TCK's

One of my grown daughters just wrote a post about some struggles she is having, in adapting and adjusting to life in small town USA.  In her post she is brutally honest about her feelings and also how she has come realize that she has not been fair or just in them.

With some back and forth with all 3 of the grown girls, my oldest, shared a set of blog articles that she had come across at one time, and how they had been very convicting and had helped her in her adjustment back to the US.

For me, the articles articulated some things that I had already known, but hadn't put into context.  They also pointed out some things to me that I had never really thought about.  The one on hypocrisy, is brutal.  While I don't think my husband or I have crossed that line, at least not continually, I can see how, snatches of things said, or even things not fully explained, can from a child's perspective be conceived as such.  WOW!  Very convicting.

The article on leaving and loss, was amazing!  I have personally experienced so much of this, BUT my kids, so much more!

So if you are truly interested in TCK's (Third Culture Kids), and would like to understand where they are coming from and some of  things that have shaped their thinking, (be that misconceptions or truth), I recommend you check out these articles.

Lies MK's Believe

Blessings to you and yours,
Joy

The Journey of Waiting

Here is a link to my latest post on my adoption blog, The Journey of Waiting . Hope you enjoy it!

Busy Days...

We are keeping busy around here!  This coming week the kids and I will be finishing up the basic core work for their school year!   No, we aren't starting our summer vacation early, BUT, I wanted to be finished with the work we needed to do, so that WHEN we receive the visas for Carla and Matthew, we will be able to just go to the US, and not have to worry about when and how to do school the first few weeks we are there. :) So, I guess our Summer Vacation will start when we get to the States!

On that note, people keep asking me, WHEN are you coming to the States? or WHEN are you leaving for the States?  Hate to tell you, BUT we have NO IDEA!!  I can guarantee you that we will be on the first possible flight out, once we receive the kids visas! :)  But exactly WHEN that will be is not in our hands.  We are thankful that God knows all about it and that it is all in his hands and we are trusting HIM!  We know that HIS TIMING is PERFECT!!  So we rest in Him for this.  Don't think, though, that while we are "resting" in Him, that we are not busy.  I have come to learn that "Waiting on the Lord" is an active process.  So during this time of waiting, we are working on getting everything prepared for our absence.  There are things around our house that need to be packed up and taken care of.  There are preparations at the church that need to be made.  This week I will be meeting with Ceci in preparation of turning over the responsibilities of the Ladies Sunday School Class.  I will also meet with our Leader's wives, to discuss how the Mother's Day breakfast went, and also to help them figure out what events they should work on and organize without.  Tony and I will be taking Pastor Darwin and Jessica to the Christian Bookstore to check out new Sunday School material.   I would ask you to please be praying for each of these people as they step up and take on responsibilities for the ministry here.

We had a great day at church this morning.  Our attendance was 140 in the preaching service.  I had 28 in my Sunday School class.   The ladies were still talking about the Mother's Day Breakfast. ;)  I would ask you to be praying for those visitors last week, that heard the gospel for the first time.  The seed has been planted.

Thank you so much for praying for our family and for the ministry here in Manta!  God is working and hearts and lives are being changed.

Blessings to you!
Joy

Happy Mother's Day!!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!   We had a great day here.  I enjoyed breakfast in bed, and some sweet presents from my kiddos.  Also had the special treat of talking with all 3 of my big girls, and my Mom.

We had a great turnout at church for our Mother's Day Breakfast.  70 ladies attended, and we had several visitors.   Those taking care of the food, did a wonderful job.   Ceci and Melanie did an awesome job with the program.  Viviana and Alexander, were two women from the Bible who visited to share their testimony and how their encounter with Christ changed their lives.   Ceci pulled it together with a very clear salvation message.   They did all that, along with singing all together, and 1 game in the 30 minutes we had for the program!  :)  We also enjoyed giving roses to all the ladies present.  (Moms or not)   We had 188 in our worship service, with several visitors.  It was a great day of planting the seed!

After church, I took photos of 42 different family groups.  This has been a Mother's Day tradition since we came to Ecuador, and other missionary friends introduced us to the idea.  We take photos off all the Mom's present with their families, and then have them printed up and hand them out the following Sunday.

Here's our family's photo from this year...

After church, we came home, and my sweetie, fixed a wonderful dinner for us.  Grilled steaks, baked potatoes, salad and fruit.   It was all delicious.   In the evening we went out to visit our friends Mirian and Fernando and enjoyed chicken and patacones at their restaurant.  Wonderful ending to a great day!

Here are some photos from the Ladies Breakfast at church...

serving breakfast, this was about 9:55am...

Because of the expected turnout we had to change our plan and have it in the auditorium.  So we used the back corner, and the ladies decorated the walls with fans and verses.  

Cristobal, (standing by the keyboard) played soft music for the first 30 minutes, while we served and had breakfast.  Joselyn led us in a song at the start of our program.  

These are our two "visiting" speakers.   Alexandra (in black) played the woman caught in adultery and Viviana the woman who touched the hem of his garment.  (probably not the 2 characters from the Bible that I would have chosen right off, BUT, their "testimonies" were POWERFUL!  I am so thankful for the time and effort they put into to doing this.)

Here is the breakfast that was served.  "Torta de choclo", grapes and a chocolate. It was very yummy! ;)

Ceci, pulling together the testimonies and sharing a very clear Salvation message.

playing a short game... the prize was the "fan" Melanie is holding.

getting ready to end the program.  All the ladies seemed to have a wonderful time.  Everyone got a beautiful rose, to celebrate the day. ;)