Me with the women of the night!! And some more of the girls looking so pretty!

Azucena's Quincenerra

Yesterday was a crazy day. It was so full of things and today us girls are leaving at 10am to go on a youth retreat the church is having. They are all going camping and we should get back Saturday sometime before 5pm. I am excited for this adventure but a little unsure of camping peruvian style. lol
So yesterday morning Karen, Sheri Sam's, and I went to the school to move the library to a different room. They are getting ready to do some construction on the school to expand some rooms and such. Then we came back here and did some more shampooing on the kids. So many kids running all around everywhere.....it just takes up so much time. But that's ok because it is a very important job and really I would just be with the kids anyways! Then I had lunch with the kids in the first house. I am starting to get close to all the older girls in there. They are a lot of fun, but totally boy crazy!!!! After that I tagged along with the Sam's family and Kevin. They went into town for lunch and then did a little shopping by the beach. Then when I got back all the kids were already getting ready for the big party that night- Azucena's Quincenerra. I helped a bunch of the girls get ready. It was a lot of fun. Rita and I both straightened our hair- which the kids were amazed with! (Especially Rita's hair b/c she has really curly hair!) Then we went to the party which was at 8pm. We were there until a little after 11pm. I can't think of the name of them now but you know those little guys who dress up in the fancy outfits with sombreros and play insturments and sing. Well they were there! They started playing when the paster walked in with Azucena. They played several songs, there were a couple prayers, and a short little speak about becoming a women. Then there was a lot of really good food (some of it a little interesting). It was apparently a much shorter version then they normally are. I thought it was a lot of fun, but I wouldn't have wanted it any longer. Yeah I think that is about it for now. I need to go get ready to go CAMPING!

Happy Panda Anyone?

Happy Panda Anyone? Ok so there is a couple of boys here who always come up to you and say, 'You want a knuckle sandwhich?" in english. (Compliments of Kevin last summer) Well I guess they were asking how you say bloody knose in english. Kevin told them it was happy panda. It cracks me up everytime! Today I heard it about a hundred times....."You want a happy panda?" The thing that makes me laugh is they totally don't know that they are saying. So cute!
So I have a special request- I have been told that I need to be more detailed....which I think I already am.....but I shall do my best for today.
I woke up at 7:30am. I layed in bed (just enjoying the silence- praying, reflecting, and thinking about the day) I got up about 8:25am? Maybe. I took a shower. Very short period b/c it was a cold one. I forgot to turn off the fan before I got in which leads to some very cold water. Then I got read to go for the day. At about 8:45 I had breakfast. This morning it consisted of some peruvian cereal with milk and a mandrin. Then I checked my blog, email, and facebook and wrote some people back until uhhh maybe 9:45- possibly. Then I went to check some of the kids laundry that I had hanging on the line. By that time my roomies were up and we headed into town. Tmro we are going to a young lady's quiencierra (sp?) Rita wanted to get some earrings so we went shopping. We went into one store and got earings for 1 sol each. Very cheap! Then we went to this little store to pick up some food. On my way there I stopped and got some fruit from my favorite fruit guy! He always picks out the best fruit for me! Then Rita headed back to the orphanage to start being a house mom. Karen and I went to the surf shop and got some t-shirts. Then we met Kevin and the Sam's family (a family from Blue Springs who is visiting for a few days) for lunch at this really good resturant right off the beach. I had a chicken sandwhich which was amazing! After that- they stayed to shop a little and Karen, Kevin and I headed back to the orphange. We took a moto back. I still want to video tape me riding in one of those things because they are so cool! By this time I think it is about 1:30pm. Karen and I start in on the delicing process Phase 2! The bell rings and mass Chaos starts in. We are attempting to shampoo and comb everybody out but it is crazy. You wouldn't think it would be that hard but so much comes up that you just don't think about. The sinks are really small so you can't get the kids hair very wet so we either have to hold them over the shower head (where we get soaking wet!) or get a bucket of water from the kitchen and bring in to the sink by the bathroom each time. Very slow process. All the while there are kids all around u being crazy kids. Today a little boy named Nelson ran up and stuck a packet of shampoo in his mouth. Karen had to chase after him to wash out his mouth. Things are looking much better lice wise. It is getter better! So that is a major praise to God! We finished for the night around 5:30pm. Karen and I then had dinner with the kids. It was leftovers from lunch- rice, chicken, two potatoe pieces, and a little sauce. It was good though. Then I came back to my house and put on some warmer clothes. Rita, Karen, and I gave Azsusena (sp?) - the girl who is having her Quincerra tmro- the birthday present we got her. (We got her matching braclet, earings, and necklace.) -Funny story there. Apparently it is 14 carrot gold and we got it really cheap. So crazy that we bought that and didn't even know it. Guess that is why it was locked up. She loved it! Then I came back and watched Karen make jewlery until we headed into town with Kevin, the Sam's family, and Fred, Peggy, Windy and her daughter Kailee (she is about 1 1/2 for dinner. Since we already ate we just went along to hang out. Poor Kailee needed a diaper change bad so I helped Windy with that. We had to do it the Peruvian way which was an experience let me tell u. Poor girl was so upset. After dinner we headed to the main street. They were having a youth ralley where a group from Lima was doing a christian drama, music thing but we ended up missing it. It was over just as we showed up. That's ok though because four of the girls from the orphange was there so we got to hang out with them for a little while. We also got to talk to some of the people from Lima who were touring. Most of them knew some English so that was cool! Then we walked back to the orphanage. Karen was teaching everyone Japaneese. The girls thought it was so funny. They wanted u to say Owww b/c that is blue in Japaneese so they would say, "How do u say Blue? (in Japaneese) and then pinch u to get u to say owwww! Crazy girls. It was a good laugh though. So my final part to the day....I ate some of my favorite Peruvians snacks, chatted to Kim, Jimmy, Alissa, and my mom for a bit on the computer, am writting this blog and am then writing in my journal and heading to bed. Tmro is a busy day so I want to be well rested! I could go way more detailed but that would get really boring! Hope that is enough for you (cough, cough, Kim :) )

That is me with Joel! The girls love glamor shots- thats Pelar, Gracey, and I know I would butcher the spelling of the next precious girl so I am not going to try.

David is on the left and Jose (the cutest boy EVER! Well they are all adorable but Jose has an extra special place in my corazone) is on the right!

The twins Lenni is in the yellow and Yonell is in the blue. They are enjoying their ice cream from when Kevin and I took them out.

This is (from the right) Betty, Milogros, Norma, a lady from the church and Irma- Getting baptized!

And some exciting news- Rita gets to try out being a house mom tmro. She is even spending the night. Please pray for her. She thinks this is what God is calling her to do long term so it is exciting stuff :)

Thank you!

So I am sitting here thinking about how blessed I am! I have been trying to check my email and facebook but just can't keep up with all the messages. I love you all so much! Thank you for taking your time to make a difference in my life, to show me that you care, for showing me how to give more of him (God) and less of me, for your constant prayers and words of encouragment that mean more to me then you will ever know! And also a little shout out to all you wonderful letter writers :) I have been very blessed to be opening up beautiful letters from you all everyday that help me start the day off right. They are always just what I need to hear! God is pretty stinkin amazing like that. Just one another one of those WOW God moments you can't really fathom how he has such amazing timing like that! (Alissa, Ashlee, Kailey, Melissa, Sheryl, Christine, and my Gina's (Lacy and Amy)! Thank you! And to all of you who are religious blog checkers and commenters. Thank you!!!
Ok so the main thing I want to tell you all about is what happened here on Sunday. It was a special Sunday for baptism. We went to church in the morning. The pastor tried to keep it short and sweet but it was about as long as it normally was. lol We read in 2 Corinthians 5:17. He talked about How we have a new life in Christ. He takes all the old stuff and makes us knew. He takes off all of our old, nasty clothes and baggage and gives us a clean slate. You personally have to make the decision to pick up your cross and follow him daily. What does that look like in your life? This week I am reminded of selflessness. I am surrounded by people who are constantly giving everything of themselves and expecting nothing in return. They want nothing more then to daily follow their Lord. Very inspiring and at the same time kind of a slap in the face to my own selfishness. Anyways...after church everyone (the whole entire church) piled into 2 vans and a car (Peruvian style- about 25-30 people in a van- more it was full of little kids :) )to go to an irrigation ditch near by to have the baptism. I loved every minute of it. First off how exciting to welcome new members into the family! 4 girls from the orphanage got baptized! SO SO EXCITING!!! Second the kids got to play in the water- seeing their faces was priceless! Even though they were shaking they were so cold- that didn't stop them from jumping in. One little boy- Lenny was shaking so bad he almost dropped all the shells he was collecting. Third off- the community setting is so beautiful. Everyone just sat together and fellowshipped. It didn't matter what else they had to do. A true community of Christ! They carry eachothers burdens and support eachother 100% with no judgement! Such a beautiful thing. And fourth off- Peruvians go all out of their picnics :) I brought a peanut butter sandwhich and some chips while they brought huge containers full of homemade meals of chicken, rice, and some vegetables of course! After the baptism I came back and played with some of the kids while it was visitation Sunday. The ones I got to play with didn't have any visitors so it was good to be able to play with them to get their minds off of it. Then we went back to church for night service. We had a special communtion service. Everyone that got baptized earlier got a special certificate and hugs and kisses from the whole church! I didn't know a lot that was going on b/c it was all in spanish, but I could really feel God's presence standing right next to me. For me it went along with what the pastor was talking about earlier- picking up your cross daily. It's not about what I can do but what he did for me.
Today consisted of me going into town twice, playing with the kids (of course! The most important part of the day!) and then taking some of the kids out to dinner. (Jose, Lenny, Yonell (the twins) and David.) We got chicken, french fries, salad, orange Fanta and then some delicious ice cream! Yum Yum! It was a lot of fun! I wish I got more pictures at the beginning though. I thought I left my camera at home but then I figured out I didn't! :) Sorry this is so long. I typed it really fast so hopefully it makes since.

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I haven't been able to get on the internet. (Which has been good to just take a break from it and focus on more important things) It's hard for me to remember everything that has happened. The days are so full of things.
On Friday night we had a girls night at our house. We had 9 of the oldest girls over to spend the night here. Only 5 of them were able to spend the night but it was so much fun! We painted nails, made braclets, watched several movies (Fireproof, You've Got Mail, and High School Musical 3- Spanish version which is nothing like the High School Musical I have seen except for the fact that it is a bunch of kids in high school singing.) They girls loved it and new all the songs. It was a lot of fun. We made really good oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and then when the girls woke up we made them pancakes. They were so sweet....they all said thank you serveral times and I had to fight them to let me wash the dishes. Other then the sleepover I have just been doing a lot of cleaning and playing with the kids. Everyone is starting to talk about me leaving now which is making me really sad! I am not ready to leave. I have a lot more to say and will try and write more later. Love you all!

Yesterday was a slower day. We did laundry and cleaned some in the morning. I got to play with the kids a little before lunch. I was going to go eat lunch with them, but I saw that they were eating chicken feet soup so I passed. Rita and I made grilled cheeses that were pretty tasty! Later in the afternoon, Rita, Kevin and I went into town to look for movies. Rita, Karen, and I were going to stay in one house while Kevin stayed in the other all night so that the mom's and the older girls could have a sleepover. At our house we ended up playing cards and coloring all night. 4 hours worth! I have a huge stack of beautiful pictures that are going to be hanging up in my room when I get home. We put the kids to bed at 10pm which was a very interesting experience. They all started running all over the place. We finally got them situated with going to the bathroom and getting a drink and tucking them in...ect. One of the older boys was asleep when we got there at 6pm and he woke up about 9pm so we let him stay up playing cards with Rita and me for awhile. The house moms ended up coming home about 12:30pm so we lucked out and didn't have to stay the night. I heard the girls running around screaming with face painting on their faces so it looks like they had a great time. Today looks like another good laundry day and some playing with the kids before missionary night (which means some good food :) ) It is a bright sunny day here! Thank you Jesus for another wonderfull day to serve you! Love you all! Te Amo! (That's for you Sheryl!)

Climbing the Mountain

Today was a very interesting day. It started out with us making sure we had everything ready to go to de-lice the whole compound. This sounds like an easy task but let me tell you....there is just so much to it all! We started in the first house around 10am. We took a break for lunch and didn't finish it until 5:30pm. Then we took another break for dinner and did the second house until about 8:30pm. Luckly they didn't have it as bad as the first house. We had to strip all the beds and take all the matresses to spray them, and take all the stuffed animals and brushes. I just couldn't believe all the stuff. The first house took us forever to get all the bugs out of the girls hair. I over came two big fears so far. 1.) bugs. 2.) Hair. I hate loose hair just laying around. (if you have ever lived with me u know how much it freaks me out. lol.....especially long black hair. - and that is what all the girls here have). I made the first brush though of a little girl's hair pulling out about 30 bugs everytime. I don't know how they weren't going crazy with all those bugs in their hair. They had to itch like crazy. The first time I ever saw a lice it was jumping and it freaked me out. Now I am excited when I only pull out five or six. Today was a good day! I think we got a ton out so hopefully it will help. We are going to make all the kids put vinegar on their hair everyday and brush through them a lot. Killing lice is no easy task so we are slowly on our way up the seems to be huge mountain. God has been so good to me and so far I don't think I have lice. I shampooed tonight just in case. I had lice all over my hands after washing the kids hair. We gave all the kids cookies that we made since they did such a good job sitting still some of them for about an hour :) On a positive note: my hair is super soft from all the vinegar I have been using! Tomorrow night all the older girls are going to have a sleepover with all the house mom's so we are going to stay in the houses and watch all the other kids. It should be fun! I will let u know. It will be really good for the older girls. Sometimes I think they get over looked because they are more self sufficiant. I have really seen this week how much they are longing from someone to love on them so it should be a lot of fun! Well I have to go boil some water to wash some more of the kids towels.

Making a Commitment

Yesterday we went to church in the morning and the paster talked about commitment. A very interesting topic I think. Made me think of you guys (Kailey and Kim) since we always talk about it! lol He talked about how it is better not commit then to commit and break it because of excuses. How we are commited to others and by our words reflects how we are commited to our God. If we can't commit to things we can see how are we to commit to our God who we can see but in a different way. He talked about Ecclesiastes 5:1-20.
After church (Karen, Rita, Kevin, and I) made pancakes with some awesome homemade syrup! (thanks to Kevin) Then I played with the kids and skyped my dear buddy Sheryl and the family! I love seeing all your beautiful faces! After that the four of us went to the market to pick up a chocolate cake we bought for the kids who did the skit with us. We ended up eating at a really good chicken place in town. (chicken, french fries, and a salad :) ) Then we headed to church. The paster was talking about commitments again. He talked about it in a marriage aspect and with our relationship with God and how we need to keep up our end of the commitment even if the other person don't or circimstances prevent us. We just have to do all we can. I got really distracted because there was a bat flying around and all the kids were cracking up. Then a couple people fell asleep so a couple little boys were trying to wake them up and it was making me laugh so bad. I got some of it, but probably missed a lot.
Today we were planning on making the kids cookies to give to them after we shampooed them for lice today but I guess God had other plans for us today. We woke up and discovered that we don't have any water. All the water in the compound is out due to a broken piece in the well. Then are thinking it is going to take a couple day.....so for now we will just prepare for the days to come. :)

The Sin Chair

This is us practicing our skit before we performed it today. The chair at first says "don't touch" and then at the end it says "sin". Rita comes in first, then me, then Karen, then Gerson is the little boy who sits down in the chair, Norma is the one who walks in hesitating to take the chair, Cristofer is the one pulling on me and showing his muscles, and Marinella is the one who walks in with the bible and is reading. Sin traps man in a prison that separates him from God. Then deceives him into believing there is no escape. Salvation sets men free from that prison reuniting them with God. Not all choose salvation. Joshua 25:15- "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve....." We have had a great time practicing. Hopefully we can all keep a straight face while we are preforming! I will let you all know how it goes.

Today we went to the other church to finally do our skit. We watched a video about Joseph and then we sang songs and played duck, duck, goose with the people there. All the people were very friendly and welcoming. The skit went really well and the kids did great. I met a little baby named Amy today...it was very exciting since that isn't a spanish name! lol It was cool because I got to really talk with Norma. She is 11 or 12 I think. We had a great time laughing and talking even though I don't speak spanish. lol I gave her one of the rings I was wearing because she really liked it. Her smile was priceless! After the skit, Kevin, Rita, Karen and I went into the market to buy lice killing stuff. We then went and took some mattresses from the kids to get the lice off of them. It wasn't as bad as taking the clothes but I still felt bad. Then me and the girls watched Griffin and Phenix...sp? It was a really good movie!

Picture Time!

This picture of the chicken is the picture I promised you awhile ago. This is actually one of the better ones. lol

The little girl is Ruth. So so sweet!

The older lady was my roomie for a week. Her name is Emma and she is from Canada. This lady is the perfect example as walking as Jesus did!

Friday

Today we woke up and finished up with some of the kids towels. We then headed to Trujillo (a near by city that is like a mini Lima). We were on a hunt for all of the things we needed to get rid of all the lice but didn't have much luck. We did however eat at a papa john's that was amazing!!! When we were ording a lady came up to us and said I hear you speak English. We started talking and she is a missionary there in Trujillo. She lives there 10 months out of the year. She started a ministrey to help abused women and children. It was really neat to see how God had us cross paths. Even if it was just so I could pray for her and her ministry. We had a lot of time to kill before r bus so we went to go see Harry Potter. I was so excited! It was kind of frustrating at first because they spoke spanish....and I only knew like 3 or 4 words. lol I read the book though so that helped. It was still fun! Good thing my dad is going to take me to see it in English when I get home!! When we got home I played games outside with the kids until it got dark. Then we rehearsed the skit we are preforming tmro. The kids are so cute with it. I recorded one of our practices....it is a really bad video job but still cute. You all will have to see it! Then I watched TV with the kids for awhile. Good thing Maria (one of the older girls) was there. She changed the channel anytime anything wasn't PG came on. lol

He Must Become Greater- I must become Less

As I was laying in bed last night, laying with no sheets, blanket, or pillow on my bed (due to my roomie having lice. lol) I was thinking about how blessed I am to have everything God has givin me. There are so many people here who have nothing and are out sleeping on the streets. Everyday when I am at home I am worried about my own life. It is about what I need to get done for the day. Here it is different. It is hard to explain. I was just thinking about how real those words.....God must become greater and I must become less. How big is my God and how small am I. God put me here on this earth to serve him and to do that it needs to be all about it.
Today Karen, Rita, and I were in charge of getting rid of the lice in the whole compund. Way easier said then done. There is so much to think of and with 40 kids and a unique set of supplies. It was sp much easier back home when we had to do this at my daycare. We went to the market and priced supplies and had a meeting with all the head people here to figure out the best way to work things. Rita and I went in and took 2 pairs of clothes and a towel from each child to seal in bags for 2 days to kill the lice. I felt like the grinch. It was horrible! Some of the kids didn't want to give up there clothes. After assuring them they would get them back in a couple days they finally gave them up.
I also scrubbed down desks in one of the classrooms in the school. One girl had a hannah montana sticker on her desk that I scrubbed at forever. I thought is was so funny that they know who she is! lol
After that I watched Kevin and some of the younger kids play duck duck goose and then headed to missionary night. We had some good omlets. To make these we put eggs and ingredients in a zip lock bag and put it in a pan of boiling water for awhile. Who knew that would make omlets.
Then Rita, Karen, and I, and 4 kids practiced a skit that we are going to preform on Saturday at one of the churchs here.
Now we are boiling hot water to wash some of the kids towels to kill the lice. I just got my head sprayed with vinegar. I can honestly say that I have never done that before. Another wierd thing- Kevin, Rita, Karen and I were walking back from the market when I saw someone walking a huge hog.....just like a dog. Right down the road we always take. It stopped to pee....which leads me to another good point- when walking in Peru never step on dark spots in the sand!
Good night all! Love you from Peru!

Lice- No Bueno :(

This morning started off very slow and relaxing. We went to go have lunch with the kids but they ate early so we missed out. Rita, Karen, and I stayed and painted all of the girl's nails! It was a lot of fun! They were all so excited! It blew my mind how patient and thoughtful they all were! They took turns waiting for us to paint their nails and even shared colors with no fighting! Then we played a game of slap jacks with the boys. After that we went back to our house and had lunch. After lunch Rita and I went and played basketball with the boys. (Gerson, Yohnson, yowell, and Christopher) It was girls verse boys. We were doing pretty good until Kevin came along. lol After that Rita and I went to the store and then made spaghetti. After that I checked Rita's hair for lice because it was itching really bad. We found a total of 21 bugs (I think that was the final count) and a ton of lice nets. We started at 7:30 and it is now 1am and we are still working on digging them all out. We sprayed all of the mattresses, put all of our clothes in bags and washed our hair with lice shampoo. No Bueno! We all decided we are going to use the shampoo every ten days just as a procotion! God is good for being with us because we all were grossed out majorly!
And a small update on the little girl who had the surgery. Everything went well and she is in recovery until tmro.

Swine Flu

So I didn't get to tell you all that on Saturday night I found out that the kids have off school for 3 weeks because of the cases of the Swine Flu in Peru. No worries it's not here in Pacasmayo! lol And anyways the safest place to be is in the center of God's will so I am not worried about it. ha ha So Yesterday the kids didn't go to school. I was excited beacuse that means we have more time to play and hang out with the kids but I was still a little bummed because I was looking forward to seeing what teaching English here would be like.
In the morning Karen, Emma, Peggy and Wanda and I went into the market. We were there all morning because the ladies had lots of shopping to do. Let's just say it's not like wal-mart lol. I took some pictures but I am still on Kevin's computer so hopefully when mine gets up and running I will load some for u because you guys have to see this. I will just leave it as a suprise. This guy came up to me holding a box stuffed full of live baby chicks. He asked me if Iwanted to buy one....and I am pretty sure those aren't for pets. :) It is so different. Not in a bad way though. After the market Kevin, Rita, Karen and I had lunch with the kids. After lunch Kevin and the little girl here ( I would tell you her name but I would butcher the spelling) left for Trujillo. She is the one who has the tumor. I just got news from Peggy that the surgery went well. Thanks for the prayers those of you who knew. Sry I meant to get on earlier but I never got a chance. They are still waiting to see if it is cancerous though. Rita and I (well mainly rita) lol taught the kids those games you can do with the string on your fingers. You know like Jacob's ladder and a broom ect. It took me forever to figure out one of them. Betzy a little girl here and Gerson were teaching me for like an hour. I could do it, I just couldn't remember it on my own. I finally got it and Gerson said Thank you God! (in English) It was toooo cute! After that I played a lot of volleyball and basketball. Then Rita, Karen and I went to bible study for the youth guys from the church here. We read through Genesis 26 last night. They read and then Cherry (an English teacher here) talked about it. It is in English to help them learn it. We talked all about God's promises. Such an important part of our walk with Christ yet they are often over looked. After the study we played so Charaids with movies and songs. hmmmm yeah try playing with a few guys that knew no English at all. It was interesting and very entertaining. :) After that I got to talk to my Meggie Moo Who and my beautiful family on skype! YEAH!!! So that is all for now!

I've got the Joy Joy Joy Joy Down in My Heart

So here is a little update:
So much has happened since I have been here only a few days. I learned fast to ignore all of the whistling as I walk down the street. They aren't use to seeing blonde haired people here :)Today I woke up to a giant cricket looking me straight in the face. Good thing I had warning that they fly! lol I just threw my blanket over my face and pushed it off the bed. Oh the excitment of living here. It is so peaceful and stress free here. I love (at times) how they don't really have a lot scheduled. If church starts at 9am it might be more like 9:30am. This morning we all went to church to listen to a guest speaker. He talked about David and Galiath in 1 Samuel 17. God can use the little people in unexpected ways! Everyone told David that he couldn't do it. He was to young, not skilled, weak. The pastor talked about what was our Galiath in our life? This story just made me think about myself and how I feel like I am never good enough. Oh I am to quiet for that, I am not good at that, that's too scary, uh that's not really my thing. David didn't doubt at all. He had full faitht that he could do it. If God brings you to it, he will bring you through it! God gave David all he needed to fight his battle and he will give us everything we need to fight all of our battles if we have faith that he will. Since this week there are a lot of gringos here the paster helped interpret. All the joy in this church blew me away! People here are so sincere in everything they do. I hope this is making sence. I just have all these thoughts and feelings flying around in my head and am trying to get them all out! After church we went to a beautiful resturant. Rita and I shared chicken, rice, a salad, fries, and thier vesion of mash potatoes. not at all like ours but still pretty tasty! Today is visitation day here so the kids have all been excited to see if they will have any visitors. I am not sure what is planned for the rest of the day besides church at night. I love you all!!!

An Answer to My Prayers

I don't have a lot of time to write but I just wanted to let everyone know I am here safe! God answered my prayers and just blew my mind away! When I was in KC Jeff Heart was there! Wow God is so good! He traveled with me all the way to Lima. Watching out for me the whole way! Then Richard picked me up and I spent the night at his house. The next day I was in the van pretty much the whole day driving from place to place. I got into Pacasmayo at 6:30am today and now we r headed to the market! Thanks for all the prayers! Keep up the good work :) Love you all! I will do me best to keep u posted. I already am in love with all the kids! They have already given me lots of hugs and kisses! I also learned that I will never drive in Peru! They are so crazy! So there is a 3 lane road....to them yeah that's like a 5 lane road :) It is best just to let the driver drive and you just sit back and pay no attention to it! lol

3 Days until I leave!

Ok so I didn't mean to put that last picture up there, but that's ok. There is the happy newly engaged couple! Aren't they beautiful!

So I am officially leaving for Peru this Thursday the 9th. There is just so much I can't explain about the whole situation. Man God is good! I am really nervous but I know that God is going to be there every step of the way! Holding my hand, Sitting next to me, pushing me off my step....whatever I need.

Since some of you haven't really heard my heart in it all I shall share a little with you now: I was praying about going back to Peru with Gateway since I went last summer. I was saving up my money and MY plan was to go and that was that. As the time got closer I started praying about it and searching for what to do. It was kind of one of those looking but I still had my mind set type of things. But God just kept telling me to wait to make my decision. Then around spring break time Kevin (who is living in Pacasmayo now, where I am going) asked me to come visit where he was at. Was this what God wanted me to wait for? I prayed about it and everything just started falling into its perfect place.

God is funny like that. I just picture him in this huge warehouse with card tables lined up through the whole place....on and on and on. Each card table represents a person and God has their puzzle up on that table. He starts taking pieces from one person's table and adding them to another person's puzzle. Then it gets so big he has to move to the floor. Eventually everyone and every piece is perfectly placed. God cares that much that he perfectly builds each puzzle piece in my life and has the perfect place for each one of my pieces. I know cheesy but get over it that's how I am. lol

So now I am actually going to Peru. Yes I am scared. No I never saw myself doing this. But my dear sister once told me...you have to do something different to get something you have never had before. Might have said that before but it just really stuck with me. I am so excited to love on all of the children there! God is teaching me so much already! I am excited to see everything else he has in store for me.