My Birthday

 Yesterday, I turned 29. Wow – 29! How fast time flies!

For quite a few years now, I’ve spent my birthday serving the Lord in Compartiendo. Some might consider “working” for God tiring or hard to do on their birthday, but for me it’s not. I’ve always enjoyed it because it is so worth it to give your life to Him Who gave His life for you!

But yesterday, there was a moment where I felt a bit strange. My mind was like invaded by sad thoughts and I don’t know why, but at the moment, I wanted to be in Lima and see my family, my friends, my missionary companions, the IBYM students – I wanted to be home. This has never happened to me before – I’ve always been happy on my birthday. I wanted to see my little brother and hug my parents so badly that I actually wanted to cry.

The only thing I could do was to pray and ask forgiveness from God for not serving Him with my whole heart, to thank Him for one more year, and to ask forgiveness for not enjoying this day He had given me with my whole heart. I asked God to give me strength, to help me enjoy my day – and He did it.

The two Compartiendo programs we did yesterday were really great. In the morning we went to a church called Lamas and we saw Christian friends we hadn’t seen in years. We also saw some friends who are now pastoring a church and it encouraged us to see how God is using them for His glory. In the afternoon, we went to a town that has no church and many indigenous people were able to hear the Gospel. God has shown me one more time the things that are more important than a cake or time with my friends for my birthday.

The Pennies for Peru volunteers in Tarapoto sang me “Happy Birthday” and one of the volunteers even gave me a present. After finishing the Compartiendo, I had a great time with Caleb, playing and laughing a lot. I love playing with my little boy! Later, we went out to dinner with our friends, Tito and Nelida, and enjoyed great food together.

In the end, I had a great birthday. There was no cake or balloons, but there was still a lot of joy. I enjoyed the time with my husband and son and I enjoyed serving the Lord.

This morning while checking my Facebook, I saw that many of my friends had sent me birthday greetings – how sweet! I’m a little embarrassed because I had felt so sad for awhile and so alone – I hadn’t been able to see all the good things God has given me through my wonderful family, a great husband who loves me with his whole heart, and our beautiful baby boy who is a “small miracle from God.” I also had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with many people and, on top of all that, He has given me hundreds of friends from around the world.

I just decided to say, “Thank you, God, for being so good, for loving me, for saving me, and for giving me one year more of life. I want to serve you with my whole life, until my very last breath.”

He Cares For Us

I want to take the time tonight to praise God for how He cares for us.
God is taking care of us every moment of every day, and many times we don’t realize it – in other words, we are so accustomed to waking up, walking, eating, working, talking, playing and doing the “normal” things of life, that it never occurs to us that these “normal” things only happen by the grace of God.
Last Friday, Robert was helping to put the roof on my parents’ house. He had just stopped placing the beams, and suddenly the wood he was sitting on gave way and he fell to the ground. He fell on his knees and by the grace of God he only had some bad bruising. When he told me that night what had happened, I could only thank God for taking care of my husband.
Falling on hard ground is a big deal – he could have broken several bones or had worse things happen to him, but God took care of him. That day my eyes were truly opened, and I was reminded that God is always taking care of us and we should be thanking Him for that.
Maybe we don’t always realize how God is taking care of us, but we can at least take time each day to praise Him for it.
Thank you God for taking care of us every day! Thank you for taking care of my husband! Thank you God!
P.S. Robert is still having pain in his knees, but his injuries are healing.

Routines!

Yesterday we visited my parents, and my mom gave Caleb a new Bible. I was more excited than he was :) It is so pretty and colorful, and Caleb loves to look at it!
Praise the Lord, my dear Caleb now has a “routine” for going to sleep. In the beginning it was hard, because he didn’t want to sleep alone in his crib and he cried in his room while I cried outside his room :) But we finally found a way to put him to sleep.

The “routine” that we follow with Caleb is this: I feed him at approximately 6:30 p.m., and when he finishes we bathe him in warm water, which he loves! After that we put on his nighttime lotion and get his jammies on. We take him to his room and I read him the Bible, then Robert prays with him and gives him his goodnight kiss. Then I sing him “mi pequeñita luz” (“This Little Light of Mine”) for a little bit, give him his goodnight kiss, and lay him down in his crib. With his pacifier, blankie and instrumental music, he falls asleep in a little bit. We try to put him to bed before 8 p.m., but if he’s not very tired and in a very bad mood, it can be hard to keep him on schedule, but we try to do the best we can. Even when we aren’t sleeping at home, which happens a lot, we stick with his routine and he is always able to sleep. At 10:30 p.m. (approx.) I feed him for the last time, and he eats very sleepily and then doesn’t wake up until the next day (between 6 and 7 a.m.).

I feel so lucky that our Caleb sleeps the whole night, knowing that there are many babies who wake up in the early hours of the morning.
Just because Caleb goes to sleep early doesn’t mean that we sleep more; we almost always go to bed after midnight. I always say “tonight I’m going to bed earlier,” but it never works. I think it’s because when Caleb is sleeping at night, I take advantage of that time to do the things that I can’t do when he’s awake.
It’s funny, my son has a good sleeping routine but I don’t, hahaha.
I think I should work on that!

To the most important woman in my life!

I wrote this note a few weeks ago and did not post it! But I can not make it stop! Better late than never!

One of the things I am most grateful for is that God has given me the mother that I have! I have the privilege to say that not only is she my mother, but also my friend, and I pray that I will be a mother like her! 

Well, my mom celebrates her birthday this week, and unfortunately I am not going to be able to be with her because we just traveled to Trujillo (north of Lima) for our annual missionary trip :( Thankfully my mom understands that and she’s not upset ;) 

But just because I can’t be with her for her birthday doesn’t mean that I can’t give her a nice gift, don’t you agree? Well, after thinking and thinking about what would be the best gift, I decided to make her a calendar for her office. 

Maybe a calendar doesn’t seem like “the best gift,” but what you don’t know is that this calendar is filled with pictures of Caleb ;) 

We didn’t have much free time to make a calendar, so we pulled two all-nighters (when I say that we both stayed up all night I say it because Robert helped me to glue the pages) 

On Sunday afternoon, we ate lunch together to celebrate my mom’s birthday and we gave her our gift. She loved it! 

I can almost see her showing those pictures of her grandson to the entire world ;)

Poor Baby

Well, today my Caleb went in for his check-up. We went to the clinic and they were able to take his height and weight. My little boy has gained 1.5 kilograms (about 3.3 lbs.) since last month, which is very good, but he has not changed much in height.
The nurse told me that I should watch how much I eat and make sure that I am eating nutritiously. I have to confess that I have not been very good at that :(. I need to be more attentive and start to eat more nutritious food. I feel really bad when the nurse asks, “Are you eating well?” I feel like a “bad mommy.”
Unlike when I was pregnant, now I am hungry, but instead of eating fruit or something “nutritious,” I have been eating desserts. So now I’m going to drink more water and watch my diet because everything I eat affects my little Caleb.

Ok, continuing with Caleb’s check-up... Caleb was very happy, playing and smiling at the nurse while she weighed him, measured him, and let him play, but everything changed when the time came for those dreaded shots.
My poor baby boy cried and screamed (with tears, so it was for real). It made me very upset, but I couldn’t do anything about it.
He slept the whole way home and then he was fine, until the afternoon... Even though I tried not to move the leg where he got the most painful shot, he moved it himself (well normally he never stops moving his legs!), so in the afternoon he started to cry and cry... Well I should say he screamed and screamed. His leg was so swelled up (and very red), and he kept on looking at me as if to say “Mommy it hurts.” We put warm rags on his leg, and little by little the swelling went down. After all of the tears, he finally fell asleep. He woke up complaining and crying until his leg went back to its normal color.
Since we got home we’ve put him in our bed, and he’s still in our bed now. It seems like his leg doesn’t hurt anymore, but he’s not moving much either... he’s a little more relaxed than normal. His eyes are heavy and he’s not smiling very much, but I think that I would be the same way if I had such a painful injection!

I think that tonight we are going to let him sleep in our bed so that we can make sure he’s ok during the night. Well, only if my husband says it’s ok. I think that I am a very worried and protective mother, but... He’s only 4 months old! :)

Today Caleb was supposed to get his shots. It was one of the first things on my mind when I woke up this morning. The last time Caleb got his shots (two months ago), it was horrible! Seriously! His leg swelled up and he screamed and screamed, then afterwards he got sick and stayed sick for several days. I’m not sure if he got sick because of the vaccinations, but now when I think of him getting his shots again I get a little bit nervous :)
This morning we went to the clinic but the nurse wasn’t there, so tomorrow we have to go again so he can get his shots :( At least Caleb had fun today, though he has no idea what awaits him tomorrow :)

I think it hurts us as moms when we know it’s time for our little ones to get their shots. But we can’t do anything to stop it, because we know that it is necessary. It is a temporary pain that helps us live a healthy life.
At times we also have to go through “temporary pains” that will help us in the future. God allows us to go through different trials in our lives that help us to trust Him more. Are you going through a tough time in your life? Put your trust in the Lord. He always has a purpose for everything that happens in our lives - He is perfecting us!
We can have peace in the middle of the storm, knowing that God holds us in His arms!

Finally!!!

I have wanted to have a personal blog for awhile - a place where I can record the things that are happening in my life.

I´m not sure how often I will be able to write, as I have a husband, an 4-month-old baby boy, a house, a family, and a wonderful ministry; all of which it a bit difficult to find time to sit down and write.

Personally, I love to talk, so this is a good way to "talk" and be to express the things that are going on in my heart and mind.

At this time especially, I feel that God is preparing us for something that is much greater that what we have imagined. It scares me a little because I´m afraid of failing, but a the same time God shows me in His Word that "I can trust Him" and that He will help me through this beautiful adventure that He has set out for us.

It is wonderful to trust in God, isn't it? The God who created the heavens and the earth is the same God who tells me "Do NOT worry, I am with you". I can be at peace because He is with me!