A Thanksgiving Prayer

To continue my list of favorites, the following is a prayer that I keep on my fridge and pray it often. And, I am going to spare you commentary!

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Oh, God, when I have food, help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work, help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a warm home, help me to remember the homeless;
When I am without pain, help me to remember those who suffer;
And remembering, help me destroy my complacency and bestir my compassion.
Make me concerned enough to help, by word and deed, those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Samuel F. Pugh

"For when I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me..." Matthew 25:35

Another Favorite

Since I mentioned how the Doxology is one of my favorites, I thought I would follow the trend and mention some of my other favorites this week.  (Also, I am running low on riveting, awe-inspiring, laugh-inducing anecdotes that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat and asking for more. - Oh, wait a second - I never had those! lol!  Well, anyway...)

Here is a favorite verse of mine.  I have many favorite verses for many reasons, but this verse I come back to when I feel like my heart is being pulled in the wrong directions.  There are some gray areas that don't have definitive prohibitions in the Bible, but what is the wise choice for me? 


"Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive." 1 Corinthians 10:23

Another version replaces the "but not everything is constructive" with "but I will not be mastered by anything."

I have hung this verse on my fridge or in other places where I feel I need the reminder.  It is one that I know by heart and that has changed my heart many times when I have wanted my own way.

This verse is followed by an even harder verse to practice sometimes.

Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. 1 Corinthians 10:24 


I am okay with being good to others in situations when it is clear that I should be.  Sure, I will be kind and talk to the homeless person when I am serving them in the mission, but do I treat them with the same love and care when I see them out on the streets?  Oh, and there are so many situations like this for me.  Times when I do the right thing when it is expected of a "good person" or a Christian, but what about when it is outside of the bounds of just what is needed to be labeled "good" by our culture.  Am I willing to to go past cultural expectations to do what God calls me to do? 

This reminds me of a situation this summer.  I took my kids to the pool.  They were playing in the shallow end when a couple entered the pool.  They were being pretty loud and obnoxious and the man had few teeth and they were in their clothes, instead of bathing suits.  I really wanted just to move as far away from them as possible.  But my son, who has little to no social inhibitions, started talking to them - a lot.  When he learned the female couldn't swim, he took it upon himself to teach her.  They were more than willing to have the social interaction and were being pretty boisterous about the entire exchange.  There were not many people in the pool and I felt the eyes of all those who were on us.  I began to feel very embarrassed and was wondering what people must think of us and of me as a mother - letting my kids interact with people who clearly had no social etiquette.  I even tried to tell Elias to leave them alone and let them swim more than once.  Then all of a sudden, my heart became terribly convicted.  I cared more about what the other people in the pool thought than by letting my son be kind to someone.  It wasn't like he was in danger.   I was right there with them and everyone's eyes were on us anyway, so it wasn't like they could get away with anything without someone seeing.  So, I decided that I would let the interaction continue and that I would not just allow it, but I would interact too.  It was just another lesson that I have learned from my kids.

Hmmm, didn't plan on sharing that story.  I was just going to give you my favorite verse and call it a day.  But, if you know me, I am very rarely a woman of few words!

The Doxology - AMEN!

Some days I just want to belt out the song that is known as the Doxology. I don't know why, it just feels right. It was my favorite part of the service when we attended a United Methodist church.  At the end of every service it is sung.  Today is one of those days!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye Heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

Thanks to all the soldiers

I have a friend whose husband has just left for a deployment that will ultimately take him to Kuwait (well, he's my friend too, but you know what I mean!).  I have been thinking of them and praying for them and all the other families who had to say goodbye from our region yesterday. 
Even though I blog, I also still keep a personal journal as well.  The following excerpt is from an entry in my personal journal on the day I left for Peru.  It has been on my mind today and decided to share it.

It was hard to leave the kids this morning...When I was on the train shuttling to my gate, there was a young soldier riding with me.  His face was solemn as he talked to the lady who was riding the train with him.  He said he wanted to get breakfast before he boarded, because he didn't think he would be able to eat on the rest of the flights over.  The way he said it made me think he didn't mean it was because food wouldn't be offered, but because he didn't think he would be physically able to handle it.  I am assuming he is being deployed somewhere, probably somewhere outside the states.  I followed him as he walked in that straight-backed, determined gait that soldiers often keep, even when it isn't required.  As I studied his back and his sober glances to his companion, I realized how selfish I am to be worried about leaving my kids for a week for a trip I chose to take.  This man may be facing the ultimate of unexpectedness and he has little choice at this point.  Since then I have seen several other soldiers in the airport and I have had to fight the urge to stop them and ask them where they are going and if I could pray for them.  Maybe I should.  I wish I would have thanked that young soldier on the train this morning, because even if he wasn't going overseas, he was serving our country.  He is serving for me and my family... Airports are interesting places.  We are here for different reasons, from different places, and arriving somewhere where we will part ways, probably forever, but for a few minutes or hours, we share common ground.

He does it again!

This post from Shaun Groves is a great description of how I have been feeling since returning, the transformation that is still in development and I hope is for a long time.

Then there were 3...

Well, Josh has succumbed to the cold that has visited our house through me.  The jury is still out about whether Bella is going to get it.  She sounds a little nasally, but she always does around this time of year and she isn't showing any signs that she is feeling bad - yet. Josh is plugging through, going to work as usual, but he is definitely moving slower and is a little grumpy about it!
Elias is home again from school, but he is in that stage where he no longer wants to be laying down and stuck in the house, but he still has a cough and sounds sick.  If I didn't care about the other kids in school getting sick from him, I would have definitely sent him today. 
I will be glad when we are all well again, but I am thankful that it is only a minor illness. 
We watched "To Save A Life" last night.  It was a movie that made me think yet again about how trivial we make serious things in life.  About how we spend so much time thinking about entertaining ourselves and finding our own success and happiness, sometimes at the expense of others, even in the church.  I would love to feel like I had never been on the offensive side - that I had never ignored or judged anyone, but I know too well that it isn't true. I am still digesting it and I hope that I won't forget about it anytime soon. It is one of few Christian films I have seen that shows a realistic view of what it means to have a relationship with God and have Christian fellowship, even with the American church's faults and foibles.  If you haven't seen it, I would strongly encourage you to watch it.

Doogie's Blog

I was driving home from the grocery store last night and was thinking about the blogs I have been reading lately.  Out of the blue, a scene popped into my head of Doogie from Doogie Howser, M.D. sitting down at his computer at the end of each episode.  Could Doogie have been the first blogger?  Just because I was curious and know that you can find pretty much anything on the internet, I googled "Doogie Howser's Journal" and this is what I found.  An actual blog of all of his entries.  Now I don't know if they are completely accurate, but they look about right.  - And I have no idea who had the time or the desire to make a blog from a t.v. show character's musings from 2 decades ago (ouch!  2 decades ago!  I am old!). I had forgotten that all of them were one to two line entries (something I would find next to impossible!).  

...And now, not only has someone taken the time to recreate Doogie's blog, but I have taken the time to look for it and blog about it...Now who is more pathetic?

Today Elias is home sick with the cold that I gave him.  Even though I am sorry that he is sick, I am enjoying having a little alone time with him this afternoon, while Bella is in school.  We just snuggled under his Iron Man blanket after we took a trip to the pharmacy to get him some more medicine.

Holding him, while his chest rattled under my hand reminds me of the little girl I held in Peru.  She was the cook's daughter and she sat with us all morning while her mother worked hard in the kitchen making meals for us and all the children at the church that day.  Her little chest rattled too.  I wondered then if she had any medicine to take for her congestion.  The community where she lives is in the desert and there is a breeze from the ocean that blew the entire time we were there.  As you can see, the mother had her well bundled, but still the air made her breathing sound even more raspy.
I have thought a lot about options this morning.  We all have so many options.  Just this morning, I have had the option:
1. To send Elias to school or not to send him.
2. To put put pants or shorts on Bella for her school day. To put tennis shoes or sandals on her feet.
3. To give the kids oatmeal, instead of eggs or cereal.
4. To use my extra time to read a book or to check my e-mail and facebook.
5. To spend some time reading my Bible - one of the many copies I own - or to do a devotional - one of the many I have on my shelf.

And this is just 5 of the many, maybe even hundred or more options I had this morning.  I wondered how many options Elias and Xiomara have had this morning.  I think about all the people who feel they have no options, no opportunity to make a choice. Thinking of options reminds me of a man named Richmond Wandera, an LDP student who has not only gained more options for his own life through his Compassion sponsorship and LDP training, but is now working to give ministers throughout Uganda options by founding the Pastors Discipleship Network. PDN is equipping pastors throughout Uganda to better lead their congregations.  I have mentioned Richmond before in several posts, but I recently was looking through his Facebook page and again remembered the important work he is doing. I looked through pictures of pastors being given study Bibles.  One of these pastors only had part of a Bible to use and another pastor was using a small new testament, similar to the ones children are given in Sunday school classes all over America.  I thought of the many copies I have of the Bible, both in print and electronic, throughout my house and how little I think of them.  I am not saying that I don't think about what is in the Bible, but I don't think about the option I have to read it wherever I am.  Sadly, I often opt not to read it.  In the book, The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom talks about being sent to the concentration camp, and she prayed that God would allow her to keep her Bible with her.  Miraculously, every woman in the line was searched from head-to-toe, but she was not.  And she was able to smuggle in a small Bible.  Would that be the option of what I would choose to pray for in that situation?  Do I choose the best options?  God always gives us them, everyday.

Guatemala Bloggers

I have been spending so much time the last few days reading the blog posts of those who are on the Compassion blogger trip to Guatemala City.  Just as a fellow member of my team to Peru said, I feel like I am reliving my trip through their posts, except their posts are so much more descriptive and eloquently written. 
I encourage you to read some of their entries, visit http://compassionbloggers.com/guatemala

Shaun Groves isn't just another pretty face

The title is actually a joke about one of his recent blog posts.  He said when it comes to finances, his wife takes care of them and he's a musician, so he just "sits and looks pretty".
But, seriously, Shaun Groves' blog is one that I enjoy reading all the time.  He is currently in Guatemala City, where he is leading a team of bloggers who are on a Compassion trip there.
If you recognize his name, it is because he has been a top-selling Christian music artist, but he now has a lower profile as a songwriter and Compassion representative.  But I believe his impact is not smaller, even if he is no longer the name topping the charts.  He not only writes the blog, but he takes the time to read and respond to the comments left on his entries.  I hope you take the time to read at least his latest entries about his time in Guatemala.

...In Jesus' Name

Okay, I know that I said I had written my last installment about my Peru trip, but...I lied.  I just can't help talking about something that has completely turned my heart upside down.  So, I am just going to admit it now - you might be seeing much more about it in the future.
I have to be truthful and say that last week I think that even though my body was comfortably back in my town in my home with my family, my mind and heart were still in Peru.  I was reliving the hugs, the kisses on my cheeks, the smiles...as well as the heaviness, the heartache, the feeling that I was a voice crying into darkness.  Josh, being the steadfast man he has always been, quietly walked beside me, knowing that I was only hearing half of what was going on around me and able to care about slightly less.  One night, after a long day of battling my heart all day to just get over it, I apologized to him about my absence of mind.  He simply said, "It isn't my job to tell you how to work through your feelings." - I don't think he ever realizes what a gift that is to give to somebody - the gift of unselfish patience (but that is for another blog post).
I have felt such a tug-of-war on my heart.  Am I saying enough?  Am I saying too much? Am I conveying the truth in love?  Am I over-dramatizing things?  Am I sugar-coating things?  Have my internal struggles been disparaging or discouraging?
Then Sunday morning in church, I realized why I am struggling so much.  The message Sunday was simple, yet profound.  The sermon was simply that the gospel message, that Jesus is our salvation, our truth, and our provider, should be our central message.  Christian living is a by-product of our faith in Christ, but it isn't something that is tacked on to our belief - like a bait and switch offer on a bad television infomercial.  "You get the free gift of salvation and all you have to do is to act like a good Christian!"  And Christian living isn't something that should be expected to be done without a relationship with Jesus. God's love for me and for the people in Peru and in countries all over the world should be my motivator.  My hope and joy should be in God's presence being known in the lives of the kids and families involved in Compassion - not just in the receiving countries, but also in the giving countries.  Do you know that Christ died for your sins and that it should make a functional difference in your everyday life, if you know him as your savior? (Thank you Pastor Seth for letting me steal part of your sermon.)  I had to give back over the reigns of the work I do for Compassion and, really, my whole life again Sunday morning.  I have to do that so often.  I can talk about how Compassion is doing what they do all day long, but if I don't remember to tell people why they do what they do, then I am really missing the mark.  Compassion's slogan is "Releasing children from poverty in JESUS' name." and the last part makes all the difference in the world.
So let me tell you a story about Peru, from the (North) American side...Isabella loves to carry books around the house and act like she is reading them, sometimes to herself, sometimes to imaginary others.  Today she was carrying around a Bible and she was saying, "And Jesus tells us to take everything we have and share it with the poor people who don't have as much." - She is only 4 1/2.  I think that even though I had to miss her first day of preschool and it was heart wrenching to leave my family for a week, it was important even for them that I went, because they get it - at least partially.  They are starting to see that loving God and loving others because God first loved us must make a functional difference in our lives.  When I got on the plane to fly to Peru, I prayed, "Lord, even if I don't make it home, please let my family and friends know that my death wasn't in vain and that you have a purpose for everything." But the truth is, every day is a day someone dies.  It doesn't matter if they are going to another country or going across town for work.  If you have never asked Jesus to enter into your heart and life in a way that makes you know that he is your way, truth, and life, don't wait until the next time you have to think about it and don't feel like you can't do it because you just can't live up to the standards of "Christian Living".  When you love God with your whole heart, soul, and mind, He will help you with the "loving your neighbor as yourself".

Pictures of the kids' first days of school

Since I was not home when the kids started school, Josh was in charge of picture duty.  But I wanted to share the pictures because they are just so darn cute.  Josh took off Monday, which was the day Elias started 1st grade and the day of Bella's preschool open house.  He also took off Friday, since it was Isabella's first day of preschool.  To make it extra special for Bella, he took her to have her nails and hair done on her first day.  He is such an awesome daddy and the kids were both well loved and cared for while I was gone.  We are all blessed to have him in our lives!

I gave Elias this plane the day that I left at the airport to remind him that I would be coming back home to him.

He wore this outfit without even having to be asked because I told him before I left that it was one of my favorites and I thought it would be a great outfit for the first day of school.

Now he is a "Bid man on campus" - no longer on the bottom of the totem pole as a kindergartner.

This was before Bella went to her preschool open house.

Leaving for her first day with hair and nails done.

In front of her school.  Daddy also did a great job picking out a cute outfit!

Hamming it up for her impromptu photo shoot.  Any boy who dates her is going to have some high standards to meet to be as good to her as her daddy is!

Pictures (in no particular order)

Josh and I haven't had time to work together on getting pictures on my blog, so I am winging it!  I have put many of the same pictures from facebook on here, but I have also included a few others. They are extremely out of order and I didn't include any of the site-seeing pictures, just because of the haphazard way I put the rest of the pictures on here.  I am not sure if the video will work or not.   I am taking a chance!

All of our team with their Child Development and Leadership Development Sponsored Children.

This is Xiomara, the girl I chose to sponsor while I was there.  This was just a few minutes after we first got to know one another.

This is Elias, the child I have sponsored for almost 3 years, and Xiomara at the amusement park.  Aren't they so cute?

Elias loved the rides!

Saying goodbye.  Bittersweet.

A Compassion Child Survival Program worker going through a development exercise with a child  who is enrolled in the program during a home visit.

This is one of the churches.  The rooms on the top floor have just recently been built for the teens and there is a hydroponic garden in the left corner.

Our welcome at the first Child Development program we visited.  There were boys who met us about 2 blocks away and ran beside the bus to usher us in.  It was so overwhelming and it was difficult not to get emotional.  It almost felt like what entering heaven must be like - even though we won't know everyone, we all share the same love and the same God, so we welcome each other with open hearts and open arms.

These boys were typical for boys their age.  They were sharing inside jokes and jabbing each other with their elbows.  And they could get away with it pretty easily, since I was the only one in the room who had no idea what they were saying!

This was our welcome at the second child development program.  The kids were so excited to be able to pop those balloons toward the end of out visit.  This is the program where several of our team sponsored children the day we visited. 

This is Xiomara and her beautiful, joyful mother Olga and her not so joyful sister Sandra.  Xiomara's older sister is also in the CDSP and has a sponsor.

This is Elias and his father Emanuel.  I really enjoyed getting to meet them both, since we have been sharing letters and I feel like I know them already.

This is Soledad and Elia.  They were our trip leaders from the Compassion Peru office.  They work so hard and spent very long days with us all week.

The staff at one of the churches housing a CDSP.  They disciple our sponsored children every day.  It was so great to be able to talk to them and pray for them.  If you are a sponsor, please remember to pray for the staff workers.  They have a huge responsibility and they have their own families to care for as well.

The staff at another program.  The reason they are wearing different outfits is because some of them work in the Child Survival Program and the others work in the Child Development Sponsorship Program - but they all work together in the same church building and community.  I didn't get a picture of the staff at the third program we visited. 

This is Mapi, one of our translators.  She really helped me deal with my anxious feelings the night before I met my sponsored children and their parents.

This is Clarita and Emanuel, another two translators.  It was so interesting to hear their perspectives on our visits and to see them with the kids.  They are very talented at what they do. 

This is Cecilia.  She and I didn't get to talk much, but she was a lot of fun. (As a side note, I had a wonderful young lady named Francesca who translated for me the day I met my sponsored children and I didn't get a picture with her.  She was really great with the kids though and was a GREAT help at helping communication!)

Another perspective

Jill, a fellow Compassion Advocate who was also on the Peru trip, has an excellent blog with lots of pictures and information.  The address is jillslist.blogspot.com, if you want to check it out.

Random Thoughts about my trip to Peru

This is my last installment about my Peru trip (I know you all may be thinking, "Will it ever end?").  I still need to get pictures up on my blog for non-facebook readers, but my techy husband hasn't finished assisting me with that yet. I decided to just do a quick synopsis of some of my remaining thoughts and observations or random facts I learned: 

About transportation
1. Lima drivers bring the term, "Defensive Driving" to a whole new level.  Drivers don't "pick a lane", as much as they just lay claim to a piece of bare concrete, no matter where it may be on the road.  There are surprisingly few accidents, despite the creative driving, though.
2. My affection for using my horn seems minor compared to the amount of horn blowing that occurs in Lima.  Though I think I would never want to drive on the streets of Lima, I feel somewhat at home with the driver's love of their horns!
3. You have never really ridden a roller coaster until you have ridden on a bus going 50-60 miles an hour down an Andes Mountain with no guard rails and with buses coming up the hill at the same time...For extra excitement, just use the bathroom on said bus during your descent!
4. Pedestrians in Lima are some of the bravest people on earth!
5. If the bus wheels can still roll from the weight of people riding it, then there is still room for a few more!
6. Car seats? They don't need no stinking car seats!
7. You can buy almost anything from a street vendor and they seem completely unaffected by cars and buses barely skimming past them.
8. I will no longer complain about having to get my car inspected to meet emissions requirements.

On food
1. The food in Peru is nothing like I expected it to taste.  The spices they use are so much different than anything I have had and the food is always packed with flavor!
2. My absolute favorite new food that I tried there was Lucama, which is a fruit and is really good mixed with chocolate.
3. Chinese food in Peru, called Chifa, is much better than in America.  The won ton soup I had there puts any I have had in America to shame!
4. I don't know why, but chocolates tasted better there too.
5. I detest diet coke in America, but diet coke in Peru is pretty good.  I learned this because every time I asked for a coke, I was often given a diet.  I don't know if the waiters were just used to most American woman wanting diet cokes, opposed to regular, or if I looked like I needed the diet!  I didn't ask to find out.
6. Inca cola is the drink of choice in Peru.  It is a soda that has a bubble gum taste.  Coke came in but couldn't beat 'em, so it joined them by buying out 51% of the company.
7. I got to eat so many interesting things there that I would never have gotten to eat here, either because it is unavailable or too expensive.  I feel like I earned my Food Network badge last week! lol

On the Compassion programs we visited 

1. The title given to sponsors in Peru would translate to our word for "god father" or "god mother".  I feel that is an appropriate description of our relationship.
2. The children were as curious about us as we were about them.  They would peek around corners to watch us and then hide and giggle when we would catch them looking at us.
3. There were a couple of the kids who brought pictures of their sponsors and asked if we knew them. How I wished I had known them, for their sakes!
4. Seeing the Compassion workers with the kids is really heartwarming.  You can tell that they really love them and they are doing everything they can to help the children.
5. The churches that house Compassion programs really are a light in their communities.
6. I saw children being fed, educated, encouraged, and loved.  Everything I had been told, I watched unfold with my own eyes.
7. The people who work from the Peru country office and the translators who spent their days with us are some of the most genuine, fun, loving, and hard-working people I have ever met.

In general
1. Many of the billboards in Peru had American-looking woman on them.  When I asked a translator why, she said it is because men in Peru are intrigued by American woman.  They feel they are more interesting because they are different.  I told her that the same holds true for American men and their feelings toward Latino women - and that the air-brushed models on billboards really don't reflect the average American woman.  Isn't it funny how even culture-wide, we feel the grass is always greener on the other side?
2. We received some of the best customer service and hospitality.
3. There were distinct differences between the people from each church and community we visited.  Just like in America, region has a lot to do with people's behavior and attitudes.  It is unfortunate when we lump people together and say "People in America are this way" or "People in Peru are like that".
4. The paintings of "The Last Supper" depict Jesus and his disciples eating guinea pig, which is a traditional Peruvian dish. 
5. You never feel more foreign than when you are looking for a potty and you ask, "What is a bathroom?", instead of "Where is the bathroom?".  I am sure you can guess how I know this!
6. I now have greater empathy for the wonderful servers at my favorite Mexican restaurant who spend most of their work days around people who don't speak their language.
7. My allergist told me that the best way I could treat my allergies would be to move to the desert.  He was right.  I have never felt as free from allergy symptoms as I did there. - Unfortunately, as soon as I arrived home, my allergies have decided to seek vengeance on me for leaving them behind!
8. I have now used the bathroom on a bus, on a train, on a plane, and many other nondescript locations, sometimes all in one day and sometimes paying to go.  I no longer understand why I got so bent out of shape about using public bathrooms here!