Call to Prayer.....June 1-7

I've been thinking a lot about all of the craziness here (not just for our family) and how God can use this. It seems like every time we get close to really having breakthroughs, the craziness begins. It was like that the whole time we were in Brasil, too.

I really think we're on the edge of something amazing happening here among the indigenous.

I would like to ask you to seriously consider taking the first 7 days of June and devoting them to prayer for us and the other families working here in villages in Mexico.

I will tell you a little about the work going on---- without giving details of names or where they serve----- and you can pick a specific family to pray for if you want to, or you can pray for them all.

In Acts, the early church devoted themselves to prayer. Amazing things happened and HIS story spread. The more persecution they had, the more it spread and the numbers grew! I think if we devote ourselves to prayer and fasting, we too will see many victories among these groups we are all targeting.


If you would like to focus on a specific family, let me know and I will pass it on to them. It would be very encouraging to them to know that you are praying specifically for them for 7 days.

It's a tough field we're in. There are 5 families working directly with villagers. It is a very tough, closed area. The poverty is extreme and the hearts are not open to what we need to share with them. We are all working on a story project ---- to get His story into their heart langauges. We are all working in different languages among different groups.

Life isn't so easy and it just takes longer to do everything. It can really wear you down as you try to juggle life, work , learning new languages, home school, etc. All of the families must home school. (honestly, THAT is a full-time job for me with 5!!!)

So, here's a little info about each family.

Family #1-- this family has 4 children. They go back and forth between a very rustic village and a home in a town. Their village has no running water. Their village house is one room-- probably about 200 square feet, if that. After 2 years, they are still met with distrust. The residents in their village have accused this family of planning to bring in other white men to kill all of the villagers. They can only go a few days at a time because that is all the water they can get there. It is like camping with no end.......... It has been really rough trying to get their project going. Every time they get someone to help them, something happens and they don't help them anymore. It can get very frustrating. They have even had their own lives threatened. They have internet and phone service in town, but not in the village.

Family #2-- This family has no children. They are beginning their project. We are in the same training phases with them. It has taken them since August to get a home to live in. They are finally settled and ready to get started. Like most of the others, language study has been off to a slow start because of taking so long to get their home liveable. They ended up having to do much of the work themselves. There is a church there that is more like a cult in some ways and it is hard to work in their area. They have a big job ahead of them. They have internet access in town, but only through an internet-cafe. They don't get to check it everyday.

Family #3-- This family has met much opposition from the very beginning. They have 2 children. They started ok, and then when the priest found out they were doing stories, he basically banned anyone from working with them. An incident happened this winter and they were accused of a robbery. As a result, their lives were threatened and there is a huge barrier that they can not break through. They are up against MUCH opposition where they are. They live in the village, but it is hard to get anywhere with the language and stories when no one is supposed to help you. They have satelite internet, but it has been out for 2 months, so they are kind of cut off from everyone.

Family #4-- This family has 3 children. They have the opposite story. Their group has very graciously accepted them into the village and into their group. They live among them and are making much progress. They have a weekly study group that meets and have been able to work on stories with people. Of course, they have had a set-back this week with an injury in the family and will be out of commission for a little while. It could have been so serious that they would have had to leave the field. But, God was so good!!!

Family #5-- us
We have 5 children and are still trying to get into a village. We are currently in a town and have amazing contacts in the villages. We have a team of 4 here in town who meet with us several days a week to work on the stories. We have several more people interested in joining our team. Right when things were really taking off, the wild month began, virtually stopping ALL work efforts. We have a person of peace. We just need to get busy and do the stories. We have already begun the process. Once we have our car again we can go to them and work. We also need a village to live in at least part of the time. There is one we may go to. We will have limited water and no sewage system there. We also need to learn our language really well so that we can do the translation project justice. It can get very discouraging when the attacks keep flying at you!

All of these village areas are really simple. You can't just show up to "work" and "live" among them. You can't even just show up to visit in most of these areas. It is definitely a God-thing to get you in and make it all happen.

It seems just when things start going well, the enemy throws major road blocks at us to stop the work. We were told before we came that he has a major stronghold here and it will be a tough fight to do our projects. All of these obstacles, crisis situations and trials we are all facing can be used to HIS glory! It is bringing more attention to these people groups. Many prayer warriors are being called in from all over the world to "help us out" as they become aware of various trials we are all facing. Let's watch and see what God can do through all of our prayer!!!

Would you consider praying for one of these families specifically for 7 days?
Pray that they can break through barriers and really make progress.
Pray for people of peace to help us them accomplish what they need to do to get HIS message into the heart language of these precious people groups.

If you would like to commit to this, let me know and I will pass on the information to these families. I know it will be a big encouragement. We will all be in Guatemala together at the end of June. -- I'll pass the info on ASAP, though! Please feel free to pass this request on to as many people as you can.

How is a man supposed to get any respect???

Poor John!
Remember the cream the doctor gave him for his face?

Have you ever seen our house? It's bright yellow. Kind of a mustardy yellow.
Well, let's just say that when I tried to take John's picture outside, his face blended in with the wall! We're talking the EXACT same color!!!

The cream didn't look yellow when it went on, but it dried bright yellow!!!!
I smeared it all over him. A few minutes later I went into the room where he was and WHOA!!! I started laughing. He had no idea what I was laughing at. Of course I "had" to pull out the camera. (they didn't turn out so well though)

I told him he was yellow. I don't think he realized just "how" yellow he was until he looked in the mirror later. Oh yea, and then our friends showed up!
The good thing is, John doesn't get embarrassed about anything!

When we washed it off later (it sort of burned him), it made his face look like he had used cheap self-tanning cream and was a little orange. His ears were brownish red from the cream.

I always tell him, "You get what you pay for!"
I guess this is what happens when you got to a $2.50 doctor!

LOL!!!!!

(Don't worry, John knows I love him. Even he got a good laugh at it---- I think?!?! haha)

John's doctor visit

I took John to the doctor today. His face is getting worse. The doctor thinks it is sun poisoning. He is miserable.

I thought you might get a kick out of the picture we took of the sign at the doctor's office. The sign says "medical consults $25.00"--- that's pesos.

Basically, that means it's only $2.50 (american) for an office visit!!!

I guess they don't have malpractice insurance and everything else to pay for here at those rates! How in the world do they pay off medial school???? LOL!

John has a prescription strength topical cream and some pills to take. He should be fine in 5 days.

John's face

John's face got very bad overnight. I am soooooooooo glad he did not go to Mexico City and get us a car! This way, he just rode with a friend both ways.

It's pretty puffy and swollen and almost blistery looking in a couple of spots.
Benadryl didn't do anything.
It looks like it did when he was given Sulfa drugs in Brasil--- even though he's allergic to them!

Poor guy!
He was determined to go no matter what.

I'm not sure what he's having a reaction to.
Very strange.

I'm telling you, we've had a very rough month!!!

We may have to go get a cortisone shot or something in the morning.
I'll see how he looks when he gets back.

It may actually get fixed!!

John and Ike rode to Puebla today with a friend.
They went to the Ford dealership to see if they could buy a fuel pump.
Ours was not in stock (of course), so they said they would order it. They told John it would actually be here tomorrow! (WOW)

Don't get too excited----- they "just happen to be doing inventory this week", so it won't be available until next week. (aghhhhhhh)
So, he would have to drive back (with no car) and pick it up.

He asked if they could send it. They ordered it today and just had the factory send it straight to us here instead of going to them. (why could they not do that 2-1/2 weeks ago like they were supposed to???-- oh yea, the "other city" was where they tried to do that!! HAH!)

So, once again we have a projected delivery date. Do I dare count on it? I'll let you know next Monday if they came through or not........

John decided to not go to Mexico City and get a vehicle for us. It's too much trouble if we're getting ours back in a week. We'll just walk a little longer.

Since he went in person, we feel a little more confident about it this time. We'll see!

this is getting comical

This morning I got out of bed and went into "Mr. Monk" mode. (Ike thinks it's hilarious, but I would definitely live with my house like him if I were single........ LOL)

I still feel lousy, but this house is filthy (even when you clean it, it still is because of so much dirt here---and you know I felt like there were tons of sick germs in it).
I decided to bleach the house from top to bottom. I just kept taking breaks and sitting down. I definitely can tell I'm a little weaker. I should be fine in a few days though.

So, while poor John was trying so hard to be everything our family needs right now--- chef, laundry coordinator, errand runner (literally on foot. haha), house cleaner, daddy, husband,.......... not even mentioning that he's supposed to be doing his job!........... we got some official man at our gate. (the kids have been helping, but you know it's just not the same when Mom is sick!)

It turns out there is Dengue Fever about an hour from here and he was warning us.
Oh great! Joia!
You know who would get that..................

And I looked at poor John and saw that his eyes were swelling up.
He was having some allergic reaction to something. (It's not the bleach, that hadn't started yet!)
Now, I would drive him to the hospital and talk for him while he gets treated if it gets worse, but uh............... not exactly a good week for that. Sorry, poor guy............ you may be on your own!
Can you give me a couple of days????

I couldn't help but laugh.
I would say, "What else could happen?"------ but we've learned to NEVER say that!!!!!!


(Ok, Meggie, let's say it together----"Mama Mia!")

I have to go to bed. I'm exhausted.
We may actually get to blog about our "work" one day if we can ever get it started back up again.

Date Night?

It could have been nice.
In our "former life" (haha) we could have ordered chinese and had a nice, quiet evening at home and called it a date.

What am I talking about?
Oh, we almost had an opportunity for a date last night...............
You see, there is NOTHING to do here, NOWHERE to go, NO FOOD to order and not even ANY FOOD to buy to make a nice meal for 2...........
So, we are a little "romantically challenged". LOL

Our "dates" consist of walking downtown to check the empty mailbox or walking to the butcher shop to buy meat with flies swarming all around it.............. If we get to go alone without any of the 5 kids, we definitely count it as a date! (To be honest, even if the kids are along we'll count it. Desperate times call for desperate measures!!!) You'd understand if you were here, trust me!!

So, last night, it started to rain! Oh Yes!!!! We need rain! It poured. The kids went to bed. It's been so long since they've seen real rain that it was a little scary to them.

Then it happened. The lightning and thunder started and we lost electricity for a few hours.
John went around and lit a lot of candles. The house looked so cozy. Wouldn't it be great to order out? Have a quiet evening together???

Ok, snap out of it!!!! Back to reality, Pam-------------
There is NOWHERE to get any food--- even if the town did have electricity.
And besides,
I was lying on the sofa sick as a dog.
Nothing like a little bacterial dysentery to kill our only chance of a "date" in a long time...........

maybe another time....
ahhhhhhhhhh, life on the field......... gotta love it!

(Ok ladies, treat your hubby to a nice date night!!! Appreciate it while you can!)
If you don't have a hubby---- go out with a girlfriend and get chocolate dessert or take yourself somewhere and pamper yourself with something you really enjoy.

Vehicle Saga

Remember how the mechanic said the fuel pump was ordered and on its way?
Apparently it was NEVER ORDERED!!!

He seemed to truly act like it was the city they were getting it from who dropped the ball.
I would believe it. I don't particularly think anything in that city is very good.....
(personal opinion, of course, but shared by others! LOL)

He actually told us, "You're in Mexico............."
They've said over and over how hard it is to get some things here.
It does make it interesting.

So, he's been waiting for it "to arrive" on the delivery truck every day for 2 weeks, only to find out the part has never been ordered. He said, "They lied to me."
I'm not sure what exactly happened but I do know it's not on it's way.

It turns out that this particular fuel pump may not exist in any Mexican city at this point.

Our boss is in Galveston with Annie's family and he's even checking at all of the auto zones and car parts stores there. No one has one in stock. They can order one and have it in 2 days.
That won't work though because he comes back this afternoon. He even checked Houston.......

John is going to ride to Puebla with a friend tomorrow and see if the Ford dealership can order it. They said they can do that in 15 days. That means we'll be getting it (if it ever arrives!) right around the time we need to go to Guatemala. Nothing like a deadline!!!

Our office in Mexico City said they've got a van we can use while ours is being fixed.
After Puebla, John will take a bus to Mexico City and then a taxi to the office. He'll probably end up spending the night and coming back the next day.

(I told him to fill that van up with meat and food that won't make me get food poisoning again! Ha! I think he will definitely make a run to the store for a few things.)

food poisoning--- who wants to move down here with me???

I have been very ill all weekend.
We had sinus infections last week and then finally felt better.

Saturday evening I spiked a fever and the fun began..........
I had over 102* temp for 30 hours. Nothing would break the fever.
I had chills and was aching and it just kept going downhill from there.
My fever finally broke over night last night but came back today as a low-grade fever.

It is a bacterial infection---- a bad case of FOOD POISONING!
I feel horrible.

We would appreciate your prayer.
We still don't have a car, so John could not even take me to another city for a good hospital.

I hope it will pass in a few days.
(I feel like: it will pass or I will!)
I don't think I would wish this on anyone. LOL

John is at the mechanic again to see if our car is ready.
I still don't think the part came in.

I'm going back to bed, so I'll blog another time.

Pray for Annie !!!

Some of our coworkers are currently in Texas facing a crisis with their 4-year-old daughter.

She was burned in their village on Saturday. (She fell into a big washtub type of container of boiling food-- the explanation is on their blog.)
They were able to air evac her to the Shriner's Hospital in Galveston, TX.
They specialize in burns there. She is getting excellent care and the doctors think she will have a good prognosis.

It was originally estimated that she had about 40% of her body burned, but it is only 20%. And, most of the burns are 2nd degree. There are only a few areas with 3rd degree that she may possibly have to have surgery on.

Here is a blog they set up today for updates:
http://www.pray4annie.com/

It is amazing to see God's provisions during this difficult time. Thank you to all who have been praying for her!!!

oh-- as a side note:
the organization who provided the air evac exists solely to fly burned children out of here.
yes, it's that common!!! We were told that burns are the #1 cause of death in the indigenous area.

Meggie's Logic

Well, Meg is pretty funny.
She has a new one now............... she wants us to have or get twins.

She actually wants one who looks just like her, but I don't think that's possible........ LOL!

We have always talked about adoption and I think we will one day.
The kids are all for it!!! They want us to do it now.
We should do it soon before they are too big.

It's so funny-- yesterday at lunch, Meggie came in and asked me if we could adopt twins.
I told her she had to talk to her daddy about that. It was fine with me.

She went in and told John, "Mom said that if I read 100 books, we can adopt twins."

what?????? LOL!

I don't think it will come from reading books............
But we are very open to adoption.
I've always wanted to do that since I was young.
We've always said we would like to adopt one day.

I feel like I can actually "enjoy my kids" now--- we've learned to manage 5. (Haha)
And after 5, 1 or 2 more is nothing...........
It was a little harder for a few years with so many little ones and moving around so much and...... but it's great now!
I should rephrase that----- it's always been "great" and we've enjoyed it, but it's much easier and simpler now.

So, who knows---- God may open that door for us.

Meggie had a stack of books hidden in her bed last night.
She's determined to read 100 and get a new sister.................................... (or 2)!

Reading Challenge

I gave the kids a summer reading challenge. Ike reads constantly!!! Sam enjoys reading, but it goes in spurts. Faith likes to read and Meg loves to be read to. Well, Levi---- that's another story. He has never enjoyed reading. He likes to be read to, but not reading a book himself. He reads well, it's not that. There is one book he really loved and it was full of adventure of a boy sailing around the world, but everything else was like torture to make him read.

I've been trying to find his "niche"---- what he would be passionate about.
Then I just decided to do it the wrong way and give them "external motivation". HAHA

It worked!!!
They are all reading like crazy!
But, it's not even for the rewards......
Levi actually found some books he LOVES and he's been up late at night reading by flashlight to finish them!!!
YES!!!!!!

That's what I was going for!

So, now I finally have 5 who truly enjoy books!

We set up a 5 books reward system. They get an icecream or soda or some other little thing. Then at 10 books it's a banana split party (if we can find ice cream!) or something else.
Then at 20 books I will buy them a new book online and have it sent down.
At 40 books-- I did the unpardonable------ I offered them money. ($20)
I figured they'll want some spending money in Guatemala when we go in June. And for Mexico City.
We maxed our challenge out at 40 books. They can read all they want to past that, but it will be for pleasure, not prizes. Most of them usually have a book in hand anyway, so it won't be a problem.

Well, let's just say, Faith already read 20 this week!
Ike is almost there (although his are novels----- yes, he REALLY does read that much and that fast!)
Sam has read 10.
and Levi---- he has already read 9 books! (chapter books)
WOW!

Looks like I'll be giving out lots of rewards.
I honestly didn't think they would read that many--- and definitely not this fast!
In the States, we maxed out all of our library cards every week and sometimes went more often. But here, we're just using the books we have. (Gotta love Sonlight and Tapestry of Grace selections!) We have 5 bookshelves of kids books! (we LOVE books!!!!)

I'm thrilled though because it may have been a "challenge" that started it, but Levi has truly learned that he loves reading. I feel confident that he will continue to read. I've found that Levi likes a lot of things once he tries them. I just have to get him to try them.............

Dentist

Faith had to go to the dentist today.
I was a little concerned about it. She started feeling pain for the first time last night and I saw that she had a cavity. (you know it's bad if you can see it...) I know from experience (remember Costa Rica?!?!) that mouth pain is terrible!

I knew we had to get her to a dentist, but where ??? And how do we get to another city with no car???

John walked down to the mechanic's shop today to check on our car. He saw that there was a dental clinic right by it that looked decent.

It turned out to be a good place. She only has 2 rooms--- a waiting room and a room to work in, but they are very clean with new, modern equipment!!! (WOW!)

She trained in another city and worked there for a while and then moved here 2 years ago to open her own clinic.

Faith did NOT feel a thing!!! And the dentist did NOT use concrete to fill her tooth!!! Yeah! The dentist was great with her and really seemed to know what she was doing. I know that sounds very condescending, but you would understand if you were here----- based on our experience with MANY things!!!

Faith goes back tomorrow to make sure she's doing ok.

Now we just have to find a good orthodontist for Sam. He has to get braces. Before we left the States from our STAS, the orthodontist told us he needed to lose 6 more teeth before they would put them on. He lost them, so we need to check into it now. I know a friend here has braces, so we can ask him if he got them here or in Puebla.

(it's times like these that make us realize it's not so convenient here for some things.........otherwise, it's great here)

still no car

We still don't have our car. It's been about 2 weeks now. They had to order the part from another city. That city didn't have it, so they ended up having to order it from a 3rd city.
It was "supposed" to be here several days this week.

Well, the latest is that it arrived in the other city today and will arrive here tomorrow. So, we're "supposed" to have our car back tomorrow afternoon..........

We've mainly walked everywhere, but we haven't been out to work with our people this week.
It's not too much of an inconvenience. We've just had to buy food and things in small quantities so we could walk home with it or catch a bus.

There's really nowhere to go with a car anyway, so we haven't had too many difficulties without it.

oops---- i spoke too soon

Well, we HAD water yesterday afternoon and evening.
But, it's out again. I think it's the same thing.
I have a feeling they may have to replace that pump or motor for sure.

Should be another interesting, sweaty day............

Why did I oversleep??? The kids got showers and I didn't ! lol!

We have water!!!

Yeah! Our water is fixed!
We can take showers and do laundry and cook and .....................

It really makes you notice how much we rely on water when it's gone!

Earthquake

I'm getting pretty good at feeling earthquakes--- Ike and I just felt another one a few minutes ago.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008sdbt.php
here's the info on it.

4.9 based out of Oaxaca.

it's the 4th I've felt here.

No Car + No Water = No fun

Once again our week was full of surprises..............

John got sick again. A few of the guys from our training last week had bad colds. Well, John ended up with a sinus infection and then I did. We didn't feel so great all week.

We've been without a car since Monday. The part is "supposed" to come in next Monday and the guy will fix it that day. We'll see if it does............ At least it's not too hard to get around here. We can walk downtown or take a little van/bus or even a "Herbie" taxi. It makes it a little more complicated to meet with some of the people we work with for our stories. We hoped to get out to the village this week, but that will have to wait. Hopefully we'll have the car back next week.

John's birthday was very different. We just kind of stayed around the house and did nothing.

We have no water again!!!
This time it's not bc the well is dry. There's water, but the pump to bring it up to the house is not working. I'm not sure when it will be fixed. John went out to try to talk to the neighbor who owns our rental house last night. Of course, there's a little glitch there, too----- their aunt who lives across the street from us died unexpectedly yesterday morning. They're all taking it pretty hard.

Everyone has been sitting with the body since it happened. She has a few kids in the States, so they're waiting until they can get back to have the funeral. Normally it's a "same day" process. I think they may all sit down there for a few days. We don't want to bother them during this time, so we'll see when we can get the motor on the water pump fixed.

It's really sad here--- death is such a "hopeless" thing to them.
John went and prayed wtih the mom of our landlord. It was cute---she was trying to repeat everything he said like it was prayer at a mass......

I'm not sure what's in store for the weekend. Who knows at this rate!
Of course, even with water and transportation, there's still not much to do! HaHa!!

We did have a bright spot though yesterday------- we got a bunch of mail!!! yeah!
Our mail system has been working great here. We get letters and stuff from the States in 1 - 2 weeks. We've even received small package envelopes with no problem.

Card from Faith

I got the sweetest little homemade card from Faith for Mother's Day.
It was a weird day.
First we had the crazy trip back, then everyone was wiped out from our busy week and John doesn't feel well again. He has a cold now. A few guys in our group had it and I think he caught it from them. Everyone stayed in bed until about 10:30 or 11:00. We didn't even go to church. I was up early, so I cleaned, did laundry, put stuff away from the trip and had a really great time. (sarcasm-- LOL) I just wasn't in the best mood. I made lunch in the crock pot so it would be done and easy since everyone was so zonked out. Of course, they finally all got up and made me cards and then John went and bought lunch at a chinese place. That made it even more weird bc I had lunch cooking........

But, back to the card. Faith is so sweet. She knew what I needed.
She's been doing "copywork" as part of her schooling. She loves it! (typical girl thing--- you get to write in your best handwriting and make it look good....) Well, she's been copying poetry for her copywork pages. We put them in page protectors in a 3-ring binder when she's done. They look very nice. She even has a table of contents in the front.

So, for my card, she picked out a nice poem to copy. I'm not sure if it was the words that really hit me or the fact that she thought copywork was special enough to put on a card for me. Here's what she wrote:

God watches us all day,
at home at school and at our play;
and when the sun has left the skies,
He watches with a million eyes.

I was kind of feeling sorry for myself and still a little shook up by the trip home.
This poem really "hit the spot". Yes, I can always remember that God is watching over us.
He surely did Saturday as He got us home safely!

Thank you, Faith! I needed that. I love you very much, too!
Thank you, God! What wonderful children you have given me. And you continue to watch over my family way better than I ever could................

In the shop................

John took our vehicle in to the shop yesterday. He took it to a Ford place here---- only to find they won't have a mechanic here until next month. ok........................

So, he ended up finding a guy who was a mechanic in the States for a while. He was recommended to us. It's the fuel pump, so they have to replace it. Of course, there's one small problem. The city 5 hours away didn't have one, so he's ordering it. That means we're without a car for at least 4 more days. Should be a fun week. I guess we won't be going anywhere for John's birthday on Thursday.

I hope it fixes it. I don't want to have to think about that as we drive around on these bad roads here.

Happy Mother's Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM


I thought this is a cute "tribute" to all my Mommy friends out there.
Happy Mother's Day!

Crazy drive home!!!

Well, we had a nice week of training in Puebla. The kids got to do fun stuff several days. They went ice skating and swimming, and also went to a children's museum. In the evenings they jumped on the trampoline for hours! They really liked that.

Our trip home was "memorable" to say the least.
I mean, we should have KNOWN it would be "fun"----- we had 5 kids, 2 dogs, a cat and 2 tiny water turtles. All in a car WAY OVER it's max limit of what it could hold inside (and on the roof)!!!

Travelling this way gets really old. We never had room in our vehicle in Brasil either. It's so hard to go somewhere for 8-10 days and only take 2 suitcases for 7 people!!! And the suitcases don't fit in the car, we have to use a carrier. (I know, I'm complaining. I'm just not in a good mood today. I need to work on that....... we do have a car though, so I should be thankful!)

We had so much stuff crammed around us in the car. Talk about a safety hazard.............
Before we left, we ran to the grocery store and Sam's and Costco and picked up a few things for school and groceries that you can't find here. I went ahead and bought meat there so I wouldn't have to go here this week. We had a small cooler inside the car with that all crammed in there, also. I took it all out of the packages and put it into ziploc bags before stuffing it into the cooler. I'm sure that was a first on the grocery store parking lot..........

So, we were driving home and it's a 4-1/2 to 5 hours trip. Coming from Puebla it's way better because the first hour is straight. After that it's nothing but curves through the mountains.

Well, about 2-1/2 hours from our house, our vehicle lost power and shut down on us! Right in the middle of a really bad stretch of road, on a curve and with nowhere to pull over and big drop-offs to the side of us! God protected us and John was able to stop the car, although he could not steer at all. (Thank you, God!!)

It was very scary knowing we still had so far to go and we were in the middle of nowhere with a crazy packed down car. We could have very easily gone over the side of the road with no control of the steering or anything. We just wanted the kids out of the vehicle and safe!

We tried calling several people-- of course, they're hours away, so what good would that do? Well, the car started back up and we drove very slowly until we could get to a safe place to stop. We weren't able to get anyone to help us, so we prayed we would make it home. The car started back up and we were able to drive again, although we did not trust it at all!

God protected us and we got home safely. We'll get the car to the shop tomorrow. Hopefully it will be an easy fix. I wish we had our van down here. We need to get it. It's still in Missouri. We can't leave though. That's another story I won't go into right now.....

Ok, I better stop now before this goes downhill very quickly!

So, once again-- something positive: God protected us! I HATE mountain roads. I was in a really bad wreck in college going off of the side of a road like that and the friend I was with died. Not a good memory................

Oh, to make it worse, the cat went to the bathroom in her crate on the trip-- and it had worms!!!! Oh man, not a good experience. She had been with the vet for 8 days and was well taken care of. She was not sick there at all. I'm not sure if it's from eating mice or what. I know it can take a while before it shows up in their system. She's on meds now. And then the new puppy decided she couldn't make it to the next bathroom break either...................... yes, all of this while we're trying to get through the mountain with no confidence in our car. We had to turn the air off and radio and everything else. It was 104 degrees as we were travelling! Talk about a stressful ride home................

Right after we pulled over to clean up the cat and disenfect her crate and take care of the puppy, we had a military checkpoint. They were looking for drugs, so we ALL had to get out while they searched the car. You should have seen their faces as we all piled out with the pets and then they saw the stuff in the car................ "priceless"! LOL (just think if we had not stopped to take care of the cat right before that?????????)

We definitely will NOT forget this trip for a long time. (if ever!!!)

slide show---New Haircut

I decided to take a walk on the wild side!

I've been thinking about chopping my hair off for a year and a half. Yes, I'm a big baby when it comes to taking the plunge! (It's a girl thing............) I'll let it look horrible long (all grown out, split ends, etc.) before I'll go actually cut it off to look healthy and stylish.

So, I was reading my Misses Smarty Pants update this week and she made the comment that "if you haven't changed your clothing, glasses, makeup or hair in 2 years, then it is time to consider a change."

It's been years (!!!) since I cut my hair short. Meggie doesn't remember me ever having short hair.

John really likes it!!! Ike thinks it's cool. Meggie says I look weird. I was only a "little" stressed when he cut off the first big length. He did it in stages for me. LOL! It was really long in the back. The guy did a great job though. It's actually a very good "cut"---he really knew what he was doing and took his time and used cool techniques to cut it. I'll admit though-- when he brought out the RAZOR I was concerned! He cut the first 2/3 with a razor!!! I thought, "what in the world am I thinking?!?!?!"

I like it though.(It's not often than I come out of the salon without crying or going home to "fix" it. It makes a big difference to find someone REALLY good to cut your hair. HAH! ) I just hope I can make it look the same. (That will be the true test! :-)

Considering he had to go by my bad spanish and no picture, I think he did a great job! I told him "kind of " what I was thinking and then he showed me some pics and we pieced a description together with that. I have a new "favorite salon" and plan to only go there from now on while I'm in Mexico! It was in Puebla.

Poor Nessy

Poor Nessy!!! (our new puppy)
She has problems.
We felt soooo sorry for her so we "rescued" her. She was at a vet's store in our town and was in a small cage for 5 weeks straight. There's another puppy there who looks like Alfie and he has been too. His foot is messed up because of it. I cried several nights about him. I just wanted to rescue him.

Well, John brought Nessy home instead. It turns out that her foot is also messed up. Apparently a different vet hit a nerve when she got a vaccination and her foot will double over when she walks.

We brought her here to Puebla (with Alfie and Mia--- that was an interesting 5 hour trip!) and boarded her at a good vet's clinic. We had them check her out. She's so "weak". It turns out, she has no muscle tone in the back of her legs from malnutrition and the cage. Sometimes her legs just go out from under her and she falls on her tummy.

She was severely malnurished. The vet has her on calcium and good food and vitamins and is taking great care of her. She has a parasite also, so they have her on medicine. They put a splint on her foot to keep it straight while she walks. The vet showed me some "therapy" exercises to do with her legs also. She said it should be better after 3 or 4 weeks. She has treated a dog like that before.

Poor little thing. She is sooooo sweet. She doesn't make a sound. She was dying though. It breaks my heart. I'm sure the white puppy is the same. I think she'll be a great dog once she's strong again. (John says she'll be my "million dollar baby".)

This vet also raises Schnauzers so she really took great interest in helping her. It was really good timing to get Nessy last week so we could bring her here while we trained. The vet can spend a week with her and give her great care. This vet clinic is actually a husband and wife team. They are both doctors and have been for years, so they know what they're doing. We'll be glad to see Nessy again, though!

Idea Book..............

I always tell Levi to write down his ideas becasue he has a ton of inventions and creations that he draws and thinks up.

Well, I sort of have my own little "idea book" going on.
I pitched another idea to John last night and he said to add it to my book.
(Of course, it's frustrating to have a book of ideas that you can't officially "do" at this point.....)

We're in Puebla for another week of training for our job. It's CPM training, so we're "storying" through the book of Acts. It's very intersesting. We spend about an hour per story. We do 6 stories per day. Someone gets up and tells the story (we're going through chronologically chapter by chapter) and then we discuss it in a small group and apply it to church planting and discipleship, etc. VERY good discussions.

It's such a simple method, yet deep and profound.

Well, my "idea" was this:
I thought it would be soooo cool to teach this as weekend seminars in the States. With a slight variation.
We could do a Friday evening and Saturday morning and afternoon seesion. Do about 6 stories or so to model the process.
We could go teach this to any church who wanted to try something new with their small groups and reach out to their community in a different way through home Bible study / discipleship groups.

At the end of the weekend, the participants would have plenty of "real" experience and could then use this model to begin small group studies out of their homes. We could follow-up with more training if it was wanted or needed.

This is such a non-threatening way to reach non-believers. You base your discussion on the story you just heard, not someone's expertise knowledge they bring with them. Everyone is on level ground in a sense. Everything is done orally. Many people will come to a small group meeting in a friend's home but may not want to attend a study in a church building.

That's just kind of a summary, but I would love to have that opportunity to do that one day. This works for ANY age or any group of people, no matter what their background.

Well, I need to head to class. I have to go tell the story of Peter and Dorcas (Tabitha)...........

Children's Day

Yesterday was Children's Day here in Mexico.

Our kids were SOOOO excited about it and really looking forward to it.

What a disappointment--- they were sick and we all stayed around the house all day!

But, look what John brought home for them as a present............

Her name is Vanessa, but we've been calling her "Nessy" or "Nessa".

She's a miniature Schnauzer. I'll have to put other pics on here to show you how small she is. Adorable!!!

Did you notice--- we have her in a sweater--- just like the people here bundle up. HAHA!

The little carrier, sweater and collar is from one of Meggie's stuffed animal dogs. Faith couldn't resist "dressing her up". Poor dog---I see many doggy fashion shows in her future......................

I know, I know--- not the best timing bc we're going out of town this weekend. But, she's being boarded with Alfie and Mia in Puebla. It's good because the vet will be able to look at her foot for us. And we'll be in town there so we can go see them if we want to.

Let's Organize DVDs and CDs

One of the things that can get out of control in a home is movies and music. They seem to be all over the place. (We have 2 shelves just of old kids' VHS tapes) But, if they're in disk form (DVD or music CDs)--- oooh, have I got a simple solution for you.......

http://whatsupwithweaver.net/templates/System/details.asp?id=29824&PID=573006

this link will explain how to set up a filing system for your disks.

I have used this same process for our puzzles, our computer disks-- games and home school disks, etc.

New Links

I added a few links on the right column (under home school sites) for some forms and things I use in my own home.
I have a lot more to add on here, but this is all I could get on here this morning.

It's just helpful sometimes to see someone else's ideas to spark our own creativity! So, I thought I'd put some of my "madness" on here.

***** This is KEY: NEVER just try to imitate EXACTLY ---- what someone else does or uses! Tweak it to FIT YOUR OWN FAMILY / NEEDS***

It can cause more stress and difficulties to follow someone else's plan. The idea is to make things simple, so don't do that to yourself. Now, there may be things you find that would fit you perfectly though. If so, go for it!

Here are the links I added for some pages on my web. There are some links on them to open documents I use. So, just in case you want to see how crazy I really am..............

meal planning: http://whatsupwithweaver.net/templates/System/details.asp?id=29824&PID=572704

zone cleaning: http://whatsupwithweaver.net/templates/System/details.asp?id=29824&PID=572829
(I just opened this one and am laughing--- I see I made a typo. It says I "wash" the inside of the "toilet" monthly. I'll have to see what I was supposed to type. hmmmmm, we actually clean that daily. I'll have to go back in and fix that document! Later though. I need to check on 2 sick ones right now........)

children's chores: http://whatsupwithweaver.net/templates/System/details.asp?id=29824&PID=572895