Week 13, Project 365

Folks, we are 1/4 of the way there!!! We have now officially logged a quarter of a year in this photographic journey. I must confess I did not take all the pictures I'm sharing this week -- our camera was passed around and used by just about everyone on Tuesday ☺ A single click on the Project 365 button in my sidebar will take you right to Sara's place, our lovely hostess with the mostess!

By "everyone" I mean our co-workers and their family. We met T & A back in 1996 when they came to the missions conference at our church and we hosted them in our home. We had such a good time that we made sure we hosted them EVERY time after that, too. And it was during one such visit that they asked us to pray about joining them in ministry; they were just getting ready to spearhead a new work in Carlos Paz. And finally, after a number of years, we're here!

This month we've enjoyed having their oldest two around. They're getting ready to head back to Palabra de Vida for their second year (Word of Life Bible Institute in Buenos Aires). On our walk Tuesday we stopped to take these photos at a Palabra de Vida facility in Sta. Rosa which is used for a variety of things, but primarily as a rehabilitation center. Like last year Pablo will simultaneously do a full course (online) at university while at the Bible Institute, in order to graduate on schedule in December with his degree in agricultural administration. Both of these young people are committed to preparing for whatever God has for them in the future.

[NOTE: For anyone interested, Palabra de Vida has a program that allows non-Spanish speakers to come and by the end of the year they've learned Spanish AND had some amazing Bible classes and hands-on training in ministry. It's also considerably cheaper than what it would cost in the U.S.!]

The youngest two are a kick! They're pretty quiet girls for the most part, but they have a wicked sense of humor. I may have mentioned the skit they did of us that was spot on! I honestly thought I was going to die laughing because I couldn't catch my breath ☺ These girls are a JOY to have around! The Palabra de Vida facility was a sawmill in its previous life, and apparently a bit of an auto junkyard. I saw this on the back side of the property. Now I'll tell you right up front, I did NOT take the following photo! I saw this little guy right in front of me, squealed and ran twenty feet before stopping to see why everyone else wasn't running with me. They were all having too much fun snapping photos and seeing if they could make him turn around and go the other direction. I guess I'm the only one nervous around tiny little (less than a foot long) snakes.

With an eye to the future and my desire for a lush and LARGE Christmas garland, we picked up some eucalyptus branches to dry. My hubby, being the gentleman that he is, carried them all the way home for me ☺

And about my post yesterday...my hubby informs me that I have it all wrong. That the word he translated "spoiled" yesterday at the doctor's does not have an adequate equivalent in English. That the doctor's intent was actually the opposite, to assure me that she is going to take care of me and do her very best to figure out what's going on and how to handle it.

To say I was a little skeptical is putting it mildly but he did his best to convince me I was off base and apologized for not translating more during the appointment, saying he's never sure how much I understand. I reminded him that before the very first appointment I had asked him to translate everything because it was too important for me not to know what was going on. I think he gets that now. Hopefully future visits won't be so traumatic.