Is it really good?

The fact that I'm actually blogging today is nothing short of miraculous.  After praising and thanking God that Jubilee is healthy, now Scotty has fallen victim to this nasty flu.  I've literally never seen him this sick.  He hasn't gotten out of bed in almost 3 days now- except for a brief stint last night to watch some Netflix with me.  He has a constant fever and is totally useless.  This would not normally be a big deal, other than none of us liking to see him suffer, but today is a big Seder dinner that was supposed to kick off our small group.  One and the other thing has prevented us from starting our new group until now.  One of those things being the moving of a core family in our church who were such a vital part of our group, our church and in whose house we met each 15 days.  We said a tearful good-bye to them and are trying to get our feet back under us.  We thought today would be a good day to start things off right as a new group, celebrating good Friday.  However, by the time Scotty and I (mostly I) figured out he was not going to be better in time, that left me trying to figure out today what to do.  Making last minute calls, figuring out food, enlisting a little bit of help, begging with the woman who bought 13 legs of lamb and prepared them for us when we only needed 5 to let me NOT buy the other 8, coordinating tables and chairs and running other important errands while watching the girls and trying not to be exhausted because Jubilee had the worst night of sleep she's had in months is not making this day "good".  I keep telling myself- today is the day we celebrate Christ's death on the cross for my sins.  Jesus died so I don't have to be a slave to stress and crankiness and being impatient with my children.  Scotty always quotes someone (I can't remember who in this moment): "Preach to yourself, don't listen to yourself."  I've been quite a preacher today, but the message isn't sinking in.  Why can't I feel good today??  Shouldn't it be enough to remember what this holiday is all about?  There is a disconnect in that truth with my life.  Maybe I don't realize how big His sacrifice was.  Maybe I don't realize how big my need for a savior is.  Maybe I'm still trying to make it all work out with my meager resources.  Maybe I think that it's too important how this dinner and celebration time comes together.  Maybe I'm bitter because I can't catch a break these last couple of weeks.  It's good to stop and reflect and be honest with myself.  I'm scared no one is going to be able to step up and lead this night and it'll have to be me! What do I say??  I feel so unprepared- so helpless.  Maybe God has me right where He wants me to be able to show how great He is in my pathetic state.  However I feel, I know He is bigger and more capable and I'm waiting to see how He works His wonders in me and this night.

Sick baby.

To say that I worry a bit when my kids get sick is an understatement.  Ever since our experience with Zion, the slightest illness has me fighting for my faith and trust to believe that God is going to heal my baby.  The afternoon that Scotty went out of town, Sunday, Jubilee started to run a fever.  I assumed it was something minor, like teething issues, and we prayed she’d be fine while he was away.  Monday she was hot, but was acting OK, as though she were not too sick.  I had already scheduled her one-year check-up for that afternoon and waited throughout the day to see what the doctor thought was wrong with her.  When we took her temp at the pediatrician’s office, she was quite concerned that she was running 103.5 and wanted me to monitor her very closely and take a pee sample.  Well, we know all about pee samples here.  When Natty was little and running a high fever, we had to tape this little plastic bag on her to try to catch her pee.  It ended up being one of the most stressful experiences I’ve had with Natty’s health.  I had to take Jubilee downstairs to the pharmacy to get a pee collector, take her back up to wash her bottom real well in the public restroom sink, and then tape this bag on her.  Then we sat in the waiting room with a TV program playing what, of course, had to be a medical show about some horrible illness a young baby contracted and the trauma she and her parents went through to diagnose and treat her.  Well, I was already stressed out and this was not helping.  I ended up sitting around for 45 minutes waiting for my baby to pee (talk about a watched pot!) and then finally left because the dying baby on TV was not encouraging me at all.  That night, I put Natty and Jubilee with me in my room and slept little as I kept a close eye and ear on J, set multiple alarms to give her the next round of pain killers and listened to Natalie who lay awake for a couple hours after one particularly loud bout of crying from her baby sister.  The next day, the fever was about the same and Jubilee seemed to be feeling much worse.  I was tense all day, but had to leave her for a good part of the morning to attend a Father’s Day party at Natty’s school.  She seemed to feel worse and worse and by evening she had spiked another high fever, even though I had just given her a dose of ibuprofen.  By this time, I’m sick to my stomach from trying to handle all this without Scotty and am thinking I might need to take our baby into the emergency room for some blood tests.  For 2 solid days I spent almost every minute of the day fighting to trust, fighting to not freak out, fighting to find joy and telling myself that I serve a great God that loves me and my baby.  I spent a lot of mental and emotional energy on that and by Tuesday night, I couldn't keep it together any more.  I called a friend who got on the horn and within minutes had someone lined up to come stay with Natty at the house and another person to go with me to the hospital if I needed to.  I called a good friend in the US at least half a dozen times for medical advice and encouragement and had no less than 4 people asking me to call at any time of the night if I needed them.  By the time I went in to check Jubilee’s temp one more time in order to make a final decision, I knew I had a small army praying and available to me.  Praise God, her temp had dropped and I was pretty sure we’d make it through the night without a hospital trip.  The relief I felt when I felt a cooler head was palpable and I had a good cry- my heart swirling with a mix of gratitude, thankfulness and absolute recognition that no matter how weak my faith is, my God is faithful and takes care of me.  I am so humbled by the amazing friends he has given me here and being able to trust that even without Scotty’s presence, I had so many others that were there for me.  Things started out well on my birthday- with no fever.  But, as the day wore on, the baby wore out and by lunch she was hot and we had to make an emergency trip to the lab where they drew some blood.  Running around with a limp baby on my birthday, trying to find a lab open at lunch time is not my most favorite of birthday memories.  But, a few hours later when the tests came back, the doctor reported she just had a virus that we would have to wait out.  Yesterday, although still looking pretty pathetic, she seemed to be more herself.  Today, she is back to feeling pretty bad and sleeping a lot, but no fever.  So, the saga continues and although I know she has something that will eventually go away, my heart is a little tense as I watch my little one suffer.  I wonder if God, even knowing the eventual outcome, feels something like that when we suffer.  I know He knows our pain and walks with us.  I try to rest in His sovereignty and hope each time I go through these times it will come a bit more naturally to trust Him the next.

Good-bye Nana and Papa.

Last day's hiking activity with my parents and friends.

I think I just saw my parent's plane fly over our house.  They left fairly early this morning and since then I've enjoyed being in the quiet and cleaning, organizing, cooking, etc.  But, I can't say that there isn't sadness, too.  Natty started yesterday saying how she didn't want Nana and Papa to go.  She cried pretty hard this morning as they were leaving.  Good-byes have gotten so much more sad since children have come along.  Natty really gets it now- that we won't see Nana and Papa again for a long time.  It's hard to watch her suffer and know that in another reality, maybe we would see them all the time.  But, this is our reality and for the most part, we are used to living away from our families.  It's in times like these that you are faced with one of the losses you try not to think about too much that living oversees brings. I tried to remind Natty, and myself, that we were blessed to have 3 weeks with my parents and do lots of fun things together.  It was a great visit and we are thankful that our parents can make the trip here and share in our lives for a while.  I'm glad it's a sunny, happy sort of day outside and that Jubilee is sleeping long and giving me a few moments to reflect and work and pray.  I'm glad that there are things to look forward to in our lives this week and in the weeks to come.  I'm glad that one day, there will be no more good-byes and we will all be together with Christ, worshiping and playing forever.

Wedding!

Ready for the big event!

We had the great privilege of attending our house-helper, Fely's, oldest son's wedding yesterday.

Fely walking Juan Carlos down the aisle.

 It was pretty traditional, but because they are a Christian family, it lacked the obnoxious component of everyone getting trashed.  Fely asked us to be padrinos de los anillos, which means we foot the bill for the couples' wedding rings and felt honored to be asked something of such importance to them.  We're not sure what else that implies, but suspect we might find as time goes on that there are other responsibilities that accompany this honor.  In a high-context society such as this one, a lot of information is assumed understood or can be received by a third party.  We found out later that it is tradition for padrinos to be a part of the picture taking process (which occupies a couple hours after the ceremony while the guests wait patiently in the reception hall), but we had no idea so we disappeared right after the ceremony.  Oops!  Thankfully, we were able to attend the wedding with some good friends who work with Fely's husband and so we drove up together late morning for the celebration.

The church.

Waiting for the ceremony to start.

 After a quick ceremony in a small church in El Alto, we drove (because it was hailing) nearby to a reception hall, complete with posters of naked women in the entryway.  The hall was large and airy, lending itself to drafts and freezing my feet from the moment we walked in until we left, 5 hours later. People were already seated at the metal tables set up and so we sat down as well and began the long wait for the happy couple to return from their picture taking.  Usually couples will drive around to popular spots around town to take pictures, sometimes during a span of upwards of 3 hours or so, while the guests are served hors d'oeuvres (in this case, animal crackers, cheese puffs, lollipops and copious amounts of soda ) until they return.  We played a few rounds of cards while we waited and then got in line for the gift presenting after man and wife arrived.  Then, they were covered with confetti from wedding-style pinatas hanging from the ceiling, did a few laps around the hall with tables clapping as they passed and then they sat down and stared straight ahead like they were waiting for the judge's decision.

Getting confettied.

At one point, Fely and her husband came to me and Scotty and asked us to sit with them at the front because they were busy getting food ready.  I realized that this was an honor associated with us being padrinos and we obligingly sat down, boys on one side, girls on the other.

Sitting with Juan Carlos and Nancy.

I made small talk with the bride, whom I have never met, and her mom for about 45 mins or so.  It was a bit uncomfortable at times, being in center stage but not knowing what proper etiquette was.  I did my best to make friends with the nervous, young bride and asked her questions about how she and Juan Carlos had met and how they had become engaged.  We talked about her family, including 9 other brothers and sisters, and empathized with her mom who just lost her husband of 30 years a few months ago.  Finally, the couple got up together and left the building, so I took advantage of doing the same to find the sun that was finally coming out from behind the clouds and warm my chilled body.  After 10 minutes in the sun, I felt much better and figured since I saw a taxi dropping off large buckets of potatoes and wash basins full of lettuce, it must be close to lunch time (at 5pm).  We went back inside and before long, more wash basins began to emerge full of small, disposable containers of food.  We checked with Fely to see where we were supposed to be seated- it was looking cramped at the bride and grooms table.  We got the go-ahead to sit where we had started off and received our food with prayers for God's protection.  Normally, I am not concerned about food that I eat here, but this was pork, and pork can do nasty things to you.  A good Bolivian friend of ours had made a comment one time that he almost always gets sick eating pork, but it's always worth it.  I can't say as though I feel the same way.  But, we knew the right thing was to eat it and it actually tasted pretty yummy.

Lechon- pork.

 So, we enjoyed using fingers to pull of salty pig goodness, tear up potatoes, fried bananas, yams and salad.

Wash it down with some more soda and then we were off.  My parents had graciously spent the whole day watching the girls, who were both fighting colds, and we managed to make it home just in time for me to nurse Jubilee and put her to bed.  We never got to taste the cake, but that probably wasn't going to get cut until around 8pm.

11 cakes!

 All in all, it was a great experience and another way we wanted to tell Fely and her family how much they mean to us.

Chinese animal piano

Friends of ours from church gave us a present for Jubilee's birthday today.  It's called the Animal Piano.  It was made in China.  I'm afraid I am going to have to share with all of you the awesome, badly translated phrases that appear on the box.  I hope some of you laugh as hard as we did.

1. Correctly choose standard pronunciation, graceful tweedle.
2.  Lovely of! (at the top of the box)
3.  Press the animal head key, will send out each wow.
4.  Be careful of the po tential (2 words) entanglement hazard with neck, hair or fingers if there are string, wire, wheels or rolling parts in the product.
5.  Dot not shoot towards human body if the product consists of shooting function.
6.  Color and packing of the product real object have a dissimilarity to please to take real object color as quasi. (this might be my favorite).
7.  While converting to look for function, the electronic organ will send out the interjection of animal and be you press opposite in response to of key, the electronic organ will send out "you answer rightness", be you press wrong the electronic organ will rectify for you mistake. (ok, maybe this one is my fav)
8.  There is the keep company with of piano of the cartoon music piano, I can study to more music everyday, more fun.
9.  The kid studies musical teacher To the kid's vivid education start from here!
10.  Contain the small parts has already suffocate dangerous, not for children under 3 years.
11.  Have to adult is there while using play, in order to serve as guardian and point Lead.

Yes, there were that many ridiculous statements on a small box.  Also, another "Made in China" gift we received was a bag full of rattles called "baby rattles" or something that also included a warning saying "not suitable for children under 3 years of age".  Baby rattles?  Not intended for babies?  The ultimate in hilarity might have been a box labeled "Digital Train".


 It was made of wood and had parts that hooked together with numbers on them- digits.  Hence, digital train...  So awesome.