Mom Mamma Mama'

Having a 5 year old at Christmas means you get to experience Christmas through their eyes. My kindergardener's eyes are filled with, wonder and humor and of course excitement! Her joy is contagious. She has been playing with my Nativity sets since pulling them out of their wrapping. At first I wanted to say, "wait stop, be careful, don't break them!" Thankfully I caught myself and only asked her to be gentle. I am so glad that I let go of my need for a perfect Nativity scene because watching her lost in recounting the story again and again. Adding her favorite figurines and then even moving on to create new Nativities with other toy sets has been my favorite part of Christmas this year. Today we as we sat on my bed and played with Skwinkies and Shopkins we retold the story of Mary and Joseph from the first time the Angel visited Mary all the way the arrival of the Wise Men. I was amazed by her attention to detail and how invested she was in the story as

As weird as it was to leave home, it is to be back home. It is nice though, to return to the familiar.  I have missed our routines. Since mid October when everything here in Bolivia turned on it's head there has been nothing we could count on. As a friend shared this morning, it was very unsettling to not know what each day would hold. The sense of not being in control of anything left many turning to God as The Rock they could cling to in the midst of the storm of uncertainty. As I have mentioned, (in prior posts)witnessing a country turn to God in desperation and literally fall to their knees to plead for His hand of mercy was amazing! I hope that I never forget the ways I got to see God move through His people here in Bolivia. Though I like to think that my faith is strong, I know that I was at my own limit as to how much I could handle when we boarded the plane to Kansas. I found space to rest in Kansas but, Kansas was not home. And as much as I loved seeing family and took

Our drive to ViruViru International Airport on Nov. 12th went better than we expected. Sure, there were still roadblocks to navigate our way around, but call it lucky timing or an odd answer to prayer (I am going with the latter) we ended up on the tail end of a funeral procession along the main route to the airport. And as you might expect the people at the blockades were much more inclined to let the bus with the casket through than  your average Joe.  We were stopped a few times and were required to show our airline tickets, passports and luggage, but overall the trip to the airport was less bumpy than we had mentally planned for. What no one could have planned for was, that mere moments after making our way past security and customs I would look up to see Jeanine Anez being recognized on national television as the Interim President.  No sooner had I begun to wrap my mind around that big new flash than my phone began lighting up with messages from my school letting me know t

Last night as I listened to the fireworks being set off in protest of a dictatorship here in Bolivia I never dreamed that tonight's fireworks would be going off in celebration of that fallen dictator! I laid in bed for way too many hours last night unable to stop scrolling through post after post of terrible tragic news taking place throughout Bolivia. Buses full of students who were going to La Paz to protest peacefully were ambushed in route and the things they endured are too horrible to recount. People were building and setting off molotov cocktails, lighting cars, buses and buildings on fire. This morning as the rain poured down in Santa Cruz the gloomy weather added to the feel of sadness that hung in the air. Even the news that the OAS had finally ruled that there had been without a doubt fraudulent behavior in the handling of the General Election on Oct. 20th was not good enough news to brighten the day. We traveled slowly around road blocks through abandoned streets, a

Tonight I write for me. Normally I write to tell you what is happening in and around here. Not tonight, tonight I write to help myself process what is going on within because of all that is going on around me. I lay here in our room, and I hear the dogs barking and the firecrackers blasting and I know that the streets are filled with Bolivians protesting against the current government. I was just outside, we walked to dinner as we have almost every night for the past 18 days since the strike began. It's a funny thing to know you are safe, but still feel the urge to run. To participate in and be affected by the indefinate shutdown of a city and county yet want it all to end. To say my mind and heart are not conflicted would be an out right lie. Bolivia has been our home for 1 year and 5 months (feels so much longer) and it is home to my family, friends and colleagues. We have made the choice to be here, while many of them never got to choose, and if given the opportunity wo

There are somedays that change history forever. For Bolivia today will surely go down in history as a day to remember. Just 2 days ago the people in favor of democracy gave the sitting President, Evo Morales and his government officials 48 hours to leave office. Tonight at 7pm their time is up. No one knows for certain what will happen at 7:01. Will Bolivia finally be free from their dictatorship disguised as democracy or will their be a governmental takeover? I am praying that Evo and his people will surrender and Bolivia will see God at work answering the prayers of the people and they will give Him all the glory, honor and praise, as we know that it is only God who could bring about that change. But God doesn't always act in the ways we expect. So, we are left asking, what if Evo doesn't step down? Where is God? Let me tell you, God is still God. And God is still at work. In these 13 days of Bolivians protesting I have again and again witnessed God here at work in the he