Still Dating after 23 years!

We like to celebrate and on March 27 we celebrated...US.  Normally we celebrate other things, but this time we celebrated us. Twenty-three years ago we had our first "date"; so, we have much to celebrate. For our night out, we went to sushi place right here in Cumbaya. Who would think you could get Great sushi in Ecuador, but we found it!   We went to Noe Sushi Bar (not sure baptists are allowed to use that word so we will call it a restaruant).  It is a really great spot for a special occassion, and we had the whole place to ourselves.   We went at 5 PM, but dinner does not get cranked up here until after 7 PM.  We are thankful that we are still dating after 23 years. God has really blessed us. We praise Him for the strong relationship that we share...and the plate of sushi!

Carnival - alive and well in Cumbaya!

Another new experience was waiting for us in early February as we approached "Carnival". Cultural traditions are different in every country. We have heard many stories of Carnival, and in some countries the celebration is to be avoided. In Ecuador, it is a kid's dream come true. In the weeks that precede Lent, people "let it all out" and put on a "water fight" in the streets. People throw water balloons, and spray crazy foam at unsuspecting strangers just for fun. At every store you can buy this crazy foam spray, and it seems to sell out fast. It was rather sporadic at first until THIS WEEKEND! All the children in the country have a few days off, and many people take it as a big family vacation and go to the beach or have family over for a few days. It is a huge time of fiesta!

Let me sum it up for you, THIS WEEKEND, STAY INSIDE OR PREPARE TO GET WET! Kids and adults are into this Country-wide water fight! Water guns, hoses, water balloons, cups of water, full size buckets..... nothing is off limits! Our next door neighbors invited Bethany, Jordan, Amanda and Lukas over for an afternoon of water craziness. We wanted them to get to know the neighborhood; Im not sure this is exactly what we meant. They sure had a good time. If you are a kid, could there be a better holiday? Sorry....... gotta go. I have four cold, wet hungry kids to feed. It seems they worked up quite an appetite!

Our house is now in our home!

We praise the Lord for His great blessing. On January 8th, our shipment from New York arrived on our doorstep. Praise the Lord! It has been held in customs for more than 4 months. What a joy to combine little treasures from our life in the United States with our new life here in Cumbaya. In only fifteen minutes, our 60 boxes were unloaded from the truck and up the stairs into our living room.

Lukas, our foreman, was calling out the number of each box to cross off our inventory list. Some of these boxes were first packed 2006. What a journey we have enjoyed since that time. It felt a little surreal at that moment to think that we were really Home in Cumbaya. It was time to finally "unpack". We took time to pray together......in a circle, just as we had on that night in 2005 when God moved in our hearts to make the family step into career missions. Another milestone in our journey. We are "officially" settled in Cumbaya. I took a few minutes to "take in the moment" to gather my thoughts, but the kids jumped right in as fast as they could find their boxes. They were unpacking and proudly displaying treasures in no time at all. Deanne began with a box of her mother’s china in the kitchen. When the delivery truck had opened its’ door, we noticed that our shipment had been packed half right side up and half upside down. Quickly we identified that several of the inverted boxes were fragile boxes from our dining room. Deanne opened her mother’s china timidly, but the pieces were intact. It is another reminder of God’s provision for us down to the smallest details. The next box was even more interesting. Containing antique plates and a stack of glass platters; amazingly, there was only one small little chip in the entire stack of antique dishes, but the platter directly beneath was broken in half. It was not a special platter because it was bought at a garage sale. These are the little things that we will always remember. Thank you for sharing the journey. God’s goodness is something to celebrate.