Third Week-Feeling Better

The fog is starting to lift. I am feeling a lot better. To be sure, I have spent most of these three weeks housebound. Since I have not been out taking pictures of wild life, I am posting, for your enjoyment, the wild life that I have seen so far:

Geckos are common here, although they are not native. They must have come from Hawaii at some time in history. They are useful because they eat mosquitoes.

John visited Luz and Francisco last week to meet Luz's second grand-baby. She is cute, with a lot of hair.

I forgot the baby's name, but she is less than a month old in this picture

Bob and Penny, these are Osvaldo and Mary. Mary graduated from high school and has a job as a cashier at a supermarket. She wants to save money for college. Luz Elena, their youngest, is now 14. She wasn't home because she had gone to a youth retreat. They are all active in church.

Mary is wearing her work uniform because she just got home from work

Last week Randall felt badly that only three couples had gone to the meeting Saturday night, so he rallied the group. He called everybody, offered to buy the meat for the BBQ, and got the meeting organized. I still did not feel strong enough to go to the meeting, but John went and taught from Joshua 1:1-9. A good lesson to start the new year. Two couples have dropped out of the group for different reasons, and two couples were busy, but the rest were there. We will continue to have the meetings on Saturday evenings.

No pulpit, a chair will do

They are outside Christian's house. He hung lights and put chairs under the trees.

As far as individual studies, we haven't started any yet. We are staring to visit a few homes this week and will see who is interested. Eduardo and Arelis already told us that they can't do it this time because babysitting problems and work schedule. They were the first couple to have studies at their home, but we understand about life challenges.

Prayer requests:

• Continue to pray for good health and strength
• Pray for commitment form the couples
• Wisdom as we teach and counsel
• Protection for our family

Until next time...from the beach...

Second Week

For those who have been here, this is Lola II

I have been struggling with my health all week. I even had a temperature of 102° one night. I wasn't feeling any better by Friday; therefore, we went back to the doctor's. He prescribed three different medications, but I just don't think they are strong enough. To be sure, I would have gotten a prescription of cough medicine with codeine, but they don't seem to have that here. I think we could buy better cough medicine over the counter in the US. He told me that if I wasn't better by Monday or Tuesday, he was going to order blood work. Well, that did it! I'm not going back.

One of the ladies here made cough syrup for me with honey, lemon and ginger root. It is very strong, but it seems to help. I have been coughing less and sleeping better. Another lady made a whole pot of chicken soup with all kinds of vegetables. That gave me strength. So, it seems that the folks here know how to take care of this better than the doctor.

I couldn't go the the couples meeting on Saturday, but John went. It was disappointing. Only three couples showed up. What made matters worse was that they waited until the last minute to let us know that they were not going, and we had already bought meat for the BBQ for everybody. We are not going to have a meeting this Saturday. I am still weak, and we need to regroup. We have to find out from the couples if they still want to meet. We have not had any individual bible studies, either. It is like we are in a holding pattern.

I was reading Warren Wiersbe's commentary on Exodus. He says: "God doesn't solve every problem immediately, nor does He follow your schedule. When you think you have failed, even when you have obeyed God's will, ponder Is 55:8-9 and Jeremiah 29:11." I needed to hear that. We were considering going home early, but have decided to stay, ride this out, and find out what the Lord has in store for us and this town.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for healing and strength
• Pray for the couples to really commit to the Lord
• Pray for protection for our family back home
• Pray for wisdom and discernment

Until next time...from the beach...

First Week

First order of business is to sit on the swing to watch the sunset.

We have been here a week already, but we haven't had the usual flurry of activities. To be sure, the first two days were spent getting things fixed around the house. The refrigerator was leaking, the land line had no dial tone, and the air conditioning unit needed some work; in other words, the usual. But the main problem is that I have been sick since we arrived. I have a viral infection, coughing and not sleeping well, body aches, the works. We went to the doctor's here, and he prescribed three medications. I am almost done, but I don't feel any better.

In spite of not feeling well, we have been visiting the couples, catching up, and we will have our first meeting on Saturday. But I just don't have the energy for individual studies every night of the week. I don't know what the Lord wants us to do.

Prayer requests:

• Please pray for good health and strength
• Pray for each couple to commit to the Lord wholeheartedly
• Pray for wisdom as we discern the Lord's will
• Pray for our family back home, health and safety

Until next time...from the beach...