Giving Thanks

"How can I say thanks for the things You have done for me.....things so undeserved, yet You give to prove Your love for me....the voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude, all that I am or ever hope to be ~ I owe it all to Thee."

My heart overflows with gratitude for so many things, I could not begin to write about them all. My Heavenly Father has cared for me, provided for me and allowed me to live a happy and abundant life. He has been patient with me, forgiving and kind, and has answered so many of my prayers. He is the One who gives me life, the One who opens my eyes to His love and the One for whom I live.

God's greatest gift to me besides Himself is my husband. He knew exactly who I needed to bring balance and wisdom to my life. I am fearful and anxious; Brent is strong and calm. I worry; Brent trusts. I question; Brent knows. I cry; Brent holds me. I get overwhelmed; Brent brings it all into perspective. He is a man of integrity who lives what he preaches. He is an excellent father and a wise and good man. I am so very thankful for him and each day we have together. I love him more every year and am still enjoying getting to know his heart.

I am so thankful for my children, for my friends, my church family, my place of service, my health, my life. God has been abundantly good to me and to my family.

A thankful heart is a happy heart ~ I firmly believe this. I hope and pray I will remain thankful in the valley or in tragedy. I hope my gratefulness isn't conditional. I don't think it is.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010! May it truly be a day for giving thanks.

Miriam

I'll let this journey be my home

Brent and I have been married for 16 years, and in those 16 years, we have lived in 3 different countries, 9 different homes, almost 2 years without a home (traveling around the U.S.), traveled thousands and thousands of miles, stayed in hundreds of different hotel rooms and missionary apartments, and are now living in someone else's home, using their things, while all of our stuff is boxed up and stored.

At times, this has bothered me and I have allowed moments of self-pity. Then I remember that our life is but a vapor and on God's list of important things in my life, where I live or even in what conditions I live in, surely are at the bottom.

I have been asked many times where "home" is and I always struggle to answer. The U.S. is my beloved country and home, but where I live with my family is home too, and now, Peru is starting to feel more like home, after 9 years here. What I have concluded, I think, is this journey of life that I'm on - wherever I am, wherever God takes me - this is going to be my home. My home will be the peace I carry in my heart that I am where God wants me, and so, I will always be at home.

Steve Green wrote a song "I Will Go" and dedicated it to the Bowers, a missionary couple in the Peruvian jungle, who's plane was shot down several years ago as they were flying in a routine flight. Mrs. Bowers and her baby girl, who she was holding, were killed.

I sang this song in many churches in the U.S. 6-7 years ago, and have sung it a few times in Spanish here in Peru, but right now, today, it means more to me than ever before. I've never met Steve Green (although I have seen him in concert) but I praise God for his insight, his gift with words and song and I thank him for writing this song. Here are the words:

Give me ears to hear your spirit, give me feet to follow through

Give me hands to touch the hurting, and the faith to follow you

Give me grace to be a servant, give me mercy for the lost

Give me passion for your glory, give me passion for the cross

And I will go where there are no easy roads, leave the comforts that I know

I will go and let this journey be my home - I will go, I will go

I'll let go of my ambitions, cut the roots that run too deep

I will learn to give away what I cannot really keep, what I cannot really keep

Help me see with eyes of faith, give me strength to run this race

And I will go where there are no easy roads, leave the comforts that I know

I will go and let this journey be my home - I will go, I will go

I will go, Lord, where your glory is unknown, I will live for you alone

I will go, because my life is not my own, I will go, I will go

Miriam

Olivia's first serenade

Our kids do their homeschool work on the second floor of one of the buildings on the seminary property where we are living. Today, we listened as a group of students (all guys) began to sing down below us. I guess they had a free hour or were skipping class or something, but they sounded so nice and had themselves a little sing-a-long for a while - guitar, harmony, the works.

Suddenly the idea came to me to ask these guys to sing "happy birthday" to Olivia. (She turns 11 today) So I ran down the stairs and told them she was upstairs and asked if they would sing for/to her. They were more than happy to, so I ran back up and told Olivia to look down below for a second. She leaned over the balcony and quickly stepped back! By now, there were about 12 guys, and they began singing to her, much louder than they had been, now drawing the attention of the students and professors in class. They had even formed into a tight group and were looking up, a regular serenade! It was so cute!

Of course, Olivia was mortified, but I saw a smile on her face, too. She peeked back over the balcony a couple more times before they were through.

Here in Peru, there are endless versions of "happy birthday" (at least it seems like it). They sang four different versions - "happy birthday" in English, with a strong Spanish accent, two of the most common Spanish birthday songs, and one of the several Christian versions. I wasn't sure when they were going to stop! They sounded beautiful and I don't think Olivia will soon forget her first serenade by a group of handsome young men!

Where's the video camera when I need it??!

Miriam

Laundry treasures

Some things I've found in the washer and/or dryer:

a dead mouse (not kidding)

my husband's wallet

candy wrappers

lots and lots of money

notes

AWANA patches

jewelry

tissues

receipts

important documents

keys

gum/candy still in the wrapper

cell phone

collar stiffeners (what are those things called?)

clothes that don't belong to my family

hair ties

rubber balls

pictures

stamps

passport

puzzle pieces

plastic army men

plastic dinosaurs

plastic tools

plastic dolls

body parts of Polly Pockets

I'm only just getting warmed up, but am a bit embarrassed that I am admitting a ridiculous habit of not checking pockets before doing laundry!!! Well, it's fun anyway when I find money. I always pocket it.

Miriam

Family trip to the zoo

We went to the zoo this week. You would have thought we were going to Disney World. My kids were so excited! I think a big reason was because I was calling it a "field trip" which meant they didn't have to do homeschool that day. It's so easy to make things special when our kids are young.

So, this zoo is the national zoo of Lima, called "Parque Las Leyendas" or Park of Legends or Legend Park, or something like that. It is a big, beautiful zoo, with lots of green areas and is built around some ancient ruins.

This was our third trip to this particular zoo, so we felt like experts and remembered where everything was and how crowded it gets. Well, my genius husband suggested we go backward through the zoo to avoid the crowds of school kids, also on field trips. It was the best thing we did - we started at the end and basically had the whole park to ourselves until about 3/4 of the way through when we ran into the masses going the right way!

Olivia's favorite animals were the tigers and the leopards. She was so sad on previous trips to see a tiger and a lion in cages (I also couldn't figure that one out) but this time, they were in huge and beautiful African-like areas, with bamboo trees and waterfalls. She was much happier this time. Kyall's favorite were the pumas. He was a picture-taking maniac. He has only had his camera for a few months, so was so happy to get as many pictures as he could! Lucas said all the animals were his favorite except the "burping" sea lion. Seriously, the whole 10 minutes we spent looking at this enormous sea lion, he made loud, burping noises over and over. We laughed so hard! He was awesome.

I felt like I was supposed to be teaching the kids something since this was a "field trip" but after trying and failing, just decided to enjoy the gorgeous day with the family. Oh, btw, my favorite animal was definitely the tiger. The fences constructed at one place had us literally two feet away from him, the closest I'd ever been and he was fascinating to watch.

The animals were so cool, but cooler still was just marveling at God's handiwork and watching my kids' faces light up.

Miriam

Creation = Proof

Every day, I look at parts of the majestic Andes mountains. In some places, they rise against a gray sky and are covered with dirt and rocks. In other places, they rise against a clear blue sky and are covered with huge trees and brush. In yet other places, they are dusted with snow and overlook clear blue water.

I miss this season in the U.S. I can imagine the Blue Ridge mountains there, covered with orange, yellow and red - some of my favorite sights.

I see many, many different kinds of trees in Peru, some with huge leaves, some with long, pink flowers, some with small, round leaves and others with mangos, bananas or papaya.

In the U.S. I marvel at the huge magnolia trees, love the fir trees and feel nostalgic when I see palm trees.

Flowers - red, white, and peach roses, love them! I love sunflowers, hydrangeas, magnolias and lilies. God surely had fun designing flowers!

Then there is the ocean. I have seen the Atlantic Ocean many times in Virginia, the Pacific Ocean in Peru and Costa Rica, the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama and in Mexico. I have seen the Caribbean Sea in Cuba and in the Dominican Republic. Each one is breathtaking in its beauty and vastness. I feel closer to God at the ocean. One day, Brent and I will have a beach front home.

So many other amazing and incomprehensible creations of God - all of them point directly to Him. I cannot fathom there being a true atheist. All around us, every day, every minute, creation shouts that there not only is most definitely a God, but there is ONE God and He is truly Big, Good and beyond our understanding. Mostly, He is Love.

Thank you, Lord, for allowing us to enjoy your masterpieces.

Miriam

Voting in Peru

So we voted on Sunday for the mayor of Lima and of Ate, the suburb of Lima where we used to live. It was interesting to me, as my first time to vote in a country other than the U.S.

First of all, it is obligatory for everyone 18 and older to vote or pay a $65 fine. I must say, I really wanted to pay the fine instead of fighting traffic for an hour and waiting in long lines to vote for people I don't know much about.....but my conscience got the best of me (and we figured it to be cheaper to pay for the gas and lunch out than the fine, albeit barely).

I was surprised, as I walked into my designated voting place (an elementary school) that the room I was to vote in was empty - no lines! I got many stares as I carried my tall, white self into the voting room, holding my Peruvian i.d. out, just in case anyone might think I was totally lost. I acted like I knew what I was doing, voted for the two men Brent had told me to vote for and felt really good about myself. (Now, don't get me wrong, if this had been presidential elections, I would have been much more prepared and ready to vote intelligently.)

Just to make sure nobody gets by without voting or paying the fine, each voter must put his right middle finger into a bottle of purple ink, completely covering the fingernail. Yep. It is also a law not to wash the ink off for 24 hrs....as if.....it is now 3 days later and I still can't get all the ink off! After voting, we went to the mall to eat lunch and Lucas kept pointing out people with purple fingers - literally pointing, and announcing, "Mom, she voted too!" It was cute.

The big debate is if this will be the last year of the "obligatory voting" in Peru. Some argue that if it weren't obligatory, most people wouldn't bother. On the other hand, this is supposedly a free democracy and forced voting takes us back to the days of dictatorship. They estimate that 2o% of voters decide, while in line to vote, who they will vote for. Another percentage of people are illiterate, so no names are on the ballot, only pictures or symbols of a certain political party.

At times, I feel so much more like a foreigner than others and even with my blue Peruvian i.d. in hand, this was one of them. I was, however, made more aware that I do have a responsibility to be informed and play a part in this country, seeing that I am a citizen. I would expect nothing less of a foreigner living in the U.S. with citizenship status.

On our way home, once again fighting traffic for an hour, we saw one voting line that was at least 4 city blocks long - oh man, I was so glad I wasn't in that one!

We just heard today that 25% of the ballots were in a "to be observed more closely" pile, because of people's inability to follow instructions! Really, all you had to do was put an x over the right picture!

To end this little story, the guys I voted for lost, but every time I try to scrape a little bit more of the purple, persistent ink off of my finger, I feel my sense of patriotism growing. God bless Peru!

Miriam