Walking?

Clarissa has chosen her preferred method of mobility: Here's her current version of "walking." (Sorry that the video is sideways.)

According to the Three Year Old

Recently, we have been having very special conversations with our son, Reagan. Last week, he excitedly called me outside to see the stars. We laid in the hammock looking up at the sky and Reagan told me, "I think Jesus is coming down from there." "Yes Reagan," I confirmed, "someday Jesus will come back from the sky to earth again." Puzzled, he asked, "Will there be another Mary and Joseph?" "No, next time Jesus isn't coming back like a baby. He's coming back as our powerful God to get the people who love Him." "Mommy, I love Jesus. I want Him to come down to get me."

When we were at the famous, beautiful catholic basilica here in Tegucigalpa, Reagan asked Mark, "Daddy, why is their Jesus still on the cross? He's not dead. He rose from the grave." Mark explained that, "the people from this church believe that Jesus rose from the dead, but they don't really worship Jesus, they worship his mother." Obviously distressed, Reagan said, "We need to tell them about Jesus."

Upon seeing the huge mormon temple located on the hill behind his preschool, Reagan said, "Mommy, look at that big castle." I said, "Yes, that is a beautiful building, but the people at that church don't believe that Jesus is God." Very concerned and sad, he told me, "We need to tell them more about Jesus."

And today on the way home from school, Reagan said, "Mommy, the guards at our house have guns and they shoot the bad people. They take care of us.....but Jesus takes care of us better.

From the mouths of babes...

Visitors

It has been a pleasure to welcome 4 different sets of visitors to our house in the last 3 months. In October, our boss, Dan Harder, from Grace Pointe Church in Chicago, came by to see how we were settling in our new country. We were very encouraged by his visit.

Over Thanksgiving, Monica's parents came for a few weeks. We were able to show them around Tegucigalpa, and thoroughly enjoyed watching them play with the kids. Reagan reveled in the attention of his grandparents as they played with legos, trains, airplains, swords, ate picnic lunches, did puzzles and read books. Our parents were able to get a good feel of our life here as they attended church activities, met our friends and visited Reagan's pre-school. Randy and LaVon spoiled the kids by taking them to a tiny amusement area inside one of the malls in town. Reagan enjoyed riding the bumper boats, and also rode his first mini-roller coaster. He screamed out of shock the entire first round, then laughed for the next passes. When he got off, he asked to go again. Grandpa obliged. Our other special outings included a trip to the children's museum and an afternoon at a swimming pool. We passed around an illness while they were in town, but still enjoyed being together. For thanksgiving day we traveled outside the city to see friends at their home in the mountains.

On Christmas Eve, our dear friends, Heather and Michael, arrived from Houston, Texas. We cooked a turkey complete with stuffing and all of the fixings and celebrated a very special Christmas together. The Hondurans celebrate Christmas with a big dinner at midnight on Christmas Eve. Then they open gifts and set off fireworks into the wee hours of the morning. We didn't sleep much because of the noise. For New Year's, we made sure that we were invited to a party. If you're awake, you might as well be part of the fun. With Heather and Michael were able to leave the city to visit a touristy town, traveled to a hillside park overlooking the city, and also visited a Catholic Basilica. Heather and Michael also visited us in Costa Rica when we were in language school, so they have given us a great sense of connection with our home church, Bethel Church of Houston. They brought us a very special photo album with pictures of our friends from our church. Each family listed a prayer request so that we could pray for them as they pray for us. It is a delight to pray through a photo album and know God's care for His children all over the world.

Currently, our friends, Matt and Ellen, are staying with us. Their rental house will soon be finished in a tiny town outside of the city. But "soon" is a relative term in Honduras (and maybe all over the world amongst landlords). So we are enjoying the extended stay of our close friends. We met Matt and Ellen at language school in Costa Rica. They took wonderful care of us for a very difficult month when we were all sick, Clarissa was born and Reagan was having seizures. So we are delighted to give them a place to stay until their own home is ready.

And to all of our friends around the world: we have a guest bedroom waiting for anyone who would like to visit us. Come on down! (Or over or up depending on where you live.)