It's Monday morning and the mountain of laundry that's accumulated from our large brood calls, but again there is no water. So glad God made me flexible-no danger of Type A perfectionism. Last week our water pressure was so high is threatened to explode the pipes that shook and sang ominous groans from the closet where our water heater hides. With flashlights, Harold and our neighbor Kyle searched for a valve to turn down the pressure before we had an indoor flood. That pressure must have finally exploded something further up the line so that we are now without water again. It's been a battle of on again-off again thanks to cows who trampled the line, sticks and mud from the resevoir that plug it, a constantly washing road where the pipes are buried just below the surface and often lay uncovered while heavy buses run over them on their way to deliver tired workers from the city to their homes further up the mountain. I am learning to be grateful for the days when everything works as planned. I get up and the power is on, there is water, my internet line means I can touch base with family in the states... other days I am more aware that this IS the third world and most people here live without those things.
Over the weekend I had the blessing of attending a few sessions of a conference for missionary ladies. It was wonderful to sing and pray together. Again I was aware of God's grace for the many who are tired and beaten down.The enemy is very active against marriages, children,health...and Joy. So we cried together and prayed together and recognized that our Father still loves us though we are far from perfect. It was refreshing to just participate in something planned for me by a group of ladies I don't even know.....God knew how many were in need of a loving touch "with skin on."
So this morning I search for this neglected corner of cyberspace since I cannot do those things that seem most necessary. ( I think I may break down and use drinking water for dishes-my family will need to eat today.) Perhaps I will map out a plan of attack for the week. We have discovered that we will be moving again, the week before Christmas. At least this one should be the last for a while. We will be right on campus. It's exciting. And a little scary. Anyone ever been in a fishbowl? But the house there doesn't leak, there aren't steps, it's so close for Harold and the kids, the guard makes rounds... We have to give up our dog, who is more a person than a pet. We will all adjust and will do our Christmas in two places again.
Harold has begun classes for a Master's in Education. He's excited to learn more about this process we are part of and the counseling end will help him in his role as chaplain. He will visit over Thanksgiving with our family in TN-a bittersweet time as we recognize that his parents are beginning the last leg of their journey home. We will miss him and wish we could also visit. Nayt will come from MI, while Ben visits the week before. It's also hard to realize that letting go involves our kids too. The boys will spend their holidays stateside this year. Perhaps that is why God is moving us at Christmas. I will be too busy to have much time to grieve.
So for now, I will close this rambling and attend to the need at hand as best I can. And gratefulness will make me focus on the Giver...
-a stove that WORKS!
-my chatty companion
-hours in a book just for fun
-ladies' voices lifted in praise
-a new home coming
-opportunity to spend time with parents
-provision to get a letter postmarked in time
-little girl who converses in two tongues
-company roast and shared conversation
-birthday reminders of love

Preparing for Passover

The wonderful thing about living in a culture where you get an entire week's holiday for Easter is that there is time to s.l.o.w. d.o.w.n..... Time to linger over the season. To wonder how the God of the Universe cared about me enough that He planned for my redemption. That the One who came at Christmas did not remain a babe, but progressed through a plan He did not control that ended at the Cross.
This year we took a few of the things we enjoyed from Semana Santa (Holy Week) last year and we've added a few new things as well. No, we're not running off to the beach or touring some other Central American country, we're "staycationing" as the trendy new catchphrase says. But we're slowing down enough to enjoy what Jubilee calls "nothing days"-days with no required agenda where we enjoy each other's company. Where kids build forts that look like "Gilligan's Island" huts, we eat together late and experiment with new recipies, we have time for guests and chatting at the fence with our neighbors....
We began our preparations Saturday with cleaning out the leaven (symbolically). Everyone had a task, from the fridage and pantry to sweeping and picking up dog poop outside. Of course there is added excitement because we are also preparing for Grandma to arrive! Our Easter Tree has 16 days of accompanying devotions. Each evening as we gather for devotions, the kids find the picture that corresponds with our reading. And after we read scripture the famous work of art is added to our tree. We planted an Easter garden, lining a large basket with plastic we turned a small flowerpot on it's side for the tomb and covered the tomb with dirt. Then we planted wheat berries which are now grass on the hill where three stick crosses wait. The tomb will be covered on Friday and the middle cross will be draped in purple on Sunday when the tomb opens. We will make our resurrection rolls (put a marshmallow in the middle so that they are empty like the tomb after they are baked). And on Friday we will sit down to a Messianic seder. I am adapting the program to fit our family.
I am enjoying these Lenten traditions. It seems as the Protestant church struggled to place significance on the heart we lost some of the Rites that Israel had to incorporate the spiritual into daily life. Finding that balance of "teaching these things to your children" as you sit down (to a meal?), as you rise up (beginning each day with praise?), and as you walk along the way (day to day consistency)- is a process that looks different in each family and can change according to the season you're in. Right now we are loving the leisurely pace of life.

From the sick ward

We've been sick here going on two weeks. That's what happens when family genetics allow the germ to pass on with a slightly new strain to the next guy. "I've seen this before and I'll hit 'em harder." Though Mom hasn't been sick I've spent a lot of nights without my full allotment of sleep, and when day starts at 5am, short night are a killer. We're praying that everyone is better in time for our High School Retreat this weekend. We debated for a while, but finally decided the family will all go along and enjoy Word of Life. It's fairly new facility here and they are still in the process of building things though they have a large piece of land and lots of potential for growth. We're excited about the pool as we haven't been since we left Florida last August. Keep the Retreat on your prayer list. Lots of potential for challenging kids to grow.
Other news? I can hardly belive but in just a few months we will have a second graduate-Nayt. I am finally getting around to putting together his photo album. I started with Ben and want each of the kids to have one as a graduation gift so that they can take their family with them to school-in pictures anyways-as we won't be able to visit. It's a big project to compile 18 years of life into one album. Then next year I have another one to do for Josiah. Boy it will be different without my big guys here...and I'm dreading it.
Over the weekend we decided to revamp our family room by moving it out front and center. Hopefully this will give us a more usable space for hospitality. I tucked a comfortable chair and bookshelf by a window so I can sit there and do my devotions or study Spanish-which by the way is still coming very slowly. Hard to teach an old brain new things, and I'm not immersed as much as I would like. But I need to head off now as Spanish class is calling.

We've been studying Ephesians at church. Last week we talked about Christ being the cornerstone and Pastor Herb told about his church in Cuba. Over 50 years ago the church had a ceremony where the cornerstone of the new building was placed. That stone was hollow, and the pastor had placed a Bible in it to remind his church members that this church was founded on the Word of God. As a young boy, he would walk past that stone and remember. That pastor now walks with the Lord and several since then have been persecuted for their faith, but that church is still strong despite everything. Please pray for our church here in Honduras. Though we don't yet have a building (though the land is purchased and the plans made, just waiting for permits), the church is growing. Lately there has been lots of persecution, especially of marriages and families.

I need a transplant

That's how this Momma feels lately. A brain transplant to be exact. This one is old, and well, a little less than acceptable. I seem to be able to have a Spanish lesson and then promptly forget what I have learned. Perhaps it's that the lessons are at 3pm and my day starts at 5 in the morning. By 3 I'd just like to lay down and take a quick nap before I start dinner and the challenges of 5th grade homework. ("I am Smarter than a 5th Grader"-just keep telling self.) I know I NEED to conquer this challenge to really function here well, yet somehow a smattering of Tagalog creeps in from years ago, or the French pronunciation from High School....and what was that ending anyway???
Then there's the fact that soon I will not own a pan if I can't keep this brain functioning. And my family may need a new home. The other day I put some chicken on to boil for soup, got distracted doing something on the other side of the house and then remembered in a panic when this odd smell filtered into my bedroom. The house has smelled like dead fish, stinky dog, charcoaled chicken....take your pick as these were all used by the children and the stink was so bad we had to sleep with the windows open when it's in the 50's outside...
Can you teach an old lady to use a new part of her brain? I need to recussitate something in there. Someone once told me you lose 20 points on your IQ with the birth of each child. After 8 I think I am reduced to the "blubbering idiot" level so my family will have to be patient. THey are responsible for this. And I will keep plugging away with language, parenting, and ministry. I have joined a study on Ephesians recently. My desire for this new year is to look more like my Savior at it's end by filling my heart and mind with His word. That would be a productive transplant!

It's cloudy again and my laundry has already been on the line for 2 days. Perhaps I should just give up and throw it in the dryer, surely it won't add THAT much to the power bill. I am grateful that a dryer is even an option, as most folks here just have to live with this fickle weather.

We've spent 2 days this week without power. Last Saturday night we heard a large BOOM just as it was getting dark. I knew that wasn't a good sign. "It's the transformer, it will be out a while, find the flashlights," I told the kids, and I wondered how in the world I was going to cook 2 chickens for the anniversary celebration at church tomorrow. Ended up we boiled them over an open fire in our barbeque pit outside and they tasted pretty good I guess because someone asked if they could have the gravey to take home (this is a country where nothing is wasted).

Our second power outage started as I was coming home from my PreK pickup at noon. Some guys in a red truck kind of slowed down as I was going into my gate and I hurried to get inside (still just a little uncertain with crime being more frequent these days). They began ringing the bell and asking for a Laura somebody, then talking in Spanish that was too fast and far above my vocabulary limits. After a few attempts to explain that Laura didn't live here, I watched them stand up in the pickup bed and CUT MY POWER LINE. "Now what do I do?" I thought. I walked back to school and told Harold, then called the Superintendent. Ends up it was a mixup with the bill and the maintenance guys from school repaired the line. Had power for about an hour so I made some calls quick, then it went off again-and stayed off. So we roasted hotdogs in the fireplace for dinner and made hot cocoa in our enameled pot. And since it's dark here by 6pm it was an early -to- bed night after one episode of "The Flying Nun" on Harold's computer.

Our attitudes effect how the kids view these challenges. I can either complain, or look at it as an adventure. And perspective is definately called for. This morning as we hopefully flicked the lightswitch at 5am I said, "Power's on...and we ate last night....and we have a new President here...and there wasn't an earthquake that caused chaos.....and my kids are all safe" Yep, it's all about perspective. I can choose to give thanks, or I can complain and start that downward spiral into self-pity.

As a PS, please pray for the Matute family (family of 3rd grade student) They lost their 3-year-old yesterday in a house fire. He had hidden and Mom couldn't find him in time.

The fog is rolling across the mountain this morning and I feel it deep. How is it that looking and seeing the mountain behind me shrouded in clouds makes me feel cloudy as well? Suddenly my head aches from lack of sleep and the tasks in front of me seem larger than my ability to conquer them. I wish for sunshine. Why is it more difficult to give thanks for rainy days? It takes a decided effort to choose to give thanks when I don't FEEL thankful. Lord help me choose to praise you even when my emotions won't cooperate.