3 Years

On August 24th, 2007 at 6:11 a.m. our new baby boy entered the world.  He was as handsome as could be and our hearts were overflowing with joy!  After our eventful morning, the remainder of our day was very quiet and a bit lonely.  The only visitors we had at the hospital that day were Anders' parents and the new big sister Adrielle.  But we see now that God intended for our day to be quiet and a bit lonely, because He wanted to have a meeting with us.

Since the beginning of our marriage, we often prayed about the possibility of serving in overseas missions or applying for the Foreign Service.  It was a frequent conversation that would come and go through the years.  We continued to pray.  On the afternoon of Aug. 24th, 2007, Anders and I sat in our quiet hospital room... eagerly waiting for someone to visit us.  As we sat, Anders picks up his Bible and asks me where I was currently reading.  I was reading in Luke and ready to begin Ch. 10.  He opens his Bible and begins to read out loud...

"After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.  He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." verses 1&2

Anders pauses from his reading and I look at him and ask, "Anders, is God wanting us to go?"  We sit quietly for a moment contemplating my question.  Anders shrugs his shoulders as if to say, "I don't know."  He then looks back to the Bible to begin reading again, but the only thing that comes out of his mouth is a laugh.  After asking him what was so funny, he shares with me that the beginning of verse 3 says, "Go!"  It continues to say, "I am sending you..."  After some time of reading God's Word together we spent time praying together.  God came and visited us that day in our quiet little hospital room.  We sensed a strong sense in our spirits that the only way to know if God wanted to "send us" was for us to begin the application process with the International Mission Board.  We opened up our laptop and began our application that day.

Earlier that morning we proclaimed the name of our son at his birth.  We named him Boden, a Scandinavian name (after his father's heritage) which means 'One who brings news'.  We like to make a personal addition to say 'One who brings the good news'.

Three years later we can see that God did send us to serve in short-term missions, and we celebrated Boden Edward's 3rd birthday here in Temuco, Chile.  What a crazy 3 years it has been!  And what an amazing blessing Boden has been in our lives!  Our little guy was set on having a Spider-Man birthday party, and so we celebrated with our team at our Monday night house church.  Today we celebrated as a family, waking up to our traditional decorated house, opened gifts, took a trip to the mall to play games at the Adventure Center, and enjoyed a birthday lunch at Pizza Hut.  Here are some pictures to show the fun we had celebrating our favorite little guy!

                                   Daddy was super excited to make Boden a Spider-Man cake!

   He did an awesome job!

    Keeping to the theme

                                

   A very excited birthday boy!

                                           

    opening presents with friends

                              

    Birthday morning showing that he is now 3!

                                          

"Nerf"style tennis for indoors - Boden thinks anything that has to do with a ball is pretty much awesome

                             

This is what Mommy gets when asking the big birthday boy to smile for the camera

                                        

One Year in Chile

August 16th, 2009 - 2 new missionaries and 2 little troopers tumble off a plane in cold and dark Santiago, Chile: tired, excited...unaware of what the next year would bring.

August 16th, 2010 - 2 learning missionaries drop off their 2 slightly bigger troopers at a colleague's house in Temuco, Chile, to go hear the heartbeat of their newest little trooper who we should meet in 5 months or so: engaged in the work, more or less comfortable...unaware of what the next year will bring.

When you stop to think about it, life offers us a series of mile markers, cataloging when this or that began and when this or that wrapped up. For us, it's wild to think that, as of August 16th, we've been in Chile one year. What was that deal Einstein talked about? Relativity? I couldn't tell you the first thing about his theory, but I do get what it feels like to say that August 16, 2009 seems both forever ago and, at the same time, just yesterday. "My how time flies," we say. And yet, depending on how I look at it, Costa Rica seems like another era...not to mention life in the U.S. Why is that? Is Einstein on Facebook? Perhaps I can send him a friend request and get this figured out. Better yet, maybe he is on Twitter, perhaps he "tweets." Then I could get it figured out in fewer characters.

Shortly after Adrielle was born, Jess began her motherly future projections about the tears she would shed when Adrielle started kindergarten and other sundry events (like starting high school, her first date...if I ever allow it!, getting married, etc.). Well, just to show what James meant when he told us not to brag about the future since we don't even know what tomorrow will bring, Adrielle started kindergarten last week and Jess didn't shed a tear! Who knew when Adrielle was an infant that her first day of kindergarten would be held at an apartment in Temuco, Chile, taught by Mommy! Here's a few images from Day 1. You'll notice that Boden is auditing the class as well.

"Welcome Kids"

Circle...the shape of the day.

Bb...the letter of the day (written in shaving cream).

So, take your pick of mile markers; one of your own, or one of our recent ones if you prefer - a year in Chile, Boden's 3rd birthday next week, Adrielle starting Kindergarten...and take a moment to connect that thought to God. When we say "Who knew?"... we know God knew (Jer 29:11). When we say, "that was good" ... we know it came from above (James 1:17). When we say, "that was hard" ... we know it was to bring about perseverance that built character, that brought hope that does not disappoint (Romans 5:3-5). We must say thanks in all circumstances (I Thessalonians 5:18), for it is God's will for us in Jesus.

Are we there yet? No. Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await our Savior King from there. Jesus...

In the meantime, we note the markers along the way, give God due credit, and run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1).

Chao for now!

Happy Children's Day

What's that, you didn't wish your child "Happy Children's Day" this past Sunday? My oh my.

Yes, it's true. Here in Chile we celebrate Children's Day. And why not? We have Mother's Day. We have Father's Day. I think grandparents get honored on those days as well...you know, they're like a super-mother or super-father after earning their stripes and getting to see the seed of their seed!

So, this past Sunday we accepted an invitation to spend the day with a new set of folks. A new friend, Pastor Ruben, has been getting more involved with our activities. David and I had a fine time on the road with him last Friday when we went to Tirúa together. He is Mapuche, lives here in the city, and is pastoring a small Mapuche church taking root not far outside of town.

It was there we were invited to share Children's Day.

Anders was asked to preach in the service they held in the morning. Jess particularly enjoyed when they sang one of their worship choruses in Mapudungun (native Mapuche language). Then we enjoyed warm fellowship over a shellfish soup lunch. Not all of the conversation was well understood on account of the amount of Mapudungun that was spoken. Cool. And after lunch the members of this little church (think 12-15 people) got everything ready for an afternoon of fun for the kids living near the church.

It turned out to be a wonderful outreach as over 20 children came, most of which with a parent or two in tow. What's more, each went home with a DVD full of animated Bible stories and a coloring book telling the story of Jesus and explaining salvation, all in Spanish (thanks Calvary Chapel K.C.!). The kids enjoyed a plate piled with sweets, washed down of course with soda, and followed up with cake...you know, just how your 7 year old might plan the menu if he was in charge! During their 'banquet' they watched animated Christian kids' music videos. Then we showed them a little animated version of the story of Moses and shared a bit about God. After that, it was outside for a few games, prizes, and a piñata. The Lord gave us a fine sunny day (not a guarantee at this time of year!), and after a full eight hour day, we made it back home, tired...and happy! Here are some pictures from the day. Enjoy!

Preaching the Word.

Praising God!

A banquet fit for a kid!

"I think I'll chase this soda in my bottle with a little lollipop action!"

"...and cake..."

Mate at the adult's table.

Pastor Ruben (left), Transito (center), and yours truly.

We had heard that relays often involve water and flour...at least today they did!

They gave the young ladies a chance at musical chairs...

but nobody gave Jess a chance to sit in one!

Piñata!

Ready to head home, with the story of Jesus in hand.