Happy Anniversary!

One year. It has been one year TODAY since arrived in Ecuador.

I woke up today thinking... Wow! How crazy to think that it has been a whole year since we have been here. Time flies and rests for no one.

I promptly greeted my husband with a "happy anniversary!" and the response I got? "And we still have no water!"

I want to write a blog post about how amazing this year has been, how so many things have happened, progress made, memories that will never be forgotten and relationships formed. And while all these things are true, it is not what we feel today or even lately.

As a "missionary" we feel like we have to report and present only what is good and encouraging. But, I am going to be honest with y'all in this post.
It has been hard. We are exhausted. We are stressed out to the max. We are frustrated...everyday...several times a day.  And I feel like these words aren't nearly strong enough to portray our feelings.

Sometimes it is little things, like the city turning off the water supply so our cistern is low. Which means we(our personal house and the school) either have no water or we go into drought mode and conserve everything. And yes, I consider no water as a "little thing".

Or medium things, like the fact that we purchased a lemon of a car (a 26K lemon, because cars do no depreciate in value here) and can't get it out of the shop. We (Twickenham) have/has spent thousands of dollars in repairing it just so we can get it to a point of being able to sell it. The best part about this is the fact that it was finally to a "good enough" point this last week but I got into a fender-bender that put it back into the shop. That in itself was a frustrating experience! The other guy came to a complete stop in the middle of the highway, after going 90km/h, because of a dog crossing the road. And lemme point out, that here in Ecuador, there is ALWAY a dog crossing the road. So, now we get to pay for our car repair plus his.

Then there are the big issues. Issues with school budget and school affairs.
Things like not having the monies to hire more teachers but going on faith and doing it anyway because we know we need to be legal and to provide our kids with the best education we can.
Things like being rejected by the Ministry of Education for a tuition raise (since they dictate what we can change for monthly tuition) for reasons that could have been avoided had we known.
Things like knowing we are still not completely legal on some school items and that there will always be a threat of shutting us down until we are.
...

As you read this, I don't want you to be discouraged about the work happening here in Ecuador. I wrote this so that you could get an partially understanding of the things we go through and the honest state we are currently in.

I think we all go through these times where it feels like we are just barely able to tread water. I remember seasons of our married life where it felt like the waves just kept washing over us. We would get pounded over and over by different struggles and problems and it was hard to keep our heads up. When I think back on those times, I think about how God was there with me. He wasn't the Coast Guard who came in and swept me up from the water. He allowed me to stay in but was my floatation device. And I endured and came out, better for it. Because the funny thing about struggles are, like water, they polish and refine you.

Isaiah 43:2, NIV: "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; he flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

So, it is our one year Ecuador anniversary and we are a bit down. But we will not lose heart, for we know our God in Heaven is with us. We know He called called us here, is with us and will use these experiences to polish us and for His glory.

2 Corinthians 4:17, NIV: "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Pray for us.
Also being thinking about financially support the work here.
We are now at a point where our personal needs are fully funded, but as the next school year is upon us and with much needed changes occurring, we are realizing the need in our school budget. In the near future you may be seeing some opportunities where you can help further the work in Ecuador, whether by direct support of our school budget, student scholarships or technology funding, so please be prayerful and mindful of that.

1-8

Has it really  been a month since we have returned from our trip to the States?!?

I was going to type "words cannot describe how busy we have been this month"... but I think that words could describe just how busy we have been. And I will attempt to do just that.

1.) When we got home from our "vacation" we had a few days of unpacking and getting our house put back together after our cats (Chancho and Pata) destroyed it.

2.) Then we welcomed our White House, TN/Orange, TX group. 
The group, made of 7 teachers and 4 other professionals, worked and loved on our school kids. They read children's books, Bible stories, and did English activities. Some of the group members also painted the once stark white classroom walls. We also were able to take our older students on a service project to visit some poorer families in the community. The groups were able to help in some homes, delivered food and clothes, sing some songs and pray over the families. It was a great time of encouragement for us and hopefully a good opportunity to learn for our students.

3.) After the White House/Orange group left, we greeted our friend Diana Foster from our home congregation for a week. Diana visited us to check out the school and see what all the commotion is down here in Ecuador.

4.) We had Kindergarten graduation. The kiddos were super cute!

5.) We had a great time celebrating the 4th of July with all the gringos. The Campbells had us over their house to grill food and shoot off fireworks. It was a grand time being with fellow Americans and celebrating our freedoms.

6.) On the 12th we had a wedding on our lawn for a new couple at church. They recently got baptized at church and decided to get married also. It was a beautiful wedding that we (the ladies at church) had the privilege of putting together. We made flower arrangements, bouquets, and a 5-tiered fondant covered cake.

6 & 1/2.) We had a couple girls, Delaney and Danielle, stay the night at our place. They are both doing LST in Quito and wanted to spend some time in Tabacundo, learning more about the school and Hacienda.

7.) On the 13th we said good-bye  to some good friends, Wayler and Mariana Frances, who moved back to Costa Rica. Wayler was one of the local evangelists and Mariana was the Hacienda and school accountant. We had to send them off in style, of course, with a special class time at church. We gave them a plaque, a book filled with memories and prayers, and of course had cake.

8.) The next day we had three ladies come in from Florida and the First City Church to help with our first ever high school graduation. We are so proud of our students. All 6 graduating seniors have all been accepted to university. We are also so thankful for Lisa, Michelle and Denise for helping us and hanging out with us. And thankfully, I didn't have to bake the cake!

So in a nutshell, those were our big events. In between and even during those times we had curriculum writing, budget working, schedule making and even some time spend with our Hacienda kids.

Making S'mores with the Hacienda kids and ASHLEY MOORE (Shoutout!)

Eating Aladdin's shwarma while Leonela is getting her hair relaxed. (Look ASHLEY MOORE...another shoutout!) 

It has been crazy this month.
I think Jake and I will take the next month off of hosting people and doing big events.
Starting in August we will get busy again with teachers coming back for training and Jake's mom coming down. Karen, Jake's mom, will be here for almost 3 months to set up our Kinder, 1st and 2nd grade English program.
This next school year is coming upon us soon...almost too soon! I am not nearly done putting together our new English curriculum. Keep us in your prayers!