A New Quote from Patience

Joe:  "Do you know I will always love you no matter what?"

Patience: "That´s why it´s called love.  Duh!"

Feeling and Filling Needs

We stopped watching regular TV almost 15 years ago and we are probably one of the few families who have never had cable TV.  Since we´ve been in Bolivia we buy copies of TV shows (at least one season behind) on DVDs.  So we do know and watch some of the shows that are on and some blasts from the past like I Love Lucy, The Cosby Show, The Pretender, and MacGyver.  When we stopped it´s not like we had been watching tons of TV.  Our oldest kids were small and they watched an hour or so of kids´ programs in the afternoon and Joe and I watched an hour or two a few nights a weeks.  At first not watching TV was an experiment, but we liked not having it so much we never went back.  Even after we turned off the TV for good we still rented movies, so I guess we were kinda ahead of the Ti-Vo curve.  We still watched movies, just no commercials.

Anyway something unexpected happened that first Christmas after we unplugged our TV.  When we asked our three young children what they wanted for Christmas they could not think of a single thing they wanted.  This was so different from years past when they had long lists of toys.  Finally one of them came up with the idea that he wanted a sucker that spun around like he had seen in the checkout line at K-Mart.  WOW!  We couldn´t believe it.  They couldn´t think of any toys they wanted.  To get away from all the advertising and marketing is not why we stopped watching TV, but it sure was a nice side benefit.  That´s when we realized the impact that all the commercials had on our kiddos and on us too.  We didn´t want or need the newest gadgets or toys or cars or even the newest cleaners.  We didn´t even know what they were.  When we felt a need we went looking for something to fill that need.  We didn´t feel needs created by ads on TV anymore. 

I was thinking about that this morning.  What a powerful impact advertisers have over us.  They make us feel needs that we didn´t feel before.  Needs that aren´t even natural.  Otherwise how can you explain how Americans spend millions or even billions of dollars on things like spray on hair, pocket fishermen, and knives that can cut through cans.  How often do you need to cut a can, really?  Why do feel like our old cars without the GPS, without DVD players and butt-warmers on every seat just aren´t good enough anymore?  Why do we think we need the newest smells, the newest frozen food, the newest clothes?  Because we are made to feel discontent with our old ones like they just aren´t good enough anymore.  Someone else has created something better and other people are getting it.  I need it too!  For instance, before I had been perfectly content with my old pen, but now there is one that writes even better.  I must have that one.  I have a need for a new pen that just a few moments ago I didn´t even know existed.  But these advertisers aren´t finished with me yet.  I must buy it now because for a few days only it is ´on-sale´ and if I want it later I will have to pay more money for it and that would just be stupid to wait.  So I rush down to the store to buy the latest thing in writing, and also newest toothbrush that technology has invented so my teeth will be cleaner and while I am there I buy the newest detergent to make my clothes cleaner because that will make me happier.  How shrewd these advertiser guys are.  No wonder they make so much money.  They CREATE needs.  They make us feel needs that we didn´t have before and they make us feel as if we must get these needs met TODAY. 

Now to spiritualize this principle for a moment.  Why as Christians can we not do that with REAL needs?  Why aren´t we as shrewd at discerning and showing people their real needs and pointing out the ´lack of fullfillment´ with their old way of life?  We have the REAL answer to REAL needs...not imagined ones.  A restored relationship with God through the work of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit really does FILL a need.  A real need.  I know that many people are afraid of or even opposed to ´marketing´ Jesus.  But I am not talking about trying to sell people something or even trying to convert them to a certain kind of life.  I am not talking about trying to get them to attend a certain church or buy a certain Bible or a particular Bible study book or sell them on my way of life.   I don´t want to have people feel needs that aren´t there I only want them to realize the need that they do have.  I don´t want to ´sell´ them anything.  I just want them to consider if all the things they are cramming into their lives really are meeting their needs or are they still feeling like something is missing.  I just want them to know that there is Someone who can meet all their needs.  I want them to know that there is a realationship that they can have that will exceed any need they´ve ever felt.  I think most people, even sadly many Christians feel like if they just had more time, more patience, more energy, more money, more power, more organization, more (fill-in-th-blank) they would be more content.  They feel like something is missing and they spend their lives trying to fill that need.  As Christians we have the answer, yet many times as I said our lives don´t look that much different from anyone elses.  We are not content either.  We are looking for something else to make us feel fulfilled.  We don´t find our contentment in God and following His plan for our lives. 

I guess I am answering my own question here.  I was wondering why we aren´t showing people their real need for God and the fulfillment that only He can give.  Why aren´t we ´hipper´ in finding ways to reveal to people their needs and better at showing them the way to the One who can meet those needs?  Why can´t we see people´s needs, point them out, and direct them to the Answer?  I guess maybe it´s because even we don´t truly believe that we have the answer.  Maybe we don´t believe in our own ´product´.  We feel unfulfilled ourselves.  We are trying to meet our needs elsewhere too.  What is wrong with us?  How are we so easily influence by others and their ideas when we should be the influencers?  We have been sucked in.  I guess the answer is that first we as Christians must see that in Christ we have all we need.  We have all we need to be content to be fulfilled.  Once we figure that out for ourselves and live our lives according to that knowledge, maybe then we can convince others of it. 

It´s Official!

We just got permission from our mission to go on home assignment next June. May will be our 3 year anniversary in Bolivia and we have decided to take our home assignment (what used to be called furlough) after that mark. That means if things go according to plan...which is a big assumption at this point with as many variables as we have in our lives...our entire family will be in the States in June of 2010. It is an exciting thought and a scary one too. The task of moving our family internationally again is daunting, but it will be fun to reintroduce them to the US and to see their excitement at seeing some of their old favorite places and people.

It is our plan to visit all of our supporting churches while we are in the States and as many of our supporters as we possibly can and it goes without saying that we will enjoy spending lots of time with family. We will be in the Virginia area for a while and then we´ll make our way to Charlotte, North Carolina to our mission´s headquarters to debrief, some medical checks, and some assistance in how to handle our re-entry. Then on to the northeast to go to Home School Week at Sandy Cove, then visiting other friends and supporting churches. Later we will work our way to the St. Louis and the Denver areas. We also will hit Texas for a while with a stopover in Tennessee. Then we might settle for a while in Florida before we head back to Bolivia. We hope to work some relaxation and rejuvenation in there as well. Of course as I said this is a very tentative schedule and open to change. The thought of all this travel is exciting and intimidating all at the same time. We are after all a small army and like an army we travel on our stomachs. We will put lots of miles on a vehicle and lots of fast food in our bellies I´m sure. I know we´ll have lots of fun stories to share if we survive.

Any of you missionaries who have done this furlough thing, we are open to your tips. Any of you we will be visiting, we are open to any help you can give us as well. To our family and friends....we are so looking forward to spending some ´face to face´ time with you.

La Cancha

I realized that I talk a lot on my facebook page and also on my blog about going to La Cancha, but I haven´t posted picture of it in a while.  So this is my attempt remedy to that.  La Cancha is our version of Wal-Mart.  It is supposedly the largest outdoor market in South America.  It goes on for acres and acres.  You can get just about anything you need there (unless you need Starbucks coffee, Reese´s Peanut Butter Cups, the Little House on the Prairie series in English, a clean environment, a toy that lasts more than a couple of days, or a day free of smells of urine mixed with rotting veggies and meat that has been hanging out in the hot sun for hours).  Seriously, if we need it we go to La Cancha to buy it whether it´s a computer, furniture, fruit, artwork, paper, dead llama fetuses....we don´t actually need those, but the witches do to perform their rituals and there is a whole section of witches´ supplies.  You can also pick up pigs heads, plastic chairs, exercise equipment, donkey jaws...a whole wheelbarrow full of them, car parts, candy, bushels of coca leaves (used to make cocaine, tea, or just to chew to keep you awake...the Bolivian version of Red Bull).  Did I mention that they have tires, appliances, clothes, blankets, beauty supplies, toys, dishes, birthday supplies, tarot card readings?  Yep, it´s all there and more.  You can have your vegetable oil pumped from a 55 gallon barrel directly into whatever container you bring to hold it.  Didn´t bring anything?  They have extra 2 liter bottles that they find on the street they´ll fill for ya.  In the middle of all this madness there are dentists´ and doctors´ offices.  In fact the doc that delivered Mercy has here office there.  There is also an entire section (think blocks and blocks) of used clothing.  It´s the stuff that doesn´t sell at thrift stores in the States.  It gets shipped down here and that´s where we buy the majority of our clothing.  Just yesterday my mom (who is here for a visit...YEA!) and I went because most of my kids´ jeans have a viewing spot for their knees and they needed some ´new´ ones.  The section I usually go to buy used clothing is the section that all the pictures in this entry are from.  I will post other pics of us Christmas shopping in another section on another day.

See the piles to dig through?  Actually this is relaxing for me and I enjoy it...like going to yard sales. 

Joe on the other hand thinks it is torture.

Want a bootleg DVD?  CD?  MP3? (Just no Little House ones!)

Fresh squeezed orange juice...smells sooo good and helps cover up some of the other
not so good smells.  Notice that she just has 4 glasses? 
After you drink yours she just dumps them
 in the dirty water in that red bucket and voila she´s ready for the next customer.

I wonder why we get so much typhoid and hepatitis here.

This little lady like so many more has had a really hard life. 

Note the ice cream ´truck´ in the background (a cooler on wheels).

Close up of the ice cream ´truck´.

Need some pantyhose?

Socks?  or an empanada or local drink in the background?

Other local drinks...I´ve never been brave enough (or stupid enough...I´m not sure which)  to try these.

In amongst the clothes are some veggies, but the biggest section of produce is in another place. 

I´ll post those pics another time.

You can take a break and eat some lunch at this lady´s ´restaurant´.

Lots of garlic (yum!) and delicious tomatoes too.

Need some spices?  Now that´s what I call bulk...Costco has nothing on us.

I wish these pics were scratch ´n sniff so you could smell the aromas surrounding these scenes.

Need a watch?  Guaranteed to last until you walk away...no, not really that long. 
But seriously, it will probably last a good couple of days.

Me and Jake looking for a dress shirt for him.

Jake checking out the candy.

Yet Another...

This morning Joe told the little girls they could have the last kiwi...so they excitedly came running up the stairs...."Dad said we can share a bikini!!"  I don´t think so.

Nomadic Lifestyle

One thing I have been forced to get used to living on the mission field is a nomadic lifestyle.  That hasn´t necessarily been an easy thing for me.  When we built our "dream house" in Purcellville, Virginia we imagined that it would be the house where our grandchildren would come visit us.  We had no idea God would call us to Bolivia and a life spent moving.  We have lived in four different houses in our little more than 2 years on the mission field.  We hope we are in this house until we come back to the States on home assignment, but then that will entail moving our entire caravan back to the States to live for a few months before packing up once again and coming back to Bolivia.  No easy task with any sized family, much less our herd.

We aren´t the only ones that endure such trials.  Missionary life is a life spent moving...a bit like the military.  We are after all in God´s army and He has troops all over the world.  ;^)  Two of the orphanages here in town are moving in the next few months.  Can you imagine what it is like to move a bunch of kids who already have attachment disorders from being abandoned and all sorts of other challenges?  Please pray for these kiddos that their transisitions would be as smooth as possible.  Our church´s orphange will have moved twice in as many years.  Almost 30 kiddos call the House of Dreams their home and they will be moving on the 28th of this month.  One of the problems with housing here in Bolivia is uncertainty of the political future.  People who own more than one house and renting one out are selling the ´extra´ one and liquidating their funds.

Recently I went to the airport to see my friend Krista off as she and her family moved back to the States after 7 years as missionaries in Coch.  Let me tell you that I didn´t envy her.  Even though her 3 boys and her baby girl were extremely well behaved and as calm as could be there in the airport I couldn´t help but think of the long journey they had ahead of them.  It wore me out thinking of it.  Then last week my friend Kim moved back to the States with her family.  Actually she and the kiddos went ahead of her hubby so he could finish up some things here.  So, she took 3 kids 4 years old and below, 6 suitcases packed full, 3 carry-ons, a couple of backpacks, a double stroller and two carseats....BY HERSELF on a plane bound for Miami.  I think she is superwoman...but I also think..."What was she thinking!?"  I don´t even want to think about our going back to the States on home assignment with 9 kiddos, 22 suitcases, 10 carry-ons, etc, etc. etc.

But the nomadic lifestyle isn´t all bad.  What has been good for me is realizing that this world is not my home, that stuff just weighs you down, and that looking after ´things´ is not why I was put on this earth.  As I am getting ready for spring cleaning and clearing things out and paring down once again I am reminded how easily and quickly I can accumulate treasures here on earth and just how much of my time and energy the stuff can take...storing it, cleaning it, caring for it.  How much do we really NEED?  I once again vow to lay aside every weight that so easily besets me and push toward the goal.  I want to carry people to the goal with me...NOT STUFF.  I don´t wanna spend (waste) my life looking after stuff.  I want to invest it in people.

I remember when we lived in Denver going to a museum and hearing about the pioneers as they moved west in wagon trains.  When they left the East they took only what they thought were the essentials.  Yet, many times along the way they might have to leave some of their ´necessities´ behind in order to move ahead.  Their wagon might be too heavy and their animals too weak to pull it.  It might bog them down fording a river or crossing a muddy prairie, so they would leave their treasures there by the river or on the plain.  There were places at the banks of some of the larger rivers that were ridden with beautiful antique furniture that had been in families for generations, expensive clothing, rare China dishes, precious books and all sorts of other material possessions.  Things that in another life held so much meaning to them, but now they were just things holding them back from reaching their goal.   Sometimes they even had to leave real essentials like food behind.  If they were to reach their destination they really did have to lay aside the ´extra´ weight.  It was more important to save the people and leave the stuff behind...even things that they had considered essential or things they had treasured.  What a great lesson for me.  Leave the stuff.  Save the people.  Leave the stuff.  Love the people.  Use the stuff.  Treasure the people.  Get rid of the stuff so I have time for the people. 

As a postscript to this blog entry I recommend that you check out the book Material World.  It is an awesome book that takes a statistically average families from countries all over the world.  A photographer takes their picture with all their possessions outside of their house.  Very eye opening. 

Another Cultural Difference

The other day as I was teaching my kiddos I had the younger ones doing an educational game on the computer by me.  I overheard one of the questions...."Who helps keep your neighborhood safe?"  My ears perked up as I knew this could be interesting.  My little girls started blurting out answers:  "The dog."  "The guard."  "The walls."  Then the answer came on the computer..."The policeman".  My kids looked at each other dumbfounded and said..."Huh?".  Guess that software was made for the USA.