Ten years.

Trying new Bolivian food with new roomies and new friends.

This week I celebrate 10 years of being in Bolivia.  Although it doesn't feel as exciting as a birthday or Christmas, I want to take time to reflect on all that the Lord has taught me and His faithfulness over this last decade.  I arrived in Cochabamba, Bolivia the first week of June, 2003.  I immediately started 3 weeks of training with my sending organization, Food for the Hungry, and met my 3 lovely new roommates.  I got my first taste of La Cancha, an enormous, stinky, amazing market where you can find just about anything there is to be found and then some.  I spent a lot of time there my first couple years in Bolivia and bought a whole new wardrobe there (which my mom pointed out at one time during a visit home was made up of "ratty" clothes).  I learned Spanish, I learned that I'm not very self-directed, I met a wonderful friend who challenged my Biblical understanding of life, I had lots of girl-time with my roomies, I met and fell in love with my future husband and I started to grow roots in Bolivia.  It wasn't long upon arriving to this new world that I felt I could happily stay forever.  Most people have a honeymoon phase when moving to a new country, and this was no exception, but there was also a real confirmation that God had plans for me here.  Fast forward a few years and I return married to Scotty, in a new city (La Paz) and ready for a new chapter.  This chapter has brought joy, sorrow, life, death and much grace.  I've made some very special friends here and said good-bye to many of them.  I've grown more sure in my faith while being challenged to the very core of that faith.  Through all of it, I've seen repeatedly a faithful Savior who loves me and my family and longs for His own glory through every situation He's allowed in our lives.  When I first arrived, I was a learner, soaking up everything I could with regards to the culture, the language, the people, the country.  Now, it is all so familiar and there is so little that surprises me that I think I've plateaued a little in that learning.  I'd like to return.  My Spanish is good, but it could be so much better.  Just as in my walk with Christ, I want to continue growing in my understanding of Bolivia and learn to appreciate the life I live here more each year.  God is at work here in a big way and I am thankful He's letting me and my family be a part of that.  Here's to the next 10 years...

Jubilee and the two bad mice.

Natty has lately enjoyed reading from a large volume of the works of Beatrix Potter.  One story that both of us like a lot is called The Two Bad Mice.  Maybe it's the British English of the late 1800's thing or just a literary thing that I'm too ignorant to understand, but in general I think Beatrix a rather queer writer.  That said, there is a part of two bad mice where the husband, Tom Thumb, and the wife, Hunca Munca, enter into a temporarily unoccupied doll house.  In the dining room they find lovely morsels of food which they take to be real.  When they dig into the ham, Tom Thumb breaks the knife and hurts his finger, because it is made of plaster.  They try the fish and realize it, too, is a fake.  Upon this realization, the book says, "and then there was no end to the rage and disappointment of Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca".  They proceed to smash the "food" and even try to burn it in the fire until they realize it is made of paper.  Scotty and I got a good laugh about the part that talks about "no end to the rage and disappointment"- especially when you imagine two little mice wreaking havoc on a doll house.  Well, that phrase has come to my mind several times today during particularly ugly fits Jubilee has thrown.  Natty was and continues to be a fairly docile child.  Jubilee has surprised us with her quickness at throwing a tantrum, even though they are still on a one-year old scale.  She turns red and screams and tosses her head back and arches her back and if she's on the floor and you are holding her, she'll bounce angrily up and down or just kick out her legs.  It's almost humorous- like a tiny mouse expressing its disappointment.  But, this baby will get bigger and then I'm not sure what will come.  How do you discipline a baby that throws a tantrum?  Oh, how we need God's grace.  For now, I'm thankful for a little phrase from a story about two bad mice that keeps me smiling.