Quite the group.

A couple weeks ago, a group of ladies was asked to pose for this picture. If you look at the ladies on the right you may be able to guess what the picture was for. But just in case you aren't in the mood to guess, this is the embarazadas. Now should I let you translate that, or just tell you it's all the expectant mom's?! Yes, there are six of us!

We are lined up, right to left, in order of due date, 2 in August, 1 in September, 2 in November and 1 in December. Beginning on the far right is Nancy, she is expecting number 10; Cristina, expecting her first, is next to her; this is the 3rd child for Letica; and Rebekah, who is Cristina's sister in-law, is carrying her first; you know me and this is ocho for us; and ending on the far left is Elida, who is holding her oldest child and expecting her second.

There is no hesitation when I say it is an honor to be an expectant mother here in Uruguay. Biblically, motherhood is a wonderful thing bringing into the world the blessing of children. Many people are doing everything they can to avoid having children, and if they have them it may or may not be a good thing. But here in Uruguay everyone loves children. No one has called me crazy, or reminded me of the benefits of a small family. Instead, we have been surprised to see people so excited and telling us how happy they are about our little "Uruwashito".

Family Pictures

I love to scrapbook when I have time (which isn't too often lately)and I'm finding I really need to improve my photography skills. My scrapbooking magazine has been including some photography lessons, so this was my first attempt at natural light portraits. Some photos turned out much better than others, but I love the one of Simeon, he just had to show his foot. We have another one of him showing Hoppers foot. Brandon took the one of me, but I took all the others. By the way, if you want to look at one picture longer just put your cursor over the slideshow and it will pause on the one.

Tesoros de celestiales

Today was the first ever Mother Daughter tea for La Iglesia Bautista Fundamental and it was very nice. Some of the ladies brought sweet and salty treats to be enjoyed with the tea. We had a fun icebreaker where the ladies had to search for others to sign their paper for that specific thing. For instance, I signed many papers under the lady born in another country and Ruth signed most of the papers for a lady whose husband has a little hair. LOL.

I sang a special, a capella, wouldn't recommend that to even the bravest soloist. And I was privilged to give the devotional on Matthew 6:19,20. Where I shared with the ladies the importance of having the proper view of God, realizing Jesus Christ is the Saviour, in order to be saved and also in order to live for Him, therefore laying up treaures in Heaven. The Lord blessed and many ladies spoke of changing their focus. Please continue to pray for those who need to be saved.

While we enjoyed our tea the ladies who brought treasures were able to share the importance of their treasure. I was especially touched by Sylvia's testimony that her Baptism certificate was her treasure. As it was the day she realized she must put off the old man and be serious about following after Christ. I'll tell you that she had a great deal to do with the tea and her help was a blessing.

Finally I took pictures of the different ladies and their daughters to have printed for them. I enjoyed the time of fellowship and the focus on the Lord. The pictures below are of the activities today, enjoy.

A mile in their shoes

I do believe those words have been uttered by every parent, and this time they were whispered to me by that still small voice. My last post was about our hardships and woes, but now the Lord has caused me to walk a mile in someone elses shoes and I grieve for the people of Uruguay.

Last week Uruguay was once again hit with torrential rains. This time they hit to the North of us, we saw a rise in the water level which covered half the road, but we weren't affected like the people to the North of us. 12,000 are homeless, the government has allocated US $45 million in relief money, they have asked the UN to step in and give aid, they are expecting outbreaks of diseases such as Hepatitis A and Typhus, they have to fumigate all the flooded areas against the mosquitos which carry Dengue, power and communication lines are out, and all that without mentioning the effects on the agricultural industry here.

As I look around my home, that was also flooded a few weeks ago, I see belongings that easily could have been destroyed, yet the worst damage we experienced was some ruined books. The people here have so very little and the ones that have the least received the worst damage. The touching part is that most of these people must endure these hardships without the help and strength of the Lord. Pray that they may be reached with the Gospel. Pray for the Harmon family to receive the rest of their needed support so they can arrive here soon and head to their field (the city of Durazno, one of the hardest hit in the country) with the good news of the Gospel.

It comes in threes.

Is an old adage about bad news and bad things and in our case yesterday was a BAD day. First, Nehemiah came in the house crying hysterically. When I finally got him calmed down I understood his mouth hurt. Not only that but he was salivating excessively. My Vet medicine background kicked in and I knew he ate something he shouldn't have. I finally figured out he got the sap from an Elephant Ear plant in his mouth. Thankfully it's not poisonous it just does bad things to the mouth and skin.

Just as things calmed down with Nehemiah I gota phone call from the kids teacher. Adeline had hit her head on the fireplace giving her a cut on the bridge of her nose. When she got home we saw the wound would heal with a big scar so we took her in to get a modified butterfly put on her nose.

Then Kaitlin and I ran out to get our hair cut and when we got back Scott asked me to look at his finger. He had been chopping wood into kindling and was holding the wood where he shouldn't have been and hit his hand with the ax. Praise the Lord he had gloves on or...well I don't even want to go there. Basically he popped his finger open like a grape.

All this on top of some major spiritual battles. And the kids say they're bored!

Better, but not good

Here in Uruguay, or at least in the hospital we use, the doctors do a routine ultrasound to verify a pregancy. I had that done and they discovered that the placenta was low. A month has passed and I had another ultrasound today to check the progress of the placenta. It is still low, but better than before. I will need more ultrasounds to keep an eye on things. If the placenta moves up to a normal position there will be no concerns. There is a possibility that it will not and may even move further down. In that case I'll be scheduled for a c-section.

I still have a while to go before the baby is due and this affords me another opportunity to rest in the Lord. He has allowed several trials in our lives lately and it has in some ways become very overwhelming. Especially since there seems to be no easy remedy and no end in sight. And this is yet another concern. How we would get through without God, I have no idea.

I would appreciate your prayers for the Lord's will to be done. And also for prayers for language aquisition. This pregnancy demands more of Ruth's already full schedule, as she is my translator. The sooner I can speak for myself the easier it will be on her. Our language classes have been focused completely on review through conversation, which has helped me but my brain sure hurts.

We REALLY need a van

Just thought I'd update on our vehicle situation, as you know we've been searching for a van but it has been hard to come by one that is in good condition, still fairly new and has a great price. Scott found one - this is the same model but not the same year or color- and we went to look at it last week. The owner has a brain tumor and can not come down anymore on the price because the sale of the van is security for his family. So we asked for prayer and God is working. In the past week the Lord has brought in $4500 towards the van, we only need $1500 more.

This is the car we ride to church in as a family. Though this is a picture of only our children with Ruth, and her daughter, I thought you might appreciate it. Usually the oldest six children are in the back seat with Simeon in my lap in the front, and Scott in the drivers seat. It would be nice to have a seat for each of our children especially since we drive right in front of the police station each trip. Plus, Sunday afternoon we pick up 3 adult men and a lady for choir practice. For some reason the guys don't like sitting on each others laps. We've asked them to join us in prayer for the van funds. And we ask you to join us in prayer as well. We look forward to posting a picture of our new van, very soon.

Life in the Uruguayan Fast (food) Lane

Is not quite like it is in the States or even in other foreign countries. Uruguayan fast food consists of Chevitos or Hamburguesas con Papas Fritas ordered from a Carrito. Unless a trip into the Capitol is in the plans, a North American craving a taste of home has to make due with the copy cat recipes found online. So this week has been my copy cat week.

I made a reasonable facisimile of Paneras Cinnamon Crunch Bagels and French Onion Soup in a bread bowl - let's just say the taste was OK but they both needed some work. Tonight we had Taco Bell's Mexican Pizza, with homemade tortillas (thanks to Andrea Perez) and though they weren't exactly like TB's they were really good. But the best so far was a Cuarto de Libra con queso (Quarter Pounder with Cheese) thankfully I didn't have to copycat this recipe I was able to get it straight from the real source.

Now I know all of you deputizing missionaries and parents could just about gag if you have to eat fast food one more time, but having gone 5 months without, that QP tasted better than any burger I've had, with the exception of an In N' Out burger, and don't even get me going on the fries. If nothing else makes it clear that I'm expecting this post certainly should. So all you people planning to send anything in the mail soon, I wouldn't be the least bit offended if it included a packet of taco seasoning or some REAL fast food recipes. Yes, that's a hint. After all we're living life in the Uruguayan fast food lane.

An Amazing Testimony of the Power of God

This past summer (N. American summer, that is) we found out that one of our supporting pastors, Leigh Crockett, had terminal stage 4 brain and lung cancer. The Lord healed him! I visited the churches website to check for updates and discovered that he has been interviewed several times about his miraculous recovery. The doctors are even declaring this a miracle. His story really is amazing and well worth your time waiting for the video to stream. Please visit these links and rejoice in the Lord over Who He is and What He can do. He does answer prayer! If you only have time to watch one please visit the second link.

Good Morning America interview http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2923794&page=1

Local ABC news interview http://www.theindychannel.com/video/11056557/index.html

The Worth of a Mother

Today I saw a headline that got me thinking and with Mothers day coming up I thought this was a good time to post. The Price of a mom: $138,095 hasn't much to say beyond the attempt to take all the jobs a mother performs throughout her day. They limit the resume to only 10 jobs those of "housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, CEO and psychologist." and take the average of those jobs to come up with the salary of a mother.

Personally, I think they left out a few jobs such as nurse, counselor, example/leader to her children how many other "jobs" do we do as mothers each day? If we all got together and brainstormed the list could be endless. Though this article gives SAHM's a value, according to the world, it misses the big picture and focus on the wrong aspect....money.

Maybe SAHM's are more spiritual than I, but my first thought was, "And I don't even get an allowance." My focus was instantly in the wrong place. My allowance is the blessing of each of my children. Motherhood is not an easy job, giving birth is enough to make any woman want to quit, but just think of all the benefits. I get to spend my day with my children, I (and not a daycare worker) get their hugs and kisses. They call ME mommy, (well, Simeon calls me and all his sisters Mommy, but you get my drift) not another woman who is raising them in my stead. I get to see their first steps and hear their first words. I get to play with them and love them. I get to be their to hear their prayers thanking God. I get to see them grow in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I get to brag on them to others. Blessings beyond measure the worth of a mother is far beyond the price tag of a salary. Thank God for that.

I certainly thank God for my mothers. Now don't go writing me to tell me I wrote in the plural when I should have written in the singular. (Agh, more grammar, yuck!) I meant Mother's, you see God has given me several. In addition to spiritual mothers I have had the privilege of having two life mothers; first and foremost my Mom, Judy, whom God allowed to love and nurture me for 10 years, and when she died tragically at 35 years old, God turned motherhood over to Jay, my second or adopted Mom.

At the time, and for many years thereafter, (I was a horrible teenager) I didn't care at all for this change but now 26 years later I can't imagine my life without Jay. She loved me when others would have turned their back on me. She forgave me for things that none other than God has granted forgiveness for. She rejoices in my good news and mourns with me over my sad news. She has been a tremendous example of love. She is kind, easygoing, understanding, and encouraging. So, Jay, I want you to know your worth is far more than any annual salary and I'm ever so grateful for you! Thank you for being my mom and my children's grandmother. I love you!