New House

I wanted to post a few pictures of the house because I said I would. I want to say that houses here are SO MUCH CHEAPER to rent than in the states. Buying a house is similar, but we are paying less here than we paid for a 1 bedroom apartment in Lewisville, TX! Praise God with us for His provision!

The photos are of the outside of the house (that photo is of across the street - the houses are duplexes - so that's not our house, but that's what our house looks like), the upstairs living area, and Deacon playing in his new room. When we ask him if he wants to go see the new house, he says "new house? Thank you." It is sooo cute!

We're moving!

This may be a surprise to some, but WE'RE MOVING! AGAIN! The new house is so cool. God's provision with it is so great and we are just ready to get in it. We found it by accident, and it turned out to be exactly what we have been looking for. We are hoping to be totally moved in in about a week, although we will be doing some unpacking for quite a while I imagine.

Not sure how much time we will have to blog over the next couple of days, but check back b/c I will be posting photos of the new house soon. (the camera is in the car and I am too lazy to walk into the garage right now to retrieve the pictures on in. Sad, huh. :)

Keep us in your prayers please at moving is always difficult, especially when you are 6 months pregnant and can't help lift hardly anything! More details soon.

And so it began.

I am doing a little personal study on how to be a suitable helper to my husband. It started in the beginning with Adam and Eve.

Gen 2:18 States that "it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a suitable helper for him."

Before this, God gave Adam instructions and responsibilities (not to eat from a certain tree for example). So what did Adam need help with? Reading on in verse 22 we find out that the Lord made Eve from the rib he took out of the man. She is made from a missing piece of him. It makes sense that this helper that God created for Adam is to help "fill in the gaps" so to speak. But at this point, Adam is without sin, and yet he still needed a helper. Boy if I could remember that. Adam just needed a helper to help him accomplish and to be all that God had planned for him to be! To help raise him up.

Ok...In Gen. 3:6 "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it. "

CRAP! Now where did Eve fail? What could she have done differently?
Who was the original instruction given to? Why did she not defer this decision to Adam?
She also introduced something to Adam that was essentially poison. (Spiritual poison) She ignored God (not asking what He thought about it) and trusted in her own logic and wisdom ("she saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom") and then took the lead with it and then offered it to Adam!

How many times do I offer bits and pieces of poison to my husband: A little piece of gossip, a critical opinion, etc?

How many times do I rush to give my opinion on an issue that is facing our family, w/o first consulting the Creator of our family? Or even worse, I rush and just make decisions on behalf of my family with out deferring to my husband. I BECOME EVE!

I become the leader, and/or the hindrance instead of the helper. Do we know if it would have turned out differently if Eve had done the "right" thing? We have no idea. But I can learn from her mistakes:

To sum up what she "should" have done (and what I should do)
1. Deferred the decision to Adam in the first place. It was to him that God gave the instructions!
2. Ask God immediately for wisdom and for aid in facing the serpent.
3. Given Godly (not earthly) wisdom to Adam as his helper.

Easy as pie!
Sigh.

Walk a Mile or Two?

"If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." Matthew 5:41

Someone is trying to force us to go one mile. I am going to be speaking metaphorically for a while, so bear with me. Our situation isn't a perfect metaphor.

My first reaction to this mile forcer is "Wait, you have no right to force us to walk that mile. We are individuals with certain wants and needs, and you can not force us. It is not right."

Then my next reaction is " Wait, we just can't possibly walk that first mile (especially not the extra) because we have a family: a toddler, a baby on the way in Jan, and we are leaving the country in 6 weeks! We just don't logistically have the option of walking at all! There just isn't time. I personally just can not handle it." Then I wonder if I just don't have the faith to walk that mile or two and trust that God will handle the details.

Next comes "Jesus says to not only go that one mile, but go with him two. WHAT? Now that would be much easier, if we were really talking about walking miles, but we aren't, are we? We all know that Jesus was giving broader instructions than just feet to the pavement for 5,280 feet. So where does that leave us??"

Ok...I have gone back and forth between these three things over and over and over...and I have no conclusions. I also keep coming back to the question: Who is more important...us or him? And does that even really play into this? And the me or him question is easier to answer than the us or him when you bear responsibility for two children. I read this morning in Psalm 143:10 "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground."

Here are the questions that I desire your responses to: 1. What would you do? Walk the mile or no...walk the two? How do you justify your answer?

2. How do you apply this verse in Matthew? Where is the line for you as to what is a reasonable time to say..."No. You can't force me to walk this mile, so I won't, or I just can't" if there ever is a reasonable time to say that.

3. I want to know your general feelings about what I have written. I am looking for clarity, and I am waiting for the Lord to teach me to do His will. Most likely it looks different than the World's answers to these same questions.

That Psalm is my prayer because I, in my limited vision can not see tomorrow. I can't undertsand other people's motives. I can't be the judge. I can't see what is best. And most of all, I don't know how to apply the Word of God here. I must be taught. I must trust Him to lead our family through Brandon. I must trust God in ways that I have not before. I must trust Him to solve a problem in the immediate that is to us, unsolvable. Please pray for us as you respond. And please respond.

Strange Country

Ok...I want to tell you about two things.

1st. I was walking our dog at like 6:20 this morning. There are always other dogs around. They don't really do animal control in the typical sense. If I go early enough, most of the dogs are on people's roofs. Houses here are concrete block (or adobe) with flat roofs. People keep their dogs on their roofs at night time. While I am walking Bella, there are always loud barks coming from up above me as dogs are going crazy on the roofs of the houses that I pass.

This particular morning, one of the puppies that was on a 2 story roof, leaped off and landed right next to me on the street. This poor puppy had to be like 6 months old, and was laying, yelping/crying in the street after a two story fall. Oh, my gosh! I had Bella so I had to steer pretty clear, but I rang the bell and knocked on the door to the owner's house for several minutes until I woke them up. I only hope that they take the poor dog to a vet to either be repaired or put to sleep. It was so tragic and weird at the same time.

2nd. Today is election day here in Guatemala. (there will be a run off in month or so) Basically, all of our Guatemalan friends as well as the US embassy has told us to stay indoors for the next couple of days. Really only to get out if it is necessary. Violence skyrockets over the next couple of days as parties are voted in and out. Rumor has it that if this one guy gets elected (he is in the lead right now) that it will be like the war all over again. Genocide will occur as he states that the way to get rid of crime is to imprison and kill the very poor (a.k.a. Mayan people), as they are the ones desperate enough to commit violent crimes. This is totally speculative but this is what the Guatemalans that we know are convinced will happen. So all that to say, please pray for this country. Especially over the next couple of days, that violence would be curbed and people would stay safe. Please pray that the Lord would intervene according to His will to protect the defenseless poor of Guatemala. The Lord sets up and removes kings according to Daniel, and so we are praying for His divine will to be done. And please pray for us as we might get a little stir crazy!

A Little Homesick

Saturdays here are no different than Saturdays in the states. We aren't "working" today , although we have a to-do list that we want to work on. We woke up late (7:20) and Deacon slept in a bit (7:45). We just finished breakfast at 9:15...a breakfast of waffles with fruit topping, sausage, and coffee. The weather here is gorgeous in the mornings...in the 60's and mostly sunny. In the afternoon we will have rain.

But there is a difference. I don't know what it is...maybe I'm just pregnant and hormonal and nostalgic, but...

For example, there are no Sat. morning cartoons (at least in English). There is no college football on TV. There are no noise restrictions here so there is a constant state of window rattling Spanish music playing on the street. We don't have a yard for Deacon to run around in. It still just doesn't "feel" right. I miss going to the mall on a Saturday and just walking around. (there is a mall here, but it is 85% shoe stores) I miss the Saturday environment of Home Depot runs and matinée movies, and...I don't know.

Right now it just feels like something is wrong here. I don't feel very at home today. At the same time, the thought of leaving our home here to go back to the states for possibly 5 months sounds terrible too. We really are between cultures, between homes, between, between, between.

The good news is that this is just my state of emotions right now. This will pass. Tomorrow or the next day.

Tell me about your Saturday. What did you do? I want to hear about what all is going on in America today.

Some cool news!

Well...we have some news!

WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!
(at least we are 90-95% sure we are having a girl according to the tech who read the sonogram)

Right now we are deciding on names. We are in between two favorites right now. If you want you can go to the kid's website at http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/home?ID=49922
and vote on which name you like the best. (by the way, if you disable your pop-up blocker the website is cuter!)
Madeline Lea Scott (Baby Madi)
or
Macauley Ruth Scott (Baby Mac)