Happy Birthday, Honey!

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. Jeremiah 17:7

Today is my husband’s 36^th birthday!

He was born to Gregorio and Juana López, the 9^th of ten children. He has told me and our children of many wonderful, exciting stories from his childhood, growing up in far-away villages.

Andrew and his mother in 1976

His father worked very closely with Wycliffe missionaries for 22 years; and his hard-working mother was a faithful helpmeet to his father, and at one time worked with honeybees to help support the family. Truly, Andrew’s life has been an exciting one, and we can see the hand of the Lord in his life. God’s faithfulness and mercy protected him throughout his childhood (he came very near to death in his early childhood) and throughout his teen years.

At the tender age of 12, he left his beloved home in the village and moved to the city to continue his education. He said he cried for his mother every night for many months.

God’s hand of mercy led him to my father’s doorstep, where he was saved in our church here in 1990. He was baptized a week later, and had the privilege of growing under Dad’s ministry.

As his wife, I have lived many exciting adventures with him in the Indian villages, marveling unceasingly at this man who has lived through un-imaginable experiences. It has been my privilege to live alongside this wonderful man.

One of our crazy-fun moments, captured by our Little Andrew

Especially during the past 2 years, I have seen him endure hardships, both physically and spiritually. When my faith has been small, and it seemed I could hardly take another step, he has been there to pick me up; he has put things in proper perspective for me; he has quietly continued to faithfully serve his Lord, whom he loves, thus being an example to me. I have watched him endure criticism, taking it with a godly attitude and not letting it make him bitter. He has come out on top every time, and has pulled me right up there with him!!

It is my privilege to be his help meet. It is my privilege to be the lady who cooks his meals and washes his clothes. It is my thrill to get to listen to his plans and dreams; and it is my joy to watch him father our children in the most loving manner and to see how they adore him!

So Happy Birthday, My Sweetheart! I LOVE YOU, and I look forward to many, many more years by your side!

I'm Back!

Isn’t it terrible when you tell someone, “I’m back!” and he says, “Oh, were you gone?”

You might be asking me the same question. Or another one: “Where did you go?”

I’m not back from a trip; I have gone nowhere. What I mean is that I am back to blogging. About one month ago, our computer suddenly stopped opening the blogger.com site for me, so I could not get into my blog! There were times that I felt inspired to write, but thought, “Oh, what’s the use?” and almost gave up completely on blogging.

Then today, my friend, Charity, took time to help me get it fixed. THANK YOU, CHARITY!

But besides the fact that our computer had suddenly decided not to cooperate, there have been many, many other things that have happened during the last month.

My beautiful sister-in-law, Liz (my brother/pastor, Philip’s wife), had to have kidney surgery to remove a tumor. In her quiet manner, she bravely went into surgery; she came out with a good report and a happy doctor; and she has had a very successful recovery. We are all so thankful that she is doing so well!

Philip and Liz have three boys: Joshua (7), Samuel (5) and Mark (22 months). During the time that Liz was in the hospital, and during her recovery, I took care of the boys (along with our two children). Over-all, things went well, and the boys behaved very well for us. We had fun times together and made a lot of memories.

I took ((some)) pictures during those 3 (busy) weeks, and I even wrote a little something, which never got posted! I was so very busy during that time, and have grown to admire (even more!) all those mommies with 5 (or more!) young children.

Cousin Time.....

Work time...and refreshment time....

Play time....(notice all the laundry on the couch!)

After-bath time.....

Art time....

Movie Time....Quiet time!