The sun began to shine for about three hours on Sunday (five days ago) and we all came out and spent one glorious afternoon in the beautiful rays. I even laid in the hammock for an hour to read my Bible (I'm currently reading through the entire book in 90 days--today is something like Day 67). Then, on every day since then we've seen at least a few minutes of sunshine. Yesterday we thought we'd died and gone to heaven. But today, ahhhh, today has been even brighter and more beautiful. It's wonderful to need sunglasses and no umbrella. I currently can see off in the distance a gray sky, but when you've been privy to some sunshine for a few hours--today's been a record number 6 hours in a row--you don't mind the rain that comes.
A friend here told me that in her rain gauge, since the beginning of the calendar year which has been nearly 90 days, we have had only six days that didn't show an accumulation of rain. I was surprised that it's been as many as six days. It's rained here every single day but I'm guessing that as the heat evaporates some of the rain, then maybe what came down does not remain in the gauge if it's not been a huge amount.
So, having said all of that, I just want to leave you with the fact that sunshine is a hot commodity here--pun intended. : )
Blessings, kim
Friday, March 28, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Sickness
I'm sad to report that we've got a few men down here. Doug's got flu-like symptoms which have been absolutely no fun throughout the entire day. We went to school in the morning and came home at lunch where I saw him for a total of 10 minutes before he disappeared into the bedroom and did not come out at all except to go to the restroom. Poor guy is miserable but getting tons of rest.
Seth came home today with a fever when his only complaint this morning was a sore throat. After gargling with salt water and receiving many hugs, he left for school at 8:00 seeming not his best but certainly far from ill. When he got home this afternoon, he laid on the couch and fell fast asleep within minutes. This medical issue is in addition to the swollen thumb on his right hand from a hangnail that he pulled out and got infected about 10 days ago. One round of antibiotics did not cut it so tonight we began round two. Though he's now not his normal self, he was still easily appeased when allowed to spend the remainder of his evening watching Despicable Me II. As a matter of fact, the rest of the kids were thrilled that someone was sick and 'needed something to watch while Seth laid down.'
Selah too saw our doctor neighbor because she has about seven little scabs on her right leg that are surrounded by infected, red skin. When I went to the pharmacy earlier today I asked for some Neosporin, which they tell me is the same in English and in Spanish; however, when I asked for it they didn't have any and wondered what I needed. When we showed the pharmacist the cause for medicine, she reported that we needed oral antibiotics. I bought the $3 bottle but knew that I should consult my trusty neighbor for a second option before putting any of it down the hatch. Thank goodness I did, because when I showed it to them across the street, they told me that we should hold off on antibiotics. I then wondered aloud what we were doing wrong that three of our four kids were fighting puss and infections in their bug bites and skinned knees. (Did I mention that over the weekend Doug and I had spent a good deal of time cleaning up Jacobey's enormously swollen arm which had been bitten by some pesky bug? I'll leave out the gory details but will suffice it to say that even tough old Cobey wanted to vomit at the sight of what came out of his arm.)
Back to the question...What am I doing wrong? Much to my relief, my precious neighbor replied, 'You're missionaries." Ahhhh. That's becoming one of those phrases that I hear many times. Often when things go wrong, it's apparent that it's because of that. Praise God it's not because I'm being a careless mom or because we have dirty, accident prone kids. Well,.......our kids are pretty dirty......
You know, not to be left out, Darius pulled me aside right before bed to show me this black dot he has on the bottom of his foot. Probably a splinter that he's left and not worried with till now. Cute.
So, as you read this, please pray a quick prayer for healing for my brood and for protection for me. (Especially since we all shared desert last night and tried each others' food. No telling what's ahead!)
Blessings, kim
Seth came home today with a fever when his only complaint this morning was a sore throat. After gargling with salt water and receiving many hugs, he left for school at 8:00 seeming not his best but certainly far from ill. When he got home this afternoon, he laid on the couch and fell fast asleep within minutes. This medical issue is in addition to the swollen thumb on his right hand from a hangnail that he pulled out and got infected about 10 days ago. One round of antibiotics did not cut it so tonight we began round two. Though he's now not his normal self, he was still easily appeased when allowed to spend the remainder of his evening watching Despicable Me II. As a matter of fact, the rest of the kids were thrilled that someone was sick and 'needed something to watch while Seth laid down.'
Selah too saw our doctor neighbor because she has about seven little scabs on her right leg that are surrounded by infected, red skin. When I went to the pharmacy earlier today I asked for some Neosporin, which they tell me is the same in English and in Spanish; however, when I asked for it they didn't have any and wondered what I needed. When we showed the pharmacist the cause for medicine, she reported that we needed oral antibiotics. I bought the $3 bottle but knew that I should consult my trusty neighbor for a second option before putting any of it down the hatch. Thank goodness I did, because when I showed it to them across the street, they told me that we should hold off on antibiotics. I then wondered aloud what we were doing wrong that three of our four kids were fighting puss and infections in their bug bites and skinned knees. (Did I mention that over the weekend Doug and I had spent a good deal of time cleaning up Jacobey's enormously swollen arm which had been bitten by some pesky bug? I'll leave out the gory details but will suffice it to say that even tough old Cobey wanted to vomit at the sight of what came out of his arm.)
Back to the question...What am I doing wrong? Much to my relief, my precious neighbor replied, 'You're missionaries." Ahhhh. That's becoming one of those phrases that I hear many times. Often when things go wrong, it's apparent that it's because of that. Praise God it's not because I'm being a careless mom or because we have dirty, accident prone kids. Well,.......our kids are pretty dirty......
You know, not to be left out, Darius pulled me aside right before bed to show me this black dot he has on the bottom of his foot. Probably a splinter that he's left and not worried with till now. Cute.
So, as you read this, please pray a quick prayer for healing for my brood and for protection for me. (Especially since we all shared desert last night and tried each others' food. No telling what's ahead!)
Blessings, kim
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Grace
This topic of Grace is something that's been rolling around in my head for the past four years. I noticed a while back when our pastor talked on the subject I knew the definition of grace, and I knew in the Bible when grace was mentioned, but I also knew that I did not 'get' or understand grace. Grace to me then was 'unmerited favor' or plainly speaking, getting something you did not deserve. Often what muddies the water too is that grace is something we say to bless our food before meals, and it is when someone does something with a bit of class or beauty. Though grace is all of these, my knowledge of grace did not really amount to a hill of beans or make my life more amazing or fruitful.
And then I think of the song Amazing Grace and I know that grace really is amazing but I'm not sure how and I'm not sure what I have to do with it. What does grace look like?
Well, since I arrived in Ecuador the Lord has slowly been revealing the true meaning of grace. I've come to see that grace is quite literally the most basic, yet unnatural, responses we can have toward others. It looks like patience when we would honestly prefer to lose our cool. It looks like forgiveness when we'd rather hold a grudge, remind someone of their faults, or decide that we don't like them. It looks like serving when we'd rather go first or take the bigger piece or simply watch out for our own needs. It looks like kindness when we'd rather not notice what others need or what would give them a leg up on a task. In essence, grace is purposefully choosing the harder road for myself so that others may be blessed in some tangible way. (AND, it is not letting them know that you've taken the harder road and now they owe you.)
That's why grace has been kind of out of reach for me (and maybe for you) because I'm so eternally connected to my own needs and wants and thoughts. I don't often put aside what would make me happy so that I can specifically bless others and go unnoticed. It is so hard not getting credit for those acts of kindness I perform. They help me to feel as if I'm noble and Christ-like. Yet, as I read through the Bible, I notice that Christ quite often refused the attention that many wanted to give Him. Often he even told people to keep quiet when He healed a person or brought someone back from the dead. He was not looking for the noteriety, He was looking for the opportunity to serve, period.
So, now that I've noticed that grace is very do-able, but just plain hard, I understand that the Lord expects me to give grace out by the bucketloads. That is how one becomes more like Christ. So, when one of our kids was not invited to a friend's birthday party but all of her other friends were, we opted for grace. What is easy? No, but to forgive was the right thing to do. And on those many, many other occasions when someone disappoints us or they hurt us or they need us or they frustrate us, the right thing to do is to handle it with grace--Ahhhh.
I think the main reason that it took till coming to Ecuador to see this is because we live in a small community of people. Our town of Shell contains about 7000 people and of those, maybe 100 are missionaries. Therefore, we missionaries go to school together, church together, youth group together, Bible study together, live together, etc. You get the idea. Well, I realized very quickly that my flawed nature was on display for all to see (of course, not just mine but that of my husband and kids too). In a small community, we cannot help but be privy to one another's true self. It therefore became apparent that I needed grace. I needed it for the mess that we Thompsons leave on the compound playground, for the Spanish that we butcher while trying to learn the language, for the homework that we simply didn't get done in time, for our late arrival into church, for our leaving our bikes parked in someone else's yard, for my needing to borrow flour or an onion or butter or any number of things, and for our needing help to find our missing bird--a second time! There are a million other things here that I could add to the list too. These people here see that we're messy, needy, basic people. We can't hide it for one second.
So, having said all that, I came to the realization that if we need grace from so many others around us, then dog-gone-it, I need to be doling out grace by the bucket loads to others. I know how precious it is to me, I can guess that it's pretty precious to them too. And, humanity shows, they're going to need some grace of their own.
Then it all came into clearer view: God pours out His grace upon us. We so don't deserve it. We are all just lost little souls wandering around down here in need of someone to set us straight. We're a mess. God looks upon us in love and blesses us instead of curses us and loves us instead of banishing us for our sins. He's so good to us. All the while we should likewise notice what He does--we're a bunch of messes in need of love and grace. So, we should be responding appropriately and in love and grace toward others. That's how it should work. As long as we know who we are and whose we are, we're good. When we think we deserve great treatment or believe that we're perfect, then we're not living out of grace.
And then I think of the song Amazing Grace and I know that grace really is amazing but I'm not sure how and I'm not sure what I have to do with it. What does grace look like?
Well, since I arrived in Ecuador the Lord has slowly been revealing the true meaning of grace. I've come to see that grace is quite literally the most basic, yet unnatural, responses we can have toward others. It looks like patience when we would honestly prefer to lose our cool. It looks like forgiveness when we'd rather hold a grudge, remind someone of their faults, or decide that we don't like them. It looks like serving when we'd rather go first or take the bigger piece or simply watch out for our own needs. It looks like kindness when we'd rather not notice what others need or what would give them a leg up on a task. In essence, grace is purposefully choosing the harder road for myself so that others may be blessed in some tangible way. (AND, it is not letting them know that you've taken the harder road and now they owe you.)
That's why grace has been kind of out of reach for me (and maybe for you) because I'm so eternally connected to my own needs and wants and thoughts. I don't often put aside what would make me happy so that I can specifically bless others and go unnoticed. It is so hard not getting credit for those acts of kindness I perform. They help me to feel as if I'm noble and Christ-like. Yet, as I read through the Bible, I notice that Christ quite often refused the attention that many wanted to give Him. Often he even told people to keep quiet when He healed a person or brought someone back from the dead. He was not looking for the noteriety, He was looking for the opportunity to serve, period.
So, now that I've noticed that grace is very do-able, but just plain hard, I understand that the Lord expects me to give grace out by the bucketloads. That is how one becomes more like Christ. So, when one of our kids was not invited to a friend's birthday party but all of her other friends were, we opted for grace. What is easy? No, but to forgive was the right thing to do. And on those many, many other occasions when someone disappoints us or they hurt us or they need us or they frustrate us, the right thing to do is to handle it with grace--Ahhhh.
I think the main reason that it took till coming to Ecuador to see this is because we live in a small community of people. Our town of Shell contains about 7000 people and of those, maybe 100 are missionaries. Therefore, we missionaries go to school together, church together, youth group together, Bible study together, live together, etc. You get the idea. Well, I realized very quickly that my flawed nature was on display for all to see (of course, not just mine but that of my husband and kids too). In a small community, we cannot help but be privy to one another's true self. It therefore became apparent that I needed grace. I needed it for the mess that we Thompsons leave on the compound playground, for the Spanish that we butcher while trying to learn the language, for the homework that we simply didn't get done in time, for our late arrival into church, for our leaving our bikes parked in someone else's yard, for my needing to borrow flour or an onion or butter or any number of things, and for our needing help to find our missing bird--a second time! There are a million other things here that I could add to the list too. These people here see that we're messy, needy, basic people. We can't hide it for one second.
So, having said all that, I came to the realization that if we need grace from so many others around us, then dog-gone-it, I need to be doling out grace by the bucket loads to others. I know how precious it is to me, I can guess that it's pretty precious to them too. And, humanity shows, they're going to need some grace of their own.
Then it all came into clearer view: God pours out His grace upon us. We so don't deserve it. We are all just lost little souls wandering around down here in need of someone to set us straight. We're a mess. God looks upon us in love and blesses us instead of curses us and loves us instead of banishing us for our sins. He's so good to us. All the while we should likewise notice what He does--we're a bunch of messes in need of love and grace. So, we should be responding appropriately and in love and grace toward others. That's how it should work. As long as we know who we are and whose we are, we're good. When we think we deserve great treatment or believe that we're perfect, then we're not living out of grace.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Learning Styles
I must tell you that every time I've written something for this blog recently, I inadvertently hit the wrong key and everything I've written up to that point has been erased! This is why I've been a bit absent lately. I've grown frustrated with technology. Yet, I have to keep remembering that technology at times is a very good friend of mine and it is at this moment how I'm communicating with you. So....I'll just have to type my thoughts out again.
Today I was blessed to be given the opportunity to present a workshop to the teachers at the orphanage. They were interested in learning more about the topic of 'Learning Styles' and asked me if I wouldn't mind teaching them what I know. Well, since teaching is what I love, I jumped at the chance and knew I needed to hit the books because it had been years since I last thought about such things. I visited our school library and was greatly pleased to find two books on the topic and then I spent many an afternoon or evening surfing the Web to find more information and resources. It slowly came back to me but was far more interesting this time because I have children in my own home who epitomize the very things I was discovering.
For example, in my search of 'Learning Styles' (and there are many ways to label them) I zeroed in on the titles of Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. In taking copious notes about 'Visual Learners' I soon discovered that our oldest child, Darius, is a very visual kid. He is easily distracted and drawn to television, videos, computer screens, pictures, or whatever else comes his way visually. He reads a ton because it feeds his need for mental pictures, has beautiful handwriting because he notices the exact differences between the letters and their correct formation, and he takes some of the most detailed notes in his classroom at school. I also remember that at the age of two Darius could put together a US Map puzzle--we even got it on video because it was so amazing. He simply thinks in pictures.
Our second son, Jacobey is the typical 'Auditory Learner'. He's the kid who loves to chat, engages in class discussion willingly, loves hearing stories much more than reading them, remembers exactly what has been said to him, and honestly has a hard time not making noise. He is constantly singing, changing, whistling, or repeating the same phrase over and over again. I've had to say to him on several occasions, "Once you've said that eight times, you probably don't need to repeat it again." He loves sounds and words and learning the Spanish language. Upon our return to the US, he'll be the kid who knows Spanish the best because he's tried it out on anyone who would listen and respond to him. In fact, when he was eighteen months old, he was speaking in complete sentences. At eight years old I sent him to the new neighbor's house and he talked her ear off. Chatter box boy.
Our third guy, Seth, is such a 'Kinesthetic Learner' that it's almost funny. He's the kid who leaves the house with his shirt on backwards every day. I do mean every. He has the messiest room, at school the messiest desk, and on the playground is the most likely to come in with the messiest pants. He wiggles constantly, builds LEGO continually, sits on my lap and/or wrestles someone incessantly, and never has his shoes tied. He also needs lots of breaks when doing any mental (not physical) activity. Yet, he's so gifted in physical abilities--when he was two years old, we found that he could swing a bat with amazing accuracy when having a ball pitched to him. He's the guy that at three-years-old played T-Ball (pee-wee baseball) and scored a home run every time he came up bat. He was serious about his sports even then.
Knowing all of this and then teaching it all to the teachers (in SPANISH no less!!), has caused me to therefore know a bit more about my kiddos and how they're wired and gifted by God. I think it's given me a better insight in not only how they think, but also on how I need to nurture them. I've realized that patience is in order when I see the destruction left behind by my kinesthetic child, when I hear a phrase on the ninth occasion-consecutively-, and when my visual boy has a really hard time disconnecting himself from the screen that has him in a vice grip, or so to speak. It's been a learning opportunity for me and I've probably come away with way more than I expected. Praise God.
Still not sure what Selah is. She's a little of all three: into appearances, very chatty, and extremely messy. Maybe she's just the baby princess sorting things out. Time will tell.
If interested in looking at the topic yourself, google VARK or VAR Questionnaire on Learning Styles and you can find and take the same survey I gave the teachers today. It might be a silly Saturday afternoon activity or it may lead to something more. Who knows?
Blessings,
kim
Today I was blessed to be given the opportunity to present a workshop to the teachers at the orphanage. They were interested in learning more about the topic of 'Learning Styles' and asked me if I wouldn't mind teaching them what I know. Well, since teaching is what I love, I jumped at the chance and knew I needed to hit the books because it had been years since I last thought about such things. I visited our school library and was greatly pleased to find two books on the topic and then I spent many an afternoon or evening surfing the Web to find more information and resources. It slowly came back to me but was far more interesting this time because I have children in my own home who epitomize the very things I was discovering.
For example, in my search of 'Learning Styles' (and there are many ways to label them) I zeroed in on the titles of Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. In taking copious notes about 'Visual Learners' I soon discovered that our oldest child, Darius, is a very visual kid. He is easily distracted and drawn to television, videos, computer screens, pictures, or whatever else comes his way visually. He reads a ton because it feeds his need for mental pictures, has beautiful handwriting because he notices the exact differences between the letters and their correct formation, and he takes some of the most detailed notes in his classroom at school. I also remember that at the age of two Darius could put together a US Map puzzle--we even got it on video because it was so amazing. He simply thinks in pictures.
Our second son, Jacobey is the typical 'Auditory Learner'. He's the kid who loves to chat, engages in class discussion willingly, loves hearing stories much more than reading them, remembers exactly what has been said to him, and honestly has a hard time not making noise. He is constantly singing, changing, whistling, or repeating the same phrase over and over again. I've had to say to him on several occasions, "Once you've said that eight times, you probably don't need to repeat it again." He loves sounds and words and learning the Spanish language. Upon our return to the US, he'll be the kid who knows Spanish the best because he's tried it out on anyone who would listen and respond to him. In fact, when he was eighteen months old, he was speaking in complete sentences. At eight years old I sent him to the new neighbor's house and he talked her ear off. Chatter box boy.
Our third guy, Seth, is such a 'Kinesthetic Learner' that it's almost funny. He's the kid who leaves the house with his shirt on backwards every day. I do mean every. He has the messiest room, at school the messiest desk, and on the playground is the most likely to come in with the messiest pants. He wiggles constantly, builds LEGO continually, sits on my lap and/or wrestles someone incessantly, and never has his shoes tied. He also needs lots of breaks when doing any mental (not physical) activity. Yet, he's so gifted in physical abilities--when he was two years old, we found that he could swing a bat with amazing accuracy when having a ball pitched to him. He's the guy that at three-years-old played T-Ball (pee-wee baseball) and scored a home run every time he came up bat. He was serious about his sports even then.
Knowing all of this and then teaching it all to the teachers (in SPANISH no less!!), has caused me to therefore know a bit more about my kiddos and how they're wired and gifted by God. I think it's given me a better insight in not only how they think, but also on how I need to nurture them. I've realized that patience is in order when I see the destruction left behind by my kinesthetic child, when I hear a phrase on the ninth occasion-consecutively-, and when my visual boy has a really hard time disconnecting himself from the screen that has him in a vice grip, or so to speak. It's been a learning opportunity for me and I've probably come away with way more than I expected. Praise God.
Still not sure what Selah is. She's a little of all three: into appearances, very chatty, and extremely messy. Maybe she's just the baby princess sorting things out. Time will tell.
If interested in looking at the topic yourself, google VARK or VAR Questionnaire on Learning Styles and you can find and take the same survey I gave the teachers today. It might be a silly Saturday afternoon activity or it may lead to something more. Who knows?
Blessings,
kim
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Rain
Today I was just considering the rain that falls here in Shell. We can get a rainfall as many as five times a day. In fact, at times it's almost constant and very much intrusive in our lives. Rain can keep us home, make us wet, surprise us when we're unprepared, soak our shoes, put mildew on our clothes hanging in the closet, make our crackers inedible, our clotheslines unusable, and my hair extremely frizzy and unattractive. Rain is a pain.
Yet, it is what makes this place so green, flowering, and therefore filled with birds and other wildlife. It graces us with wonderful 'white noise' when it's time to sleep or read a book. It keeps us hydrated and our rivers flowing. If we had no rain, we would most certainly have very little else to look at and enjoy here in the jungle. We know from experience since at one time in our lives we lived in the desert where it did not rain once in nearly two years.
Which would we prefer? Hmmmmm. Constant rain or constant sun? Not sure. But, we do know that no matter where we are, that's the way it is and we'll just have to bloom where we're planted. So...we carry umbrellas, hang up our shoes, wait till the rain stops or at least slows down before we run errands, wrap our crackers well, rarely use our closeline, and I use lots and lots of mousse. (Hair's still frizzy though!)
: )
Blessings, kim
Yet, it is what makes this place so green, flowering, and therefore filled with birds and other wildlife. It graces us with wonderful 'white noise' when it's time to sleep or read a book. It keeps us hydrated and our rivers flowing. If we had no rain, we would most certainly have very little else to look at and enjoy here in the jungle. We know from experience since at one time in our lives we lived in the desert where it did not rain once in nearly two years.
Which would we prefer? Hmmmmm. Constant rain or constant sun? Not sure. But, we do know that no matter where we are, that's the way it is and we'll just have to bloom where we're planted. So...we carry umbrellas, hang up our shoes, wait till the rain stops or at least slows down before we run errands, wrap our crackers well, rarely use our closeline, and I use lots and lots of mousse. (Hair's still frizzy though!)
: )
Blessings, kim
Sunday, March 9, 2014
The Purpose of Life
Yesterday morning brought lots of sun--probably only the fifth day since 2014 began that we had an abundance of sun. People were out by the droves and the kids played their hearts out. Hikes happened, errands were run, and friends took to the pools. Doug went for a 25 mile bike ride, Darius ran from house to house on the compound, and the other kids and I visited the little outdoor markets to pick up groceries and connect with whoever we encountered. It was such a pleasant way to start the day.
When Doug finally returned from his ride, he reported the need for a new bicycle wheel. No, the tire didn't puncture; the entire wheel had been twisted. Apparently wild, angry dogs continue to be the bane of his existence. The story goes....While going down a steep dirt road, a dog began to chase the cyclists. Doug's cycling partner fell off of his own bike, slid toward Doug, and Doug unavoidably ran over his friend's bike. Praise God, there were no injuries to speak of except for the need for a new wheel. It was a bike ride for the record books.
Likewise, when we are motoring through life we often go careening into things for which we're unprepared. We're completely caught off guard and become overwhelmingly upset and 'bent out of shape' by challenges, mishaps, troubles, and the like. Thankfully, Doug wasn't bent out of shape--but his bike was. It was so bent, it will be unusable unless someone painstakingly pounds the rim back into a usable form.
Life is like that. Many things come across our paths that shake us up and bend us out of shape. Often we then become unusable. We are so unsettled by things that have hurt us or harmed us, that we cease to be creative, productive, reflective, or receptive. We are so stuck on being hurt and bitter that we lose our purpose in life. We instead seek to nurse our wounds till kingdom come.
Oh that we would not be that way! Don't you know and have you not heard that our Lord is the King of kings and the Lord of lords? Don't you know that we are more than conquerors? That we have been given all that we need to succeed in the Christian life? That nothing can separate us from the love of Christ? That we can do ALL things through Christ who gives us strength?
Those who wait upon the Lord will run and not grow weary--they will be be filled up and not run dry. Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest, says it the best:
When Doug finally returned from his ride, he reported the need for a new bicycle wheel. No, the tire didn't puncture; the entire wheel had been twisted. Apparently wild, angry dogs continue to be the bane of his existence. The story goes....While going down a steep dirt road, a dog began to chase the cyclists. Doug's cycling partner fell off of his own bike, slid toward Doug, and Doug unavoidably ran over his friend's bike. Praise God, there were no injuries to speak of except for the need for a new wheel. It was a bike ride for the record books.
Likewise, when we are motoring through life we often go careening into things for which we're unprepared. We're completely caught off guard and become overwhelmingly upset and 'bent out of shape' by challenges, mishaps, troubles, and the like. Thankfully, Doug wasn't bent out of shape--but his bike was. It was so bent, it will be unusable unless someone painstakingly pounds the rim back into a usable form.
Life is like that. Many things come across our paths that shake us up and bend us out of shape. Often we then become unusable. We are so unsettled by things that have hurt us or harmed us, that we cease to be creative, productive, reflective, or receptive. We are so stuck on being hurt and bitter that we lose our purpose in life. We instead seek to nurse our wounds till kingdom come.
Oh that we would not be that way! Don't you know and have you not heard that our Lord is the King of kings and the Lord of lords? Don't you know that we are more than conquerors? That we have been given all that we need to succeed in the Christian life? That nothing can separate us from the love of Christ? That we can do ALL things through Christ who gives us strength?
Those who wait upon the Lord will run and not grow weary--they will be be filled up and not run dry. Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest, says it the best:
"Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them. Let's apply that to our own circumstances. The things we try to avoid and fight against--tribulation, suffering, and persecution--are the very things that produce abundant joy in us. 'We are more than conquerors through Him' 'in all these things'; NOT IN SPITE OF THEM, but in the MIDST of them. A saint doesn't know the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. Paul said, 'I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation' (2 Cor. 7:4)." (all caps mine)
Now isn't that something to ponder? If problems in our life don't produce joy in us, then something is amiss? What!?? Could that be right? Well, yes.
Paul, in Romans 5:3-4 says that we "glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope." In Eugine Peterson's The Message, we see that he paraphrases Romans 5:3-5 to say this:
"There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling short-changed. Quite the contrary--we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit."
So,again, yes. When troubles in our lives make us more grouchy and bitter rather than more joyful and grateful for what we've been given (instead of angry for what we've lost), then something is amiss. Now I'm not saying that what you're going through or what we're going through here isn't hard. It is. Sometimes overwhelmingly hard. It becomes hard to laugh, to trust, to smile, to relax. Yet, we are more than conquerors. If we have no joy and no peace, then we are letting our circumstances dictate our perspective and peace. We are letting others and events tell us what to think and how to feel. That's a poor choice--it's living fickle and shortsighted.
Instead, the Lord calls us to victory, to overcoming, to super-abounding in Christ. He calls us to see the trials as opportunities to cry out to Him, to rely on Him, to seek Him, to learn from Him, and to lean fully into Him. That's what He's there for. Then, when we see that He not only listens but He answers and guides and directs and sustains us, then the joy will come--and it will come in buckets. It will come alongside peace and victory and a sense of God's presence. In my mind, there is no greater gift out there. To know that the God of the universe is calling all the shots in my life and that He's got my back and is walking me through every choice and every moment--well, troubles may come but my God is bigger and He's got all the solutions.
So, in essence, I can say with full assurance that life here in Shell is not a picnic. Often it is overwhelming and unsettling. It kicks my tail around a bit. I'm sure you feel the same wherever you are. Yet, we're overcomers! Let's live above it all. Let's choose joy. "The Joy of the Lord is my Strength!"
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Carnaval
Since we now live in South America, we're discovering just what Carnaval means (in Spanish it's spelled with an 'a' in the middle). On Friday the fun began. The school had two hours worth of water-play to get the season kicked off right. Apparently it is Ecuadorian tradition to douse unsuspecting people with water or anything else you might have handy; since we live in a rain forest, water's pretty handy here--as a matter of fact, as I type this, the rain is pouring down by the truckloads.
It began with a beautiful sky which is such a rarity here--in all of January and February, we've had, we think, 3 days of sun--and dry students with water pistols in tow. First we played a game of shoot-the-ping-pong ball-till-it-crosses-the-line...
...and there was throw-water balloons-at-the-opposing-team's-king-while-you-smack-your-aggressors-with-a-flour-filled-sock.....
.....there was the balance-a-small-cup-of-water-on-a-paddle-held-head-high-game....
....and then one of our sons made up the sit-your-bum-in-a-bin-of-water activity.
Needless to say, fun was had by all. Even the teachers weren't free from the mayhem. Each had to sit in a chair while their students tried to hit the mark. When the student made contact with the target, a water balloon was popped over their head. Even Doug had his time in the hot seat.
Before the kids headed home for the day, there was one last all-out water fight.
Even Doug had a super-blaster water gun which he used against all would-be-attackers like a pro.
In the end, everyone was soaked to the bone and, praise God, able to dry off in the sun.
Once we got home, the water free-for-all continued on the compound. The kids formed teams, made water balloons out of plastic bags, and took turns blasting each other with those and water pistols for another few hours. I even spotted a few of the boys (not ours) on a roof so that gravity and the element of surprise would work in their favor.
Yesterday we decided to meander outside of Shell to see how the rest of the country (or at least Banos) celebrates Carnaval. We took the 8 am bus and headed westward. After about thirty minutes a few of us got off and took a hike in the foliage--our friend Debbie is here and she's a huge nature buff and lover of Geocaching--if you don't know what that is, you should find out. It's really a lot of fun. So we hiked for about two hours right around this particular river bank and discovered some waterfalls and really neat things along the way. These were butterflies resting on a rock.
Debbie found the largest bean any of us had ever seen. We likened it to what must have been dropped by Jack just before the beanstalk sprung up.
Then, we saw what are very typical leaves from the jungle plants here. Huge too. It is about four feet in length.
Finally after our jungle tour we took a bus the rest of the way into Banos and had a Mexican food lunch. At one point, Jacobey turned to Doug to ask him if he could hear the angels singing. I'm certain they were since it was a glorious meal and the food tasted just like home. Even the salsa was tasty.
Next we were privy to a parade that roughly reminded us of Mardi Gras. People on floats threw out candy, roses, tomatoes (in a bag), and oranges. Since Ecuadorians are fairly short people, we could actually see pretty well over their heads. Jacobey took these pictures for us:
It was a wonderful opportunity to learn about Ecuadorian culture and history. Thankfully we never got pegged with water or shaving cream--we became more savvy as the day wore on. We made it back home at the end of the day having had a fairly successful outing.
Thanks for reading,
Blessings, kim
It began with a beautiful sky which is such a rarity here--in all of January and February, we've had, we think, 3 days of sun--and dry students with water pistols in tow. First we played a game of shoot-the-ping-pong ball-till-it-crosses-the-line...
In the end, everyone was soaked to the bone and, praise God, able to dry off in the sun.
Yesterday we decided to meander outside of Shell to see how the rest of the country (or at least Banos) celebrates Carnaval. We took the 8 am bus and headed westward. After about thirty minutes a few of us got off and took a hike in the foliage--our friend Debbie is here and she's a huge nature buff and lover of Geocaching--if you don't know what that is, you should find out. It's really a lot of fun. So we hiked for about two hours right around this particular river bank and discovered some waterfalls and really neat things along the way. These were butterflies resting on a rock.
Then, we saw what are very typical leaves from the jungle plants here. Huge too. It is about four feet in length.
Next we were privy to a parade that roughly reminded us of Mardi Gras. People on floats threw out candy, roses, tomatoes (in a bag), and oranges. Since Ecuadorians are fairly short people, we could actually see pretty well over their heads. Jacobey took these pictures for us:
Thanks for reading,
Blessings, kim
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