God's love...

I spoke with my mom last night...finally. Being my mom, she recharged her cell and then somehow turned it off, so no one could call her all day. She says it’s the cell phone’s fault, but...if you know my mom at all...

It was good to talk to her, and hear how things are going. Afterwards, I went and hung out with one of the guys here, just to talk about what was happening and to tell him how God had given the family a great day together on Monday. We talked awhile, and then this fellow made the comment, “I don’t like talking about death much.”

I felt bad...in thinking about my own pain I’d forgotten that this young guy had lost his mom when he was around ten. His dad had become abusive, so he and his brother had left for the streets. When they eventually came back to visit, they found out that their mom had died. Eleven years later, it’s still very painful for him.

But that comment opened the door to a deeper conversation about death and grace, and God’s love for us. Not knowing if his mom was a Christian or not when she died, has built up a lot of fear in my friend’s heart. And I think some resentment and anger as well. When I suggested this was affecting his relationship with God, he answered "Yes", without hesitation.

We ended up having a really good conversation. I think God brought some understanding and healing to this young guy’s life. There were a few moments of tears (what the heck is happening to me?!), but afterwards my friend seemed much more at peace.  This was a conversation he desperately needed to have.  He'd been suffering quietly for much too long.

It’s interesting how God uses the events in our lives. Shared pain (or joy) can open doors that too often stay closed. There’s something about vulnerability that gives people permission to speak more openly about their own pain. Later, sitting in my room, I realized that some of my own sorrow and heaviness was gone.

Thanks everyone, for your notes and comments of encouragement, and for praying for me and for my family. I really appreciate that. There are still moments when the sorrow catches me off guard, but certainly God is bringing healing and comfort. The funeral for Aunt Ruth is on Sunday afternoon, so if you could pray then as well. For my cousins and my mom and her family the loss of my aunt will be here for a long time to come.

Thanks again for praying.

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Aunt Ruth...

At 2:31 this afternoon, my Aunt Ruth was ushered into the presence of her Saviour. I think she was probably a lot more ready than the rest of us. Yesterday I called mom at the hospital and she told me, as difficult as it was, it was time to pray that God would take her home. Later that afternoon, as I was driving in my truck, I tried to pray that...I really did. But man, it was hard. I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it. 

It’s a strange thing...the joy of knowing someone has lived their life well, mixed with the sorrow of not having them physically present in our lives anymore. I know in my heart that Aunt Ruth has met her Lord face to face, and is celebrating the new life she’s been given. She is surrounded by family and friends, and even as I write this I know she is joyful and at peace.

And while that gives me a deep comfort, of course there’s still a large part of me that mourns and misses her.

I am profoundly grateful for the family God has given me, on both my mom and dad’s sides, actually. The examples our grandparents and parents have set for us, my cousins and I...the Christian heritage we’ve been given...is not something I take lightly. We’re not a family without our problems and issues, and yet...the depth of love and support that exists between us is a huge blessing to me. Living where I live, and working with who I work with, I know that’s not always the reality for a lot of people.

This was reinforced for me once again, when mom told me of Aunt Ruth’s last few days here. My mom, my aunt and uncle and my grandma drove all night Saturday night, to get to Virginia in time to see their sister and daughter. The doctors had said that there wasn’t much time left (they were, perhaps, a little premature with that announcement).  =)  But nonetheless, the family rushed to be with her. All day Sunday, Aunt Ruth was not very responsive. She answered questions with just one or two words, and for the most part, just lay on her bed with her eyes closed. Many times she asked for her big brother, my Uncle Rob. Uncle Rob and his family weren’t going to be able to leave Ontario until Monday morning (to arrive Monday night), but chose to drive through the night as well on Sunday, to be with her as soon as possible.

Monday morning rolled around, and the entire family gathered together...and what a Monday it was. Mom said that Aunt Ruth was cracking one liner’s and giving everyone a hard time. She teased my Uncle Rob, she teased her husband, my Uncle Vince...she laughed and joked with everyone. This is what my Aunt Rhea wrote on Facebook about that day.

“Ruth, yesterday we were told it was a matter of hours. Today, so typical of your determination, you proved them wrong. Talked all day, staying ahead of everyone with your wit & feisty spirit, so animated & funny. Regardless of the future, today was a gift from God. We love you!"

That night she fell asleep and then didn’t wake up. She rested peacefully for two more days, with very little pain, and then this afternoon went to be with her Jesus. Mom and Aunt Rhea sat with her throughout the night last night...talking, reminiscing, praying, holding her hands. Mom said it was a special time, the three sisters together one last night. God is good.

Please continue to pray for my cousins and their families, Jack, Vince and Jeanine, and for my Uncle Vince. As well, for my mom and aunt and uncle and my grandma. Aunt Ruth has left a hole in our hearts that won’t ever quite heal in this world. But we’ll see her again in the next, and that gives us peace.

“To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever more. Amen”

Aunt Ruth with her family...

With my cousin Jack...

With her grandkids...

     

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Refuge...

I know this isn't an uncommon picture, and many of you have probably seen it before.  But I still really appreciate it.  It's a powerful illustration of God as our refuge, and right now it holds a lot of meaning for me and for my family. 

"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

 

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My Aunt Ruth...

My aunt is dying of cancer. Barring a miracle, I should get word of her entering the presence of her Lord sometime tonight or tomorrow. Truth be told, I’m having a hard time with it. I wrote on Sunday that there are moments when I feel very far away. This is one of those moments. I want to be with family who understand who she is and what we’re losing.

I know that most everyone has had a family member die. I know it’s easy to say, “Oh that’s really sad.” and then go on with whatever we were just doing. I get that...I’ve been guilty of it myself. When you don’t know the person, obviously their death has a lesser impact on you.

But this is my aunt, and I love her a lot. So, of course this means a lot to me. Her name is Ruth by the way. She’s my mom’s baby sister, and she and my mom are close. They live hundreds of miles apart (one in Saskatchewan and the other in Virginia) but they talk (and laugh!) just about every day. As a kid I grew up on stories of their antics as missionary kids living in India. Someday I’ll probably write some of those stories down here. Anything I’ve EVER done in my life? Pales in comparison to those two. My favourite? Probably the story of when they took off and traveled halfway across India by train (in the men’s compartment) because they didn’t like their boarding school. Mom was probably fifteen at the time and Aunt Ruth was around thirteen I think. Fortunately my mom taught Aunt Ruth some “karate moves” just in case they needed them.

So you see what I’m talking about.

After India, she and my mom ended up at a little country Bible school in western Canada, where Aunt Ruth promptly dated and married an ex-gang banger from New York who was also studying there. I imagine that raised a few eyebrows. The sweet little missionary girl and the big, bad New Yorker.  Oh, did I mention he was eight years older than her? Even now that makes me laugh. Uncle Vince is a cool guy, but even though I’ve lived in South America and I’ve hung out in some pretty dicey places, I don’t think I’ve ever been as scared as I was the night my cousins Jackie and Vinnie and I snuck out of the house to go to Jack’s after grad party. We had to sneak across the lawn under Uncle Vince’s window and it still makes my hands sweat to think about it. =) Aunt Ruth? He didn’t even slow her down. I should probably mention that Uncle Vince has been an amazing pastor these past four decades, with Aunt Ruth at his side (keeping him in line I’m sure).

She’s also raised three great kids and has been a pretty cool Grandma to a bunch of grandkids.

I spent the morning reading comments that people have been posting on her Facebook page. If you know me at all, you know I’m not a very emotionally demonstrative person. I can probably give you the date and time of the last three times I’ve openly cried. Don’t get me wrong, I get that little twitchy feeling in my nose once in awhile, but that’s about it.

I sat there this morning, tears running down my face, as I read what Aunt Ruth means to the people she knows. She truly is a remarkable person.

My Grandma, my mom and my aunt and uncle and their families have all traveled to Virginia to be with her. They’re there now. I remember when my grandpa died, the comfort that came from being surrounded by family. Ours is a close family and it makes me happy that so many of them are together with Aunt Ruth even tonight. It’s funny, my cousin wrote that Aunt Ruth is the one trying to comfort everyone else. And she’s still making jokes. The cancer ate away her stomach and she said that since she can’t drink coffee anymore, it’s time to go. Yep...that’s my Aunt Ruth...

I just read something tonight, “On the far side of sorrow comes joy.” My FB status today was, “We are not a people without hope.” And that’s the truth. Aunt Ruth is a strong Christian woman. I have no doubt that within hours she will stand before the God she has faithfully served her entire life. We will miss her and absolutely we will...are feeling...the sorrow of losing her. But as our family mourns her, it is not without a joy in our hearts for who she is and the life she’s lived.

And the future she has.

Aunt Ruth, we love you and we will miss you. Make sure you give Grandpa a big hug from all of us, and we’ll see you soon.

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Currently two blocks away...

If you've been down to visit, you'll know that our neighbourhood is surrounded on three sides by industrial areas.  Which doesn't really affect us much.  Well...except when there's a fire I guess...

Two blocks over, there's a long stretch that contains a perfume factory (which obviously contains alcohol), a paint factory and (of coures) a propane storage/distribution building.

Below is a current picture of the paint factory.

I was having my Sunday afternoon nap, when one of the guys knocked on my door and said, "You need to see this!"  I was a bit surprised, to say the least.  Fires are fairly rare here, since most buildings are built of cement and brick.  But of course...paint burns nicely.

A couple of the guys and I went over a bit closer to see what was happening (don't hassle me...either one of my parents would have done the same thing).  We were there a half an hour or so, before the first fire truck showed up. 

Yea...it didn't exactly instill confidence.  My first thought was, "Oh great...we're going to lose the entire neighbourhood."  Then a few minutes later the next truck showed up...

...and I felt better.  Except for the big "Volunteer Firefighters" written across the side of the ladder.  That still made me a bit nervous.  Then the third truck showed up, and we all relaxed a little...

...until one of the firemen came up to me (of all people) and asked if there was a swimming pool in the area.  He got half a dozen different answers from the people standing around, and eventually he wandered off.  I guess they were looking for a water source?  (No fire hydrants down here...).  I heard one of the guys behind me say to the guy next to him, "They really have no plan."  Then I was back to being worried.

As it stands now, we're back in the house, and I just keep checking the fire every once in awhile to see what's happening.  There's a tree on the horizon about half way between the fire and the building where the propane tanks are being stored (it's where we buy our propane for the stove and there are anywhere from 500 to a thousand tanks there).  If or when the smoke hits that tree, I'm gathering the guys and we're heading for Burger King to wait this out.  It's a good thing the wind is blowing the smoke away from us, or we'd be in the middle of a huge, toxic cloud.

A couple more pictures...

The view from my window...it's actually closer

than it looks in this picture...

From the traffic circle on the Forth Ring....

I imagine all they'll be able to do is contain it and let it burn itself out.  Like I said, we really don't get much in the way of fires down here, so I don't think there's really the capacity to fight this in any significant way.  It's been a couple of hours now, and I can still hear fire trucks arriving, so I guess we'll see.

At any rate...never a dull moment here in Bolivia...


UPDATE:

It's almost 10 o'clock, and the fire is still going strong.  It spread to two more adjacent buildings, but I think they have it under control now.  Ivan and I walked over there earlier, and I took a few more pictures.  It's pretty spectacular at night.  The pictures don't really do it justice.

  

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Home...

I'm sure every missionary would tell you the same thing.  Some days it amazes me how easy it is to communicate with home...internet, Facebook, Skype...it's a whole different missionary world than it was even ten years ago.  And for that I'm thankful.

But...other days...you feel really far away.  When family and friends are suffering, even though you can talk to them on the phone, it's not quite the same as being there.

Right now?  Home is definitely a long ways away.
   

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This'll make you laugh...

Well...I don't want to build this video up too much...but if this doesn't make you at least smile...  =)

That's Roberto on the left, Yimy straight ahead and Ruddy to the right.  I'm the guy laughing like an idiot.  It was one of those dumb camp games that turned out to be pretty fun.  My guys are nothing if not competitive...

  

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So, yea...if we could just ignore my dumb move...

So...once again it seems I have to confess my stupidity.  I got roped into (literally) playing a tug-of-war game at camp and kind of killed my back.  And I'd been doing so well.  But I got caught up in the moment and really wanted my team to win.  I thought it would be your typical plant your heels into the dirt and don't move kind of deal. 

Then they started strapping me into the harness.  Along with three other teams of guys.  It was by far the hardest thing I've ever done.  I could barely move when we were finished and bit by bit, over the next few hours, my back started to hurt again.

So anyhow...now it's pretty bad.  I'm not asking for sympathy (not that I'm going to get any...I can only imagine the comment section after this), but I would appreciate some prayer.  I'm getting frustrated and trying really hard not to take that frustration out on the guys in the house.  I'm more or less succeeding.  Probably depends on who you talk to.

For your entertainment, I've got pictures.  Pay special attention to David, the kid in the lower, righthand side of the picture...

...and that would be the money shot...

We did win...if that means anything to anyone.  Mostly 'cause I have long, monkey arms...at least in comparison to most Bolivians.

So...if you could just skip over my stupidity and pray for the back situation...I'd appreciate it.  =)

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Campamento...

Last weekend we took off with our church, up into the mountains for a family camp, I guess you could call it.  Not sure any of the guys were all that excited to go (not sure how I felt about it exactly, but I'm on the church board so...).  In the end though, it was amazing time for all of us.  The guys couldn't stop talking about how much fun they had.  So that made me happy.  I was kind of imagining how bad it could have been if they'd hated it...fun times for Ken.  But fortunately it went the other way.  Anyhow, here are some pictures of the weekend...

Arriving at 5 AM after driving all night. 

It was cold and I was tired!

Early morning devotions...

Playing pool...which technically

Christians here aren't supposed to do.

Of course my guys are great at it. 

But then so are all the guys in our church. 

So it seems we're in good company...

Playing foosball...a favourite past time down here. 

Second only to...

Actual soccer of course.

There were the usual camp games...which Bolivians really love!

Or at least our church does...

The person pushing can't see where they're going...

Lots of games involving water...

There were a few cowards in the crowd...

But my guys sucked it up...

We hiked to the top of Monte Blanco...the White Mountain...

David and his little girl.  She was game for everything...

as long as Dad carried her...  =)

At the top...

Andres and I...

All of us...

The hike down...it was a little precarious...especially for the pregant lady...

Evening church...

Late night hike up the mountain for a bonfire...

The ditch I just about fell into while taking the last picture...

There was a cemetary to walk past.  Of course there was....

Bonfire!

People REALLY didn't know how to roast marshmellows. 

It was sad...  =)

Marshmellows are a fairly rare thing here.

Nice enough picture of us...but notice the two guys beside us.

They're just visiting and chatting...

Hey look...someone's taking a picture...

So of course they just joined on in! 

A couple more people shots...

Yimy and Aron...

Jorge and Little Man...

Tonchi and Emiliano...

The whole group of us...

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