How did you spend your Sunday afternoon?

 So...the question was asked...granted by me... "How did you spend your Sunday afternoon?" I thought I'd respond.  To my own question. We went to the river to play soccer. Well...the guys played soccer.  I took pictures and read a book. It was a beautiful sunny day... Playing soccer... The guys can whine about the heat with the best of them,but throw a soccerball into the mix and they can go for hours. We had lots of visitors...

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An update from Corina...

Corina's lastest update... Hi everyone... Thanks so much for all your encouraging words... your prayers for us in these days... Its been wonderful to get so many letters!!! =) We appreciate it immensely... THANKS!!! I wanted to update you on a couple things... You’ve been praying for Keiden... Friday night (the night of the attack) he slept all through the night – and woke up at his regular time... Saturday everything was obviously very clear in his memory... we were looking at one of his books – and there was a grandma and a grandpa... He...

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Corina and Marco....

This is a copy of my friend Corina's latest update letter... Well... should we start off with the bad? Tonight at about 8 o’clock I was upstairs watching baby Einstein with Keiden... it was almost time for bed... Marco had a terribly long day – he left the house this morning just after 6... and still wasn’t home... I vaguely heard loud voices outside... I didn’t really pay attention... Marco’s parents are here visiting from Peru – his dad is hard of hearing – so I thought Marco had gotten home and they were talking... When I paid closer attention...

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More on our new house...

I met with the architect again today to see his preliminary drawings for the new house.  Let me just say...the guy nailed it!  I was really happy with what he came up with.  The first time we met, he just asked a bunch of questions about what it was I was looking for in the new house.  So I just talked while he took notes.  Afterwards I was trying to imagine how he was going to fit it all together.  I had nothin'... So today when he showed me what he'd come up with, I was very surprised.  He managed to get bedrooms...

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Seriously?

Hmmm...I'm going home to this? A friend posted that picture of their front yard in Edmonton.  As I looked at that picture, I just kept shaking my head and asking, "Why?" Of course I do get to drive this... My mom's new Civic.  I wonder...are snow and cars and the occasional empty parking lot still as much fun as I remember? No lectures people.  It's the only thing keeping me going...  &nb...

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Just something...

My friend Amy lives in Cochabamba (she's a missionary from the States).  She's starting a new ministry and is going through some of the same things I am as we plan for this new house.  This was her Facebook status today... "It's funny/terrifying that God has me doing all kinds of budgets and expense reports for Casa Koinonia (both for Risen Savior in the US and for the Bolivian government) because I haven't even balanced my checking account in probably 12 years and I pretty much forgot to pay taxes in 2004... But I can do this!!!" That...

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Some exciting news...

Wow...I just signed a contract with an architect to start working on plans for our new house.  It was a weird feeling.  It was a bit more money than I had expected (it always is) but I think we need to start moving on this.  One of our concerns right now is how land prices are skyrocketing. It's incredible. There are areas of the city that are now more expensive than Saskatoon or most Canadian cities. In the past year we've seen certain parts of Santa Cruz more than double (or triple) in value. So we want to at least buy land while...

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News from Bolivia...

If you've been following along here long enough, you'll remember our diesel shortages of a few years ago when I was buying my way through blockades and waiting in gas stations at three in the morning hoping to buy some fuel when no one was looking (the station's tanks were "officially" empty, but they usually kept some diesel back for their clients...buses and taxis's...I had a friend who was sneaking me in).  At any rate, those were interesting days.  Waiting in line ups litterally hundreds of vehicles long.  Hoping...

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My day...

Lest my life seem too discouraging, let me share part of my day yesterday... It’s been really dry lately...so I decided to wash my truck. I can’t really explain it, but suffice it to say that we need rain and washing my truck is me doing my part. A clean truck inevitably leads to a serious rain within twenty four hours. I’ve documented it. Well...in my head I’ve documented it. That’s good enough for me. As the guy starts to hose off the dirt at the car wash, I decide to open my wallet and see how much money I have on me. Hmmm...that would be...

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A prayer request...

I'm generally a lot better with the funny stories than I am with the heart stuff here on the blog.  The heart stuff happens, but I enjoy telling the funny story better.  It's tough sharing the hard stuff.  I know a lot of you who read this are parents.  I imagine most parents have had the experience of watching their kid do something they know is going to cause them pain.  You want to intervene...but how do you do that exactly?  When someone starts closing doors, it's tough to stick your foot in there.  At least...

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My dream car...

I rode the bus this morning (my friend Efrain was working on my truck).  It's funny...every time I'm on a bus I end up feeling empathy for the bus driver.  It's not easy wheeling a big beast around through Santa Cruz traffic.  And pretty much every time I vow that I'm going to be nicer to the bus and taxi drivers the next time I'm in my truck. That usually lasts about three and a half minutes before some bus driver or taxi driver...

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Packrats...

I knew this before, but it was once again confirmed to me today... I live with a bunch of packrats.  I don't know if it comes from having lived on the streets or if it's a part of being Bolivian or if it's just an innate part of my guys' specialness...but they keep everything.  I've thrown things away and then a couple of days later seen one of the guys with the object I threw away.  What?  You went through my garbage?  And if someone offers them something...it doesn't matter how dumb or useless...they'll eargerly accept. ...

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Christmas Eve...

So if you're curious what Christmas Eve is like in Bolivia...and you know you are... And if you have 8 minutes of your life to waste...and if you live in Saskatchewan and it's minus 100 outside you know you do... Then check this out.  It's entertaining.  I've come along ways since my first Christmas here, although it was pretty funny too. Anyhow...Christmas 2010! Blowing things up is not the reason for the season of course.  But it adds a certain je ne sais qua.  Not to mention the element of possible...

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Life...

I had coffee with a missionary friend of mine today who works with YWAM here in Santa Cruz.  They have a home similar to ours (they had the idea about the same time I did) so it's nice to get together to compare notes and talk about what's working and what's not. It's interesting...we started off with very similar ideas and goals, and yet our two homes have gone in somewhat different directions.  Theirs has become a little more institutional, while ours has developed a fairly strong family feel to it.  That's not to say that...

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Our Christmas present...

So here's the craziest thing... Our friends, Corina and Marko, gave us a dog for Christmas.  Although that's not really the crazy part...that's still coming.  Last Christmas they did the same thing. That dog did not become a productive part of our family.  We gave her back. I couldn’t deal with the whining and barking all night. This Christmas Sandro came upstairs and handed me a Christmas card from El Jordan (Corina and...

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