Making spirits bright...

Wednesday, Christmas Eve Day was somewhat of a continuation of what we had started the day before but my goodness, what an amazing day we had! That morning, we loaded up the car with the food bags we had made the night before…they were huge and they were heavy. Alongside the food bags, were wrapped gifts which Jim and I had been purchasing for several weeks prior to that day, fruit baskets, and cookie tins...we had more families to bless!

Tom, Nora, Jim and I drove over to the middle of Managua to meet with Miguel for one of his twice weekly language lessons. I had told him the week before we had friends from the States who would be coming to the lesson with us. I had also told him we would take him home that day from his lesson. He wasn’t sure why we wanted to do this but he was very happy to not have to ride for an hour on a hot, crowded, smelly bus so he didn’t question us too much about it.

That morning, Miguel demonstrated his English skills by reading a child’s book out loud to Tom and Nora. He obviously had been practicing all weekend in anticipation of their visit. After a bit of coaxing, he then entered in to a conversation with his new American friends. He would constantly look at me for reassurance of his pronunciation, translation help and periodical pleas to Tom and Nora to speak more slowly. I completely understood how he was feeling…that’s how we now live every day here. He did great! I was so proud of him, I thought I was going to burst! And when Tom and Nora praised his efforts, Miguel beamed.

He also entertained us with his singing and his playing the church’s electric keyboard. He is self-taught, playing by ear. He sang several Nicaraguan songs and then had us join him in singing Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord and Jingle Bells…both songs he had requested Jim and I teach him earlier. We’re assuming that our off-key attempts at singing fell under the heading of Making a Joyful Noise…

When our lesson time had ended and it was time for us to go, Miguel couldn’t find the keys to lock up the church. He finally admitted he was so nervous to speak in front of the Americans (I wonder what he considers us???) that he couldn’t remember where he had left them. Thankfully, Jim finally found them in the door of one of the Sunday school rooms.

We stopped at Pizza Hut for lunch…a first for Miguel. He had never been to one before and although very impressed by the restaurant itself, he asked the waitress to change the loud, hard driving beat of the Latin music that was playing to “classical music” for his American friends. I realized what he was doing and tried to stop the waitress but evidently, Miguel’s authoritative tone surpassed my butchered Spanish because it wasn’t long until we were dining to Beatle songs…I’m sure Beethoven did roll over with that being classified as “classical music”!

After lunch, we headed to Tipitapa, the community east of Managua where Miguel lives with his family. You can read about his home in a blog I just recently wrote. Upon our arrival at Miguel’s house, his family all came to the door to see what the hoopla was about. We began unloading gifts that I had already purchased and wrapped, along with the giant food sack…gifts and food that many of you have so generously purchased through us. Miguel stood there, speechless. The children’s eyes never left the packages and Elizabeth literally shook with excitement.

Miguel’s mother quickly invited us all inside with one of her daughters mopping the floor before us. As we passed through the house to go out back to sit, I gave Miguel’s mother one of the fruit baskets. I was immediately thanked profusely and given a generous hug and firmly planted kiss. I was beginning to understand just what a treat these simple fruit baskets were…that not only helped justify the cost of them but also helped me to be extremely thankful we had thought to use those as “household” gifts.

We had a package for Kenet, a small Hot Wheels race car track and car and for Liseta, a large, stuffed doll. In this culture, gifts aren’t opened in front of the one who has given the gift. So, we didn’t get to see their faces but we knew they would be happy with new toys of their own. We also had Barbie dolls for Miguel to give to his girls. The other packages were for Miguel and Elizabeth.

Miguel proudly showed Tom and Nora the pelibuey (described with a picture two blogs ago) while Elizabeth quickly pulled me in to her house. Once again her hands were ice cold and she was shaking. I asked her if she was again nervous and she told me she was very excited about all the presents. I had a special “girly” gift of bath soap and body lotion, just for her and she would pick it up and hold it to her ear as she would shake it. I told her to go ahead and open it but she didn’t want to then. She wanted to wait until midnight at their special meal to open their gifts. The wrapped packages added a wonderful festive air to the congested little space and Elizabeth couldn’t take her eyes off of them.

A quick background explanation…a few weeks back, during one of our English lessons, we had the word “dream”. In trying to define the various ways it could be used, I made a chart with two columns in it – one with Jim’s name heading it up and one with Miguel’s. I then asked them to give me two examples of what they would like for Christmas…the first example of something they were pretty sure they would get and the other, something they knew that only a miracle would make happen. I explained to Miguel that was “dreaming”…imagining what something would be like as if it were real. That actually was a fun exercise and served its purpose in defining an abstract concept.

Jim’s Christmas “dream” was for us to spend Christmas with our grandchildren…my eyes teared up with that one. Miguel’s dream was for a “cocina”. When he said that, I had to stop to ask him what he meant as that word in general, means “kitchen”. He explained that a stove top (with only the burners and no oven) is also called a “cocina” and that he and Elizabeth would love to have one of their own so they didn’t have to depend on his mother and sisters for their meals…the outdoor “kitchen” belongs to his mother.

I told him that was a wonderful dream and that it was an important one, as well. I explained that it had to be difficult for both Elizabeth and his mother to share a “kitchen” with the circumstances as they are. He said that there were problems because of that. I told him that all women want to be the head of their own kitchen. He said that when they married, Elizabeth thought she would have her own kitchen but that it hadn’t worked out that way. The seed was planted as to what we might get Miguel and Elizabeth for Christmas…we were going to give a “dream” gift!

Back to Christmas Eve day…Elizabeth hugged me as I explained which gifts were whose. She had me tell her again and again who each present was for and each time I would mention her name and Miguel’s, she would just light up. She was beside herself. It was truly like watching a child tremble with anticipation. It wasn’t that she had an abundance of gifts that brought such joy…it was that she had gifts period. I think I was every bit as excited as she was…maybe more so because I knew what was wrapped in the gold and red papers.

We had found a “cocina” stove top at a very reasonable price for them. Then, I realized they didn’t have any pans of their own to use on the stove. So, naturally, I had to buy two pans that would function to fix chicken or tortillas, rice or beans. But, they were nonstick pans and I knew they wouldn’t have the utensils to cook with…found those at the grocery store in a set of six utensils. But, hmmm….what would they eat on? We had discovered when we had recently visited them that Miguel and Elizabeth had only a few small chipped bowls which they had purchased at the market shortly after they were married. So, guess what I found on sale at a “dollar” type store? Yep! A set of dishes with a very pretty floral pattern. But could they be expected to eat with their fingers? Absolutely not! That’s why we just had to find some tableware and we most certainly did…nothing of extremely great quality but serviceable, at least for awhile. Have I mentioned that I think I have the spiritual gift of shopping???

I knew they would appreciate the gifts and I knew they were things they needed, so it was great fun to find the items and to find them at such reasonable prices. I don’t think Elizabeth’s quivering had anything on my own! I wished I could have been there to have seen their expressions of a dream coming true right before their eyes. I really believe it was one of the best gifts I’ve ever given in all my Christmases.

We all decided it was time for us to go and we got lots of hugs and thank-yous for the yet unopened gifts. Miguel told us at the gate, with tears in his eyes, that it was the best Christmas he had ever had and it was because of his “American friends”. We reminded him God blesses us to bless others…I know Miguel and Elizabeth’s smiles were our blessing that day!

On the way back in to Managua, we stopped by Pastor Sergio’s house…the pastor who is starting the church plant in Rio Blanco. He and his wife were out but his boys were home. I gave them a tin of cookies and a fruit basket and they promised excitedly, that they would give them to their parents upon their return. They thanked us and wished us a Merry Christmas and God’s blessings.

We then headed out to our next stop – Margarita’s. I had already given Margarita her packages the day before as she had seen them under the tree. She received bath powder and lotion, her husband was given a multipurpose pocket knife and her ten-year old son, Freddy, received a small car track, several small cars and a small lego-type vehicle to put together. She was so excited…again, a family that never has exchanged gifts, was overcome with joy at the unexpected blessings they were receiving. She was totally taken by surprise when I called her on our cell phone and asked her to meet us at the road as we had another gift for her.

She was at her mother’s house in a little community close to hers and as we sat waiting in the car for her to appear, we all discussed what it’s like to live as the people in the country here live. Dirt floors are common, no refrigeration, open air fires. A life much different than Cassville. About that time, I saw Freddy, Margarita’s boy, ride up on his bicycle. He grinned and waved and I asked him where his mother was. He pointed down the road. Sure enough, we first saw two dogs loping down the side of the road and then a skinny horse pulling a handmade flat wagon loaded down with women…one of them waving excitedly. It was Margarita.

As Jim opened the back of the car, I asked Freddy if he was strong. He assured me he was. I then asked him to show me his muscle…and like all boys, both big and small, he proudly pulled up his shirt sleeve, flexed his arm and pointed to a neatly formed little mound on his skinny little arm. I smiled, handed him the fruit basket, watched his eyes grow large as he counted the apples in it and then told Margarita that we had a food bag but that it was heavy. She hollered for one of the young teenage girls in the campo area to come and get the bag. We told her it was too heavy and Jim could carry it for her. She grinned as she took it from him and swung it easily to the young girl. The bags had to easily weigh 50 pounds or more…they seemed light to women who do such hard physical labor both day in and day out. Margarita, who is often very serious, was almost giddy when she felt the weight of the bag. It was good for another hug and a very joyous wish for us to have a blessed Christmas Eve. We already were!

On our way to our last stop for the day, our cell phone rang. It was Pastor Sergio. He was so excited and was talking a mile a minute. Finally, he realized I couldn’t understand him with him talking so fast and so he slowed down enough that I understood that he and his family were thrilled with the gift of the fruit basket and cookies. He literally was laughing with joy…and so was I. We wished one another a Merry Christmas and we continued on our way to our final stop which would be our gardener, Freddy’s house.

Again, we had already sent gifts home earlier in the day with him. We had wrapped up another bath and lotion set to give to Mary, Freddy’s wife, a small tool set for Freddy and for 2 year old Gabriel, a pair of shorts and matching shirt with the Cars characters, a truck and car set made for toddlers, and a children’s cup, plate and bowl set with silverware all in a fish shape. When we pulled up in front of Freddy’s house, we asked several men standing outside if he was home. Someone hollered at him and he came out with a worried look on his face. When we told him we had gifts for his family, he looked stunned…we had already given him gifts he hadn’t expected…how could there be more? Once again, the fruit basket was treated as a prized possession.

Freddy gingerly carried it in one hand and effortlessly took the heavy feed bag filled with food from Jim in his other. He thanked us repeatedly and a crowd gathered on the porch of his house as he carried his bounty inside.

We were through. It had been a full day and it was almost dark! We decided to go out to eat at a favorite “fast food” place before going home for the day. One of the young men who works there has been so good to us ever since we first started going there with Susanna before we moved here. He knows a little English but not much and is very encouraging with us as he knows we’re studying Spanish. He always shakes Jim’s hand when we go in and although he wasn’t our waiter that night, he made the effort to come to our table to say hello and to greet Tom and Nora. After we had eaten and paid our bill, as we were getting ready to leave, Jim found him and gave him a little Christmas cash…he was thrilled. And so were we.

I don’t remember ever having so much fun at Christmas before, honestly, not even when buying for my own children or grandchildren. Because of the generosity of others, we were able to make dreams come true, bring surprised smiles of delight to the faces of some precious children, postpone the daily worry of food for a few weeks for three families, spread unexpected joy through the giving of fruit baskets and cookie tins and help ease the burden a missionary couple carries in meeting the food needs for a house full of orphaned and neglected children. Thank you for blessing us so richly our first Christmas in Nicaragua! We pray God multiplies those blessings back to you.

Exercising one of my spiritual gifts...

We had been wondering how it was going to be for us this year, spending Christmas away from our families. Every day is “hard” in that respect…we miss our loved ones so much. Thanks to some friends, Tom and Nora Young, from Cassville, Mo. who came to spend Christmas week with us, it was much better than we had anticipated. They brought 4 action packers filled with things from home, many of which we had requested. We unpacked everything from lamps to pecans, taco seasoning to chip clips, tools to earrings, anMP3 player to bug spray, chocolates to reading glasses. But of all the wonderful things we received, requested and unexpected, for ourselves and for others, in our minds, the most cherished were notes from our grandchildren and their pictures. Those are treasured possessions these days.

I want to tell about Christmas with Tom and Nora. They unselfishly gave up Christmas with their own families in order to come be with us. We let them rest their first day here (Monday, the 22nd), but from that point on, we drug them all over Managua and three directions outside of it!

Tuesday was a full day for all of us. We started out by going to the Children’s Center to bless them with some Christmas cash. Normally, we take diapers and wipes there every month but after speaking a few weeks ago with Chris and Tim Bagwell, who operate the New Life Nutrition Center and Orphanage; we opted to give cash this month to help with food costs. They are always so appreciative of anything we do but this month, there seemed to be an even greater appreciation expressed. The downturn in the economy in the U.S. hits everyone hard, including those who are serving on the field as independent missionaries. Because the children were getting ready for their Christmas piñata and party, we gave Tom and Nora a quick tour of the facility, grabbed a few hugs from some of the little ones and left to get on with our day.

We had to stop at Mario’s, our money changer, on the way in to Managua and after completing our transaction, we blessed him with a large tin of cookies imported from the U.S. His smile was the brightest I’ve seen it and he had to shake Jim’s hand as we wished him a Merry Christmas. We repeated the same gesture with the young girl who stands on the street selling papers. We have been buying papers from her almost daily for about six months now. She always is very cordial but is quite business-like, wanting only to sell her paper and not interested in talking. After all, you can’t make commission on conversation. When Jim handed her the tin of cookies along with the 5 cordobas for the paper, it was déjà vu. We saw on her face, the same look of surprise quickly followed by unabashed joy that we had seen on Mario’s. This was far better than fighting the crowds at the malls!

Most of the rest of the day was spent shopping…I told Tom and Nora that I thought that must be my spiritual gift! (I hope you know I'm saying that tongue in cheek!) But we weren’t buying for us or even for each other. We were busy buying our items to make our food bags. Thanks to their generosity, we were able to purchase even more items than we had originally planned and I was so excited, I thought I would explode!

We stopped for lunch in the early afternoon at one of our favorite little places to eat, Dona Blanca’s, which is a little street-side open air restaurant. Jim and I try to go there once every week or so as a treat to ourselves and to help support Dona Blanca and her waitresses. Our lunches are always more than we can eat and it costs less than $5 including a bottle of pop for each of us. We had a two-fold purpose for going: to eat a really tasty lunch but also to drop off another tin of cookies and a fruit basket of apples and grapes, “luxury” fruits for the holidays. Dona Blanca was so excited that I got a kiss and a hug! She proudly displayed them on a table and then told us that no one had ever given her such a wonderful treat before! She was so excited. After stuffing ourselves, getting more hugs and kisses, we got ready to leave.

There is a crippled man who unofficially guards the cars parked on the street in front of Dona Blanca’ s for 5-10 cords (25-50 cents). Some folks pay him, some don’t. We do. He has come to know us and always greets us when we arrive…I didn’t think to bring him a cookie tin that day, but as we were leaving, Jim gave him 50 cords and wished him a Merry Christmas. I didn’t even know that man could smile but I know it now! He actually made it to Jim’s door before Jim did and opened it up for him, thanking him all the way. As I said, I love Christmas!

We finished up our food shopping in the afternoon and made it home before dark. We assembled the food bags for delivery for the next day and spent the evening on the porch, rocking, laughing, rehashing the day and catching up on news from home. We turned on the Christmas lights on our Charlie Brown tree and as I sat and stared at some of the ornaments I had brought from home and just how special they are to me, I also thought about the wondrous love of God. He loves us so much…I thought about how He works in our lives, day in and day out, how He guides us, how He uses us to bless others and how He uses them to bless us. I thought about what this season really is about.

I wondered how I would have felt if the Bagwells, Mario, the paper girl, Dona Blanca or the crippled man would have turned their backs on our gifts of cookies, fruit, and cash to them? They were such simple, temporal gifts but nevertheless, a rejection would have hurt. But they didn’t…they received them with joy and pure delight. Isn’t that how we should receive the most precious gift of all, the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ? In order for this to truly be a season of giving, I think there has to be the receiving. I pray each and every one of you have received the gift of salvation and if you’ve not yet done so, there’s not a better time to receive that gift than now…the best present you’ll ever receive.

We went to bed tired that night, but also with such a great sense of anticipation…after all, the next day was Christmas Eve day! Could it get any better?

Visiting Miguel...

Sorry I’m just now getting around to writing about our visit with Miguel…although our first visit was over two weeks ago, I still want to share it with you. I wish you could have been with us. Miguel lives in Tipitapa which is about 20 miles east of Managua. Normally, he is off on Mondays, but instead of giving us directions, he rode the bus an hour to meet us at the church in Managua where we have his English lessons. He wanted to ride with us back to Tipitapa to ensure we wouldn’t get lost. When we pulled up in front of the church, I almost didn’t recognize him standing on the curb. He was dressed in his best clothes and was waiting for us.

The Friday before we were to meet with him, we had discussed what the plan would be for that Monday. He said his mother would fix us lunch. I asked him what I could bring. That offer, which is typical for women in the U.S. would become a source of confusion that lasted longer than the conversation. Miguel didn’t understand what I meant and I tried to explain. I asked if he wanted me to make a dessert, bring a vegetable or help with the meat. He still didn’t seem to understand. Finally, I told him not to worry about it and that I would think of something. I was satisfied and so was he. Later I was to find out that neither of us had been communicating clearly with the other.

We enjoyed our conversation on the way to Tipitapa, with Miguel pointing out sites which were unfamiliar to us. As we turned down the street to his house, Miguel, very excitedly and quite suddenly asked us to stop the car. We thought we must have passed his house and I was a little baffled as to why he was trying desperately to open his car door. Jim unlocked the doors and Miguel jumped out. A little girl who was walking towards us, recognized Miguel and began running as fast as she could in such a short span. He held open his arms and she jumped up in to them, hugging him tightly around the neck. It was his youngest daughter (Sara, age 8) who lives with her sister and their mother. The joy of the two seeing one another was really very touching and it was easy to see she loved her daddy dearly and he, her.

She got in the car with Miguel and he introduced us and then we proceeded on a few blocks further to his mother’s house. It was obviously well taken care of and the front of it had been painted in the not too distant past. The fence was in good shape and the walkway cleaned. Upon our arrival, Miguel’s wife, Elizabeth came around the corner of the house. She smiled shyly at us and greeted me with a hug and a kiss…a very typical greeting. I had made chocolate cookies and cherry bars and was carrying them with me. Miguel took them from me and handed them to Elizabeth who then took them around to the back of the house.

We walked around the corner and Miguel showed us their flowers and three birds (pigeons) that he was raising. Elizabeth was back at my side, stroking my arm, and resting her head on my shoulder. She seemed like a completely different person than the one I had met several months earlier. She was still shy but obviously wanted to be close. I put my arm around her and she seemed to snuggle in. The picture is all of us with Miguel's daughter, Sara.

As we got to the back of the house, Miguel’s mother appeared. He introduced us and she welcomed us to her home. We then met one of his sisters and her two children, Liseta (age 4)and Kenet (age 9), who has lymphoma. They are such cute kids and we had a ball playing with them. It wasn’t too long before another sister appeared and another niece…then a nephew and a third sister. Evidently, it was big news that we were there.

We also were introduced to the family’s two pelibueys…an animal that is said to be a cross between a goat and a sheep. They are also called haired sheep, meaning they don’t have wool but a coat of hair instead. We were told that the male one would soon become dinner. I think his demise is actually planned for tonight, New Year’s Eve. I’ve tried to talk Miguel out of doing in the pelibuey but I don’t know that I’ve been successful. I think if I would have had more time, I could have at least been sporting a “Save the Pelibuey” t-shirt but there’s no time for that…at least not now. The poor thing thinks he’s being treated very well. He doesn’t know they’re just trying to fatten him up for the kill!

Miguel’s family had plastic chairs set out for us and we sat down to visit…a bit of a challenge for us all. Miguel, who is just starting to learn English and we, who are just learning Spanish, actually communicate pretty well with one another but every time one of the relatives would begin to talk to us, we would struggle to understand them and Miguel would try his best to translate. I think it was as exhausting for him as it was for us! But it was a fun time with lots of laughter.

Miguel’s mother called him in to the kitchen while we played with the children. He then came out and asked me if I would go in and cut the cherry bars. Elizabeth, along with Miguel’s sisters and his mother, all scrambled to find enough little plates and bowls so that I could serve my dessert. I wondered why we were eating dessert first but didn’t want to ask Miguel. It took me a bit of time to realize that no one was cooking any kind of meal for us. The only thing I saw cooking on the open fire was a small pot of beans that had been made in to a soup for Kenet. I just assumed that his mother had changed her mind about the lunch. It wasn’t until later that it dawned on me that in the confusion of our earlier conversation, that Miguel must have told them I would be bringing lunch for us all…no wonder we had a crowd gathered! But since that realization hadn’t yet hit, I still wasn’t embarrassed or uncomfortable about it all.

Miguel had told us his house was small…that’s the understatement of the year! His mother’s house is actually pretty nice. She has brick laid down over the dirt in the front room and she has a regular stove which doesn’t appear to work as it didn’t look like there was any propane tank hooked up to it. There was an open fire in the back area behind the house. Right next to her house I saw a small storage shed…or so I thought…it turned out to be Miguel and Elizabeth’s house. Miguel took us inside. It was a tight fit. At one point, Elizabeth took my hand…her hand was cold and trembling. I asked her if she was nervous and she said she was worried what we would think. I told her I thought she was precious and I was both pleased and honored to be there. She smiled and held my hand even tighter. I wanted to take a picture of their house but just didn't feel comfortable asking to do so as they both seemed a bit embarrassed by its size and condition.

The middle of the room had a white tablecloth hanging from the ceiling dividing it in half. The bedroom half is completely filled up by a twin size bed which they both share. The other half has their clothes and personal belongings stacked as they have no other furniture. This was the ½ that all four of us stood in as we were shown cracked plastic picture frames holding pictures of their wedding and deceased family members. There are no windows and only one door. The “house” has a dirt floor and is built with scavenged wood and 3 pieces of zinc which Miguel saved for a year to buy. He has a door that has a lock to protect their “valuables” from those who might be inclined to either snoop or help themselves to their meager belongings. That’s difficult for me to think that’s the kind of family Miguel has.

Jim and I praised Miguel on his construction and then, he very seriously, began to tell us what he would like to do someday in the future to expand his house to almost double its size with a shower and a toilet. It was fun to watch his animated face as he described each part of the construction process but at the same time, it was sad to think that no matter how good his intentions, his financial situation precludes that from most likely ever happening.
After we finished our dessert…with two thumbs up on the chocolate cookies and lots of cherry bars left on the plates (a new, too-sweet taste for them…and at $6 for a can for cherry pie filling, I almost asked to take it back home!), Miguel and Elizabeth asked if we would like to go meet Elizabeth’s Abuelita (little grandmother). We said we would love to and said our good-byes to the family…I imagine all of us had growling tummies at that point!

Elizabeth’s grandmother lives in Tipitapa but it’s quite a ways from their house and she doesn’t get to see her much. She is the one who had raised Elizabeth, whose mother had died when she was 12 years old. This visit was an unexpected one and we were welcomed in with great fanfare. Elizabeth’s aunt and cousins live next door to her grandmother and they came over to meet us. Miguel has taught her cousin how to play the guitar and so we were entertained with songs by both of them. After we stayed for a bit, we decided we should go and as we got in the car, Miguel asked if we would like to go eat chicken. We said yes, thinking we were going back to his house. But instead, he directed us to a restaurant on the edge of town.

As we pulled in to the restaurant, I could hear Miguel and Elizabeth whispering in the back of the car. I realized that there had been a giant miscommunication between us regarding lunch. I felt terrible but didn’t say anything as we went in and sat down. Miguel had to go to the restroom and I asked Jim if we had enough money on us to buy the kids their lunch. He assured me we did. When Miguel came out, I heard him tell Elizabeth they would order one plate and share it. I waited a few seconds and then asked Miguel if he would do me a favor. Of course, he hurriedly responded that he would. I then asked him if he would please let us have the privilege of buying lunch that day. He hesitated for a moment and I reminded him he had already committed to my favor. He laughed and agreed, telling Elizabeth that she could order 1 piece of chicken for herself.
Obviously, that wasn’t going to fly with me. Elizabeth was sitting next to me and I put my arm around her and told her she could order anything she wanted and eat as much as she liked. She must weigh 80 pounds, soaking wet! She looked at Miguel to affirm that. I looked at Miguel just daring him not to! He smiled and said she could get more. So, she chose a dinner plate with two pieces of chicken and Miguel finally ended up with a dinner plate with three pieces of chicken. They ate every single bit of food on their plate, while Jim and I both left some on ours.

During lunch, Elizabeth and I began talking with one another. She told me about her mother dying and how much she missed her. She said that Christmas was really hard. It was then that I asked her when her mother had died and she told me 10 years ago on January 26th. I told her that had been my mother’s birthday and that she had died two years ago. She asked me if I missed her. I told her I missed her terribly and I could feel my eyes beginning that familiar stinging. I decided it was a good time to take a drink of my soda and I felt an ice cold hand take hold of mine. I just squeezed it tightly until I knew we could resume our conversation without emotion getting the best of either of us.

About that time, Elizabeth leaned in close to me and wanted to know if I talked to my mother. Thinking she didn’t understand that my mother was deceased, I told her again. She nodded her head that she understood that and then told me she talks to her mother all the time. I waited a second and then told her that I didn’t know if my mother was a Christian or not, so I couldn’t be sure she would be in heaven. Elizabeth looked at me for a moment and then asked me to repeat what I had said. I did. I then told her that I never knew if my mother received Jesus in to her heart or not and that was harder not knowing for sure than it was losing her to death. I don’t know that Elizabeth would concur but I do know she was thinking very hard about what I was saying. You see, Elizabeth is not a Christian.

Our lunch ended and it was time to take Elizabeth and Miguel back to their house. We gave hugs and thanked them for their hospitality and the pleasure of meeting their families. Elizabeth hugged me extra tight when it was time for us to go and asked when she would see us again. I told her soon. She had no idea how soon that would be…Christmas was in just a couple of weeks and we had plans for that family.

On the way home, Jim and I talked about what a special young couple Miguel and Elizabeth are and how thankful we are God has brought them in to our lives. Jim talked about how much Elizabeth seemed to cling to me. We discussed some of the things we know about her past, both distant and recent. I told him that God never wastes our hurts or our failures when we give them over to Him and that He had given me a tender heart towards Elizabeth. It is easy for me to love her in spite of all her “junk”. I believe that is possible only because I know God loves me in spite of all mine. The blood of Christ covers me and that same blood can cover her. Redemption is a powerful thing.

We know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has called us to minister to this couple, physically and spiritually, in friendship and in counsel. They are a blessing to us in spite of the fact that they have so many problems, with their marriage, with their families, with their finances…inside themselves. But in them, we see such potential. We know God can change hearts and heal hurts. We know God desires loving, healthy and respectful relationships and we know He still performs miracles in the lives of those who are willing to allow Him to do so. We are excited to see what God is going to do with this young couple. Please join us in praying for Miguel and Elizabeth...I believe they’re a great investment of your time.

Shoe smacking...

Well, the power just went off again. Figures it would do it just as I am finally able to sit down to put together a blog. Thankfully, the laptop should allow me several hours to work on the computer. I’ve been struggling to find the delicate balance between school work, house work, ministry and blog and recently, have had to add power outages and water shortages back in the mix. It goes without saying that this isn’t part of my plan…okay...the power just came back on (four and a half hours after going off). And we just read yesterday how the power outages are supposed to be over with...guess we're tapering off instead of going cold turkey.

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. We’re fine…just covered up right now. Language school seems to keep us extremely busy these days. We mistakenly thought that by cutting down the number of hours we were attending per week, we would gain some free time. That’s not the case. Instead, it seems as though our study time has had to increase and our “free” time, has dwindled down to doing errands. Our written work is far better than our conversational skills and even though I am able to usually get my point across, I find my comprehension of the language being rattled off ninety-to-nothing is really lacking. When will we ever know this language?????

We visited Miguel and his family yesterday…I will write about that separately…they are worthy of their own space. Today, I will share with you about our most recent visitors. The first night we moved in to this house, we had a small gray and white cat walk right through the bars on the outer door and in to the dining room. Of course, Jim chased her out and over the next few weeks, we would occasionally catch a glimpse of her running out through the yard. We also discovered there was an all–gray cat that would perch upon the security wall, tucked safely between the circles of razor wire.

One evening, as we were in the living room studying, we heard a noise in the kitchen and Jim went to check it out…the gray and white cat had jumped up on our little deck and had come through the open back door, jumped upon the kitchen counter and ripped open our loaf of bread. Needless to say, she was ushered out again and because we did it with a lot of noise, hand clapping and arm waving, we assumed we would have scared her so badly she wouldn’t return. We’re slow learners.

A few days later, we stopped at our now, second-favorite bakery to try one of their loaves of specialty breads. It smelled so good and there was such an array of beautiful crusty breads that it was difficult to choose. We settled on a nice round loaf of hearty bread for dinner that night and two crusty buns for lunch the next day, paying more than we usually allot for bread…but it smelled so much worth it!

That afternoon, as we were once again in the living room studying, we heard that familiar rustling noise in the kitchen. Both of us jumped up in time to see the gray and white cat leap down off the counter and run out the back door. We found our newly purchased breads lying strewn across the counter on to the floor in pieces! The cat didn’t even try the cheap loaf of bread. So, we not only realized the cat was NOT dissuaded by our attempts to shoo her away, but we also discovered she had a very discerning palate.

We weighed our options: we could live in a closed up house in a tropical country…not an option; we could somehow eliminate the cat…not an option for animal lovers like ourselves; we could get screens on the doors…an option but not one that would happen quickly; or we could buy cat food and try to teach the kitty that outside was a more peaceful place to get food than inside. Guess which one we chose? And guess who quickly decided to “own” us, letting us know in a very vocal way when her dish needed food or water...both several times a day.

And yes, we named her. In Spanish, the word “rogar” means “to beg” and the word for a female cat is “gata”…kitty’s name is now “Rogata”. I figured that her presence might cut down on the viability of rats or bats settling in our roof so we might as well give her a name since she was going to be working for us. (believe me, I am a master at rationalization and justification!)

Most stray cats are very shy here and run at the sight of a human. Rogata is different – at least with us. I think she must have lived here and was left behind when the former tenants moved out. She is a bit skittish but will come and rub up against my legs and will follow me around on the carport and front porch – especially when she’s hungry. And she’s very bold about coming in to the house but after a few spritzes with a water bottle, she has learned Jim does not want a house cat yet if I walk in the door, she skitters in after me and tries to stay behind my legs. She’s a smart cat…and a trusting one.

A few nights in to our new relationship with our feline friend, Jim noticed more movement out on the carport near Rogata’s dish. He quietly made it toward the door and found that Rogata was a mama who had brought her kitty to the Gringo Sucker house to eat. The kitty was the spittin’ image of her mama and looked to be about 4-6 weeks old…it’s hard to tell ages here with people or with animals. The common denominator of a hard life takes its toll on both. Rogata was very pleased with herself and was not at all concerned at our presence in regards to her baby. The baby wasn’t so sure and ran to hide, not being nearly as trusting as its mama.

Great…now we had another mouth to feed…you know how much I hated to see that adorable little kitty crouched down next to her mama. We started to understand Rogata’s incessant need to eat and drink so much…she, too, was feeding another mouth. Oh, that it would have stopped there. The very next night, Rogata brought more guests to dine at her dish…two more babies! Another one that looked like its mama and one that was all gray. Now I know the elusive gray cat we had seen was the father. And I’m already wondering how many litters of kitties are we going to be seeing here this next year?

Rogata remains friendly…the kittens do not, running and hiding every time we even get close to the door (this was a special moment in that we were able to get the picture taken before the kitties realized we were so close)...although they are very curious about what goes on inside. I love this picture...mama looks like she's begging for someone to help her get a moment's peace from the "children" and the kitties are just like children everywhere, wanting Mom to "fix" dinner. Jim is in the process of putting screens on the doors – to keep both mosquitos and cats out. And he’s learned to check the car before leaving. One of the kitties managed to crawl up under the hood and took a ride to the filling station and back, mewing all the way. When Jim got home and opened the hood, it jumped out and didn’t show its face the rest of the day.

Wildlife. Wish I could say it stopped with the kitties…not so. A couple of weeks ago, Jim

discovered a nice hairy tarantula standing in our hallway between the two bedrooms. I heard him make a really funny sound and then smack his shoe really hard on the floor. He told me not to come in to the hallway. So I did exactly what was expected…I went in to the hallway to see him scooping up a flattened giant ball of “fur” on to the flyswatter. He told me what it was and a quick glance confirmed he wasn’t kidding. I have to say I checked our bed out thoroughly that night before getting in to it.

This past Saturday night, Jim went downstairs to put away some of his tools and once again, I heard a vaguely familiar funny sound come from Jim and immediately followed by about a half a dozen rapid hard smacking sounds. I thought he had found another tarantula. He told me not to come down there…when will he learn that I interpret that as him just begging me to come? He told me he had killed a scorpion…well that I had to see. So I cautiously went down the steps expecting to see a scorpion similar in size and color to the one I had seen in Shell Knob years ago at a friend’s house.

I wish. This one was dark in color and about 4” long, although he seemed much bigger. Jim assured me he was dead although his curled up tail still quivered and his back left leg kicked a bit. Jim went upstairs to get the scorpion spray to speed along the final demise of the beastie and I stood guard – from a distance – to ensure the thing wasn’t just playing possum…although I’m not sure what I would have done if he decided to get up and start walking again. I do somewhat remember that I was ever-so-sweetly urging Jim to not choose that point in time to dawdle. This picture was taken post-mortum so I’m assuming the scorpion was a bit thicker prior to the shoe smacking.

So…what’s scarier than finding a scorpion in your house? Answer…finding two. Yep. Jim found another one in the guard/gardener room. This room is accessible only through the outside of the house and has an attached bathroom with shower. It’s a perfect place for Freddy to clean up and change clothes before going home and it allows us to provide bathroom facilities for outside employees. We have hired a temporary night guard for the next three weeks, to get us through the holiday time, when the rate of robberies increase, and until we can find someone on a permanent basis.

Jim went down yesterday afternoon to move some used, old Nica-style mattresses that we have stored out of that room to prepare for its use for the night guard. We don’t want to tempt a night guard to take a nap while on duty by leaving mattresses out where they’re readily available to him. He shook and checked each mattress as he got ready to carry them in to the basement. As he got ready to pick up the last one, one he had already checked over, he noticed something on the side of it he hadn’t noticed earlier. Sure enough, it was another scorpion, almost identical to the one he had killed a few nights earlier.

I guess he didn’t want my “help” on this one because he had it killed and disposed of before he even came to tell me about it. That’s okay, though…seeing one scorpion, even though it was dead, is enough for me although I have a funny feeling that one won’t be my last one. It appears inevitable that we are going to have to deal with them but neither of us are looking forward to getting stung and plan on trying to avoid that at all costs. The sting from this kind isn’t fatal but it is supposed to be extremely painful with temporary paralysis often occurring. I hate spiders with a passion but I almost think I would rather deal with the shy little tarantula than these nasty tempered things.

I have tried to figure out why God would make such a creature…guess that’s something only God could answer. Cute kitties, I understand and I welcome, but stinging scorpions? Those I’m hard-pressed to embrace, yet find I am being forced to accept as a part of my environment. I don’t want to deal with them but I don’t know that I’m going to have much say in the matter. That kind of equates to having to deal with one another, doesn’t it? Some folks are full of life and are a pleasure to have around. Others are walking poison.

Lord…please bring to my mind that flattened scorpion every time I want to sting someone else

out of my own impatience or frustration. Remind me of the fact that You are the Creator, omnipotent and omniscient and I am the created…why do I sometimes question and think my own way is best? I don’t want to have to be smacked with a spiritual shoe, Lord. Remind me that I have a choice as to how I react to all my circumstances. Remind me I have a choice to obey or disobey. Remind me I have the choice to follow You or to follow the world, to serve You or to serve self. One is filled with joy, the other filled with poison. Remind me, Lord, remind me.

“Choose for yourselves this day…” Joshua 24:15