A "P.S." to yesterday's story

Oscar and Christian still meet with "Juan's" wife, Lili, from time to time to see how she's doing. She has three boys and the youngest is two months older than Edson - born in September. She is working as a maid while her mom takes care of the boys. A little bit about Lili, she is very religious, but not very committed. There is a group from a different denomination working with her since they have a church just blocks away from her home. She and I talk on the phone often.

Time Waster or Time Filler

Uncle G gave Edson a set of Alphabet Magnets. If you put the letter into the slot, it sings the letter and the sound. Edson thoroughly enjoys it and even does a little dance to the song while its playing. The rest of us big guys get kindda tired of that "musiquita" but at least it keeps him occupied for a couple minutes.
Well, lately, it's been keeping me occupied as well. No, I don't dance to the little song, but since I am in the kitchen usually cooking or cleaning up, it is a good time filler. Sometimes when I am looking for time fillers, I search for food to munch on. NOT GOOD! So, this activity surely does fill THAT gap!
My game is to find how many words I can make out of the alphabet using every letter only once and having the fewest amount of letters leftover. My best score was 6 words with 3 letters left over.
Now, this wonderful time filler certainly becomes a time waster when I HAVE to do something else, and I can't pull away from my word game...trying to use up those last three letters. Sometimes it ends abruptly when I really want a certain letter that Edson thinks he has a right to. Then, I realize that I really should be doing what I should be doing and let the little kid have his way. He is, then, happy to dance to his "musiquita", and I am happy getting back to cooking and cleaning.
Try it! See what YOUR score is.

Here's the story...

Okay! So, out of popular demand…I will write about this dead guy. I am changing his name to Juan just in case someone from the prison ever reads my blogs.
Juan became a Christian leader in jail. He was nicknamed “El Tigre” and had a growling, hungry-looking tiger tattooed on him from head to foot. He looked like a body builder-type and protected our kids like a body-guard. He became a wonderful friend of ours.
He was “free” in the Lord and the people; the guards, and the other “Christian” inmates loved him and trusted him 100%. He was actually so “changed” that they let him out to do errands, etc. even when his pavilion was not out for recess. On one of those days, he was out bringing his brother-in-law from the dungeon to the Christian pavilion and an “enemy” from another pavilion who was out on recess saw that Juan was “off guard” and stabbed him three times.
We met his six month pregnant wife at the hospital. Oscar went in to pray with him, but came out and mentioned…just to me (not the wife)...They are not caring for him like they should, but he could make it, anyway. Why should they care for him? He was a convict…a worthless piece of society…always causing problems. But, to us he was a brother and a friend. Minutes later they came to tell us he died…hummm…suspicious, quick death. Oscar was just in there with him!
The wife was taking it very hard and to worsen the situation, they had NO MONEY. They came from the extremely poor area of town. So, now the question…where do we bury this guy? The jail, the town, just disposes of these kinds of problems. If no one claims their bodies, they just pitch them. Juan’s wife had no money or any way to help. Juan’s family in the country also lived in a primitive lifestyle. So, we decided to help her out, especially because of her physical condition. Someone in our group said that their aunt would “loan” Juan her tomb until a burial site could be purchased and the casket moved legally. So, that’s what happened…a year and a half ago!
Well, now this lady wants her tomb spot again. So, Oscar and Christian started doing the paper work and found out that the hospital did not issue them a death certificate. So, this dead guy did not even die…yet…according to paperwork. We had to get our lawyer friend involved to start searching for any documents (from the jail, the hospital, the funeral home, etc.) and create a new death certificate…1 ½ years later!
Well, we finally bought a new piece of land for Juan’s proper burial, so Oscar has been going back and forth to the lawyer’s, the town hall, the first cemetery, and the new cemetery to get the legal permission to move this dead body and casket to its final resting place.
See, I knew you wouldn’t be able to believe all this! It’s totally crazy. Juan’s been singing praises and rejoicing with our Creator long ago and we’re still trying to find a place for him “to rest” here on earth.

Home with the boys

Spring is settling in with beautiful flowers, colors and smells. We can go outside barefoot and wear shorts now. People are out and about. There are more outdoor activities; barbecues, soccer, and get-togethers. We turn on fans for a cooler night’s sleep. It’s one of my favorite times of year…except for…allergies, colds, runny noses, fever, coughs, and asthma.
Well, today, I’m home with the boys! Gaby has been sick since Saturday and we took him in to the doctor on Monday night since we couldn’t get his fever down. He’s on antibiotics and missing two days of school! He is surely enjoying himself. I am just worried about all the make-up homework he’ll have to do. Edson has had a cold for about 3 weeks. We have been blessed to have such a healthy baby. Since he has never been sick, he absolutely hates taking medicine. Medicine time turns into a major battle. He loves drinking fresh herb teas, though. Oscar, my home-remedy, medicine man, makes the whole family herbal drinks for coughs, runny noses, etc. Oscar, who should also be home resting and nursing his own cold and cough, is running around after this and that for school, the prison ministry, and other errands. (I’m not going to even explain his job with the prison ministry this time. You wouldn’t believe it even if I wrote it up well. It has something to do with a dead guy, a cemetery, and paperwork.)
Anyway, usually we are praising God for our great health, and now we are praying for the Physician’s Hand to touch our family and our ailing bodies so we can enjoy the beauty of springtime.

One more thing about San Pedro...Children's Day

We went to San Pedro last weekend to help out in the new outreach.
The new outreach is in the next village over from Zolabarrieta, the first Apostolic Christian Church in Paraguay. As of now they are meeting in Vivi’s mom’s house. There are approximately 30 people who go there and are active in all the activities. They have a prayer meeting, children’s bible classes, Saturday night services and volley ball for the youth.
Emilia (Vivi’s sister from Asunción) went on Saturday to teach the bible lessons and help with the Children’s Day celebration. She taught the lesson in Guarani even though they memorize the bible verses and sing in Spanish. The ladies made a cute cake, chocolate milk, and lots of candies and cookies were passed out.
That night we had an outdoor movie theatre on the side of their house. It was pretty neat!

Edson especially liked the animals, the out doors, the freedom to get dirty, and finding sticks, blocks, and trucks to play with IN THE DIRT.
I took some pictures of the kids and the activities at Children's Day.

Brandon

Brandon’s Birthday…a beautiful day to remember! Brandon is 16 today! He is tall, cute, and friendly. We have gone through many struggles, failures, AND mountain-top victories together. It’s beautiful to see the image of Christ being formed in him as he makes decisions and matures into “what he wants to be” for the Lord.
A little bit about him: He loves soccer and is an excellent goalie! His hobby is listening to music! He is working with our Praise and Worship team. He has a desire to play the bass guitar and is practicing. He has been doing a baptism course since March and will be baptized in September.
Say a little prayer for him today and write to him if you have time.

Yummy cake!!!!

More on San Pedro

Friday, August 15th was Oscar’s brother’s birthday…José Asunción Caballero. I guess his middle name came after the famous day he was born on …Asunción Day. We went to spend the day with him and Oscar’s family.
Oscar’s mom’s health is failing and her constant worry about her kids, grandkids, the church, the crops, animals, etc. doesn’t help. She has aged considerably in the past year or two, but was well enough to enjoy some family time with the rest.
I took my camera to take pictures of the nieces. They posed as superstars beside my mother-in-law’s orchid.

Trip to San Pedro

Thanks so much for all the encouragement today. Yes, today was a LOT better! I even had time to write a blog about San Pedro. I also found a crockpot cookbook hidden in my bookcase. I sat Edson down with a couple of books and read through some interesting recipes. His health is getting better, but Oscar still has a sore throat and fever.

Well, back to San Pedro...We spent this past weekend in San Pedro. Friday the 15th was Asunción Day and it was also the presidential inauguration for President Lugo. So, since we had time, an extra free day, we went to San Pedro to encourage the people in the new outreach and spend Children’s Day with them (Saturday, August 16th).
The dirt road to San Pedro is history! Only our pictures and memories of that 43,50 mi stretch will live on. It used to take us two hours to get there on those dirt roads and if it rained we would be stuck…either in San Pedro or in the mud. Yes, many times we had to push our car out, once we had to call a tractor: burning tires, doing wheelies, skidding and sliding. Isn’t this every teenage kid’s dream? It’s adventure, yes, but not with little kids in the car, crying or wanting to go to the bathroom, or being jerked awake from the potholes.
But, it’s over. It’s done. Beautiful slick, black pavement covers that 44 mile stretch and we made it in 45 minutes!
Lugo is from San Pedro and went to party there on Saturday. Could that be the reason they hurried to get the road done?
More on San Pedro tomorrow!

Today's a New Day!

Well, it’s early enough to start up writing again. Edson will probably be sleeping for a while longer. If he’s not sleeping it is totally IMPOSSIBLE to write, think, or be inspired. The only thing I AM inspired to do while he is awake is clean up after him. He dumped his milk at breakfast, squirt his juice box juice all over the floor, hit my balanced spoon of soup all over his clothes and the floor, and pulled the tray of drying pans on his head. He hates the cough medicine he is taking and each time it is a major power struggle. Yesterday we had an unusually bad day.
It didn’t help that my plans were messed up for the day with an unexpected funeral. Oscar had been working with this family for years and wanted to spend the day with them. (Remember, the burial is almost always 24 hours after dying.) Tuesdays are my teaching days…I cancelled classes to stay with Edson who is struggling to get over a bad cold. My Tuesday routine was ruined and my programmed mind didn’t want to accept it. So, I started cleaning, picking loquats, and doing this and that to get my mind off of what I really wanted to be doing…and, as Oscar says… “making more work for myself”.
I made loquat cobbler and chipas and, I will confess, did not spend quality time with our little “chiquitito” and by the time the chipas were in the oven…he almost tried to get in too, just seeking for my attention.
Poor little guy, today will be different! Today's a new day. I will set my work, my interests, and my cooking aside to be goofy with an almost 2 year old.

This is for DAD...

Sorry, Dad, I just HAVE to brag about our orchids!

This is on the tree right behind Gaby's (the guest) bedroom. Isn't it beautiful?!?!

Nispero - Loquat

For years I have been wondering about this interesting fruit that I have at home. I knew the spanish name was "nispero", but I never heard of it in English. Well our fruit is ripe, and the birds are happy. I finally looked it up and found out a lot of good stuff.

The following is a cut and paste from Wikipedia.

The loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is a fruit tree in the subfamily Maloideae of the family Rosaceae, indigenous to southeastern China.
It is an evergreen large shrub or small tree, with a rounded crown, short trunk and woolly new twigs. The tree can grow to 5-10 m tall, but is often smaller, about 3-4 m.
The leaves are alternate, simple, 10-25 cm long, dark green, tough and leathery in texture, with a serrated margin, and densely velvety-hairy below with thick yellow-brown pubescence; the young leaves are also densely pubescent above, but this soon rubs off.
Loquats are unusual among fruit trees in that the flowers appear in the autumn or early winter, and the fruits are ripe in late winter or early spring. In Northern California, loquats bear fruit in May, while in Southern California, loquats bear fruit in April. The flowers are 2 cm diameter, white, with five petals, and produced in stiff panicles of three to ten flowers. The flowers have a sweet, heady aroma that can be smelled from a distance.
Loquat fruits, growing in clusters, are oval, rounded or pear-shaped, 3-5 cm long, with a smooth or downy, yellow or orange, sometimes red-blushed skin. The succulent, tangy flesh is white, yellow or orange and sweet to subacid or acid, depending on the cultivar. Each fruit contains five ovules, of which three to five mature into large brown seeds. The skin, though thin, can be peeled off manually if the fruit is ripe.
This is a cultivar intended for home-growing, where the flowers open gradually, and thus the fruit also ripens gradually, compared to the commercially grown species where the flowers open almost simultaneously, and the whole tree's fruit also ripens together.
The fruits are the sweetest when soft and yellow.
The loquat is comparable with its distant relative, the apple, in many aspects, with a high sugar, acid and pectin content. It is eaten as a fresh fruit and mixes well with other fruits in fresh fruit salads or fruit cups. Firm, slightly immature fruits are best for making pies or tarts. The fruits are also commonly used to make jam, jelly, and chutney, and are delicious poached in light syrup. A type of loquat syrup is used in Chinese medicine for soothing the throat like a cough drop. Combined with other ingredients and known as pipa gao (枇杷膏; pinyin: pípágāo; literally "loquat paste"), it acts as a demulcent and an expectorant, as well as to soothe the digestive and respiratory systems. Loquats can also be used to make wine.
Like most related plants, the seeds (pips) and young leaves of the plant are slightly poisonous, containing small amounts of cyanogenetic glycocides which release cyanide when digested, though the low concentration and bitter flavour normally prevents enough being eaten to cause harm.

I think I am going to go and make jelly right now!!!

Pray for Carolina

Today I met Carolina in the supermarket. I have been thinking about her all day long and have been praying for her. We met unexpectedly. Our meeting/greeting was short, but full of emotion, love and tears.
I was picking out choice bread for my older boys when out of the corner of my eye I saw a lady coming up to Edson and talking to him. I turned around just as she covered her face with her hands and started crying. I reached out to hug her and she sobbed out her story. Her son died at two years of age. He would have been 4 now. The whole while Edson was mumbling back to her and telling her something in his baby talk. She kept apologizing. She said, "I looked at your son and just remembered my own...I'm so sorry I'm making such a scene".
For about 5 minutes we stood there hugging and crying in the supermarket isle while I prayed for her and for healing. Nothing else seemed to matter. We didn't even notice if anyone was watching. I prayed for a blessing on her life and her other child. She so lovingly stroked Edson's cheek and kept saying, "he's so beautiful".
All the way home I said prayers of thanks for Edson, Brandon and Gaby. They have life. They are breathing. They are with me! Yes, Lord, they are so beautiful! Thank you for my kids!
I prayed for Carolina all day and ask you to say a prayer for her also. May God continue to touch her and heal that deep wound.

The NEW Edson...

NO HAIR

Fun with bubbles

A Confession...

Okay...I will confess...there is one thing that I have NOT fit back into my routine yet...my excercise bike! I had been riding for almost 20 minutes a day before my trip and then I just haven't gotten back into it now that I am back.

Today I read a newsletter that inspired me once again. I don't even know how I started getting these newsletters, but so many times there is such good advice so I wanted to share this one with you its by Simple Truths...Mac Anderson.

Get a Second Job...An excerpt from You Can't Send a Duck To Eagle School by Mac Anderson
You may have heard the quote..."The speed of the leader will determine the rate of the pack."
Well here's another one for you..."The attitude of the leader will determine the attitude of the pack."
Because I'm the founder of Successories ®, some people think that this guy probably never has a negative thought. How wrong they would be! Like every human being, I have doubts, fears, and disappointments in my life. As a leader, however, we must manage our attitudes.
Do we need to be perfect? Of course not. But, we can never underestimate the influence that our actions and our attitudes will have on our team. Churchill said,
"The price of LEADERSHIP is RESPONSIBILITY."...and part of that responsibility is to STAY POSITIVE whether you feel like it or not.
MANAGING YOUR ATTITUDE IS A VERY PERSONAL THING. However, for me, one of the most important factors is exercise. My attitude and my energy levels are directly tied to exercise. I can be doing everything else right, but without regular exercise I can feel my attitude "heading south."
I've got a friend who is 65 but looks like he's 55. I saw him the other day and said, "Tony, you look great." He said, "I feel great! I got a second job." I said, "A second job?
I thought your import business was doing well." He said, "It is. My second job is on the treadmill from 6-7 every morning. When I started looking at it as a second job, I showed up whether I wanted to or not!" He said, "The pay is lousy, but the benefits to my health and my attitude are priceless!"
Exercise, more than anything, is a "stress buster". And, don't kid yourself, stress is a killer. In fact the World Health Organization estimates that 80% of all illnesses are directly or indirectly caused by stress. Therefore, if you're not proactive in busting stress, it's very likely to come back and bust you!
Okay, I guess, I'll get back on that bike. It's not my 2nd job, though, its one of the 15+ jobs I have all day long!

Blessings...Frustrations

Blessings...
...fresh carrots, a chicken, oranges and a goose from "el campo" (Oscar's sister's farm), the kids back in school, nice weather and beautiful flowering trees preparing for spring, new sandals for Edson, goodies for people in Bañando, baby clothes for Silvina, a 40 cup coffee maker and a 5 gallon-stainless steel soup kettle, healthy kids, new books, call from a U.S. friend on my cell phone, a new cook book, marshmellows, a battery-operated train set for Edson, chocolate chips, and...ohhhh so much more!
Frustrations...
...a telephone line that doesn't work, not enough time, computer problems, people problems sometimes at school...whew!...glad there's not much more on this list!

Back to routine!

Back to school, back to the missionary meetings, back to teaching, back to cooking, cleaning and the rest....yes, it's good to be back on track or back on schedule which ever way you see it.
Sometimes I wonder...why are we so programmed? Why do we need routines? Edson is back on his sleeping schedule (the long afternoon nap is the schedule I WANT him to keep!) The kids are studying...yes, homework on the first day!
But, things are back to normal. Tonight we have a meeting, tomorrow Oscar starts up his bible studies again, Wednesday is prayer meeting, thursday is "family night". Friday is youth night at church and I volunteered to take in something for the bake sale. Saturday and Sunday are church days...and the routine continues...