Wedding weekend

We had such a fun time this weekend celebrating the union of our good friends Dani and Randy. Friday's festivities started out with an early morning pancake breakfast for the boys where they spent time eating, memorizing scripture, and praying for Randy as he headed into the sacred and exciting journey of matrimony. Friday evening we all gathered at the international church for the wedding rehearsal and then off to La Comunidad, the church our plant came out of, for the civil ceremony. Here, in Bolivia, there are always two big ceremonies. The civil comes before the church wedding and is where you sign papers before a judge and witnesses and your marriage becomes legal as far as the state is concerned. Christians participate in this ceremony but always see the church wedding as the official union and when normal married life begins. This was my first time attending a civil service, it is reserved for the wedding party and closest friends and relatives. There was a speech made by the judge on the importance of the institution of marriage (from a strictly social standpoint) and then there was a special time when Dani and Randy served us the elements of the Lord's supper and Randy's Bolivian pastor spoke on what it means to partake of it. It was a neat time, followed by dinner, and the celebration that Dani was now officially Randy's wife. Saturday morning there was a time of basketball for the boys and then several of Dani's 8 bridesmaids met up with Dani to get our hair and nails done. We enjoyed chatting together at the salon and spending these last few hours with Dani before the big event. It was a blessing to help her get ready and get her dress on and then rush over to the church where the music had already begun and all the rest of the party were waiting for us and Dani. The service was beautiful, in both Spanish and English, with traditional vows and personal ones that the bride and groom had written for each other and said in both languages. There was a beautiful time of worshipping the Lord together at the beginning of the service, giving glory to Him who we live for and who brought these two lives together. After, we enjoyed a fun-filled, late reception with dinner at 11:30pm and dancing still going on when we left at 1:30am! Scotty and I saw some old friends we hadn't seen for a while and some of the guys he used to disciple in the church he attended before we were married. It was a sweet night of celebrating God's goodness.

Baby girls

We've been told by several Bolivian friends lately that here it is considered a blessing to have a girl first. This wasn't backed up by any explanation until yesterday when our lawyer friend told us that a baby girl as the firstborn means you'll have a full house. Although I don't believe in superstition, I would be happy to believe God will bless us with many more children. I'm at that point in the pregnancy when not too much seems to be happening. I'm getting bigger slowly enough that I don't recognize it too much, except for that somewhat disheartening realization that one day not too long ago my khakis fit and now I can't hardly pull them up over my thighs (and since baby doesn't rest in the thighs, that makes me a little bummed). I haven't felt any definitive kicks yet, although there seems to be a bit of squirming that I think is her, or the strange concoction of food I seem to ingest daily... I'm sure all parents have experienced this, but from the moment you get pregnant, you begin to find things to worry about. First it's the fear of miscarriage, than if the baby has a defect, than why it's not kicking yet, etc... I imagine these fears can constantly be replaced by new ones for as long as you have your child with you in life. My goal now is to put these fears before the Lord and learn a new level of trusting in Him and His soverignity. There are many factors about having a baby in Bolivia that could cause me to worry or think that it would be better to go home to have the baby, but I fully believe this is where God has us in this phase of our lives and He will provide what we need to have children here. He has been faithful and good to us and His promises are great.

Little belly

I feel silly putting up belly pics at this stage because I'm still pretty small- but I thought a few of you might be curious. I hit 20 weeks yesterday!

Workshop results

The parenting workshop went really well- we had about 100 people there! Joe and Denise, our guest speakers, have incredibly Biblical, practical, creative methods of parenting that captured everyones attention and challenged us all. From those of us on our way to being parents to those with teenage kids, there was a lot to glean from this wise couple of almost 11 children. It was a bummer that they had to leave all their kids behind in Cochabamba, but they were able to say with honesty to us that they were totally and completely comfortable leaving all the younger ones in the hands of their 17 year old son, knowing no one else would do a better job of taking care of them. They talked of writing goals for your children before they reach the stage of that goal and working toward building your kids from little ones into admirable, respectable, loving children. We definitely want to do that. They talked about how parenting styles change in the different age ranges. They talked about your kids as older teenagers coming to regard you as a peer and coming to you for advice instead of you seeking them out to give it. There was tons of positive feedback from those who attended and we'll be following up with small group discussions for the next 4 weeks. We lead one of these groups, but humbly seek the imput of those who are already experiencing these difficulties and victories in raising children.

On Sunday afternoon, we had the pleasure of eating lunch with Joe and Denise and heard some of their advice for new parents. A lot of it centered on keeping our marriage a priority and healthy even when the baby might have a tendency to suck you dry and be your only focus in life. They encouraged keeping romance alive and getting babysitters so that we can get out on dates. Denise warned me that it can be even easier for the mom to become completely wrapped up in her baby and forget about her husband, and that he still needs love and my time. Joe told us that we would find many moments of utter frustration and exhaustion when all the yucky sin comes to the surface and all we want to do in that moment is take a nap. He said that these moments are the ones that God meant to lead you to the cross in search of forgiveness and sanctification as he uses the baby to reveal the heart and continue the process of cleaning it. I can't imagine any more yuck coming to the surface than what marriage has already brought out in me- I'm sure I'm in for a real eye-opener! What a gift to be surrounded by couples like these who are a few steps ahead in parenting and following the Lord as they do it.

Getting into the swing

Things have been busy since returning to La Paz, as we expected. It's neat how going away from a place for a couple weeks really makes you more aware of what you are thankful for where you live. We're thankful for the nice low prices in Bolivia (even though grocery prices are rising and the dollar is falling); we're thankful for our cats and the daily laughs they bring us; I'm especially thankfor for my large, comfy bed that doesn't make me worry about who all the other people are who have slept there and if the sheets have been changed since then; we're thankful for Bolivian people and how friendly and open they generally are; we're thankful for our church where we are known and loved and missed when we're away; we're thankful for our fellow missionaries who are all working toward the same goal of seeing Bolivians come to know and worship the Lord. Saturday, we were able to return to our small group that has been led by one of the men who attends regularly, and were excited that a new couple came that live nearby. The husband of this couple has been attending church with his two teenage sons, but his wife doesn't seem quite as interested. It was good to see them unafraid to interact and ask questions as we studied the basics of the Christian faith. This weekend we have our first seminar planned and have invited a missionary family from Cochabamba to come and lead our church and those from the international Christian school in learning more about what the Bible has to say about raising children. This guy will be great since he's expecting his 11th child later this year- and they're fantastic kids! We've been seeing more and more people stepping up to take roles in the various activities that are going on and more interest from various people in the community as well. I am truly surprised and humbled by the way God is moving around us and in the church and don't feel worthy of the blessings that have been pouring forth from Him. But, I do remember that this isn't about me, but about His own glory being made known in this community.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Although we were busier and found more to do in Buenos Aires, apparently, we didn't photograph as much. But, here is a nice sampling of things that stuck out to us:

Dog walking is a profession in Buenos Aires. We saw these guys and gals hooked up with various pups all over the city. This particular man took quite a while to get all his leashes in order, but then took off across a busy highway with about 15 or so dogs.
I'll apologize in advance if any of my readers own these pants, but I think they're a bit silly. BA is definitely into fashion, and it seems as though the trendy thing for young women are these cottony pants that have elastic around the ankles and a crotch almost that long. We actually saw quite a few people wearing these- I'm not sure any of them made it the style look good.
I love animals. BA had a nice zoo and we managed to get in early enough on a Saturday to beat the crowds. I've decided that although Scotty is much handsomer than a giraffe, this animal best suits him. Long legs, spots (Scotty is fairly freckly), long neck, tall. I can't speak for the personality however. These adorable "rabbit deer", as we named them, were running loose all over the zoo, mixing with other animals as they desired. We never figured out what they were- does anyone know?
Scotty's bday (April 3) was celebrated in high style at the famous Argentine restaurant Siga La Vaca (follow the cow). This is an all you-can-eat salad, meat, bread, fries and drinks (even wine!) place with dessert at the end. They lost money on Scotty, they made money on me.

Montevideo, Uruguay

We're back from our trip and here is the first installment of pics from Montevideo. We had a fantastic vacation!

Most of our time was spent walking around looking at stuff- Montevideo has some pretty architecture.
One day was nice enough to go to the beach- the other days were cool and cloudy. That one day was perfect. There is a lot of good meat in Uruguay. Here is a typical grill restaurant with every meat imaginable.

Even though we would almost never go to McDonald's in the states, we decided to go for it one night after shopping. I wasn't going to get anything since we had dinner a couple hours earlier, but one taste of Scotty's Big Mac and I was convinced...it had real pickles! Pickles are a luxury that they don't have here in Bolivia (not good tasting ones, at least). So, I ordered a hamburger...

Here's my dismay at finding out I accidently ordered the "Fiesta" burger which doesn't have pickles. This is me saying "there's no pickles!" What a disappointment...
We stayed in a super cute, artsy hostel with organic breakfasts- it was one of our favorite bits about the trip to Montevideo.We did a lot of reading after getting tired out from walking. We read outloud to each other from the complete Jane Austen novels. Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Northanger Abby wre completed on this trip.We got a kick out of these contraptions- horses pulling huge loads of recyclable goods. Apparently there's a group of people who rummage through all the garbage in the city to find stuff that can be recycled- this horse has a hat on.

Everybody drinks mate in Uruguay- all day long. It's an herb that is put in fancy little cups with silver straws- you add boiling water and sometimes sugar and it gives you a nice little pic-me-up. Morning and night you could see locals walking with their thermos of hot water and their mug of mate.

Quickie

I'd love to fill everyone in on our adventures down south, but pictures say a thousand words and I have no way of uploading them yet...so you'll just have to wait until we get home next week. But, needless to say, we are having a wonderful, relaxing, tiring (lots of walking) time in Buenos Aires and buying cute outfits for our baby girl! That's right, we found out right before we left that we're having a little girl- much to our surprise, having already set our minds on a boy. But, we're thrilled and enjoyed a 4D dissection of our baby at the clinic where I'll have her- looking at facial features, heart chambers, legs, arms, fingers, etc... Technology is rather amazing and so much cheaper in Bolivia! So, I wanted to share with those of you eager to know. I'm officially the 4th of my (foreign) friends here in La Paz having a baby girl this year- it must be the altitude. :)