an unwanted late night visitor...

Last week I had an unwanted visitor in the bathroom.  It's surreal to see a tarantula come around the corner headed straight for you.  Of course I ran out of the bathroom and yelled at Tom to come and get rid of it. 

As Tom took a look at the spider he says, "aren't you going to take a picture?

I took the first photo and then screamed when it moved!!

Tom scooped it up into the dustpan and threw it outside.

I heard from a few others that they'd also had tarantulas show up in their bathrooms or right outside their doors last week.  Apparently, a combination of  heat and rain brings them out.  We've been here almost three years and this was our first run-in with such a huge critter in our home.  Seriously, this thing was bigger than the frog we had come inside.  

Well, now I know when tarantula season is and I'll be ready next time...maybe!

You know you're in Belize when...

Woodpeckers hang around the plantain trees in the yard...

One of these days I will get a better picture of this guy...He's a fast one!

Horsing around...

 

 

You never know what you're going to see while driving around Belmopan!

Contemplation and Study...

Photo taken at Green Hills Butterfly Ranch

As we travel around the country I love taking photos so that I can look back on the event and further contemplate His handiwork. Our time at the Butterfly Ranch was an overwhelming experience of the beauty of His creation.  

Can you imagine the sound of hundreds of butterfly wings beating, or the visual impact of 13 different species in flight, or having them land on various areas of your body as you walk through the enclosure? 

Tom's shirt...

my head...

Spencer's shoulder... 

my leg...

Meesha's hand...

Even when we left the ranch I could still see butterflies in my mind.  It was a long, dusty, and bumpy ride to get out there but it was worth it. And I am grateful for the hundreds of images I was able to capture.  I am positive that they will provide hours of contemplation leading to various passages of scripture to study throughout the year.  

May we seek opportunities wherever we are to contemplate His beauty and to study at His feet!

Come and see!

I love the come and see moments in life.  Perhaps your son wants you to see a picture they just finished, or your husband takes your hand and leads you outdoors to see the sunset, or a friend calls you to view children at play in the neighborhood.  No matter what the come and see moment turns out to be...I have rarely been disappointed in it! 

Go and see what wonders God has placed in this world.

Go and learn from those moments.  

Meditate on them and ponder them in your heart.

Last week Tom called me to come and see.  A beautiful butterfly awaited...posing for a photo on the screen of our backdoor.  As someone who lives with fibromyalgia there are times when I would rather just sit with my feet up or lay in bed and not move.  Tom knows that when I don't feel well I don't always respond favorably to those calls.  But, this day, in spite of how I felt, I went with camera in hand to answer his call to come and see.  And I am indeed grateful for the reward.  God's creation always amazes me.  It always fills me with a sense of wonder.

How did He create so many different varieties and shades of gorgeous?

  Why did He put such detail into His work?

  What a mighty and awesome God is He!  

Why not stop what you're doing right now and look in the mirror?  Follow the spirit's call to a come and see moment. Take keen notice of the beauty of the person in your mirror.  No matter the circumstances of your birth...you exist because God willed you into existence.  You were created, designed, and hand crafted into being by the Creator, Designer, and Author of the universe.  You have over 10,000 genes and 23 pairs of chromosomes that were all hand picked by Him.  You are beautiful and you were deliberately created by the power of His loving breath.  God smiled and rejoiced as He watched your birth.

During this season of celebrating the birth of Christ take some time to stop, to come to Him, and gaze deeply on the realities of Christmas.  Ponder the fact that Christmas leads us to Easter, notice that the impact of Easter ushers us into a relationship with Him for all eternity.  None of this was a coincidence.  It was planned and executed perfectly because of His sacrificial love.

May we live a life worthy of that Love during this Christmas season and all the days of our lives! 

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You know you're in Belize when...

You find one of these guys on your windshield!

or on the wall of a building...

 

or in the hand of a friend!!

The first time I saw one of these critters the Belizean friend we were with called it a cricket.  Just a few days later one of them surprised us by landing on the windshield of our car as we pulled out of our driveway.  I took his photo and put it on Facebook.  

Last night we were at a dinner meeting over at the Blue Thumb Mission when one landed on the wall  surprising us all.  The first time someone got too close and it flew away revealing beautiful mauve colored wings.  The lighting was not the best for picture taking but we are so grateful to Joe for picking it up, calming it down, and getting it to pose for us!  

And yeah, I did get that close.  I know. I still can't believe I did that.

Birding in Belize

Birds are my favorite creatures. The diversity of colors and markings amaze me.  According to the Belize Audubon Society 587 species of birds have been sighted here in Belize.

Here are some of the images I have captured since our arrival two years ago...

wonders of creation...

 We saw this on the ground..we think it was a butterfly.

The beauty of God's creation never ceases to amaze!

Beautiful Belizean Butterflies

The gifts of Holy Week...

How was your Holy Week? 

 The CDF office closed last Monday and does not reopen until tomorrow so we are still enjoying a much needed break.  Our time off for the Easter holiday began with a one day trip to Chetumal, Mexico and it will end today with a quiet day at home.  As I think about all this week held for us I am truly grateful.

629.  after several attempts to photograph a truck filled with sugarcane as they barreled down the highway we finally saw one parked on the side of the road!  So grateful that it was there to pose for me.

630.  being able to negotiate the traffic in Chetumal, Mexico (just across the border from Belize)

631.  meeting up with Celina and Paulino, who live in Chetumal, to see The Hunger Games after our time of shopping for much needed supplies.

632. the joy of laughing together at the teen age girls who sighed and awed all through the movie.  

633.  Paulino, Tom and Spencer tolerating the movie even though Bruce Willis was not in it!

634.  seeing a black jaguar walk right in front of the car after crossing back over into Belize.

635.  the unforgettable chill that went down my spine as I was eye to eye with that magnificent animal.

source

636.  a quiet Tuesday with no demands.

637.  spending time in the hair salon on Wednesday and enjoying the air conditioning for a few hours.

638.  Bible study and time discussing the word in our small group. 

639.  finding out that Meesha will be coming from India to stay with us for a while.

640. Good Friday sunset over Patty and Max's property after a time of prayer and blessings over their land.

641.  relaxing and laughing at a cookout on Saturday so much that I forgot to take photos!  

642.  Easter Sunday blessing...the children singing Amazing Grace!

                                                                                                                         

                                   
643.  Samantha's heartwarming voice lifting us all up in Him.
644.  being able to sing a solo at church for the first time since leaving Russia almost two years ago.
645.  Pastor Dan calming my nerves about singing by reminding me that we are all family.
646.  a potluck meal after church in the home of gracious couple who took in more than 30 of us.
647.  chatting with Toni and hearing about how she and Dan came to Belize.
648.  the gift of redemption and the sacrifice of Christ.
649.  the gift of being reconciled to God by Christ's work on the cross.
650.  the gift of an empty tomb...and a Risen Lord!

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oh, the places you'll go!

Last Saturday Tom and I took a walking tour of the Community Baboon Sanctuary (CBS).  This was one of the items that I have on my list of Things to do in Belize.  So I was thrilled and grateful when our friends, Andrea and Dion, invited us to go out there with them. 

The sanctuary was founded in 1985 by an American Primatologist, Dr Robert Horwich, and a Belizean landowner in Bermudian Landing, Fallet Young.  From its beginnings with 12 landowners it has grown to have the support of over 200 private landowners.  CBS focuses on four main goals-- Conservation, Education, Research and Tourism.  And not only does it provide protection for the estimated 2000 Black Howler Monkeys in the area it also serves to protect the flora and fauna as well.  

Here are just a few of the photos I took on our tour:

the museum...

warning about feeding and littering...


inside the museum...

Robert, our tour guide, led the way...

Robert was great at pointing out the various birds...he saw this tanager long before we did.

this is one of the two large lizards we saw in the area...

we saw a total of five monkeys...1 male, 3 females and 1 baby.

here is the baby peeking out to see us... the funny looking creatures down below!

these "baboon crossings" help ensure that the monkeys can safely cross the roads... 

The tour we took was a nature walk through the private lands.  It is mandatory to have a guide with you on the tour.  Along with the nature walks they offer night hikes, river tours, crocodile night tours, and birding.

Our walk was confined to Bermudian Landing but there are also things to see and do in the villages of Big Falls / St. Paul's Bank, Willow's Bank, Double Head Cabbage, Isabella Bank, Scotland Half-Moon, and Flowers Bank as well.

Please go to the website http://www.howlermonkeys.org/ to learn more about the sanctuary or about how you can get involved with the work that CBS is doing.  You can also check them out on Facebook.

And if you come to Belize... the sanctuary should definitely be on your list of places to go!

counting the gifts and an incredible day!

Every day above ground is a gift from Him.  

And yet, I think some days are bound to be treasured and pondered more than others.  Saturday was one of those blessed days for us.

Our friends Dion and Andrea invited us to spend the day with them.  That in itself is a treat.  But, we were also blessed to travel with them and their three children out to an area that we had never been to before.

First we drove to Bermudian Landing... the village where Andrea grew up.  From there we went to see our first cricket match over in Lemonal, a neighboring village, and then we drove over to the village of Double Head Cabbage to see the canoes coming ashore in the La Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge.  After watching some of the teams come in and chowing down on a traditional Belizean meal of rice & beans with chicken we went back to Bermudian Landing for a tour of the Community Baboon Sanctuary. 

So many firsts all packed into one day.  Our first cricket match, watching part of the La Ruta Maya Belize River challenge and seeing howler monkeys up close and personal.  It was just incredible!

557.  adding to my list of Things to do in Belize

558.  visiting the villages of Bermudian Landing, Lemonal, and Double Head Cabbage
559.  meeting new people

560.  having cricket explained to us by Conway Young

561.  watching our first cricket match

562. intense concentration on the face of a child

563.  seeing canoes coming to shore after reaching this day's checkpoint in the race.

564.  tasty food cooked over an open flame.

565.  cashew trees

566.  creation's beauty

567.  time with howler monkeys

568.  large iguanas that try to hide high up in the trees

569.  Belizean holidays that give us three day weekends...today is National Heroes and Benefactors Day.
570.  being invited to spend the day with Dion, Andrea and their children
571.  being present and awake to the gifts of life
572.  emails from old friends
573.  spending the day appreciating village life and the people who live in them
574.  a camera that is still working after seven years
575.  ice cream on a warm day
566.  singing birds

567.  the perfect ending to an incredible day!

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