Top 5 things...

(People wind surfing during the windy winter on the Costa Blanca)


1. Bramwell and Jonas have begun to naturally respond to Spanish commands. (Ie: take my hand, sit down, etc.) Bram can nearly count better in Spanish than he does in English. It wasn't until Bram correctly responded to "Como te llamas" (What's your name?) that I realized that he really is beginning to understand Spanish.

2. Last night we had a group of Norweigan Salvationists visit the corps, simply just to take a tour. They were staying out at the camp for a retreat, and just wanted to stop by. It is always fun to get to meet other Salvationists. (For non Salvation Army readers, it's hard to explain....) Bram was eager to show them around the building and even more eager to take them to "his office" (the room where all the toys are kept).

3. I have been in a "comfort food" mode. I made chicken and rice soup, beef stew (that turned out more like beef/vegetable soup). The only down side here is that there are no soft, yeasty rolls...so we had to settle for torn, day old bread.

3 1/2. Bramwell is on his way to being potty trained!!!!!!!! We have adopted the popular Spanish system of potty training (aka: naked). It's working so far. I think the biggest factor of encouragement was that he wants to be like Dash from "Incredibles" and we convinced him that Dash uses the potty not a diaper....who knew bathroom usage could be so exciting!?

4. I have nearly memorized an entire childhood Valenciano song. Each Friday we visit the state run nursing home and sing a mix of old Spanish church choruses and childhood songs (ala Mary Had A Little Lamb, if we were in the States). The childhood songs are primarily in the local language, so I have no idea what I'm singing about but I am proud to have been able to sing Tio Pep (hear it here) and his adventure.

5. As I was preparing for the Sunday Spanish service, I was narrowing down what passage to speak from. We have been looking at what the Bible says about how to 'find' God's will. (I am very thankful for my Thompson Chain Reference Bible!) So, I decided upon a passage out of James and just felt God reach out and speak to me:

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. James 4:13 - 15, NLT

We are called simply to do that which God has asked us to. Not to put a constraint on how, when, how long. We simply do until God gives us something new to do. God has placed my family here in Denia, and here we will stay until God calls us somewhere else. God has given me toddlers to love and raise and so I will do it because that's His plan right now. God has ordered my life for His glory and His Kingdom's benefit. May I never boast that my plan worked out. And may I always remember, when I am confident in the will of God for a specific part of my life, it is a sin to not comply....hmmmm.....things to think about

Quiet! Quiet! Quiet!

My life is anything but quiet. And apparently that theme has been a strong "blog" issue of late. Right now, I am sitting on the bed of my 2 year old (ensuring he stays in bed) who is trying to "sing" through breathing through his nose with force, my 18 month old is sitting up chattering away desperate to get my attention so that he'll have an audience. And it's bed time. A time when life should be quiet.

With all this talk of quiet time it has caused me to take notice of how un-quiet my life is. Now, as I understand it, it is a side effect of having young children. I never realized until after having the boys how much I enjoyed moments of silence. So much so, that if it finally does get quiet I get irritated if the phone rings or my husband even asks me a simple question. I would love to have some "quiet time" but I probably would use it to read a book without being interrupted.

Quiet....it seems such a 'far away' concept at this point. If I could keep the two year old from 'talking' at a low level scream, and get the 18 month old to actually take a nap maybe, just maybe I might encounter a moment...

I hate being sick....

I hate being sick. (Now, granted does anyone ever really enjoy being sick? If they do, that's a clear sign of some greater issue...) Anyways, when you're sick, minor annoyances become amazingly huge issues that you are willing to burst into tears over for no apparent reason.

I finally caught my share of the stomach flu making it's way up the Spanish coast. 2 days in bed, 5 pounds, and a weakened appetite later, I think I'm starting to improve....

At some point in my old age, I have developed a sensory overload issue. I'm not sure when it started, but ask my husband and he will verify that I can't handle lots of various noises. The issue even caused me to seek my own office rather than share with my noisy husband at our last church appointment. It makes me incredibly rattled. Two toddlers don't help, because they are accompanied by constant loud noise, muffling out all other noises, or simply joining in. This morning taking into account the loudness of our building (there is a group of teens who seem to only own 1 CD and relish playing it loud enough for everyone in the building to enjoy :) ), the running and "dinasour stomping" of my boys, the off kilter washing machine during the spin cycle, the neighbor's TV, the pounding as the neighbors across the hall remodel their kitchen, and the naueseating smell of drying seaweed permeating my apartment...I had to get out!

As we loaded up into the van, I didn't care where we went, I just wanted it to be quiet and not smell like seaweed. We ended up in a town (Jalon, if your mapping our travels) about 30 minutes away in a valley between 2 of the mountains. They had a long flea market spread across a dry riverbed in town. It was nice just to be outside and taking a walk. I did end up buying a huge purple mum for only 5 euros!! And we, of course, bought churros from the churro stand that populate every flea market in the area. It was a nice day to be out. The valley was beautifully green, and cool for the time of year. It thankfully smelled nothing of seaweed. And Bram even enjoyed looking at all the stuff.

Tomorrow we start another week...if you are praying people who happen to read my blog, I could use your prayer support on the issue of our residency. We have to apply in Madrid, due to original paperwork issues. (About a 6 hour drive) The boys have an appointment to begin the paperwork, but Jeff and I have yet to hear anything. I keep reminding myself that if God can handle Pharoah, God can handle residency paperwork in Spain...

Well, I'm off to finish up for tomorrow's Spanish program and head to bed...

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!: Notorious Missionary Now Becomes Nice Missionary!

I decided to be a "nice mommy" tonight. We made a pizza together. Not just me putting it together while they were running around the kitchen, both boys actually helped!

On Sunday evenings, our church runs a church service in a local hotel. We tried taking the boys to the meeting, but after just 2 tries we quickly learned that 3 church services were just too much for toddlers. So, now Bram, Jonas and I have an evening all to ourselves. I secretly love Sunday evenings with the boys, because it's just as much fun for me as it is for them. We usually do something with play-doh or build train tracks or lego towers, we watch a movie if one is on, and it's bubble bath night! So tonight I decided I would do the good mommy thing and let them put the pizza together. (I vowed to myself I would only correct their 'creation' if it wasn't staying on the pizza dough. I had to make myself leave the pizza the way it was created.)

There has been a flu/cold thing passing its way around our little community. Both the boys have had it already, and I think I'm now struggling through it. No matter how sick they are, I can't turn them down if they just want a hug and a kiss....

I have decided to take tomorrow to stay at home. The house needs cleaning, and I need a rest. So perhaps it'll get clean, but it's entirely likely that the house will be in the same state it is now at the end of the day tomorrow.

Question: What do you do to take care of yourself (mentally/spiritually)? I was reading a preview of a book ("Absolutely Organized: Moms Guide to a No Stress Schedule & Clutter Free Home: A Mom's Guide to a No-stress Schedule and Clutter Free-home " by Debbie Lillard) off of Amazon UK website. And in the page you could read she suggests that most moms begin the day by dressing and feeding children, running them to school, etc...that they take no time to prepare themselves for the day. She said that you could have a better day and feel less frazzled if you just get up 30 minutes before the house's earliest riser to take some time for yourself...it seems like a nice idea, but is it realistic? Just wondering what some other moms do to ensure they take care of themselves...

One Windy City to the next...

It's raining again. This time it's accompanied by really strong wind. The kind of wind that is bending down palm trees. Along with the rain comes flickering electricity...the lights have been flickering on and off all evening. It's enough to send an 18 month old into hysterics when his bath time goes all dark. Bram thought it was funny. (Well, he probably thought Jonas' freak out was funnier than the dark bathroom.)

It was a local holiday today, so there was no pre-school today. The boys accompanied us to brass band practice at a church member's home. (We've been having the church band practice at different members' homes in order to secretly visit with them, have tea, and see the inside of where the people live.) Bram & Jonas were excited to find legos and various bits and pieces of toys waiting for them, not to mention enough "biscuits" (that's British for cookies) to last them the morning. The gentleman (his wife plays in the band) even told me to go ahead and play with the band and he would gladly play with the boys. Bram has been talking about the lego jet airplane they made all day.

Tonight when the lights turned off, I was greeted in the dark by the question of "Why did the lights go off?" (Bram is a never ending stream of "Why" "How" "What does that mean" "What's it sound like in Spanish") So I said "Well, God decided to turn them off." And then I felt bad, like I should give a better explanation "Well, God wanted to show us that He is in control. So, He turned the lights off." "But I don't have to be afraid when the lights are off?" "No, Bram, 'cause we have Jesus with us." "Where? Up there?" "Um, well, He lives with us. He's with us all the time. He's in our hearts.".... Now, I realized at that point I was digging myself into a hole that might be theologically over the 2 year olds head. Why didn't I just say Because???....So suddenly the lights flashed back on, and Bram goes "Hey! He turned them back on!" Problem solved.

And now, I have a chorus from the back of The Salvation Army Songbook stuck in my head:
If Jesus goes with me I'll go anywhere
It's heaven to me whereever I be
If He is there
I count it a privilege here
His cross to bear
If Jesus goes with me I'll go anywhere

Hear it here Cyber Hymnal

This is what happens when you bake a Chicago created pound cake recipe at sea level.

The eruption actually happened on both sides of the pan. After it cooled, we cut the pan and cake out of the explosion and still carried it to coffee fellowship the next day.

Better luck next time.

Waiting for the gas man...

Everything 'hot' runs on butane gas tanks here, so after 2 cold showers in a row, we decided perhaps the tanks needed replacing. So, I have a few extra minutes thanks to the Spainard understanding of making an appointment. (There is a 2 hour window around the time you were told.)

I've been reading "A New Kind of Christian" by Brian McLaren. (I am trying to make myself read a Christian 'development' book before getting sucked back into my never-ending Liz Curtiss Higgs Scottish series...) Anyways, the book is all about defining post-modern Christianity. (Think "Shack" meets "Velvet Elvis", and that's the style of book.) It's creating quite a bit of thinking on my part. Perhaps that's the point?

Yesterday a homeless-by-choice man stopped by the church building just in search of a Bible. After I got him one, he started talking about how Jesus was radical, challenging the status quo, etc, etc. He then started in about how he didn't like organized religion, etc. And that he was a radical like Jesus. All in all, I think he's just revolting against responsibility, and wanted to use Jesus as a support for his decisions to ignore laws....I digress....

My conversation with him, coupled with my readings, got me thinking: I think I am more postmodern in my view of Christianity. Less importance placed on the 'organization' and definite emphasis on the relationship.....anyways, I'm still working through the definition, and I'm only half way through the book...