Missionary Mom

Yes, I am still alive!~

2010-10-22T17:01:00.004-03:00

We have been in the US for almost 2 months now. Although we have internet connection, I rarely have any time to my self, which is when I normally blog.

We have had a great time so far. We love visiting the churches and seeing the sights. We are now about 2 hours south of Chicago. We made a quick visit this morning to the Lincoln presidential museum, which was wonderful.

We just moved into our motorhome two days ago. It is great, but the gas mileage is horrible!
We will just have to pray that God will provide!

Praise to the Lord

2010-08-16T11:59:00.004-04:00

For He is good.

The Customs papers have arrived. All is Done. All is Finished. We only had to pay 560 dollars.

So, within one week, we received Neil's visa and the Customs paperwork, all done.

I cannot tell you what a relief this is.

We are overjoyed.

Lesson to be learned. When you want to ship a container, talk to the experts first. Not your buddy. Lesson over.

Its here!

2010-08-10T17:58:00.001-04:00

The fat lady is singing.´
Neil has his visa in his hand.
We are on our way.
Hurrah

Thank you, Lord

Drive-by posting

2010-08-06T11:59:00.002-04:00

I really shouldn't take the time to do this, as we are so pressed for time.
However:
Neil was told that they OK'd his visa, but it will take about 3 weeks to get it. It ain't over until the fat lady sings. No singing until the visa is HERE!

New missionaries, the Reyes family arrived last week. They will be staying with us until we leave, and satying in our house while we are gone. We are so glad that they are here.

I am on overload due to all that must be done before furlough. Please pray for me.
I am hoping that we will get almost everything done before we go so taht we can take a few days off on arrival to enjoy the US.

By the way, what do y0u like to see in a missionary display, and what do you like to see in a missionary presentation? Do you like them long, or short? What do people really like to know about missionaries?

Thanks for the imput.

Another update

2010-07-31T22:35:00.002-04:00

Well, container issue, not done, but looking good.
Visa issue; we have an appointment for an interview on Monday. We leave for Santiago tomorrow night after church.

The Reyes family arrived on Thursday. They will be living with us until we leave and they will be staying in our house while we are gone. There are 9 of us in the house now, so, Lord bless us!

I miss blogging regularly but I am still here. I am so sorry that I do not comment enough. I read all your blogs and I love them.

Also, to all my missionary friends headed to the US, hope to see you around while you are on furlough!

God bless, Y'all!

Good-ish news

2010-07-22T11:24:00.002-04:00

As you may know, we have been waiting for over 2 years for our stuff to be liberated from Customs. We have jumped through all the hoops time and again.
Tuesday, we found out that the paperwork had finally gone through. All we needed to do now was pay. But now they say that we need an agent, (more money) and they said that we were trying to liberate too much. So now we have to pay. We don't know how much. Could be 500 dollars, could be 3000. We won't know until goes there tomorrow, which means an overnight bus ride to Santiago and a 2 hour bus ride to Valparaiso.

Please pray for us. We are a tad stressed.

The things I hear

2010-07-10T15:28:00.003-04:00

For World Cup, Neil got our TV hooked up to the cable.
Our cable is international, so we get commercials from everywhere. Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina, the list goes on and on.

So, we were watching a commercial about a fabric softener that keeps smelling good.....for months!
That was their pitch. You didn't have to wash things for months because they still smelled good.
My goodness. There in really nothing I'd like to leave unwashed for months, no matter how good it smelled!

Grace

2010-07-09T16:39:00.004-04:00

Grace is a word thats been getting a lot of use. Most Christians use it, and we don't all use it the same way. Over the years, I have heard a lot of talk about grace, but people, christians, are behaving worse than ever. Its as though bad behavior is no longer bad. It seems that "grace" has made bad not so bad.
I was taught that grace was "unmerited favor". In that case, my bad is still bad. Its horrible. I am ashamed of it. But, when I turn from it, grace takes me up. Jesus died for all my horrible sin, and covered me with grace. Its not grace unless you need it. I need it.

These things only happen to us!

2010-07-08T17:23:00.003-04:00

A new family started attending our church. Dad, Mom and two boys. They seemed nice, they had a charismatic background, but weren't attending church. They seemed nice enough, but the lady was kinda strange. She hated the fact that we didn't have women preachers, since her Mama was a preacher. She insisted on calling me the "Pastora" even though she was corrected often, and by everybody. But that wasn't enough. When we had a big preachers conference, with Bro Bill Smith as the speaker, she got up to give a testimony that lasted 10 minutes....and the she broke out into song! We were so embarrased. She was well behaved for a while, but then just last June, during the visit of our sending pastor, she got up again to give testimony. Not in her seat, no, she had to go forward. Unfortunately, Neil was in the baptistry, about to baptize when she started her show. You see, she had just come out a few weeks prior, of a major operation to remove a tumor from her liver. She was so thankful to the Lord for healing her that she promised God to go to seven different churches to give testimony. Not only did she give testimony for another 10 minutes, she lifted up her shirt to reveal her scar, and all of her chunky midsection! The church was packed with about 175 people. I was sitting at the piano, wanting the earth to open up and swallow me......or her. Our pastor later joked with us about our "Flasher"
To end, she recently told one of our deacons that they weren't coming anymore, that no one was going to change her mind about women pastors. Too bad. Well, not really. I don't have enough energy to deal with her!

Health

2010-07-06T15:35:00.003-04:00

I am greatly blesed to enjoy good health. However, being in the ministry, we are often surrounded with sickness. So many people have different views about health and wellness, but I feel that God has a lot to say about it.

Interestingly, our sending pastor recently finished a series on health that I found fascinating and biblical. I invite you to listen

No, I havent fallen of the face of the earth.......

2010-07-06T15:19:00.003-04:00

We've just been enormously busy.
I keep telling my hubby that I am on the verge of.....I don't know what I am on the verge of, but I am almost there! I am trying to weed out any unecessary things. So far, all I have been able to cut our is choir. I am not happy about that because I like choir. Oh well.

I also had bloggers block. I don't just like writing about what's going on, and I don't like to blog about issues I have blogged about before... So I needed something new and didn't have it.

I toyed with the idea or quitting, but I need you all too much. Many of you I know in person, and I love the interaction. So there, I am not quitting.

We are making plans for our furlough. I hope to see as many of you as possible. Please pray that my husband will be able to get meetings is all the right places!

Yet another great weekend

2010-04-26T17:59:00.003-04:00

Well, not all of it was great. Our kid's Bible club was down again. We only had 25 kids. There are so many other things diverting their attention on Saturday, but mostly soccer. Catholicism is supposedly the main religion here, but the truth is that Soccer is King. They worship at the soccer field.

Sunday was better. We had 165 people on Sunday. That was so wonderful-. We also had 3 people make professions of faith in Christ. The Lord has added many to his family lately. We are all doing our best to ground the new believers in their faith. Please pray for Vivian, Christian, Luz and Marcelo, Manuel, Miriam, Nicole and Jocelyn. There are several others in the dicipleship program, but I cannot remember all their names.

We have a Couple's dinner planned for this Saturday night. We have games, teaching about marriage and a dinner. They love it! We have several couples invited who are not yet married, but living together. We are praying that the Lord will convict them, and give them a desire to make things right. We have had several couples get married. They know us really well down at the Justice of the peace.

Please pray also for two of our young people who decided that they like each other. The problem is that they do not have the guidance that they need and are headed for trouble fast. We do our best to plead and warn, but it seems that they are not listening. It breaks my heart to see them headed for a lifetime of problems.

Ah, the life of a missionary....

I want to win this one!

2010-04-20T10:06:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite authors on the family is Voddie Baucham. His daughter Jasmine is having a giveaway of Bro. Baucham's DVD series on "What he must be if he want to marry my daughter"
I have not had a chance to read this book, but I did read "Family Driven Faith" and I liked it very much.
And since I have two daughters, this is very relevant to me.

A story of redemption

2010-04-19T14:31:00.002-04:00

Sometimes God redeems twice.

Denise had been coming to our church since she was about 9 years old. We loved her and her family. Denise learned to play the piano, by ear.. She is the only Chilean I know who can play hymns, gosple style. She just watched me, then she would imitate. Amazing!
Her parents always has problems, and a few years ago they sepated. This caused extreme emotional trauma, and soon none of the 4 kids were coming to church. It was sad to run into them on the street, and see the changes in them. We soon found out that Denise was playing the keyboard in rock band.

2008. Denise and her mom show up at my house. We spoke briefly. I invited them to come and talk anytime, but they never returned. Soon we found out that Denise was pregnant. Her mother kicked her out of the house, so she moved in with the baby's father and his family. One day last year, Denise showed up with her baby at church. She seemed distant and a bit defiant, but she was there. It was on-again-off-again for a while. Then she started inviting her boyfriend. He came occasionaly. Very nice, not your typical rock band drummer.
Two weeks ago, Denise came to me a told me that she was ready to make things right. But as long as she is living in sin, there is not much she can do. So we have been praying for Christian, her boyfriend, to be saved. For the past month they have come to all the services, including Wednesdays.

Well, yesterday morning, after a great sermon by a visiting preacher, Christian came forward to be saved!!!!!!! We were all so excited because not only is God saving someone, he is redeeming a bad situation. From the ashes of sin, he will raise up a Christian family. We are thrilled.

Quake victims

2010-04-12T16:46:00.002-04:00

Neil and I were invited to a special event where a mission church was formally establishing ftheir new pastor. The night before there was a dinner fellowship for several pastors. We attended both. (first over-nighter without the baby...woohoo!)
Also attending the events were the pastors and their wives who were most affected by the earthquake. First, Juan and Monica, who lost their parsonage and church building. They are basically OK, but are overwhelmed with work. Their church is small, and Juan doesn't have help. His wife is 2 months pregnant and she has been helping to remove the rubble and help with reconstruction, not a good thing for a pregnant mommy. They need help.

The other, Gary and Loreto are better....and worse. Their kitchen has been rebuilt and their appliances replaced. But they seem jittery and unsettled. Their city was harder hit. The aftershocks still happen. Financially, they seem OK. Emotionaly, they seem to be not so good.

Would you pray with me for them? We are helping both families financially and with physical labor, but only the healing power of the Holy Spirit can soothe their souls.

Thank you

Prayer

2010-04-09T15:20:00.002-04:00

Everybody has their own beliefs about prayer. Some say that prayer is just about agreeing with God and his will. Even Henry Blackabee believes this. He tells a story about the year he bought his son a blue bike, and then gently coaxed his son into wanting and asking for a blue bike.

This sounds good and extremely respectful of the sovereignty of God. I mean, God has everything under control and planned out. And as this sounds good, I would believe it whole-heartedly.

But then there are other Scriptures to consider. My favorite is Luke 18:1-8. This is a story about a widow who pleads with an unjust judge to help her. He does not agree with her nor does he want to help her, but finally does because she bugs him to death. Jesus told us to pray like that widow. Why would God want us to pray like that?

Another favorite is the story about the man who begs for bread from his friend for his guest late at night. The friend does not want to help, but does because of the insistance of the man. Jesus said we are to pray like that. Pray as though we were trying to change God's mind. Sounds blasphemous, doesn't it?

This post is not meant to teach anything, but rather air out my questions about prayer.. Do I just pray "Thy will be done"? or do I pray for what I want or need as though it depended on my insistance? Seems to my like Scripture says to do both.

The first ladies Bible study of the year

2010-04-07T12:19:00.003-04:00

It went great! We started a few weeks late due to several factors. But that's OK, we aren't on a schedule or anything. We didn't know how many to expect. I made 25 lesson pages. We ended up with 34, which was amazing. It was a great night. Mom taught on Psalm 77. The lesson addressed anger and depression, something that is very common here. I missed some of it because I had to check on Vanessa who has been a bit sick for the past two days.

The interesting thing is that two of our leaders were in a bit of a problem. One of them went to the other and basically told her off. Nothing with substance, but she was hurt and offended. I counseled her to forget it. God is so good. The offender apologized to the offended yesterday morning. So all better. I like it when they can solve their problems on their own.

So today we head out to Mafil for Bible study there. We are not expecting many, most of the ladies told us that they would not be there. We may just end up visiting. It is slow going in Mafil. Thankfully, we are not paid on a per-person basis. We just do our part and God does the hard part, which is not hard for God.

Back to Work!

2010-04-02T20:29:00.003-03:00

We did have a busy summer, but now the real work has started. Back to Ladies Bible study, Kids club, homeschooling (with a toddler, toddling), visitation, dicipleship, cooking, cleaning, laundry. Makes me want to be a hermit!

We are also getting ready for furlough starting in September. There is so much to do. I really need to get back to Flylady, as she seems to help me get some structure in my life.

Anyway....

I have been greatly blessed reading all my favorite blogs. I love to hear what the Lord is doing in all your lives and ministries. I have also been challenged. I am trying to figure our how to be tolerant without compromising my convictions. Many people in my world consider any type of tolerance to be compromise. But I don't think that is so. I have found that you can find Scripture to support apparently opposing views, so some degree of tolerance is required. I mean, what if I'm wrong? Oh the horror! Of course I don't think I'm wrong.....
I have also come to see the importance of letting the Holy Spirit do his work of correcting the views of others. I have to remember that God doesn't need my help.

On a different note, Vanessa has now learned to give kisses, after all this time. We love her kisses! But, the little flirt will kiss just about anyone, even blowing kisses to perfect strangers!

An update

2010-03-20T16:59:00.002-03:00

Boring title, no?
Anyway, Neil's trip went really well, although not without difficulty. The van broke down twice on the first day. What made it worse, is that the cities where they were headed had an early curfew. They arrived at the first city after curfew. Neil spoke to the policeman, and explained the situation. He was sympathetic and gave them safe passage. It helped that the church van has the church name written in large letters on it.
They went to Talca, where the church building had crumbled. Then on to Constitucion, where part of the pastor'sm house had fallen down the hill. They went back to Talca for a few days to help remove tons of rubble. Neil was on the rood when a 7.2 earthquake hit. It was rather unsettling, to say the least. The folk up there are quite jittery, understandably.
On the last day they headed to Hualpen, near Concepcion, another of the hardest-hit areas. It was incredibly hard to drive around town. Last stop was Santa Juana, where a new missionary and his wife live. The wife was home alone during the quake because her husband was a our church. Their family in Mexico was afraid that they had died. Thank God, none of us or any of our friends died.
Neil was so exhausted. He said, "we are going on a vacation!" So, here we are, in Argentina, for a few days of R and R. Well, its about as much R and R that you can get taking care of a toddler in a two story cabin. Vanessa has been fascinated by the stairs. We have been frustrated trying to keep her off them!

Our church has had an attendance explosion since the earthquake. In the last three Sundays, we've had 164, a record,,170 the next week, another record, and last week 182, another record.
Its nice to finally be in a reaping season than a sowing season.

Here in Argentina, Ronnie celebrated his 11th birthday. We took him ice-skating. They love that. Vanessa just squealed with delight to see her siblings skating. I can't figure out why she found that so exciting!

Its been an interesting month. To say the least.

Earthquake relief and Blessings

2010-03-07T21:27:00.002-03:00

There's nothing like an 8.8 earthquake to shake up a town! We had 170 people today in church! Yay!!!! We had never had 170, ever. We have also had people saved at almost every service.
We are so sad for all those who died without Christ, but we are thrilled for those who have put their trust in Christ!

Neil and a group from our Church is heading out tomorrow morning with a vanload of food and supplies for the quake victims. They will go to 5 different churches, each with different needs. Our Church has given almost 2000 dollars in food and supplies. We collected diapers, milk, cleaning supplies, noodles, beans and rice, sugar, tea and coffee. One man got his company to donate a large, 1000 liter tank to haul water. They are taking it empty, and will fill it in Chillan before heading to the disaster area. We would appreciate your prayers for their safety.
The kids and I will hold down the fort here. I will keep the kids busy with schoolwork. I am sure they will be thrilled.

God bless

We are OK!

2010-02-28T16:27:00.003-03:00

Well, I had intended to write about the seminar we hosted with Preacher Smith, but early Saturday morning, our world shook us up! Around 3:45 am. we awoke to a huge earthquake. It lasted a good long time, long enough for Neil to go get our two big kids who were sleeping in a tent outside. I got the baby. We just stood around in doorways waiting for it to end. OUr lights were out. For all of Saturday we just tried to contact people. Our Church people, our fellow missionaries, our families. Preacher Smith and missionary Dave Disney were here for the seminar. Peggy Disney was alone in Santiago, on the 9th floor of their building. It took a while for Dave to be able to contact her. Their appartment was greatly damaged in the quake. I fell so bad because she was alone. She was able to contace Mrs Smith in Oklahoma City. The bad thing is that they can't leave because the airport in Santiago is closed indefinitely. They may try to set out by car tomorrow. We don't know.

We had been without electricity until 3 pm today. I had been able to update my facebook page on Hubby's iphone, but even that services has been spotty.

We are fine and our house is fine. Mom's house was harder hit because she lives on a hill. She lost most of her china, dishes, mirrors, light fixtures etc. But apparently, there has been no structural damage to her house, the camp and pool. PTL.

Chile is a mess! We can no longer buy gas. I don't know how long it will be before stores are restocked. Many, many dead. We had 3 professions of salvation this morning! I pray that they will all stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit, that some good will come out of all this bad.
I also pray for the return of the Lord!

Thank you all for your concern and prayers,

Rhonda

Youth Camp!

2010-02-18T17:37:00.004-03:00

In between camps we took Bro. Eldred to the famous Ojos de Caburga, an area were the river forms the most beautiful pools.

Youth camp was all about jewels and treasure. God call those who fear Him and who talk to their friends about Him as jewels. We had 4 teams, the diamonds, the emeralds, the rubies and the saffires.

Youth camp is always a time for goofy games. I didn't take pictures of the one that included pliers and nose hair. Aren't you glad about that?

Mom re-did my hat in keeping with the theme. This is my "no-makeup" look. Awful, don't you think?

Here's Mom with all the treasure. We gave out "gold" coins instead of points. Worked like a charm. You win, you get coins. You lose, you pay coins.

I found the Malachi passage to be a special blessing. It reminds us that God is listening. He is keeping a record of all that is said and done. He views us a his treasure. Fearing Him and serving Him is soooooo worth it!

Camp photos, Are you ready?

2010-02-10T13:10:00.003-03:00

Here is Yours Truly with DH and the Fruit hat. Good thing is that he had one too! A sunrise shot. Not bad huh?

Pastor Eldred, our guest speaker and supporting pastor, Neil, Me, and Mom.

Have I mentioned yet that it rained? This hat came in very handy!

See the fruit of the Spirit? All attached to the Vine.

More to come!

One down, one to go.

2010-02-01T22:03:00.002-03:00

Family camp is over, and it was one of the best to date. We had around 70. all included.

I will go into detail and post pictures, later.

I am working feverishly to finish the devotional booklets. Its not my fault, I am just the typist. The author, who shall remain nameless, just finished them tonight. I am printing page 5 of 6. The toner in our laser printer just emptied when it should be full. I switched to the inkjet, which is slower.

We have some great stories from family camp, but they will have to wait until next week.

Please pray that this week will go smoothly and that the Holy Spirit will move greatly.
Please pray that I will not go crazy!

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

2010-01-25T11:49:00.003-03:00

Camp 2010 is officially underway. Of course the devil is doing his best to hamper all efforts. As I write, my printers are giving me fits.
We are looking forward to a great year.

On a side note, we had 161 people in Church yesterday. That's a new record. It was a special occasion, we had a baptism. We had many visitors come see their friends and loved ones get baptized. One visitor, a pentecostal, told me that she didn't like our church at all! She said that the preaching was OK, but that the music was sorely lacking. Oh well, you can't please everyone!

Among those baptized was an 85 year-old man. It took forever to get him up the stairs to the baptistry, down the ladder into the baptistry and the up the ladder again, and down the stairs.
It took more time to baptize him than the other 12 all together! Well, its never to late to get baptized.

We hope all who have been working hard to bring visitors continue, and that people will continue to be saved and grow in the Lord.

Camp!

2010-01-15T18:23:00.002-03:00

Only 11 more days!

Its going to start getting wild around here. Neil is writing the devotional booklets, which I will type and print. Mom is doing all the decorating and another gazillion things that need to be done. We shop for the food next week. Our special speaker arrives from Cal. next Friday.

I am looking for a theme song for the family camp. We are doing "The Fruit of the Spirit" Each family will be a different fruit. Mom made me a fruit hat á la Carmen Miranda. Its a good thing I am not afraid to look silly! Two years ago, she put Neil in a black vest and hat, a sherriff's star and a fake mustache. It was a hoot.

Youth camp will be the following week. The theme is "A Special Treasure" I already have a theme song for that. Mom is going to do a treasure hunt.

I've got a bunch of stuff to print up.

If I don't post soon, you'll know why!

"Attempt great things for God,

2010-01-11T11:36:00.003-03:00

Expect great things from God!" I hope I got that quite right, I might have gotten it backwards. It is from William Carey, missionary to India.

The Lord has blessed our church greatly, but in the past two years, we fell into a rut, attendance -wise. We hovered around 100. We won new people, but lost others. Six weeks ago, the Preacher got all the SS teachers and leaders together and made a challenge. We wanted to get to 150 by September, 2010. He laid out a visitation schedule and we got to work. Almost immediately we began to see progress. We averaged 120 for about 4 weeks.

Yesterday was the best so far. Nothing special, no give-aways. (we never do that) Just hard work. God sent 148 people to our Church yesterday. Yea!!!!!

Now, we no longer are expceting 150 from God. We're kicking it up to 170!

New Year's Eve menu

2009-12-30T17:25:00.003-03:00

I am the world's greatest NYE party pooper. I hate staying up late! Here, NYE is a biggie. Big cookout, mostly lamb or mutton, which I dislike. But everyone has an Asado.

One year, when we were living up on the hill, overlooking Loncoche, I had the brilliant idea of making Pastel de Choclo, corn pie, instead of a cookout. Neil agreed and Mom and I undertook the work of Pastel de Choclo. As we sat out on the porch eating our delicious Pastel, something incredible happened. We could smell the meat of all the people cooking in the town below us! All of a sudden, our pastel didn't have that smell! We are quite the carnivores, so our corn-laden goodness came up short!

Lesson learned, this year like all the rest, we are having an Asado!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T09:36:00.003-03:00

An Arias Christmas, part 1

2009-12-25T09:29:00.003-03:00

For my birthday in October, I wanted to order the movie "The shop around the corner" What I found at Amazon was this. I ordered it in November. It arrived on Dec 23. Can you believe it? Just in time!
We've had a great Christmas season. My bigger kids are at the time when they realize that Christmas is not just the day, but the planning, buying, baking, wrapping, all through the month.
To top it off, we watched "Christmas in Connecticut" yesterday afternoon. We had never seen it. I don't think Ronnie enjoyed it too much, but the girls did! What a fun way to kick off the celebration!

An Arias Christmas, part 2

2009-12-25T09:21:00.002-03:00

We had our Chrsitmas Eve service at 7. The choir sang four songs. Every seemed to enjoy it. We even had a special guest. The mayor of Lanco came to our service last night! But even better than that, we had 3 people who trusted Christ for salvation. Our table, ready to go. We had crock-pot BBQ ribs, baked potatoes and 7 layer salad. I was going to make several desserts, but ended making only peanut butter squares. Yummy! And quite extravagant for these parts. No one uses up their peanut butter so rashly unless it is Christmas! Of course we each had our very own can of Dr. Pepper. No sharing tonight!

Imp!

My boy!

An Arias Christmas, part 3

2009-12-25T09:12:00.002-03:00

Here's my big girl, who is now 14. We hardly get any shots of her because she is the family photgrapher!

A lovely gift for Daddy

Inside this big box are several other packages, one inside the other. The ring my husband had made for me was in the middle. Eileen loves wrapping packages that way! Its a hoot, unless you're the one opening the gift.

Vanessa was entralled, even if the gifts weren't for her!

A glass of Christmas cheer!

2009-12-23T12:54:00.002-03:00

Oh yes! A whole case of Dr.Pepper! Originally priced at a dollar fifty a can, we found it on sale for 50 cents! Hip, hip, Hurrah!

A Christmas letter

2009-12-18T12:39:00.002-03:00

My Grandma sent me this lovely graphic, and this letter was sent to me by dear friend, Wanda.

Letter from Jesus about Christmas --

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season.
How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish; I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up... It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5 Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine. Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember :
I LOVE YOU,
JESUS

Just a thought........

My Christmas table

2009-12-17T10:23:00.004-03:00

Seeing that Christmas is essentially an eating holiday, its a blessing to have Christmas dishes.
Years ago, I bought a cheap(read-ugly) set from Kmart. Of all of the things that were lost in the house fire, those were the least-missed. Two years ago I had the opportunity to buy these and I am so happy!

We eat off Christmas china everyday in December. So far, we've only brocken one salad plate!
I know that dishes get broken, but my family is special, and I 'd rather have a few broken dishes, than a cupboard full of unused dishes waiting for something "special".

Please indulge this mama!

2009-12-11T18:54:00.004-03:00

My sweet baby loves to look out the window!
Her Daddy gives her Oreos!
Looks like her sister is training her to be a model. Hmmmm. we'll have to have a Talk about that!

I wish I had more time

2009-12-10T10:23:00.003-03:00

I love Christmas time! I love any excuse to give gifts and bake. I love the festive decorations. I am big on nostalgia. Ronnie said the other day that he wished the Christmas would come sooner, but I need the whole month! In fact, next year, we are going to start the day after thanksgiving!

I have done better this year. I got several cards off to my nearest and dearest. Well, most of them!

I have a feeling that Christmas in heaven will be even better. We'll get to celebrate Jesus' birthday, and He'll actually be there for the celebration!

My Christmas house!

2009-12-05T11:23:00.002-03:00

We absolutely love our tree. Both of my older children tell me that they could stare at it for hours and not get tired of it! Me too. Vanessa is learning the meaning of "Don't touch!" It hasn't been entirely pleasant for her.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T15:32:00.002-03:00

It was great!
The final menu was,
Rhonda:
Turkey
dressing
mashed potatoes
pumpkin pie
watergate salad
multigrain rolls
chocolate mousse

Brenda:
corn pudding
seven layer salad
cranberry jello salad
green beans

I think that was it. There was food everywhere. We had a wonderful time of food and fellowship. Bro. Phil is encouraging my fed-up-with-his-PC husband to get Macs. Fine by me. We have been plagued with computer viruses.
Brenda showed me some really cool websites with crafts for Sunday School.
We also Wii'd a while. I am beginning to enjoy Thanksgiving more and more as I grow older.

We are gearing up for Christmas. Tree and decorations go up on Monday. Yeah!! I am thinking about how I will paint my windows this year.

Blessings!

The last ladies meeting of the year!

2009-11-27T10:44:00.003-03:00

We had a soup and salad dinner. We had a salad competition. Above you can see some of the better entries. The salad "clock" won!. I taught about the power of praising God in all situations of our life. It was a great night, but I am glad the weekly meetings are over for a while. I'll be readly to start again, come Fall. South American Fall, that is, maybe Arpil, 2010. Do your faithfully attend your church's ladies Bible study? If not, you might be missing out on a huge blessing!

Do you at

Here it is!!!!

2009-11-24T12:22:00.001-03:00

Dear Ms. Arias,

Thank you for providing evidence of physical presence in the United States for the periods of August 1994 to December 1995 (16.5 months), December 2000 to June 2001 (6.5 months), July 2004 to Jan 2005 (5.5 months), and August 2007 to Jan 2008 (5 months), for a total of approximately 33.5 months.

This, in addition to the evidence you submitted previously, is sufficient to proceed with the application for the Consular Report of Birth Abroad for your daughter, Vanessa Elena Arias. We will proceed with the application today

Yahoo and Praise the Lord!!!!!
Now, there is a good reason to give thanks

Vanessa's paperwork

2009-11-23T17:10:00.002-03:00

We finally compiled several years worth of documentation to send to the US Embassy. It should have arrived there last Tuesday. We sent it by courier, so I know that it is not lost in the mail. The thing is that I have not heard from the charming vice-consul. I don't know if that is good or bad. I figure that if it were bad, he would have contacted me. By the same token, I expected to be contacted if the documentation was adequate. At any rate, we still don't know, so please pray. If this doesn't work, we'll have to go another red-tape route that will cost several hundred dollars more. Yuck!

What happens when your husband is tone deaf

2009-11-21T22:45:00.002-03:00

My Dear Preacher husband used to be entirely tone deaf. Sitting next to him in Church during the song service was torture. When he was in Bible School, he tried to sing in the choir. The director finally broke down and told him just to lip-sync.

Anyway, he doesn't know if someone is singing good or badly. Now, I sing. Not great, mind you, but I love to sing. I started our ladies choir a while back. They are OK, not great.

So, Neil is at the conference in Argentina this past week, and they were planning one for next year here in Chile. He proudly offers my choir and ME to provide special music. Yikes! Oh, yeah, and they want me to be the pianist. Huh? My piano playing is "iffy" at best. I mean, its good for our Church where there's nobody better. Oh boy, we had all better get to practicing!

Dressing, a Thankgiving recipe

2009-11-19T18:20:00.002-03:00

Julie Mom, this one's for you. I do warn you, however, that my recipes are not exact. I bake with exact measure, but the rest of my cooking is more "iffy". As one lady put it, I never get tired of my own cooking because nothing ever comes out the same way twice!

Dressing (or Stuffing) whatever you like to call it!
5 cups stale bread cubes
5 cups cornbread, roughly cubed
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cups chopped celery
chicken or turkey broth, about 2 cups
1 egg
salt
pepper
sage

mix the bread cubes together
Saute the onion and celery in butter until crisp-tender
Add to bread
Add the egg, slighlty whisked, to broth
Pour the broth-egg mixture over the bread and stir until wet but no dripping.
Add salt, pepper and sage to taste

Pour into a buttered casserole dish, cover with foil and bake at medium for about an hour.

We love this stuff!

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-18T10:55:00.003-03:00

Next week we are celebrating Thanksgiving. Not Turkey Day. Not Football. We are celebrating thanking God for his blessings and care.
Julie Mom is hosting a Thanksgiving recipe exchange. Now, I love recipes, but when it comes to Thanksgiving or Christmas, I go totally traditional. Nothing new. Its very comforting to me to know that our menu will be exactly the same every year. Here's the Menu
Turkey and gravy
dressing, made with white bread and cornbread.
Mashed potatoes
Corn or corn pudding
7 layer salad
Yeast rolls

Pumpkin pie,
chocolate mousse
waldorf salad, which we eat as a dessert
black bottom pie

I am going to try to do more tablescaping than I usually do, which is nothing.
I'll try to post some pictures.

This year, Mom and my sister and her family are gone to the US, so I am hosting this year. Also the Longs are gone, so its just us and the Robinsons. We see them about once a year for Thanksgiving. We always say that we need to get together more often, but we don't. I wish we did. We're all so busy!

Our nation seems to be forgetting the Pilgrims, and is celebrating ghosts, goblins and witches instead. Lord help us!

This year, after dinner wie'll probably go WiiBowling. Yeah! I love Wii bowling!

Wii!

2009-11-17T21:41:00.002-03:00

Wii finally took the plunge and bought a wii and a wii fit. I have to say, we love it! Its been worth every penny spent. Wii only have the games that came with it, but we are having a blast.
The wii fit is not aerobic enough in and of itself, but we have all lost weight and gotten stronger.
The best thing is that we play as a family. The kids are so happy about that. We have a bit of a friendly rivalry going on. Everyone has events that they are best at. I am champion at the ski jump. Eileen is first in step aerobics while Ronnie is best at hitting the soccer ball with his Mii head. I also learned that my husband cannot do the hula hoop. Not in real life and not in virtual reality. Its a hoot to see him try though!

Neil's gone to Argentina for a Fuegos de Evangelismo conference. So, the kids and I are having a WII part-tay!

My baby's birthday

2009-11-07T15:39:00.003-03:00

We had a special celebratory breakfast for Vanessa's first brithday. It has been an amzing year for all of us. I chose to share these photos because they show the sweet relationship between Vanessa and her brother and sister.
Thanj you, Lord, for them all.

My Tortilla maker, a video

2009-10-30T18:16:00.001-03:00

Tortilla Tutorial from Rhonda Arias on Vimeo.

Vanessa at the pool table

2009-10-30T17:22:00.001-03:00

I don't know what this world is coming to! So little, and already playing pool.

Chilean Food, Porotos con Riendas

2009-10-30T13:00:00.002-03:00

Here is a typical dish, eaten at least once a week. Porotos con Riendas, which translates to Beans with Reins. It beans, with pumpkin-like squash, a sausage-onion-bell pepper saute, and spaghetti, thus the "reins". I love these beans! Also, I add a bit of tomato sauce as requested by DH.

Sometimes these are made with no meat at all, and they are still good! I make mine with ground beef instead of sausage.

Chilean Food, Empanadas

2009-10-30T12:49:00.004-03:00

These are another very typical dish, but not one eaten every week like the cazuela or carbonada.
Above are the fried ones. Yum! They are both filled with groud beef, onion, one small slice of boiled egg, one olive (with the pit) and maybe a raisin or two (I leave these out)

They also make baked ones with the same filling. Most latin cultures have their empanadas. Even within Chile, there is a variety to the empanadas. They also make them with shellfish. (gross) My sister-in-law makes them with chicken. Very good.

They also make appetizer-sized ones with cheese or the beef mixture. Here in the south, they make mostly the little ones and they add chile, which is not common in the north.

All Chileans love empanadas. What's not to love?

Chilean Food, Carbonada

2009-10-30T10:10:00.003-03:00

This, to me, is the boring part of Chilean food. Here, you see carbonada. Does is look familiar? It should. It is basically the same as cazuela, just all chopped up.
This is a tasty vegetable beef soup.

Chilean Food, Marraqueta

2009-10-29T17:16:00.004-03:00

The basis of the chilean diet is not tortillas, as many assume, but bread. The one shown above the the marraqueta. This is the most delicious of them all, IMHO. They are fairly large, each half about the size of a bagle, but lighter. Don't buy them while they are still hot because you end up eating the whole bag!

The most common bread is the one above, the hallulla, pronounced eye-you-yah.

These are good, but I am now sick to death of them! Chileans, however, never tire of them. They are life and breath to them! Give me a marraqueta any day.

Chilean Food, Cazuela de Vacuno

2009-10-29T11:32:00.004-03:00

This is, by far, the most typical Chilean dish. Cazuela de Vacuno. Basically its beef and vegetable soup. But, as you can see, all the veggies are in big pieces rather than all chopped up. It has beef, potato, squash, corn, green beans and rice. Often it is garnished with fresh, chopped cilantro.

The interesting thing about this soup is how it is eaten. Americans want to eat a little bit of everything. This is not possible with cazuela. You must, must, must eat the broth first. If you don't, you will splash broth all over everything as you try to eat potato or meat first. Please don't ask me how I figured this out!

Chilean families will eat this at least once a week. It can be eaten as an appetizer or a main course, depending on how much meat you have to put in it. You can also make it with chicken.

It is very tasty and healthy.

A fabulous birthday gift

2009-10-27T17:35:00.004-03:00

Most Americans do not realize that South America is not Mexico. They assume that you can get delicious Mexican food all over the place. Unfortunately, this is not the case at all. So, we must make all our Mexican, or Tex Mex, from scratch. Being Californian, we cannot live without our Mexican food!

I celebrated my 37th birthday last week. My Mom gave me this wonderful tortilla press/cooker.

It presses and cooks at the same time. And the best part is, its 220 v, so I don't have to use a huge transformer like when I use my waffle maker!

I've already made tortilllas, and they turned out great! Happy Birthday to Me!

Putting it all together

2009-10-27T13:37:00.002-03:00

I truly believe that the chapter and verse separations in the Bible are very helpful. Only, sometimes we separate things that were meant to go together.
We were studying John 14 recently and it just dawned on me that the famous words "Let not your heart be troubled..." does not stand alone, but as part of the conversation between Jesus and his disciples at the last supper. Peter has just been told that he will deny Christ three times. Even so, Jesus tells him not to let his heart be troubled.
Now, some will take this as an excuse to be mediocre and sinful, after all, God is going to love us anyway. But I think that even though Jesus knows just how bad we can be, I am encouraged not to be as bad as I can be.
Just a thought.

From Inspiration to Application

2009-10-24T11:10:00.003-03:00

The Vinegar Solution

My dishwasher is OK. They don't sell the really good ones here, so mine is top of the line.....for Chile. It doesn't rinse very well, so I always must use the special rinse liquid, which is expensive.

I had read on several blogs that you can substitute vinegar for the pricey liquid, but I am often skeptical of amazing claims. But, I figured, what could be lost if I tried it? Nothing! So I squirted the vinegar in. You may not believe this, but it works better than the pricey stuff!

Not very "wow!", but the long-term savings means that I can actually use my dishwasher more often. Now I can hear a hearty "Amen!" from chief dishwasher, Eileen.

Do Hard Things

2009-10-22T15:49:00.002-03:00

This past week, I noticed a book brought by one of the team. Do Hard Things. I had read about this book, but never had access to it. I quickly borrowed it and read it before they left. What a treasure!
I talks about the extremely low expectations everyone has for teenagers these days, and how that its crippling us. It challenges the reader to do hard things that make us strong and helps us to excel for the glory of God.
I know that I am way past being a teenager, but this was an exciting challenge to me! If you can, read it! Share it with your child.

Our Guests

2009-10-22T15:29:00.002-03:00

We had a team of 13 come down from California. They came to work on the church building, the camp, and do a VBS, couple's event, ladies meeting and leadership training. In 7 days. We all worked from sun-up to way past nightfall. The VBS went great, we averaged 130 for the three days. We had 6 children saved. This team brough all sorts of stuff to set up a a carnival with games and activities. It was amazing!

They had wanted to do some drama, but due to the obvious language barrier, it was decided that they would do mime skits. Excellent! Mimes go over great here.

We also had a great couple's meeting. The team included a chef. She made stuffed steak and stuffed tomatoes, rice pilaf, and sinfully delicious tarts. We had several visitors for this event, and one lady was saved.

On the last day, we had a big ladies' meeting. We brough over the ladies from Mafil and along with the ladies on the team, we had 46. Wonderful! One of the ladies form the US shared her testimony. She had been through so much during her life. Most of our ladies was able to relate to the story of abuse and sin that had made this woman's life one of great misery. They were also able to relate to the great Savior that has freed her from sin, guilt and shame, and given her the ability to forgive. Our ladies were just blown away.

God moved greatly in our midst and I thank Him for that.

I'm back again!

2009-10-22T15:01:00.003-03:00

And so much to share! But I'd like to start with a small tribute to my husband, the Preacher. A week before all our guests arrived, my dryer died. I was alarmed because getting my washer or drier fixed can take over a month. First you have to take the appliance into the city an hour away, let it sit at the repair shop until they get good and ready to take a look at it. Then order the parts from the US. (The don't sell full sized dryers here) Then, as time allows, they fix it. ARRGGHHHH!!!
Enter Preacher Knight in Shining Armour. He opens the dryer, noting that its just a broken belt, removes said belt. He knowingly scavenges repair shops in Temuco and finds a belt that had been salvaged from someone else's dead drier. He then takes an entire morning and FIXES THE DRYER! My Hero!

Now I can prepare for all my guests. Praise the Lord!

A break

2009-10-08T17:43:00.002-04:00

We will be receiving a group of 14 from California next week, for 8 days. I will be hosting the pastor, his son, and an old family friend. In fact, this man's daughter was my first "best friend" when I was about 3. Mom will have the 6 ladies and the other 5 men will sleep at the Church.

We are going to be insanely busy, so I thought I'd just log off for a while. I will post pictures of all the special activities that we will be having. Please pray that souls will be saved this week!

We still have so much to do before they come! Please pray that I will not lose my: sanity, temper, children, or head!

Missionary Joys....Dealing with paperwork

2009-09-29T18:31:00.002-04:00

I told you that we had to go to the US embassy. Thats in Santiago, 500 miles from here. We got Ronnie and Eileen's passports renewed easily. Then we had to file a consular report of birth abroad. Sounds easy,right? Wrong! My children aren't automatically US citizens unless I can prove I resided in the US for 5 years, 2 of which were after the age of 14. That was 20 years ago. Can you remember events from 20 years ago? I gave them all the evidence I could come up with at the time and it wasn't enough. By the way, passports stamps are not considered valid as evidence. Sounds crazy? YES! So, since we've been home, I have been going through junk I would have tossed years ago. I've found a few pay stubbs from 1994. Church bulletins with our names in them. A few medical tests from when I had a seizure in 2001.
I am uncertain as to what more to do. Everytime I talk to the guy in charge, he says, "Unfortunately..........." I feel like bopping him in the nose.

Please pray that all will go well. I'll have to make a quick trip to Santiago in a few weeks.

In praise of yo-yo dieting and Starting Over

2009-09-20T21:29:00.002-04:00

I know that the "experts" say that yo-yo dieting is bad for you. But I ask, where would I be now if I didnt' diet occasionaly? I would weigh 300 pounds! So much for the "experts"

So, after not losing the baby and furlough fat, I had decided to start Weigh Down again. I have the home video series, and it helped me lose 50 pounds several years ago. I always feel good doing weigh down, and its always a spiritual time for me. The only awful thing about it is that I am reluctant to share it with anybody in view of the cultish turn Gwen Shamblin has taken. I looked her up on the internet after years of not doing so, and I was appalled at what I saw. She looks anorexic, and she took "big hair" to new and scary heights. But what is worse is her anti-trinitarian views. To me Jesus Christ is everything, and as it says in Colossians, "In Him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily" Jesus is the physical incarnation of the living God, and to call Him anything less is blasphemous.

That reminds me of something Bro. Jim Preston says. He told us that if Satan cannot get you to deny a truth, he'll get you to go overboard on another. Its really dangerous to take one doctrine so far that it contradicts other biblical doctrines. Or, some people go over the edge on one issue, and it clouds the other issues that they proclaim. For example, Kent Hovind's views on taxes caused him to lose his ability to speak freely about Creation. I like the Pearls, but I feel that his somewhat-odd statements about salvation and the gap theory take away from their sound, practical advice about child training. Please, Lord, give me balance!

Anyway, Eileen and I will be weighing down regardless of skinny Gwen and her "Church"
After all, another sound piece of advice is "eat the meat, spit out the bones"!

Our experiment, a recap

2009-09-18T11:48:00.002-04:00

We experimented with Extreme Frugality for 6 days. We called it our Great Depression Week. We timed our showers and baked our own bread in the cookstove oven. I did all my cooking on the cookstove. We seriously monitored lights. We unplugged everything. We watched no TV. We seriously limited computer time. I dried my clothes on the line, something that I really don't like to do because I don't like to iron and I don't like the feel of line dried clothes. Neil went into the city twice on the bus.

Our motives were these:
Saving money
Appreciating what we have
Recognizing just where the money was going

What I learned.
cooking on a wood cookstove is a lot of work. Maintaining the fire is of chief concern.
Not using my drier is a lot of work.
Making your own bread is a lot of work.
Eileen and I thought that we would have a lot of time to do Spring cleaning, but it took all day just to get the regular housework done. We were exhausted!

Every night became Family Night. We read together, we played Rook together. We went to bed early!

We will continue to do this experiment one week out of every month, fine tuning the details as we live them out.

Do I want to live that way the rest of my life? No. Could I if I had to? Yes. I am thankful for all my blessings? You Betcha!

Praise the Lord!

2009-09-16T22:42:00.003-04:00

Carlita survived the first of two surgeries! We were on pins and needles there for a while, but she is fine for now. They still have a long way to go, but this is wonderful. Thanks for your prayers.

Urgent Prayer request

2009-09-16T11:27:00.002-04:00

Our trip to Santiago was not only to get the kid's passports, but to accompany Carlos and Josselin and their baby Carlita at the children's hospital there. Carlita's heart has only one chamber and she was taken to Santiago for surgery. We waited with them as long as we could, but we had to come home. They waited, as the surgeries are not scheduled. Today, Carlos called and said that they are taking Carlita in today. But before the operation, the Drs are going to have a serious talk with the parents, as this operation has a greater chance of failing than succeeding. If she doesn't have the operation, she'll die anyway.

Please pray for Carlita, who is 4 months old. Please pray for Carlos and Josselin, and their son, Michael.

Thanks!

a Break

2009-08-31T22:20:00.002-04:00

We are headed to Santiago to get the kid's passports.
I have been so busy today, I didn't get to post like I wanted.
Please pray that we will be able to get the paperwork done!

Wonderful blessings to you all!

Our experiment, days 4 and 5

2009-08-29T08:37:00.003-04:00

My alloted 10 minutes on the computer are way to short!

I can totally understand why people were so happy to get rid of their cookstoves and cook with gas! Both of my grandmothers cooked and still cook with electricity! i'll go into this more, but when this is over and I can type more.

Ronnie has adjusted to diminshed computer play time. For him, that has been the only real change. For Eileen and me, well, all our work has been multiplied. Neil had to go into the city twice.....on the bus. Going on the bus isn't bad at all, its just that once you get there, you're on foot for the rest of the day. Makes me appreciate our car, and the fact the we have the money for gas and tolls.

Today, Saturday is our last day. Amen! I want to use my stove again. Sunday I'll try to write a few closing thoughts.

Days 2, 3

2009-08-27T14:19:00.003-04:00

I missed posting yesterday. I had no time.

We are becoming accustomed to shorter showers and less electricity. We have brought our electrical use from 9.5 kwh to 5.5 kwhs, which is less than we hoped for, but less all the same.

We finished off the lentils, and I made chicken and dumplings with whole wheat flour. They turned out pretty good. I am hoping that the kids will get used to whole wheat and multigrain as opposed to pure white.

We also discovered that its easier to have one light on than to use candles. Also less mess.

We'll be glad when this is over, but I know that we'll never be the same.

Day 1

2009-08-25T18:55:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we all had computer withdrawal symptoms! We worked hard at keeping lights off and not buying anything. We have been reading the electricity meter. we figure that we use about 9.5 Kilowatt hours per day. We were hòping to get that down to 5 but we only got down about 3.5. We were dissapointed. Interestingly, our gas tanks have no gauges, so we don't know how much we are saving there. I have beem cooking on the cookstove, no gas and no microwave. Showers are timed at 3 minutes. We had lentil stew for dinner and will have leftover lentils tomorrow. The good thing is that we like lentils! I made 3 loaves of multigrain bread yesterday. They are delish.

We will do this until Saturday. I hope that we will make some good habits that will hold over for good. We'll see.

Got to go, times uo again!

An experiment

2009-08-24T16:11:00.002-04:00

This week we are doing a family experiment. We are honoring those who went through the great Depression, and learning to appreciate what we have by going through an extremely frugal week. My internet time is limited to 10 minutes, so I won't be able to blod much about it until later.
We are limiting electricity, water, gas and food. I mean, we have plenty of food, but there will be no extras. All my cooking will be on the wood stove, and most of the clothes drying will be on a rack in front of the fire.

It will be interesting to see just how low we can go. We take so much for granted. I am hoping that will change.

Time's up!

Getting fit update

2009-08-14T21:09:00.002-04:00

Well, its been 4 weeks now of working out, 2-3 times a week. I am loving exercise TV because there is so much free content. Yesterday we did a cardio-slimdown, which is just challenging enough to keep me from getting bored. Today we did Leslie Sansone's 2 mile walk. Great! Easy moves, yet plenty challenging. So far, we switch between the cardio slimdown, the 2 mile walk, and a ballet workout. I like doing the ballet one because Eileen and I aren't particularly graceful, and I am hoping this will help. Soon we will start WeighDown again. I want to get the exercise thing down before I start the eating thing.

I have been thinking about the spiritual aspect of exercising. I know that the Bible says that bodily exercise profiteth little, but the truth is that bringing the flesh under control is always a good thing. It really depends on your outlook and reason for exercising.

One more thing. I cannot exercise in the evening. Two nights ago we did, and I was awake for hours. Precious sleep hours lost!

Tracts do work

2009-08-13T15:58:00.002-04:00

Michele wrote this post about sharing the Gospel. She talked about how that tracts do work.
This last week we saw the truth about this as well. Four weeks ago, a family began visiting our church. The have a 4 month old baby girl with severe heart defects. This family are neighbors to Pati and Fabian, members of our church who had invited Carlos and Josselin. But when Carlos and Josselin walked into the door, Pati was surprised to see them. Apparently, they had not accepted their invitation. This past Sunday, Carlos invited Neil over. He told him about their little baby's problems. Neil asked them how they decided to come to our church. He said that Fabian had invited them, but they had ignored the invitation. Then later, they wanted to go to church, any church. One of them had one of our tracts with our address and services hours. They thought "Why not this one?" And so they came. I think that they were just as surprised to see Pati and Fabian, as they had been to see Carlos and Josselin.

Carlos says that he is saved, but Josselin recieved Christ Sunday night. We are so pleased. Please pray for their sweet baby, Carla.

She's nine months old!

2009-08-13T14:46:00.002-04:00

The camera loves you, Baby!

I have had no end of things to blog about, but not one peaceful minute. Even now, there's work to be done and Vanessa is fussing. But if I wait, I won't blog at all! Poor Vanessa's gums are bothering her greatly. She is still waking every two-to-three hours every night. My Goodness! I hate it. I've tried to try everything, but can't get Dh on the cry-it-out bandwagon, and I'm afraid anything less will not work. Obviously....she's nine months old and wakes like a newborn.

DH turned 40 this year in July. We celebrate Apollo 11 every year, since that's where they got DH's name. This year was a biggie. We followed a recreated lunar landing for about three days.
Of course, in Spanish, they call it a "mooning" since they say you can't "land" on the moon. I don't even try to explain why we don't call it a "mooning"!

We celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary last week. It was a bit subdued due to the fact that Neil was busy at a fellowship meeting during the three days prior, and due to the fact that Vanessa is too small to be left behind for any decent kind of anniversary celebration.

Got to go, Vanessa's fussing has turned to full-scale crying!

Do you read Boomama?

2009-08-06T21:29:00.002-04:00

I do. When I need a really good laugh, I head over to Boomama archives.
Here is the post about her mama's stunt pillows.
Here's the one about Bojangle's Boberry biscuits
And finally, the one about the green salsa

Her devotion to Diet Coke is a subject near and dear to my heart.

Peace and quiet

2009-08-05T10:30:00.002-04:00

Due to unusual circumstances, I am home alone with Vanessa, who is asleep. Now I can blog! Wait a minute......my minds a blank. I have absolutely nothing to blog about.

I do have an idea for a series. Sometimes I feel guilty if I spend too much time on the computer. I tell myself that it is helpful, and it inspires me to do better at many things. So.....I want to do a series about going from inspiration to application. Not just about that but actually telling and showing things that I normally would put off or not do at all, that I have done, thanks to my blogging.

Now, the first thing that I am inspired to do is to get off my franny and get the morning work done! Chao!

OK, so even missionaries need exercise!

2009-08-01T10:17:00.004-04:00

But I haven't done any in a while. There are no Curves here, nor any ladies-only gyms. In fact there are very few gyms at all. I don't like walking here in town, because I always run into several friends and aquaintances, and its rude not to stop and talk. But if you stop, what's the point?

I have a few old videos, namely Richard Simmons (gross) and Stormie Omartian, who I love. But that video is almost 20 years old. Things have changed alot.

I bought a DVD by The Firm, but I couldn-t figure out all the moves and it was way too fast.

So finally I found what I was looking for. Free videos, for beginners. exercisetv.tv

Eileen and I have done 3 different workouts over two weeks. so far so good.

I don-t have any grand ideas about getting skinny, but fit is always good.

What I really want is a workout that exercises both the body and spirit, with uplifting music, and Scripture memory. I am this close to making my own videos. Don-t laugh. It could happen.

My budding Photographer

2009-07-29T10:38:00.003-04:00

Eileen offered to take some photos to remember Sandra's pregnancy. They were very happy and best of all, they are going to pay her! This was her first photography job, and hopefully not her last.

Nanny.....or Mommy

2009-07-18T10:48:00.002-04:00

I was looking for exercise videos, but I found this.

Baby Shower, part 2

2009-07-17T13:53:00.002-04:00

Just a few shot of all the ladies there.

Baby Shower, part 1

2009-07-17T13:42:00.002-04:00

We had a blast at the shower last night. Here is the gift table. She recieved a bunch of nice things. We also played a few shower games. Here we were given a pregnant lady to dress. My team won, but no thanks to me, I just glued the stockings and shoes on!

To eat, we had a salad bar. But, for fun, we had a salad contest. The winning salad waqs the "Bib" salad, below, to the left. My favorite was this one, the "bottle" salad.

Here was another finalist. Don't you jsut love the sculpted red pepper?

The big winner!

After the salad, we had corn chowder that I had made, and rolls. It was dee-lish!

A cake and a wedding

2009-07-16T14:31:00.002-04:00

We are having Sandra's baby shower tonight. I, the non-crafty type decided to spread my wings outside my comfort zone with a diaper cake! I hadn't done one before, but it was easy!

Last week, we headed down to the Civil Registry to witness the marriage of Eduardo and Nancy, a new couple in our church. They have been together for over five years, but wanted to make things right before God and country. Here am I, along with Mom and Pati, who dubbed us "Charlie's Angels"

And here's the happy couple!

Weddings and babies, it just doesn't get any better than that! How are we doing Bro. Voddie?

Truth is truth...

2009-07-15T12:21:00.002-04:00

whether you believe it or not.

I was recently reminded that not all Americans believe in my God. That is quite true. But here's what I believe. God is God whether you believe in Him or not. He is not just my God, He is THE God. He is not just a deity figure that we have chosen, out of our primitve need to "worship" something. He is the Creator, the Almighty. He has made a beautiful that we still have not managed to mess up completely. He keeps us alive. He keeps meteors from smashing into us. He even steps in sometimes and rescues us from ourselves.

No one can see gravity, but you'd be foolish to walk aff the edge of a cliff. And, what's that you are breathing? And how did it get here? And what keeps it here?

This is not to open a discussion, its just my affirmation of some of what I believe about God.
If you choose to not believe in God, that is your choice. But don't say that you weren't warned!

Looking Back, Money Managing

2009-07-09T14:43:00.003-04:00

Michele posted some vintage videos that are quite interesting. I had seen this one a while back, and although it seems corny now, the advice is sound. To top it off, its fun to watch! It is incredible seeing how much things have changed in the past 60 years.

You think I'd be used to this by now

2009-07-07T21:52:00.003-04:00

I know that most of you are enjoying a long, warm summer. Lucky you. Its winter here. Cold, dark, damp winter. And because we are so far south, winter is long. You think that I would be used to this by now, but I obviously am not, or it wouldn't phase me at all.

Note to self.
Wardrobe planning: Buy winter clothes.
I have a pretty evenly distributed wardrobe, but the truth is that the weather here is most definitely not evenly distributed. Its cold most of the time. Even in the dead of summer, I have to wear a sweater over my summery dresses.

Note to future missionaries. Check Accuweather before you confirm your calling!

The seasons of life

2009-07-05T15:59:00.003-04:00

It is so important to recognize your season,and I'm not talking about your colors! (although I am a Winter)
I am thinking about the newlywed season, the new mama season, the older mama season, etc. Having a baby in the house after 10 years brings you back to the new mama season really fast. Its been over a year since I slept through the night, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. But, this second time around, I realize that it is indeed just a season, and soon will be over. Vanessa turned 8 months old yesterday. She will be a toddler before I am ready for it!
The sad thing is that I see some of the first time mommies at church discouraged and tired. They don't even want to think about another baby because they are so ready to be done with this season.
It really helps to understand that seasons do end, for better or for worse. I'll be glad if I live this season to the fullest. Both the baby season and the teenager season. I am cautious but not afraid. And when its all over, there will be new seasons, the granny season and the "empty nest"season. All these seasons are beautiful in their own way. Do you know that I would hate to live in a tropical area with discernable seasons? I love the Fall. I see the stark beauty of Winter. I see the new life of Spring. I try to tolerate Summer's heat. But the truth is that you can't have one without another. They, like the seasons of our lives were given to us by a wise and loving God.

I had to post this for posterity!

2009-07-02T20:58:00.001-04:00

Vanessa's court Jester from Rhonda Arias on Vimeo.

We're done!

2009-07-02T17:00:00.003-04:00

All's over but the shouting (and decorating) Here's how it looked before. Here's a shot of my former dining area and front door.

Here's the new area along with the new paint and window

we switched the living and dining areas. I also got new "carpet" (not to be confused with American carpet) but very nice for us. We also replaced the ceiling. It looks great. The color on the walls is Red Tomato by Sherwin Williams.

On the other wall is Honey Blush, also by SW. I want to paint a Scripture as a border, but we haven't decided on a verse.

For Kristina, the bride

2009-07-02T13:42:00.005-04:00

The day of your wedding is coming up soon, and I know that you and your family must be terribly excited and working feverishly to get it all done it time. Godly weddings are beautiful to witness, and I am sure that yours will be very special to behold. However, soon you will find that you married a human being with faults and "issues" that you might not have seen before. Also, you may become aware of faults and issues in yourself that you didn't realize you had. So, as a wedding gift, allow me to share 15 years worth of experience. I won't be writing of my (our) strengths, but of my weakness that I am (we are) overcoming.

1 Allow you husband to be human, to make mistakes.

I often tried to "protect" and "help" my husband by telling him about his mistakes. This is not my job, unless he specifically asks for it. This is the job of the Holy Spirit. Yes, you may suffer the consequences of his mistakes, but you must trust God to protect you. You will find yourself in a heap of trouble if you try to "help" the Holy Spirit do His work. Of course, you are probably reading this, thinking, "What on earth is she talking about? Josh is a great guy, and his faults are miniscule" If that is so, Praise the Lord!

2. Focus on your position as Help Meet. He is not there to help you in your ministry, you are there to help him to fulfill his vision. Serve God by serving Josh graciously.

3. Be pleasant. During a Christian courtship, a couple rarely spends a great deal of time together. So, you can be pleasant the whole time. When you start to live with someone, 24 hours a day, its hard to maintain a pleasant demeanor all the time. However, its extremely important to be pleasant and smiley.

4. Spend the time you have before the babies come making yourself into an expert homemaker. This means housekeeping, cooking and home economy. Also, prepare yourself spiritually and practically for motherhood. Read good books and websites, but learn to not waste your time. Also remember that being a good wife and mother is a life-long process, start soon and never quit learning and improving.

These are just a few things I am working on.

May your journey be a fabulous one! It is my prayer that people will look at you two and rejoice at seeing a marriage the way God intended. Blessings!

Dangerous Jobs!

2009-06-26T12:18:00.003-04:00

I'll have to say that I think that the music industry might just be one of the most dangerous out there. So many "musicians" and "singers" have died young, the latest being of course, pop music's "king". Elvis died young, and so many others. If I was in the music industry, I'd watch out!
Of course music itself is not the problem. Look at all the older folks on the Gaither reunion videos. There's quite a bit of gray and toupee! Hmmm....must be the kind of music. Yeah, that must be it! Rick Warren and others would have us believe that all music is amoral, neither good or bad. But it seems that its only the "bad" music industry that is deadly. And the "badder" the music, the more dangerous. Fr'instance, there seem to be a lot of rappers in trouble all the time.

Christian parents wanted to please their teenagers and let them listen to whatever their flesh wants to. Now grown up, these people are mourning a profane, godless man. I shudder to think about where he is today.

Don't get angry when your pastor preaches against wordly music! He's raising a much-needed warning flag.

All or nothing

2009-06-25T21:32:00.002-04:00

That's what the Christian life is all about to me. Of course, we must be balanced, but not when it comes to love for the Lord. Then its all-out, nothing held back devotion. When we are sold-out for the Lord, He gives us the wisdom we need to find the balance we need.

The sad thing is when I see people I love trying to love God half-heartedly. They want to please God at Church and then live with a worldly world-view at home. This leads to all sorts of conflicts. I have a dear friend at church who is going through a terrible time. When she is honestly looking to please the Lord, she comes to me for counsel and advice. When she's not interested in what God has to say, she is friendly and nice, but doesn't seek counsel from me or anyone else who's able to guide her. The horrible thing is that she is suffering. I can see it in her face and I know she feels defeated. Please pray for my friend, that she would give in to God and let her suffering count for something good!

Have you ever seen anything so cute?

2009-06-23T20:56:00.000-04:00

I didn't think so

New Vanessa pix

2009-06-19T16:51:00.002-04:00

Please bear with this proud mama and shutterbug sister!

Why I read the Bible the way I do

2009-06-19T16:34:00.002-04:00

I have a One year Bible. It is divided into an Old Testament reading, a New Testament reading, a Psalm or a portion of a Psalm and one or two Proverbs, per day. I have used this Bible several years for my personal reading, and it has always been a blessing. I was raised in a Christian home, and I have been in Church all my life, but there are a few gaps in my Bible knowledge, mostly concerning chronology and order. Reading the Bible systematically, year after year has greatly improved my understanding of order. I have had several "lightbulb moments" over the years. Yesterday, I had another one.
Yesterday, I read the story of Elijah, Ahab, and Naboth. I had always wondered why Ahab was so upset about a simple piece of land. Well, come to find out, in the preceding chapter, Ahab defeats Ben-hadad, spares his life, and then gets a dressing down from God for not destroying Ben-hadad. So, going into the chapter about the vinyard, Ahab was already in a bad mood. And when Naboth refuses to sell him his vinyard, he completely over-reacts, with deadly consequences. Now I get it! Hurrah for my One Year Bible!

This and That

2009-06-16T21:08:00.002-04:00

Its been another wacky week in the Arias household. The remodeling project is still underway, hopefully soon to be done. I am ready to get my living and dining room back. I am so pleased to have more space. We have lots of people over for this and that, so we need a place to put them!

We had a great weekend, inspite of rain and cold. We had a dinner to celebrate the church's 13th anniversary. We had about 90 in attendance. We were going to have meat and potato salad. One of my ladies put BEETS in with the potatoes. YUCK! It turned the salad pink. Obviously, we had tons of salad left over. We had a great time of food and fellowship. Sunday went well too. We had a few visitors. We have a new couple, Eduardo and Nancy. They were both saved two weeks ago. They are going to get married, and then get baptized. We are happy for them.

We had a good ladies meeting today, with 22 in attendance. We even had a visitor, a young woman named Andrea.

Between the housework, baby, homeschooling and churchwork, I am a bit overwhelmed. Add to that, I have been battling a nasty cough. Its not bad during the day, but nighttime is a different story.

We finally received the last letter need to present our paperwork to Customs to have our stuff released. Neil mailed the paperwork this morning. Please pray that things will go quickly now.

Blessings and peace!

Remodeling update

2009-06-11T10:26:00.003-04:00

Here's another picture of Vanessa in case you needed a Venessa fix! Here they are removing the wall.

Here are the two windows. I am so happy because now I have another window to paint at Christmas!

Another look at the new space.

You might be asking yourself, where is all of Rhonda's furniture? How nice of you to notice! Its all over the house! The couch is in Eileen's room, the dining room table is in Ronnie's and the recliner is in Vanessa's.

And Chile won again! We are now in 2nd place, after beating Bolivia 4-0. They are so excited here! I just wish that I liked soccer! Anyway, JulieMom, are you up for some visitors from Chile next year?

Chile won!

2009-06-06T20:53:00.002-04:00

I am by no means a soccer fan, but, Chile beat Paraguay, in Asuncion! That is absolutely incredible. Paraguay had been undefeated. Everyone will be happy tomorrow. Am I sorry that I did not watch the game? Nope. But for my husbands sake, I am glad they won.

What I do when I cannot blog, Part 2

2009-06-06T19:43:00.005-04:00

And if that weren't enough, its Kids Club day!!! Yay! We had to hurry our guests because, unlike most latin Amercan endeavors, we are punctual. We had to make a few adjustments, but all went well. We had 44 children and 10 workers. Here Sandra is telling the story of the life of Hudson Taylor

Here, the younger kids have their game time.

Here are the big kids playing Hot Potato. That's Eileen in green in the back and Ronnie here in the front in red.

Here's more of the story-verse-singing-Gospel time.I am so tired my eyes are crossing. I can't go to bed until Neil gets here. They all went to watch the big Chile vs. Paraguay soccer game. We are sooooo going to lose! Paraguay is in first place and they are playing in Asuncion. What a bummer!

What do you think of our lovely orange chairs? There's a 30 year old story behind them!

Have a wonderful Lord's day! Rest if you can. Thank God that you can still worship freely.

Do you know what my favorite piece of advice is? Go to church expecting God to speak to you! Expect a blessing and you'll get one!

Peace from Above

Things I do when I cannot blog! Part 1

2009-06-06T19:18:00.005-04:00

Well, here's some photos of the construction going on at my house. Look at the left side of the photo. That whole area is going to be knocked out and pushed out about another meter.

Here's what it looks like from the outside.

So, then, another workman came from a church in another city to build us a inside door for the church. He is staying with us also. Here's what he is building.

Then, to top it all off, we're having a group from another church in another city come a do a soul winning seminar. We thought that it was a small group, but their pastor thought more was better and came with 22 people! In the interest of decorum, I will say no more!

Here we have set up tables in our dining room to feed them all. We got most of our women to come and cook and clean. I am so grateful for my ladies, they are all hard workers and rarely shirk their duty.

Encouragement

2009-06-04T10:57:00.004-04:00

Don't you just love to be around encouraging people? I find that the blogs I like best to visit are the most encouraging ones. I must say, however, that I would probably have to admit that my blog isn't exactly an encouraging one.

So, how can I encourage you today? Let me start by encouraging you to spend some time in the Scripture. Today I read 2 Samuel. We are now at the end of King David's life. Even with all of his sins and shortcomings, he loved God and His word. I also read Acts 2. WOW! Its so wonderful to read how that God made Jesus Lord and Christ. Amen, glory hallelujah!

We live in uncertain times. If you are a believer, this is just another sign of the times, and I for one, am thrilled at the thought of sudden Rapture! All this hullabaloo about the economy and flu is all just another sign. May I encourage you to witness to and pray for your lost loved ones? Don't be weary in praying for them! God is faithful!!!!!

If you are in ministry, be encouraged! You are privileged! Be faithful, as this is the requirement for servants. If you are faithful, then you have succeeded! And know that you are not alone in your efforts. God loves having you in his service!

Blessings and peace to you all!