A quick funny story about life here in the DR...
Rewind to earlier this year, when Josh, Erin, and Jimmy were visiting, we went to the Stadium to play/watch basketball. We were invited by a man we know that is a pastor at the Central Mennonite Church in town that we often attend. Surprisingly, the court/arena is really nice. Other than the slipperiness of the floor, I would say that I have played high school basketball games in worse places. We had a great time winning four games in a row before we lost and went home. Even Jimmy made a few baskets. However, we were in awe of how long a single game would take. It wasn't because they were so bad (actually, this was part of it), but more because everytime there was a dead ball, a five minute argument would ensue. At this point, we didn't even know half of it.
Fast forward to today. Shannon, our American friend Diana, and I went to the track late this morning to run. As I was running, I realized that this was the day the group of guys played basketball and decided that after my run, I would see if they needed another. They did and I waited twenty minutes or so until I was able to play. Again, it was really fun to play organized (more or less) basketball again. Toward the end of he second game, things were getting interesting. The score was 19-18 and we were playing to 21 by ones and twos. Basically, both teams were at game point. Surprisingly, given the point during the game, all ten players were actually trying hard. The teams went back and forth a couple of possesions without scoring. Then, without any warning, both teams took a break after a ball out of bounds. This strange break wouldn't be too abnormal here, except for what happened next. Usually, an in-game break was used for arguing a call or yelling at the other team. However, this break took fifteen minutes and was used for both teams to go drink some beer before finishing the game. After about five minutes of standing there at center court baffled, I went over to Shannon and said matter-of-factly "It's game point, and my team is drinking beer." Fifteen minutes later we resumed the game and won.
Nothing will surprise me here.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Disappearing Act
Saludos! I'll start off by letting some pictures do the talking.
Just another trip to the dam in Sabaneta. Probably Ellie's favorite place.
First off, our vicious dog. This picture was sent to us from a group. Every week, on the last morning while the group is loading onto the bus, Ellie thinks it's her time to show off and go nuts. She grabs a stick, large pods from the tree, or the biggest rocks she can fit into her mouth to try to get someone to play with her. I think she thinks everyone is outside to be with her.
Another favorite pasttime of Ellie's is lizard chasing. They're the Dominican version of "squirrelies".
In October I made a quick trip to Wheaton, Illinois to be in my friend Amy's wedding. She was a beautiful bride! I had a great time seeing her and some other friends in the area during my short stay.
Amy and her new husband, Erik. They were having a good time as you can see.
Just another trip to the dam in Sabaneta. Probably Ellie's favorite place.
I promise you this dog loves to sleep in the laundry pile. She crashes there every chance she gets. The funniest part is people usually don't see her and just keep throwing their clothes on top. The other morning she was nowhere to be found and I called her name by the laundry pile. All of a sudden the pile started shaking and a few seconds later, out popped her head from the center of the pile! She must've been asleep at the very bottom!
At the risk of sounding like a parrot, I have to say time just flies by down here! On the 18th of October we completed our first full year of being here in the DR. Hard to believe, isn't it? We've had a great fall season here in San Juan. The weather is cooling down and the humidity is dropping. We've had several groups and are now enjoying a week off before we host our last group of the year. Last weekend we bought a huge frozen turkey in Santo Domingo and are planning to have Thanksgiving dinner here since we will have American guests that day. We've invited a few friends, too, so it should be a good time . . . at least better than last year when we ate at the local Mexican restaurant and were most likely overcharged! In other news, Joe and I joined a gym in town. Hard Body Gym it's called. It's above a car wash if that helps you imagine the quality of it. However, it has all the basics and it's a nice hobby combined with running at the track during our time off. I met another American girl during our first visit who is here doing mission work. It's been fun having the company but she unfortunately leaves next month.
We have some big news. For those of you who don't know, Joe and I have been battling our insurance company hoping to get coverage for my medical tests I had done almost a year ago in December of 2008. We've been going back and forth and have still been denied coverage for unknown reasons. We ended up with a bill of almost $12,000 after our joke of an insurance company helped us out by paying $14.04 (that's fourteen dollars, not hundred!). Anyways, like we had written in a previous update, the Lord has blessed us with an immense amount of financial support from our loving friends and family and we had enough in our savings to pay for it. After one final letter we were ready to give up and just pay it and get it over with.
If you ask me it's crazy enough that God would provide us with enough "overflow money" to cover such an unexpected expense. So you can imagine why I had to sit down at my friend's house today while Joe told me over the phone that he just found out my doctor had decided to write it off COMPLETELY. Gone. $12,000! Disappeared. No longer needed. Goodbye. Adios. No more! That just doesn't happen to people! Come on now. Seriously. How do we suddenly just NOT OWE $12,000?! Wow. We serve a crazy God. I just have to pause and share some verses that help express how we feel.
"Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost; not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks." PSALM 36
"God is great- everything works together for the good for his servant." PSALM 35:28
"Watch this: God's eye is on those who respect him, the ones who are looking for his love. He's ready to come to their rescue in bad times; in lean times, he keeps body and soul together. We're depending on God; he's everything we need. What's more, our hearts brim with joy since we've taken for our own his holy name. Love us, God, with all you've got- that's what we're depending on." PSALM 33:18-22
"I give you all the credit, God- you got me out of that mess . . . God, my God, I yelled for help and you put me together . . . I'm about to burst with song; I can't keep quiet about you. God, my God, I can't thank you enough!" PSALM 30
Isn't he amazing? I'll never understand why he chooses to bless me how he does. Even with the littlest things. For example, when I was in Chicago for the weekend in October, I got to go to a super nice gym and gym class for free! I walked in, asked the woman at the desk how much a day pass cost, and she just told me to come right in and don't bother. I thanked her and told her I'm a volunteer and it was such a treat for me to use the gym. As I was leaving I asked her the price for the Zumba class that night. She told me the price but quickly told me to just show up and tell the instructor she said I could do it for free. God knows how much I love that stuff and I guess just wanted to make my day! It blows me away that he would care enough to give me joy in such a trivial silly thing as that. But he does!
But back to the $12,000 . . . Dios mio. The God of the universe cares about my stupid life. He even provided the money for our savings to keep us somewhat comfortable during the back and forth period with our insurance company. Yes, it's been a stress having that in the back of our minds this past year, but it's been less of a stress knowing that we weren't at a complete loss having that money in reserve.
So my friend from the gym that I mentioned earlier is named Diana. I mentioned a few weeks ago how we owed major money to our insurance. She told me that after hearing that she felt very convicted to pray for us and that situation. She even had talked to her parents about trying to find a way to help us out. Just today she told me about all of that after I received the call from Joe that it had all been written off. She said that lately she had felt like her prayers weren't being heard and to see that God had answered her specific prayer for us in such a huge way was awesome news for her! We went for a walk together around her neighborhood and couldn't stop smiling and talking about it only to pause and say "wow" every couple of steps. Conversely, I have been praying that God would show himself to her in a big way that would help her to know and love him more. I LOVE it when God uses crazy situations to touch so many people.
Switching to the present, it's a Wednesday night on a week with no group. Joe is reading a book in bed and here I am updating the blog. We are planning a date night Friday night since we haven't done that in a long time. We're probably going to eat at a restaurant in town called El Espia. We were given some "date money" from a group a while back and unfortunately haven't used much of it yet so it should be a fun night as we don't really go out to eat much at all. Saturday we're heading to Barahona to pick up our other truck and hopefully buy some larimar stones for Joe's dad to make us some jewelry. Supposedly you can only find them on our island. They're a pretty turquoise color. I posted some pictures a while back from the larimar mine we visited with Joe's sister and brother but we only bought the raw, unpolished stones during that trip. We'll see what we can find this time.
Look for us in the midwest starting December 2nd! We'll be home for Christmas and are flying back New Year's Eve in the morning. Can't wait to have some cold weather and warm moments with friends and family!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Vacation Time :)
I am writing this entry from my sister-in-law's house in Indianapolis, still in my pajamas, and sipping some hot tea. We are on vacation :).
As it's now hurricane season, we don't have any groups scheduled for the rest of this month or September. This is the longest amount of time that we've been in the States so far and it's been really nice to have good visits with all of our family and friends. We flew into Detroit and spent a couple days with my family in White Lake. We went camping with our friends Caleb, Kaelie, Jonathan and Jessica near the Mackinac bridge for an extended weekend and had a fun visit with them. We then returned to White Lake for another day or so before heading to Wauseon, Ohio to be with Joe's parents. They are both retired teachers so we had a lot of time to visit and play Dominoes. Joe golfed a lot with Roger (his dad) and Judy and I relaxed and read and went to the neighbors' pool. We had a very special time with the Crossroads Church that weekend. Crossroads is Joe's family's church and they support us financially. We were privileged to have hosted a team from their middle school youth group this summer, so it was great to see them again at church this past Sunday. They had an outdoor baptismal service under a tent by a pond in a church member's backyard. We gave a brief update during the service then stayed for lunch afterward and had a great time visiting with church members. We drove later that Sunday night to Indianapolis and plan to be here for about two weeks. It's been so fun to spend time with our niece, Sophia, who is about to turn two-years-old. Her parents are Joe's sister, Erin, and her husband Josh.
***
I am so thankful for this time of relaxing and recharging that God has given us. Our jobs at the Guesthouse are pretty "go, go, go!" so it's nice to slow down for a little while. I recently read a book my sister gave me and was deeply moved by it. I want to share a little about it as it's really helped give a different outlook on my life. It came at the perfect time as I have lately been thinking about similar issues. I think I wrote a little bit about what I was feeling a couple blog entries ago, about how I think we need to live lives that break tradition and are focused on following God even when it doesn't make sense to others.
The book is called Crazy Love and it's written by Francis Chan. He is a pastor in California whose goal is to wake up what he calls the "sleeping church" and challenge them to a more Godly life by providing biblical support and practical examples of how this can be achieved. He focuses a lot on things that Jesus spoke of quite frequently- loving others and caring for the poor. Since Jesus mentioned those things so much, he suggests we really need to pay attention and follow what he said to do.
I'm not going to talk about everything in the book, but rather mention different points that stuck out to me. The first is his examination of the American church. He believes that a lot of Christians within the church are stuck in a place of comfortable contentment. He writes,
"I quickly found that the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity. The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don't swear, and good church attendance. Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered. That for the "radicals" who are "unbalanced" and who go "overboard". Most of us want a balanced life that we can control, that is safe, and that does not involve suffering."
He then goes on to site various examples of what he calls "lukewarm people" and then provides a verse showing how the Bible says otherwise. For example:
"LUKEWARM PEOPLE love God, but they do not love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength. They would be quick to assure you that they try to love God that much, but that sort of total devotion isn't really possible for the average person; it's only for pastors and missionaries and radicals.
"Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and the greatest commandment" (Matt. 22:37-38)."
In the next chapter, Chan then challenges that if you truly are a Christian, your life and actions and attitude should reflect the state of your heart.
"He wants all or nothing. The thought of a person calling himself a 'Christian' without being a devoted follower of Christ is absurd."
"We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:3-4).
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it" (Matt. 16:24-25).
"Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33). . . "You'll notice he didn't add, 'But hey, if that's too much to ask, tell them to just become Christians- you know, the people who get to go to heaven without having to commit to anything."
Some of the most intriguing parts of the book deal with the poor. Did you know:
"If one hundred people represented the world's population, fifty-three of those would live on less than $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4,000 a month, you automatically make one hundred times more than the average person on this planet?"
"If we believe that, as Jesus said, the two greatest commands are to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind' and to 'love your neighbor as yourself,' then this passage has a lot to teach us. Basically, Christ is connecting the command to 'love God' with the command to 'love your neighbor.' By loving 'the least of these' we are loving God Himself."
"People who are obsessed with Jesus live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another. Obsessed people believe that Jesus talked about money and the poor so often because it was really important to Him."
If we have neighbors who are in need, how are we loving them? Do we really take these commands seriously? Do we realize their importance? As Christians, it sure seems like it would be our responsibility to take care of the poor. Why don't most of us live that way? God calls us share our blessings with others.
"Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake," (Deut. 15:10).
"Maybe you have already made sacrifices. If so, you have seen that in some ways it gets easier, doesn't it? You have witnessed the benefits of giving and are blessed because of it. But it gets harder, too. The temptation to level off increases with each passing year. Pride tells you that you've sacrificed more than others. Fear tells you it's time to worry about the future. Friends say you've given enough, that it's someone else's turn now. But Jesus says to keep on and you will see more of God."
Along with loving the poor, we are also called to love our enemies.
"If you love those you love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners', expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:32-36).
I realized that I really do want to live this way and better apply what I have learned to my life.
"When people gladly sacrifice their time or comfort or home, it is obvious that they trust in the promises of God. Why is it that the story of someone who has actually done what Jesus commands resonates deeply within us, but we assume we could never do anything so radical or intense?"
At the end of the book there is a chapter that describes the lives of several ordinary people who set good examples, showing that you don't have to be someone famous in the Bible to truly follow God's commands.
"The world needs Christians who don't tolerate the complacency of their own lives."
The greatest question that Chan uses to end the book is this:
". . . how will you answer the King when He says, 'What did you do with what I gave you?'"
***
Okay, so I know that's a lot. I wasn't intending to write so much but I kept looking through the book and kept finding more and more that I had underlined and liked. I know it's not the best review, but hopefully it challenged you to think more about those issues in your own life as it did me. I definitely have many new thoughts and ideas to reflect on as a result of this book. It really helped me to see the importance of some of Jesus' commands as well as start to think of practical ways that I can better apply them to my life. Right now I almost feel as though it's a bit easier to apply what I've learned as my job is to serve others. Of course there are still many ways I can better serve God! But I want to also take the time to think about how I could apply everything to my life in the States for whenever God would have us return because honestly, I think it is much more difficult to live as a Christian in the States than doing my job in the DR. In America there are so many more things to get caught up in that can make me lose my focus from God. I'm not sure why that is, but that's how it is.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope you were encouraged in some way. Thank you all again for your support. We thank God for you often!!!
As it's now hurricane season, we don't have any groups scheduled for the rest of this month or September. This is the longest amount of time that we've been in the States so far and it's been really nice to have good visits with all of our family and friends. We flew into Detroit and spent a couple days with my family in White Lake. We went camping with our friends Caleb, Kaelie, Jonathan and Jessica near the Mackinac bridge for an extended weekend and had a fun visit with them. We then returned to White Lake for another day or so before heading to Wauseon, Ohio to be with Joe's parents. They are both retired teachers so we had a lot of time to visit and play Dominoes. Joe golfed a lot with Roger (his dad) and Judy and I relaxed and read and went to the neighbors' pool. We had a very special time with the Crossroads Church that weekend. Crossroads is Joe's family's church and they support us financially. We were privileged to have hosted a team from their middle school youth group this summer, so it was great to see them again at church this past Sunday. They had an outdoor baptismal service under a tent by a pond in a church member's backyard. We gave a brief update during the service then stayed for lunch afterward and had a great time visiting with church members. We drove later that Sunday night to Indianapolis and plan to be here for about two weeks. It's been so fun to spend time with our niece, Sophia, who is about to turn two-years-old. Her parents are Joe's sister, Erin, and her husband Josh.
***
I am so thankful for this time of relaxing and recharging that God has given us. Our jobs at the Guesthouse are pretty "go, go, go!" so it's nice to slow down for a little while. I recently read a book my sister gave me and was deeply moved by it. I want to share a little about it as it's really helped give a different outlook on my life. It came at the perfect time as I have lately been thinking about similar issues. I think I wrote a little bit about what I was feeling a couple blog entries ago, about how I think we need to live lives that break tradition and are focused on following God even when it doesn't make sense to others.
The book is called Crazy Love and it's written by Francis Chan. He is a pastor in California whose goal is to wake up what he calls the "sleeping church" and challenge them to a more Godly life by providing biblical support and practical examples of how this can be achieved. He focuses a lot on things that Jesus spoke of quite frequently- loving others and caring for the poor. Since Jesus mentioned those things so much, he suggests we really need to pay attention and follow what he said to do.
I'm not going to talk about everything in the book, but rather mention different points that stuck out to me. The first is his examination of the American church. He believes that a lot of Christians within the church are stuck in a place of comfortable contentment. He writes,
"I quickly found that the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity. The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don't swear, and good church attendance. Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered. That for the "radicals" who are "unbalanced" and who go "overboard". Most of us want a balanced life that we can control, that is safe, and that does not involve suffering."
He then goes on to site various examples of what he calls "lukewarm people" and then provides a verse showing how the Bible says otherwise. For example:
"LUKEWARM PEOPLE love God, but they do not love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength. They would be quick to assure you that they try to love God that much, but that sort of total devotion isn't really possible for the average person; it's only for pastors and missionaries and radicals.
"Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and the greatest commandment" (Matt. 22:37-38)."
In the next chapter, Chan then challenges that if you truly are a Christian, your life and actions and attitude should reflect the state of your heart.
"He wants all or nothing. The thought of a person calling himself a 'Christian' without being a devoted follower of Christ is absurd."
"We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, 'I know him,' but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:3-4).
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it" (Matt. 16:24-25).
"Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33). . . "You'll notice he didn't add, 'But hey, if that's too much to ask, tell them to just become Christians- you know, the people who get to go to heaven without having to commit to anything."
Some of the most intriguing parts of the book deal with the poor. Did you know:
"If one hundred people represented the world's population, fifty-three of those would live on less than $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4,000 a month, you automatically make one hundred times more than the average person on this planet?"
"If we believe that, as Jesus said, the two greatest commands are to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind' and to 'love your neighbor as yourself,' then this passage has a lot to teach us. Basically, Christ is connecting the command to 'love God' with the command to 'love your neighbor.' By loving 'the least of these' we are loving God Himself."
"People who are obsessed with Jesus live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another. Obsessed people believe that Jesus talked about money and the poor so often because it was really important to Him."
If we have neighbors who are in need, how are we loving them? Do we really take these commands seriously? Do we realize their importance? As Christians, it sure seems like it would be our responsibility to take care of the poor. Why don't most of us live that way? God calls us share our blessings with others.
"Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake," (Deut. 15:10).
"Maybe you have already made sacrifices. If so, you have seen that in some ways it gets easier, doesn't it? You have witnessed the benefits of giving and are blessed because of it. But it gets harder, too. The temptation to level off increases with each passing year. Pride tells you that you've sacrificed more than others. Fear tells you it's time to worry about the future. Friends say you've given enough, that it's someone else's turn now. But Jesus says to keep on and you will see more of God."
Along with loving the poor, we are also called to love our enemies.
"If you love those you love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners', expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:32-36).
I realized that I really do want to live this way and better apply what I have learned to my life.
"When people gladly sacrifice their time or comfort or home, it is obvious that they trust in the promises of God. Why is it that the story of someone who has actually done what Jesus commands resonates deeply within us, but we assume we could never do anything so radical or intense?"
At the end of the book there is a chapter that describes the lives of several ordinary people who set good examples, showing that you don't have to be someone famous in the Bible to truly follow God's commands.
"The world needs Christians who don't tolerate the complacency of their own lives."
The greatest question that Chan uses to end the book is this:
". . . how will you answer the King when He says, 'What did you do with what I gave you?'"
***
Okay, so I know that's a lot. I wasn't intending to write so much but I kept looking through the book and kept finding more and more that I had underlined and liked. I know it's not the best review, but hopefully it challenged you to think more about those issues in your own life as it did me. I definitely have many new thoughts and ideas to reflect on as a result of this book. It really helped me to see the importance of some of Jesus' commands as well as start to think of practical ways that I can better apply them to my life. Right now I almost feel as though it's a bit easier to apply what I've learned as my job is to serve others. Of course there are still many ways I can better serve God! But I want to also take the time to think about how I could apply everything to my life in the States for whenever God would have us return because honestly, I think it is much more difficult to live as a Christian in the States than doing my job in the DR. In America there are so many more things to get caught up in that can make me lose my focus from God. I'm not sure why that is, but that's how it is.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope you were encouraged in some way. Thank you all again for your support. We thank God for you often!!!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
BAAAAHHHHH!!!
It's Joe writing this time. I'm not as good of a writer as Shannon and this is my first post so bear with me. However, I wanted to share a quick, entertaining story about the inconveniences of life here in the Dominican Republic.
First of all, you need to be filled in on a little background information about me. If you were to ask me what I miss most about the States, my answer, without a doubt, would be efficiency. Seemingly the simplest tasks can take endless amounts of time. If I were to tell you what I typically do in a morning, you would ask me what I did with the other two hours. Just two days ago, I spent three hours in a bank trying to exchange money and open up an account. I left the bank with half my money exchanged, three voided checks, no new account, and a bookkeeping nightmare. I even brought Shannon and her fluent tongue with me as a translator to help avoid any trouble or confusion to no avail.
Secondly, a little background on our "other pets" here at the Guest House. Of course, we have our dog, Ellie, here with us but our "other pets" are the two sheep the clinic uses for some types of blood tests. These are the saddest sheep you have ever seen. I promise. The older one has dread locks for wool. These two sheep are fed special food and daily are allowed to go outside the gate to graze.
Here we go. About two weeks ago, we had the Northwoods Youth Group here for almost two weeks. I was having a great morning (I can always judge how good my morning is by how much I can accomplish in a certain period of time. The more accomplished in the less amount of time, the better). I had dropped the group off for their morning VBS (no issues), made multiple stops at and around the market (short lines, found everything at the grocery store, produce looked good), and purchased paint at the local hardware store (always an experience, usually they don't have the color or quantity I need) with no issues. All I had to do now to finish my morning errands was deliver the paint to the paint crew at CCED school.
I had slowed the truck and was ready to turn down the street to the school, when I looked 30 yards ahead and saw what I thought were my sheep running down the center of the road (more or less the main East - West highway in the southern half of the island). I decided to go check it out, and sure enough they were mine, a quarter mile from the clinic, running the wrong direction(I could tell by the ropes around their necks and of course the sad state of their wool). So, I drove closer to them, parked the truck, got out, and started chasing them by foot (never had to do this at the country club), again, down the main East - West highway in the DR. Luckily, shortly after I began my chase, they hung a sharp left into a field surrounded by a cement wall. Two nine-year-old boys helped me catch them and I began walking the sheep back to my truck a couple hundred yards away. They dragged me through some of the biggest mud puddles you have ever seen. My feet were completely brown/black and I even had mud on my shorts and shirt. Finally, after getting them back to the truck, I asked a man standing near if he could hold one sheep while I picked up the other and threw (I definitely threw it) it into the truck. After I got one in, I threw in the second. I was getting ready to leave when the man asked if I was going to tie them up. I reluctantly agreed (how stupid could an animal be to jump out of a moving truck). Why not?
Of course, now I had to drive to the school to make the delivery I was so close to making before. I was furious at those two stupid sheep for running away from the clinic, running down the highway, making me as dirty as I have been since I was a kid, and most importantly, ruining my efficient morning. How dumb could they be to run away from their great situation at the clinic? As I was driving toward the school, I kept glancing back at the sheep to make sure they were still in the truck. Half way to the school, sure enough, the oldest jumped out. It was now hanging by its neck on the side of the moving truck with its legs under the wheel. I can honestly say at this point I was so mad at it I hoped it had broken its neck, or at the very least, its legs. After stopping the truck and getting out to inspect the damage, unfortunately, the sheep was still alive and in tact. Once again, I threw it back in the truck and finished my delivery. My once perfect morning was completely destroyed.
I finally got back to the Guest House with the two idiots in the back of the truck. Once I put the truck in park, the same sheep jumped out again. I guess one hanging wasn't enough for her that day. I didn't even care. I untied the sheep, slapped them both on the butt, and watched them run back to their home behind the clinic.
The more I thought about my morning, the clearer the similarity between the sheep and me and the difference between God and me became. I was so angry at the sheep for leaving the safety of their home and running to the dangers outside the wall. I actually hoped the sheep would die once it, again, tried to do the exact opposite thing that I knew was best. The third time it disregarded my orders, I didn't even care.
When I reflect on this example, I can't even believe how great God's love for us is. The sheep did one thing wrong and I hated it. It disobeyed me a second time and I hoped it would die. After the third time, I didn't care what it did anymore. Just like the sheep, we continuously disobey what God KNOWS is best for us again and again and again. Unlike us, God loves us enough to BEG us to come back over and over and over. Nothing we can do, no matter how many times we do it, can separate us from God's love. Wow.
We truly are idiotic sheep.
Me, with my "other pets" in the back of the truck...
First of all, you need to be filled in on a little background information about me. If you were to ask me what I miss most about the States, my answer, without a doubt, would be efficiency. Seemingly the simplest tasks can take endless amounts of time. If I were to tell you what I typically do in a morning, you would ask me what I did with the other two hours. Just two days ago, I spent three hours in a bank trying to exchange money and open up an account. I left the bank with half my money exchanged, three voided checks, no new account, and a bookkeeping nightmare. I even brought Shannon and her fluent tongue with me as a translator to help avoid any trouble or confusion to no avail.
Secondly, a little background on our "other pets" here at the Guest House. Of course, we have our dog, Ellie, here with us but our "other pets" are the two sheep the clinic uses for some types of blood tests. These are the saddest sheep you have ever seen. I promise. The older one has dread locks for wool. These two sheep are fed special food and daily are allowed to go outside the gate to graze.
Here we go. About two weeks ago, we had the Northwoods Youth Group here for almost two weeks. I was having a great morning (I can always judge how good my morning is by how much I can accomplish in a certain period of time. The more accomplished in the less amount of time, the better). I had dropped the group off for their morning VBS (no issues), made multiple stops at and around the market (short lines, found everything at the grocery store, produce looked good), and purchased paint at the local hardware store (always an experience, usually they don't have the color or quantity I need) with no issues. All I had to do now to finish my morning errands was deliver the paint to the paint crew at CCED school.
I had slowed the truck and was ready to turn down the street to the school, when I looked 30 yards ahead and saw what I thought were my sheep running down the center of the road (more or less the main East - West highway in the southern half of the island). I decided to go check it out, and sure enough they were mine, a quarter mile from the clinic, running the wrong direction(I could tell by the ropes around their necks and of course the sad state of their wool). So, I drove closer to them, parked the truck, got out, and started chasing them by foot (never had to do this at the country club), again, down the main East - West highway in the DR. Luckily, shortly after I began my chase, they hung a sharp left into a field surrounded by a cement wall. Two nine-year-old boys helped me catch them and I began walking the sheep back to my truck a couple hundred yards away. They dragged me through some of the biggest mud puddles you have ever seen. My feet were completely brown/black and I even had mud on my shorts and shirt. Finally, after getting them back to the truck, I asked a man standing near if he could hold one sheep while I picked up the other and threw (I definitely threw it) it into the truck. After I got one in, I threw in the second. I was getting ready to leave when the man asked if I was going to tie them up. I reluctantly agreed (how stupid could an animal be to jump out of a moving truck). Why not?
Of course, now I had to drive to the school to make the delivery I was so close to making before. I was furious at those two stupid sheep for running away from the clinic, running down the highway, making me as dirty as I have been since I was a kid, and most importantly, ruining my efficient morning. How dumb could they be to run away from their great situation at the clinic? As I was driving toward the school, I kept glancing back at the sheep to make sure they were still in the truck. Half way to the school, sure enough, the oldest jumped out. It was now hanging by its neck on the side of the moving truck with its legs under the wheel. I can honestly say at this point I was so mad at it I hoped it had broken its neck, or at the very least, its legs. After stopping the truck and getting out to inspect the damage, unfortunately, the sheep was still alive and in tact. Once again, I threw it back in the truck and finished my delivery. My once perfect morning was completely destroyed.
I finally got back to the Guest House with the two idiots in the back of the truck. Once I put the truck in park, the same sheep jumped out again. I guess one hanging wasn't enough for her that day. I didn't even care. I untied the sheep, slapped them both on the butt, and watched them run back to their home behind the clinic.
The more I thought about my morning, the clearer the similarity between the sheep and me and the difference between God and me became. I was so angry at the sheep for leaving the safety of their home and running to the dangers outside the wall. I actually hoped the sheep would die once it, again, tried to do the exact opposite thing that I knew was best. The third time it disregarded my orders, I didn't even care.
When I reflect on this example, I can't even believe how great God's love for us is. The sheep did one thing wrong and I hated it. It disobeyed me a second time and I hoped it would die. After the third time, I didn't care what it did anymore. Just like the sheep, we continuously disobey what God KNOWS is best for us again and again and again. Unlike us, God loves us enough to BEG us to come back over and over and over. Nothing we can do, no matter how many times we do it, can separate us from God's love. Wow.
We truly are idiotic sheep.
Me, with my "other pets" in the back of the truck...Thursday, June 4, 2009
Oops!
Oh my. It's been too long since I've written an update. I apologize! Prepare yourself for a lengthly one.
Joe and I in front of the Jamie Smith School in El Rosario
We've had a lot of chickens coming into the guesthouse walls lately. Ellie loves chasing them! She chased this one into a room and Margot grabbed it and threw it back over the fence.
Joe and the chicken-chaser herself by our sign for the clinic
Weirdest house in town. They say it will someday be an art museum... you can see it from the track where we go running.
Joe at one of the top ten most beautiful beaches in the world, Playa Rincon. We traveled there with his parents, Roger and Judy.
We went horseback riding to the waterfall in El Limon with the Zimmermans
It was beautiful!
Later we met up with Jeff and Joan in Puerto Plata for some fun and relaxation. The kayak was really fun in the big waves.
Another picture of us in the kitchen.
With Cora, a nurse practioner who is very involved with Solid Rock and the people here.
Joe filling the tanks for the generator. We go through about ten gallons of gas a day.
In front of Pastor Wilson's church, Fountain of Life, with my mom, sister and brother.
Herman is a tailor who makes lots of clothes for the groups who come.
My family visited our friend Elvis' house. He's bringing out some arroz dulce that his mom had made us. Elvis was best friends with Josue, our translator who passed away shortly after we arrived to San Juan.
Ellie loves swimming. This is at the dam in Sabaneta.
Joe swimming with Ellie.
Since March quite a bit has happened. To start off, I think I'll let some pictures do the talking. We had visits from my family, including my mom, dad, sister, brother, as well as my grandpa and grandma Wilson. Joe's parents and aunt Joan and uncle Jeff were here as well. The following are pictures from our parents from their time here. They are in no particular order.
This is the catholic church in the center of our town.
Joe's parents arriving at the airport in Santo Domingo.
The market where Joe buys all the groceries for me
The market where Joe buys all the groceries for me
Joe and I in front of the Jamie Smith School in El Rosario
We've had a lot of chickens coming into the guesthouse walls lately. Ellie loves chasing them! She chased this one into a room and Margot grabbed it and threw it back over the fence.
Joe and the chicken-chaser herself by our sign for the clinic
Weirdest house in town. They say it will someday be an art museum... you can see it from the track where we go running.
Joe at one of the top ten most beautiful beaches in the world, Playa Rincon. We traveled there with his parents, Roger and Judy.
We went horseback riding to the waterfall in El Limon with the Zimmermans
It was beautiful!
Later we met up with Jeff and Joan in Puerto Plata for some fun and relaxation. The kayak was really fun in the big waves.
Another picture of us in the kitchen.
With Cora, a nurse practioner who is very involved with Solid Rock and the people here.
Joe filling the tanks for the generator. We go through about ten gallons of gas a day.
In front of Pastor Wilson's church, Fountain of Life, with my mom, sister and brother.
Herman is a tailor who makes lots of clothes for the groups who come.
My family visited our friend Elvis' house. He's bringing out some arroz dulce that his mom had made us. Elvis was best friends with Josue, our translator who passed away shortly after we arrived to San Juan.
Ellie loves swimming. This is at the dam in Sabaneta.
Joe swimming with Ellie.
***Please excuse the formatting of what is written below. For some reason the website is not allowing me to put spaces between paragraphs :(. ***
As you can see we've done a lot and have had a lot of fun with visitors! We're looking forward to having more family and friends here coming up in the next couple of weeks. We'll get to spend time with Erin and Josh (Joe's sister and her husband), Jimmy (Joe's younger brother), and Katie (my sister) along with two of her friends. I'm sure I don't have to write that we're very excited to be with all of them.
As you can see we've done a lot and have had a lot of fun with visitors! We're looking forward to having more family and friends here coming up in the next couple of weeks. We'll get to spend time with Erin and Josh (Joe's sister and her husband), Jimmy (Joe's younger brother), and Katie (my sister) along with two of her friends. I'm sure I don't have to write that we're very excited to be with all of them.
My health is continuing to improve greatly. Praise God! So far I have been doing very well on a gluten-free diet. We're still kind of waiting it out to see what kind of lasting results I will get from it, but so far I've gotten a lot better and have stayed healthy. My arthritic finger has been completely healed. I no longer take the strong medicine that was prescribed for it and have been off it for six months. I also stopped my expensive Colitis medicine a few months ago and have been symptom-free ever since. Lastly, my thyroid levels seem to have finally stabilized. Nothing but good news here! Please pray that I will continue to stay healthy and strong.
Recently, Joe and I were able to travel to the States for a friend's wedding. It was so fun to see lots of friends and a lot of our family. Hopefully I can get some pictures from that trip up soon. We're planning to return again in August for a more extended period of time as we will not have any groups then due to hurricane season.
Work here has been going well as always. We're starting to get a different variety of teams, now, as we're heading into summer. We'll have more youth groups and church groups as opposed to surgical and medical groups. Things aren't too busy yet, but we have a stretch of at least four back-to-back groups coming in during the month of July. Luckily for me, I'll have my sister here for a whole month to help out in the kitchen :). Summer is descending upon us and so is the heat and humidity. We're entering into our first Dominican summer and I think it's going to be a hot one.
We're still just as obsessed with our dog, Ellie. She is living it up and loving her typical mornings of getting pet by 30 different people as they come into the dining room for coffee and breakfast. Her newest hobby is chasing lizards. She is quite addicted and loves to jump as high as she can to try to reach them. If she can't get them, she barks at them and chases them as best as she can. However, her most favorite things to chase are the chickens that come within the walls ever so often. Once she corners one she doesn't really know what to do with it, so we just grab it and throw it back over the wall. Yesterday, Joe and I celebrated our three year wedding anniversary. We were in the butcher shop to buy some meat for dinner and decided to ask them if they had any extra bones for our dog. Ellie ended up with an entire hip bone of a cow that is as big as she is! I cooked it in the oven for a few minutes and she gets to work on it whenever we are downstairs in the kitchen. It's quite the sight to see.
On a more serious note, Joe and I have been thinking and praying a lot lately about being open to God and listening for him to make known his desires for us. It all comes down to us remembering that we were created by God for the purpose of serving him. All of our deepest desires and passions are from him. He made us to each enjoy certain things so we can each honor and glorify him in our own way. For that reason, we can say that God is blessed by us when we enjoy being who he made us to be, using the talents and skills he gave us. If we stay near to him through prayer, reading the Bible, and listening to the advice of the wise, I think that is the best way to be open to hear God. We've been praying that he will make known to us his full plan for us at this point in our lives so we can better serve him. Also, in thinking already about the future, we are asking for him to make clear at the appropriate time how long he wants us to be serving in our current position here in the DR.
One thing that we feel like God was trying to make clear to us is that sometimes you have to break traditional rules to serve him. What I mean is that in the world today, there are certain ways that people are expected to live. Christian or not, there are certain cultural norms that most of us follow. As Christians, it is in no way wrong to follow and live by most of these norms, but I strongly believe that we need to be careful not to fall into a hypnotic way of living and doing things. Yes, Joe and I broke a norm by picking up and moving here, but it's still easy to fall into a certain lifestyle that is comfortable. I think it is a great blessing for those of us who can say that we are living comfortably and I am in no way saying that it is wrong. I just think back to the experiences where I quickly had to draw closer to God, and the majority of those times were not comfortable times.
Joe and I were thinking about our decision-making in general last Saturday night. Usually when we don't have groups, there is a certain church that we attend. However, this past Sunday we decided for no particular reason to go elsewhere. Since it was Mother's Day here in the DR, the pastor did a sermon on women who had faith. One point that really stood out to us was his thoughts on women who broke traditional rules to serve Christ. He said that "maybe you are thinking to do something by faith, but you are too worried about the traditional way of doing things. Don't let life trap you. Break the tradition if God is calling you." Joe and I really felt like that idea was something God was wanting us to think about after hearing that sermon. We've both been praying lately just that God will make his plans for us clear so we can better follow him. While our personal hopes and goals are important, as God himself has given us such desires, we realize that it is so important to let him stay in control and guide our future. He knows best and we know it.
I read this first part of Psalms 119 in the The Message the other day and felt like it described exactly how I wanted to be:
"You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You're blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That's right- you don't go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady; keeping to the course you set; then I'd never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I'm going to do what you tell me to do; don't ever walk off and leave me."
Those have been our thoughts lately. I guess I'll wrap things up for today. I promise to write more frequently from now on. Feel free to leave and questions, comments, or ideas regarding anything you'd like me to write about. We hope you are all well.
"May God, who puts all things together, makes all things whole, who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus, the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant, who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd, up and alive from the dead, now put you together, provide you with everything you need to please him, make us into what gives him most pleasure, by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah. All glory to Jesus forever and always. Oh, yes, yes, yes." Hebrews 13:18-21, The Message.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Saludos a todos.
As always, we hope you are all doing well. We continue to be blessed by so many and are just very content in general. All is well in the Zimmerman household and we have a lot to be thankful for.
We did have an important arrival recently. Our little girl, Ellie, finally came to live with us after waiting many cold months in Michigan. She has definitely made us feel complete here and it's great to have our whole family here now. As you most likely have noted, I guess we're dog people. But not in a weird way. Okay, maybe, but I don't care. It truly is great having her here and she has already gotten quite spoiled. She is a friend to all and a comfort to those who left their puppies at home. A lot of people have said how great it is to have a dog here and that she makes it feel more like home. I knew she would be a good watchdog, but she is also a guarddog! It's pretty hilarious, actually. I don't know how to explain it, exactly, but dogs here are different from dogs in the States. For example, dogs here, even the pets, usually are allowed to roam free and are a little more on the rough and wild side. They don't really get trained much, eat trash on the street, and tend to get hit by cars a lot, thus becoming "tripod dogs" (as I like to call them). So Ellie, when someone unknown or not as familiar approaches any door that she has chosen to be guarding that particular day, begins barking as ferociously as she knows how. As it is a closed door through which she is barking, the average American would mostly likely still go to the door to knock or ring the bell. However, here, grown men will not come within ten feet of the door! It's pretty entertaining to witness. So as you might imagine, I feel very safe and protected by my scrawny, 19 pound "mini-lab".
Nothing else too new around here. A few weeks ago my family came to visit for the first time and it was really fun to spend time with them and show them around.
This is picture is of all of us at a restaurant near Barahona. As you can see even my Dad's parents were able to come down.
These upcoming weeks we're going to be spending a lot more time with friends and family. My friend Amy, from college, will be here this Saturday. Shortly after we'll get to spend time with Joe's cousin Brandon and his wife, our friend Julie, Joe's parents, and Joe's aunt and uncle.
Thanks to all of you who have been praying for my health. I'm still doing really well and feeling like myself. Praise God.
I guess that's all for now. Thank you all for your encouragement and support as always!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Another Miracle
Yes, I know, it's unbelieveable that I'm writing yet another entry so soon. However, we have a story that we'd like to share with you about how God has shown us, once again, that he is taking care of us.
As many of you know, in December I had some testing done in the States and was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. I went to my general doctor on Monday, the 8th of December, and explained to him my symptoms. I also told him I only had a week in Indianapolis to figure out what was wrong (I guess that week could have been extended, but we wanted to be able to spend time with both sets of parents). My doctor immediately asked his assistant to call his (the assistant) friend who was a gastroenterologist downtown to see if I could get in with him. Just like that, I had an appointment the next morning.
Tuesday, the 9th of December, I saw the gastro. doctor and informed him of my limited timeframe. He checked with scheduling and they were able to get me in as the first patient each day for my next three days of testing.
Fast-forward to the present, and I'm now starting to receive bills from these appointments. BIG bills. We are still waiting to see how much our insurance is going to cover, but we know it's not going to be much. The total cost of my bills will be around $15,000 before insurance does anything. However, even if they follow through on our coverage, we're still looking at around $10,000 or more to pay out of pocket.
Do not be alarmed. Joe and I sure were when we first heard this news. Ten thousand dollars?! I know. After building up our savings account over the past couple of years, would we really have to take from it so quickly for this? Our heads were spinning. What do we do? "Pray," I kept saying. I'm not sure how long we were sitting in our little apartment in a confused daze.
After some time, we finally thought of our support money. How much extra do we have? Since the beginning of our fund-raising, we have been overwhelmed by the amount of money we received from everyone supporting our work. We have more than our necessary $2500 month committed, and have been sent countless one-time donations. When all the extra money was first coming in we almost felt bad. What are we going to do with all of this? It was definitely exceeding our monthly goal we thought we might struggle to meet. I remember we had mentioned something to each other about how maybe God has a plan . . .
OH. MY. WORD. This is it! It finally struck us. After finding out the total amount from our Solid Rock account, we were in such joyful stupor. This is what it was intended for! We have enough! God, you knew all along. It was never our money to have because God had been preparing for this very day since last summer. How good is he?! Those of you who have been giving your money and those of you giving your prayers- please realize the huge part you personally played in this miracle. He is using all of us to show his power. Don't miss out on seeing what he has done through YOU.
After some tears of happiness, a silly question came up between us. What do we do in the future if anything else should happen to us, medically speaking? How very, very silly of us. After seeing how God worked months in advance to prepare for our current situation involving thousands of dollars- how could we possibly worry?! Ha. May this be a lesson to all of us. God is in control. We can hear that so many times, but do we really, truly believe it?
I cannot thank enough all of you who support us in our work here. Your prayers and financial gifts are so obviously being used for great and amazing things. I hope you can feel very blessed to be a part of God's work in that way. Those who are giving monthly, thank you for the stability with which you provide us. We count on you and thank God for you each month as our living expenses are literally a gift from God through you. Those who are giving and have given various one-time gifts, thank you for providing us with enough for the unexpected. We praise God for his mysterious ways of using you to show his greatness. Those who are in prayer for us, thank you for the many blessing of strength, courage, and wisdom. God is here with us and with you, and we hope you can feel his presence and clearly see his work as a result of your prayers.
Please thank the Lord today for what he has done. He loves to hear it and most definitely deserves it. We were created to glorify God. It is the greatest thing we can ever do.
Joe: "We don't have to worry because we have insurance."
Shannon: "Yeah right, it stinks!"
Joe: "I mean we have God insurance. It's the best kind."
"Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones (or COLON! haha) will vibrate with life." Proverbs 3:5-12 The Message, parenthesis added by me :)
We love you all!!!
As many of you know, in December I had some testing done in the States and was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. I went to my general doctor on Monday, the 8th of December, and explained to him my symptoms. I also told him I only had a week in Indianapolis to figure out what was wrong (I guess that week could have been extended, but we wanted to be able to spend time with both sets of parents). My doctor immediately asked his assistant to call his (the assistant) friend who was a gastroenterologist downtown to see if I could get in with him. Just like that, I had an appointment the next morning.
Tuesday, the 9th of December, I saw the gastro. doctor and informed him of my limited timeframe. He checked with scheduling and they were able to get me in as the first patient each day for my next three days of testing.
Fast-forward to the present, and I'm now starting to receive bills from these appointments. BIG bills. We are still waiting to see how much our insurance is going to cover, but we know it's not going to be much. The total cost of my bills will be around $15,000 before insurance does anything. However, even if they follow through on our coverage, we're still looking at around $10,000 or more to pay out of pocket.
Do not be alarmed. Joe and I sure were when we first heard this news. Ten thousand dollars?! I know. After building up our savings account over the past couple of years, would we really have to take from it so quickly for this? Our heads were spinning. What do we do? "Pray," I kept saying. I'm not sure how long we were sitting in our little apartment in a confused daze.
After some time, we finally thought of our support money. How much extra do we have? Since the beginning of our fund-raising, we have been overwhelmed by the amount of money we received from everyone supporting our work. We have more than our necessary $2500 month committed, and have been sent countless one-time donations. When all the extra money was first coming in we almost felt bad. What are we going to do with all of this? It was definitely exceeding our monthly goal we thought we might struggle to meet. I remember we had mentioned something to each other about how maybe God has a plan . . .
OH. MY. WORD. This is it! It finally struck us. After finding out the total amount from our Solid Rock account, we were in such joyful stupor. This is what it was intended for! We have enough! God, you knew all along. It was never our money to have because God had been preparing for this very day since last summer. How good is he?! Those of you who have been giving your money and those of you giving your prayers- please realize the huge part you personally played in this miracle. He is using all of us to show his power. Don't miss out on seeing what he has done through YOU.
After some tears of happiness, a silly question came up between us. What do we do in the future if anything else should happen to us, medically speaking? How very, very silly of us. After seeing how God worked months in advance to prepare for our current situation involving thousands of dollars- how could we possibly worry?! Ha. May this be a lesson to all of us. God is in control. We can hear that so many times, but do we really, truly believe it?
I cannot thank enough all of you who support us in our work here. Your prayers and financial gifts are so obviously being used for great and amazing things. I hope you can feel very blessed to be a part of God's work in that way. Those who are giving monthly, thank you for the stability with which you provide us. We count on you and thank God for you each month as our living expenses are literally a gift from God through you. Those who are giving and have given various one-time gifts, thank you for providing us with enough for the unexpected. We praise God for his mysterious ways of using you to show his greatness. Those who are in prayer for us, thank you for the many blessing of strength, courage, and wisdom. God is here with us and with you, and we hope you can feel his presence and clearly see his work as a result of your prayers.
Please thank the Lord today for what he has done. He loves to hear it and most definitely deserves it. We were created to glorify God. It is the greatest thing we can ever do.
Joe: "We don't have to worry because we have insurance."
Shannon: "Yeah right, it stinks!"
Joe: "I mean we have God insurance. It's the best kind."
"Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones (or COLON! haha) will vibrate with life." Proverbs 3:5-12 The Message, parenthesis added by me :)
We love you all!!!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Rainbow Chip Sprinkles
I write to you this morning with a smile on my face and a feeling of contentment in my heart. I have a cup of Dominican coffee to the left of my laptop and I slept at least nine hours last night :). You could say today is a good day.
This past week we had a team of almost 40 staying with us doing all kinds of work in the area. There were two different groups going out in the campos (countryside) to set up medical clinics, a construction team working in El Rosario, and a surgical group in our clinic next door. There was a lot to organize and coordinate, but luckily they were an experienced group and everything went pretty smoothly.
Unfortunately I was sick for most of the week. I'm still getting used to having Colitis and am in the process of learning what I can and cannot eat. Eventually I'll have it figured out, and luckily the flare ups hardly ever come once I have my diet figured out. I'm so very thankful for everything the Lord has provided me with to keep me healthy. I have a Vonage phone to call my doctors in the States whenever need be, the laboratory is right down the stairs from my apartment, and there are constantly American doctors here each week. I'm definitely being taken care of and feel very comfortable here.
This past weekend Joe and I went with the group to Santo Domingo on their way out. We had an awesome time relaxing at the resort and enjoyed Valentine's Day on the beach :). However, on the way home we had a bit of trouble. As we were driving back to San Juan Saturday afternoon, we heard a clicking noise coming from under the hood of the truck. There seems to always be something going on with one of the trucks lately and we didn't think too much of it. I remember saying, "We just have to make it home, then we can get it checked out if it's still making that noise." Well, as we continued driving, the sound seemed to slowly get louder and louder. Then, just as we were about to enter the town of Bani, there was suddenly a loud banging noise and I could tell that something had broken off and was flying around under the hood! I pulled over immediately and we opened up the hood. Of course neither of us know anything about cars, but I guess it's just what you do when your car breaks! Haha. Anyways, just as soon as we got out of the car, a man crossed the road with his cell phone to his ear and told us he was calling his friend who was a mechanic. Talk about quick service! We were relieved but still in disbelief as we tried to talk through our options of what we were going to do. How much money do we have? Will we have to stay overnight? Can we trust these guys? About 20 minutes later, the mechanic comes and tells us what happened (bear with me, I don't know car terms). Aparently, our mechanic that we had seen two days ago was a little forgetful. He had replaced some belts and by doing so, took off the fan for the radiator. When he put the fan back on, he only remembered to secure it with ONE screw instead of four! So it was only a matter of time before that one screw came loose, causing the fan to fly off and smash into the radiator. So, the mechanic made a few more trips back and forth getting the parts and his tools. I felt a little more confident when I overheard him say to his friend, "they are foreigners, they have to be careful because they don't know about the danger." I told him I knew to be careful and was thankful for his concern. The entire time he was off getting parts he had his friend wait with us. I was thankful for that as it got dark. Joe and I just sat in the truck with the doors locked talking about memories of our dog, Ellie, to keep ourselves occupied. I also prayed that God would put an angel to sit on top of the truck to protect us! Maybe he just used the mechanic's friend because he never left us and made me feel safe as he seemed to be friends with every scary-looking person who walked by. Anyways, we got out of that situation spending only about $100 American ($3500 pesos). Pretty good deal! Now today we have to go have a talk with our mechanic in town . . . ! So that was our Valentine's Day! What a memory.
We now have two weeks without any groups here. People always ask us what we do during this time. I don't really know. The time really does go by quickly, though! It seems like it can take a week just to get caught up from previous groups and prepare for the next one coming in. Then there is always business stuff to deal with regarding insurance and bills and stuff from back home. I like to use this time to get stocked up on food I can freeze like breads, cookies, cereal, tortillas, etc. Joe has repairs to do on the rooms and finances to organize. We also are hoping to be able to spend more time with our friends we are meeting. I love having a good Dominican meal and getting to see peoples' houses.
We always seem to have something really fun to look forward to. This year is really exciting as we have friends and family coming just about every month to visit! The first to arrive will be my parents, sister and brother, and my dad's parents. They arrive in just two weeks! I'm getting really excited and can't wait to show them around. Hopefully my little pup, Ellie, will come, too. Pray for warm weather above 40 degrees so she can fly!!!
This past month we celebrated Joe's 27th birthday. What an old man! Haha. As always, I made him a Rainbow Chip cake with Rainbow Chip frosting. It's been tradition for as long as we've been together. He loves it. I think it's little kid cake. But I love it, too. To celebrate we traveled to the Barahona area looking for fun beaches and enjoying the beautiful drive. There are picture from that day on my previous blog entry.
As always, we hope you are all doing well. Please feel free to email us and let us know how you are doing. You can send it to me, Shannon, at shannonzim@gmail.com.
P.S. We LOVE getting pictures.
"God, the one and only- I'll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him, so why not? He's solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, an impregnable castle: I'm set for life . . . My help and glory are in God- granite-strength and safe-harbor-God- so trust in him, people; lay your lives on the line for him. God is a safe place to be . . . And a windfall, if it comes- don't make too much of it. God said this once and for all; how many times have I heard it repeated? 'Strength comes straight from God'." Psalm 62:1-2, 7-8, 10-11 The Message.
Happy Birthday to Joe!
This past week we had a team of almost 40 staying with us doing all kinds of work in the area. There were two different groups going out in the campos (countryside) to set up medical clinics, a construction team working in El Rosario, and a surgical group in our clinic next door. There was a lot to organize and coordinate, but luckily they were an experienced group and everything went pretty smoothly.
Unfortunately I was sick for most of the week. I'm still getting used to having Colitis and am in the process of learning what I can and cannot eat. Eventually I'll have it figured out, and luckily the flare ups hardly ever come once I have my diet figured out. I'm so very thankful for everything the Lord has provided me with to keep me healthy. I have a Vonage phone to call my doctors in the States whenever need be, the laboratory is right down the stairs from my apartment, and there are constantly American doctors here each week. I'm definitely being taken care of and feel very comfortable here.
This past weekend Joe and I went with the group to Santo Domingo on their way out. We had an awesome time relaxing at the resort and enjoyed Valentine's Day on the beach :). However, on the way home we had a bit of trouble. As we were driving back to San Juan Saturday afternoon, we heard a clicking noise coming from under the hood of the truck. There seems to always be something going on with one of the trucks lately and we didn't think too much of it. I remember saying, "We just have to make it home, then we can get it checked out if it's still making that noise." Well, as we continued driving, the sound seemed to slowly get louder and louder. Then, just as we were about to enter the town of Bani, there was suddenly a loud banging noise and I could tell that something had broken off and was flying around under the hood! I pulled over immediately and we opened up the hood. Of course neither of us know anything about cars, but I guess it's just what you do when your car breaks! Haha. Anyways, just as soon as we got out of the car, a man crossed the road with his cell phone to his ear and told us he was calling his friend who was a mechanic. Talk about quick service! We were relieved but still in disbelief as we tried to talk through our options of what we were going to do. How much money do we have? Will we have to stay overnight? Can we trust these guys? About 20 minutes later, the mechanic comes and tells us what happened (bear with me, I don't know car terms). Aparently, our mechanic that we had seen two days ago was a little forgetful. He had replaced some belts and by doing so, took off the fan for the radiator. When he put the fan back on, he only remembered to secure it with ONE screw instead of four! So it was only a matter of time before that one screw came loose, causing the fan to fly off and smash into the radiator. So, the mechanic made a few more trips back and forth getting the parts and his tools. I felt a little more confident when I overheard him say to his friend, "they are foreigners, they have to be careful because they don't know about the danger." I told him I knew to be careful and was thankful for his concern. The entire time he was off getting parts he had his friend wait with us. I was thankful for that as it got dark. Joe and I just sat in the truck with the doors locked talking about memories of our dog, Ellie, to keep ourselves occupied. I also prayed that God would put an angel to sit on top of the truck to protect us! Maybe he just used the mechanic's friend because he never left us and made me feel safe as he seemed to be friends with every scary-looking person who walked by. Anyways, we got out of that situation spending only about $100 American ($3500 pesos). Pretty good deal! Now today we have to go have a talk with our mechanic in town . . . ! So that was our Valentine's Day! What a memory.
We now have two weeks without any groups here. People always ask us what we do during this time. I don't really know. The time really does go by quickly, though! It seems like it can take a week just to get caught up from previous groups and prepare for the next one coming in. Then there is always business stuff to deal with regarding insurance and bills and stuff from back home. I like to use this time to get stocked up on food I can freeze like breads, cookies, cereal, tortillas, etc. Joe has repairs to do on the rooms and finances to organize. We also are hoping to be able to spend more time with our friends we are meeting. I love having a good Dominican meal and getting to see peoples' houses.
We always seem to have something really fun to look forward to. This year is really exciting as we have friends and family coming just about every month to visit! The first to arrive will be my parents, sister and brother, and my dad's parents. They arrive in just two weeks! I'm getting really excited and can't wait to show them around. Hopefully my little pup, Ellie, will come, too. Pray for warm weather above 40 degrees so she can fly!!!
This past month we celebrated Joe's 27th birthday. What an old man! Haha. As always, I made him a Rainbow Chip cake with Rainbow Chip frosting. It's been tradition for as long as we've been together. He loves it. I think it's little kid cake. But I love it, too. To celebrate we traveled to the Barahona area looking for fun beaches and enjoying the beautiful drive. There are picture from that day on my previous blog entry.
As always, we hope you are all doing well. Please feel free to email us and let us know how you are doing. You can send it to me, Shannon, at shannonzim@gmail.com.
P.S. We LOVE getting pictures.
"God, the one and only- I'll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him, so why not? He's solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, an impregnable castle: I'm set for life . . . My help and glory are in God- granite-strength and safe-harbor-God- so trust in him, people; lay your lives on the line for him. God is a safe place to be . . . And a windfall, if it comes- don't make too much of it. God said this once and for all; how many times have I heard it repeated? 'Strength comes straight from God'." Psalm 62:1-2, 7-8, 10-11 The Message.
Happy Birthday to Joe!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Loving Life
Hello all! It's been a while. We're at the end of a busy but fun month. It sure feels good to be in the swing of things and feel confident in the work we are doing. We are liking what we do here and are enjoying meeting the teams who come down.
Things are going ok for me health-wise. I know I wrote about that a little bit in a previous entry. Still not 100% but doing fine and much better.
We're still waiting on our dog . . . Ellie :(. She's been staying with my parents and we're working on getting her down here. All of you dog lovers please keep her in your prayers! We miss her a lot and are trying to get her here as carry-on. If not, we have to wait for the weather to be 45 degrees or warmer in Detroit.
I guess I don't have too much to write right now. All is well here! Here are a few more recent photos:
With Margot & Rosa in the kitchen
Things are going ok for me health-wise. I know I wrote about that a little bit in a previous entry. Still not 100% but doing fine and much better.
We're still waiting on our dog . . . Ellie :(. She's been staying with my parents and we're working on getting her down here. All of you dog lovers please keep her in your prayers! We miss her a lot and are trying to get her here as carry-on. If not, we have to wait for the weather to be 45 degrees or warmer in Detroit.
I guess I don't have too much to write right now. All is well here! Here are a few more recent photos:
With Margot & Rosa in the kitchen
Outside in the garden
Joe with Dr. Scot Stewart from Gainsville, Georgia
I watched a thyroid surgery and got to hold the thyroid afterward!
beautiful beach in the Barahona area
San Rafael- a river flowing into the ocean
San Rafael again. Joe & I went exploring to celebrate his birthday :)
Thursday, January 1, 2009
God is in Charge
I'm afraid I have to begin this post with some sad news. First off, as many of you already know, we were grieved with the news of the passing of Raul Rodriguez this past weekend. For those of you who don't know, Raul was greatly involved in the work of Solid Rock Missions and has been visiting and serving here for many, many years, dating back to when Joe's grandpa Gordon was coming down here. Raul was adored by so many people and will be greatly missed by all those he touched here in San Juan and in many surrounding areas. Joe and I unfortunately did not know Raul extremely well, but had the pleasure of hosting him here at the Guesthouse a few weeks ago during his last trip to the Dominican Republic.
More recently, we experienced another tragedy as we learned of the death of Josue (aka Joshua), one of our Guesthouse translators. As a result, the past two days have been difficult for many reasons. I don't think I could properly put into words anything that would rightly and justly describe what kind of person Josue was. He was loved by many and had an incredible amount of American friends from the groups who came (and many who still come) to serve here. His death definitely shocked everyone, and I'm afraid God's intentions may not be known until heaven. Please pray for his family and his siblings as they just lost their mother last year. Also pray for his best friend, Elvis.
Margot and I were trying to process everything on the day we learned of Josue's death as we worked in the kitchen. She made a good point by saying how it's so important that we are all ready for death any day at any time. We need to live remembering that God could be planning to take us home at any moment. "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9
My friend Julie and I with Josue the first year we met him in January 2007
More recently, we experienced another tragedy as we learned of the death of Josue (aka Joshua), one of our Guesthouse translators. As a result, the past two days have been difficult for many reasons. I don't think I could properly put into words anything that would rightly and justly describe what kind of person Josue was. He was loved by many and had an incredible amount of American friends from the groups who came (and many who still come) to serve here. His death definitely shocked everyone, and I'm afraid God's intentions may not be known until heaven. Please pray for his family and his siblings as they just lost their mother last year. Also pray for his best friend, Elvis.
Margot and I were trying to process everything on the day we learned of Josue's death as we worked in the kitchen. She made a good point by saying how it's so important that we are all ready for death any day at any time. We need to live remembering that God could be planning to take us home at any moment. "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9
My friend Julie and I with Josue the first year we met him in January 2007
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