http://throssels.zoomshare.com/:blog Blah Blah Blog: Blog Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:31:14 -0500 http://www.throssels.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=510818bc5d50341b57a995acc0714f8c_4ac12b22 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:31:14 -0500 I was in Target the other day and a group of women and children passed by me. There was a Snow White costume nearby and one of the women started fussing that it was beautiful and another one of the women should get it for one of her two daughters to wear for Halloween. The other mother harumphed a "no!" and kept walking. The first woman said something to the little girls like, "Don't you want to be a princess?" The girls' mother said, "She ain't no princess." The first woman said, "Don't you ever tell a little girl she's not a princess! All girls are princesses!" (I was silently cheering her on!). But the mother turned her back and said (in poor English)--"Princess don't exist." They walked away and I was saddened by that display--and in front of her daughters, even. Princesses DO exist. Historically, factually, and spiritually. I am grateful today for the dozens and scores of girls who have heard us say that to them, and the many more who have heard it from others we have never met. As children of Christ, we are ROYALTY. Don't you ever forget it. Want some inspiration? Scroll back through our photo albums to the one marked "Princesses." Those girls can tell you exactly who they are. http://www.throssels.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=00859604efe9e559625650c595268456_4ac125e9 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:08:57 -0500 I have so many random things in my head today, I just don't feel like I have an organized way to put them together. (Lack of sleep could have something to do with that. . . ). And some things still feel private and personal to our family. But as you all have become family of a sort, I will share :-) My sister and her family are here today. SO much fun. They arrived a few days ago and today is their last day with us before traveling back to Montana. We sang together in church with our mom, had a couple family dinners and held a baby shower for my sister's newest baby--Koliah. We have been blessed to spend time with so many family members over the last month or two. Such a treat after so much time away from them. We are saddened and sombered that Tom's grandmother, Ann, has been diagnosed with brain cancer, and that is something we ask you to pray with us about. We love her very much, and I am praying today that God will bless every day of her life. He knows exactly how many of them there are--even if we don't! We are thrilled that she has plans to visit us this week! We are also thrilled that Tom's parents are coming, too. Pray for warm weather for us! The boys are doing well in school--as are we :-) Tom and I are on staff this year and loving it. Speaking of which, I've got to go and pick the boys up. Blessings to you all. . . J. http://www.throssels.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=b9d49f2b233441f5226b802ae87811d4_4a96d447 Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:45:27 -0500 Things I'm missing from Bolivia today? Passion fruit juice, yucca (I'm serious-although my guys here wouldn't side with me on that one), saltenas (breakfast pastries, kind of like chicken pot pie to go), warmer weather (but not too much), wearing sleeveless tops and sandals, our dog- Turbo, church friends, and being at prayer meeting with the missionaries. Surprises? Hmmm . . . How many spiders there are in Eureka . . . how many churches there are in Atlanta. . . that the previous tenants here planted a great garden . . . How cold my toes are getting-and it's still August. . . how gracious and loving people are here. . . how unconcerned they are about the swine flu "pandemic" that has closed our Bolivian school (by government order). . . how many cool new gadgets and food products there are now. . . that I haven't been to the beach OR Jalisco's cafe yet. . . and that there are about a gazillion (rounding off) movies at the rental store that I've never even heard of! Seriously, we have had SO MUCH fun here, visiting with family and friends and visiting churches who we love so much. We've had a great 6 weeks or so. . . sorry to you all that the blogging and updates have been so lacking. I'll try to work on that now that we have internet. As Beth Moore says, you wouldn't waste a prayer on our family today. We are traveling this weekend to central CA (about 8 hours) and back, again the following weekend as well. In the midst of this, we are setting things up for our first week of school, where Tom and I are both on staff! Exciting news. So, thanks for your prayers! Love, Janine http://www.throssels.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=60b67d5c5aa2980bd9d458fd1429c72f_4a541621 Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:44:33 -0500 Okay, now for something funny :-) The other day, Tom and I went to a store we've been to several times--to get a video to watch. This time, it was a "chick-flick" (but a well-written one :-) ). I wasn't really watching as Tom paid and took the movie, but I heard the guy at the counter saying something about "cambiar por chica." I was furious. I turned to Tom and whispered, "Did he just say you're turning into a girl?" I was fuming. How DARE he disrespect my husband like that. Tom gave me a puzzled look and shook his head and kept walking. Being the submissive kind of wife I am :-) I just followed his lead and left the conversation behind. But in the truck again, I shot out at him, "What did he say?! Did that guy say you were turning into a girl because we got a girl movie?" Tom said quietly, he said, "Do you want this bag (to put the movies in), or do you want to change it for a small one?" "Chica"can mean "girl," but it can also mean "small." Oops. Glad I didn't let the guy have it. That would have been embarrassing :-) http://www.throssels.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=045096385b43757034688448f576883c_4a5415f5 Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:43:49 -0500 Before the despedida Sunday afternoon, Tom got to preach the Sunday sermon. He had planned to preach to the youth, but we showed up and he was asked to preach to both the youth and adults. He spoke on Lamentations 3 and God knocked it out of the park. Really. I've heard a lot of sermons, but it brought me to tears about four times. Riveting, educational, interesting, moving stuff. Great Spanish, too :-). After that, there was a brief time of prayer where the church prayed for us. I didn't fall apart, but I tell you it's tough to do the goodbye thing. As Philip said that day after saying goodbye to one of his classmates--"I'm going to miss them!" Tonight we said goodbye to one of our dearest friends. It's been a week of goodbyes, and I hadn't cried much at all. Not even at the farewell party. But I knew tonight would be a hard one. One of the typical traditions of saying farewell here is to really open up and share how you feel about the person who is leaving. When I hugged our friend goodbye, he began to say all these wonderful things about us and I lost it. I finally had to tell him to shut up--I couldn't bear it. I long for my family and friends and hometown SO MUCH, but please don't stop praying for us here, either. It's hard to say goodbye. http://www.throssels.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=feca54fdfb64f79c5c7696e3d5f542e3_4a5415bd Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:42:53 -0500 P.S. Guess what we ate at our despedida? Udder. Not kidding. Udderly serious :-) (I know--that was an easy one). Wasn't the first time we ate it, but I'd really like it if it was the last. Not my favorite. :-) There were plenty of other good things to eat, though, in ENORMOUS portions, as is typical. I'll try to post a pic lest you think I'm kidding, or just have a curiousity to see what grilled udder looks like :-) FYI--It may look it, but it does NOT taste like chicken. http://www.throssels.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=3e04ceb257af4657b6f1e84b54c530ba_4a541591 Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:42:09 -0500 Whew! What a busy three weeks. I hardly know where to start. We finished a great Vacation Bible School at the international church, and are now packing up to move to the USA for one year. I have SO many photos and stories to share--just of the last few weeks! But for now, I'll just post a couple. One is of Tom, Philip and me at a farewell party thrown by our couples class (Pete took the photo). We all had so much fun laughing, eating and talking together. Some brought extended family members as well, and it was a blast. I have to tell you about the gift we got from the class. . . A few days earlier, one of the women from the class came to my house to help me clean it and get ready for our check-out with our landlord. She saw a lowlander souvenir I had, and we talked a little about how I'd never really been to the highlands much, that I have things from the lowlands where we live, but not much from the highlands. It was a really brief conversation, and she told me where I could buy highland souvenirs. Well, she kept that very brief conversation in her heart. When we showed up at the farewell party, she had helped arrange the purchase by the class of a beautiful his and her woven set from the highland mother of one of the women in our class. It would have been special if they got anything at all for us--some of them make $5-10 a day. Let alone the fact that my dear friend chose something so costly and that she knew I wanted. But it gets better. The woman who made the set was a dear friend of ours that we love very much, she wove it in her teen years with sticks and a piece of bone, and it is BEAUTIFUL. Very high quality. In these times of so much division and racism here, they told us they wanted it to show the unity of the lowlanders and the highlanders who attend our church together. The woman who made it showed us--and some of the lowlanders--how to wear the pieces. But wait! There's more! :-) Seriously, this is a beautiful thing. . . when we left Tennessee ten years ago, a dear friend gave us another special gift. It was a woven blanket, very old, woven by her mother before she died. It was pink and worn, a zig zag herringbone kind of pattern. It was something that was precious to her, and that blanket rode on my lap as we left Tennessee. We were heartbroken when that blanket was stolen (along with our jeep) a few days later in Arizona. I grieved the loss of that lovely gift. No one from our church here--and even few friends in the USA--knew that story of that pink blanket. And now, another pink, woven blanket to travel with, wrapped up in memories of dear friends. Amen. God is so good. http://www.throssels.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=29f34db19ae666330f17b5431015cd81_4a3a9dab Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:03:55 -0500 Pastor Andy at the International Church here recently preached a sermon on "departures." He made an important point that losses are a normal point of life, but it is the things loved that give us this feeling of loss, not just the things absent. We may not miss a bad job, an obnoxious neighbor, a mischievous pet, but we may grieve deeply the loss of a good job, a dear friend, and a cat that has been a companion for many years. We have been busy the past few months-packing up and preparing to temporarily hand our ministries over to others. This year, we leave Bolivia for our second "Home Ministry Assignment"-a time when we travel in the USA for a year, sharing things God has done with us in South America this past term. It is, of course, a time of mixed feelings, as we wrap up projects here, say goodbyes, move AGAIN. There are some goodbyes that are hard to say. Some feelings of deep loss as we say them. Philip is especially struggling with that today. But it is such an exciting time, too. I often think of the Apostle Paul and how he longed to be back in his town, sharing with the churches and individuals who lovingly supported him while he was on the field. We know what that feels like now and are so eager to be back in our hometowns, with our family and friends there! We are also excited to be going back to "our country" again, although we know that we will never truly be at home this side of heaven. But we do miss things like snow, redwood trees, bookstores, the ocean and basketball on TV :-) We look forward to eating fried chicken with our fingers and playing football-not soccer-in the park. We are truly blessed to be Americans. In the meantime, we are busy here, and having a great season of ministry and building relationships. Sometimes, that means alone time-building airplane motors or writing curriculum. Sometimes, it means going to loud family celebrations, or the crowded markets, or being serenaded by dear friends at 2 in the morning. Sometimes it means sitting at the hospital with a critically-ill baby, and sometimes it means getting things ready to host a wedding or baby shower. Ministering to others--and being ministered to BY others--takes many forms, doesn't it? In this life, there are lots of wins and there are lots of losses, too. And sometimes both take surprising forms. We are truly blessed today, with so many things. What are you blessed with today? Where do you see glory and beauty today? What makes you truly thankful today? In His grace--J. http://www.throssels.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=85fd4277103687139e4f53997e16502f_4a2369bc Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:40:12 -0500 We are just six weeks from leaving for the USA. Six weeks. Feels strange. Tonight, we went to our first serenade. We've been serenaded several times, but don't usually go to the serenades. First of all, they're at midnight and our kids usually have school the next day. Secondly, we still don't usually know when they are. We're kind of out of the loop since most of the other church members live within walking distance of the church building and each other, and we don't. They can spontaneously (especially since most don't have kids with school the next morning) do a serenade. So, we don't get invited much, though they usually come sing to us three or four times a year (Tom's birthday, my birthday and Mother's Day). This year, blocked from our house by heavy rains, they sang to me by telephone for about 10 minutes. . . at 2:00+ in the morning. :-) Anyway, tonight, with our kids on summer/ winter break and the birthday of a dear friend dawning this Monday morning, we went to join the serenaders. And, as they sang the first songs outside the window, then moved inside for more singing, laughing, eating and so on, I realized there are some things about life here I am really going to miss if we spend the next year in the USA. Like serenatas. And not just serenades in general, but the way Elvio does the little echoes and trills. The way the Rodriguez sisters' strong voices can fill in all the empty spaces and smooth out softer off-key voices. The way Andrea laughs. The way Guillermo and Silder add bits in Portuguese and make everyone else laugh. Dolly's sweet, "A-MEN!"s. The way Richard takes the guitar playing to a whole new level--beyond just a group of people getting together to sing "Happy Birthday." Watching the pastor play the Bolivian calfskin drum. The way the rest of the group all look at us when they try to sing "Happy Birthday" in English. Picking the birthday guest of honor's song. . . it's really quite sweet. And the longer I am here, the more I appreciate it. I remember in Costa Rica we HATED serenades on our street. They were loud and noisy and woke us up. (We didn't get serenaded there--I'm talking about when our neighbors would get serenaded) A dear Costa Rican friend didn't understand how they could bother us because they were so SWEET! Now, I get that. They really are precious. We played and sang about an hour tonight. We ate cheese sandwiches on flattened white bread, ate storebought cookies and crackers, and drank watered-down, extra-sweet coffee from cups of such thin plastic mine was melting in my hand from the heat of the drink. Tom and Elvio each gave the sleepy guest of honor a birthday blessing. He got a little teary. We hugged him and left. I am grateful today for love. For good friends. For sweet coffee in thin plastic cups. http://www.throssels.zoomshare.com/:blog?id=c912dfcc41c7ed3c7d9fb1cd88027dfc_4a0f0dec Sat, 16 May 2009 14:03:08 -0500 Okay, I am writing this with one hand occasionally over my nose due to a permeating stink emanating from the nearby laundry room. Our washer, which I am still VERY grateful to have, died yet again. When Tom and Peter took it apart to find what was wrong. . . well, the stink came out, too. We have water issues in this house and from time to time a sulfury, rotten egg smell comes through the washer. Well, it seems like deep in its innermost parts, it has been saving up some of that smell. I am so grateful for a handy-dandy helpful husband (that's a quote for some of you children's book nuts out there), and for my son to help. It sounds like it's running again now, which would be AWESOME. Three or four heaping baskets of laundry await. . . In an hour or so, we head to a friends' house for a little get-together with some of the young ladies who helped out at the recent conference. A way of thanking them for their hard work. Tea and baked goods and a few games. It should be fun. We got some more supplies for VBS next month recently, too. Power Lab. It was Group Publishing's 2008 program, so some of you might have had kids in it last year. We are SO looking forward to it! It's a week-long study about the power of God and how He can radically change our lives. Very cool stuff. Have a great weekend!!