Drama Queen

WARNING: this blog post will be overly dramatic. Things will be looking better in the morning.

These are my eyes this evening full of weariness, contempt, disillusionment, hurt and disgust. Oh, I do so want to believe in people and take them at their word… but who am I kidding?

This is the hot chocolate with three big marshmallows that I used to drown my sorrows. This, of course, after spending all afternoon washing, scrubbing, cooking, cleaning and tending to the house alone.

(pluckiness will be following after I am done wallowing…)

Happenings

Just some bullets to let you know what has been going on:

Finished writing my book Breathe Easy

DaRonn returned from Chile on Saturday

Hired a Christian house help gal

Trying to figure out Tyler’s new affinity to licking deodorant

Gabrielle taught Tyler how to say, “Hello-wah”

What odd thing did you eat when you were a kid?

Funny Fruit - Granada

“Look my tongue is purple!” Raimy greeted me at the gate of her friends’ house where they had passed the afternoon. Promptly she went on to explain that they had been sucking on ‘granada’ fruit. The English term for this historic fruit is pomegranate. The boughs of this full bushy tree growing beside their house were decorated with dozens of pinkish colored balls of fruit. There are hundreds of bright red seed pods inside this fruit. You scoop up a bunch and put them in your mouth. Squishing them around the seed pods burst open and you swallow the tart juice then spit out the tiny cream colored ‘pepa’. And your mouth is tinted purple. Pomegranates are common trees to have in your yard here in Cochabamba.

For an interesting history of this word click here: pomegranate etymology

Necessary Edification

In Spanish Ephesians 4:29 reads like this:

Ninguna palabra corrompida salga de vuestra boca, sino la que sea buena para la necesaria edificación, a fin de dar gracia a los oyentes. (Reina Valera 1960)

You may be more familiar with the verse in English:

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (King James Version)

The verse in Spanish expresses my thoughts on this subject most clearly. Here is my understanding…

Not one word that is corrupt should be allowed to escape your mouth; rather that which is good for necessary edification, with the end goal to give grace to those who hear you. (Angie’s paraphrase)

In Spanish the noun ‘building’ is ‘edificio’ and the verb ‘to build’ is ‘edificar’. In English a building is also an ‘edifice’. So now we can look into this phrase: necessary edification.

The words we say can corrupt or build. Think of the foundations of a building. If rot, rust, infestation or other such corrupting elements set in the building will be unsafe to use and might even topple over. Our words can do that to the lives of others.

There is no middle ground here. Necessary edification indicates that the words we say can be the life line that another person needs. You can build the life of another person. Compliment and you are laying the concrete. Bless and you are laying the bricks. Your encouragement is necessary for those who hear you. First for the person you try to build up and next for the people who overhear you encouraging and imitate your efforts.

Pick a person to intentionally edify with your words. Trust me, they need it. Then come back and tell us how it went.

One Chapter More

My wonderful husband bought a book for me about writing fiction called “The Lie that Tells a Truth” by John Dufresne. So I am finally in the last chapter. In his chapter about writing dialogue he addresses the motives behind why we communicate. Do any of these apply to why you post or read blogs?

Now, we all know there is no comfort in small talk, no solace in chitchat, no substance to idle jabber about the weather or mutual acquaintances. So why do we do it? We talk with each other for various reasons: to inform, to compare, to seduce, to clarify, to cloud, to charm, to deceive, to alarm, to evade, to demur, to bedevil, to reassure, to offend, to warn, to befuddle, to flatter, to belittle, to thank, to bluster, to rattle, to arouse, to soothe, to illuminate, to apologize, to inquire, to amuse, to brag, to inspire, to order, to explain, to encourage, to dissuade, to convert, to argue, to process, to instruct, to vent, to accost, to excuse, to call attention to ourselves, to hear the sound of our own voices, to be polite, to pass the time. But when we talk to understand, to understand ourselves and what we’re doing or what we think we’re doing and why we’re doing it, then we tell each other stories. Stories are how we remind ourselves who we are and how we’re connected. Stories are sacred and communal like a burial and the gathering after it.

While we are on the topic of chapters… Thanks to two marvelous women from the church I had four completely uninterrupted hours of time at my home to myself today. I cannot remember the last time that this happened. So I decided to get some heavy work done on the book I am writing. Can you believe I wrote four chapters and have just one left to write? Then the final tweaking and it is done. I am so excited.

Re-birthday

Twenty-three years ago today a smiley eight-year-old girl searched for her children’s bible a notebook and a pencil. Upon arriving at church for the service with a special guest speaker she ran over to where her cousin, who was also her best friend, was seated. As the sermon commenced the girl would start to write down the things the preacher said that she thought were important. Not being able to write as fast as her companion, who was older by one year, she nudged with her elbow and whispered for her to write it down.

The message seemed to end quickly and the man up front posed a sincere and penetrating question: do you need something from Jesus? He explained that he wanted to pray with those who felt they had needs and invited them forward. The girls looked at each other and without a word headed down front. The man approached and asked the girls what they needed from Jesus. Both responded with confidence their need to be saved. He prayed with them. As the eight-year-old repeated those simple words she knew for sure that she was saved. Though the words have long been forgotten the truth of eternal salvation that was planted in her heart that day has never once been lost.

This is my story. The little eight-year-old girl was me March 28, 1985.

With clear understanding that the word always should be used sparingly I am going to use it today. I have always known the love of God in my life. From the first caresses of my mothers hand on my cheek until this day that I was wiping tears from my son’s face there has been a real presence of my Heavenly Father’s love with me. For this I am grateful.

Not once have I doubted, questioned, wandered away from or rebelled against the message of the gospel. Assurance, confidence and faithfulness have been the marks of my life with Christ. His truth is real to me. For this I am grateful.

Since the moment I first laid eyes on these words as a teenager they have been my own.

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1 Timothy 1:12)

If you haven’t done so then you need to give your life to Christ. God loves you. Jesus paid the price for our salvation with his own life. He rose from the dead with the power to forgive you of the sin separating you from God. Tell him today that you believe and ask him for his help. He will hear you and give you the gift of eternal life. Let me know if you do decide to dedicate your life to Jesus so that I can congratulate you for making the best decision ever.

What wonderful gift from the Lord are you celebrating today?

Video Tour of House of Dreams Orphanage, Cochabamba Bolivia

The video is 8 min 40 sec long. If you can, I would encourage you to watch. You will see the facilities of our House of Dreams Orphanage and some of the kids who live here. For privacy purposes we do not disclose the specifics of individual histories. You will hear my husband explain in general some of the histories.

Common FAQs:

1. How many kids you have? We are caring for 21 children now

2. What is your capacity? We are licensed for 42 children; economically we have ceased receiving children until our funds increase

3. How many workers do you have? On paid staff we have 8 people. Aside from that we have a team of about 5 faithful volunteers.

4. Where do the kids come from? We work closely with the equivalent of Social Services here in Bolivia. They bring us children that have been abused, abandoned, left under park benches, found in public bathroom stalls, and even those that have been left in garbage cans.

5. Can you do foreign adoptions? Spain and Portugal, yes. We are in the process of investigating the possibilities for other nations.

6. When did you start the orphanage? June 2006

7. What ages of kids live here? Our boys and girls are newborn to 5 years old

8. How many adoptions have you had? Three of our children in the last year and a half have been adopted into Bolivian homes.

9. How are you finances? Good people from the willingness of their heart support us on a monthly basis. We are at about half of our budget and always looking for new supporters.

10. How can I get involved? You can pray, give financially, come and volunteer, and you can get the word out by passing along this link or asking people to visit our web site:

www.christnationministries.org

Orphanages in Bolivia play the part that foster homes do in the States as well as the typical caring for orphans. Some of the parents of the kids are being trained and taught on how to be better parents. If they are unable to meet the state’s expectations then the immediate family if the child is investigated to see if any of them could take the child in. If all family situations are unsuitable then the process for adoption begins. It usually takes six months from the time a child enters our home until they are available to be adopted, unless they are no family ties found, then the process is usually three months. Just recently the United States has agreed to allow Bolivian adoptions. We are still looking into the requirements; but that option is now open.

Click here to watch the video.

Or copy and paste this link in your browser: http://christnationministries.org/English/videoblogdaronn.html

As you see the images please say a prayer for the work here. Thank you for taking the time to read and watch.