Christmas in Colorado

I'm often asked what I've missed about the US while I've been away, and my answer sometimes includes Krispy Kreme doughnuts or snow, but it's usually no longer an answer than simply; "the people". Few things could have kept me from Mosaic's first ever Christmas Eve service, but these adorable -- I wouldn't dare call them that to their faces, they're way too much like teenagers for that kind of description -- cousins, and everyone else in attendance at the Scott Christmas, made an excellent substitute for my church family.

As many as 16 of us, at any one time, cozied into the two bathroom house for four days of games, amazing food, presents, overdue chats, pictures of Angelica, and good old family fun. We ventured out for hikes, skiing/snowboarding, hot springs, a little last minute shopping, and visits to my grandfather in the local hospital with an untimely case of pneumonia. But God was so sweet to allow him to be discharged to us on Christmas Eve. In his usual selflessness, he was worried about keeping everyone up all night coughing, but I'm sure everybody would agree, that each peep out of him was just a welcomed reminder that he was home with us for Christmas.

When I left the US and my family almost a year and a half ago, my three cousins, who'd all been pretty much perfect since birth, were starting to blow me away with their talent, thoughtfulness, and exuberance, it was a difficult goodbye. A couple months after I left, Rachel--the youngest--was gifted a stuffed horse and a little girl doll for her 7th birthday. She named the horse "Bolivia" and the girl "Lauren". This visit I had the honor of meeting "Lauren" and "Bolivia", and I fantasized about the days when Ange will get to play with this fabulous trio, who calls me "Willis" for no apparent reason, but is nearly impossible to leave nonetheless. Now the question is; will all 15 of those in attendance at the Scott family Christmas be buying tickets down to South America to meet the newest member of their clan, or will we be sneaking home sometime in the next year or so for the long-anticipated introductions...

Either way, we'll be together and that's all that really matters.

First Leg of the Perfect Trip

I guess if you don’t have culture shock on arrival in a new country, it’s unlikely you’ll have reverse culture shock on the return, but I had no idea it’d be this easy to transition back into the American Dream. And by the American Dream I mean, of course, wearing other people’s winter clothes, sleeping in their beds, eating their food, and playing with their babies, who’ve grown up so much in a year and a half!

On Saturday, my first day back in the States, after the shocking realization that everyone’s really tall here, I had a fabulous day in DC. Snow covered parks, buildings lit with Christmas lights, and leafless trees (never thought I would think that was beautiful) set the backdrop for a sweet lunch and reunion with my mom’s best friend from college, Carolyn, and dinner with my best friend from high school, Amanda. It was a day of nostalgia, Rollerderby, and my re-introduction to amazing American food.

Sunday, was an awesome reunion with my Mosaic family. Where they, as usual, blessed my socks off with their love, encouragement, generosity, and hugs. Which continued into a perfect three days of visits, lunches, dinners, game night, and long missed conversations with people I so respect, depend on, and miss...

If I didn't have such great friends and family to move on to in Colorado and Kentucky, it would have been impossible to leave. And I can't stop thinking if I didn't have Angelica to return to in Bolivia, it'd be awfully hard to give all this wonderfulness up yet again.

I’ve been terribly worried about my avid blog followers (who probably only exist in my imagination) who’ve been desperately awaiting their weekly update, but it turns out Colorado’s worse than a third world country in its internet access...

Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas to you all! Hope yours is snow covered like mine, now I'm off to hit the slopes...

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift!" -2 Corinthians 9:15

Advent Attitude

[When we talk about December, how many people think? "Sigh, the most relaxing time of the year." "Ah yes, this free open space, this month out of the twelve, where I just feel the calm." For many people December is just, "Oh my word, let's just get through it." To which I think Jesus would say, "Oh, well done, that's what I had in mind."]

This sarcastic last line to a point Rob Bell was making recently really struck me. I LOVE Christmas; the lights, the giving, the sweets, the parties, the family! And fortunately, I kind of thrive on being busy, but in the busyness do I sometimes lose sight of the meaning of advent? Yes.

Strangely here, the activities are not all Christmas related, and none of them involve snow, but somehow this season is just as busy this side of the equator as it was nearer the North pole.

Between an end-of-school teacher's barbecue,

the semi-annual yard-sale,

our church moving into our very own building for the first time,

Talita Cumi's quarterly birthday party,

hosting a going-away party for our World Concern national director,

and having everyone over for our VetRed year-end/Christmas party,

I stayed fairly busy this weekend.

Did I mention that I also had 3 out of town guests visiting? So, I may not have cancelled all activities to focus on the Advent, but during all of this running around I don't think my blood pressure's risen once, because I've taken Rob Bell's covenant, as I recommend you do as well:

"I, hereby, do solemnly swear to not lose the plot this Christmas season. I will not worry, complain or stress over gift-giving, traffic, parties, spiked eggnog, or generally annoying busyness. In the spirit of advent I will slow down, be still, awake and aware of the divine mystery that looks so common and so ordinary, yet is wondrously present..."

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." -Matthew 1:21

My Christmas Angel

Disclaimer: If you haven't read my December electronic prayer letter, you might wanna start there.

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it.”-Proverbs 3:27

“If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” -Isaiah 58:10

“...If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” -1 John 3:17

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” -James 1:27

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” -James 1:22

Many of you know the first three verses have guided my life and decisions for years. And now I’ve followed them into the idea of starting a family. It wasn’t a hard decision as you’ll learn once you meet Angelica. If I hadn’t been so quick I surely would have missed my chance as others would have scooped her up right away.

She sings in a little choir, plays the flute, loves to make jewlery and art, and learns tasks with lightning speed. But don’t worry we do have some things in common too. She’s full of energy and always up for any chance to run or play sports. She’s adventurous and curious and only afraid of the really important things like snakes and large scary birds. She’s the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, and will be teaching me math in no time. She’s always patiently taking care of the younger or weaker around her, including me. Her smile rocks my world, and as one friend put it, when she walks into a room she brings peace. She loves Jesus.

But even with all this in her favor I did not choose her as it would appear. I met her on Christmas Eve at Talita Cumi. In April I asked them which children still needed sponsors,but then couldn’t decide between the two that were left, so I took them both. My other precious child turns 17 tomorrow and also has a brother and sister in the home. In September, I learned that Angelica was becoming adoptable and God immediately started to speak to my heart, basically whispering “why wait for someone else to love her, I’m asking you.” And thus begins our story. I hope you’ll stay with us to hear the rest as it unfolds...

Thanksgiving Tacos

I know, I know, Thanksgiving and tacos don't have a single overlapping ingredient, but neither do Thanksgiving and Bolivia, well except maybe a few displaced gringos. Last week five of us displaced North Americans ventured to Cochabamba to join with other pilgrims in celebrating all that we have to be thankful for with overpriced turkey and all the traditional fixings that we either had brought down from the US or overpaid for here.

However, while I was indulging in my favorite food of the year with some of my favorite people, one friend in particular was avoiding all normal Thanksgiving foods like the plague. My dear friend Savannah accompanied by her sister Alison, who was surprise visiting from the US, went out for barbeque chicken wraps followed by movie theater popcorn to avoid the customary feast. I don't think we'd ever been seen in dresses together outside of church so after our late night viewing of HP7 we had a guard document the occasion with a photo. The next night, after visiting all the old Cochabamba hotspots, we made Thanksgiving tacos with our beloved language school director, Mauge. Don't worry we had pumpkin bread and apple pie to make it truly Thanksgiving-y.

I'm also so thankful for the Wolheters with whom we cooked, ate, played Settlers, and hiked to a "waterfall." Their boys are growing up way too fast! I'm thankful for my traveling companions Taylor and the Janeckes who made our Thanksgiving trip into the type of family-vacation that makes it nearly impossible to miss a "normal" Turkey Day. And so thankful for Skype that makes it impossible to miss my "real" family. But as life-like as Skype is, it has nothing to compare with the long awaited hugs I'll be sharing with so many of you that I'm thankful for in 2.5 weeks!

"Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." - Colossians 2:7 NLT

A Weekend of Talita Cumi Fun

So, I know I talk about Talita Cumi a lot, but I really can't help it, for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. -Matthew 12:34. This time I thought I'd show you, more than tell you, how I got to see the kids from TC every day this weekend, and tonight I'm going back to Skype them to their Auntie Kim who's currently studying in Canada, while we impatiently await her return!

Friday, was the kids' last day of school before their summer break, so they had a little fair of sorts. They loved having a visitor to show their classrooms and projects to, even if it was someone as old and uncool as myself.

Saturday, five of the teenagers were baptized in my friends' pool.

Among the five, were Cesar and one of his sisters, my sweet Jenny.

I'm so proud of the gentle, nurturing, beautiful young woman she's becoming.

And then Sunday, because I just couldn't get that fabulous pool from the baptisms out of my mind, I hauled all sixteen girls back for an afternoon of jumping, sliding, swimming and squealing at the Adjei's lovely home.

I'm not sure how I'll survive two weeks in the US without them...

Girl Time

Over the weekend I got to spend some time with some lovely ladies. On Friday, I invited the women from our growing vet school ministry over for our second viewing of H2O. The first night a week ago was such a success that they immediately wanted to make copies of the videos, which I took as a sign of their approval, but was not so sure about City On A Hill's approval. I jokingly shared with Kyle Idleman their interesting manner of demonstrating their appreciation; which is sometimes also referred to as "stealing". And was shocked to find that he was all for it! In a country where EVERYTHING is pirated, I wonder if they've ever once had permission from the producer. Unprecedented! Now the goal is to keep getting the ladies together to fellowship and study, even though they won't need me and my originals anymore. New cupcake recipes should do the trick...

Then on Saturday we had a birthday party for some of the girls with b-days in this season. The party was specifically for Adreana who turned the big 3-0 on Friday, but the little crowns came 4-to-a-pack, so we were able to extend the celebration to some Sept-Dec birthday girls as well. There was one poor (or lucky) guy at our fiesta, and one husband who stopped by briefly, but for the most part it was, as many of our reunions are, estrogen only. And that's increasingly just fine with me.

As much as I really am enjoying my time with the ladies of my different circles, none of them have proven particularly helpful in my ongoing car fun. At least not nearly as useful as some of the men who've gone out of their way to ease my frustrations. I especially wanted to give credit and thanks to Bill Janecke without whom I'd be even better friends with the tow truck driver. For a guy, Bill is pretty cool!