Miss World Pageant...

This beautiful young lady, Chantae Guy,  is representing Belize at the Miss World pageant in China. 

I met Chantae's mother, Anna, not long after we first moved here to Belize.  And it is so exciting to watch her daughter reach for this goal.  Join us in showing her support by liking her Facebook page. 

Best of luck to you, Chantae...Belize is rooting for you all the way!!  

the gift of lessons learned and party invites...

We are still trying to get into a rhythm here...being away for a month and then hitting the ground running with Tom teaching out at YWAM last week was a bit overwhelming.  This week the load will be much lighter and we have some spaces in our schedule to breathe.  Breathing is a good thing!    I have no complaints about our first week back...only gratitude.

901.  listening to Spencer's devotional and taking notes.
902.  watching as he had each person look into a mirror and repeat these words...

903.  Meesha's teaching on coming to Him like little children:

904.  Leroy's creativity:

905.  worshiping together...

906.  Tom's faithfulness throughout the week of teaching...

907.   the response to Tom's teaching on Forgiveness...nailing it all to the cross...

908.   Tom began the teaching on Grace by 'kissing' everyone!

909.  serving together...

910.  seeing a party hat in an unexpected place...

911.  attending a party to celebrate a birthday, an anniversary and a baby shower!

912.  baby shower games are not much different no matter where you are in the world...

pin the pacifier on the baby

guess how big the mom to be is!

will it be a boy or a girl?

914.  watching her open her gifts...

915.  and listening to the advice people wrote out for her...

920.  the home the party was held in is humble but the family is rich in love and unity.
921.  knowing that love and unity in a family is truly a huge blessing.
922.  getting to use the gift certificate from Happy Maids that Tom won for me for Mother's Day.
923.  having our home deep cleaned and the anticipation of three more weeks to come.
924.  quiet times with a book and tall glass of ice water...a priceless gift indeed.
925.  realizing how rich our life is...and learning to appreciate it daily.

 joining in with the gratitude community:

the gift of people...

Are you more grateful for the people who are in your life than the things you have acquired?  

Each day this past week was filled with people.  As an introvert that can get overwhelming for me...but this week it was energizing.  I am excited about relationships that are deepening and acquaintances that are turning into friends.  As we prepare to leave for a month long trip to the states on Wednesday God took time to remind us that there are people here that we will miss greatly.

We lost many material possessions in our move from Russia...but what we are gaining in relationships with people here in Belize is truly priceless.

And we accept each encounter with people that God has placed along our path as priceless treasure from His hands.

810.  praying with a woman in a village not far from here.
811.  holding her precious baby as we chatted.
812.  Maritza, who is patiently helping me to learn Spanish.
813.  rejoicing with a young mother over the work opportunities she has for the month of June.
814.  lunch with my friend Liz who had just returned from time in the states.
815.  feeling the love and support of the missionary community here.
816.  Eric bringing back a battery for Tom's computer.
817.  meeting the ladies on the Morality Matters team here working with CDF last week.
818.  counseling with a young mom who is growing in awareness about herself and her choices.
819.  meeting with Merv who will be staying in our house while we are away for the month.
820.  laughing with Charles, Ranika, Spencer and Meesha as we enjoyed dinner and games.
821.  long chats with Spencer and Meesha.
822.  dinner with the CDF board members and their families.

823.  meeting Shannon, Emrece, and Nerise on our Divaz Next Door adventure.

824.  Mike, Maria, Twila and Teddy from Cayo Adventure Tours who provided us with a day of canoeing, rock climbing and zip lining!
825.  time with Anna and Andrea the hosts of the talk show Divaz Next Door.

and precious gifts found in the Word:


826.  seeing God as the ultimate boundary setter  Psalm 74:17
827.  His desire to feed and satisfy His people Psalm 81:16
828.  His example of unlimited patience  I Timothy 1:16
829.  His eternal encouragement and good hope  II Thessalonians 2:16
830.  He faithfulness as He strengthens and protects us from the evil one  II Thessalonians 3:3

 joining in with the gratitude community:

Table for six...

Last night we had guests come over for dinner...Spencer and Meesha, along with Charles and Ranika.  To make things easy for myself I decided to make a big pot of soup.  Good plan.  Until the reality set in that we only owned three bowls that match.  I have plenty of plates but bowls kept getting broken for some reason.

 I  finally found these in Cardinals.  They were only $2.60 (USD) a bowl!

I set the table before everyone arrived. 

Garlic bread from Casa Pan Dulce.
I didn't eat any because it was not gluten free...but it sure smelled divine

The soup was very tasty and very filling!

My plan worked...we had a simple meal of soup, salad and garlic bread.  Everyone got filled up and the peals of laughter ringing throughout the night were awesome.    After dinner Meesha taught us to play Who, What, When, and Where. Then we topped off the night with ice cream for dessert.  I can hardly wait to do it all over again with the same crew!

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!

 joining in with the gratitude community:

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!

 joining in with the gratitude community:

Flat Stanley in Belize...

Flat Stanley came to visit us from California a few weeks ago. 

 Flat Stanley checking out the plantains in our front yard.

Here he is helping Tom teach at Belize Bible Center.

And of course he wanted to post with the sign so you all would know he was really there!

We haven't had much of a chance to take him out to see more of the sites here in Belize.  He has had to hang out around the house or go to work with us.  This Saturday is our last class for this semester so we will get a chance to take a drive next weekend and take Stanley out to see some of the beauty of Belize before he heads back to school.