Baby Shower

On the 11th the ladies of Iglesia Bautista Fundamental joined together to celebrate the first 3 babies - Ezequiel, Juan Daniel and Timoteo - due to arrive very soon. I think of all the baby showers I have been to this was one of the most enjoyable. The games were fun, the food delicious, the devotionals encouraging and the gift time was sweet. I especially enjoyed watching Cristina open her gifts. She reminded me of my little ones on Christmas day.

We had about 60 people, I wish I could give an exact count but I had to stop at 51 as many ladies got up to go help cut the sweets just as I started counting.

Ruth and I both spoke. Ruth's teaching was much more in depth than mine. I was limited to "reading" my devotional, but every word was in Spanish. I am certianly looking forward to Spanish fluency...sometime in my lifetime, I hope.

100th post!

In some ways I'm surprised that I have already posted 99 times about our life on deputation, on the field and in general. I really have enjoyed "blogging". I like that I can keep all of your updated without bombarding your inboxes. If you want to be updated on the essentials and non-essentials of our lives you can visit our blog.

Not only is this the 100th post but I noticed the other day that we have had over 6,000 first time hits to this blog. I'm excited about the potential of that. It is my prayer that many of the people who drop by here are blessed, encouraged and will see the Lord at work in our lives and here in Uruguay.

EX`PLORE

EX`PLORE To search for making discovery: To view with care: To examine closely by the eye. Simeon July 2007

I had so much fun taking these pictures and making this scrapbook page of Simeon. In the first photo he had the binoculars upside down and backwards. When I asked him what he was looking at he leaned over and said, "Don't know." (middle photo) Then he looked at his binoculars turned them right side up, looked through them, smiled and said, "That." (last)

This was actually a warm day, notice he is not wearing a jacket. I know you all can't imagine wearing jackets let alone sweaters right now but it really is winter down here.

Embarazadas - Part two

Well here we are a few weeks later and all of us showing. Nancy, due on the 13th is missing from the picture. From left to right the others are - Elida due in December, me due in November, Rebekah due in November, Leticia due in September and Cristina due the end of this month.

So far, of the six babies, we are certain that four of them are boys. Pray for the nursery workers and any girls who may be born in this bunch. :-)

Doggy, Doggy...

On Sunday, Hoss, our 6 months old puppy, was the victim of another dog's bark. Yes, another dog's bark. Witnesses say that Hoss was in our yard happily minding his own business when another dog came along and barked at him. Evidently this scared him enough to cause him to run out into the street where a car ran over him. Literally it ran over his back with two tires.

With my experience in vet medicine it is no exaggeration to say that it is a miracle he is still alive. Most dogs his size will die from impact as their bodies are at the level of the bumper and so they suffer irreparable internal injuries. That plus being run over really caused me concern.

When I was a vet technician the first thing we would do with a dog like him would be to get him stabilized with IV fluids and meds, which the vet here did, then take x-rays to ascertain what damage, if any, had been caused by the accident. There is no pet x-ray machine here in Colonia so we all have had to pray and leave Hoss in the Lord's hands.

It is amazing to report that nearly 3 full days later he is doing better than expected. He is walking, yet another miracle, albeit with a pronounced stiffness in his hips. He is wagging his tail which, along with the walking, indicates there is no spinal cord damage as dogs like him usually lose function of their tails. He even got up when Brandon kicked his soccer ball by him yesterday.

Though the accident is sad, I have a sweet memory of my little ones gathered around Hoss while I prayed for him. Adeline even wanted to request prayer for him in church on Sunday night. They are personally seeing God's concern for them and His ability and power to heal their beloved puppy.

"Master, Master we perish"

"Then He arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was calm. And He said unto them, Where is your faith?" Luke 8:24,25a

In recent weeks, as many of you know, we've been struggling, discouraged and frustrated with, and in, the battles we have faced recently. It is so very easy to take my eyes off the Lord and focus completely on my circumstances. In those times my faith becomes very weak and fear grows strong.

"Now the just shall live by faith....Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 10:38a & 11:1) God has really been reminding me that I need to continue to build my faith. It's interesting to me that as I look back on my Christian life I can see without doubt those times God was teaching me to grow in faith.

Brandon has potentially life threatening kidney disease. When Kaitlin was three she nearly died from a serious infection in her leg caused by the flesh eating bacteria. At birth, Isabel suffered from premature lungs which collapsed and nearly took her life. Adeline has had mulitple cases of pneumonia and anaphylactic reactions. And I could go on.

What have all these trials taught me? To be still and know that God is God. To rest in Him and trust His will for my life whatever the circumstances. That discouragement is the absence of courage. That lack of faith is the absence of hope.

The repeating theme throughout those trials and the ones we have been experiencing lately is one of faith. It seems that God is asking me, "Debbie, do you have the faith to believe that I really am at work? Do you have the faith to leave this situation in my hands? Do you have the faith to rest and trust? Will you obey and do what I ask though it makes no sense to you?"

Honestly, my faith has waivered. Often in the last few weeks my answer has been no, or at best a tentative yes. There have been times recently where I have felt much like Habakkuk, "O Lord, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear!" Hababkkuk 1:2a. And God replies, "Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days , which ye will not believe, though it be told you." Habakkuk 1:5

Whether I see it or not, believe it or not, have hope in it or not, God is at work! What a blessing it is that God loves me so much that He works even in my unbelief. But what a shame it is to KNOW that I have lacked the belief and hope that God is at work.

Happy 15th Brandon!!!!

15 candles on a cake sure will make a lot of smoke. It's hard to believe that my first born is 15, goodness where has the time gone? Before I know it he'll be heading off to college in the States and we'll be one less person at our dinner table.

On Saturday Brandon invited a few of his friends over for soccer and lunch. It was good to see the relationships he has built with these young men. He decided to open his presents after youth meeting and I must say I was so pleased with the special way he thanked his little brother, Nehemiah, for one of the gifts he gave. Nehemiah felt certain that Brandon would love a coloring book and since it was his money we let him buy it. Brandon was just as excited about the gift as Nehemiah had hoped.

On Sunday morning Brandon had the great honor of standing before the church while we sang to him. We had a nice lunch at home and a good afternoon, until our dog, Hoss, was hit by a car. I'll blog about that later though. Brandon stayed home from church last night to take care of Hoss and missed being sung to a second time...too bad. :-)

Brandon has been a tremendous blessing to us. We are thankful for his willingness to serve in the church here. And especially for his fun loving attitude. He is so whitty especially at times when we all need a laugh. He contributes greatly to our family and we are ever so thankful to God for him!

¿Por que?

Porque Uruguay no es Estados Unidos. (Why? Because Uruguay is not the United States.)

Now that we have that out of the way let me tell you about my glucose tolerance test this week. My appointment was for 8:30 and I was able to get in pretty close to that time. After seven other glucose tolerance tests I expected that they would draw my blood, have me drink the less than tasty carbonated orange syrup withinten minutes and then I would be there for an hour or so, have my blood drawn again and then I could go home.

Instead, they drew my blood...let me pause for a needed explanation of the use of examination gloves here in Colonia. Commonly (from my experience in the USA anyway) nurses and doctors don the protective latex when they draw our blood. However, there seems to be a misunderstanding of the use of this basic medical supply. Each time I, or the children, have had blood drawn I've not set eyes on a latex glove. This time I was actually surprised to see a latex glove on the tray next to the syringe. As I watched the nurse pick up the glove I fully expected her to put it on herself, not me. Can you believe the nurse took that glove and used it as a tourniquet?! Oh, boy!

Back to the test...after they drew my blood the first time I waited for over an hour for them to get the initial results. Then they sent me to the basement to wait for my dreaded carbonated concotion. Which actually turned out to be half of a small pitcher of very, very, very sweet hot tea. When I finished drinking the tea, which I could drink at my leisure - a nice change, to someone who doesn't like a lot of sugar it tasted nearly as bad as the orange drink, I headed back upstairs to wait in the ER lobby for two hours. I showed up at the hospital at 8:20 am and left the hospital at 12:30. I sure hope the results come back normal because I would hate to see how long the longer test takes.

Attendance, music and more

I know that many who come to this blog do so because you support our ministry. Please accept my apologies as I haven't put in nearly as many updates about the ministry as I would like or need to.

Attendance at the El General church has been low because of the cold. As far as I understand the El Real annex is not experiencing as much of a drop in attendance but they too have less people during the winter. Yesterday we headed to church in zero degree (celsius) weather. With one Estufa de Gas for the entire building plus a small electric space heater you can imagine how cold it can be. To say the least we are looking forward to the end of this historic winter.

Once a month we have Melody Night in the evening service. The choir always sings and there are usually a few vocal and instrumental specials. The youth group also sang last night and it was very nice to hear them sing out to the Lord. A goal has been set to have 90 young people by years end, we are already half way there.

Hermano Ricca announced that he and his wife celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary this past week. They are a dear sweet couple and an encouragement to us all. In this day and age of multiple marriages and live-in relationships, even here in Uruguay, we certainly appreciate their example and testimony.

Sad news

We just learned of the home-going of Mrs. Teresa Bray. Many of you have prayed for her over the past few months as she battled cancer. Certainly she is in heaven and we rejoice yet we mourn with Pastor Bray. No doubt she will be dearly missed by her family and church family. Please pray for Pastor Randy Bray as he grieves the loss of his wife.