The WHOLE story

I love it here.  It is beautiful with cool weather,

and there are many opportunities to meet 

new people and share with them.  

But, it does not come without challenges.

It is hard work most of the time.  

 Will is thrilled after an hour to have a fire to grill on.

Have you ever started a grill without gas or lighter fluid?

In the States our life seems challenging.  

I  juggle working

 (a passion of mine so I choose to), 

managing our home, 

volunteering, 

church, school, preschool

 and social activities.  

And I haven't even mentioned

 sports yet.

When things get overwhelming I hire help, 

and then work more to pay for the help I've hired 

because I feel guilty that I have hired help.  

It is all a crazy cycle.  

And I bring it on myself.

I've bought into the lie that my worth is in what I accomplish.

The truth is I am worthy because Jesus made me worthy.  

Not of any of my own works or doings.
I've been challenged the past 2 years by authors 

such as Francis Chan and David Platt 

to say when enough is enough.  

Well I now say enough.

But its not easy to break a almost 40 year cycle.

I don't want my kids to grow up in the cycle.

So I am trying to put down my drive to achieve 

and be content with whatever I can fit into a day, 

to have margin to handle whatever God wants me to do

even if it is just maintaing my kids in clean diapers and 

taking my big boys back and forth from school.

Wanting to slow down I have romanticized 

how life was 100 years ago. 

Rocking Chairs and knitting and all

Less distractions, less stuff, less choices 

and more time to spend focusing on relationships.

So I thought.

However, I am learning a few things as I have 

this opportunity to step back in time here.

It is the same struggle.  I am the same person.

People did not have more time, 

well maybe a little,

but they used it differently.
The work is less delegating and scheduling logistics

 and more backbreaking labor.

I have to choose to slow down here too.

Its fun to get the cows milk, 

until you realize you need 3 liters a day, that takes work!

Fireplaces are so romantic, warm and inviting.

But when they are your only heat source 

there is constant wood chopping, 

carrying wood and tending to the fire.

Even fresh foods go bad, so you have to plan very 

well when you can only get groceries once a week

(or else walk 4 miles with whatever you need from town)

And the kids don't always like what I cook

even though it has taken me hours 

to make it from scratch

The garden is wonderful but who peels all these- 

I miss my baby peeled carrot bag from Costco

I never realized how I love my dishwasher

Without it, it doubles the time spent cleaning

Rides in the back of a truck are fun...at first, 

but the coating of dust creates some 

hygiene problems

The walk between our house and the laundry house

It is way down there hand is daunting at times, 

but I am grateful for a washing machine.

The others on the farm still use the river to clean their clothes

So I will choose today the same thing I will have to choose at home:

To be still and know that he is GOD.

And my purpose is not to achieve the American dream, 

whatever that is, 

but rather to honor and glorify the Lord.

In all I do.

In any country, in every circumstance.

Luis 's Compassion Project Tour

We toured the Compassion Project and 

Luis was able to 

show us his classroom and we met all his friends.  

There are 520 kids in this project and 

another 50 waiting to be sponsored.

He calls us Padrino y Madrina (Godmother & Godfather)

Watching out bus come into the gates of the project

So curious about the American visitors

Eli was the first out, our shy little man shook hands 

and hugged people all day long

The kids loved hugging Will.  

Most of them do not have fathers in their homes.

Kids on the street were even interested

 and were staring in the windows of the classrooms.

I wonder if they are on the waiting list to be sponsored?

This is Luis' classroom where he learns a

bout God's word everyday.  His tutor, Lucy is a 

volunteer from the local church.  

She is there with him everyday.

Very excited to show us their cafeteria.

Most of them will never eat meat, 

but they are getting hot meals everyday here.

They get to eat a hot meal everyday. 

 This is the typical pot of stew they eat.  

2 very hardworking ladies cook everyday 

for all 530 children and then wash the dishes.  

That is true service!

The girls asked lots of questions and giggled 

when Bleu answered in spanish

Zeb was carried through the crowds

The older kids took us to the sanctuary 

and sang us their favorite praise song.

Compassion is fighting to keep these kids in school as it is part of the 

Quechwa culture to begin working as soon as you 

can and it is seen as laziness to continue in school 

They loved getting the photos made with us

Will could hardly walk as he was always surrounded

 by hugging children

The boy was one of Luis' best friends

He climbed in our bus and wanted to go home with us. 

I wanted to take him of course, 

but the director finally coaxed him 

out so we could leave

We were sad to leave

As the gates closed all our tears flowed at leaving the children behind

I have peace when I think about the promise that God gives us all:

I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.  

John 14:18

Grateful to glimpse a piece of God at work in this crooked and 

depraved generation in which we live.

Making cheese...

Erma loves to make fresh cheese.  

Here it is called Queso Fresco and it is soft and crumbly and 

great to use in quesadillas or grilled cheese sandwiches. 

 This is a version straight from our farm and our cows, 

but you can do this at home with the kids using store bought milk.  

I first boiled our milk for 20 min to pasteurize it.

If you are using pasteurized milk, just heat the milk to 110 degrees then let it cool to the touch.

The recipe is so simple:

Ingredients for a 1 pound cheese
1 gallon of raw milk * or store-bought
1 rennet tablet ** (this is called cuajo here and I had to buy at our pharmacy in town)
Salt to taste

**  you could buy liquid rennet online. 

You can also use one tablespoon of white vinegar when rennet is not available. 

So no excuse, you can make it. 

While heating the milk, dissolve the rennet into the milk.

For about an 1 hour we heated the milk barely by turning the fire on in the front burner 

and put the pot on the back burner.  I turned it every 5 minutes.  

The curds were beginning to form.  

We used a shallow bowl and pressed into the cheese and dreamed off all of the liquid.

Now I think we did this the hard way, but it worked.  You could also use a cheese cloth.

The dogs LOVED the liquid.  We did this about 6 bowls full.  

When most of the liquid is out, put in a cheese cloth or a cheese 

form like this and let it drain and solidify for about an hour.

When we finished it was very late

 We ate the cheese and crackers and went to bed.

This is the finished product, 

we ate ours before I could photograph so this is from a mexican blog.

It was like a yummy science project for our kids.

Enjoy, Buen provecho!

A visit to the village pharmacy

Will had back pains.  

They were getting worse and he felt like a a kidney infection was coming on.  

So off to the pharmacy we went after googling kidney infection cures.  

Our driver, Wilmer, took us to his "Doctor" 

who was in a tiny little pharmacy off the main square. 

I kindly asked for Cipro because my husband's kidneys were in pain.  

He smiled, said he had the cure and told Will to come and sit down 

on the chair behind the pharmacy counter 

And I could not believe what happened next.

Apparently, everyone in South America 

takes a Neurobion shots for just about anything.

We had no idea what it was- 

blind faith or stupidity?

Will felt better the next day:)

(We know now it was just a B6 and 12 injection)

Meeting Our Luis....

Luis is a little boy we sponsor in Ecuador 

through Compassion International.

Compassion helps children in poverty all over the world.  

We feel so humbled to have been able see this ministry in action 

and to be a part of Luis' live while we are here.

Heart friends at once. 

From the moment we met we were called by name by Luis. 

He had memorized everything about us from our bio.

We meet at a restaurant in Cotaccachi for breakfast then 

went to his house for a tour.

He brought along a crew of people.  

His tutor and compassion mentor,

our guide and translator, 

his older brother, and our bus driver.

Liam serenaded us with an Adele song to break the ice.  

The house where Luis and his family rent 1 room for the 5 of them.

We were welcomed into Luis' home by his mother 

who had taken the day off work to meet us. 

I am truly humbled by what a sacrifice she made to see us. 

She is a single mother who works 2 jobs  to support her 3 children.  

She works from 7am-7pm.

She wanted us to feel at home and sit and visit.

There were 2 beds that the 5 of them shared.  

She showed us her kitchen where her middle son who is 15, 

cooks all the meals for the family.

Lots of neighbors wanted to see Luis' gringo friends.  

He is very famous in his neighborhood now.

Less than 1% of sponsored children ever meet their sponsor. 

Wow.  I am truly humbled by that statistic. 

And amazed that God would let us have the privilege of meeting him.

The neighbor boy wanted badly to go with us

and you know we wanted to take him...

The house was built into the side of the mountain,  

which is very typical for the mountains of Otavalo.

Such a good mom.  Very hospitable and joyful to be together with us.

 Luis was on the waiting list for a long time before we sponsored him she said.

She longed for him to be taken care of while she worked.

To be fed, and given medical care and to have help with his school work.

The physical side of what the program is what she desired for him, 

the spiritual side she said didn't matter one way or the other. 

She is not a Christian, but says "maybe one day".  

I know the Lord is calling here to him as I talk with her about God.

  Luis is learning about the ONE TRUE GOD and he is the 

first in his family to hear the good news.  

We are praying Luis will grow up to be the light for his entire family.

Now Glory be to God who by HIS mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare ask or even dream of- 

infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes. 

Eph 3:20

As I reflect on our first meeting with Luis this word from the Lord is so real to me.  

God is able to do more than we ever dream- 

and to give us vision of eternity and not just of material earthly things.

Our family will be forever changed by this little boy and his family.