counting the gifts...

breathe, let go and move on.

Spencer moves out to Banana Bank today to work at the YWAM base there.  We know we are letting him go into good hands.  And that he will be a 15 minute drive away.  And yet, it still feels like a loss.  We had a family Skype time with Nathan and though I could see his face and was grateful... it makes it hard to wait for June when we will all be together again.  I am struggling learning to breathe, let go and move on to whatever comes next.  

This will be our first full week back in the counseling office since the holiday break began. There is a banquet on Friday night for Christian leaders and their spouses.  On Saturday Tom starts teaching the second counseling course at Belize Bible Center.  We have a full week ahead.  So we must breathe, let go, and move on with the tasks before us.  

and I am so grateful that there are gifts to count along the way...

487.  dinner with our new friends Dion, Andrea, and their children, Kaelen, Janae and baby Zaira

488.  making enough pizzas for us all.
489.  the joy of watching the children eat several slices of pizza and the salad to go with it.
490.  carrot apple slaw.
491.  Skype calls with the whole family.
492.  long lazy Sundays.
493.  homemade treats from Mom & Dad Sharp.
494.  Christmas gifts for Harley, our dog, too!

495.  watching 1940's House

496.  discovering Downton Abbey

497.   bursts of color in our front yard

498.  watching the hummingbirds enjoy the flowers

499.  and the butterflies

500.  being moved to tears by a few of the poets and their stories

while watching Louder Than a Bomb.

501.  the opportunity to breathe, let go and move on.

joining in with the gratitude community:

Facebook Challenge...wanna play?!

Several of my friends are playing this game on Facebook:

1.  Find the song that was number one during the week of your birth

2.  Find the video on YouTube

3.  Post those videos on your wall without shame.

So here goes!

The day I was born:

I Will Follow Him by Little Peggy March

But, I happen to like this version better:

If you were born in 1963, like me,  you can click this link to find out your song:

1963 Number Ones

or for other decades click here

Number Ones

This all started on the Facebook wall of  Pop Culture Madness.  Now they even have a chart where you can look up when you were conceived so that you can figure out what the number one song was then too.

I wonder what they will think up next!?

Getting Crafty in Belize

Discovering Pinterest has led to a desire to do a few craft projects that I might not have attempted otherwise.  A fun one that I was inspired to take on is making a Plastic Tote bag from grocery bags.

First you have to make "plarn".  And you can find  instructions illustrated here or in done in photos here.  The number of plastic bags needed depends on the size of the tote you want to make.  I cannot remember how many grocery bags I used.  Tom remembers we had to go shopping a few times before I could finish.  Getting the white bags here was hard.  Most of the ones in our local shops here in Belmopan are various shades of black with blue lettering on them.  The white bags came from our trip to Spanish Lookout and from Tom's trip to the hardware store.

I didn't use a pattern I just made a chain for how wide I wanted my tote to be and then began crocheting in rounds until I had the length I wanted and finished with the handles.  You can find a pattern here if you need one.

I love my little tote bag and if we ever collect enough bags in a different color I will make another one!

There are over a hundred different projects over at The Artsy Girl Connection.  

Go over and check them out if you are interested.

Has Pinterest inspired you?!

thought for today...

Surrendering to the Call of Showing Gentleness

There are times in life when gentleness can accomplish that which force and fierceness cannot.

  Gentle answers can turn away wrath, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.  

I am to be clothed in gentleness, to pursue gentleness,

 and to give answers about the Hope I have with gentleness and respect.  

There is a gentle side to me and I am being asked to show it.  To make it evident. 

 I believe that showing gentleness is not the same as showing weakness. 

 It means showing a Christlike consideration for others.  That is something I can do.

May gentleness permeate my being during this year of Surrender and may it be evident to all.

linking up with:

Tasty Tuesday

Since we had Spencer with us for the holidays I decided to do a Russian style feast on New Year's Eve. 

 If you ever get a chance to visit Russia over a holiday being there on New Year's would truly be a treat. The celebration there has been called a Super Holiday.   Think Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve all combined.  Typically gifts are exchanged this night, families are all gathered together, children and some adults will dress up in costumes, and the fireworks displays are just unreal!

It was just the three of us so I only made a few things. I started the night before with preparing this Poncho cake.  I will have to reveal how to make it later because I want to test out a few different things before I post the final recipe.  We will make the sacrifice of taste tasting until we get it just right!!  The cream was perfect...I just want to work on the sponge recipe before posting it.

It is basically a vanilla and a chocolate sponge cake cut up and soaked in a sour cream mixture then covered with the same mixture and drizzled with chocolate.

I think it turned out great!
Poncho Cake

and though my camera gave a yellowish tint to the photo you can still see the inside here...

The next morning I got up and made this Vinegret Salad

click for recipe

Crab Salad

This one is very simple:

1 can of corn, drained

1 can of crab meat

1 cup of cooked rice

4 Tbsp of mayonnaise

mix it all together and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Olivier Salad

click here for recipe

The Olivier is very popular in Russia and each woman has her own recipe for making it.  

I used chicken in mine and added in corn...one of our language school teachers made it that way.

It is also best to prepare a day ahead.

  It really tasted yummy on the second day!

and finally I made Plov (Pilaf)

Click for recipe

I used chicken and added raisins...my friend Djamila from Azerbaijan makes it that way.  I didn't have all of the spices listed in the recipe.  Again each woman would make it differently depending on what she is used to and has on hand.  I used mace, marjoram, cardamom, ginger, salt and pepper.  Just a little of each gave it just the right taste that we all remembered from that evening at Djamila's house.

It was a fun night for us...celebrating our second New Year's Eve in Belize,

 eating Russian food, and watching the American celebration on tv!

continuing to count the gifts in 2012

When I sat down to think about the days following Christmas I realized that the holidays bring the pace of life to an even slower beat than usual. We are learning these rhythms of Belize, holiday by holiday, as we go along.

Today and yesterday have been cool and rainy. The birds are calling back and forth. That is about the only sound on the street other than the occasional burst of fireworks.

Our neighbors are beginning to return from visiting their families in various villages and towns.  This is Spencer's last week full time with  us.  He will be moving to the YWAM base in Banana Bank to serve out there for the next ten months.  We are grateful for the three months he spent with us...but we knew he would be moving on to where he feels called.

My word for 2011 was joy.  I learned the joy of transition, the joy of flexibility and the joy of  living out our calling.  We spent this year serving at three different churches.  Speaking, teaching and preaching.  Learning more about the culture and getting accustomed to life.  We had never gone that long without a church home...and it was weird.  Finally, our service here was narrowed down to the counseling center at the Child Development Foundation and Tom teaching at Belize Bible Center.  As our counseling load grew we knew we were exactly where we supposed to be.  That realization was a joy in itself.

As I continue to count the gifts in 2012 I have also chosen a new word.  A word that reflects what I need to do and how I need to live.  I need to let go of Russia and fully embrace Belize.  I need to open my heart and soul to where I am right now.  I need to experience the joy of Surrender.  Not the kind of surrender that is giving up but the kind that means accepting.  Giving absolute control to a Power greater than myself so that I can fully live for Him.

471. The fullness of His love makes it worth it all.

472. raindrops on budding flowers

473. dogs who drink rain water off the porch

474.  driving through Corozal on our way to Chetumal, Mexico.

475.  my first time driving across the border of Belize and into Mexico

476.  meeting up with an online friend and her husband

477.  Spencer being so excited to make a new friend and add another countries stamp to his passport.

478.  Tom having a good time with our new friends too!

480.  A beautiful cutting board made from a 100 year old piece of mahogany wood.

481.  attending a multi-ethnic church and feeling at home

482.  listening to Spencer laugh in his room

483.  hearing Tom yell with excitement while watching an NBA game

484.  having people call us friends here in Belize

485.  smelling soup boiling on the stove on a nippy January day.

486.  the joy of surrendering to a new chapter!

joining in with the gratitude community:

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!!!

I wish you the Merriest Christmas ever...

may you rejoice in the birth of Christ and be filled with exceeding great joy!

Silent Monks Singing Halleluia

I remembered this video from last year and thought you all might enjoy it...I sure did!

Thought for Today

Each year Cayo Christian Academy in Ontario, Belize does A Walk Through Bethlehem.  

Spencer and I were impressed with the skits and the scenes this year...the kids did such a great job!  

May we each be as obedient to the Lord's will as Joseph was.

linking up with:

Tasty Tuesday

One of our stops on the drive down to Maya Beach last week was at a Mennonite bakery just off of Hummingibrd Highway.  It is a quiet little family run place where you can get some freshly baked goodies, have breakfast or eat lunch.  While we were there we could hear hymns playing and someone back in the kitchen singing along.

Jesus said "I am the bread of life"

walking up to the front porch...

We chose to pick up some cinnamon rolls and banana bread to take with us.

on the way home we stopped again and decided to try out the lunch menu...

there was a soothing brook just behind the building...listening to the mini waterfall added to the atmosphere

I had a ham sandwich and Tom had salami...and we both enjoyed the plantain chips!

There was a huge Tonka truck in the dirt along with a tractor, a semi truck and a fire engine. 

 What a perfect place for a little one to play.  

and there were enough flowers around to keep the butterflies coming and going.

I am  thinking it will be a tradition for us to stop whenever we see the OPEN sign 

if we are traveling on Hummingbird Highway!

Lola's Art and more gifts...

One of the places we visited while on our vacation was Lola's Art.  

Lola Delgado was born in Belize City in 1959 and she opened her first gallery in 1992.  Her paintings are inspired by the daily lives of those in her community.  She lives in Seine Bight, a Garifuna village, just outside of Placencia.  If you are ever in that area make sure you take time to visit her. Lola will be happy to chat with you as she works on her latest creation.  

Her studio and gallery

samples of her work

Not only does she paint but she has a great sense of humor as well...

The prayer:

Dear Lord, I pray for wisdom to understand my man, love to forgive him, and patience for his moods. 

Because Lord, if I pray for strength, I will beat him to death.  Amen.

Driving through the village of Seine Bight gave me a deep sense of gratitude for all that we have.  Yes, we suffered the devastating loss of our belongings. None of our boxes made it from Russia.  And yet in spite of that we still have more than many people had there.  We live in a home with running water.  We have a toilet.  Electricity.  Cable TV and internet access in our home.  We are wealthy in comparison.  We saw houses that looked as if they would topple over in the next strong wind.  Well worn clothes hanging out on the line.  Very few cars or bikes.  And yet many of them had waterfront property.  They can swim daily and eat seafood regularly.  And they have each other.  It is peaceful. Serene.  Filled with the laughter of playing children and chatter from people on the street.  And as you drive by you also become part of their entertainment as they people watch.  Taking note of all the tourists in the area.

Lola told us it was exciting when electricity came to the village.  Now they have internet access as well.

We have so much to be grateful for...

453.  indoor toilets

454. washing machine

455.  cooling fresh breezes

456.  the love of family

457. the kindness of neighbors

458.  knowing many of our neighbors by name

459.  growing up in America

460.  being able to travel about this country

461.  having a car

462.  being able to afford gas

463.  butterflies

464. hummingbirds

465.  the sound of waves on the sea

466.  coming home to a house scrubbed clean by Spencer.

467.  having food in the fridge

468.  not panicking when the electricity goes out

469.  candles and matches

470.  the impending celebration of the birth of a King.

joining Ann Voskamp and the gratitude community: