I haven't seen the beach yet.

I just wanted to throw that out there. I've been close to the beach twice, but haven't actually seen it or walked on the hot sand. Things change when there's a baby in the picture.

St. Augustine

So, my in-laws were her last week. We met up with them in the oldest city in the US, St. Augustine, which is about 2 hours from Gainesville.

Scotty's parents

Besides the beach that I didn't get to, there is lots of fun architecture, pretty houses, shopping and a big Spanish fort. We wandered around in the hot sun without much of an agenda, other than to eat fried seafood and to modestly nurse in the foyer of the welcome center, which proved difficult as St. Augustine turns out to be a not-so-breastfeeding-friendly town. A bit of a challenge when both you and your baby are sweaty. But, the trip was fun overall.

On top of the fort.

During the week we ran errands together, read, played games, ate and generally enjoyed each other- especially the time all 4 grandparents were able to hang out with Natty.The ladies bowl at UF. Mom comes in 1st, Mims in 2nd and me, pulling up the rear.

At the end of the week, we drove down with Scotty's parents to the home of some good friends of the family, Tom and Marilyn. Marilyn is the hostess with the mostest- meaning gourmet salads, a pool, lots of personal touches in your room, a listening ear and great conversation. Tom is a character and loved playing with Natty and making her giggle.

Tom, me and Natty. We're trying to get Natty a spot in the next Chic-Fil-A calender.

Scotty's dad, whom we call "Papi", volunteered to stay with Natty Sunday morning so we could enjoy a care-free church service without worrying if she'd melt down on the nursery staff. His parents returned home on Monday and now we are starting to get into gear for visiting some of our supporters around here before time runs out on us...it always seems to pass faster than we expect.

"Hello little girl. Why aren't you blinking?"

Natalie is growing at rapid rates and astounds us with how quickly she is changing. We're encouraging her to crawl, which she seems very close to doing. If fussiness is any indicator of soon to arrive teeth, I'm pretty sure she'll have a mouth-full by the end of the week. But, she still is plenty sweet and adorable and is loving the summertime almost as much as her mommy. Public libraries are an indulgence that we sorely miss in Bolivia and have been able to visit twice now to find all the books that satiate our interest in home building and design, novels and board books for the baby. I also checked out a book on signing that will hopefully help us communicate a little better as time goes on. I love the idea of her being able to talk to me without words! So, the enjoyment of home continues...

Scotty, Lisa & Natalie, Home from Bolivia

We're now back in the US for six and a half months of Home Assignment (the new term for furlough) and currently enjoying some R&R in the Florida sunshine! We're thankful that we're not coming off the mission field feeling burned out and grateful that we're here to reconnect with family, friends and supporters. Please pray with us that our time back will further equip us for effectively ministering in Bolivia.

Easter church retreat
Since our last e-newsletter was way back in March, we need to catch you up on a major event in the life of our church, the retreat we took over the Easter weekend. Besides all the good relationship-deepening stuff like preparing food and eating together, playing games (like volleyball with a massive soccer ball), swimming in the pool and roasting marshmallows, it was our chance to share the church's vision with a majority of our regular attenders and plenty of guests, too. In one sense, our vision isn't that earth-shattering (because it's pretty basic and straightforward). On the other hand, it is profound stuff if we can really make headway as a church in these three areas: love God (worship & sound teaching), grow together (discipleship and community), and reach the world (evangelism, missions and meeting human need). The 3 talks during the retreat were just the beginning in the process of explaining and incorporating these values in the Mallasilla Bible Church. A story that best fits in the green circle came about because we invited a particular family from our small group to ride down to the jungle camp with us in our loaded-down Land Cruiser. We had a great time talking there and back, and they really enjoyed the retreat. Afterwards, they expressed their extreme gratitude to us, saying they wouldn't have been able to go if it had not been for our invitation to ride with us.

Men's book study
With a desire to encourage men in the red and green circles of loving God and growing together, I initiated a study of John Piper's book Don't Waste Your Life, bringing 20 copies in Spanish back after our brief visit last November. The books sold (at cost) like iPhones and were bought both by men who participated in the study as well as others from the church. In the book, pastor John encourages us to live radically as Christians, treasuring God in such a way that He is glorified in every aspect of our lives, from worship to evangelism to how we spend our money to how we work. We met to discuss each chapter and though attendance varied from 3 to 10 guys, the discussions went really deep and we were able to pray for one another in specific ways that the book applied to our individual lives.
There was a good deal of interest in continuing the study with another book during our absence, which is a huge encouragement to me! It is so important that the men of our church go deep with God and each other, step up in leadership roles, and guide their families in living for God's glory.

Being the church to one another
A man in our small group, Cesar Lozano, has been out of work for over a year. He and his wife, Teresa, and their two teen-age girls have been faithful and encouraging members of our Saturday Bible study and IBM for about a year. Cesar explains how it was always a chore to get the girls to attend any other church consistently, but his daughters and wife have found such a connection with other women in Mallasilla that they are the ones urging him now. A few months ago, one of the other men in our group, a very new believer, brought up the idea of taking a group collection of money to help out the Lozano family. Everyone was excited by the idea so the initiator followed up with each family and presented the Lozanos with a significant gift. We spoke privately with them several weeks later and found them very grateful but also admitting that their pride caused them to initially be embarrassed and reluctant to accept the money. However, God taught them all that He has much good to be offered from His hand, and to receive it with thanksgiving. We see that our group is growing so much in depth of knowledge of the Lord and love for each other. We've confidently left the group in the hands of our friends Hugo and Ericka Ramirez and saw the entire crew taking initiative in conversing with each other in order to change the meeting time to fit their schedules better and deciding on what they are going to study.

Being the church, part II
Last year we introduced you to good friends that live a few minutes from us, the Astorga family. They have been building a home on the same street as our land for around 2 years and have saved every penny possible, even when Javier was without a job for many months, to move in. About a week before we left, they were finally able to get the house to a point where it was livable- without showers and finished flooring- but livable. They are ecstatic to live on the same street as another Christian family from the church, and eventually, us too. In order to celebrate God's faithfulness in providing their own home (the 4 of them have been living in one bedroom at their parents' house for several years) and to say good-bye to us, they threw a pizza party in our honor. As we sat around their first fire in the family room's fireplace with several different families, watched all the kids running around, their screams bouncing off the cement walls, ate pizza, and sang karaoke, we realized what a gift we have been given in these relationships. The different individuals in the room that we are closest to spent half an hour or so thanking us for our service and friendship, sharing the things we have taught them, and laughing with us over the various language blunders we have made along the way. What a sweet way to be affirmed in God's call as we reflect on the ups and downs and joys and sorrows of ministry.

Bolivian highs and lows
This country that God has called us to has its extremes: low altitude with high temperatures in the East and high altitude with low temperatures in the West. I experienced the latter pair with six adventurous friends as we tackled Bolivia's highest peak at 21,463 feet, Nevado Sajama, right before Lisa's and my return stateside. It was an appropriate farewell activity for two good friends in my men's accountability group that won't be returning to Bolivia. It was also among the hardest (and coldest!) things I've done in my life! At this point, you may be expecting the anology between ministry and putting one crampon-clad boot in front of the other to eventually make it to the top of that mountain. So I hope you're not disappointed that instead I share my decision to hang up the ice axe in mountain climbing retirement in favor of future vacation plans to chill by the pool in Bolivia's lower climes and higher temps with Lisa, Natalie and any other progeny God blesses us with. I guess this is more a reflection on priorities; deciding what's really worth putting my energies and resources into in work as well as in leisure. And priorites change, too. I'm grateful for the memories of two very challenging, very beautiful Bolivian peaks I've climbed with friends, and content to leave it at that. Other challenges await us in life and ministry in Bolivia. We experience extremes of cultural differences on a regular basis, as well as highs and lows in energy and in spirits, but we rely on God for the perseverance and joy to keep taking the next step.

Praises

We feel we finished our term well in Bolivia, handing over our primary ministries to capable people so that they will be continued and we can start some new things upon our return!

God is providing richly for our needs, including a pair of guys to sublet our apartment in our absence, a family to take care of our cats, and countless things here in the US from a high chair for Natalie to a place to stay in Charlotte for several months. We praise God for this season to be back in our home culture to rest and spend time with family, friends, and supporters.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for the Mallasilla Bible Church as they wrestle through some big issues in our absence, such as the role of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Please pray also for more and more people from the congregation to step up in ministry and leadership roles in the church.

Please pray for us as we try to raise more financial support in this tough economy, that God will provide and that we will trust in Him to do so.

Please also pray for us as we try to see and visit lots of people

Our time in the USA

We're enjoying time with Lisa's family in northern Florida and will be with my parents in TN beginning in August. If you live in Ohio, we'd love for you to come to an open house in Coumbus we'll be announcing for sometime in August. We'll arrive in Charlotte, NC in mid-September in order for me to take two more classes toward a master's in Christian Thought at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and be there through the beginning of December. In October, we'll fly out to Minneapolis to be a part of Bethlehem Baptist's missions conference and see friends and supporters there. Finally, we'll wrap up our time here in Florida again for Christmas and New Year's before returning to Bolivia on January 8. We hope we'll get to see you during our time here! But if we're not able to get together in person, we'd love to be in contact by phone or email. See our contact info below to set something up!

During this time of home assignment, we do need to increase our financial support. Please prayerfully consider joining the team of people and churches that make it possible for us to live and minister in Bolivia. If you are already support us, please consider increasing your monthly amount. Thank you so much for your support as friends, financial partners and prayer warriors on our behalf!

More on joining our support team...

God has graciously provided for all of our needs through your generous support ever since we (separately) hit Bolivian soil in 2003. Now, with a new fiscal year and little Natalie having joined Team Miser, we need to boost our support level with SIM. If you would be interested in joining our support team, please contact us or you can begin giving here!

Thank you! Scotty for the Misers

Pool- check. Blueberries- check. Home church- check. Relax- check. We are enjoying checking off a mental list of all the stuff we've been looking forward to upon arriving home. Mostly, we were ready to relax, sit around, eat good food and hang out with my family- which we are doing a lot of. We are in no rush to mix and mingle or even visit supporters...yet. There is plenty of time for that. The trip home went fantastically, even with a few delayed flights. As He always does, God answered our prayers by giving us an empty seat on the long leg of the flight between Bolivia and Miami for Natty to hang out in. Big girl in her own seat.

We had her up by 4am on Wednesday and she eventually fell asleep on the trip home from the airport at about 10:30pm. While travelling, she did a great job of playing, sitting, staring, napping a bit, eating, and making everyone fall in love with her (at least, that's our perception). Although it was a very long day, she was up at her normal time the next morning and hasn't skipped a beat in her routine. I'm afraid she takes after me. We were able to share the flight home with good friends from Bolivia, James, Julie and Maya. James, Maya, me and Natty waiting to board the plane.

The girls have just reached an age where they seemed to be enjoying each other a little, but we sadly said "good-bye" to the Bellinghams in Miami, not sure if we'll ever see them again.

Although Natty takes a few days to warm up to new people, my parents have really loved watching her at this new, fun stage.

Natty's "Papa" feeding her dinner.

She's getting much more comfortable with them now and it is a delight for me to watch them interact and give me and Scotty a chance to escape a bit and do some dating again. Our first date since Scotty's birthday in April was a trip to Border's and out to a local Mexican dive, where we were able to chat with our waiter in Spanish (which scored us some free chips). A few days ago, we crashed my best friend's parents' house (which was like a second home to me growing up) to soak up the sun and float in the pool. Natty had her first dip, surprising me and Scotty by loving it and happily splashing around. Poor thing has done a lot of sweating since we've arrived- a feeling she's not at all accustomed to in La Paz. Days like that are exactly what I have been dreaming about in the weeks and months leading up to our return. We can't wait to catch up with more friends and see Scotty's parents this weekend!

Friendly ladies, cranky baby

I had one of those afternoons where just about everyone wanted to talk to or touch Natty- and she wasn't having any of it. The first tooth just arrived last night, and with it, a heightened degree of fusiness that we have not experienced before. So, as we arrive at the pediatrician's office, I'm happy that she seems to be entertained by a young girl sitting across from her. Then, this old lady sits down next to us, practically on top of my diaper bag, and starts mumbling incoherently. Then comes the touching. There is no etiquette on baby-touching here- it was the same way with the pregnant belly...if you can reach it, you can touch it. So here come the hands toward the face- very dirty hands, I must tell you- and there was lots of face groping and patting and caressing, as well as hand grabbing. And all the while, mumbling. I wondered where this lady came from and who was responsible for her. She held out her hands several times like she wanted me to hand the baby over to her. I'm not too down with giving my baby to very old, dirty-hands lady that doesn't seem to know how to speak. I smiled and prayed that she was healthy (we were in a doctor's office waiting room) and shook my head, explaining that she scares easily- which is true. She was border line about to bawl but seemed rather fascinated with this cloudy-eyed woman. Then, up she went and back she came with her caregiver/daughter/younger friend (??), who sat down on the other side and started stroking Natty's head. Now they were coming from two directions and I thought I might just bust out of my seat and politely explain I needed to go to the restroom. The pair eventually moved to another row of seats where there were two open together, but the old lady would periodically come back, almost trying to take Natty out of my arms, and the younger one would say, "no, honey, you're going to drop her.". Oh, boy. So then, after a traumatic visit with the pediatrician, in which Natty screamed her head off the entire time like that little measuring tape they put around her head were squeezing her brains out, we went back into the waiting room to wait for the nurse to come and give her 2 injections- perfect. So, a little girl came over who appeared to have pink eye and started babbling a mile a minute about babies and how they eat and what her little sister is like and also interpretting every sound Natalie made..."She wants to eat the grapes whole. She wants to eat them faster. She's bored." Again, I wondered who was responsible for this child. Of course, Natalie likes small people, so she was trying to reach out and grab the girl's face, which had me a bit concerned about pink eye. But, at least she wasn't screaming...until the vaccinations. So, thankfully after that joy ride through the pediatrician's office, we came home and she was actually cute and happy and laughing until bedtime- which made up for all the screaming. God has given us a great gift in this little girl.

An Unforgettable Night

We met with Greg yesterday to go over our end of term reviews that are part of what SIM requires before returning on home assignment. Filling out the review form and thinking about the last 3 years was a great exercise in being reminded of all that God taught and the continued need to be open to where He is leading and how He wants to change us. One thing that stood out to us as a continued frustration is how different we, foreigners, deal with time. I have realized how tied to the clock I have been all my life and we see how loosely most Bolivians hold onto time limitations...there really are few limitations when it comes to time. We see so much benefit in this, but it is so hard to conform to this way of living when you are used to punctuality and starting and ending times. Last night, God threw me a big test after talking through these things with Scotty and Greg- realizing that I was the one that needed to change my atitude about it. We were invited over by good friends who have been working on their house for several years- it's on the same street we will be building on. They still haven't finished, but they've gotten it to a point where it is livable and they wanted to throw us a going away party and celebrate the fact that they've finally moved in. Great idea! They invited other good friends who live at the end of the street and some of their family. I had talked with my friend on Sunday and we had planned for a little after 7, since Natalie goes to bed at that time. We called a friend to come over to be in the house while Natty sleeps and took off about 7:30, realizing that showing up on time would not be the best idea. We've been running hard these past few days and I was already tired, although looking forward to hanging out with these families. When we walked over to the house, there was no one there. Not too surprising. When we called our friend, she said, "can you come at 8:30?". 8:30??? I must say, that was the point where I totally forgot about the need to change my attitude. I was a bit upset, to say the least. We walked back home and spent the next hour chatting while waiting for everyone to show up. By the time we were ready to leave again, I had calmed down and wondered if I should bring up the issue at all. We went back and the house had been opened by another friend, but our friend still wasn't there. She came about half and hour later and explained the long list of things that had caused her to run behind in everything. After hearing her explanation, I realized how short of grace I had been and that I would want someone else to understand and be patient if I were in the same situation. Well, we all sat down, they cranked up the English ballads from the 80's, and we waited for dinner to be finished...I was getting pretty tired by this point. There was lots of excited conversation going on, kids running around, Air Supply crooning in the background, promises of karoke later in the evening and our friend promising us "an unforgettable night". Oh! Don't worry, I thought, it already has been.

Around 10 we finally ate, talked, started the first fire in their fire place, and out came the karoke videos. We sang a few and then Scotty and I reluctantly explained that we needed to leave to relieve the babysitter and also because he had to get up early this morning to head to Sajama, the highest mountain in Bolivia, which he intends to summit in the next 3 days. Then, as Bolivians are so skilled at doing, they blessed us by sharing how much we mean to them, how much we have affected their lives and how much they will miss us. We have been very humbled in the last week or so as various friends share these going-away thoughts and confirm what we sometimes wonder- that God really is using us here. Back to the house by 11:30- it was truly an unforgettable night.

The count-down

We leave for the US in 2 weeks! Because of this fact, I have been too busy to blog but I thought I'd throw a quick one out there to notify everyone of this. I also will not be adding pictures because I just let my computer do "updates" and it has wreaked havoc on my programs- including rendering me incapable of using the program I used to use to shrink pictures. I need to become more computer savvy. Anyway, it continues to get cold here- I am wearing a long sleeved shirt, sweater and fleece in the house. The air is crisp inside, even when it has warmed up considerably outside. Therefore, I am ready for the Florida summer, even though I haven't experienced that kind of humidity since 2006. I went through my wardrobe today and threw out socks I think I've had for 10 years in an effort to consolidate, figure out what I need to buy when we're home, and make room for the boys who will be living here while we're away. God has answered a big prayer in providing a family to take our cats! All we have left now is some more organizing, packing up a whole bunch of stuff and trying to get together with all our friends before we go. I feel like this is what has been going on in the last few weeks. I've thought many times about how wonderful it will be to be in the states with our friends and family, but how nice it is that we aren't leaving feeling burned out or that we're tired of this place. It is a good time to go and we are leaving things in very capable hands. We will miss our friends here but know that the break will be healthy and a great time to meditate on all God has taught us in these almost 3 years and seek out what He wants to do in the next phase.

Good stuff

Have you ever had a chocolate urge but there were no cookies or miniature Hershey bars or anything else remotely chocolate in the house other than chocolate chips? And you think, "I'll just have a little handfull to take the edge off." And then the next thing you know, you've emptied a "small" bowl full and you feel totally gross. Just wondering...





So, I'm feeling better (or was until that chocolate episode) and am praising God daily for my health and Natty's health and that her cute little smile has come back. She was even flirting with a little boy at church on Sunday- something I did NOT teach her. We're getting out often and my goal this week while Scotty is away is to organize my stuff (meaning, throw out a ton of junk that I haven't used since we moved back to Bolivia) and start packing things into boxes for when we're in the states and someone else is living here. I'd also like to visit someone each day, since that is what I love doing and haven't had a chance to do lately.

Yay for happy Natalie!

We've switched our Saturday afternoon Bible study to Friday nights. This is because it is much more convenient for everyone and allows them to hang out after study is over for as long as they like- in my experience, this is easily until mid-night. Because of that fact, I am thankful it won't be in my house any longer. This past Friday, we joined forces with another small group from church in order to have an open forum with Scotty and the pastor- a free-for-all, if you will. No question was off limits- we wanted to give everyone the chance to voice the doubts and questions they've had on their mind since our little church began a year and a half ago. Topics ranged from women preaching to spiritual gifts to worship styles (just how demonstrative can we be during praise time?) and then back to spiritual gifts. It was a good time for people to be really honest with where they stand, admit that they don't know where they stand, and to hear exactly where the pastor stands. It was good for the leadership to also emphasize that they haven't talked about everything or decided where we will stand as a church (on form issues, not doctrine). We talked a lot about love and grace and how those must trump differences in style and grey issues that will often arise. I feel like it was another time for us to grow as a body as we wrestled together with what it means to be a church and how that is practically played out. It could have gotten messy, but pastor Edgar did a fantastic job of reminding people that above all, we are called to love each other. And I think it made people feel like they really are important in the process. We've been told how much we will be missed in the time we are away. It is good to hear and good that we will miss them too. We're at such a tender age right now as a church- I can't wait to see where we are when we come back.