The Loss of Two of My Heroes

If there are parties in Heaven, Tuesday there was a celebration I would have loved to see. Two dearly dearly beloved children of God were called home after serving their Father with everything in them. It's hard for me to imagine how God could think the world was ready to lose such shining lights for His kingdom here on earth, but I trust His plan and know that they are at home now after fighting a really really good fight.

Merle Watts was the peace amidst the storm. Circa 2001, Merle and his classmate from veterinary school, Marion Hammurlund (above left of me), scouted out an opportunity for veterinarians to serve among the poor in Mexico. That vision trip flourished into a recurring adventure for veterinarians and students alike, that continues to effect hundreds of dogs, cats, and pet-owners with Christ's love every December. The second year of the annual trip I joined the motley crew of surgeons, assistants, pastors, translators, and Christ-followers to help tackle the animal overpopulation problem in San Luis, and later El Golfo, Mexico. What I most remember about Merle's presence on the trips was his calm during the chaos, his smile in every circumstance, and his friendship even to the extent of keeping me company in my Phenergan-induced stupor when I was down with food poisoning. I remember spaying this little dog with gentle Merle, nearly 20 years after his last surgery. And I will never forget the constant support he's been to me since I moved on from Mexico to Bolivia.

Douglass Macintire, or known to the thousands who were fortunate enough to love her, Dougie, was a mother, veterinarian, professor, editor of prestigious journals, leader at the university level, sought after consultant and speaker, but more than anything servant of her Lord Jesus Christ. Her year and a half long battle with cancer was one of the most powerful testimonies of faith and walking with Christ through a storm that I've ever seen, and the innumerable stories of people influenced by her life, is proof that her life was a public testimony long before the storm came. She did not wait to share her faith until she had a platform or a captive audience, in fact, I don't remember a day that I knew her when she didn't energize me to know Christ more.

My favorite memory of dear, sweet, faithful Dougie is embodied in this picture below of her praying for one of the pastors' wives that we visited every year on the trip. Trini had a persistent cough and gastric reflux for years, that all the Omeprazole and Tums we left with her couldn't resolve, but the prayers of the Saints knocked out completely. Dougie never passed up a chance to talk to her Savior, and now she sits at His feet soaking in His every word.

This year's team of Auburn students and veterinarians returned from Mexico last week, after a week of spaying and neutering 110 dogs and cats. I hope Merle and Dougie were proud to hear of the continued impact their legacy leaves, and I hope they see now how many of our lives they touched, inspired, comforted, healed, and brought closer to Christ. Now that I think about it, with tear-filled eyes, God is probably right; they've done enough here, it's time for them to be home...

"Well done, good and faithful servant!" -Matthew:25:21

Doing Life With My Ladies

If I remember correctly what it felt like to hit the sweet spot all those years ago from my tennis life, I'd say that's about what it feels like when a weekly Bible study becomes more than a study but doing life together. It's so nice to have arrived in that spot with my lady veterinarians' Bible study. We used to meet and talk about the Bible, and inevitably the conversation would always turn toward family, and ironically they would always seek my opinion on being a wife and a mother. Now, if I don't have any more wisdom on motherhood than I did a year ago, I at least have a pool of parenting anecdotes to pull from when the chat turns that direction. And even better, we also spend our time together off the vet school campus sharing in our kids' lives.

Last weekend, we all shared in the joy of watching Gloria's beautiful baby Alejandra be baptized, and it lead to good discussion about baptism and making a decision to follow Christ.

During the week we celebrated the births of two of my favorite Cruceñas, with cupcakes and salteñas at the office.

Friday, after a close-of-semester faculty-wide cookout, Paola and I slaved away in the kitchen making these delectable treats for her baby boy's second birthday.

And yesterday, we all enjoyed watching the kids race around on sugar highs at Marco's unforgettable birthday party.

Birthdays and baptisms are sure great excuses to celebrate, but sometimes with these lovely ladies, I don't think we need an excuse at all.

"...and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people." - Acts 2:46, 47

Sharing my Passion for Castration

One of the hardest to reach places in Bolivia, just got a little harder to reach. An area of Southern Bolivia called the Chaco has some communities so remote that there aren't NGO's willing to work with them. In fact, World Vision recently asked us to do some training workshops there for them. So, we eagerly planned the first of three chicken and sheep workshops for right after the students finished their final exams, which, unfortunately, also turned out to be immediately after a landslide destroyed the only access into the community. :( With some quick re-adjusting our ever-resourceful Bill Janecke set up a little alternate trip to the campo (country) to replace our original plans.
Our friends at the G.A.TH.E.R. project have a model farm about three hours outside of the city where they show local subsistence farmers how they can use limited land to do some cool things with chickens, sheep, cattle, crops, fish, and honeybees. With that many animals running around you can always find some way to put some vets and vet students to good use, and that's just what they did...

We rounded up about 35 head of cattle to vaccinate, and without a chute or head gate that meant we got to practice our lassoing skills, and then after each injection our diving-out-of-the-way-of-hooves-and-horns skills. We castrated four lambs, three calves and two dogs. Then we topped it off with a female dog spay just to avoid the appearance of sexism. It was a great couple of days to give the students some needed practical experience, help out a neat project, and breathe the fresh air so hard to come by here in the city.
In January, we'll try again to reach the very very hard to reach in the little community of Kapiakuandi. Pray that God will make a way so that we can share some practical veterinary knowledge and the love of Christ, which as far as I'm concerned always go hand in hand.

My Little Girl's All Grown Up

My little girl turned 18, yesterday! No, not that little girl, my other one. Don't worry Angie's still 9, but my Talita Cumi sponsor kiddo who didn't quite weasel her way into my home, but definitely secured her place in my heart, Jenny, is all grown up now.

18's a big birthday for anyone, but for Jenny is was big for different reasons than most teenagers, and with a whole different set of emotions she's been unwrapping for the past year. You see Jenny's lived at the home for ten years, since its beginning, and now as an adult it's time for her to move on and say goodbye to the family she's known and loved for so long. And not only the "family" of rowdy kids and comforting caregivers, but also her biological 15 year-old brother and 13 year-old sister who she dreads leaving behind.

So, to take her mind off the huge changes looming in the near future, Ange and I took her out and filled her up with love, and sugar. She wanted to see the new Twilight movie, but I'm not even sure if I'm old enough to watch that let alone Angie, so we settled on "Puss in Boots," which was the first refreshingly non-environmentally-agendaed cartoon I've seen in awhile. Then the girls tested out the majority of the 100 zillion games in the adjoining arcade. And of course we topped off the candied movie popcorn with some ice cream loaded with dulce de leche, cookies and candy bars, just to spoil the surprise dinner Talita Cumi was preparing for her...

On the ride back to the home we prayed the Lord would guide her and give her strength in this next year, that she would be able to trust in Him and sense His love and presence with her always. That with each passing year she would know Him more. And when we arrived home there was a surprise birthday party waiting for her; a pack of 30 adoring sisters, brothers, and tias (aunts), to fill her love tank to brimming over. Studying the story of the woman who pours the expensive perfume on Jesus' head yesterday, I thought of how sometimes we can clothe the sick, feed the hungry, or visit the prisoners and it's as if we're doing those same things to Jesus. Or sometimes we can love someone a bit extravagantly, treat them to a little more than is necessary, spoil them with expensive perfume and maybe it's as if we're doing that to Jesus too...

"She has done a beautiful thing to me." -Jesus, Mark 14:6

Apolo - Take 3

Visiting the Lugtigheids in Apolo is kind of like having a baby. Hear me out, I know I don't have as much experience in this area as some of you, but from what I've heard, during the birthing process and for some time afterwards you tell yourself you're never doing this again, but then the pain subsides and months later you forget how awful it was, and you're only left with memories of the fonder moments and somehow you end up right back in that delivery room. In our version of parturition, labor is the trip; five+ nights on buses (some wet, some hot, many on the edge of cliffs, none with sufficient legroom), a few blockades, this time one of which forced us to get out of our bus with all of our luggage and walk until we could find other transport, in this case the back of a pickup truck. When, and if, they finish the airport they're working on for us, our visits to Apolo will be like getting a surrogate and just picking up the baby at the hospital. ;)

Just as your lovely newborns are worth every minute of pushing, our time with Linda and the kids is equally worthwhile. As Linda knows my life goal is to spay and neuter all dogs and cats, and as she forgets that I lean much more heavily toward the castrating, she always lines up some female dogs for us to surgerize. Unfortunately, when you're only visiting for 3-4 days you can't tell the large dogs in-heat to come back after their cycle ends, so we ended up agreeing to two fairly large bloody spays we normally would have postponed. I think Linda and I learned a good lesson about when to say "no," an area in which we both have a lot of room for improvement.

Last time we visited, almost one year ago, Angie learned to ride a bike, this time she'll proudly tell you she learned to ride with one hand. But what I'm more proud of is how she dove into their library of kids' books and ravenously read Spanish, English and bilingual books.

For us visiting the Lugtigheids is kind of a working vacation. We get to help control the pet population of Apolo, share Christ's love through spays and neuters, give Linda a hand with the kids so she can round up the chickens, run the Christian daycare they've started, sell some medicine, give some vet advice, and try to catch the runaway baby bunnies. But we also get to see the world (Angie's still a bit confused about where Bolivia ends and the rest of the world begins), relax along the way, enjoy the slow pace of a small town, the cooler climate of the Yungas, and the mountainous views on morning jogs. Linda, you're such a perfect hostess we'd travel twice as far to see you and learn from you, but we won't complain if there's a runway for us next time.

"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." -Proverbs 27:17

So Thankful for This Little One

Of course there are many many, innumerable really, things I have to be thankful for, and I'm sure you have many very similar things, but I wanted to share one little miracle blessing with you in this belated Thanksgiving post.If you've been following along with Baby Jackie's story you know she's had an uphill battle all her life, and her open heart surgery and recovery were no exception. She initially did great after her surgery, she recovered well from anesthesia, had spunk and color, and an appetite for almost a week during her post-surgical antibiotics. But shortly after finishing her antibiotic she started to get a fever, diarrhea, and become pretty unsettled. After another week of doctor's appointments and treatments at home she was finally admitted to the hospital where she was diagnosed with an incision infection, sepsis (blood infection), osteomyelitis (bone infection), and pneumonia. We were all really concerned. So concerned, that all of the staff went in to the hospital to see her for possibly the last time as she was so weak and tiny fighting all these infections few adults could handle. But God could handle them, and He did. After a more than a week of the strongest intravenous antibiotics they could find she was able to return back to the Baby Home infection free. Her lungs were still full of fluid, but that too was starting to clear up as she was starting to cough more. We were already feeling extremely grateful for all this recovery, when we found out the hospital wasn't going to charge for any of her ten-day stay or the respiratory therapy and doctors' care, only her medications were being charged. What a blessing!

This morning Jackie was full of life at church. So much life that she was kicking me in belly, and she's strong! Thank you so much for all your prayers, when the doctors starting giving up God's glory started shining even brighter.

Recipe for a Perfect Weekend

What you'll need to get started:

A weekend with a forecast of partly sunny and a high in the 90s.

A dog that will forgive you if you don't spend anymore time with her on the weekend than you do during the week.

A lot of fun people.

To put together the perfect weekend, I recommend starting with a quince for three Cristo Viene quinceñeras. A quince is a very special 15th birthday party for Bolivian girls, similar to the US, less commonly hyped-up, Sweet Sixteen. On Friday, celebrate with the three beautiful girls many of their friends, cake, a little karaoke, and some lovely words of blessing for their futures as senoritas.

On Saturday, you'll need to round up your women's Bible study for an afternoon together at Gloria's new condo. It's a little far out of town, but don't worry you won't regret the drive. Take the kids along, the other moms will too, and let them enjoy the pizza and the playground, while you ladies read one of the last chapters in your semester long study of The Five Love Languages, then top it off with a viewing of Fireproof. (If I had it to do again, I might try to avoid having the kids all return from the park right at the tearjerker finale of the movie.) After your girl-time, take the kids to the condo complex's lovely pool and maybe even check out the weight room. If your nine year-old randomly starts talking about Jesus to the girl she meets in the pool, that's just like the cherry on top. ;)

Sunday, top it all off when "Family Day" at your church meets "Friend Day" at Talita Cumi. Let me explain. La Viña decided to have our church service in the park and invite our family and friends on the same day Talita Cumi Children's Home does their annual planning and sends all the children out in twos. So, pick up your two kids, preferably some of your daughter's favorites, and head to the park. Kick it off with some great worship in the outdoor amphitheatre that's so rocking it draws the passerbys, and is so loud it drowns out your own exuberant singing. Then take the kids during the sermon for a quick lesson on healthy competition and what the Bible has to say about races. Next, put it into practice with some classic winners like the egg-on-a-spoon race, water balloon toss, the find-your-shoe race, etc. After lunch invite the adults to join in the fun with potato sac races, tug-o-war, three-legged races, and of course the requisite soccer game.

Take your three girls to walk around the plaza and top it off with some ice cream before heading home and calling it a weekend, and a fabulous one at that!

A couple things I might add for the next time I use this recipe:

Sunblock, a little more never hurts.

A nap, not sure where to fit it in, but every weekend needs one really.

Pretending I'm Allowed to Work on Humans

A dentist, a veterinarian, a medical doctor, and a pastor walk into a bar... Ok, so maybe not a bar, but we really did walk into a market together today. The pastor feels strongly about healing through prayer, so health was definitely one common denominator of our motley crew, the other was our church, La Viña.

This morning we set up a little health clinic in a popular market on the outskirts of town. We announced to the customers and vendors alike that we'd be doing some free health screening, and then we tried to organize the 30 or so people that joined us. The dentist, pastor and I took turns checking people in, measuring their blood glucose, and praying for the guests before or after their tests as time allowed, while the doctor measured blood pressure and counseled the patients based on their results.

Some of the sweet ladies couldn't read or write to fill in their personal info on the sign-in sheets, but my favorite was the woman who didn't know how old she was. I told her it really wasn't that important and she could just estimate, but she insisted on going to get her national identity card to find out her age. When I found her birthday on the card and did the math, she was completely incredulous, she made me check my math!

Most of our visitors were very happy to let us pray for them, but one of the my most impacting moments was when the woman I was praying for turned around and prayed, very passionately, for me.

At practically no cost to us, and possibly great preventative benefit to some of our new friends, I think it was a successful morning all around. I look forward to going back in December to further hone my human venipuncture skills and watch God's love in a very tangible way affect people's lives.

El Gallinero Lleno de Amor (The coop full of love)

"Cuántas veces quise reunir a tus hijos,

como reúne la gallina a sus pollitos debajo de sus alas" -Jesús, Mateo 23:37

El Proyecto Gallinero del Hogar Cristo Viene Niñas se acabó, y fue exitosisimo. Creo que nunca voy a olivdar cuan divertido era colocar ladrillos a lado de mis queridos amigos. Espero que nunca olvidaré todo lo que aprendia de gallinas, gallineros, y construcción. Pero más que todo, lo inolvidable era la actitud de servicio y sacrificio de cada voluntario de nuestro equipo grande. En el sol fuerte, los días largos, el trabajo pesado, y usando su precioso tiempo libre, yo no escuchaba ninguna queja de nadie. Cada cara reflejaba el gozo de Cristo, y cada clavo bien puesto estaba lleno del amor que Dios quiere mostrar a las chicas a través del gallinero. Tampoco voy a olvidar como cada participante en el proyecto y en el taller usaba sus dones como albañil, profesor, bailarina, veterinario, pastor, pollo, granjero, modelo a seguir, amigo, y siervo de Cristo. Muchisimas gracias a cada uno de ustedes que nos ayudaba con alegría. Estoy muy orgullosa de ustedes. Aquí está un breve resumen en la forma del video, ¡disfrútalo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wloxybw1yIY

Our Cristo Viene Girls' Home Chicken Coop project has come to an end, and it was a great success! I don't think I'll ever forget how fun it was to lay bricks working alongside my dear friends. I hope I won't forget all that I learned about chickens, coops, and construction. But more than anything, what was unforgettable was the attitude of service and sacrifice by each volunteer on our team. In the hot sun, the long days, the hard work, and using their precious little free time, I didn't hear a single complaint from any of the workers. Each face reflected the joy of Christ, and each well placed nail was full of the love God wants to show the girls through this hen house. I also won't forget how every student in the project and the final workshop used their gifts to play the roles of bricklayer, teacher, dancer, veterinarian, evangelist, human-sized chicken, friend, role model, and servant of Christ. Thank you so much to each of you who helped us with such joy. I am very proud of you all. Here is a brief summary video of the work, enjoy!

"How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings" - Jesus, Matthew 23:37

One Year Ago...

One year ago today, I went to a lawyer for an innocent consult. Wondering if as an unmarried foreigner, not yet a "national" of Bolivia, could I legally adopt a child? Less than an hour later I left his office nearly hyperventilating. Turns out I could, and I'd be a mom by Christmas. No nine months of gestation to get used to the idea, decorate her room, or finish off my single-person "bucket list." But fortunately, I don't have bucket lists, the room was pretty much ready, and I'm not very contemplative.

Today, as we spend our Saturday doing homework projects and rocking babies, I'm ruminating on all that I've learned this year. For instance:

- I had no idea that good hair comes straight from God, not from a bottle. Of all the hair product options out there, Angie doesn't use a single one of them and her mane is always gorgeous. I can barely get her to shower more than twice a week, but no matter, perfection can't be damaged by poor hygiene. She brushes it in the morning and I envy her all day long.

- In Bolivia parents have homework too. Literally. Ange comes home with projects that say, "Para Padre o Madre." Really, you want me to design a poster about the endangered giant frog of Lake Titicaca? Excuse me, why do I need to decorate this huge parrot and cheetah, again? I'm still not sure how they will punish me if I don't do my assignments, but I'm afraid only Angie will suffer, so I usually comply.

- A nine-year old could teach me so much. She's taught me how to cook rice the Bolivian way. All about head lice. That these chickens in the picture poked their own heads through the plastic on the roof of this car (I was baffled by how the owner had poked breathing holes in the tarp.) And how resilient a person can be after serious trauma, huge changes, and great challenges. She's a trooper.

- Finally, I've learned just how weak I was when I thought I was so strong. But I've come to believe as God told us that through Him all things are possible.

-Matthew 19:26

Baby Update

God is just as good as we thought He was, and even if her surgery hadn't gone so smoothly, we would trust that all the same.

I posted a status on Facebook about little Jackie's heart success, but I can barely keep up with my own Facebook page so I couldn't expect you all to.

One week ago this morning, Jackie's heart was healed, and through the long life of this miracle child we hope that many more hearts will also come to a place of healing in Christ Jesus.

She was abandoned by her mother at birth due to her cleft lip and palate, I'm note even sure if her heart condition was known at that time. Doctor after doctor told Paul and Kristin (the couple running the baby home) that this little "unwanted" child was not worth the tests, treatments, surgeries and care that her life would require. But they disagreed. They knew her value was found in her Father's eyes, not in the world's. Thus, they fought for her, and they're winning.

Since the surgery, her newly revamped circulatory system has been carrying oxygen to all of her tissues like Santa on Christmas Eve. Her color is visibly pinker. Her energy is up. Her strength is already improving. Her appetite's impressive. And the spirit of the baby home is almost giddy in spite of the sleepless nights and busy days caused by a week of keeping Baby J in isolation.

This morning she had her one-week re-check with the cardiologist, who was so impressed with her turnaround that she called in the mother of another potential heart surgery patient to calm her nerves by showing her how well Jackie was progressing. Her lungs are improving after building up a bit of congestion from lying still all the time after the surgery. A quick echocardiogram showed everything in its proper place. And the physical therapist turns out to be a Christian so he charged only a cup of coffee in return for his services.

Now if we can just get the idea that we're gonna adopt Jaqueline out of Angie's head, everything will be perfect... Thank you so much for your prayers!

(Photos: Top - Jackie one week post-op. Middle - the newest arrival to the baby home. Bottom - another adorable recent arrival.)

"God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart."

-1 Samuel 16:7 TM (just bumped into this verse this morning)

A Precious Little One in Need of Prayer

Judah Quy, Home for Precious Little Ones, is the baby home of my pastor and his wife. With only five children of their own they felt, as wouldn't we all, that they just didn't have enough chaos in their lives, or maybe more likely that they still had more love to give, and thus followed the Lord's call to open a home for sick babies. They opened their doors in February with the quick arrival of three precious little ones. Two adorable toddlers with HIV and one sweet baby with a complicated list of problems to be unravelled through months of medical care. The most troubling of her issues being a hole in her heart that had limited her to 6.6 pounds at one year of age when she arrived, and now after 9 months of hardcore love and care from the caregivers at the home she still weighs in at less than 9 pounds. She's grown in strength, personality, vitality, and length, but her little broken heart just can't do any better.

Here she is waving to you yesterday as she rested peacefully during a great party in her honor. The staff at the home and volunteers from the church put together a lovely fundraiser lunch to contribute to her medical bills.

And now after a long winding road of tests, treatments, growth, and healing little Jaqueline is ready for her surgery. The urinary infections have cleared up, the seizures are completely controlled, a number of dangerous syndromes have been ruled out, and complicating chest congestion as a side effect from her cleft lip and palate are nowhere to be found. She's ready. We're ready. The doctor's are ready. Tonight, she'll be admitted for her open heart surgery to be performed tomorrow morning. All that's left to do is pray.

Will you pray with us that little Jackie is healed? That her heart is mended by the hands that formed it in her mother's womb. That the physical hole will be perfectly sealed, just as the emptiness of abandonment has been filled with the love of so many. And pray that God will start speaking to the hearts of her future parents He chose long ago to choose her.

She has amazed her pediatrician with her physical improvement against all odds. She has awed us all with her sweet stubborn refusal to give up. She has shown everyone that love is a better medicine than any man has created. And now she will demonstrate God's mercy and power through her recovery. We trust that He has great plans for this little miracle.

"Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you"

-Jeremiah 1:5

Praise: Since the opening of the home 9 months ago, one of the little tykes with HIV has been adopted by an incredible missionary couple with an empty nest here in Santa Cruz. He's the cute little guy standing up in the car behind Angie and Jackie in the top picture. And two more precious little ones have arrived at the home to replace him. It doesn't look likely that there will ever be a quiet moment around there.

Dangly Earrings

When do you let your kids grow up? More specifically, when do you let your beautiful little girls start looking like gorgeous young women? Okay, what I really need to know is at what age do you let your daughters start wearing dangly earrings? If it were up to me of course, she'd still have the unpunctured ears God gave her, but she came to me pierced, and begging for earrings. So after 6 months I gave in and bought her some little stars for her birthday. But one pair of earrings only keeps one content for so long. So today at Cristo Viene Girls' Home's anniversary fair she just had to have some new ones, the problem was there wasn't a single pair of little studs, and dangly earrings just make her look all fancy and grown up, and I don't like it! But it was for a good cause, and everyone else gets their kids' ears pierced at 3 months old, so I caved.
I don't really identify with the moms who feel like time is flying by and it seems like just yesterday they were looking into their now toddler's little face for the first time. Ange and I have been together for nine months and it feels like about nine months. And I'm not too worried about her moving up into 3rd grade or having to buy her new used clothes like this skort we just got her on Thursday. I think what I am worried about is boys, and back-talking, and popularity, and vanity, and did I mention boys.

This week we were at a restaurant with a TV blaring music videos. Which interested Angie very much and made me very glad we don't have television and very empathetic toward my parents who didn't let us watch MTV growing up. After Beyonce's third nearly-naked video Angie asked, "Isn't she embarrassed to walk around like that?" Lord, please don't let her lose that modesty, please.

During her week of quarantine, other than replacing the clothes she's been outgrowing, she also learned a lot of English. We have two more months to practice before her English entrance exam into SCCLC, the English speaking missionary kid school, for next semester. So pray that we can keep improving as much as we did this week even though she starts class again tomorrow. As my director says, we don't want to let school get in the way of her education.

Quarantine

Nope, not a Rabies scare, however I think we have had a higher number of cases recently than we'd like to. And no, it's not to stop the spread of head lice that's been shared around here either. This quarantine is of the Swine Flu variety.

After two years of living here I still have no real access to news. As Angie tells me, we're the only ones in the country who live without television, the antenna's broken on our car radio, and if the newspaper writes on a third grade reading level, then third grade is over my head. So, I wait patiently for someone to call me when the university's cancelled for a strike or the kids are out of class for a parade, both of which have happened in the past 7 days.

But, from my inerrant sources, namely Facebook and word of mouth, I can tell you all the facts. There have been ~200 cases of H1N1 reported. The Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center closed last week for 3.5 days and the week before all the kids wore face masks to school. Another private school was reportedly closed for like 2 weeks. One of my students missed Bible study today because she was getting IV fluids. Ten Talita Cumi went straight from school to the doctor yesterday with suspected cases. Now there are 5 staff at the veterinary university with confirmed Gripe A (H1N1).

What does this mean for us... Well, basically it means that even though Angie woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and I prayed the whole way to school that hers would be the only school in the city that wasn't respecting the quarantine, God did not see fit to give us that needed separation. Instead He has decided that what we need is an intensive ten, count 'em 10, days joined at the hip. Yep, all the schools in the city are closed until the 10th of October. The university's up and running, except for the veterinary campus because of the five sick professors, but as far as I know our class schedules returns to normal on Monday.

I guess this is a good trial run for the quickly approaching summer break, where I'll have to learn how to occupy her 24 hours/day while juggling work and ministry. I'm not sure what she'll do for ten days, maybe I'll give her a new knitting project or maybe she'll perfect her surgical skills. But a few things are certain; she'll take lots of silly pictures like those seen here of our wait at the dentist today, she'll improve her English by leaps and bounds, and she'll probably grow out of some more clothes as she's been getting very good at recently.

She's getting big, and she's growing into quite a mature little señorita. It's pretty adorable.

(I take no responsibility for the accuracy of any of the data in this post.)

Parenting 101

I know it's possible to blog without including pictures, people do it all the time, right? I've even done it before, once or twice, but you probably won't remember those 'cause I'm pretty sure no one read them. It just makes me feel all exposed. My poor writing has nothing to hide behind. No cute little kiddos or puppies to distract you from the less than noteworthy event I'm capturing about my pretty normal life.

But I find myself left with no other choice. Well, except for the obvious alternative of not writing, but I prefer to face my fears head on. So, in spite of the fact that my camera broke Friday, and my back-up camera broke Saturday, and just to add insult to injury my Kindle also bit the dust, here I am. Do I have anything profound to say, no not really. Do I just like to hear myself talk, well I didn't think so, but it's looking more likely now isn't it?

So, what do we talk about when we don't have pictures of the recent Talita Cumi birthday party or the fundraiser dinner last Friday?

How 'bout parenting. Have you ever tried it? It's hard! Most of you know, the little Angel and I have had our fair share, plus maybe a few others' fair shares, of issues. She's got quite a history to work through and well, what do I know about parenting?!

A friend told me recently when they had their first little one a year ago, they started to read the books, but then got overwhelmed and decided to just do it by instinct. My instincts aren't so trustworthy. So, I've read Adopted For Life, The New Strong-Willed Child, The Post-Adoption Blues, Loving Your Kids on Purpose, Parenting The Internationally Adopted Child, Bossypants (Tina Fey's book which I found on a parenting website, however turns out to not be about parenting, but totally worth the read), etc. I'm listening to an audio series called the Total Transformation. I'm meeting with a counselor regularly. We have a weekly motivational behavior chart. We moved bedtime up half an hour...

So, what is the outcome of these gazillion ideas and messages (often contradicting each other) bombarding me all at once? That my head explodes, yes. But also that we had a "perfect" week. It was our second almost-tantrumless week in the four and a half months we've been charting. And of course, we're going to the movies!!

Like everyone else you probably want to know what's making the difference. But to really be able to identify the cause we'd only be able to make one change a week to isolate all the variables, and I'm just too impatient for that. So, we'll just be grateful for our great week and try to keep up whatever we're doing right!

Thank you all for your prayers, they're an essential contributing factor that we couldn't do without.

Roommates

I'll admit I've not always been my car's #1 fan. It's probably safe to say that most men are bigger fans of my gigantic, rugged, hardy old Landcruiser than I am. But she's grown on me over the year and a half we've been together toting countless people to countless places. And just this week I was thinking about how well she fits with the verse I try to live by, Proverbs 3:27, "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it." With a car that supposedly seats 10, but actually seats somewhere around 20, in a country where seat belts are a thing of the past, or maybe the future, I can't remember the last time when we (the Landcruiser and I) have had to turn anyone away for a ride because there wasn't room. This weekend alone she transported 9 people and a dog to our vet student project at Cristo Viene, 15 people home from church, and 9 people and that same silly dog to the sand dunes.

One thing that I'm coming to understand about that verse is that it doesn't work quite the same now that I'm a mother. Whereas, before it basically meant rarely saying "no" to anyone with a request, now I have to weigh the benefit to the person in need over the potential burden it adds to Ange. I've yet to perfect this saying "no" concept, so I often add undue stress to Angie's schedule, but I'm working on it. So, you can likely guess what the outcome was when two of our dear friends from church found themselves between housing for a month or two (a situation we can empathize well with from as recently as April), while their next place is being built; two new roommates of course!

Rosenda and Silda, two sweet sisters from a family of ten kids, moved in with us about a week ago. So far we couldn't have asked for easier tenants. Silda works at Talita Cumi and was one of Angie's beloved tias (aunties) when she lived there. I'm sure Angie also doesn't mind that they're our first house guests whose mother tongue is Spanish. And if I can ever remember what adults do when their little ones aren't around, we'll be ready with a couple of live-in babysitters.

That Exciting Angie Episode I Promised

Here's that latest installment for the Angelica Addicts, i.e. Mom and Dad. Her second grade class participated in an English Festival, where they put on a production of Kung Fu Panda, in which Ange played the leading role in the dance number, leading role meaning she's in the middle, since the footage leaves something to be desired.

The estrellita (little star).

Writer's Block

So, I know no one, except maybe Mom, is waiting for my next blog post, but I do feel bad when I'm way overdue. It's not that nothing's been happening, it's more that a lot's been happening. The president of Compassion International was a missionary kid and he said the best missionaries always have the hardest time getting their prayer letters turned in. Which might subconsciously make me a bit hesitant about trying to write well, or regularly. Plus, I know as a reading audience, you really just want more stories about sweet little Ange, and there just hasn't been anything to tell except that she won a little race in school, and her grades went up enough in the second trimester to warrant a trip to the movies. We went to see Los Pitufos, anyone wanna guess what that translates to in English?

In between exciting Angie episodes I thought I'd tide you over with a few photo-stories of a project we're working on with the vet students. I think I'd rather tell you the whole story when we're finished, but this should whet your appetites.

Let's just say it's a project where they're letting me lay bricks,

Angie mix cement,

and our VetRed students are pretty much in charge.

Scary, huh?

Can't wait to tell you all about it, but in the meantime, better get back to working instead of just talking about working. ;)

Is it Weird to Love Your Office?

This morning, I said goodbye to two of the first fruits of our new office. For the past month I've been tutoring two cousins of one of the doctors that works in the veterinary hospital where our campus ministry office is located. They've been visiting from Spain on their summer break, and asked if I could help them with some English. They were sweet sweet kids, and I really enjoyed our hour together every day, where I tried to remember my British English and Spain Spanish. Sometimes just before I would correct them for some English error, I would realize,"ah, maybe that is how they say it in England." Today, as we enjoyed the Coke and salteñas they brought to thank me one asked, which is better English from the US or from Britain? I'll leave my answer to your imaginations.

Everyday, as I sit in the office between classes grading papers or planning lessons, random students and professors drop in. Sometimes to ask about our ministry, to find out when our Bible studies will be, to ask about the English class schedule, to fill time between classes reading The Daily Bread in Spanish, or my favorite -- two professors stopped in to ask for a couple Spanish New Testaments because they'd seen someone on campus reading one and asked where she'd gotten it.

And sometimes just to hangout. I met a student who's husband is a youth pastor at their church and she has a 6 year old daughter who I hope will someday be friends with Angie. My three lovely Bible study girls come by to visit and relax on the couch when they have breaks between classes. This afternoon Paola, my good friend and colleague at the university, stopped in to chat about our families on her way home to hers.

This Friday we hope to bring them all together to decide what material we'll dig into this semester, what hours work best for everyone, and start planning our chicken coop service project. I love the excitement of the beginning of the semester. And I love this new office!

VetRed Open House (does not translate well)

So VetRed's got this lovely new office on the veterinary campus, and we wanted to share it with everyone, so I thought we should have an open house. The new semester just began last week, so there were lots of fresh faces and the always reliable new-semester-enthusiasm, so all we needed to add was food.

One of the women in my church small group makes wonderful cuñape, empanadas and other such treats, so I thought I'd hire her to bake for our little inauguration. Turns out she'd had a cancellation just that day so not only was she available, but she'd been praying for God to replace that needed income. God's pretty cool that way. And as you can see above, David didn't mind a bit that we used his desk for all the delicious-ness.

We had quite a few old friends and new visitors stop by to see our new digs and learn about what we've got coming up. Such as Bible studies, English classes, surgical and practical training, visitors (like our veterinary guest, Mike Joyce, down from Iowa who taught orthopedics here last week and left for a few days with VetRed in Paraguay this afternoon), and chicken service projects (more details surely to follow in future posts.)

The only problem with our little open house, was that it was possibly Bolivia's first open house ever, thus no one quite understood the concept of stopping by for a tour, a snack, and a few pleasantries. Instead they settled into our cozy couch and waited for the formal program to begin, uh... So, we took advantage of our captive audience and got to know them a bit better, learn about their class schedules this season, their interests, and shared the ever-entertaining Evangecubes. Someday I'll have all these cultural differences figured out. Who'm I kidding, that'll never happen!