Today is a great day! Which day isn’t? Here are some reasons…
Today is the last day of school for Brandon and Gabriel until February 4th. (It’s summer vacation in the middle of semesters!) Even though they have tests today, last night seemed to be a celebration. They stayed up goofing around till late. Last day to wake up at 4:45. (Oscar and I wake up to pray and get ready; we get the kids up at 5:30. Everyone’s off by 6:00.) Yeah, we can sleep in!
I woke up with Christmas on my mind and decided to decorate at 6 am before Edson woke up. I put lights up inside and outside and hung up my snowmen all over…hoping they won’t melt like the candles do every year. I was excited to show Edson this morning. His eyes were wide and ohh-ed and ahh-ed at the lights. It made me happy. His eyes look even bigger since last night we gave him a buzz and you can see more face than hair. He’s still a cutie!
This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Isaiah 54.13
It’s raining! The boys are off to school. Edson is down for a morning nap. We had a very busy weekend and my body says…sleep, sleep, sleep, but my spirit says…No take time with Me. Talk to Me. Read My Word. Well, I ignored my sleepy desires and went to the Lord in prayer and then picked up a book I’ve been reading in Spanish titled “Praying the Scriptures for your Children" by Jodie Berndt. I was encouraged with the verse in Isaiah 54.13…And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
What a great Teacher/Tutor our kids have!
What a great Teacher/Tutor our kids have!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Edson's 1st Birthday!
Edson's 1st Birthday. We wish you could have been here. He had such a great time. He loves to be with people and this was just greatest thing for him...a bunch of people he loves just smiling at him and being with him. He even got to eat some cake. We gave him a sucker which was later used as a cell phone when he said "oh ah" to someone. The sticky sucker stuck to his hair when he held it up to his ear.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The Other Day...
I have this interesting phrase I use all the time. Ellen often teases me about it, but it is so useful! It is timeless but not useless. “The other day”…could mean anything from yesterday to three years ago…but, really, it was just, “The other day”. I use this phrase in Spanish stories, English stories, Bible stories…everything. It just seems to be such a convenient phrase…you know…“The other day”.
Well, “The other day” (November 4th to be exact) we had a baptism at church. (I realized this then, but am just now writing about it.) It was the first time that one of our students from Colegio Privado Adonai was baptized. We have had parents or relatives of students baptized, but finally, one of the actual students, Natalia Rodriguez, a girl from 9th grade made that big step.
Natalia came the very first year of school in 2003. Right away she showed signs of being an excellent student. Her mother came to school often and we got to talking about family, financial struggles, religion, etc. Ña Teresa, the mom, insisted that even though she was bringing her kids to this school, they would not change their religion. We respected that. The family was going through some financial difficulties and the two kids were given scholarships. Through the following years the family went through some tough battles and we became closer friends as we talked through each situation.
The Holy Spirit actually did the talking to Ña Teresa and opened her eyes to the true meaning of the Word and Salvation. The Lord did miracles in her life and family. She was baptized last November and continues to be an amazing witness in the neighborhood.
Natalia was always a quiet girl, very obedient and a great student. Now that she has received Christ, we can see a beautiful change in her. She’s always so bubbly and ready to serve others. She’s been bringing another neighbor girl, Janeth, to church and is helping in Sunday School.
“The other day”…someone sent a scholarship for her to study in Colegio Privado Adonai and now she is serving God…and others. Isn’t that neat?
Well, “The other day” (November 4th to be exact) we had a baptism at church. (I realized this then, but am just now writing about it.) It was the first time that one of our students from Colegio Privado Adonai was baptized. We have had parents or relatives of students baptized, but finally, one of the actual students, Natalia Rodriguez, a girl from 9th grade made that big step.
Natalia came the very first year of school in 2003. Right away she showed signs of being an excellent student. Her mother came to school often and we got to talking about family, financial struggles, religion, etc. Ña Teresa, the mom, insisted that even though she was bringing her kids to this school, they would not change their religion. We respected that. The family was going through some financial difficulties and the two kids were given scholarships. Through the following years the family went through some tough battles and we became closer friends as we talked through each situation.
The Holy Spirit actually did the talking to Ña Teresa and opened her eyes to the true meaning of the Word and Salvation. The Lord did miracles in her life and family. She was baptized last November and continues to be an amazing witness in the neighborhood.
Natalia was always a quiet girl, very obedient and a great student. Now that she has received Christ, we can see a beautiful change in her. She’s always so bubbly and ready to serve others. She’s been bringing another neighbor girl, Janeth, to church and is helping in Sunday School.
“The other day”…someone sent a scholarship for her to study in Colegio Privado Adonai and now she is serving God…and others. Isn’t that neat?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Viruses
Last week we had company and shared head aches, stomach aches, vomiting and the rest. I left Edson with Larrissa, Ellen and Nate and went to school for a meeting. I was happy that I could leave him with people I trust…at home…and in his own surroundings. I went, I took my time, I came home. Larissa met me at the door and said, Karen, I think something’s wrong. He has been vomiting and has had diarreah all morning…and it’s really bad.
Oh no! My world shattered. My baby was sick. I had company. I had other responsibilities that could not be put on hold. What would I do?
The whole rest of the day…and the next, Edson didn’t want food, or medicine or milk. He would turn his head away or shake his head “NO”. He was offered his favorite foods and would look away with disgust. The comforting bottle seemed more of a torture.
I started to get worried and cried out, “Father, heal him!”
The doctor warned us that it was extremely contagious virus going around and lasts, in some cases, up to 10 days. Oscar and Nate started feeling the same.
Yesterday, I was fixing Edson some spaghetti, his FAVORITE meal. A couple of minutes before, he was going…MmmmmMmmmm…letting me know he was hungry. I sat down to feed him and before I got food on the spoon he already had his mouth opened like a little bird and was going…AhhhhAhhhh. He was HUNGRY!
The Lord took my thoughts back to us, spiritually. When we are sick, spiritually, we don’t want God’s word, we turn our heads away from prayer, and we turn away the comfort of the Lord’s presence in our lives. We are sick, but we don’t want medicine.
Edson was sick for two days, but sometimes our spiritual sickness turns into weeks, months or years until we cry out…Father, heal me! Only then is our food really yummy. We want more! More of the Father. More of his comforting presence. More of his healing word.
Oh no! My world shattered. My baby was sick. I had company. I had other responsibilities that could not be put on hold. What would I do?
The whole rest of the day…and the next, Edson didn’t want food, or medicine or milk. He would turn his head away or shake his head “NO”. He was offered his favorite foods and would look away with disgust. The comforting bottle seemed more of a torture.
I started to get worried and cried out, “Father, heal him!”
The doctor warned us that it was extremely contagious virus going around and lasts, in some cases, up to 10 days. Oscar and Nate started feeling the same.
Yesterday, I was fixing Edson some spaghetti, his FAVORITE meal. A couple of minutes before, he was going…MmmmmMmmmm…letting me know he was hungry. I sat down to feed him and before I got food on the spoon he already had his mouth opened like a little bird and was going…AhhhhAhhhh. He was HUNGRY!
The Lord took my thoughts back to us, spiritually. When we are sick, spiritually, we don’t want God’s word, we turn our heads away from prayer, and we turn away the comfort of the Lord’s presence in our lives. We are sick, but we don’t want medicine.
Edson was sick for two days, but sometimes our spiritual sickness turns into weeks, months or years until we cry out…Father, heal me! Only then is our food really yummy. We want more! More of the Father. More of his comforting presence. More of his healing word.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
American Football
The other day we were at the kids’ school picnic. As soon as we got there the kids took off to the soccer field. Oscar and I made our way there while meeting other parents, talking with the teachers and showing off Edson. (Last year when we went, Edson was 3 days old!)
We got to the field and saw the kids playing American Football. I laughed with another mom as I saw our kids tackling, with NO PROTECTION. They were just running at each other head on. It looked nothing like the football I saw growing up. I looked at the frustrated teachers sighing and shrugging their shoulders as their Junior High and High School group tried so hard to learn American Football. It was hot and sweaty, but it seemed as if only the teachers were ready to give up. You see, these guys grew up playing soccer. Football is an ALL NEW sport for them. Brandon came home with three scrapes; big and sore ones, but they were out to learn the game and win.
Gaby dreamed of getting a Football for his birthday so we started the search in a factory outlet sports store in Luque…no football! We weren’t going to give up so we went to four more places and realized that there may be NO FOOTBALLS in all of Paraguay. We gave up the search that day and Oscar continued on his own another day. I remembered seeing racks of footballs at Kmart, Wal-Mart, and every other American store I went into last summer, but none in Paraguay.
Finally, Oscar found the one and only one at Unicentro. It was sooooo old that they also gave it to him with a 30% discount. It had a neat feature of lighting up at night, but was so old that the batteries didn’t work. Anyway, it was a FOOTBALL!
Yes, the running and tackling still continue in the back yard, and better yet, there is a group of American/Canadian players who know the game…maybe our coaches at school won’t be so frustrated next football season.
We got to the field and saw the kids playing American Football. I laughed with another mom as I saw our kids tackling, with NO PROTECTION. They were just running at each other head on. It looked nothing like the football I saw growing up. I looked at the frustrated teachers sighing and shrugging their shoulders as their Junior High and High School group tried so hard to learn American Football. It was hot and sweaty, but it seemed as if only the teachers were ready to give up. You see, these guys grew up playing soccer. Football is an ALL NEW sport for them. Brandon came home with three scrapes; big and sore ones, but they were out to learn the game and win.
Gaby dreamed of getting a Football for his birthday so we started the search in a factory outlet sports store in Luque…no football! We weren’t going to give up so we went to four more places and realized that there may be NO FOOTBALLS in all of Paraguay. We gave up the search that day and Oscar continued on his own another day. I remembered seeing racks of footballs at Kmart, Wal-Mart, and every other American store I went into last summer, but none in Paraguay.
Finally, Oscar found the one and only one at Unicentro. It was sooooo old that they also gave it to him with a 30% discount. It had a neat feature of lighting up at night, but was so old that the batteries didn’t work. Anyway, it was a FOOTBALL!
Yes, the running and tackling still continue in the back yard, and better yet, there is a group of American/Canadian players who know the game…maybe our coaches at school won’t be so frustrated next football season.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Blessings
Let’s talk about blessings!
Today we (not actually us, but representatives of Colegio Privado Adonai) were invited to participate in a special meeting in Banco Central de Paraguay. The best students from every grade went with the principals with free transportation to the bank and a long table full of snacks. Every couple of years they renew all of their desks, computers, cabinets, etc. A kindergarten girl’s mother from school told us about this project and asked us to consider writing to the authorities and ask for things for our school since all of it was going to be donated to schools around the city…those interested. Oscar and our administrator went and were actually able to see all the things available and pick out what our school needed. We did that about two months ago and we were chosen along with six other schools to receive these donations. It’s one more blessing!
There are several work teams brewing; one from Canada, one from Colorado, and one from Ontario. Hopefully, God will provide funds also to get those two rooms done that we needs so badly. The foundation is done and we are waiting for more funds to continue the construction. Ben’s brother Joel and Eric Steidl are coming in December, also…more blessings to count on.
More wonderful news…we have a baptism planned for Sunday. We are excited to receive these new believers. It’s just as moving to hear their stories and how the Lord has worked miracles in their lives. We are blessed with a full church.
We are blessed with family, health, a house, a beautiful yard, cold-ice water on hot days, fans, (air conditioning in our bedroom), boys, school, work, etc.
We are blessed with salvation and eternal life. We are blessed to have a loving Father. We are blessed with forgiveness and peace. Yes, we are blessed!
Today we (not actually us, but representatives of Colegio Privado Adonai) were invited to participate in a special meeting in Banco Central de Paraguay. The best students from every grade went with the principals with free transportation to the bank and a long table full of snacks. Every couple of years they renew all of their desks, computers, cabinets, etc. A kindergarten girl’s mother from school told us about this project and asked us to consider writing to the authorities and ask for things for our school since all of it was going to be donated to schools around the city…those interested. Oscar and our administrator went and were actually able to see all the things available and pick out what our school needed. We did that about two months ago and we were chosen along with six other schools to receive these donations. It’s one more blessing!
There are several work teams brewing; one from Canada, one from Colorado, and one from Ontario. Hopefully, God will provide funds also to get those two rooms done that we needs so badly. The foundation is done and we are waiting for more funds to continue the construction. Ben’s brother Joel and Eric Steidl are coming in December, also…more blessings to count on.
More wonderful news…we have a baptism planned for Sunday. We are excited to receive these new believers. It’s just as moving to hear their stories and how the Lord has worked miracles in their lives. We are blessed with a full church.
We are blessed with family, health, a house, a beautiful yard, cold-ice water on hot days, fans, (air conditioning in our bedroom), boys, school, work, etc.
We are blessed with salvation and eternal life. We are blessed to have a loving Father. We are blessed with forgiveness and peace. Yes, we are blessed!
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