Casa & Ideas

Dear United States of America,

Please get a Casa & Ideas before I come home.  I desperately want to decorate my future house with their things and with their prices.  For now, I'll start small, and continue to dream big!

Here's my scented oil burner I looked at for 3 weeks before I finally forked up 10 dollars to get it. Let me just tell you, the office smells amazing right now!  Hopefully it'll tackle the bed bug spray stench tomorrow! :)

Sad day

 This, my dear readers, was Miss Cuddles. I say was because she passed away last night.  She blessed the Maclin family with her presence for the past 11 years, and will be dearly missed.  I thought I'd share with you guys about my obsession love for my precious poodle puppies!

 Meet Cuddles (left) and Snuggles (right). Don't judge me for their names. I was 10 when that happened! We all do stupid things when we're little!  Anyways, these two have been an integral part of the family for years!  Sure they bark a little wayy too much, and maybe they had an accident every now and then, but they still loved on ya like you were the best thing in the world (especially if you gave them a Snuggy Snack!).  Speaking of Snuggy Snacks, let me tell ya about Ole Snuggy Rug!

 

 Ole Snug. His full name is Snuggle Buny Maclin. Yes, Buny, cuz mom misspelled Bunny on his papers.  Anywho, Snug was our first inside dog.  It took  a lot of crying and whining and begging on my part, but they finally said yes!  He was tiny when we got him. Just a little ball of fur that fit in your hand. So, at age 10, I thought of the best name for him. Snuggles!  He forgives me, I promise.  Snuggles has always been the favorite.  He's just so loyal and lively.  He barks a lot. I may or may not have taught him the word "bark" when he was a puppy, so he knows it well, and expects a treat when he does soo.  Oh yeah, this is where Snuggy Snacks came from!  This dog is crazy bout some treats!  However, he's stayed skinny over the years because up until Christmas 2010, he and Cuddles shared a kennel, and Cuddles hogged the food bowl. Sad, but true. Snuggles has always been skinny, and Cuddles was always a chunk. Snug is still with us, PTL, but mom says he's real stressed about about not having his best friend/life companion/love of his life there with him!

And this, my friends, was Miss Cuddles.  Her real name was Precious Cuddles Maclin. However, she responded to Cuddles, Miss Cuddles, Fatty, Snuggles, and Baby Girl.  She was basically an attention hog, and if you acted like you wanted to give attention away, she was sure to take it!  Like I mentioned earlier, she hogged the food bowl for YEARS! Snuggles was a weenie and would just stand and bark at her! So, she was very very fat for her size. Just more to love!  This dog had the personality!  She hunted rabbits and mice, would growl at ya til you rubbed her, loved my momma, would chase gato, and loved belly rubs.  She also had seizures quite often, which was real sad.  One time Chip almost killed her in a tragic ping-pong accident, but she pulled through!  She was definitely fun to watch and laugh at. Ole Miss Cuddles... It's not gonna be the same without her come May when I actually go home.  Snug, you better hold strong til at least then! 

It's crazy how attached you can get to your pets.  The really become a part of the family, and when they're gone, you really miss them.  I still walk outside expecting to see Jack sometimes (Jack was our black lab that died last year), but he's not there.  Going home to only one poodle is going to be weird.  Let's start talking Tommy and Gerri into another house dog soon!

I < 3 Peru...

... and their fruit!

Breakfast:  Apples, strawberries, bananas. Topped with vanilla yogurt and "Granola and Flakes" cereal. Yes, you too can do this at home.

Lunch:  Crepes and Waffles. Google it. Waffle, covered with Nutella, topped with bananas, ice cream, chantilly, chocolate drizzle, and a strawberry. You must come visit to get this. Well, you can probably make it, but you should come visit anyways. I totes promise to take you to Crepes and Waffles.  :)

Dinner:  Left over chicken nuggets from Mickey D's and Lays chips.  Cut me some slack, it was a long day!

A Too Long Blog...

I've been putting off writing this blog for a couple of days. Partially because I know it's going to be oober long, but also because I want to rid the "Gerica" from it and just really let the Lord speak through me on this one. Coming back to Peru has been great, and I definitely feel like God has me here for a reason, but that's not to say that it's all peas and carrots either.

Let me just start from the beginning, so you can get the whole overview.  I'll do a play by play on our days, and then a summary of lessons learned towards the end. That way, you can just read the fun, interesting stuff if ya want!  

 On June 16th I said goodbye to my parents and my best friend...  yeah we look happy, but we were fighting back tears, all of us. Don't even play!

 

Anywho, that began the journey. From the get go, God wanted to get my attention and show me He was in control. I made it to El Salvador just fine, and had no problem getting on the plane to Lima. Praise the Lord there were a lot of white people who spoke English and were even on a mission trip on my plane. Why? Well, I arrive in Lima, get my bags, and the taxi driver who was supposed to get me wasn't there. Yep. There I was. Stranded. I waited for like 45 minutes, but still no sign of him. So I get an Inka Kola, and go to the white people from the plane. They help me find internet to get a phone number to call, but, because Peruvian phone numbers are weird, we couldn't figure out how to call. So they decide to take me to their hostal with them, and we'd get everything figured out. On the way there, their translator called my supervisor for me, and turns out, these people are going the opposite direction I need to be going. For those of you who don't know, Lima is a little bigger than Greenfield. Like, roughly the size of New York City.  This poses a problem, but the Lord knows what He's doing. The white people I was with, who were part of a Church of God mission team, had to go back to the airport that night. So I just went back with them, met the taxi guy, met some cool people from Grand Canyon University. Ba-da-bing ba-da-boom! Problems solved! I didn't even have to pay for the taxi ride to the hostal! 

The next day, I met up with Mike (he's kind of a big deal, to me at least) and the Creightons. They're a retired couple from Louisiana who are here for the summer! 

 

Aren't they presh?  Anywho, that day we roamed around Miraflores, covered the essentials. Ya know, McDonalds and PINKBERRY!! Ahh! I got real excited when I first saw this. For all you who don't know, Pinkberry is totes the best hun cal fro yo!  

So, we covered the basics of Miraflores, Lima, Peru.  We eventually met up with Ginny Chandler (a really cool young woman that the Lord just shines through) and some others who were part of the Barnabas team for the first half of the summer.  They include Chuck and Mary Firestone, a retired couple who moved down here to serve, Kerrigan Smith, our resident yankee, and Lloyd (I'm unsure of his last name), the most interesting lawyer/psychiatrist/teacher/everything you could imagine, all while faithfully serving the Lord!  We met up at 4-D Gelateria, which is the best ice cream/gelato on the planet. No questions asked. (Yes, I had ice cream and frozen yogurt both this day.) At 4-D Ginny informed us that she, Sue and Walter Creighton, and myself would be leaving at 4:30 AM to head to Coracora to meet up with the Chavina team. Believe it or not, 4 AM exists, and it is entirely possible to walk 10 blocks at that hour. Here I was! I lived to tell the tale!

So the next morning we met at 4:30 and took a taxi to a bus station, then a bus to another bus station in Nasca, where we got off and took a van jam-packed with 13 people to Puquio, and then a combie from Puquio to Coracora. We arrived at about 10 that night in Coracora, and we were POOPED! It was by the grace of God we didn't get sick on some parts of that trip! We then spent the next two days in Coracora with Rachel, Ashley, Kelsey, Jim, and Matt.  They were all here for the summer like I was two years ago, except for Jim, who has been here for a year.  It was good hanging out with them, but we had to go back to Nasca on Tuesday for our mid-summer debriefing.  This is where everyone gets together for some rest time and tell about what God's doing in their villages and in them up until this point. (Btw, the travel day to Nasca was my BIRTHDAY!! Just sayin)

Anyyways, we spent three or four days in Nasca sharing stories and hanging out, then Jenna, Mitchell (we called him Pablo) and I headed out to Vilcashuaman, Peru! This is the village I was in two years ago, and I was sooo excited to go back!!  Before I go on any farther, I'd like you to meet my team!

This was our last night together, with Mama Kathy's desserts! Yumm!! Anyways, the three of us, along with the Creative Ministries Team, headed for Vilcas together on a big overnight bus.  However, Jenna had a spider bite and some other medical issues to attend to, so we sent the CMT on to Vilcas while Jenna, Arturo (awesome Peruvian translator), and myself stayed behind in a bigger city called Huamanga.  After hours of waiting in doctors' offices, Jenna got all the info and drugs she needed!  So we got our last round of "good food" (pizza) and left the next morning for Vilcashuaman.  This 3-4 hour combie ride was wayyy smoother than I had remembered from before, but my stummy was in knots with excitement to see my old friends.  We arrived, and of course we couldn't find the CMT anywhere, because a group of 6 white kids don't stand out enough here. So we took our bags to the hostal, and we went walking down the street looking for them.  While walking, we saw one of my favorite people in the whole world, Gloria Gamboa!! Ahh!  This was the lady that I helped in her restaurant before.  We had a good little screaming fit in the middle of the street, complete with her picking me up and spinning me around!  The rest of the time the CMT was there (after we found them), we went around visiting people we knew in the village, and the CMT performed skits and songs and stunts to draw attention and Bible stories to anyone who would watch/participate.  This was a lot of fun, and a good way for us to meet new people.

Ok, had enough yet? Well we're no where near finished!  I'm going to now just go through a typical day and tell about each person we tried to meet with each day.  Each morning, Jenna and I would wake up at about 8:15 (Pablo would wake up at 6 and work out while we got our extra beauty sleep!).  Let me just add that Jenna would prefer that I freeze to death than to cuddle with me at night.  Ok so... we'd get up and get dressed and go to breakfast at Gloria's at like 8:30ish. Then we'd go back to the hostal, have team time, then our own quiet time, then walk "arriba" to try to meet with Emma, Delphine, Monica, the Maries, the Ladies, the Crazy Lady, or the doctor.  If someone wasn't there, which they weren't almost every time, we'd just pick another person and try to meet with them.  We walked a lot. We'd take a break for lunch somewhere in there, then start back on the list.  At 3 every day we would go to the market and talk to Josephina and Domatilla.  We wouldn't try to meet with everyone everyday, but some days we couldn't find anyone, so we tried everyone.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.  Anyways, we'd stop looking for people around 5 or so, take time to change into warm clothes and prepare for Bible study, then we'd have Bible study with Bernardo and his family, Eusebio, a dentist, and Edwin.  We had all three men there once the whole month, but when we were able to meet with any of them, it was always a good time.  These men, especially Edwin and Eusebio, have a hunger for the Word and are so eager to learn!! Then, we'd eat cookies, then go to bed! Good day!


Ok so, no I'm going to talk a little about the people we met with the most. First, I'll start with Emma. Emma and her family are non-believers. They believe there is a God, but they have no desire to follow Him, mostly because they don't want to follow any crazy "rules".  Emma has a rough life. Her oldest son is physically and mentally handicap, and he doesn't leave their house.  So she is taking care of him, a fiesty and mean two year old son, and a four month old daughter.  Even without any health problems, this would be a lot for any woman!  But she keeps good spirits. We tried to help her wash clothes or shell peas or something when we'd go to visit, and she was always willing to let us help!  There's a huge Jehovah's Whitness population in Vilcas, and, unfortunately, they had been to see her many times, so she struggles in who to believe as well. And I mean, when a group tells you there's no Hell and that you're fine if you're a good person, it's hard not to like those worlds. However, it's not truthful. We were able to have several good conversations with her, and we would leave knowing we got her thinking, so keep praying for that. 

After Emma we would aim to visit Monica. We met Monica randomly on the street one day and were able to develop a relationship with her and her husband.  She's 23 and he's 24. It was nice hanging out with people near our age and not our parents ages.  We worked hard on developing a friendship with them and earning their trust and respect. We would just sit outside and chat with Monica and then ask her if we could share a story with her, and she always said yes. She was another we could tell that we had gotten her to think, and now we can just pray that that seed will grow some deep roots and we can go back later to water and care for it. 

There were also two different sets of sisters that we also tried to meet with. Both lived wayy uphill in different directions, and neither of them were able to hang out much, but it was still fun when we could. 

Who's next..? I'll talk about Delphine.  Mitchell had met him the first day, and he lived MUY ARRIBA (wayyy up!).  It took a good 30 minutes up hill to get to his house!  We only met with him two or three times, but he and his wive, Delia, were always welcoming.  They have 12 kids! It was heartbreaking to hear that their oldest son beats them and some of the youngest kids.  So please, pray for that.  Spiritually, we felt like Delphine understood the gospel and accepted it, but his explanations to us weren't always so clear.  So we're unsure, but maybe?  Keep praying for him definitely, that he reads the Bible and gets a better understanding of who Jesus is and His sacrifice for us.  

Now, there's the Crazy Lady.  We called her this not because she was crazy, just flamboyant.  And we all forgot her name. We had seen her on the streets several times, and she even asked us to buy her some gum one day, so we did!  But Mitchell befriended her, and we went to visit. The first day was hilarious! Her mom was there, and she went on about how we were all Italian and we were family and had so much in common. Oh yeah! Her mom had no teeth either!  She just kept on about how we were family and Italian for a long time, and even when we tried to tell them a Bible story, she would interrupt with "Soy Italiana. Somos Italianos!!". Although it was very distracting and frustrating that they weren't listening, we couldn't help but laugh, a lot.  Anyways, we were able to meet with Crazy Lady and her husband and kids several more times while we were there. We gave her a New Testament and share with her several stories.  So pray that she reads the Bible we gave her and that she begins to understand.  

 Now I'll talk about Gloria. She was my absolute favorite two years ago, and if you've ever heard me talk about Peru, you've heard about Gloria. Shes just a little ball of energy, and she'd do anything to help you, but she doesn't care to know the Lord.  She knows the Scripture, but has never experienced the freedom and joy found in Christ.  And this breaks my heart guys.  This lady was like my mom for 8 weeks in 2009, and she has no eternal hope.  Pray for her, that the Lord works on her heart and she realizes that she NEEDS Him.  

Now, my favorite story. Doctor Fidencio Chavez. This little guy is sooo cute. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of him, but just know he's precious. Anyways, we met Fidencio last time when I did not have the swine flu.  We were able to meet with him regularly, and he began sharing his life with us.  Turns out he's got some serious family issues going on.  Anyways, we found him this time, and he immediately wanted to meet with us.  We were only able to find him a couple of times, but he wanted to get right in the Word.  He ended up telling Mitchell that last time we were there he was so lonely and we were like family to him.  After we left and he had no one, he realized that God was still there and that He wasn't going to leave him. So he gave his life to the Lord then and there. PTL!! Fidencio still needs a lot of prayer, because his family situation is even worse now than before, and it tears him to pieces.

Now we'll talk about the market ministry.  Vilcas had a pretty big market, with things ranging from raw meat to crochet needles.  It was different, but always interesting.  We would try to go there daily and talk to Josephina and Domatilla.  A group that went to Vilcas earlier in the year began to meet with them and share the gospel.  It appears to us that Domatilla understood it and trusted the Lord with her life as a result of these guys.  Josephina had good intents, but we were never quite as sure about her submission to God.  Anyways, it was such a blessing to sit down and talk with these ladies, both are in their 40s.  They always attentively listened and had good questions, and their friends would listen too!  They're still weak in their faith, so definitely be in prayer for them. Here they are, in a very awkward picture!

 Aside from all of this, we tried to have a regular Bible study with a couple of people we knew were believers.  Three men showed up, different ones on different nights. Only once did we have all three, but when we did, it was GREAT!  They all have a hunger to learn more, to be discipled. They had real questions, and they wanted real answers.  We went through some scripture on prayer and being strong in their faith and how to use their spiritual gifts to share with others.  Pray for someone to step out as a leader and return to disciple these men, to be there to teach them and help them grow and advance the Kingdom in Vilcas. 

I know I said in the beginning I was going to try to remove the "Gerica" from this, and I apologize, because I know I didn't do it completely. Honestly, this blog has taken me over a week to write, and I'm trying my hardest to remember everything.  It's been two weeks since I sat in that hostal bedroom on the corner of the plaza in Vilcas, but it feels like it's been ages already.  In the month that I was there, God revealed to me the importance of prayer, and how I take it for granted.  He is still teaching me the importance and value and greatness of being able to communicate to Him. I pray that anyone who reads this will take this to heart, but for reals, learn to pray. Learn to cast your worries and troubles on the Lord.  He is there to listen, and He will not leave you or forsake you.  God taught me that absolutely nothing can be in my hands, because I am nothing.  Even my greatest efforts are dirty rags. I must be completely dependent on Him, and have my mind set on glorifying Him in every thought and every action. 

Life out of the village is a culture shock in itself.  My roommate Melissa and I are going to be living in Lima for a while, and Lima is a lot like New York City. It's HUGE!!  We're learning and patiently waiting on what God has in store for us in the upcoming months, and we desperately covet your prayers for us as well. Pray for guidance on what to do, wisdom to understand and handle certain situations correctly, and faith that God is working all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. 

I'll try to keep the next one of these real short. Thanks for sticking around this long!

Quick update

today we visited emma and had a real good convo with her and pablo just threw the gospel at her and we could tell it really made her think. so pray that she does think on it and has more questions for us and that she eventually accepts the Lord. we also met virginia´s husband today. he´s been away working. and we invited him to Bible study on Monday, and he asked if we could come over tonight to study the Bible with them. so we did! and they were full of questions and just hungry for the Word. it was really encouraging to us and great for them too. so pray for them and the Bible study on monday and that we have more people come.

tomorrow is saturday. we´re gonna go help this little girl shepard some sheep at like 9 in the morning. nervous! then tomorrow night we´re gonna get good chicken and fries and then go back to the room and pig out on candy and cookies and coke. sooo excited! oh! and the jehovahs witness lady told us shed make us pizza for lunch! so maybe that´ll work too!

keep those prayers up people! they´re working!

Vilcas update

We´ve been in vilcas for 6 days now, and they´ve been pretty great! yeah, i miss home, and all of you writing on my facebook wall telling me to come home, know you made me cry! :P no really although i miss home, vilcas is great! God is definitely doing great things!

the first couple days we had the Creative Ministy Team here with us. they were great and drew lots of attention and shared some cool stories. We had Bible study with a dentist with thim several times, and after they left, we were able to meet with him again! sadly, he left for Lima yesterday. oh yeah..

yesterday was dumb.we had plans to meet with several people and NONE of them happened. we were back in the hostal at like 6:45. it got all our spirits down. i did beat sudoku several times on my iPod. i´ll be a champ before you know it! We just stayed in prayer all day and tried to keep busy studying the Bible and reading our trendy Christian books we brought! (mine is Lord Teach Me to Pray by MacArthur incase you wondered) anywho, it was real sad. we were asleep by 9!

however today has been GREAT we went to emma´s (a lady i met last time) and chatted and the first thing she asked was what´s the difference between us & jehovas whitness and is there a hell? yea.. intense. but she did chat and cook us lunch and we picked peas for her.

on the way to her house we found the doctor that i use to meet with last time & he was wayy excited to see us & invited us over to study right then! so we went after we left emma´s.

then we tried to have a children´s time, but none showed up, so we went looking for some girls we played volleyball with earlier this week, and they invited us in their house. we sat there for like 2 hours and they cooked us spaghetti. granted, the two hours of sitting was awkward, the food was good, and that was a very sweet notion on their part. we got some good conversation from them and hopefully we´ll get to go hang out again tomorrow. we didnt get to play volleyball today cuz it rained! and its FREEZING cold right now. me and jenna are gonna get in the word (the bed and the Bible) after this and get warm and eat sublime (sublime is their version of hersheys. it´s legit).

yes, right now, we are freezing, and the little man in charge of this joint just yelled "senorita, es la hora!" therefore, we must get off the internet soon. i responded with "media hora mas!" so i got a lil more time!

keep praying for us. that we stay warm and that this cold that is trying to invade my body will be overpowered by prayer and the decongestants i´m taking! pray for opportunities to share with more people, and that we don´t miss any opportunity. pray for wisdom in choosing which stories and books of the Bible to share in our meetings with people. Personally, pray that the Lord humbles me more and more every day, and that my desires become His.  Pray we keep high spirits for the next 24 days here and have safe travels going back to Lima!

I´ll try to post before then, but I´m not making any promises, because it´s cold and costly to be on here! thanks guys! you´re the best!

Is This Real Life?

As I sit here in my air conditioned house, on my big, comfy, brown couch, things are getting real.  Only one more day in Greenfield. One more day to say goodbye to people.  One more day to enjoy the luxuries of washing machines, dish washers, air conditioners, heaters, unlimited electricity and water access.  One more day of playing with Snuggles and Cuddles.  One more day of hanging out with Chip.  One more day of driving to the bank, then Sonic.  One more meal at El Vallarta. One more dinner around the kitchen table.  One more day of throwing Gato out of my room.  One more day at home. 

With all this, it also means six more days of family time.  Six more days in extreme Florida heat.  Six more days with my sister and her family.  Six more days of being spoiled rotten on vacation.  Six more days of 9 people sharing 2 bathrooms.  Six more days at a pool (finally!). 

And then, a year of adventure.   A year apart from my family. A year apart from Brucey.  A year apart from my friends.  A year without late night chats at Drew and Bethany's. A year financially dependent on others. A year away from America.  A year of new friendships, new foods, new places. A year without sweet tea.  A year re-building past relationships.  A year of intense Spanish. 
A year of challenges. A year of excitement and joy. A year of sadness and anxiety. A year of compassion. A year of trusting the Lord. A year of Him being my strength.  A year drawing near to Him, sharing Him, leaning on Him for everything.  A year of miracles.  A year of heart changes.  A year of love. A year of grace. A year of faith. A year of dependence.  A year of beauty.  A year simply basking in the arms of my Savior, and doing anything I can to make much of Him.  A year of praise. 



As I reflect this week, many things enter my crazy mind.  This journey that I am about to embark on, that I am called to do, is going to be life changing.  I remember leaving for college thinking "everything is about to change".  The same is true when I left for Peru in 2009: "Life itself is going to be different after this".  While this is a terrifying thought, because we all love the comfortable side of life, I can't help but look at the big picture, that we are all called to something.  God has given us all specific talents and desires of the heart that He knows will bring all the glory to Him.  This involves change, the different, the unknown.  Following the Lord isn't easy, or necessarily fun all the time.  It's difficult and scary.  Frankly, I'm scared to death of getting on that plane on the 16th, but I know the Lord's got me in His big ole hands, and He is not going to let me go.  I pray that I don't forget that, and that this next year God will break me to pieces and build me back up to be stronger in Him. 

If you're reading this, I covet your prayers.  I covet the prayers of everyone you know.  I need you all. In return, I promise to keep you updated on what the Lord is doing in Peru.  For those who don't like to read, I promise to upload pictures when possible.  :)

Let's do this.