Seeing God's Character

This past week has been a testimony to many different facets of God's character. They're those lessons that you "know" but forget until He reveals Himself in a big way, and then you realize that He's been making himself known in small ways all along.

Protector God - Last Sunday, Brandon had the opportunity to attend his first (of, I'm sure, many) professional soccer games here in Paraguay. In the league there are two main teams, Cerro Porteño and Olimpia. Their fans are extreme and the rivalry is more intense than anything we know in the states. Many fans don't wear the team colors to the game for fear of physical assault and, those that choose to wear jerseys, often change into the jersey once in the stadium and change back into their street clothes before leaving the gates. The stadium is divided down the middle, Cerro fans on one side, Olimpia fans on the other, with the die-hard hooligans behind the goals on either end.

That said, Brandon had a great time. He wore a neutral color (which was difficult considering one team is red and blue, the other white and black, and most of his clothes are one of those four colors) and enjoyed the game as a fan of soccer, not as a fan of either team. He went to the game with a group of guys from school and sat with native Paraguayans who kept him in the loop. He and our upstairs neighbor who went to the game, too, haven't stopped talking about it since . . .

God of Strength - Brandon has found a gym at which he's been working out , and I've been running a few days a week with the girls from the apartments. We walk up a few blocks to the Parque de Salud, then check in at the entrance (we also have to check out, so they know no one is trying to stay the night in the park). It's a public park that's quasi connected to the government hospital down the road. It's full of trees, gardens, and a few play areas for kids. It also has two trails that loop around; one for pedestrians, one for bikes. Here's a picture of it that I found on-line:

In all, it's 1500 meters (just shy of one mile), and we've been averaging four laps each time we go. We've also tried a couple of workout DVDs that I brought; the maintenance men at school must have thought we were crazy when we were out on the BBQ area behind the apartments doing kickboxing . . .

God of Health - Tuesday found us at the doctors office again, but don't worry, no one was sick. In order to obtain our residency in Paraguay and get our green cards, we have to have three certificates from a doctor saying that, first, we're in good physical health, second, we're in good mental health, and third, that our skin is free from disease. The doctor said that the dermatological certificate dates back to days when leprosy was prevalent. Getting the certificates is one of what seems like a hundred steps to obtaining residency, so we are grateful to be one step closer.

Almighty God - The rest of the week was a testimony to the power that God has over our lives. There is a student at school who had a powerful spiritual battle during the school day on Wednesday, and Brandon found himself in the middle of it. He got to witness how real the enemy is and how extraordinary God's presence is. Check out the "Prayer" tab above to see how you can be in prayer for this student, Brandon, and the school.

God of Comfort - Friday was my (Stacy's) last day teaching 3rd grade, and I didn't even know it until lunch time that day. Earlier in the week - after a rough day on Monday - I had spoken with one of the directors about how things were going and she let me know that middle school science teacher's daughter was available to substitute in the class if I needed to be done. The rest of the week, I prayed about what to do - and kept wishing that there was an obvious, black and white "right" answer - and kept coming up with a big question mark. Which leads us to Friday, when I stopped by her office on my way to feed Bailey. She again told me that there was someone else that could take the class if I needed her to, and, without any forethought at all, I spit out the words, "yes, I think that will be best. I think I'm done."

As I left her office my heart started pounding and panic started to set in. What had I just done? Walking across the soccer field to our apartment, tears started slipping out of the corners of my eyes as I thought to myself "I just quit . . . I just quit . . . I've never quit anything in my life . . . what are you doing, Stacy?" Sitting down with Bailey in my lap, though, the tears flowed a bit more, as I looked in her beautiful blue eyes and told her "I choose YOU . . . I choose to be Mom."

I'm still torn about whether what I've done is "right" - after all, I've fallen for that third grade class - but God has been faithful to provide comfort and encouragement. And He's reminded me that no one has been getting my best the past few weeks. Bailey has had to share me with 13 eight year olds. The third grade class has gotten hurriedly planned lessons and classes disrupted with crying, feedings and dirty diapers. Brandon's had a sloppy house and a frantic wife. Now, Brandon and Bailey can have the best of me, not my leftovers.

God of Laughter - Friday was also the night Brandon ventured off with the high school group Wade that meets weekly at the school. It's like the mid-week programs we have back in the states. But Friday was one of their excursions to a bowling alley and Brandon went to help chaperone the outing. Like most things, it was different from bowling in the states. For one, Brandon didn't have his own ball and wrist brace with him so he couldn't bowl at the professional level he's used to (ha!). Also, the pins aren't reset by a machine like at Brunswick lanes. Instead, there are strings through the pins that are pulled taut when the pins need to stand up again for the next bowler. Needless to say, there's a lot less "pin action" and fewer strikes. But Brandon made a deal with three students that if they beat him, they wouldn't have to do fitness day Friday in P.E. the following week. But, if he won, they would have to to do fitness day AND stay after school to do a second session. He beat two of the three kids.

God of Friendship - One of the directors at school invited all the staff over to her house on Saturday for a dessert and coffee social. The desserts were delicious, of course, and it was nice to see the teachers off-campus and out of teacher mode. One of the teachers has a young daughter, too; she and Bailey are becoming friends quickly!

Thank you, Lord, for making Yourself known in so many ways this week. You have used events, big and small, to reveal Your character, and to show us how much You love and care for us.

This Week in Pictures

Sunday afternoon we went to an Asado (BBQ) with new friends from school (and the gang from the apartment).





Monday we celebrated "Children's Day" in honor of the children who supported and/or fought in a Paraguayan battle (sorry my info on this history lesson is a bit sketchy). The seniors at school sold candy bags as a fundraiser, and Brandon bought one for me (awwww . . . ).



I made my first tarta . . . a dish with a pastry like shell and pizza like toppings inside.



Friday night we went with the apartment gang to a Korean restaurant, Restaurante Seoul:



The food looked and tasted great, though, I couldn't tell you what half of it was!



Saturday we went to a Strawberry Expo where vendors sold strawberries by the kilo (plus all sorts of strawberry jams, ice creams, pastries, and other goodies).

Whirlwind Days and Nights

This was the second full week of school and we are all settling into our crazy-busy routine. I'm up at 5 to get ready before feeding Bailey at 6 and leaving for work at 6:30. Brandon's on baby duty until 7:30 when he drops the sleeping girl off in the 3rd grade classroom (where I've been teaching since 7). She gets a bottle at 9 while I'm teaching math and the kids take turns sitting with her if she starts to get fussy before then. Lunch is at noon (for both of us) and Brandon checks in from time to time during the day to see how she's doing. Most days I have a prep in the afternoon so I can drop her off in the apartment for her nap around 1:30, Brandon can watch her until 2, then I'm back in on at 2:10 when school is out. From there, it's the normal feedings, cleaning, laundry and cooking that accompany domesticated life, plus I've started running a few days a week with the girls from the apartments. It's exhausting, but we ALL sleep well at night!

Every night, Brandon keeps Bailey and me entertained with stories of his day with the elementary school aged kids. It's funny to hear how they interact with Brandon and, when I went out to take pictures of him with the first graders, I was laughing uncontrollably at how Brandon was speaking to them.



Thursday we celebrated Brandon's 30th birthday! The soccer coach at the school also turned 30 on the 12th, so there were two cakes at school for everyone to enjoy. PLUS, I made a carrot cake for Brandon. Diabetes, here we come! That night, we had everyone from the apartments over to enjoy cake, sing happy birthday, and indulge in some Kool-Aid . . . thanks Mom!



Bailey is getting stronger and stronger every day. She's holding her head up and sitting by herself in her "Boppy" chair. She even started buzzing her lips, blowing bubbles all over. It's cute for now, until she does it with a mouthful of food. Then we'll have to crack the whip. Wednesday was her three month birthday and we celebrated with brownies with the third graders who have been taking such good care of her!





Saturday night a couple from school took us out to a German restaurant in Paraguay. The wife, Jill, came to Paraguay five years ago, fresh out of college, to teach at ACA. Her husband is Paraguayan and they met when he was hired as the Pre-Kinder aide four years ago. It's crazy to hear their story and think that they started dating when she didn't speak much Spanish and he didn't speak ANY English. We enjoyed our time out and, again, it makes Paraguay feel much more like home.

Food, Fun & Friendship

Okay, so the title of the post is cliche, but I really feel like that's what this past week has been about. We've found more delicious places at which to eat, we had our first Paraguayan date night, and have continued to build relationships with the staff at the school. Food, fun, and friendship . . . right?

This past week was the first full week of school and it went much better than we thought in terms of Bailey adjusting to life in the classroom. Last week I wrote about the crazy schedule with all the specials during the day - those have allowed me breaks to nurse, and Brandon time to take Bailey while I'm teaching. Most days we can even work out ways for Bailey to nap in the apartment and we trade off supervision. The third grade students, though, are very worried about the fact that we leave her at times in the apartment alone. Last Thursday as I picked the kids up from library, they noticed Brandon walking Bailey to the apartment. Then, about thirty minutes later as we were packing up for the day, they noticed Brandon walking back up towards school without Bailey (Miss B, they call her). They freaked out. "Where's Mr. T going?" "Where's Bailey?" "What if she wakes up?" "What if she cries?" I assured them that she would be okay for the five minutes between then and when I walked down to the apartment after dismissal. They weren't convinced, but what could they do?

Brandon is introducing the middle school and high school students to fitness Fridays which left both the students and Brandon rather tired on Friday afternoon. Despite all the running during the day, though, Brandon stayed up on the field after school and played soccer with some of the maintenance guys, other teachers and a few students. He had a good time, but wanted to crash once he finally got home.

But, alas, he couldn't. Friday night we had people over for pizza and games. We invited the folks in the apartments and some of the (younger) staff that we've begun to befriend. Thankfully there were some veteran teachers (and one native Paraguayan) in the bunch who easily navigated how to order Pizza Hut for all of us. It wasn't exactly like Pizza Hut back home, but it was pretty close. And the game night we were planning never transpired. We just sat around eating and talking until late in the evening. I tried to be a good hostess and provide homemade brownies for everyone, but I haven't yet mastered how my oven works. You see, there are no degree markers on the oven, just the numbers 1 through 5. I set the stove on 3 to let it heat up and realized that it was too hot. As I put in the brownies to bake I turned it down, or so I thought. Turns out I turned the heat up even more. Note to self: brownies burn quickly at 450*.

Saturday brought a day full of domesticated activity: laundry, cleaning and my first solo run to grocery store. The walk down to Stock (one of two local chains) seems to be getting shorter and shorter, though with four heavy grocery bags, the walk back is definitely longer than the walk there. I was actually planning on taking the bus home since the bags were quite heavy, but I wasn't quite sure which one. I knew there were three lines (the 18, 23, and 55) that would definitely go by the school, but I didn't see any for a while and figured it was going to take me longer to wait for the bus than to walk home.

That night, Brandon and I had our first Paraguayan date night. We left Bailey with our upstairs neighbors Cassie and Nate while our neighbors Kevin and Belinda (the apartments "parents") took us to a Brazilian BBQ restaurant, O Gaucho. It was like a flashback to junior high dating (or what I would imagine junior high dating would have been like had I dated any before I was 20). Brandon and I in the back seat, "mom and dad" up front. They dropped us off and told us to call when we were done and they'd pick us up! Walking up to the restaurant, though, we realized that we had no idea what we were doing and were nervous about our limited Spanish skills. Thankfully, the waiters were patient and the cuisine was an all-you-can-eat salad bar (which eliminated the need to read a menu and order food). While we ate the various side dishes, waiters brought by assorted meats for us to eat. There was a red and green sign on the table that you placed green-side up to signal that you wanted more meat, and red-side up to signal that you didn't want any more at that point. But, even with the red side up, they brought by more and more meat, much of which was delicious! I forgot my camera, but found this picture on-line that shows what the meat looked like:



Our date night ended with a bit of anxiety, though, when the cell phone we were to call with didn't work. There was a pre-recorded message (in Spanish) that we couldn't understand, and we were unable to place a call to either our ride, or to Cassie and Nate to check on Bailey. We'd already paid and walked outside, so I ventured back inside and tried my best to explain the situation to our waiter. He directed us back to the cashier and I again explained - in very broken Spanish - that we needed to call our friends for a ride so we could get home to our baby. Yes, I used Bailey to conjure up some sympathy. Thankfully they had a phone we could use and we made it home safely. And home greeted us with good news; Cassie said the night went perfectly and Bailey slept, ate, and played right on schedule! Yeah!

There is a church starting at our school on Sunday nights, so we attended services with the gang from the apartment in the evening. It was odd not going to church on Sunday morning, but it was nice to sing worship songs in English, pray in English and hear a message in English.

Since we had the morning and afternoon on Sunday "off", we ventured out into the neighborhood and tried out a juice bar that is just behind the DVD rental store. They have sandwiches and soups, too, but we stuck to the freshly squeezed juices (semi-smoothie-like) and were delighted by the taste. Delicious! We are definitely staying well fed while in Paraguay!