Healthy Eating Continues

The good thing about eating healthy is that sooner or later you can tell that you've been eating healthy.  It's been 70 days since I started on this journey and, thankfully, there is less of me these days.  I've had zero difficulty adjusting to the food; giving up sugar, flour and most dairy hasn't been that hard.  

Instead, the hardest part has been the prep work, including planning the weekly menus, grocery shopping, cleaning all the fruits/vegetables, and then cooking.  The entire process takes a lot of time!  Although I haven't found myself craving any particular food, lately I have longed for a chance to eat a meal that required little, if any prep--like maybe a ham sandwich, a grilled cheese or a can of soup.  

Nevertheless, except for a quick lunch at the mall on Saturday, we've been eating every meal at home.  I guess it's just part of the lifestyle change!

Spelling Bee Preparation

On Wednesday I started helping the sixth graders at New Life Christian School prepare for the spelling bee.  They just received a copy of the sixth grade words so that's where we started.  The word lists include three levels of difficulty, and, as I'm sure I mentioned last year, sixth graders in the states would find many of the average and most of the difficult words very challenging.  For New Life kids, these words are in their second language so that makes them even harder.

I found an online spelling program that allowed me to build word lists for a class and provided an individual login for my students.  The best part is that the program pronounces and uses each word in a sentence.  Since we have access to the small computer lab, each student can login and complete their own practice.  It is a great way to maximize our time.  Even better, the students with computers can access the program at home.  

On Fridays school is dismissed at 12:30.  My seven kids brought their lunch and then we worked from 1:00 to 3:30.  We mixed things up a bit with some computer work, then had a traditional spelling bee, then had a lightning round with the easiest words.  If they missed them, they had to go write the word 10 times before they could come rejoin the round.

We don't meet again until Wednesday so, hopefully, they will find time to study the rest of the 6th grade words so we can start on the 7th grade words on Thursday.  We have 11 more practices until the spelling bee on Tuesday, April 29. 

Sharing at IDEM

Last night was IDEM (small group discipleship) night; we missed the session last week because we were coming back from Guatemala.  The IDEM curriculum has 9 sessions (3 per year.)  We are currently in the middle of the 5th session and have been meeting with this small group for 18 months (and have another 18 months to go.)  The friendship/love/support within this group is amazing as we've shared our lives, our testimony and the things that are most important to us.

The focus of this session is on the development of the Christian as a servant; the excellent material was written by Pastor Julio Contreras.  Studying the material is an interesting process--we receive it electronically in Spanish.  I copy it into Google translate which does average job turning it in to English.  (I'm not bashing Google Translate--without using it as a starting point, I'd never get all the way through the material.) Then, I spend several hours reading the Spanish and making adjustments to the English translation.  Once finished Stephen and I read the English version to be sure we understand the Spanish material.  Yesterday we studied Chapter 4, entitled "Hands to the Work."

Our IDEM groups meets for 2 hours on Tuesday evening.  Since most of the group is coming directly from work, we take turns bringing food.  Last night's main dish was Bean Soup with ham and dessert was "torreja" with sauce made from prunes.  It was more or less french bread with a fruit sauce.  Here's a picture:

Evidently it is a traditional dish from Spain which is usually served during lent.  Unfortunately, my "healthy diet" which doesn't allow bread or sugar, kept me from trying it.  The rest of the group, however, raved about it so I will assume it was quite tasty.

Last night's discussion of Chapter 4 was a little different than our normal routine.  Everyone was given 4 minutes (Ryan Blackstock, a gringo, is our group leader--hence the strict time limit) to share what was most impactful about the chapter.  Of course, hearing this puts fear in the heart of both me and Stephen.  Sharing is Spanish is still difficult!  But, we did it!  I was well under the time limit and Stephen even exceeded it by a bit.  Progress, progress!

Anniversary Trip in the Works

Our 40th anniversary is coming up at the end of May.  We have been talking for the last year about what to do to celebrate. 

I started suggesting a cruise before we celebrated 30 years, 35 years and again this year. Unfortunately, while a cruise is on my bucket list, it's definitely not on Stephen's list.

We've spent the last several months looking at options--all over the world.  What about going to Europe?  What about staying in Central America?  What about Colorado?  What about Hawaii?  What about _____________?  

We made so many trial itineraries with flight info, hotels and cost estimates; however, none of them felt quite right to us.  About three weeks ago, we finally made up our mind.  

Drum roll--we're going to the San Francisco area.  Our decision was based on the fact that we don't get to see our children/grandchildren enough, so if we're going to fly somewhere, we want to be close enough to see and spend time with them.  Stephen and I will spend the first three days downtown San Francisco

 after which our kids/grandkids will join us at a vacation home on Stinson Beach. 

We'll end our trip with a few days at Daniel/Shannon's home in Sunnyvale.  Sounds perfect to us!

Antigua Visit

When ever we go to Guatemala, we always go to Antigua to visit with our friends (Spanish teachers.)  This time was no different--we left on Monday morning after breakfast at Capistrano's (see previous post) and arrived about 10:30.  Corina and her family were all at home so we drove straight to Pastores (about 5 miles north east of Antigua.)  The girls go to school in the afternoon, so we were able to see everyone.  We were so glad that we decided to come in the morning or we would have missed seeing the girls.  

They showed us room that was built by volunteers from a Baptist church in Antigua.  Before this, all six of them slept in the same room.  Now the girls have their separate room.  

Corina and her family, minus Melany

Nancy, our other teacher, was working with a student in the morning, so she couldn't come by until after lunch time.  It was great to catch up with everyone!   Gaby didn't have school at all, so Stephen gave her a basketball shooting lesson.

We left about 1:30 and made a stop in Antigua to buy olive bread at the "best" bakery in town (according to Rosemary and the line of people that were there.)  

Luisa Xicotencatl's Bakery/Cake Shop

Stephen likes to take pictures of doors/windows.

Hilo, Aguja y Biblia Pillowcases

I just realized that I didn't post pictures from our last Hilo, Aguja y Biblia (HAB) class which included pictures of the completed pillowcases.  Almost everyone finished one of their pillowcases and here's a picture to prove it!

Next time we meet, those who didn't finish will have time to do so while the rest of us begin the process of matching up fabric.  We will be making pillowslips to give to an orphanage and/or a battered women's shelter for our next evangelistic outreach.

Long Weekend in Guatemala

We started our drive to Guatemala just after 1:00 p.m. and it took a little less than two hours to reach the border.  That would have normally been a good thing, but . . . . . you might remember that last October the bridge between El Salvador and Guatemala was badly damaged when a 2000 pound over-the-limit semi tried to cross.  The bridge is now being repaired and is only open from 11:00 to 1:00 and 3:30 to 5:30.  So we had a 30+ minute wait for the bridge to open.  Once it's open, it's still only one-way traffic.  Five to ten cars from El Salvador and then five to ten from Guatemala.  We finally crossed at 4:00 p.m.  The repair work has made the bridge very uneven and scary to cross in spite of the 10 mph speed limit.  

Our view as we crossed

View looking out my window--surface is a combination of concrete slabs
 separated by sandbags.

The trip on the Guatemala side was uneventful (thankfully) because once we cross over the border my El Salvador phone has no service and, unfortunately, my Guatemala phone did not have any minutes.  

We made it across Guatemala City and to Nelson and Rosemarie's house about 6:30.  She was just starting on the pupusas!  

Worshiping at Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva, Guatemala City, is just like being in our home church . . . . lot's of friends, great music and excellent preaching.  After church we had a quick lunch at Wendy's and then, along with another 3-4 couples, went to a park to hang out.  The guys played basketball (about 4 hours.)  By the time we left, they were exhausted!

Monday morning after a great breakfast at Capistrano, one of our favorite restaurants, we drove to Antigua to visit our Spanish teachers.

   Stephen's breakfast!

It's getting late, so the rest of the story will have to wait until tomorrow!  

End of March Campaign, El Salvador

Today was the final day of the March campaign here in El Salvador.  We went to a small, vocational school called CAPA this morning and since the team from Valley Baptist flew out this morning we had to readjust the groups.  Guillermo, Blake and I were group #6 . . . . I don't normally translate, but today I did "translate" Blake's message.  I asked him if he could keep it simple so we decided to use the beaded gospel bracelet as the basis of the message.  I know that I couldn't have been that clear, but God was able to use it and more than 20 of the students made a profession of faith. 

Since I am the official photographer, I only had an opportunity to snap to school pictures before we went to our class and then a couple of pictures after we finished.  

Presidential Election

You may or may not be aware that the general, presidential election was held last Sunday, March 9.  Because of that, we were not able to have our regular Sunday morning services in the hotel. During elections, the Crown Plaza Hotel serves as the headquarters for counting all of the votes in the country.  It is full of officials from TSE (the official "vote counters"), the press, international observers and other officials. Instead, there were three services at our church building in Miravalle.  The band from the hotel played at the third service.  Our teams from Valley and Abundant Life are staying in the hotel but went to the service in Lourdes where they were able to hear Pastor Steve's message translated into English.  

In past elections, it has been normal for the vote tally to be completed by evening.  However, this year, the results were too close to call . . . . less than 6000 votes difference out of more than 3 million votes cast.  As a result, the TSE was not willing to declare a victor and, of course, the candidate who "lost" wanted a recount.  Beginning on Tuesday, there were peaceful protests near the hotel so access was restricted to only essential personnel and guests.  The process of picking up and dropping off the team has been quite interesting.    

As of last night the recount was completed and the election results have been certified.  The recount confirmed the initial results.  The FMLN party won the election with 50.11% of the votes; the Arena party received 49.89% and the difference remained approximately 6000 votes.

When we dropped off the teams at the hotel after our morning campaign we found all of the streets open and the hotel is finally back to normal.  

Please pray for this country . . . . obviously, only half of the country is happy with the choice.  

 Pastor Steve giving devotions--you can see the press gathered around a door in the background.

Members of the press juggling for position and waiting for updates.  The team members 

had to pass through this crowd to reach their rooms.

Police in the street to stop motorists from driving near the hotel.  Although it's difficult to see, 

one block up the hill there is a wire barricade and more police.

Teams from ALBC and Valley Baptist

Teams from Abundant Life Baptist, Lee's Summit, MO (our home church) and Valley Baptist Church, Bakersfield, California, are here in San Salvador this week.  Everyone arrived in time for us to have a family festival in Apopa on Saturday evening.  It was a great night with more than 50 professions of faith!  God is really moving in Apopa and our church there is growing.  They are moving to two services in May!

It's working

And by that I mean that the change to a healthy diet and a more active lifestyle are working.  Yesterday's lunch was known as "eating the colors of the rainbow."  See for yourself:

Turkey, zucchini and tomato stuffed red and yellow peppers and a purple cabbage "steak." Stephen told me after dinner that he didn't prefer this type of "steak." Maybe my taste buds have changed because I thought it was really tasty.

Dinner last night was almost as colorful.  I made Denise's (my sister-in-law) gazpacho recipe.  For those who don't recognize this word, gazpacho is a cold vegetable soup which involves slicing and dicing cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, onions and celery.  The veggies are mixed in a base of tomato or V-8 juice with a few other ingredients that spice up the soup.  We definitely got in our 5 servings of vegetables yesterday.  

This morning I was happy to see that my scale has noticed that "it" is working, as well.  Glad to be rid of some of my unwanted weight.  Since this is a lifestyle change, not a diet, I recognize that this one of many steps on the path to being healthier.

Baggies are a girls best friend

I wish I owned stock in Dow Chemical, the owners of the Ziploc brand, or in the Glad company or in the Reynolds Packaging Group who owns both the "baggies" and "hefty" trademarks. 

Why you ask?  Well, sometimes I think it's because I'm only cooking for two (sometimes for one since my diet is different than Stephen's), but I've been doing that since our youngest went off to college in 2000.  Sometimes I think it's because shopping is more time consuming here and requires quite a bit of planning, so I try to buy in bulk when I can and I don't won't to waste anything.  It's just not that easy to "run to the store."  Sometimes I think it's my reaction to the lack of availability of canned foods and convenient sizes.  Whatever the reason, one of the things I absolutely couldn't do without is baggies.  I only have 4 drawers in my kitchen and one of the four is filled with my collection of snack-, sandwich-, quart- and gallon-sized bags.  Some of the sizes are available here, but others I have to bring from the states.

As I said, I buy almost all of my meat in bulk at PriceSmart (our Costco) and once I have it home, I divide it into two-portion sizes in sandwich bags.  

Of course, the individual bag is just the first step; the large freezer bag with label is the second step!

The same goes for the things I have to make from scratch.  For example, you can't find canned beans here . . . . so I cook two pounds of black beans in the crockpot and then freeze them in canned-sized servings in sandwich bags.   What else?  My frig is full of individual bags of home made chicken broth (oh, for Swansons in a can), vegetable broth, applesauce, garbanzo beans, white beans, etc.  My most recent use is to move hot dog buns and hamburger buns into individual bags so that I can easily thaw out just one.  

Not all of the bags I use are in the freezer, however.  Since we must co-exist with ants, anything that has been opened has to go inside a sealed bag.  So, my kitchen shelves are also full half-used taco and chili seasoning packets inside bags.  

Well, this is definitely a light-weight post when compared to my last one.  Isn't that just the way life is?  Sometimes it's about weighty words and important truths and sometimes it's about baggies and how they make my life easier!

It's about the talk, not the walk

Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that I typed the title backwards, let me say that the reversal of the words was intentional.  While I agree that the age-old adage to "walk the walk" is more essential and, likely, more important than to "talk the talk," today's post comes from a different point of view. 

****If you just want to know the answer to the riddle, skip to the last paragraph.

If you are interested in the whole story, read on.  While in Kansas City during the holidays, I had my annual physical.  Although nothing was greatly amiss, the numbers were increasing and by numbers I mean weight, cholesterol, including triglycerides, blood pressure, etc.  It could be argued that most of them were not greatly outside the normal range for a woman my age; but, nevertheless, my doctor suggested it was time to halt the increases and, even better, reverse this trend.  Before we left Kansas City, I purchased the book, "The Daniel Plan" written by Pastor Rick Warren from Saddleback Church in California.   One of the things about that particular book that grabbed my attention was that it doesn't identify itself as a "diet"book, but rather a as a multi-faceted "get healthy" book.  In fact, the book suggests that a healthy lifestyle requires all five of the following:  faith, food, fitness, focus and friendship. 

I will admit that the whole concept was very convicting.  Here's a quote from the first chapter:

"Before you can make any healthy changes in your life, you must first believe those changes are possible.  Even more important, if you want God's help you must trust him to give you his power to change.  Jesus said, 'According to your faith let it be done to you' (Matthew 9:29).  If you don't trust God to help you get healthy, all you are left with is willpower--and you know from experience that willpower doesn't usually last very long."

There's so much more in the book on this subject, but a little taste is all I wanted to provide.   As a result, after returning from the states in January, I embarked on a journey to get healthy.  On January 10, I started following the food and fitness recommendations in the book.  I am still working to wrap my head around the concept that this is a new lifestyle, not a diet, and that I need to set more long-term goals than short-term goals.  So far, the food part has been easy, well, except for the extra prep work that is required here.  Two examples come to mind.  First, all fresh vegetables and fruits have to be washed and disinfected (15-20 minutes) before they are ready to be consumed and second, some items have to be "homemade" (almond milk, almond butter, applesauce, vegetable broth) because they are not available here.  

In the chapter on fitness, Pastor Warren suggests that a person is more likely to start (and continue) with a type of exercise they really enjoy, i.e. bike riding, dancing, aerobics, basketball.  That sounded great, but there wasn't anything on his list (and it was comprehensive) that sparked my interest.  As a result, I defaulted to something that everyone can do, that's easy and that costs nothing--walking.  My son and daughter-in-law gave me a Fitbit for Christmas (in February) and it has become a great motivator.  I've now realized that my day does include time to exercise, and I'm trying to make choices to walk instead of sit.

My morning now includes a walk around our safe, gated neighborhood.  I don't have a iPod or other .mp3 player, so I found walking alone relatively boring.  Then I realized that it was the perfect time to "talk" with my creator. Why hadn't I thought of this before?  Why have I struggled with prayer time and been so easily distracted by every single thing going on in my house when all it took to start talking was walking.  Let me tell you that there's nothing better than talking to someone who wants to hear every word, who is infinitely interested in everything you do and say and who loves you more than anyone else.  That's the answer to the riddle--my daily "walk" is about the "talk."  How long do I walk?  So far, at least 30 minutes, but longer if my Father and I have more to discuss.  I think, perhaps, that my higher numbers were God's way of encouraging me to find time to talk to Him.

Happy Birthday and Mini-Campaign

Sunday, March 2, our youngest son, Jon, celebrated his 32nd birthday.  Can it really be 32 years ago since that Tuesday morning in 1982 when, at 10:45 a.m., we hugged our 10 pound, 4.5 ounce "big" baby boy for the first time.  Where, oh where, does the time go?  Unfortunately, there were no hugs today--only phone calls.  Thankfully, we were able to spend some time with him when we were in California last month.  We are proud to be his parents and the recipients of some of his great work!

We celebrated Jon's birthday with a mini-campaign in a Lourdes neighborhood.  The Hord family from Ohio, faithful supporters of the work in Lourdes, are in town for a few days.  We set up the inflatable and called out the clowns to help with a family festival in one of the parks in the neighborhoods of Los Arboledas.  As you can see, God blessed our time there as several people prayed to receive Christ.

Hilo, Aguja y Biblia Pillowcases

Welcome to March . . . my friends and family in Kansas City say that the month is coming in like a roaring lion with a huge winter storm bearing down on the city.  Well, here in El Salvador it was a nice, toasty 90 degrees today. 

We started Hilo, Aguja y Biblia today after a nearly a 3-month break in January, February, March. Maria Elena and a few of the other ladies brought everything to make breakfast--scrambled eggs, salsa, fried plantains, bread, juice and coffee.  In the past we have begun working on our project and had the Bible study at the end.  Unfortunately, not everyone gets to stay to the end, so sometimes they miss the study.  Today we did it right after breakfast and started on the project after we finished.  

I made this pillowcase yesterday and brought it for them to see.

  
It's always fun for the ladies to dig into the boxes looking for fabrics that they like.  Today each of them picked out at least two fabrics--one for the main part of the pillowcase and another for the cuff.  

We were able to get everyone's fabrics cut today . . . . next time we will begin the sewing!