What started off as a list of about 15 children has dwindled down to 2 or 3...
It's frusterating, I admit it. There's many obstacles for these children to overcome during the summer: sometimes, their parents make them work with them at the open markets, which mean long hours and little money, the boys have fútbol practice , others simply want to take advantage of the cool evening air after being cooped up inside all day hiding from the blistering sun. A couple of the parents have also simply banned their children from coming because of behavioural problems...
Whether or not they have an excuse doesn't interest me much, however I long to see the Lord's hand in this in the long run. The hard part is that I may not see much, if any, fruit from being here this year... but the Lord is faithful and His plans are perfect.


Jessica on top, from left to right, Mikaela, Camilla and Belen
The kids club is held in Jessica's house, Mikaela and Cami live next door and Belen is banned from coming.

The next 3 are sisters and live next door to the kids club... Mikaela is the 3rd born of the family. She's a determined little girl, slightly shy, until she feels completely accepted, then there's no stopping her.

Flor is the baby of the family, she is VERY loud and loves to scream at the top of her lungs and can be heard all the way from the fútbol fields about 7 or 8 houses down from her house

Camilla is the 2nd child, as you can probably tell in the picture she is very shy, the complete opposite of her baby sister. I've maybe heard her say a sentence the whole time I've been there. Her faint whispers and determination to sing her favorite song "brilla mis ojos Señor", which doesn't actually exist are the highlight of the hour for me. She really wants to sing "brilla Jesus (shine, Jesus, shine)" or "abre mis ojos Señor (open the eyes of my heart)"... we're still trying to help her to realize they're 2 different songs.

Christmas' events...

We are now the 26th in Uruguay and Christmas has come and gone... I didn't know what to expect, to be honest. Most of the time in Uruguay people celebrate on Christmas eve, so a family supper around 10 at night, the few presents are opened and fireworks (you know, the ones that are illegal in Canada) are set off, some of them continuing on through 4am. This late-night celebration is followed by a rendez-vous with friends, usually finishing around 5 or 6 in the morning. Christmas day is a day of rest and relaxation, possibly with another family meal, but not always.

My experience was much more quiet...since our anticipated day at the beach was rained out, Christmas eve was spent baking brownies and watching movies, midnight to 1am was all about the fireworks (we have some neighbours who know how to put on a show!!) and alas, the stockings were opened... a much anticipated moment that was brought to conclusion after a 38 hour countdown (Silvina's idea, not mine). I really got to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas... how the Lord saw most fit to come as a baby and why He didn't just appear, or why He even came to earth at all, it was very reassuring. He came as a baby to fulfill promises He made a thousand years earlier! He came as a baby to partake of human flesh, as it is written in Genesis! He came to be the only blood offering to save us from our sins! How encouraging!! The Lord is so faithful.

It was raining again on Christmas day, so more baking was in order, as well as a couple of more movies. In the evening Alejandra and I went to a friends house with people from the youth group and successfully watched a movie, after many many obstacles were overcome. First, the tv needed to be changed, then the first dvd player didn't work so we sent a guy to his house to get his, for some reason the movie was in black and white until they finally fixed it, then, the remote control's buttons were all out of whack so the 'up' was 'down' the 'enter' was 'left' etc. then the language option wouldn't work, it kept switching from English to Spanish, even once to French, without anyone touching anything... the tv kept switching off as well... we arrived around 6:30, began the movie at 8:30 and finished it around 11:00... it was eventful to say in the least. haha

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas time with friends and family!!

I want to ask everyone to pray for Belen, the little girl in the picture. She has been coming to kids club for a couple of years, her mom has even offered to host the club in their house in the past. Something had been happening in her life, she had been listening, memorizing her verses and faithfully coming every week. One week, her brother Cesar didn't come because he was punished, the next week, Belen wasn't there either, or the week after, or this past Thursday. Her mom won't let her, or her brother attend kids club anymore, I didn't ask questions, I just sat there thinking about it... and I decided that I would pray for her and Cesar, specifically, everyday. The Lord can bring these 2 kids back to kids club, He can work in their mother's heart and allow them to come back. If you think of me, or Belen during the week, please pray for her!! Thank you!

here and there...

The sun is strong, but the wind is stronger, making it a super nice day in Uruguay. Not quite as eventful as the huge snowstorm that hit the homeland this weekend, I suppose. Right now, I´m in La Paz at the Carter´s house until tomorrow, I think? I was able to attend their church and see the girls, Ana, Kati, Marina and Gabriella, as well as Marianella and David. It´s been encouraging and a nice time of being with friends :)
I´m listening to Josh Groban and Christmas music right now and I can´t believe that it´s almost here!! In most places there are virtually no signs of the over-commercialized holiday. In others, the gaudy decorations are ruining "the happiest time of the year". I am very happy and content, however, with the quaint Christmas tree next to the fire place (that isn´t on, obviously).

he may be small...

New puppy! his name is Gunner (like the dog from Cheaper by the Dozen) he's a month old. Everyone here has a dog or 5. They're the best alarm systems :)

One of the many views that I love from a friend´s apartment in Paysandú. This palm tree has seen a lot in its many years in the middle of the city.
Although I´m not Third Day´s biggest fan, I´ve grown a liking for their song "Mountain of God" since coming to Uruguay. It hasn't been an easy road, I'll admit that, but the Lord is with me every step of the way. How encouraging!! Here are some of the lyrics...

...
Even though the journey´s long
and I know the road is hard
You´re the one thats gone before me
You will help carry on
after all that I´ve been through, now I realize the truth
that I must go through the valley
to stand upon the mountain of God

As I´ve travelled down the road that you have led me down
You are here with me, yes, you are here with me
I have need for nothing more
now that I have found that you are here with me, yes, you are here with me
I confess from time to time I lose my way
but you were always there to bring me back again...

Feliz Navidad

I don't know if I'll ever get used to seeing Christmas decorations on palm trees... it still seems unreal that we're in December but yet there isn't a hint of snow or even cold weather. As a matter of fact, the temperature is climbing higher everyday as we're now breaking 30 degrees daily. Unfortunately there almost still the same amount of commercialism, I wonder what Christmas would be like without it. The local mall has Christmas kiosques and even a gift-wrapping station like the boy scouts and girl guides have, let's not forget the obnoxiously big tree (with fake snow of course) and winter-wonderland display. It makes me giggle every time we pass the news paper vendor on the street and he's wearing a Santa hat, it's my daily reminder that Christmas is coming... faster than I know. I try to picture what Christmas looks like here in Uruguay, there's no toboggans, over-dressed children who can barely move in their snow suits, Christmas light competitions, snow men or festive Tim Horton's cups... I'm excited because even though I don't have the things I'm used to, I might get to decorate my own palm tree (I have to try to convince the neighbors I think, because we don't have any), to spend Christmas day having a pic-nic on the beach, to eat delicious asado and churizos from the coal-bbqs late Christmas eve, to drink my hot chocolate (yes... it's a must worldwide) under the scorching sun Uruguayan sun...