It's getting cold around here! I think it would help if our windows had glass in them. Better get started on that. Our list of necessary home renovations is getting shorter by the day. Tim has a guy working here 8 hours a day, which has freed him up to work on learning Spanish worship songs, his dog bed business, and planning the weekly worship service. I've been writing postcards, attending Al-Anon, planning for the Alpha course (hopefully starting June 6), and working with M on the cooking and cleaning.

I asked her today if she would be interested in working here full-time and I was surprised to find a little hesitancy. She has a 15-year-old daughter that she worries about leaving home alone too long, and school only last half a day. On one hand, I'm glad to hear her desire to care for and protect her daughter, but I'm sad she can't just jump on the chance to work full time. I know she could use the money. As could anyone else in town. She's going to think it over tonight and follow up with my tomorrow. I think there are some other good options, like having her go home during lunch and come back or having someone else do everything laundry-related (which probably would cut 8-10 hours off her work week). We'll see.

We are so relieved to be working again (not that language learning wasn't work), but this work presents a whole new host of issues. What we did in Charlotte in our free time and as volunteer work is now our job-- hanging out with people, participating in church stuff, leading worship, planning and making things. How strange is that a friend comes over and it's “work” to spend time with her? Or that everyone else is going to Al-Anon as their precious time for themselves and I'm counting it as part of my work day? It's a little confusing. On top of that, most nights we have some sort of meeting or event to attend. That means that if we work all day and go to those at night, we're absolutely exhausted. We have to start planning in “downtime” during the day. But taking a nap after lunch or watching a movie feels lazy! There's a lot to learn. One day at a time.

My friends have the most adorable children. You can see photos of them on this photographer's website. It's worth checking out, I promise. I feel a pang of sadness come alongside my joy when I remember that we're missing watching the two girls, in particular, grow up. On our way to the airport Oct 31, we saw the youngest one for the first and so far only time. She was 2 weeks old I think. For some reason, missing them feels like a bigger sacrifice than our house, a 9-5 job, the movies, our favorite restaurants. Two of my (3) sisters-in-law are pregnant right now with my first two nephews or nieces. I miss them already and they're not even born yet. We'll console ourselves with our puppies, but it doesn't take away the hurt. I'm deeply content here in a way that I can't explain, but the thought of all these precious ones brings me to the point of tears. We love you guys, big and small, and miss you more than we can say.

I have never been so thrilled than having my own personal assistant this week! M has been here 4 hours a day doing all the things I definitely don't have time to do. It took her all 4 hours on Monday to do the laundry (by hand). When she left at 2, we had run out of water. The town only gets water 2 hours a day, so we have a tank to store it the other 22. Unfortunately we used too much and couldn't wash the dishes or use our own bathroom for the rest of the day. Oops.

Continuing with the laundry story, it took M most of today to iron the laundry, something I would never have dreamed of doing but that Peruvians consider part of being a presentable normal person. They would never wear an unironed T-shirt, so we're trying our best to suck it up and wear all of ours ironed, too. Today I caught her ironing my dishtowels. Wow.

Anyway, besides 8 hours of laundry, M has been running around the house finding anything and everything she can clean and fix, preparing food for me to then cook with (I feel like I live on a cooking show), washing all the dishes, and doing anything else she can think of. I am so impressed by her work ethic, her attitude, and her smile. What a blessing she has been to me this week. I can hardly describe what a burden has been lifted and how happy I am to be doing the work I came here to do (now that I have the time!).

Tomorrow I hope to ask her if she can start full time next week (deep sigh of joy and relief).

I don't think I realized how much I missed friends until some came by this afternoon. J and C are a couple about our age with a precious 4 year old daughter. They are new believers, eager to learn and grow and love, full of questions, full of life. What struck me most today was how normal they are (although Grace reminded me this morning that when I say "normal" all I mean is "like me"!). They didn't come whining, asking for money, blabbering on about nonsense. I want my home to be a place people can come for all those reasons (maybe minus asking for money), but I need friends too! As far as I could tell, J and C came to eat cake (which they brought) and hang out. What a relief. We really enjoyed our afternoon with them and look forward (hopefully) to more. I guess I still want to proceed with caution, not expect everything of these new friends, not set myself up for disappointment, but in the meantime, I'm grateful to God for the gift He sent us today.

Friday night the ladies of the Puerto Supe Christian Community Center, on their own, organized a night out and invited Grace and me, which here means they paid our way. We took a van together to a polleria (chicken restaurant) in Barranca, enjoyed our roasted chicken, and had a drawing in which everyone received a present. That may sound like a small deal to you, but for us, it was breathtaking. Up to this point, the Community has been all about receiving, both spiritually and economically, and we were deeply moved by this gift to us. Tim and I have been brainstorming for a while about how to encourage service and giving among these believers, and lo and behold, on their own initiative, the ladies sprung this on us. I am so encouraged.

The event was in honor of Mother's Day, which is a HUGE deal in this country. I'm still a little baffled by the holiday. They have been talking about it for at least two weeks and we've have party after party in town. Mostly that means really loud music keeping us up all night, so I hope all the mothers feel super honored.

In our Community board meeting this week, one of the charity petitions was from the very ladies of the Community, asking for Mother's Day gifts since they can't afford their own. To me it seemed a little ridiculous and almost offensive, but I tried to keep my mouth shut and move toward understanding this culture rather than judging it. In the end, the board agreed to give each lady a present- a kit of "viveres," which included rice, sugar, and canned milk. I had to rethink my feelings when I remembered the needs of these families and what kinds of gifts are meaningful to them.

On another note, we talked to Sierra's friend Mery last night about working in our house this coming week. She'll be here Monday-Saturday from 10-2 to do laundry, wash dishes, clean the house, etc. I'm relieved, because we've been working ourselves into the ground and not getting all the things done we would like to. We'll see how this week goes and consider hiring her permanently and full-time.

My friend B visited again this morning with a far crazier story than any I had heard from her before. It included the “fact” that a local man infected with HIV is trying to infect all the women in the town because (everyone knows) for every person he infects, he will live longer. I just listened. What do I say to that kind of thing? Furthermore, when I don't know the truth (as opposed to the case with the above misinformation), how do I know what to believe and what not to believe in her story?

I hope that all my stories aren't communicating a desperation, because the truth is that we are happy to be here and to be hard at work. I feel positive about the relationships we're building and the work we're doing. Today Tim has been reviewing our team's spending over the last 4 months, preparing a report for our upcoming meeting, and writing out some suggested changes we could make. For him, that's about as good as life gets. I've been enjoying myself equally preparing a week of short devotionals about communion. We'll be offering communion in another week and a half at our worship service, and since it's a new thing for our community, we want to help people understand the significance of the sacrament and prepare their hearts for it.

Just as we hoped, we have started actually working this week. What a relief! At the same time, it has been busy. I feel like I hardly have a moment to breathe. It makes me realize that we probably need to hire a housekeeper as soon as possible. Contrary to what you may think, I'm not particularly excited about that prospect these days. We're pretty private people, and the idea of having a new person in our house 48 hrs a week doesn't make me comfortable. I think we're going to start with hiring someone to come halfway just for next week.

Last night I went to Barranca to my first Al-Anon meeting and didn't get home for 5 more hours. The meeting itself was 2 hours. There were 6 women there (including me), one of whom was from Puerto Supe. It was an encouraging evening for a number of reasons. The meeting was a good space for me to work on language learning, because it was a time for me to talk in Spanish about personal things without others interrupting me or rushing me and a for me to listen to others speak the same way. It was also sort of a relief to be in an environment where I wasn't expected to meet anyone else's needs. I was there to learn and think, not help necessarily.

After the meeting, the whole group went across the street to one woman's house, where we spent the next 3 hours chatting and smoking (I passed on the cigarettes). After a while, the topic of church came up. One woman mentioned that she wanted someone to teach her about the Bible, but when she went to mass, she couldn't understand the priest. At that point she turned to me and exclaimed, "But now we have you!" How's that for an invitation?

I have high hopes of starting an Al-Anon group in Puerto Supe. I think it would be a tremendous ministry (in the secular sense) to the women and maybe men of the town who are suffering so deeply from the family disease of addiction. There are strict rules in Al-Anon about not bringing in other philosophies, but I also think that it could be a good place to begin relationships with people who are seeking God. We'll see. It is clear to me that Al-Anon teaches Biblical principles in a neutral way and gives an outline for the Gospel. I think it lays a beginning foundation for people seeking God to come into relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and I want to be open to helping people make that connection through the window of Al-Anon.

Yesterday as I was making banana nut muffins for my home visit today, our team meeting today, and our worship practice tonight, Tim said to me, "You know what you're doing right now? You're cooking for Jesus." Priceless.

I think if we ever need a catalog for our dog bed microenterprise, Taza and Ellie would make good models.

We have two friends that stop by every day or two to chat. We really haven't had the time or emotional energy to pursue these or any other relationships yet, which makes these two developing relationships all the more interesting to me. So let me tell you about them. Despite the fact that I doubt anyone in this town will ever find and read my blog, I feel uncomfortable writing names. I'll just call them by their initials.

B is 22 or 23, the mother of two cute boys, and has been married for 5 years to L. In the last month, it seems like her life is falling apart piece by piece. Her 2 year old J was in the hospital with a fever of 103.5 F for three days. The doctor told her he has a heart problem and had a virus in his blood. I'm not sure what to believe. Her mother has a long-term heart problem and is in and out of the hospital in Lima (4 hrs away by bus). Her father blames her for the problem (for being born) and is not taking responsibility for the mother's care. B is traveling to and from Lima, leaving her kids in the care of a friend. L is angry with her for abandoning the family. And then this week her 4 year old L2 came down with pneumonia. She can't afford the medicines he needs and doesn't know what to do.

All that to say that B comes by often but so far it mostly seems like she's coming to complain. I'd say she has good reason, but at the same time, her life is such a mess that I'm almost skeptical. I don't know what to say, don't know how I could or should help. I don't know how quickly or deeply to jump into this friendship at my door.

Friend #2 is R, probably somewhere around our age, single and crazy about Sierra (who is definitely already "taken" by a dashing, brilliant, and loyal Ghanian in the US). R is a talker if I ever met one. He frequents our door to chat with Tim about anything and nothing. Last night he came over wanting to practice his very beginner English but ended up asking Tim when he was going to start a Bible study. Tim, who had no intentions to start one, was a little surprised but told him some about the Alpha course. We're hoping to start it by the end of this month and praying he will come.

We have a to-do list a mile long, and I'll admit that sometimes my heart sinks to hear the doorbell ring. At the same time, I know that my job here is people, not to-do lists. We feel ourselves growing in our patience and love and are glad for it. Keep praying that our hearts would be more like the heart of Jesus and that the hearts of these friends would be open to the breathtaking love of Jesus.

Twenty four hours in Lima and I'm so glad to be home. Last night we got to hang out with Sierra a little (before she left today for 2 weeks in the US), and the whole place felt right: good lighting, good friends, good drinks and a good spot to sit down.

One fun thing we did accomplish in Lima was buying fabric. We found a store that sells the leftover parts of rolls of fabric from the top-of-the-line stores, so we got to pick out some super fun designs without having to fork over too much money. The colors are sort of messed up on these photos, so imagine them all matching and you'll get the general idea.

We got these for the house (wall art, pillows, and a bed for the puppies):












And these for Tim's dog beds:

Don't you wish you had a dog bed with such a pretty fabric for the top? We'll probably also use leftovers from the fabrics we bought for the house to make more.

The workers finished the floors on Tuesday morning, so we have finally moved into our house! What a relief to put our furniture in its place and unpack our bags. I haven't seen some of those things since last August. Due to some complications with her living situation, Sierra is also moving in with us for a few weeks (and then taking over Kyle's house when he leaves to go to Pucallpa). We're excited to have her and to have a home to offer her.