7 Wonderful Years

Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.

Psalm 34:3

I adore my wife. Yep, I sure do. And today marks the day 7 years ago the Lord completed one of my favorite miracles when Jessica said, "I do." Truly, to have been navigated in and around and through the many obstacles that stood in my way to being married...not to mention to a woman so beautiful and perfectly suited for me, well that was a miracle. And I'm grateful. Joyous. Happy. Humbled. Not to mention in love. To quote the great Buddy the Elf, "I'm in LOVE and I don't care who knows it!!"

So, in order to let my wife know I love her, I took the risk of appearing cheesy (not the first time, by the way!) and bought two lovebirds. Imagine. One should bear in mind that we have never in our 7 years owned any pet. Now, Jess had been, of late, talking about birds and admiring at the pet shop in the grocery store. So I didn't feel that I was taking a completely blind leap. Still, I made the lady at the store this morning check with her manager to know for sure that if I came home with two lovebirds to tell my wife I love her and it didn't go so well, that I would be able to return the birds. You never know, Jess might have greeted me with, "What are you thinking? Not only is that the cheesiest, hairbrained idea ever, but we are not exactly here in Chile to stay!" So, feeling assured, I headed back to the house with roses and my little surprise. 

Now it's practically midnight and the birds are still here. Jess was surprised and pleased. Whew! She asked the kids what we should name them. Adrielle stated, without hesitation, that we should name the girl Elizabeth. According to Jessica, it only seemed right, then, to name the boy Mr. Darcy. And that was that! After a french toast breakfast (prepared by yours truly), we walked to the mall to get bird toys and celebrate our anniversary with the kids by buying them ice cream. Yum. Then we came home and tried not to give our new birds an aneurism while getting their cage in order. Then a quick lunch and off to drop the kids off at David and Linda's house while we went out on a date. Dinner and a movie. Sounds so plain...but you know what? It's a rare treat and we had a handsome time!

We thank our Lord Jesus for bringing us together, walking with us individually and as a pair, for loving us first so that we might love one another, and for all He has yet in store for the future.

My gift from Jessica was a picture video looking back over our 7 years (with what few pictures we have available to us here). We would like to share it with you, if you're interested.

Our Funny Little People

Back To The Country

We've closed up shop at the Bodega, and the building of temporary shelters has come to an end.  Unfortunately there is still a great need, but we have run out of resources and man power.  So this means that it is time for us to get back to the work we were originally doing, and that is church planting among the Mapuche indigenous people.

Yesterday was the first time our whole family has made it out to the country together since February.  We are beginning a new work in an area that is a little over an hour's drive away, Curucautín.  Along with Mario and Estella, we are meeting with a family and will begin a chronological Bible study with them.

Ahhh... the country, fresh air, green rolling hills, flocks of green parrots flying overhead, and out houses.  So much of the country way of life reminds me of the frontier days.  Small wood houses, wood burning stoves for warming the house and cooking on, and yards full of chickens.  This yard also had about 15 turkeys roaming around, and we all got a good laugh out of Boden chasing the turkeys around the yard with a big stick.  At one point in the day I was standing on their little porch watching the children play outside and I felt as if the only thing that was missing was the fact that I wasn't wearing a floor length petticoat dress and lace-up leather boots.  At lunch we were served a typical Chilean soup in which each bowl is filled with chicken broth and a little rice, as well as a piece of chicken on the bone, a chunk of potato, a chunk of pumpkin, a chunk or two of carrot, and maybe a small piece of corn on the cob.  It is a very delicious soup.  But yesterday was a first experience when Boden's bowl of soup was served with the chicken heart.  He was sitting on my lap and he looked in his bowl and said to me, "Mommy, that's not real chicken.  You have real chicken and I want to eat your chicken."  So I fed my little guy my chicken... but I still left the chicken heart in his bowl, I really hope we didn't offend our hosts.

When you think of it, pray for Raul's family.  They have a hunger for God's word and are wanting to grow in their faith.  (That's so awesome!)  They are also ready and wanting to share their faith and what they are learning and "start a church" in their area.  Anders and Mario will be driving to this area once a week, pray also for their safety as they travel.

Good Times, Good Times

Well, our time with Mom has come and gone. We had the chance to head south and stay two nights in a fun little town called Pucón on the shores of Lake Villarica. Then we had a lovely Mother's Day here in Temuco. And now we're refreshed and ready to get back to it! Here's some more photos from this special time the Lord gifted us.

Starbucks

I love Starbucks!  It's true... I do!  Where does my enjoyment of Starbucks come from?  First of all, I truly enjoy a good cup of coffee and good coffee always tastes better when it is being enjoyed in the presence of good company.

I grew up in a coffee drinking family.  Every morning I woke up to the smell of fresh brewed coffee in the house.  One of my earliest childhood memories was visiting my great-grandparents, Granny and Grandpa Gorman.  They enjoyed their coffee, and the story has been told that Granny would put coffee in my dad's baby bottle.  When our visit at their house would come to an end and we would gather at the door for hugs and kisses, Granny would always put a quarter in one hand and Grandpa would put one of his favorite pieces of coffee flavored candy in our other hand.
In my high school years, my family owned a home espresso machine.  It was nothing fancy, but it came out during the holidays and provided frothy homemade cinnamon cappuccinos and sweet moments of family togetherness... experimenting on how to get the foam just right, laughing, and sharing stories.

In 2001, I earned my college diploma and had an interesting growing friendship with a guy named Anders.  It seemed logical to begin my career, settle down, and see what the Lord had in store with this "growing friendship."  But instead, I sensed the Lord impressing on my heart to take a huge leap of faith.  He wanted to stretch me, to grow me, cause me to be totally dependent on him, to expand my boarders.  I grew up in the midwest, and to me the world felt incredibly big and unreachable.  I thought I would never leave the midwest.  But my older brother Jeremy and I were about to set out on one great adventure.  With my car, a couple bags of clothes, and only $300 in my pocket and the promise that "where God guides, God provides," we drove out to southern California to attend Bible College.  My $300 covered the cost of gas and food for our 2 day journey.  We didn't have money to pay for school but we knew God wanted us there.  Long story short, God provided jobs for both of us at 2 different Starbucks stores. Whenever Jeremy and I had time off from school and work, we took off on little adventures to explore as much of southern California as we possibly could.  Each adventure began with a cup of, employee discounted, Starbucks coffee.  At each destination, we would find a Starbucks for another coffee and a nice place to sit and study our Bibles.

Fast forward a few years, Anders and I are married, we've traveled to South America and Eastern Europe, and we are beginning another journey of faith.  We sense the Lord calling us to Colorado so that Anders can attend Grad school at the University of Denver.  We have no jobs, no insurance, he's about to attend a very expensive school, and we find out we're pregnant with our first child.  But we knew God wanted us there.  Long story short, God provides a job for me yet again working for Starbucks.  They say coffee is an acquired taste, I believe Adrielle has acquired the taste while in the womb.  I worked up to 3 days before she was born.  

When you go to a Starbucks, it's an experience... it's not home, and it's not work, it's the "third place."  (OK, that's a little joke for anyone else who has ever worked for Starbucks.)  But seriously, I love that no matter where you are, Starbucks is the same.  The look is the same, the smell is the same, the service is basically the same, and you know you will enjoy a high quality cup of delicious coffee.  When I go to a Starbucks store, the sights and sounds and flavors remind me of my family, I'm reminded of God's faithfulness, and I'm filled with a sense of adventure.

I also have to add that God provided a job for my younger brother Jimmy working for Starbucks.  And I am very proud to announce that he has just been promoted to General Manager and will be getting his own Starbucks store in the Denver area within the next week.  Jimmy is also finishing up his Master's degree at Denver Seminary.  We are super proud of you Bro!

You're Welcome!