Standing On The Promises

I feel kind of like a hypocrite writing this post, but I just wanted to share what is on my heart.  You have probably sung the song Amazing Grace a lot of times. I don't know about you, but almost every time I play or sing it, I am moved by the simplicity of God's amazing grace. God forgave me, a vile sinner that slapped him in the face, spit on him, then nailed him to a cross. That is amazing grace. God loved me, the person that sentenced him to die, that turned his back on him, that mocked and scorned him. That is true love.  I am so thankful for his grace towards me, and I tell him that all the time. But, when it comes time to show someone else some grace, I find it very, very difficult. Thoughts like, they don't deserve my forgiveness, look how they hurt me, they were so rude! In fact, I think that was an outright lie. I can not forgive them. Can you imagine what this world would be like if Jesus had given in to those thoughts? I don't even want to think...

                                            Here is a video of Peter and me playing piano!

  Hello everyone!  Since I last blogged we have had a lot of interesting happenings, so I decided to just post some pictures and videos with a running commentary.....Enjoy! David got to go swimming for the first time ever last Friday! He had so much fun that he did not want to get out of the pool when time was up!  David and big brother Myles Clara carrying Peter in true Bolivian style!  Wonderful smiles! Peter found out that it is no fun to stick fingers in the fan!  Here Gina and I are cleaning and bandaging the wound. Sorry Pedrito! I hope you learned your lesson!  We love our real-live dolls! Disaster strikes! One of the pantry shelves fell down ! It seems that Paula encouraged this event by pulling down on it while reaching for some crackers! I had anticipated this for some time. Thankfully I was at work so I didn't have to help with the cleanup process! :) And then, the coffee pot BLEW UP!!! I wa...

Disclaimer: This post is about the reality of living "like a fish out of water". So don't judge me too harshly when you read it. :)  Have you ever felt like you would give anything to go somewhere? That's how I felt last Saturday as my Aunt very sweetly held up an iPad, while Skyping with us so we could see a little bit of the Annual Booher Family Concert. I went upstairs and cried. I really wanted to be there; to sing with my family, to play my ukulele, to listen to and admire all of my talented Uncles and Aunts. I'll admit, I was not content. It can be so hard! Sometimes I miss the things I know and love so much!  Homesickness is real. It happens. It's no fun. And believe me, I've had my share! It's hard to live in a big city, where you can actually see the pollution that dust and two million people can create. Living in a culture that is different from our own can be challenging. We get stared and yelled at almost every time we go out in the...

Preface I've been teaching at Carachipampa, the International Christian school here in Cochabamba. They rather reluctantly gave me the key that opens all of the classrooms, so I could teach in one of them. Unfortunately, I lost it about 3 weeks ago. Now I  have to teach out of my home which stresses everybody out. Last time I saw it, it was on the kitchen counter where everybody leaves their keys. Why is mine the only one that disappears? I've stressed, prayed, let it go, picked it back up, and still the elusive key has yet to be found.     Sleep Evades Promise: Proverbs 3:5,6   “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and he shall direct thy paths.”                                                                     ...

                                    I have always wanted to hike to the top of this mountain.                                           The twin peaks on the right are called Mount Tunari.    Mount Tunari is 16,480 feet high. This mountain isn't even on the list of the top twenty tallest mountains of Bolivia! On Wednesday morning we loaded up our wonderful, almost 4X4 truffi (ha, ha), with 12 people, a sack lunch, and a guitar. We went up the same road that you see in  A Drive Through the Andes , but this time we turned off and took a very treacherous and difficult road. The Car The Road                                                 ...

Cochabamba Bolivia, South America, is a city of about 2 million people. It is spread out in a valley that is almost completely surrounded on one side by the beautiful Andes mountains. In the winter it never rains, so the dust and pollution all hovers over the city, creating a horrible and health damaging atmosphere. Don't get me wrong, I like Cochabamba (okay, I’ll admit to this much, I like it sometimes. We have a love-hate relationship, you see), but it just gets less lovable in the wintertime!  So last Tuesday, my family and some friends decided to go for a drive to see some of these mountains, and to get up out of the dusty city. We look at them from afar every day, but it’s not the same as getting up close and really enjoying God’s marvelous creation! As we rode, we sang lots of songs and choruses in Spanish and English!  We stopped for a few minutes and hiked around at a waterfall. It was beautiful.  Up and up we went until we came to...