Missionary Joys....Dealing with paperwork

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

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

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!

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

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!