Praise Turns 4

Well, we just finished up our biggest birthday season of the year! WHEW.
It all started with Miss Praise turning 4. What a blessing she has been to our lives.
She came out with a bang, 6 days late weighing 10 pounds exactly at home. (read: no epidural)
She has won many sweet savages awards including: biggest baby, latest baby, LOUDEST baby,
most humbling toddler, most calls required to poison control (2) in 6 months time.
She has made us eternally grateful for child training books and epidurals.
She has turned into a very sweet, sometimes still loud, but compliant petite 4 yr old.
Sometimes the kids that try you the most you are the most thankful for when they mature and turn out "okay."
We're on our way!!
Here are some pics from her September birthday...

Helping the Poor

Did you ever feel like helping the poor, but just didn't know what ministry was honest and would use your money wisely? Do you ever REALLY look at the way we Americans live and compare it to how most of the world lives in the rest of the world? Did you ever think, that while we are buying bottled water "because it tastes better" and $4.00 coffee, our brothers and sisters in Christ are trying to decide which pond or ditch has the less contaminated water in it to drink? Do you ever stand in front of your frig, and can't choose what to make for dinner cause there are too many choices? These questions and others have been haunting me lately. I think about them all day. I think about then when I wake up at night to take care of a restless toddler.
I recently read a quote by Mother Teresa that said, " I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world."

Are you allowing your "lead" to be used by God? If so, what is God writing through your life?
It is so easy to feel convicted and burdened for the poor, the orphans and the widows...but then not know what to do or how to help and in a few days, the burden wanes and we go back to feeling comfortable again.
There are many ministries you've heard about but for many reasons you don't feel like getting involved:
1. How do I know the money really gets to the poor and not to lining some pockets of the company president?
2. I don't like how much is taken out for administrative costs..I mean, if I give money, I don't want 13% (or more) going towards administration/fundraising fees.
3. There are so many needs that my small donation won't even make a difference so why bother?
4. There are needs right here in America.

I used to struggle with those questions myself. It wasn't a big deal though because, although the thought of helping the poor crossed my mind, it seemed too complicated for ME to somehow help the poor across the ocean.
It was easy to rationalize it away and forget.

Until God started working in my life. First, He sent some friends to us for us to meet to teach us God's heart towards the poor. Not only did they have a burden, but they lived it.
God also led me to read the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan...and now the book The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. I'm only on page 96 of 332, but am feeling so strongly the call of God to see the poor as He sees them, that I was compelled to blog before even finishing this book.

I really wanted to tell you about 2  3 ministries that I believe are honest, making an impact in the world the way God calls us to, and uses the money wisely.
The first, is my favorite, because we are close friends with the family who started the ministry, and I know the whole story behind how God led them to do so. It is called Hearts of Hope. Their website is www.shareministries.org
Because we are great friends, I know their character, how the ministry runs and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that every cent is used the way they say it is. They take no money for fundraising or administrative costs. The only fees that don't make it to the mission field are the small wiring fees they pay to Money Gram the money, usually from Wal Mart.
It is about $8.00 per transaction.
They are great about asking which ministry partner you'd like your money sent to. If you just tell them "the greatest need" they pray about it and always let you know where every dollar went to.
I am so excited about this ministry that I just wanted everyone to know. I know there are many of you that would love to give, but just wasn't sure WHERE. May I encourage you to email Hearts of Hope and ask for their latest newsletter? heartsofhope@shareministries.org
You can even donate through their website using paypal so it only takes a minute. If you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them!

The 2nd ministry that we support is Compassion International.
It has been a blessing to our family to allow each of our children on their 7th birthday to choose a Compassion Child as their very own.
They love their child, they pray for their child and they love to write letters and send pictures to them as well. It has really helped to open their eyes to the poor in other countries and realize that we truly are overly blessed here. We've been impressed with the ministry and how great they are at sending our letters back and forth to our 4 children...2 in Ecuador and 2 in Dominican Republic. We hope to be able to visit them all one day as well, and Compassion will set up trips to make it so easy to do.
http://www.compassion.com/

I know I told you I was going to tell you about my 2 favorite, but we also have been very blessed by partnering with Gospel for Asia
http://gospelforasia.com/

If you aren't too excited about this blog post, may I encourage you to get a copy of The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns?
If you read the book, and it doesn't do much for you, I will personally buy the book from you and pay shipping to my house.

Don't let the conviction wane...click on http://www.shareministries.org/  now and at least request their latest newsletter..that's all I'm asking you to do now. They only email once a month so you won't get tons of email...I promise!!

"I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.....whatever you did for one of the least of my brothers of mine you did it for Me." Matthew 25

God did it again!!

I'm overwhelmed with God's goodness and just have to blog!!
If you ever wonder if God truly loves you...if you ever wonder if God really cares about the little things you care about....then quit wondering...the answer is a resounding YES!!!

God has shown me time and time again how much He desires to show His children His love. The reason I'm excited, is that He did it for the 3rd time this summer. Actually, He probably showed me thousands of times this summer how much He loves me, and, I'm ashamed to admit, I likely missed many of them in my focus on "life" and not seeing the blessings in the midst of "life." But, what brings me to post this time, is that I am awed and tickled at how God can use US to show someone else how incredibly MUCH He loves them....

I won't go into the other 2 stories, but TODAY God did it again.
It's a bit of a long story, but I totally want you to see that God was all in it. It has nothing to do with me at all...I was mearly the one God chose to use to bless someone far away in a country called Bolivia.

To backtrack...there are 2 precious sisters in Bolivia who are in their early 20's. They live at home with their dad (a Bolivian pastor) their precious mom and 2 sweet, younger sisters. These 2 girls could choose to do anything with their lives, but Sara and Eva spend a good portion of their lives in ministry. They minister to poor children in Bolivia. They minister to mothers who are trying to save or earn money to help feed their children as poverty is rampant there.
I found out about Sara and Eva though a ministry that our great friends run called HEARTS OF HOPE.

Hearts of Hope is an amazing ministry that reaches out to help the poor in many countries around the world. I will have to blog just about the ministry in the future cause it is our favorite!

Anyway, I was wanting to build a relationship with Sara and Eva so I asked our friends (and the girls as well) what sort of things might bless them to send them from the US that they can't get in Bolivia.
One thing was mentioned that their father had wanted a brass colored offering plate like he saw in the US when he came a few years back. He loved the shine of it and how nice it was to collect the Lord's money in.
I heard about this need a year ago. I searched and searched and the prices for one of those are ridiculous (to my frugal mine perhaps, but still.)
I kept checking ebay, but they usually had "Buy it now" auctions for $40-60. I just didn't feel right spending that much money. I didn't have a peace. Finally, in May...a year after I first started looking, an auction came up with the brass colored offering plate.....and a communion plate....and a brass bell....and a set of candlestick holders.
The auction was for $9.99 and with shipping was right around $20. BINGO.
I was thinking "What in the world will they do with a bell and candlestick holders?" I didn't have a use for them, so I felt led to send the whole set to them along with some cloth that my mother in love bought, as they had also requested material for sewing.

I received an email from them today, and had to laugh out loud at God's goodness. See, I had no clue that they really NEEDED candlestick holders...but God, who loves a beautiful, Bolivian family on the other side of the world, worked it out to have them receive the candlesticks they needed! It may as well have been me that He lavished His blessings on because, you know, being blessed by God and used by God seem to bring the same, great joy!!

God keeps doing this! He keeps showing me and using me to bless others when I have NO CLUE that what I'm doing is really that big of a deal. I LOVE that because I can't get prideful about it when it wasn't my idea, that I had no clue what I was doing and that HE so totally orchestrated the whole thing. See, when God shows me how much He is crazy and passionately in love with a Bolivian family, He is showing me that I'm his daughter too and His love doesn't stop at the South American border.

In case you missed it...God loves YOU just as much too! He WANTS to tickle you with small ways to show His love. It may be with a brass candlestick set, or an unexpected letter or check, it may be in an amazing sunset or a gorgous bird on your porch. It may be that you just need to look into your husband's eyes or watch the children sitting around your table to realize your blessings.
And I dare you...if you don't have a relationship with God where you just enjoy His presence in your life, where you don't just thrill at serving Him and being His child, then invite Him to take over your life. Seek to bring God glory in everything you do....and you will discover that you cannot enjoy life fully until you are in a relationship where God is where your joy comes from. Where just thinking about the cross of Christ and what He has done brings a lump in your throat. Where something so small as a candlestick or a flower makes you overwhelmed by the love of God that because something is important to you, it is important to Him...your Daddy God.

Here is the email that blessed my heart today:
Dear friends,

Once again thank you for your love, it was a surprise we receive the box, we annex the pictures to this mail. Our Parents are very happy for this wonderful gift and they feel very dear. Every time that a baby is consecrated in our Church, our mom and we take charge of fixing the Church with candles and flowers, but the things that sustain the candles they always broke because they were made of mud and when we seeing those supporters of candles gold, truly it was a joy. We wait that soon we can use them in baby's consecrated, we are sure that the brothers and sisters in our Church will also be surprised.
Mom is also happy for the cloth that we receive, she will be made a dress and also new shirts for the children of the choir. We also receive the book of games it is a challenge for us because it is in English, but we understand very well some and they are very amusing to carry out them with the children.

Thank you to all, we are very blessed when we calling you brothers and sisters

With love

The family Mamani

Curriculum Time Part 2....the 5th-9th grade

I have a few minutes to jot down what the older 3 will be using this year.

For Bible, we will finish our 6th and final year with STUDENT OF THE WORD. I can't believe we've been at it his long. It has been such a fruitful, wonderful journey reading every word of the Bible with my children! We even read the geneologies and the Levitical laws. Grin.
These 3 are currently working through the Bible Bee study memorizing about 5 verses a day as well.

My 5th grader, Hosanna, will be using:

Math- Teaching Textbooks 7

Science- Sitting in on Answers in Genesis' science with the younger kids that daddy will teach as well as study Apologia Astronomy (her choice) and a Child's Geography

History: she will be going through a great looking program with Noah from Heart of Dakota called "Renaissance to Reformation" I will have them read and work through it together. It looks like they will have a lot of fun with that!

Language Arts: Handwriting Without Tears Cursive (the last book)
Abeka Creative Writing 6
And a combination of Total Language Plus and 1/2 of the Abeka Language C (6th grade) book. (I didn't love the look of the 5th grade, so I decided to spread the 6th grade out...TLP is her main LA's but Abeka has a few things that we've never covered and she is a workbook lover and will enjoy the variety)

Reading: I assign one long book per week for her

Spanish: Rosetta Stone

Music: Piano

Typing: Mavis Beacon

Homemaking: Lots of stuff...cooking, housekeeping skills etc. Lots of mommy time. = )

For my 7th Grader, Noah:

Math: Life of Fred Pre-Algebra 1 and 2

Science: Abeka 7 Order and Reality

History: Heart of Dakota Renaissanse to Reformation as above with Hosanna

Language Arts: Total Language Plus; Student of the Word Creative Writing

Writing: Jump In by Apologia Press (This looks like a FUN way to learn to write especially for boys!)

Art: Book of Many Colors

Logic: Fallacy Detective followed by Thinking Toolbox

Spanish: Rosetta Stone

Music: Piano, Guitar and Drums (He's our musical lover)

Typing: Mavis Beacon

He also spends a bit of time latey studying fish and aquariums as that is his insterest.

And finally, the 9th grader..our first year of High School:

Math: Life of Fred Advanced Algebra
We are planning on him studying for the College Algebra CLEP test after that and take that test next summer sometime.

Science: He will be using D.I.V.E. Biology CD-ROM studying both Apologia Biology and Advanced Biology (Fearfully and Wonderfully Made) and the plan is to see if we can take the AP Biology Exam in May. He's excited about all the dissections and microscopy that entails: frog/fish/worm/crawfish/sheep eye/sheep heart and fetal pig. (Seriously..we love science here...we're weird that way. Grin)

History: Exploring World History (Notgrass) Will possibly have him prepare to take the Western Civilization CLEP test next summer ... still researching that.

Language Arts: Exploring World History covers all of 9th grade Language as well as it includes a lot of writing and reading 13 complete books of literature. He will also be doing some Creative Writing assignment with Student of the Word year 6 and 2 Total Language Plus guides: Pride and Prejudice and Animal Farm.

Spanish: Rosetta Stone level 2

Logic: Introductory Logic by Nance and Wilson (his request not ours..grin)

Music: Piano.

Reading: Participating in the Generation Joshua Book Club

I'm sure he will continue researching and practicing Horticulture and Botany hours a week which is his passion as well.

It probably sounds like a lot, but many of the "extra" subjects are only done a few days a week so they have variety in their school week.

Curriculum Time! (the 8 and under crowd)

It's curriculum time and, after weeks of praying and researching, I finally have all the curriculum chosen. It's not simple, but I'm excited that it looks like a fun school year.

My goal for this year was to spend time doing Bible with everyone and allow the 3 older kids to be more independent and spend more time with
the younger crowd.
Here is my plan for the 2nd, 1st and K4 year olds (and the 1 yr old when he sits still..smile)

For my together time with the younger 3 or 4, I will be using a combination of things. One that I'm excited about is Five in a Row volume 3 with the Bible Study supplement and the Cookbook supplement.
FIAR is a program for younger kids where you read 1 book every day for a week and each day touch on different learning aspects: Social studies, science, nature, math etc. We will be tying in the Bible and the cookbook to each story as well.
I will also alternate that with History for Little Pilgrims... a Christian Liberty press that covers basic history and has coloring pages you can buy to go with each day's lesson.
I will continue with read alouds that I implemented this summer as well. For now we are reading through some of the Sonlight Kindergarten and 1st grade books I have from the older kids. 30 minutes before naptime, we have snuggle time on the couch and I read a longer type book to them. It is one of my favorite times of the day as well as theirs.
Since FIAR doesn't have Bible every day, I will be reading a Bible story every day and using a coloring page. We will use The CHildren's Illustrated Bible by Hastings.
My 2 favorite Bible story coloring pages are
Calvary Chapel

and THIS ONE.

We will continue with memorizing 1 verse a week using the CD called "Sing the Word from A-Z" We started this summer a few weeks ago and are up to "D".."Do to others as you would have them do to you for this sums up the law and the prophets and this is Matthew 7:12" I can't type it without singing the song.

Chris will be tackling elementary science again using the curriculum from Answers in Genesis called God's Design for Life studying the World of Animals, World of Plants and the Human Body.

We will also try to fit in art a few times a week using I CAN DO ALL THINGS from the company How Great Thou Art.
We started that book last year and they always begged for more than I could find the time to do. grin.

They will each have their own level of handwriting using Handwriting Without Tears...their own Math using Horizons 1 and 3. I also have them do 10 minutes of FLASHMASTER every day to work on math facts.

Praise is continuing to work through ANSWERS FOR PRESCHOOLERS that is by far my favorite preschool curriculum yet! She is about 1/2 way done having started it when she turned 3 and doing it slowly at her pace.

For Language Arts, my 2nd grader is using English for the Thoughful Child along with Abeka Language 2. I also have him email a few times a week to friends and family as that really helps them to learn punctuation, capitalization and spelling in a non threatening way.

My 1st grader will be doing Abeka workbook Language 1 with Critical Thinking Press' Language Smarts B (Language arts that incorporates some critical thinking skills)
She also has phonics books that she reads out loud to one of us a story a day that gradually gets harder and harder. She is a good reader already though.

I think that covers our early elementary/preschool plan.
Stay tuned next time when I share what we're using for 5,7,9th grades.

Crazy Crazy Love

I recently heard about a book called CRAZY LOVE by Francis Chan. I immediately pictured something like this....

Then, I saw the book cover and heard some amazing reviews from friends like, "This is the BEST book I've ever read!" "This book should come with a warning label saying it will totally change your life!" Well now. How can you resist recommendations like that....Not that I don't LOVE my current life, but I'm always all about changing to become more like Christ. So, I slapped those words on my birthday list and VOILA, my favorite teenager in the whole world bought it for my birthday.

I finished it this week and WOW is all I can say. If I could buy a copy for everyone who calls themself a Christian, I would do it...but I'm too cheap, I mean frugal. I am nowhere near as articulate as Francis Chan, but let me just tell you that he challenges us to realize that there is no such thing as "lukewarm Christianity." Using the passage of the church at Laodicea, "So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Revelation 3:16
he shows that you cannot be lukewarm if Christ dwells in you. Being spit out of God's mouth is not exactly descriptive of one about to enter the kingdom of heaven. He is very clear that it has nothing to do with our works, our salvation is totally about what Jesus did for us. If we have accepted the gift of salvation, thereby having the Holy Spirit in us, lukewarm is not a word that CAN describe you.

Oh, there were so many great quotes and examples. PLEASE go get yourself a copy. I'd be glad to loan out my copy too, but there is already quite a waiting list. grin.
It has challenged me more than any man-written book that I've read in a L O N G time. It has totally helped me to focus on what truly matters and what being a Christ-follower looks like.

God's protection of 1 year olds

It's so easy to see a situation that could have been "bad" but turned out okay and think "Whew, that could have been a mess...how fortunate that it turned out so well," and totally miss God in the equation.
Yesterday, Gilead was VERY ONE. I was doing a Bible study with the older children that goes along with Bible Bee, when Gilead disappeared for a few minutes to another part of the house. A few minutes later we heard a crashing sound like metal or glass.
Aslan went to investigate what the stinker had done now (he had already bitten the tips off of 3 makers, pulled off 2 of Aslan's pitchers on one of his favorite pitcher plants and dumped over a huge glass of water and it was only 10am).
Aslan returns with Gilead to report that he had gotten into my bottom dresser drawer where I keep birthday gifts hidden.
I had 4 glass "goblets" in there that my 5 yr old requested for her 6th birthday later this month. She wanted "fancy goblets to drink out of like princesses do." So I found 4 at the local thrift store for 50 cents each.
Well, Gil had gotten a hold of 2, completely broke them on our bedroom floor and hallway. There was glass everywhere.
Despite his chubby, little, bare feet...he had NO cuts. On top of that, when Aslan brought him to me, he was chewing on something.
I checked his mouth and he had a dime sized piece of broken glass in his mouth! There were no cuts or blood and he had been chewing it for almost a full minute, likely.
So, at first I was thinking, "Whew, that could have been a bloody mess." But later, thinking about Sunday's sermon about how we get ourselves into habits of thinking about or not thinking about God, I realized that this truly was a God-sized miracle. He should have had glass cuts on his feet and mouth but he didn't? Why because God was protecting Gilead's body and protecting my sanity after the crazy morning we had had with him. Grin. Don't miss God in the day to day victories. He's absolutely IN THEM!!!
Thank you God for loving us enough to protect us from ourselves, even if we are only 18 months old.

Summer and fun with the little people.

We officially finished our school year last week.  We have a few straggling books to wrap up, but for the most part, we are in "summer mode."  For summer, we typically do 2 days per week of math and Spanish, because those 2 subjects don't fare well by taking 3 months off.   Bible Bee also started last week, so we are in full swing of reciting Bible verses around here.   For those of you who didn't sign up yet, you have til June 30th.  Even if you don't want to compete for the national bee, I highly recommend you signing up just for the great stuff you get!

This year, each child gets their own Bible, their own pack of nice, laminated Bible memory verses, a Bible Bee t-shirt, pin and a 3ring binder with a 12 week Bible study of Colossians geared towards their age level. (3 different levels)  Not only that, but if you sign up a child, you also get 2 parent binders to do the study with them and they tell you how to meet once/week as a family to talk about what you are learning.
Last but not least is a Bible CD-rom Sword drill game to help you learn your verses and compete with other Bible Bee participants.  All that for $25/child.  Go to biblebee.org if you want to sign up!
This would actually make a great Bible curriculum for the school year too, if you want to get serious about Bible memory and dig into Colossians....

I have really been wanting to spend more time with our younger children doing more with Bible memory as well, even though they aren't signed up with Bible Bee.   I started something Monday that is going really well so far.  I have a CD that I used when the older kids were little called SING THE WORD FROM A-Z.
It takes one BIble verse that starts with each letter of the alphabet and puts it to song.
Yesterday we learned the song for A: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
Today, we reviewed A and added B: Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. Acts 16:31.
I'm pleased with how easily the 3,5,7 yr olds are able to memorize when it's put to song.
I push "repeat" and we listen over and over for about 20 minutes.
I also type out the verse and put a picture on it to color while they listen or print it out in a font that is hollow inside to color the actual words.  They love it!

I also wanted to tell you about the best set of preschool workbooks I've used yet. ANSWERS FOR PRESCHOOLERS.
They are perfect for 3 and 4 yr olds.  The set has 2 workbooks, 2 teacher books and 1 CD, and a Resource packet.  I personally just bought the workbooks and CD of music.  I don't like to be told what to do by a teacher book cause I tend to get legalistic and stress myself out.  Grin.
The workbooks are cheapest at CBD.com   $18.99 per workbook.
We just do as many pages as Praise feels like doing every day.  It teaches numbers up to 12, all the ABC's and counting, colors, shapes, writing skills, Bible stories and crafts.     That is all we are using this year for preschool (3 yr old) and the Sing the Word CD and Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD.    We do a lot of fun reading before naptime every day too and have a Bible story book.

I've been asked a few times lately about preschool, so I thought I'd take a blog post to just share what I am doing with my 3 yr old.  Hope it's helpful to someone.

Oh, and on a side note, I was at a fundraising event this weekend for a local women's shelter, and a volunteer there working one of the bouncy rides, got my attention and asked me if I wanted to sign up my 3 yr old for Head Start.  I smiled and said that I homeschooled and that she already had a head start. 
The lady had never met anyone that homeschooled and seriously believed it wasn't legal to do that. She was shocked when I said that there were over a million kids homeschooled in the US and that it was, in fact, legal in all 50 states.    She asked me what kind of credentials I needed and what paperwork I needed to fill out to do such a thing.  I told her I had to simply write a letter to the school board to tell them I was homeschooling and my credentials was just giving birth to them.  lol    Funny how society is thinking that Head Start is better than a mama for teaching a 3 yr old and that a parent is not capable of teaching their children to read.   I am so blessed that I get to teach them all the things they learn and get to learn right along with them.  I wouldn't want a stranger getting all that fun!!

Silver Dollar City

A week or so ago, we took a fun, family trip to Missouri. We started in Branson, where we met King Kong. Then we headed on over to Silver Dollar City. For most of my younger kids, it was their first time on small roller coasters. They were so brave....

The highlight of the day for us, um, I mean, them, was this really cool ball room. The room was FILLED with THOUSANDS of tiny squishy soft balls. All throughout the room were these long flexible tubes about 4" in diameter that had SUCKING ACTION going on...like giant vacuums!! You move the tubes and suck up balls to your hearts content, or bring the balls to the hose monster and stick them in it's mouth. It was so fun. (for them of course). You would work really hard to "clean up" your little ball area, only to have hundreds dump from the ceiling or be shot at you by older kids in the towers up above. We stayed there for a LONG time.
I was thinking how cool it would be to have a room like this at home...but them I thought more and realized it wouldn't just suck up balls, but school papers, hair ties, food, legos...so maybe we'll just visit SDC now and then. I'm tellin' ya...if I lived closer, this fun place makes it almost worth the price of a season ticket right there....for the kids of course....it is VACUUMING at it's finest!!

SAM TAKES A STROLL

SAM
SAM IS A CHICKEN.
SAM THINKS SHE IS A DOG.
SAM LIKES TO COME INTO OUR FRONT DOOR EVERY DAY AT 2:15 TO CLEAN UP THE CRUMBS ON THE FLOOR.
MOM LOVES SAM.
KIDS LOVE SAM.
SAM POOPS ON SCHOOL ROOM CARPET.
DAD DOES NOT LOVE SAM.
SAM HAS TO STAY OUTSIDE NOW.
THE END.

Prove what?

I just got finished mowing the goose pasture.  (How many of you can say you did THAT today?) grin.
I love mowing because I can look outside for a few days and actually see that I did something that LASTS more than one meal or one diaper.   So many things in motherhood feel like they don't matter.  A reading lesson here, a spelling test there, a clean diaper, another dinner on the table.  It can seem so trivial can't it?   If we focus on the minute by minute things, sometimes it can seem like we are accomplishing nothing or even going backwards.  But I usually get some deep insight while mowing...
Why...probably because I had 30 WHOLE MINUTES with no brain interruptions! 

For those of you with all littles....it IS tough to see results.  Short of taking the first steps, pooping on the potty and learning the letter sounds, so much seems so repetitive and like there are no measurable results.
But now that my older kids are getting older, I am SO enjoying seeing those minutes and seemingly "unimportant" things add up to see that YES, they WERE important and worthwhile!

For homeschooling moms, I think this is even magnified.  It can be a tough job, especially when I spend a good part of my day teaching one child to read, correcting another's math, giving another spelling test and grading a geometry exam...often simultaneously while changing a diaper. (Insert Superman theme song here.lol)   The days truly can be long, but as I'm seeing with 2 middle school boys in my home, the years truly are short.

I remember the day well.  The day the school bus came and picked up the neighbor kids in Florida  and then kept driving away. It was the first day that Aslan SHOULD have gone to school.  I remember the panic I felt watching that bus drive away, thinking, "Yikes, I'm really homeschooling now."  Not only did I have my own apprehensions, but, as all homeschooling parents deal with, we constantly deal/dealt with questions and accusations by those unfamiliar with the concept.  "What about socialization?" "I can't imagine being with my kids all day." "What about the prom?" "Is it LEGAL?"  "But you're not a certified teacher?" "I can't imagine teaching my kids to READ!" "What about high school/college?"   "What curriculum do you use?"  etc etc etc.

As the years roll by, I've seen the results of homeschooling. I no longer have to prove anything to myself. I no longer have to prove anything to others.  I am confident that it has been the absolute best decision we could have made for our family.   I'm not talking about the educational aspects, though study after study has proven that homeschoolers score higher on standardized tests and colleges are bending over backwards trying to get homeschool graduates.  I mainly mean the relationship that I have with my older children that is priceless.  Seeing their walk with the Lord as they seek Him for answers, feel conviction, and sometimes see the Holy Spirit being harder on them than I might be. 

Sometimes, though, it's easy to get our vision clouded by what is not important.  Sometimes, I actually freak out at the thought of figuring out curriculum for 6 grades next year. Freak out that "we" are starting high school this year.   I lose sleep about, "Should I use this history curriculum or that one?"    I prayed a few days ago for wisdom because I KNEW I was making a bigger deal of things than I should.  God so obviosuly and clearly showed me 3 things:

1. I need to focus #1 on teaching the Bible and focusing on their walk with God and character.
2. Some of those subjects just don't need a big deal made about them. (History)  Just do what needs to be done, but don't let it overshadow what really matters.
3. High school is just a continuation of what I've already been doing...which IS ENOUGH. 

How God really solidified #3 for me is through Aslan's ACT score.  He is my clone, as many who knew me in my teen  years can easily see.   I asked him if he'd like to take the ACT test "just for fun" to see how he's doing.  (what I really meant was to see how IIIIIIII was doing)  Most of  you can't understand how an ACT test could be "just for fun" but some of us are weird that way. I loved those standardized tests so I figured Aslan might enjoy the challenge as well.) Smiley with wild, mad scientist hair.

Right in the midst of my panic attack about high school, we got the report back that he had scored REALLY well on the test.   Most of you couldn't care less, but for you number types, he got a 30.
That helped me so much to see that we just need to continue right on with what we are doing.  (Focusing on their spiritual walk.....putting more focus on their passions, and covering the rest as stress-lessly as possibly.)
Isn't God good to show me so much in one weeks time?

If you are stressing about things or not sure what to do....PRAY.  HE will clearly and definitely do the same for you!!  He will re-align your goals, your methods, your curriculum choices or whatever else you need realigning.

I truly don't have to prove that homeschooling is a good choice academically.  Am I happy that he scored well...of course, but truly, if my children grow up to be highly intellectual, rich and successful and that is what they are known for, I HAVE FAILED.

The Bible says that what should bring us joy for our children should be, "I have no greater joy that to see that my children walk in TRUTH." 3 John 1:4

So being smart is good....being musically talented is good...being good-looking is good...but what should bring us the absolute MOST JOY?   For our children to walk in Truth.....

So, fellow moms (and dads).....when thinking about parenting...try to focus on 100 years from now.

In 100 years, will it matter what your kid got on his ACT, or what his GPA was, or how handsome/beautiful he/she was? Will it matter that they were the CEO of this company or made a 6-digit income?  No...what will matter is that you raised your kids to WALK IN TRUTH.   Jesus says, "I am the Way the TRUTH and the LIFE...."

So as we start planning out the next year of curriculum, or how our family will spend their free time over the next school year, let's focus on what truly matters....we have nothing to prove to anyone but God.
Now, while I didn't THINK I had to prove anything to myself, as a human, it is nice to see that something I've invested my life in really does work. God allowed me to see, maybe for Aslan's high school, or maybe for my 3 that are 5 and under, that just doing my best with the Lord's help is all God expects from us. Moms...those little "moments"  DO matter....they all add up to create a piece of art.   It may take 14 years or more  to see the full impact of the results...but you WILL see results of what you've invested in your kids. 
Don't look back and wish you gave more, or sacrificed more or hugged more, or trained more or exampled more.....with God's help, give 100% knowing that even if you feel unappreciated, God sees and you are doing it as to Him....stop trying to prove something or please men....100 years from now, you will realize how silly that was!

Competition is good for the SOUL....literally...

We got a Wii back in December. It's a lot of fun, and even the big savages like it. (us)
There are very few games, however, that fit our family standards of what we are willing to use our free time on and what we are willing to buy that doesn't have negative elements in it, or time-wasting games.
We borrowed Wii Sports Resort from a friend and liked it.   However, since we don't parent by giving our children anything they desire (they have to work to earn money for all their "wants" ), I was brainstorming a different twist on "earning." 

I had been wanting to memorize more Scripture.  I have recently been addicted to the book of Philippians...especially chapter 2 that talks about doing everything without complaining....remember...the passage that God worked and worked on me about all of 2009?   Despite having been a Bible Quizzer in high school and memorizing a chapter every month, lets face it....trying to memorize ANYTHING with 7 children about is daunting.  

So God gave me this idea to challenge my 4 oldest children to a competition.  I told them that if the average of how many verses they memorized was more than how many verses I memorized, then I would buy them Wii Sports Resort.    I threw in an extra perk.  If anyone memorized the WHOLE BOOK of Philippians, I would buy them their very own extra Wii Motion Sensor. ($20 value)    Sports Resort comes with 1 already, but you really need at least 2 to play against each other.

The competition started 2 1/2 months ago.  We had chapters of Philippians taped all over the place.
My bathroom mirror (that helped the most), their bathroom wall, and on many tables.
The deadline was May 1st.

Aslan memorized the entire book, messing up on only about 10 words total out of 104 verses.
Noah and Hosanna got around 30-35 or so...Josiah...5 and Me...drumroll......31 verses.

Now, despite the fact that I lost....their average was 41 verses to my 31.....rats, I could have squeezed in 11 more somehow.....I am really proud of how many I DID memorize.    It's harder with age ya know...and add lots of little kids who never stop talking, well, it's downright amazing that I even did one.  They say that with each pregnancy and with nursing your brain shrinks slightly....I've been doing one or both of those continually since 1995...so I think it may just be the size of a peach pit...but I digress.
Overall, it was a great experience.....except I'm out about $60.

Oh...you're wondering what I would have gotten if I had won...well, I would have saved $60 and they would have had to buy me a pint of Ben & Jerry's Phish Food ice cream.   sigh.   I'll just imagine how good it would have been...that's my fav. 

So....the take home message....bribe your kids....it's good for their souls and yours!!
(but it sure would have been nice to dig my spoon into one of these...)

If this sermon doesn't radically change your life...

Sunday Night Soccer

I wanted to tell everyone about Sunday night soccer. If you live near us, PLEASE come out and play. If you don't, then consider starting something like this where you live.
We meet at the city park's soccer field every Sunday night at 5pm. It is a family thing...not just kids. All or most of the dads play and some of the moms too. We divide into teams and play for about 2-21/2 hrs. Last year, I played everyday, but payed for it on Monday, and Tuesday. It was fun though.
We had our kickoff week last Sunday as the weather is beautiful again. For our first week, we had about 25 people playing, I was the referee (see photo above with my apprentice on my back--photo courtesy of Peterson Photography) which was a nice change that I appreciated immensely on Monday morning.
Along with the players we had about that many other people (moms and smaller kids) playing and talking on the sidelines or visiting the playground.
We really want to see it become a way to reach out to those who don't have a relationship with Jesus though. A way to integrate more of the unsaved into our lives and build relationships. I recently read a book by Bill Hybels called Just Walk Across the Room. It was a great book all around, but the one thing that jumped out to me is when he described that one of the best evangelistic tools his church had done was to organize a Friday Night Kickball night and invite unchurched friends. I pray that we are able to make lots of new friends through soccer and have a fun family time while doing it.
SO, come on out one Sunday and bring the fam. Invite a friend. There is also a walking track 1/2 mile long that goes around the fields and a playground and baseball fields as well, so there is something for everyone.
Why not start up something similar in Florida, Alabama, Ohio, South Carolina, Missouri or whereever you live!

HONK HONK HONK

Our 2nd oldest son, Noah, has wanted geese for quite a while. Back in October, for his birthday, he asked for a goose house and 4 geese.
The boys and Chris recently got the goose house complete and it was time to get geese. They found a lady through the internet that had a flock of 20 geese she needed to get rid of because she has health problems. We only wanted 4, but Chris figured we'd just sell the rest.
We had a BUNCH of geese for 2 weeks, but were able to sell them easily and now Noah has his 4. We have been getting a few goose eggs every day and those are Gigantic! One egg is the equivalent of about 3-4 chicken eggs. Here is a picture of one egg filling up my small cast iron pan! WOW. They taste almost identical to chicken eggs too in case you were wondering. So now, we have just a little bit more noise on the farm!

New Mennonite Friends

I mentioned that last week we were able to have 2 couples in our home for the Esh/Gingerich funeral. The day of the accident, I called and got my name on a list to host any families if needed. I was excited to find out we would get to.
Both couples arrived in the evening time. The first family, the Millers, were from Ohio. They were SO friendly and nice. They were excited to hear that we had a daughter named Hosanna because they did as well! They used to be Amish, but converted to Mennonite about 15 years ago. I was able to talk to them about the differences between the two and ask them some questions that I'd always wanted to ask. Grin. The first 2 pictures are of the Millers. The top one was taken about 6:45am. Gilead has woken up early when I did so he was pretty sleepy. I was making eggs for the families and Gilead just stood there for about 10 minutes watching Mr Miller. Finally, Mr Miller held his arms out to Gil and Gil RAN as fast as he could to him and just sat quietly in his lap for 15 minute while I made breakfast. That was really unusual because he usually doesn't like strangers. Maybe Gilead wants to be Mennonite one day. = )
The 2nd picture was of them before they left for the funeral.
Later that night, the 2nd couple came....the Stolzfus' from Lancaster County PA. They were really friendly too.
The thing that made me chuckle the most is that as soon as they arrived and sat down, the 2 Amish turned Mennonite men had a long conversation comparing their Blackbery phones with regular phones and why one changed over to Central time and the other didn't. Mr Miller also got out his imac computer to show me a picture of his 4 beautiful children. Nothing wrong with that...it just busted up my paradigm expecting them to live simpler than we do and with less technology, only to find out they were hi-tech Mennonites. I don't even have my own cell phone and up til last summer, I mistakenly called those phones BLUEberries not BLACKberries. LOL
I DID feel like I fit in, however, over breakfast when Mrs Miller and Stolzfus and I were exchanging homemade bread recipes and I had the same grain mill and used the same wheat as they do. I actually taught the older Mennonite some things she didn't know. LOL.
Below (3rd picture) is Moses Stolzfus as they were leaving. I never did get a picture of his dear wife.
What I really appreciated is how we felt like brothers and sisters in Christ despite our denominational differences. We all love Jesus and we had so much fun, even though I didn't own a blackberry or a head covering. Grin.
I loved these Mennonites...they live what they believe!!

HOME by the Esh Family

Not the same

I'm not the same as I was a week ago.  Ya see, last Friday, a van from our small town carrying a precious family and some of their friends who were headed to a wedding was hit head on by a semi truck that crossed the median about an hour from our house.  Of 12 people in the van, only 2 survived--3 and 5 year old brothers who were in their car seats.   The 10 who died included their mom and dad, baby brother, grandpa, grandma, 3 aunts, and 2 friends.   We knew all but 1 who was in the van. We got milk from one of the couples, another young man put in our driveway and concrete a few years back with his dad and brothers.

The funeral was a few days ago, and 3,500 people showed up...mainly Mennonites and Amish.  The family who died was Mennonite.   When you add that many people to a county that has a total population of 6,800, it changes things!!   Since we have exactly one motel in Burkesville, it required many of us to open our homes to the influx of friends and relatives of the Esh family.
We were very honored and blessed to be able to host 2 couples.  One from Lancaster County, PA and one from NE Ohio.   They were both Amish turned Mennonite.   They were such sweet, friendly people and we were so happy to have gotten to know them.
All across our county, denominational walls were broken down and the whole area came together to help and support the Mennonite community who was grieving the loss of about 10% of their people.  It was so neat..a glimpse of what heaven must be like.
As things like this have a way of doing, they force you to realize that we are not immortal.  None of us will escape life alive, unless the Lord returns first.  
The accident claimed the life of a baby, and a few young people as well as 2 in their 60's.  Death is no respecter of persons.    While I totally believe that it did not shock God, that somehow it is part of His bigger plan that we humans can't always grasp, it still takes us by surprise.  It rocks our "perfect little world" where we are fretting about what to make for dinner or why are the lines so long at the supermarket, or why does the baby need a diaper change when we're already late for church.   It rocks us into realizing what is TRULY important and what stress really means. 
I'm not the same this week....I am much more patient with my family, I pray a lot more over small things, I have much more of a passion for sharing Jesus with others, I know what it means to "weep with those who weep" and I have a stronger faith in God that He is totally in control of my life and I need to trust Him through every up and down.    Our pastor asked the question on Sunday, "If you were in that van last Friday, do you know for sure where you would be today?"    I'm so thankful that I do without a doubt know where I would be.  But so many in church, in the grocery store, on the street answer that question with a definite "No, I don't know where I would be."  or worst yet...they do know and it isn't with Jesus.

If you can't answer that question with a definite YES!!!  Then please do nothing else until you do know. I'll be glad to answer any questions you might have.   Life is short....we aren't guaranteed tomorrow.  The Bible says that today is the day of salvation.  The Bible also says that you don't have to wonder if you have eternal life, you can know FOR SURE!

I thank God for what He has done this last week in me and many others.  I don't understand it all, but I choose to trust my Savior that He is in control.   It's easy to praise God when everything is going great but I choose to praise God when things are not as well.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.

I will close with the lyrics of the song BLESSED BE YOUR NAME.

Blessed Be Your Name


In the land that is plentiful

Where Your streams of abundance flow

Blessed be Your name



Blessed Be Your name

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed Be Your name



Every blessing You pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say



Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name



Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's 'all as it should be'

Blessed be Your name



Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be Your name



Every blessing You pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say



Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name



Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name



You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

Meeting God in the produce aisle

When you take a mission trip, invariably you ask yourself what God wanted to teach you or show you through the experience.     I'll share a few things that I learned from our trip to Honduras...

1.  When you feel God leading you to do something, even if it seems crazily hard, do it.  There is no better place than in the center of God's will.   We had dozens of people tell us that we were a little bit crazy to even consider taking 7 children to a foreign country.   Dozens who thought that sounded impossible...dozens who said they just couldn't even imagine doing it.    When we think about it now, we can see why people would react that way.  Heck, if we dwelt on it too long, we could have easily dismissed the idea as crazy and not considered it.  I mean, who would have blamed us for saying, "We'd love to take a mission trip, but we have....too many kids...it would be too much money...it would be too hard to travel with all those little kids and suitcases."  I guess it encouraged me to "Do Hard Things" as the book by the same name says.  I am so glad that we did.

2.  Because I don't speak Spanish, I wasn't able to share the Gospel with anyone in Honduras.  What it DID reinforce to me is my responsibility to share the Gospel where God HAS called me to be a missionary....right here in Burkesville.    It is so easy for me to think that I am willing to be sent across the world to share Jesus with others, and what that would look like, but lately God has had me consider  a different angle.  I am called as a missionary to Burkesville.   We are all missionaries where we are until God calls us someplace else.   Am I living like a missionary here like I would be if I was being supported to be a missionary in Honduras?  Am I free with my time, my family, my house to show love to others.   Or do I live like a non-missionary, focused only on me and accomplishing MY goals.   I'm afraid I'm guilty of the latter, but with God's help hope to start living like a missionary.
I read a verse in Philippians 2 this week as I was attempting to memorize the chapter to beat my kids in a competition (grin) and it was talking about Timothy.

19I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. 21For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

Those verses were convicting to me because I realize that I often look out for my own interests.   It's so easy to say, "I'm too busy." "I don't have time." "I'm too tired."    But if I were truly looking out for the interests of Jesus Christ, all my excuses would go away.  I'm praying that God work on me in that area this year.

Before our trip, I started reading a book called  Just Walk Across the Room.  By Bill Hybels.  I was able to read a good portion of it during the trip when Gilead was having his naps and I finished it after our trip.
The book talks about how evangelism doesn't have to be hard.  It is as simple as "walking across the room" and saying "Hi" to someone and building relationships. It's stepping away from your comfortable circle of friends and greeting a new person, or one that might not have many friends.
On thing jumped out that Hybels said.  That is that every morning when he wakes up, he prays "Lord please open doors today that I can share You with others."

I tested this out last week and almost failed miserably.  
Last Thursday, I was going to the orthodontist and Wal Mart with only 2 children...my oldest and youngest.
I prayed that prayer as we pulled out of the driveway.  I asked God, "Please give me 1 open door to share your love to someone."   After that I kinda forgot my prayer.
I sat with a waiting room full of parents in the orthodontist office....then we went to Wal mart.
We were almost done with my list.   You know "THE LIST" that your whole goal is to cross off everything as quickly as possible so you can check out and go home!    I was totally not even thinking about looking for open doors or even thinking of "the interests of Jesus Christ."  I had a mission.

Then we entered the produce department...and that is where God taught me an amazing lesson.
A Wal Mart worker came up to me who was off duty and asked if Gilead was my baby.  (He had been patient in the cart, but was over it at that point, so Aslan took him out and let him walk around while he followed him.)  I told her he was and that yes that tall 14 yr old was also my son.  She commented on the huge age span and I mentioned there were 5 children in between those 2.   She shared that she was a 4th born of 12 and how it's so nice to see a big family and how rare it is...yada yada yada.    Well, 10 minutes later, this friendly lady was STILL TALKING!!!!    About her family, her kids, and I was looking really sweet and friendly, but I'm ashamed to admit that inside I was praying emphatically, "GOD PLEASE LET THIS WOMAN SHUT UP SO I CAN FINISH THE PRODUCE DEPARTMENT AND GET OUT OF HERE!"
Just seconds later while I was having an internal meltdown at how talkative this woman was and how MY INTERESTS were not getting accomplished...I heard a loud voice in my spirit....totally a God thing cause there was NOTHING in me spiritual at the moment say...."HELLO?  You asked for ONE open door...are you gonna walk through it?"  
I knew that I knew that it was God....and immediately my intensity to leave, my selfishness, MY interests all calmed down and became not important.   I Listened to what the lady was saying, I mean really listened.  Before that I was just hearing words.
She was talking about how God had allowed hard times to happen to her son and what a blessing it turned out to be because it turned him from a work a holic into someone that had time for family relationships. She talked about how she had given her life to God at an early age, but got off doing her own thing and God brought her back to a relationship with Him.  She knew that God loved her enough to restore their relationship.
Then she asked if I could pray for the bread man who stocks the bread aisle every morning.  His name was David and his wife of 31 yrs had just left him and he was devastated.  I asked her if she had shared Jesus with him and she said that she had.   Then I felt led to pray with her and said, "You know the Bible says that were 2 or 3 are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst, why don't we agree in prayer for David right now."  She loved the idea so she grabbed my hand and I prayed for David and his wife, for restoration and for God to show himself mighty through this hard time."   When we finished Wal Mart lady had tears in her eyes and we hugged.  We parted ways and I couldn't stop thanking God for His patience.  Patience because if it had been up to be...I had prayed this sweet woman away in my impatience to accomplish "my own interests."   God could have easy answered that prayer....but he had a lesson to teach me.
I had asked for 1 open door...and without me trying to find it...in fact I was trying to slam the door...he patiently kept this lady talking and talking until I would finally hear the spirit of God in my life nudging me that THIS was what I had prayed for. 
How often do we pray and then never look for the answer...or get it in our minds what the answer looks like and miss God completely.   I'm convinced that because I'm such a novice at this, God was exceedingly patient with me. And I thank Him for that.  I thank God that not only did He love ME enough to be patient, but he loves David the bread man enough to cause me and a bakery lady to lift him up before God, the only one who can meet his needs right now.   

I challenge you to ask God each day for 1 open door...and don't forget to look for which one God wants to open...and try not to be like me and pull it shut so you can accomplish your "stuff."
God is so gentle and good in His teaching us dumb sheep how to truly be His disciples.....if we make even a small effort, He will more than make up for our weakness......so just walk across the room....or across the produce aisle...you might just find God next to the bananas!!!

Miscellaneous pics Part 15

The younger kids enjoyed ironing beads and doing crafts. = )

Gilead ready to fall asleep.

Konsavage and Patterson families on the day we left...we're the ones in green. = )

Forgot this picture earlier. This is a boy in Canculuncos who had broken his arm playing soccer the day before our clinic.
We were able to go to a pharmacy and buy a cast and cast his arm the next day when we returned for the 2nd day of clinic there.

MEDA Seminary-Honduras Part 14

The place that our friends live and work and the place we stayed was called MEDA. It is a seminary for Honduran seminary students. It is really nice and pretty! Quite a contrast from just outside the barbed wire fences of extreme poverty. Everything was really nicely taken care of. Everything grows so well in Honduras too!

Inside of one of our rooms. Hot showers and everything.

Front Gate of MEDA.

Honduran Food- Part 13

I can't say that we really suffered in the food department. The food was all wonderful! A sweet, Honduran lady, Saida, cooked most of our lunches and dinners during the week since Christy and I were busy many times. Saida has a housekeeping job where she makes $1/hour. She was happy to get a raise and cook for a week for the 18 of us! She is a wonderful cook!
In this picture, she was making Beans and rice and fried plantains.
Most meals included montequilla which is a white sauce similar to sour cream but much better even!
On Monday, we had Pollo Frito (fried chicken) arroz (rice) homemade tortillas and pataste (a really yummy green vegetable that is similar to broccoli)
Dinner was Gringas (tortillas, chicken, salsa and montequilla)

Tuesday- Bistec (steak) Ensalada de lechuga (salad) tortillas and Papas (like cheesy mashed potatoes)
Dinner- Baleadas (tortillas, smashed red beans with scrambled eggs mixed in and montequilla)

Wednesday we ate lunch at Canculuncos and had fried chicken, beans and tortillas
Dinner was Arroz con Pollo (chicken and rice

Thursday we had Arroz con Frijoles, platanos won Mantequilla (beans, rice, plantains and montequilla--as shown below)

Friday, we went to a restaurant for lunch. (see 2nd picture) It was a fabulous, really nice lunch and there were 22 of us for that meal that cost only $70.
Dinner was Estufado (stew) Ensalada and tortillas

Steak on a stick, tortilla chips, plantains, Honduran cheese, rice and salad.

Saida with a stack of homemade tortillas. We had a friend from church give us money. She felt that God had put it on her heart to send some with us to give whereever we felt led. At the end of the week, we paid Saida for cooking for us and also gave the extra money to her. We received a letter shortly after about what a blessing it was to her family. Saida lives in a 1 room brick home with 2 children. (I think they are her neice and nephew) With the money that we gave her from us and from the donor she was able to buy a refrigerator for her home. She said it was the first time she could actually have fresh milk at home!! Lest you think we gave her thousands of dollars, the total amount was only $150 total (from us and the anonymous donor). What a difference you can make in the life of the poor, the orphan and the widows in the world. Where $20 or $50 might not seem like much to you, if you are willing to give it away, it is SUCH a blessing to the receiver!! If you need a great ministry to give to...we know one! Just let us know!!!

Yup...they have Wendy's in Honduras!

Various Honduran Houses Part 12

More pictures from Canculuncos part 11

Here is the outside of the church we had the medical clinic in.

These piggies were right outside the window at the back of the church...it was the highlight of Praise's day!

Pastor Omar was one of the sweetest people I've ever met. He is a pastor there and just loved Gilead.

View on the drive to the church.