A good day

Funny how it's the little things added together that make a really good day. I must say there have been some tense moments in the last couple of days, more challenges in the process of getting used to being a missionary in Bolivia, but also many reminders that Christians will suffer and as a result of those times be conformed more into the image of Christ. I woke up this morning praying that today would be better than yesterday, that I would trust in God for His provision and control over the events of my life- hoping to understand that they are for my good and His glory. I had planned on meeting a friend for lunch, a girl my age that I got to know a little during the women's retreat a few weeks ago. Scotty planned on visiting the boys home where he used to work, checking out the two new homes that they've built since we left over a year ago. We went our seperate ways, each anxious to interact with Bolivians in hopes of forming deeper relationships in our community. Giovanna and I met downtown and walked to a Brazilian restaurant and she promptly ordered the cow's tail special...ick. She encouraged me to try it, only after I turned down the chance to share a plate of pig's feet, fried pork, and deep-fried, shredded llama. How could I turn that down, you ask?? For the next couple of hours we shared stories from our lives, lessons we've learned about trusting in God and being satisfied in Him, and much about our families. I left feeling like I had made a new friend and had a much needed opportunity to speak Spanish and attempt to express myself regarding deeper issues. After parting from Giovanna, I made my way toward the grocery store in search of finding a good ice-cream to accompany the brownies I'm making for friends we are hanging out with tonight. Can you believe I found mocha?? This might not seem hard to believe, but Bolivia hasn't quite caught the coffee craze (not to the extent that Scotty and I are crazy about coffee), so this was another small thing that made my day. Then, on my way home, I decided to grab Scotty's favorite candy bar, Golpe (which also means a hit or punch), as a gift for our one year, 2 month anniversary. :) God is good to bless us with little things that make the tough ones seem not-so-bad.

Crackin' the Whip

Lisa and I have finally decided that Cheddar and Malphurs need to begin pulling their (increasing) weight around here. Up 'til now, they have mostly occupied themselves with eating, sleeping, pooping and attacking each other. But there is serious work to be done in this missionary household, so we have assigned them the chores of filing away our paperwork and replying to some of the emails of our friends and supporters. We hope this will streamline our operation significantly.

Rare Urban Wildlife

Scotty and I had a whole day of "to do's" planned until we headed downtown and it started raining. We waited under shelter for a bit and then decided to scrap the plan of going shopping in the market (which always takes hours) and enjoy our Saturday afternoon doing Sudoku inside our warm, cozy apartment instead. As we walked back, we came upon this sight at the small park down the road from our house. Although there are not too many things that we see here that surprise us anymore, we do live in a very urban area and would have never expected cows in our park. This corner Scotty named "the dog buffet" because people throw their trash here to be picked up by trashmen every night, and until then there are always strays rummaging through for a snack. Today there were cows... These cows must have been mighty desperate to eat trash- and what does that do to their milk??

For such a time as this

This morning was difficult for me, and consequently for Scotty as well. As we are faced with different decisions about where and how to get involved and what is the best use of our time, I find myself confronting fears that I had only a slight idea were there. There are moments in life when you realize what Christ meant when He said that if anyone is to be His disciple, they must take up their cross daily and follow Him. As I come to understand the call that God has on us, I find myself grasping and fumbling to hold onto any scrap of my own desires and bits of my life that I don't want to give up. And now that I am married, I want to clutch my relationship with Scotty to myself and not release that to the merciful hands of God either. So I cry and we pray and I seek my God who has placed all these things in front of us. I took a walk to a plaza this morning, after going through these emotions with Scotty, and opened my Bible to where I had left the marker last. I have not used this particular Bible for more than a year and found that the mark was placed in Ester, right at the time Mordecai found out King Xerxes was going to anhilate the Jews, and runs to Queen Ester asking her to throw herself on the king's mercy in order to save their people. Ester initially expresses a bit of doubt because the king has not called on her for a month and to come into the presence of the king without his call deserves death. Mordecai responds saying, "Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" Ester decides that if she is to die, it is worth it to try to save many. Earlier, I had thought about how I can sometimes feel alone, thinking no one quite understands what I am going through and how many people I have left in order to be here. Then comes Ester- a woman who was given to a stranger king in marriage, one who hasn't even seen her for 30 days, and must have felt much more isolated than me. But knowing that she can make a difference to many lives, she is willing to go to her death.

Then I felt compelled to read John 10, in which Jesus speaks of Himself as the Good Shepherd. He says that He has called His sheep by name, they know His voice, He leads them out and goes before them. He says He has laid down His life for us and that He has come so that we may have life to the full.

Such a powerful sense that God gave me as His Spirit led me to the scriptures of His greater plan and His promise to be with us and to guide us. There is much peace in knowing a Savior like that.

La Avanzada

That's the name that our church-planting team has taken on. It means the advance guard or spearhead and seems like an appropriate moniker for our group, which has committed to penetrating Mallasilla with the gospel and establishing a church there. Lisa and I began meeting and reconnecting with members of the team as soon as we arrived, but finally met with almost the whole group last night for dinner. We were welcomed with open arms by these Bolivian families that have already been praying for us for months in conjunction with the many other things they have been seeking God for in terms of this church-planting work. Please pray with us for these families that we will be working alongside of and with them modelling what it means to be the body of Christ, meeting together to exalt His name and fighting together to stay firm in the faith. You will certainly see more of their faces and learn more about them on this blog and in our newsletters, but let us introduce you to Eddie Alarcon and Jorge Vedia, the guys sampling the barbecue above, as well as Fabricio Castellon, Angie Vedia (and Angie's little sister, whose name I forget at the moment), some of the young people who are key leaders as much as their parents. Lisa and I are thrilled with the prospect of going deep with these amazing people, both in personal relationships as well as Bible study and prayer in the months and years to come!

And his name is...

Cheddar! Thanks for all the great ideas for our lovey little orange and white kitty. After much searching and discussion, we have decided that "Cheddar" is the perfect name for our kitten. Gazpacho and Mani (spanish for "peanut") were in high ranking as well, but this one seems perfect and Bolivians also recognize it as a type of cheese. We just finished giving both cats a bath, thinking it would be a good idea to get all the market grime off their coats, but now wondering if we haven't permanently scarred them. Thankfully, Malphurs has taken to washing Cheddar dry since he sat shaking, in a trance, after the bathing and would not move for anything.

I enjoyed my second class with our Spanish teacher, Jamie, this afternoon- feeling like it was a little more beneficial than the first class I took together with Scotty. Jaime has a Catholic background and seems to know a bit about the Bible, even encouraging us to study it as part of class, but as far as we know, is not a believer. It seems he is going through some pretty heavy personal stuff and we are praying that in the few months we spend with him, we might have an opportunity to share the hope that we have in Jesus. The weekly street kid dinner party will be happening again downstairs tonight, so Scotty and I are planning on going down there to see friends and interact with these boys who are so lively and up for fun! Tomorrow morning I head off to the jungle for a ladies retreat, hoping to learn much Spanish and begin some neat relationships.

Proud parents

Yes, today we bought kittens. This has been a dream of mine and something we've talked about doing ever since we got married, and finally we live in an apartment where we can have them! We received a phone call last night informing us that the public transport guys were going to be continuing the strike, so our SIM team meeting was called off for this morning...which also meant our trip up to the market to buy pets was called off too. Much to our surprise, we got another call around 8 this morning letting us know that an agreement had been met by the transportistas and we would have the team meeting. We briskly walked downhill to catch our bus and enjoyed a few hours of sharing, laughing, singing praise choruses, and praying with our teammates- so thankful again for an amazing group of people to support us here. After everyone left, our friend Michelle left her baby boy for the first time for more than a few minutes (in very capable hands) in order to drive us up to the market and help us find where they sell the pets. We had to walk through the American clothes market first, where Scotty found the smashing University of Florida (my alma mater) National Champs shirt, which he is sporting in the picture with our cute little orange kitten. When we finally made it to the pet street, we were bombarded with parrots, rats, kittens, puppies, guinea pigs (which they eat here...not sure if these were pets or lunch), and rabbits. Michelle warned us to watch out for the monkeys, but they seemed to be out of stock today. We searched high and low through the kitten cages, finding it hard to bypass lots of cute faces and meows. But we had high standards and knew when we saw these 2 little ones that they were the ones for us. The grey we named "Malphurs" after a street name close to our old house in Charlotte that we always thought would make a good cat name. The other, who I call "Creamsickle" or "Orangey", has yet to be named. We have high standards for names too and must wait for the perfect name to be spoken to our hearts. We like being cat parents.

Par for the course

For those of you who grieved with me the loss of my first rosemary plant, Herb, I wanted to give you this opportunity to rejoice with us in welcoming "Romero" (Spanish for "rosemary"). He's quite a pretty plant, but I'm afraid I stripped him about bare last night to make a superb rosemary bread...I think it was worth it.

Yesterday was full of plans to hang out with friends and explore the area, attend our first Spanish class, and have dinner with another missionary couple we have not met yet. The not-so-surprising thing was that none of it happened. We were informed in the morning that the first transportation strike, or "paro", since returning was already in motion. It seems that for saftey concerns an overpass is being constructed over a major road in the city, causing that route to be closed for a time while it is under construction. The taxi and bus drivers are not fans of having to change their routes, so they are striking...which means either way they are not making money. Go figure. So, I ended up in the kitchen the majority of the day, baking and cooking and enjoying myself immensely, although wondering if every meal I make will take so long. Meatloaf is definitely not a Bolivian standard, so I thought it would be enjoyable for us to have something that can't be found in a restaurant (unlike the 2 amazing steak dinners Scotty and I enjoyed the other night for a little over $5 total). :) I love sweet potatoes cubed and baked with salt, but that is another root that Bolivia doesn't offer. Thankfully, there are about a million other types of roots that are new to us and available in every market, including a sweet potato-like substitute called camote. Hooray for good market finds!

Sunday was a great day, attending our new church and catching up with old friends. It was an awesome experience to spend much time in worship, appreciating singing praises to our God in Spanish. I was excited to find that I was easily following the message, grateful to hear the gospel preached clearly, and also making little notes about phrases I needed to look up later. During our 45 minute bus trip down to church that morning, Scotty and I realized how beneficial it will be for us to spend that time memorizing scripture- something we are trying to do in Spanish and English. I connected that evening with a good friend, Celeste, who was my roomate for my 3 weeks of training when I first arrived in Cochabamba 3 years ago. She has moved to La Paz and I am grateful to have another person here that already knows me and is so fun to hang out with!

Thank you all for your love and prayers. We very much desire to stay in good communication with all of you, but have already experienced several days without internet- it seems we have a touchy connection. God continues to be so gracious to us, reminding us of His great promises of hope, and giving peace to our hearts.

Settling in

The past few days have been a bit of a blur, except for one day of fairly heavy emotional turmoil that spilled out in several cry sessions with Scotty. There are some fears that I have struggled with off and on about returning to the city where Scotty lived, knowing that he had a busy social life here without me at one time. I oftened wondered where I would fit into it all and how long it would be before I made lady friends of my own or we could make friends as a couple. We have prayed much about certain things that I knew could come up and that we would be patient with the emotional challenges that moving to a new culture brings. Last night we attended a pancake dinner downstairs which included about 25 or so shoe-shiner boys to whom our friend Randy bases the majority of his ministry here. We also invited a few of our Bolivian friends, one of them being Dani, a girl my age who is part of our church plant team. I shared some of my struggles with her and was very much encouraged by her Biblical and Christ-centered response, as well as plentiful offerings to just be a shoulder to cry on or someone who can listen. We've made plans to get together on Monday to tour the area we live in, looking for the best butcher, produce market, and other useful shops. Later in the week I'm planning on joining her and a couple other girls to cook lunch together and get to know each other better. God is so gracious in the way He quickly answered our prayers and has opened up opportunities for me to make friends with nationals here. Scotty also has reconnected with an old friend, Negro, who seems to be growing in his faith and shares similar interests as Scotty. In his last term, Scotty played for a university basketball team and has already visited practice with another team. He's strongly considering playing again as a way to make non-believing friends and get some good exercise.

We're settling in quickly, having taken many trips to the markets to fill my pantry with yummy things to cook with, as well as buying some fun plants to make the apartment feel more homey. We also met with our new Spanish teacher, Jamie, this afternoon and set up a time to get together next week to start our lessons. I was pleasantly surprised to hear him say that we are at an advanced level of Spanish ability and he seemed to wonder why we wanted classes at all.

Tonight we're taking time for ourselves to have a date, awaiting with growling tummies a fantastic Argentinian steak place down the street where Scotty knows the owner. We like the idea of frequenting a handfull of markets and restaurants where we can get to know the staff, hopefully building relationships in the community and becoming familiar faces (I'm sure that won't take too long since there aren't too many white faces like ours!). We continue to marvel that we are back and see the hand of God over and over smoothing the way for us.

We're back!

I've noticed a lot of our friends in Charlotte commenting on the arrival of fall and how much they love that season. Scotty has always said that La Paz stays in a constant state of fall, which I often scoffed at since my idea of fall (being a Floridian) is quite warm. The temps were near freezing last night when we flew in and it was tough to get out of bed this morning into a non-heated house, but I am already starting to see the beauty of cool weather. The skies are often a crisp blue and spring brings a light, refreshing breeze that makes it delightful to take walks around town. I'm dying to get out and walk to the market, buy bags and bags of fresh fruit and vegetables, and reaquaint myself with our neighborhood, Sopocachi.

We were very warmly received by several friends at the airport last night and found out that a huge pancake breakfast had been planned for us that morning with all our good friends, but our schedule was shifted a bit, as is often the case here. Because of mechanical difficulties with the plane, we were sent to Santa Cruz, a large tropical city where we spent the better part of the day. We weren't too excited about lugging around our 4 large bags, 3 of which were overweight (one coming in at a whopping 79lbs!), but got a kick out of watching our bus drivers struggling to hoist them up to the roof of the bus that took us to the hotel where we spent the day. Although we were more than ready to be in La Paz, we enjoyed an "American-style breakfast", warm showers, and a nap in the hotel room- giving us a chance to talk and marvel at being back in Bolivia. After going through the suitcase lugging and heaving experience again, we were taken to the airport and eventually made it on to a very full plane to La Paz. The airport is in El Alto, a large city about 1000ft. above where we live, and the drive down is spectacular. The lights of La Paz were twinkling below as we descended and had lively conversation about the unstable political climate here right now. I couldn't get over how familiar everything looked and how comfortable I felt in my surroundings. I truly believe that the many prayers that have been spoken over us have truly covered our hearts and minds and brought us much peace on entering the country again. Scotty woke up with the common signs of altitude sickness, headache and nausea, so I had a quiet morning to myself, gulping coca tea (which helps ward off the sickness), eating cereal, and reading about Jacob and Joseph. Such wonderful promises God made to that family and His faithfulness never ended, even as they experienced hardships and devestations. We know that God has promised us much, to never leave us or forsake us, and we are leaning on Him for the fulfillment of all He desires to do in us.

I must say I hardly know where to begin! But, for those of you who know us well, coffee is always a good place to start! So, we're heading out now to our favorite coffee shop to grap a cup of joe and some beans to bring back to our apartment. More to come soon...