Well, now that I am into the first trimester, I´m beginning to experience those lovely early pregnancy symptoms...especially nausea and exhaustion. I did not know it was possible to feel this tired! It´s crazy...I have to take several naps just to get through a day. Before I was pregnant I could not have napped if I wanted to. I was just not able to sleep during the day. Now I am not able to stay awake!!
Still, that´s not too bad. Sleeping is actually pretty nice. But the nausea, now that is something I could really do without. I am pretty accustomed to being sick, but this is just terrible. I feel terrible all the time. And have you heard that pregnant women are especially sensitive to smells and some smells can make them throw up? Well, I cannot stand the smell of rice! And in case you didn´t know, in Ecuador, all they eat is rice! At every meal! I can´t even cook rice.
I just hope I´m one of the lucky ones whose nausea eases up after the first trimester! God, give me strength!! It will all be worth it in May when the baby is born!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Week 36: Welcome Home! (Week 5 of pregnancy)
The moment I have been praying for finally arrived this week. My brother Nick finally came home from Afghanistan! Proof that God is faithful and takes good care of his children, I got to talk to my brother for the first time in a very long time, and see pictures on facebook of his homecoming. I would have loved to be there!
I decided to wait until next week to tell my parents about the baby. I didn´t want to steal my brother´s thunder. After all, I was so excited that he was finally home, finally safe. He deserved to have all the spotlight, even if he didn´t want it! He is a hero, he is my brother, and he is finally home!!
On my list of answered prayers, there appear many things, big and small. My dad getting back into the ministry, this pregnancy, my new bookshelf, and now, another thing to add to my list...something I have waited patiently for and something I have prayed faithfully for, too. My brother is home safe, and I can rest just a little more soundly tonight knowing that he is surrounded by the many people who love him...and far away on another continent, I am thinking of him, too. Welcome home, Nick!
I decided to wait until next week to tell my parents about the baby. I didn´t want to steal my brother´s thunder. After all, I was so excited that he was finally home, finally safe. He deserved to have all the spotlight, even if he didn´t want it! He is a hero, he is my brother, and he is finally home!!
On my list of answered prayers, there appear many things, big and small. My dad getting back into the ministry, this pregnancy, my new bookshelf, and now, another thing to add to my list...something I have waited patiently for and something I have prayed faithfully for, too. My brother is home safe, and I can rest just a little more soundly tonight knowing that he is surrounded by the many people who love him...and far away on another continent, I am thinking of him, too. Welcome home, Nick!
Week 36: The moment of truth (week 5 of pregnancy)
The pregnancy test was bought. My stomach was doing somersaults at warp speed. (Nerves or pregnancy nausea?) And I had to wait until tomorrow!
As a young woman living in South America, far from family and friends, all I can say is, thank God for google. In the days leading up to the pregnancy test, I found a number of pregnancy websites explaining everything I could possibly want to know about pregnancy, and I focused on the parts about pregnancy symptoms and how to know if you are pregnant. Of course, once you have the missed period that will get your attention, and then as the other symptoms start showing up you start to get more sure. But everyone knows that the only way to be sure is the pregnancy test. According to my google research, I was supposed to wait until I was 7 days late, and I should take the test in the morning when I first woke up. So that was tomorrow morning.
I went to bed restless, while Jairo snored on as normal. Eventually I fell asleep, only to be woken up around 5am by my new constant need to pee. I looked at the time on my cell phone. Was 5am too early? I layed in bed for a few minutes deliberating. Some people wake up at this time to get ready for work, so it must be okay, I reasoned. I staggered drunkenly to the bathroom where I had dutifully laid out everything I needed for the test. I waited for the haze to pass from my eyes before I started reading the directions, even though I had read them about ten times the night before. I did everything to the letter, exactly as I should. According to the directions, it could take up to four minutes. According to the internet, it could take up to ten. And if it was negative I didn´t need to worry. I could repeat the test in a few days. I told myself all of these things as I used the very unsophisticated dropper to put my ¨sample¨ on the little test mechanism. I was to enthralled to do anything except stand there like an idiot, staring expectantly at the device. It turned to two pink lines so quickly that I thought the test was broken. My heart was beating too fast now, and that nausea was getting worse. I read over the instructions again. Then I smiled and sighed a sigh of relief. I was not dying from some South American illness. I was pregnant. And here was my proof! I was not crazy and I had not imagined those symptoms! Aha!
Now much too awake for 5am, I grabbed the camera and started taking pictures of the positive pregnancy test. Then I cleaned up the bathroom and ran to the bedroom, camera and test in hand. I flicked on the light and forcefully woke Jairo up. Exultant I smiled and held the test in front of him. He waited for the blur to clear from his eyes before smiling and saying something like, yeah I thought so.
We took pictures...pictures of the test, pictures of me holding the test, pictures of Jairo holding the test...and then we went back to sleep.
As a young woman living in South America, far from family and friends, all I can say is, thank God for google. In the days leading up to the pregnancy test, I found a number of pregnancy websites explaining everything I could possibly want to know about pregnancy, and I focused on the parts about pregnancy symptoms and how to know if you are pregnant. Of course, once you have the missed period that will get your attention, and then as the other symptoms start showing up you start to get more sure. But everyone knows that the only way to be sure is the pregnancy test. According to my google research, I was supposed to wait until I was 7 days late, and I should take the test in the morning when I first woke up. So that was tomorrow morning.
I went to bed restless, while Jairo snored on as normal. Eventually I fell asleep, only to be woken up around 5am by my new constant need to pee. I looked at the time on my cell phone. Was 5am too early? I layed in bed for a few minutes deliberating. Some people wake up at this time to get ready for work, so it must be okay, I reasoned. I staggered drunkenly to the bathroom where I had dutifully laid out everything I needed for the test. I waited for the haze to pass from my eyes before I started reading the directions, even though I had read them about ten times the night before. I did everything to the letter, exactly as I should. According to the directions, it could take up to four minutes. According to the internet, it could take up to ten. And if it was negative I didn´t need to worry. I could repeat the test in a few days. I told myself all of these things as I used the very unsophisticated dropper to put my ¨sample¨ on the little test mechanism. I was to enthralled to do anything except stand there like an idiot, staring expectantly at the device. It turned to two pink lines so quickly that I thought the test was broken. My heart was beating too fast now, and that nausea was getting worse. I read over the instructions again. Then I smiled and sighed a sigh of relief. I was not dying from some South American illness. I was pregnant. And here was my proof! I was not crazy and I had not imagined those symptoms! Aha!
Now much too awake for 5am, I grabbed the camera and started taking pictures of the positive pregnancy test. Then I cleaned up the bathroom and ran to the bedroom, camera and test in hand. I flicked on the light and forcefully woke Jairo up. Exultant I smiled and held the test in front of him. He waited for the blur to clear from his eyes before smiling and saying something like, yeah I thought so.
We took pictures...pictures of the test, pictures of me holding the test, pictures of Jairo holding the test...and then we went back to sleep.
Week 35: Eight months married (pregnancy week 4)
I think this is one of those anniversaries that I will remember clearly for a long time. I was deperately hoping that I was not wrong about being pregnant, because otherwise I had no way to explain how sick I was feeling and how much I really had to eat Encebollado, an Ecuadorian fish soup. I could not eat anything else.
Jairo had originally planned to take me out for pizza, so when I met him at the bus stop and announced we were going to the seafood restaurant he was surprised. Pleasantly, I think, because encebollado only costs $1.50.
What I remember clearly was the feeling that we were walking around with this huge scandalous secret. We smiled stupidly at each other throughout the meal and talked about how nice it would be if it were true...and then reminding each other not to get too excited until we had the pregnancy test under our belts.
Eight months of marriage and now, quite possibly, a baby. It was a romantic idea for now, nothing more, because there was no substantial proof. My symptoms could be some kind of deadly South American disease, too. Less romantic, but possible all the same. So for now we were just basking in the possibility of a baby with no reason to feel fear or nervousness or even responsibility. We were just dreaming for now.
I like to remember this day because before the trials of pregnancy that came later, I remember how extremely happy we were. Not just happy to maybe be pregnant, but happy together. Newlyweds in general have to wait it out for a while before they really learn how to live together and how to be married. We were coming to a point where, although far from perfect, happiness was an attainable daily goal. I like knowing that that is the atmosphere in which we conceived a child, being happy and in love and wanting to share that love with another little person, who would become an extension of us, of our happiness and love. This is the day I remember when the pregnancy hormones strike, and I remind myself that before pregnancy when my happiness did not depend on cravings and sleep but rather on life itself, I was happy. We were happy. And underneath the hormonal mood swings and the pregnancy-induced sicknesses and pains, we still are that happy couple, getting ready to welcome our very own baby into the world.
Jairo had originally planned to take me out for pizza, so when I met him at the bus stop and announced we were going to the seafood restaurant he was surprised. Pleasantly, I think, because encebollado only costs $1.50.
What I remember clearly was the feeling that we were walking around with this huge scandalous secret. We smiled stupidly at each other throughout the meal and talked about how nice it would be if it were true...and then reminding each other not to get too excited until we had the pregnancy test under our belts.
Eight months of marriage and now, quite possibly, a baby. It was a romantic idea for now, nothing more, because there was no substantial proof. My symptoms could be some kind of deadly South American disease, too. Less romantic, but possible all the same. So for now we were just basking in the possibility of a baby with no reason to feel fear or nervousness or even responsibility. We were just dreaming for now.
I like to remember this day because before the trials of pregnancy that came later, I remember how extremely happy we were. Not just happy to maybe be pregnant, but happy together. Newlyweds in general have to wait it out for a while before they really learn how to live together and how to be married. We were coming to a point where, although far from perfect, happiness was an attainable daily goal. I like knowing that that is the atmosphere in which we conceived a child, being happy and in love and wanting to share that love with another little person, who would become an extension of us, of our happiness and love. This is the day I remember when the pregnancy hormones strike, and I remind myself that before pregnancy when my happiness did not depend on cravings and sleep but rather on life itself, I was happy. We were happy. And underneath the hormonal mood swings and the pregnancy-induced sicknesses and pains, we still are that happy couple, getting ready to welcome our very own baby into the world.
Week 35: That is suspicious!! (Pregnancy week 4)
I´m writing this blog post in retrospect, since I really couldn´t share these feelings until I knew for sure the outcome, and also until I was ready for the world to know, too.
It hit me like an epiphany one morning as I was lying in bed. Our alarm had just gone off, and we were holding on to those last few moments before having to get up and get going. I reached over to grab my cell phone and turn off the alarm before it sounded, since we were already awake. Absentmindedly I looked at the date on my phone and that is when it hit me. I was four days late! Now, for some girls that would be a normal monthly occurrence, but I had never even been one day late before! (Once I thought I was, but I just counted wrong.) In stunned silence I opened up the calendar on my phone and counted and recounted the days…I was definitely four days late! What was even more strange is that I was only just noticing that I was late…I watch the calendar like a hawk each month. I do not like being surprised by that visitor! I thought back over the past few weeks. I was sure I was coming down with something. I could not stop sleeping. I would fall asleep everywhere, at any time of day, which was completely weird for me. I was eating a lot more. One of my good girlfriends had just commented to me the other day that she had never seen me eat so much. We took this as a sign that my parasite medicine had worked and I was now healthier. And then there was the moodiness. Now, I am no rock when it comes to emotions, but even I was surprised by the little things that made me angry and the ease with which my tears were flowing these days.
Okay, so I guess it´s true what they say about hindsight. And the icing on the cake was that this month we decided to start trying for a baby. Maybe trying is too strong of a word. It was more like we decided to stop trying to not get pregnant. That was as far as the effort went. We were happy and sure that we would love to be parents. We were doing better financially, enough to at least entertain the idea of a new family member, and we both really want a big family so it seemed like maybe we should give the family idea a chance. I was not even thinking about the possibility of getting pregnant so quickly…I read online that some couples try for over a year before getting pregnant! So why would I think that the very first month would yield such good results?
I will say this. I have had a connection with this particular child since way before we decided to ¨try¨ for a baby. I´m pretty sure it was before our wedding that I first started praying to God about my children…in particular about my first child. I knew Jairo and I were to be married soon, and I knew we wanted a big family because we talked about it a lot. Still, I also knew (to some extent) that life on the mission field was not exactly predictable. We needed to raise support to be able to live and work full-time for God, and I didn´t know how long that would take. I didn´t know what we would have or not have in the first years of our marriage. But, lucky for me, I knew someone who did know all of those things. So I made a deal with God. I don´t know what you believe about making deals with God, but I see them all throughout Scripture. God is a God of covenants and promises. So why not a covenant with me? I made this deal with God, that if He would keep me from getting pregnant until the exact moment when it was best for us to have a child, when I did get pregnant I would raise that child to serve Him and love Him. That´s it. Simple! So after I made that deal with God, I reminded Him of it in prayer frequently, so that this baby has been prayed for since before I even married Jairo.
Well, it looks like God decided to cash in on that promise. So now those prayers for the baby are no longer abstract. But back to the story. I was convinced now, after only a few minutes of silently wigging out, that I was, indeed, pregnant. Looking for some gentle way to break the good news to Jairo, who would probably be even more surprised than I was that it happened so fast, I blurted out, ¨Hey! I´m four days late! I think I´m pregnant!¨
I´ve never been one for tact. It´s something I´m working on.
Well, I will save the rest of the story for another entry, since this week we only really got to the point of suspicions and waiting, waiting, waiting for me to be a week late so that there would be no doubt on the pregnancy test. So for now you can just wait impatiently like I had to do!!
It hit me like an epiphany one morning as I was lying in bed. Our alarm had just gone off, and we were holding on to those last few moments before having to get up and get going. I reached over to grab my cell phone and turn off the alarm before it sounded, since we were already awake. Absentmindedly I looked at the date on my phone and that is when it hit me. I was four days late! Now, for some girls that would be a normal monthly occurrence, but I had never even been one day late before! (Once I thought I was, but I just counted wrong.) In stunned silence I opened up the calendar on my phone and counted and recounted the days…I was definitely four days late! What was even more strange is that I was only just noticing that I was late…I watch the calendar like a hawk each month. I do not like being surprised by that visitor! I thought back over the past few weeks. I was sure I was coming down with something. I could not stop sleeping. I would fall asleep everywhere, at any time of day, which was completely weird for me. I was eating a lot more. One of my good girlfriends had just commented to me the other day that she had never seen me eat so much. We took this as a sign that my parasite medicine had worked and I was now healthier. And then there was the moodiness. Now, I am no rock when it comes to emotions, but even I was surprised by the little things that made me angry and the ease with which my tears were flowing these days.
Okay, so I guess it´s true what they say about hindsight. And the icing on the cake was that this month we decided to start trying for a baby. Maybe trying is too strong of a word. It was more like we decided to stop trying to not get pregnant. That was as far as the effort went. We were happy and sure that we would love to be parents. We were doing better financially, enough to at least entertain the idea of a new family member, and we both really want a big family so it seemed like maybe we should give the family idea a chance. I was not even thinking about the possibility of getting pregnant so quickly…I read online that some couples try for over a year before getting pregnant! So why would I think that the very first month would yield such good results?
I will say this. I have had a connection with this particular child since way before we decided to ¨try¨ for a baby. I´m pretty sure it was before our wedding that I first started praying to God about my children…in particular about my first child. I knew Jairo and I were to be married soon, and I knew we wanted a big family because we talked about it a lot. Still, I also knew (to some extent) that life on the mission field was not exactly predictable. We needed to raise support to be able to live and work full-time for God, and I didn´t know how long that would take. I didn´t know what we would have or not have in the first years of our marriage. But, lucky for me, I knew someone who did know all of those things. So I made a deal with God. I don´t know what you believe about making deals with God, but I see them all throughout Scripture. God is a God of covenants and promises. So why not a covenant with me? I made this deal with God, that if He would keep me from getting pregnant until the exact moment when it was best for us to have a child, when I did get pregnant I would raise that child to serve Him and love Him. That´s it. Simple! So after I made that deal with God, I reminded Him of it in prayer frequently, so that this baby has been prayed for since before I even married Jairo.
Well, it looks like God decided to cash in on that promise. So now those prayers for the baby are no longer abstract. But back to the story. I was convinced now, after only a few minutes of silently wigging out, that I was, indeed, pregnant. Looking for some gentle way to break the good news to Jairo, who would probably be even more surprised than I was that it happened so fast, I blurted out, ¨Hey! I´m four days late! I think I´m pregnant!¨
I´ve never been one for tact. It´s something I´m working on.
Well, I will save the rest of the story for another entry, since this week we only really got to the point of suspicions and waiting, waiting, waiting for me to be a week late so that there would be no doubt on the pregnancy test. So for now you can just wait impatiently like I had to do!!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Week 34: Guest speaker!
Our good friend Byron Gudiño spoke at our youth service this week! Continuing with our theme of prayer for this month, Byron talked about his personal testimony and the power of prayer that he has seen in his own life. It was a really neat testimony and I don´t think I have ever seen the teens so attentive for anyone who isn´t Jairo!
Becky and Byron are friend of ours that I have mentioned before, and fellow workers in God´s ministry here in Ecuador. I am so glad that we have gotten the chance to get to know them and share in God´s work together. The way that we have been able to mutually support each other´s ministries and the way that serving God has allowed us to grow as friends is such a blessing!
I hope that Byron will speak to our youth again sometime, because it was really a great message and a huge encouragement!
Becky and Byron are friend of ours that I have mentioned before, and fellow workers in God´s ministry here in Ecuador. I am so glad that we have gotten the chance to get to know them and share in God´s work together. The way that we have been able to mutually support each other´s ministries and the way that serving God has allowed us to grow as friends is such a blessing!
I hope that Byron will speak to our youth again sometime, because it was really a great message and a huge encouragement!
Week 34: Jehova Jireh...God provides!
I have been wanting a bookshelf for a long time, but extra money isn´t just lying around, so I have been waiting patiently. I always go to God with everything I need, big or small, because I know He cares and He will provide in His time. One of the many things I have asked Him for is a bookshelf. Today I got one!
The pastor was cleaning out the church office and found he had an extra bookshelf, which he was going to throw out because he had nowhere to put it. I asked Jairo about the shelf, who in turn asked the pastor, and the pastor said to go ahead and take it home if we wanted it. It was in pretty good shape, really only needing a coat of paint, and it is now full of books, newly painted, in the guest room.
James says that many times we do not receive things from God because we do not ask, or we ask with wrong motives. If there is something you need, whether big or small, don´t be afraid to ask. When you ask for things you need, or things that you want for good reasons, God delights in providing for you in just the right moment. I´ve seen in my own life time and again how God provides because I am not afraid to ask! He is our Father, and any good father wants to take good care of his children. How much more our Heavenly Father?
The pastor was cleaning out the church office and found he had an extra bookshelf, which he was going to throw out because he had nowhere to put it. I asked Jairo about the shelf, who in turn asked the pastor, and the pastor said to go ahead and take it home if we wanted it. It was in pretty good shape, really only needing a coat of paint, and it is now full of books, newly painted, in the guest room.
James says that many times we do not receive things from God because we do not ask, or we ask with wrong motives. If there is something you need, whether big or small, don´t be afraid to ask. When you ask for things you need, or things that you want for good reasons, God delights in providing for you in just the right moment. I´ve seen in my own life time and again how God provides because I am not afraid to ask! He is our Father, and any good father wants to take good care of his children. How much more our Heavenly Father?
Week 33: Planning, planning, planning
It´s that time again...we are planning another vigilia for the youth group. A vigilia is basically an all-night church service with praise and worship, games, snacks, etc. This particular vigilia we are planning to be more spiritually oriented, with lots of prayer time and things like that.
We are hoping that some of our friends from Puyo will be able to come up for the event and participate. Jairo is a part of their worship team whenever he can be in Puyo, so they might do some kind of special music together or something like that.
I have been so impressed to see the youth growing spiritually, which is actually a large part of why we decided to do another vigilia. It´s exciting to see them actually wanting to spend time in prayer and worship, and not care if we don´t have a game or anything to ¨entertain¨ them. It shows a little bit of spiritual maturity, as they become less like teens in the world and more like the people God has called them to be.
I´m really excited about the vigilia, as is Jairo, and since we planned one before in May I think we have a better idea of what to expect and how to plan. Hopefully it will go well!
We are hoping that some of our friends from Puyo will be able to come up for the event and participate. Jairo is a part of their worship team whenever he can be in Puyo, so they might do some kind of special music together or something like that.
I have been so impressed to see the youth growing spiritually, which is actually a large part of why we decided to do another vigilia. It´s exciting to see them actually wanting to spend time in prayer and worship, and not care if we don´t have a game or anything to ¨entertain¨ them. It shows a little bit of spiritual maturity, as they become less like teens in the world and more like the people God has called them to be.
I´m really excited about the vigilia, as is Jairo, and since we planned one before in May I think we have a better idea of what to expect and how to plan. Hopefully it will go well!
Week 32: Homemade Chili
My dad makes the world´s best chili. Don´t even try to argue, because it´s true.
For a while now I have been craving some foods from the US, and Jairo has encouraged me to go ahead and cook some of those things here. He likes trying out what I make, and of course I like eating it, too. So I decided to make chili.
Now, I will be honest and say I never actually had made chili before. I mean, why would I make it if my dad is the one who always makes it? There was never a need for me to make it before. I wasn´t exactly sure what I was doing, and I think I was missing some ingredients that I didn´t know how to say in Spanish. Still, it turned out pretty well. Jairo liked it, although he ate it with rice. (So Ecuadorian!) But still, it was not as good as dad´s. Obviously.
The experience has encouraged me to open up my cookbooks and try out some more dishes from back home. And also to find out how to say the names of those spices in Spanish.
For a while now I have been craving some foods from the US, and Jairo has encouraged me to go ahead and cook some of those things here. He likes trying out what I make, and of course I like eating it, too. So I decided to make chili.
Now, I will be honest and say I never actually had made chili before. I mean, why would I make it if my dad is the one who always makes it? There was never a need for me to make it before. I wasn´t exactly sure what I was doing, and I think I was missing some ingredients that I didn´t know how to say in Spanish. Still, it turned out pretty well. Jairo liked it, although he ate it with rice. (So Ecuadorian!) But still, it was not as good as dad´s. Obviously.
The experience has encouraged me to open up my cookbooks and try out some more dishes from back home. And also to find out how to say the names of those spices in Spanish.
Week 31: 7 months married!
There is a quote I read that says, ¨Who, being loved, is poor?¨
As I reflect on these seven months of marriage, I really believe that this quote is true...If we are blessed enough in our lives to find love, whether it be the love of family, the love of a spouse, or the love of friends, can we really call ourselves poor?
Living on the mission field is not always easy. I have has to learn to give up a lot of things that I would have thought were essential before (Starbucks, anyone?). But, the richness of love I have found in this new life far outweighs whatever I may have had to sacrifice.
I always marvel and how God reveals His love for us through the love of others, and in no place have I found that to be so true as in the love my husband and I share. In loving a spouse, and I´m not talking about the warm and fuzzies but rather agape love as expressed in 1 Corinthians 13, we begin to taste a little of the Father´s love for us. What a blessing to experience that love! Even if you are not married, you have no family and you have no friends, you can still experience the Father´s love for you, which is the only real and pure love that exists. And who, being loved, is poor?
As I reflect on these seven months of marriage, I really believe that this quote is true...If we are blessed enough in our lives to find love, whether it be the love of family, the love of a spouse, or the love of friends, can we really call ourselves poor?
Living on the mission field is not always easy. I have has to learn to give up a lot of things that I would have thought were essential before (Starbucks, anyone?). But, the richness of love I have found in this new life far outweighs whatever I may have had to sacrifice.
I always marvel and how God reveals His love for us through the love of others, and in no place have I found that to be so true as in the love my husband and I share. In loving a spouse, and I´m not talking about the warm and fuzzies but rather agape love as expressed in 1 Corinthians 13, we begin to taste a little of the Father´s love for us. What a blessing to experience that love! Even if you are not married, you have no family and you have no friends, you can still experience the Father´s love for you, which is the only real and pure love that exists. And who, being loved, is poor?
Week 30: Still on Vacation
Well, this week and last week we were in Puyo on vacation. It was a nice trip, but I have to say that personally I am liking our trips to Puyo less and less.
I absolutely love seeing Jairo´s family. They are like my second family and I love them all a ton! The problem is actually with a few people from the church in Puyo. There is a group of them who really have not been big fans of mine since Jairo and I got married. I don´t think it´s because they´re mean or anything like that, I think they just are very protective of Jairo and honestly maybe no woman would have been good enough for him...but especially not a woman from another culture!
Well, every time we go down there, there is always a new crop of rumors going around about me, ranging from the ridiculous to the mildly hurtful, and it just doesn´t make me feel good. I try to ignore it, because I know that I don´t need their approval as long as God and Jairo are happy with me...but it´s hard not to take things like this personally.
I think one thing I have learned from all this is that I do not want to become a gossiper. Having experienced first-hand how much it can hurt, I want to try to always season my speech with love and treat others as I would like to be treated. Who knows? Maybe if I do it long enough, it will rub off on others! Or at least maybe they will realize that I´m boring and will look for someone else to talk about!
I absolutely love seeing Jairo´s family. They are like my second family and I love them all a ton! The problem is actually with a few people from the church in Puyo. There is a group of them who really have not been big fans of mine since Jairo and I got married. I don´t think it´s because they´re mean or anything like that, I think they just are very protective of Jairo and honestly maybe no woman would have been good enough for him...but especially not a woman from another culture!
Well, every time we go down there, there is always a new crop of rumors going around about me, ranging from the ridiculous to the mildly hurtful, and it just doesn´t make me feel good. I try to ignore it, because I know that I don´t need their approval as long as God and Jairo are happy with me...but it´s hard not to take things like this personally.
I think one thing I have learned from all this is that I do not want to become a gossiper. Having experienced first-hand how much it can hurt, I want to try to always season my speech with love and treat others as I would like to be treated. Who knows? Maybe if I do it long enough, it will rub off on others! Or at least maybe they will realize that I´m boring and will look for someone else to talk about!
Week 29: Vacation
I am feeling much better and we are heading to Puyo for TWO WEEKS!! Finally, a vacation! I will write when we get back! For real this time!
Week 28: And the fun continues...
Well, the flu is gone! In its place has come my new friend, Mr. Kidney Infection. Oh joy!
I will write soon, really! Just let me get better first...
I will write soon, really! Just let me get better first...
Week 27: Fun with the flu!
Well, I was doing really well in the health department, once we got those parasites taken care of!! But this week I have been battling the flu, and I haven´t been able to do much of anything...I just wanted to check in, but to be honest I am not feeling up to blogging for real! This too shall pass...
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