First date in a year and a half!

Hi everyone! For those of you who know me well, you know why I haven't posted anything on here in more than a week. I have been a little busy! I have been going to yard sales, fall festivals, football games, Kohls,  and eating an enormous amount of American cuisine! I am happy. Really happy! Oh, I have been visiting with family while I have been doing all of those things which has made everything even more fun!

One of the things I was blessed with this weekend was a special date with my husband. When I mean special, I mean REALLY special. Kingston Ave. Baptist Church who has partnered with us, and sent our last two teams; decided they would spoil us. We were beyond blessed by our hotel stay at the Hyatt Place and our dinner at Ruth's Chris. (They even took care of our kids and treated them to a very special night of bowling!)  It was awesome and I will never forget it! So, Thank You everyone at KAB for the wonderful gift! We love you all!

A picture I took at our family reunion at a park here. 

Some of our family. (Greg's side)

Annie and Caroline, best buds!

Before the Colt's game they were picking their noses with their foam fingers.....

After the game they were wiping their tears with them. :o(

Greg and I were gonna have fun win or lose! And we did!

Grandma, me, Jerod, Clay, Greg and Alex.

Greg's mom, Grandma, Mom, Mama Char, so many other names... made me a wonderful cake to celebrate my birthday  a week late. It was yummy! Thanks Mom!

We are having an incredible vacation and are enjoying every bit of it. I will never tire of being in the US during the fall season. Along with the changing colors of the leaves we have also noticed many other changes in the past year and a half.  Gas prices, everyone seems to have an iphone, everyone seems to text, ( this was big then but not like now) and our kids don't know a lot of things about this culture.  I will give you and example, we were at church and Annie asked me where my purse was. I said, "It's on the pew." Her response, "What's a pew?" Hmmm.. Another one, "Hey Mommy guess where I ate? I ate at the little girl with the red hair and freckles place." Wendy's. My baby doesn't know what Wendy's is! There have been a few other things that have made us say, "Oh my, they don't know that?" But, they don't seem to care and we think it is comical so we are enjoying all of the experiences! Please keep praying for us as we will be traveling over the next few weeks. Our vacation isn't quite over yet! Love you all! Missy

There are so many other pictures that I wanted to upload but my computer won't let me. No idea why this happens. ???? Anyway, I will try again tomorrow to upload more. Love ya!

Poverity and Drunks

My friends. This is Estella, her 12 year old daughter, Rosa and her mother, Irmalinda. Estella was at my home today cleaning and when she was done I drove her home. I don't normally do this but we had a box of food to give her and it was too heavy to carry to her home. So we arrived at her home and her daughter ran outside speaking extremely fast in their indigenous language and said that Estella's husband had escaped the rehab center and was there at the house. She said he arrived at the house already drunk and was screaming at her and her brother. So Rosa ran into their home grabbed her shawl and a bag with some shoes in it and left. I drove the two of them to her mother's home and that is where she will stay until things calm down. Poor Estella. Her worst nightmare has come true. Only sooner than she had hoped. Please pray.

Here is a picture of Estella's mom's home.

We went to visit Marielena and Alfre, her son. They said that she was not going to lose her home and she was doing well for now. She even had a smile on her face! Please keep praying!

We went to the house of our blind friend, Irma. She wasn't home b/c her husband had been drinking all week and it just isn't safe for her there when he is drinking. She was at her son's home. Her daughter-in-law allowed me to take pictures of Irma's home. Remember this is a very sick, blind women and this is how she lives. Sadly, this is still much better than how Estella lives.

This is the other side of the home. Her kitchen in the corner.

I just liked this photo of the pots on the wall and the view in the background.  It also shows that it probably gets pretty cold in there.

This is the outside of the home.

This was Irma's daughter-in-law's home. 3 people live there.

This is the road in front of Irma's home. The view is beautiful, but she can't see it. It also happens to be the same view we have in our backyard. We are blessed. I thank God for my health and my vision!

Please pray for our friends. The poverty is bad and the alcoholism is worse. The two together makes for a very depressing life. It depresses me every day I see it. Love you all! Missy

My Estella

Okay, so it isn't the greatest picture of me, but it isn't about me, so overlook it, okay? I just love this lady.     I mean, the more I am around her the more I just want to take my arms and just squeeze her tight. After posting the story of how she lived I got a chance to talk to her a little about her situation. 

She got married at 13 years old. She married very young because she was scared of her step father because he continually tried to do things to her that made her feel uncomfortable. So, she decided that it would be better to get married to a guy she had only known for 15 days. This would be the husband she has been married to for 17 years now. She said that out of those 17 years the longest time he has gone sober was 4 months. He will get out of a rehab center at the end of this month and she is scared. ( He has been in and out of rehab numerous times and she says he never lasts more than a month) She said when he gets out he will probably make her quit going to the Bible study. She said, "He doesn't have much else to destroy, he has ripped up our floor, torn up our beds, there isn't much else to tear apart, except for me." She said he has never touched her kids, he only hits her. I am begging you to pray for her. Pray for him. I am consumed by thoughts of her; of her life. I would do just about anything for her. Only I don't know what to do, except ask the one who created her for help. Love you all! Missy 

Broken Heart

Sometimes living here will just break my heart until it truly hurts.

I have no picture to show you the reason for my broken heart because I thought if I took a picture of what broke my heart, it just might break the heart of the already broken. Make sense? In other words, I didn't want to offend this precious woman who has become a dear friend to me.

Let me explain. When we moved here I started praying about a maid. I needed to hire a maid b/c with teaching 3 children and having some kind of ministry obligation 5 nights a week, I was needing some help. Now finding a maid isn't the hard part, finding someone I trust and that I thought would be a decent helper was an entirely different story. So I prayed. I thought I found someone when I met Marielena. (She was pictured in the last post and was in jeopardy of losing her home) However; that did not work out b/c her in-laws would not allow her to work. Then I found this sweet woman named Estella. She has 2 children who are 13 and 16. Precious lady who attends one of the Bible studies we are working with. She came to my home and did an excellent job and I started to learn more about her life. Her husband is an addict. I mean in every sense of the word. Alcohol, drugs, you name it. He is in a rehab center right now and she says when he is there, she has peace in her life. ( He has been there before) When he is home all he does is work for a little bit to get money for his addictions and then he destroys what little they have. I didn't know where she lived until last night. I went to her home and saw how she lived, right before we started church. I cried through the entire service.

In the 5 1/2 years that I have lived outside of the US, I have seen a lot of poor people.  None of them have been as poor as her. Her home was a small adobe home with no door. It had a dirt floor and inside this home she had some bricks together for her stove. There were 3 beds made out of a few blankets which were piled neatly in the form of single beds in 3 different spots on the floor. No bed frame, no mats, just blankets on the dirt. There was no tv, no radio, just 2 small wooden chairs and that was it. My precious maid, who works so hard cleaning my filth, lives like that. My heart broke and it must have been visible b/c she said, my husband broke our beds when he was drunk. He tore up the floor as well. Needless to say, I am asking you to pray for a better life for my Estella. She is so sweet and has this soft voice and kind spirit. She wants to serve God and is scared once her husband gets out, she will have to stop going to church. PLEASE pray for her. Thank you.