Tag Archives: Friends

No excuses. No regrets.

12 Feb

Our time back in the states flew by.  We were blessed with 5 weeks between SJO-DEN-DFW , DFW-ICT, ICT-ARK- and ICT-DFW-DEN-SJO.  There is never enough time to spend with the people you cherish.  A wonderful family from our home church allowed us to borrow their car while we were in Kansas and we cannot thank them enough.  There are so many selfless, giving people in this world and we were beyond blessed. We are now back in the groove of the life we left on pause to be refueled by so much love from home.

A year is an incredibly long time in the life of a child and an elderly person and both of these things were brought to my attention in my time back.  My grandparents, whom I adore with my whole heart, have really aged over the last year….really since our big move in 2010.  I treasure every single moment I am able to spend with them knowing that the next time could be completely different.  The differences in Kyah since our last visit to the states are remarkable. She is at such an awesome stage and I just want time to slow down and be able to breathe in every second of her being.  She brings so much joy to our life and we can’t wait to bring another bundle of fun into our family soon.  It was wonderful to share our joy and excitement with friends and family in person instead of over skype.

Since a ridiculous length of time has passed since I last posted, and my main goal with this blog is to collect a few memories before they are forgotten (and to keep the grandmas happy), I’m going to document our time in the states with pictures.  Here is a snapshot of our last few months.

 

 

Kyah's note to Santa. :)

Christmas morning

THIS is what makes you the best Gigi in the world!

Chase and Kyah (& Frenchie) had lots of time to play together! Little buddies. :)

Meeting up with more cousins!

We won't show this pic to my brother. :)

NYE firecrackers with the fam

At the Alley with the Johnsons. :)

Her favorite friend, Owen!

She was pretty stoked on her clothes matching her doll.

Look at this picture! If your mouth doesn't start instantly watering something is wrong with you. Love me some Grandy's.

Reunited and it feels so good! We miss our big guy every day.

Grandma Texas (as Kyah calls her) had an endless supply of cake pops.

Frenchie visiting the states for the very first time! :)

After accepting the fact that EVERYBODY (even little girls) have to wear the blue coats, she was ready for the 9 degree Shrek ice tour.

Everything is made of ice.

Once you can get past his sweet gangsta face you will notice he is using Ky's coat to keep his hands warm. It was that cold!

This was one of the many ice slides they had inside.

K went down this with Big Daddy a few times and then she wanted to go solo. She is sooooo much like her daddy! Scared. Of. Nothing. :)

Her favorite face to make when taking pictures with mommy. Silly girl!

The wait for Santa at the Gaylord was long, so we went exploring. She saw the sled and just had to get a picture!

Such a poser.

Christmas in Texas!

Amigos

12 Nov

In our small barrio we have met some of the most wonderful people.  People we will stay connected with throughout the remainder of our lives.  We have developed true  friendships – the kind where they just pop up at your house to hang out – no  invitation needed. We had friends like that in the states (and we miss them like crazy!), but here it has been more difficult to find heart friends.  Why?  At first we didn’t know Spanish well, so that was an obvious barrier.  I also think being here as “missionaries” put a flashing light above our heads.  It’s unfortunate, but many missionaries will enter a place and try to convince people they need to become more like them. i.e. wear certain clothes and don’t wear others, fix your hair a certain way, do this, but don’t do that.  We have always had the mentality that God would change the things that need changed and we are going to live a transparent, authentic life.

Some of our new friends live just a few houses away.  Robert and Cody both have a love for fishing and he was the first one to invite Cody to hunt lobsters at night with a water pistol.  Swimming with crocodiles and/or sharks at night would freak me out, but not Cody.  I love my manly man.  As you may or may not know, I also love to fish.  One of the many things that Cody loved about me when we first met.  Haha!  Many women don’t fish and I don’t enjoy being the “only female” so I usually stay behind.  Luckily, Robert’s wife Rudy is a fisherwoman.  So, as couples (with our small daughters) we get to hang out and fish every once in a while.  Then we usually have a big dinner and enjoy the day’s catch.

Kyah and Ester ready to roll.

We took the boat down a back river that comes off the ocean. These trees lined both sides of almost the entire thing.

One of Cody's fish.

Robert cleaning some of the fish. We caught 11 that day!

FINALLY getting to swim!

Typical 4

16 Oct

Kyah is 4.  A true 4 year old.  She loves to dance, talk, sing, dance, laugh, read books, dance, paint pictures, tell jokes, and play with her friends.  She LOVES to play.  I can remember my mom-in-law commenting on the fact that she would rather be outdoors than inside playing…and that’s when she was only a year and some odd months old.  It’s who she is.  She will always choose playing outside with her friends over just about everything else.   The way she plays reminds me of the way we used to play when I was a kid. Growing up my brother and I were always running around outside, riding our bikes, playing with the neighbor kids, playing catch, building dirt towns, shooting hoops, and just getting dirty. So many kids today “play” by sitting in front of a computer or video game, AND their parents are fine with it.  Such a sad world that has been created for kids to get wrapped up in.  They are missing out on the true joys of just being a child.

One of the things that stuck out at me right away when we moved to this new barrio was how all the kids play together.  They aren’t ever separated by age – i.e. big kids play this, little kids play that- or- “you can’t play with us because you’re too young”.  They all just get along and play together. It’s truly a  refreshing thing to watch.

About 3 months ago we started a kids club here and in another location.  This constant and consistent interaction has allowed  us to build up a trust with the kids in a way we never could have on our own.  The crazy way God works things out never ceases to amaze me.  For example, the house we were planning on renting prior to moving here ended up being owned by a loco and so we had to begin the search again. To say we were disappointed is an understatement.  Then, we landed the place we are in now and it is the ideal location for all things kids.  It’s the perfect place for us.  *Get out of the way, Stephanie, and let God take care of things!*  On any given day there are between 4 to 15 kids running around.  We have a HUGE yard, 10 times bigger than the states, and we’re the place to hang.  I wouldn’t want it any other way.  I’ve been teaching some of the older girls how to make hair bows and have been able to have some real conversations with them about how awesome our God is.  We do not take our work here lightly.  When you know you’re where God wants you, even if for a season, life is much more fulfilling.  “It is joy unspeakable and full of glory…”  true bliss.

“The world is mud-luscious…”

13 Oct

“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.”
~ E. E. Cummings

 

Lots of trips with water to create a mud pile this fun!

 

Of course she is making a Princess castle. Wouldn't expect anything else. :)

My heart.

WWJD?

7 Sep

Remember this?

Or this?

Or this?

WWJD was huge in the 90s.  It served as reminder for us to always let our actions demonstrate the love of Jesus.  Once in a while, when I find myself in a situation that I’m not quite sure how to handle, I ask myself WWJD.  It usually makes the outcome a whole lot nicer then it would have been otherwise.

So, here’s my new predicament.  7 weeks ago we adopted some chickens.  They eat a lot, poop a lot, and provide us with one of our staples.  The first several weeks we would get 2 or 3 eggs a day.  One of our little ladies hasn’t quite reached the age of maturity that allows her to birth an egg daily.  So, we went from getting 2 or 3 daily to 1 every 3 days to none..  It was a little strange to me, but I have read up that chickens have cycles just like women and I attributed the lack of eggs to that.  Until…I was making dinner one night and looked outside to see our neighbor boys poking around our chicken coop.  I sat out to do a little detective work.  I didn’t want to believe it, so I sat a trap.  I checked for eggs right before we left home for Kidzpoint and saw that there was an egg.  When we returned it was gone.  I did it again, a different day.  Same result.  The only neighbors that live close to us are these two little boys and their family.  They are poor.  Not like, “Aww, that’s sad, let’s buy them some tennis shoes.” Nope. Seriously poor, where they come over and ask for water because they are thirsty.

It’s not that I don’t want to share my eggs, but they are stealing them.  If they will steal eggs what else will they steal? I want to have that “mommy talk” with them about stealing and how wrong it is, but I believe their mom is telling them to come see what they can get.   They have flat-out let us know they are not believers and the last thing I want to do is put a wall up over some silly eggs.  Jennifer (the mom) brought us over 3 ears of corn a couple of nights ago and when I returned the bowl to her the next day it was full of eggs.  I told her we wanted to share them with her and that I was sorry we didn’t have more to share, but someone had been stealing them from us.  She immediately blamed the animals at night, which I might buy that excuse, except that it’s completely enclosed and I’m not sure an animal could get to them.  Nevertheless, we did the “Tico kiss” and my eggs have stayed put ever since.  I know eggs are a special treat, especially to the poor (it costs around $5 for a dozen and 1/4 of eggs), so I feel kinda guilty about it. However, I don’t want the boys to grow up thinking stealing is alright.

I’m hoping this is what Jesus would do.  I just want to love like Christ.  Besides, my chicken fried steak butt will thank me for eating a little less.

Please pray for these sweet boys and their parents.  We spend hours with them a day and I know, with Christ’s help, we can have a positive impact in their lives.

Little Carlos

Sweet Nawel

← Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.