves to stick his tongue out.

 

 

Another milestone reached in June was Ryan mowing the grass for the first time.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

It was a wonderful Sunday.  We had two other missionary families over for a BBQ lunch.

This is the shirt and tie cake that Ginny, Joshua and Tyler helped to make.

Josiah's first Father's Day

 

Jeff and his crew.

THE GIRLS' NIGHT THAT NEVER WAS

June 19, 2013

 

I just wanted to get out of the house and to do something different.  I get cabin fever quite easily living in rural Paraguay.  Our town doesn’t boast much entertainment.  No restaurants or coffee shops.  No movie theaters or parks.  No malls or shops of any kind.  And on top of that, there’s no one in town to hang out with.  There’s a 10 mile stretch of dark, bumpy, muddy road connecting me to closest team mate, Sarah.

The roads are not safe to drive alone at night, but if our 2 female interns went with me, we could make girls’ night a reality.  Plans were made and set into motion for us to leave after Bible study Monday night.  Since we finished a bit early and the weather was chilly, Jeff decided to take 2 girls home who had walked 3 miles to come.  The interns and I waited for Jeff’s return.  We waited and waited and just when I was about to call Jeff, he called to say that he was stuck in mud up to the car door and our 4x4 wasn’t working.  His efforts at digging out had been futile.  He was going to be awhile.  Girls’ night was cancelled.

 

Tuesday evening, try #2 for girls’ night was looking hopeful until huge storm clouds rolled in at 6.  At 7:00 the sky split open and a torrential rain poured buckets and buckets on the land.  Not wanting a repeat of Jeff’s experience the night before, girls’ night was again cancelled.  With mid-week Bible study commitments and the roads not likely to be dry any day soon, I am “stuck” in town. Good things cabin fever is a passing ailment.

 

With a few of my (missionary) girlfriends

BRING on the DIRT!

There is an overwhelming amount of dirt and mud that is trudged into my house on a daily basis.  I am appalled every time I sweep my cement floors, every time I shake out the sheets, every time I drain the bath water and every time I do a load of laundry.  Being in the country, having 7 kids, and living in a Paraguayan built house that sucks in dirt means that I can devote my entire day to cleaning and still never come out on top by the day’s end.   

And the kids are always dirty - sand in the hair, mud on the face, dirt under the nails, and grass stained pants.  It’s a never ending cycle of washing faces, stain-sticking clothes and reminding everyone to wash hands before eating. 

What’s the alternative?  I guess the 9 of us could sequester ourselves in the house all day like hermits and not allow any activities that kick up dirt.  There are many days when that sounds inviting.  But then I walk outside to call my kids for lunch and hear them at play.  Imaginations going wild.  Laughter ringing.  And all of a sudden it doesn’t bother me that their necks have sweat rings or that their shirts will have to soak overnight to rid the stains.  My kids love to be outside.  They see beauty in God’s creation and they want to explore it – hands on.  They have great imaginations, they love playing together and they play well together. 

I am learning to welcome the dirt and the mud because it means that my kids have spent more time outside swinging in the trees than sitting in front on a screen.  They’ve set up a “store” and a “classroom” rather than sulking in the house.  They’ve discovered and learned hands on rather than reading about it in books.  Sequester ourselves like hermits?  No way!  I’ll take the dirt.     

BAPTISMS!!!

May 30, 1013

We are rejoicing tonight as Jeff and I had the awesome privilege of baptizing two girls here in our town.  One gave her life to the Lord at a Bible study and the other prayed to receive Christ in her house alone one night after the Bible study.  We gave them an MP3 chip with baptism stories and scriptures on it and two weeks later, the girls came to our house and said they wanted to be baptized.  The following day we filled our kiddie pool, invited our neighbors, ate snacks, listened to their testimonies, and baptized these two gals.  These are the first in our town!  Hopefully this will be the first of many to come.  These girls are very brave making a public statement like this and have really counted the cost of entering into a relationship with Christ. 

HAPPY 15th ANNIVERSARY TO US!

May 23, 2013

On the 23rd Jeff and I celebrated our anniversary!  15 years ago when we said "I do" we dreamed of raising a big family overseas, ministering to health needs and planting churches.  Now, here we are, a doctor and a nurse living in Paraguay doing medical/church planting missions with our 7 kids.  God is so good and has given us the desires of our hearts!