Health Update

We have not shared a lot about Becky's health problems in the last year. Mainly this is because we haven't had a lot of answers and listing symptoms just leads to speculation (or makes me sound like a hypochondriac). Finally the picture is becoming more clear as I do the Mayo Clinic tour.

For the last year I have struggled with crushing fatigue, bilateral, migratory joint pains, rashes, and a few other annoying symptoms. I saw a variety of doctors in the Dominican Republic and finally in April found a couple in the capital who really began to help me in terms of alleviating symptoms while continuing to work on a diagnosis. They ruled out some major disorders like Lupus, but as all my blood tests were normal, did not pinpoint exactly what I had.

After seeing several great doctors and having a lot of tests, we have ruled out a lot of possibilities. At this point the diagnosis is "inflammatory arthritis." Now, this is not your mother's arthritis. My joints are not wearing out. Rather my immune system is attacking them and as a result they hurt a lot and don't always work so well. This also leads to fatigue since my body is in overdrive fighting a phantom. I always feel like I have the flu.

There are some medications that will stop or limit this process. The bottom line is that this is manageable and won't prevent us from returning to the Dominican Republic to continue our work. God is faithful and sustains us through whatever we face, so we press on! Okay, in reality on a bad day I don't press on, I just climb in bed and sleep. Then I get up and keep going :)

Thank you for your prayers and concern!

I Love America.....Or Do I??

Well, we have been back in the U.S. for a few weeks now. Everyone asks us if we are glad to be home or what we think of the U.S. after living abroad for three years. It is good to be "home." We miss family and friends a lot although we have built many friendships in the Dominican Republic.

I always used to say upon returning to the U.S. from a developing country, that it appeared as though they vacuumed the streets and sidewalks. Well I found out this is actually the case! Walking in downtown Minneapolis we saw a sidewalk cleaning machine that was actually vacuuming up leaves, trash and debris. (In Jarabacoa they have a street cleaning crew that works different sections of town early each morning.)

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

As soon as we returned we jumped on a speeding train and haven't really stopped. This is partly due to our short time in the U.S., but it is also the culture here. Everyone's lives are scheduled and in order to spend time together we have to "get on their calendar." As we hear about our friends and family's lives, we get dizzy hearing the list of activities and commitments they have.

In the Dominican Republic we have a schedule and at times are quite busy, but most of life happens spontaneously and the next item on the list starts whenever the previous item is finished with some breathing room in between. We may have a long to do list for the day, but we don't stress when it gets interrupted by a power outage, or a friend who stops by to talk. Life just flows like a river and we go along for the ride. Sometimes it is a rushing river, sometimes a slow lazy one.

Is one way of life "better" than the other? Probably not. There are benefits and draw backs to each and we learn to live within our culture.

Here are some Yays and Yuks from the kids about the U.S.

Some of the food is yay and some is yuk: Yay for pizza, ice cream, grapes and apples, yuk for canned vegetables and casseroles.

Yay for being spoiled by grandparents, yuk for sleeping in so many different beds as we travel.

Yay for so many parks and grass to play in, yuk for gigantic stores that make you really tired!

Turtles Everywhere!!!

Recently Calvary EFC from MN visited and brought Turtles! "Turtles?...why Turtles" We kind of had the same question. But each turtle has a pocket and in the pocket is a piece of paper with a message or drawing from the child that made the Turtle at their VBS. The message is written in Spanish. What a creative way to involve children in missions!

The team brought about 350 turtles! We have been giving them out at kid's clubs, at schools and even the hospital. Having given out a few of them, it has been interesting to see the reactions. The Turtle itself is cute and the kids love it but the drawing and message is loved by all. For example, a girl named Isabella made a Turtle and the message inside it ended up in a prominent place on the wall in Feyo's room! [To find out who Feyo is, read the blog entre "A morning in August".] I saw it yesterday when at his house.

Thank you Isabella for brightening up Feyo's room with the wonderful message that "God loves you!" And thank you to all the kids at Calvary who Turtles with similar messages!

A Morning in August

We leave the house at 9 am. Rick and Becky on a small motorcycle (moto) drive about 35 minutes to Boma. The road is windy and hilly. When the pavement ends, the dirt road quickly becomes unpassable for most vehicles. The moto has no problem. Sometimes two wheels is much better than 4!


After crossing a bridge and a beautiful field, we climb a steep hill to the house of Enrique. Enrique is the community leader. He meets us and shares that the mom of Valle had died a few days earlier. Valle is in the Bible study. Enrique wants us to go and spend time at the house, perhaps have a Bible study there. And so we go, continuing on the dirt road/path.

We are well away from Jarabacoa. We are past the reaches of electricity and running water. It is quiet and very peaceful for us, but we can tell that life is tough here. It is a farming community. They are pretty self-sufficient and they work hard to be so. They have learned to live off the land planting and raising animals who will be butchered (cows, pigs, goats, rabbits, chickens). And when one family has extra, it can be traded with neighbors or taken to be sold in town. They are within reach of the city but probably don't go there often.

We arrived at Valle's house and found him, his dad (in photo) and other members from the family. When someone dies it is typical for extended family and friends to come and be with the family for a full week. In this area, most people are related in some way. So the whole community was coming and going from the house.

We spent some time with the family and then went off to a shaded area to have some time with Valle. We shared some encouraging words from Philippians.
Enrique then suggested we hike up to the home of Feyo and Paula. Feyo is the brother of Valle. Feyo isn't able to walk. We aren't sure what happened, but he has been in bed for the last 10 years. Feyo's wife Paula attends our Bible study (pictured in her kitchen). We have wanted to visit him and finally have the chance. So off we go!
We hiked along a river, climbing up and up. Eventually we came to a small gate and a leveled clearing that had 3 small stick buildings. We entered the clearing and Enrique led us to meet Feyo. We had a wonderful time getting to know Feyo. He is a believer. He shared some of his story and we shared a little of ours. We asked about his needs and shared some verses from Scripture.
We hope to help Feyo get a solar powered radio/cd player and the Bible on cd. Feyo doesn't read. He told us, he only spent one year in school and then his dad pulled him out of school so that he would help on the farm. We hope to help him in this way. If this something you would like to help with, please let us know.

After some time with Feyo and his family, we returned to Jarabacoa. We left the house 4 hours earlier thinking we would minister in one way but ended up ministering in a totally different way. That happens a lot here!

Impact of Short Teams

Missionaries all over the world host groups for one week to a month to do a variety of projects: construction, English camps, evangelism, Bible School, education, sports camps, medical and dental clinics, and more. Some have criticized these trips as little more than "feel good Christian vacations" because they often include some sightseeing and recreation. Some question whether these short visits have any lasting impact on the national church.

We welcome North American visits and desire to develop partnerships between believers across cultures for a win-win situation. We want to see the body of Christ strengthened overalll through short term trips.
We just hosted 19 people from Calvary Evangelical Free Church in Rochester, Minnesota. Calvary EFC has been bringing teams since 1991 to work with Iglesia Nueva Vida (New Life Church) in Jarbacoa, Dominican Republic. Now that's a long term relationship! This team spent two weeks doing construction projects to facilitate better ministry at two churches, assisted in Vacation Bible schools at two churches, prayed and evangelized in two communities, and visited several worship services and Bible Studies to share their testimonies of faith.

A Challenge to Grow

In El Montaña, powerful testimonies were shared as Calvary team members recalled with the congregation the building and dedication of the church building some 18 years ago and a challenge to the Dominicans to outgrow the building so that the Americans would need to come back and expand the building! For the first time ever, members of the Montaña church led the Vacation Bible School with Americans as helpers rather than vice versa. And the congregation continues a kid's club in the afternoons on their own.

Last fall the Montaña church raised money through a yard sale to purchase a basic sound board and an inverter (battery back up). This enables them to have church when it is raining (tropical rain on a tin roof can be deafening) and when there is no electricity (which is most of the time). However since purchasing the equipment, they have stored it off site as tin roofs are easily broken into. The Calvary construction team poured a cement roof over the Sunday school room and bathroom to enable the church to store the inverter (battery back up) and sound equipment safely. They had been planning to have another sale to raise the money to finish this project, but since the Calvary team poured the roof, they have decided to focus their fund raising efforts on a community project: a communal well. The community of Montaña lacks a functional water supply, so they are digging a well and need to raise $23,000 pesos (US $650) for a submersible pump. This is a great opportunity for the church to help meet community needs and for Damaso Herrera, church planting pastor, to build relationships in the community.

We were moved to tears as the team excitedly unpacked their gifts at the beginning of the trip. We had requested more copies of the Bible in One Year for Children, Bible story videos and books as well a basic doctrine book used in discipling. As you may read in another post, Dominicans in the rural churches have the chance to "earn" the children's Bible reader by memorizing 16 Bible passages. We were overwhelmed by the $1200 worth of books and over 40 Bible Story videos they unpacked. Now we have what seems like an endless resource for sharing biblical truths with families. Mind you, we do hope to run out of "Bible in One Year for Children"!

Relationships

Chet Ross has been faithfully coming to the Dominican Republic serving as construction foreman and general roustabout on the team. His tender heart for Dominicans wins friends wherever he goes. Almost every Dominican he crosses paths with gets a nickname. On this visit he spent time with
"Smiley" Vanessa (Photo to the left) and asked about her friends from years gone by. He learned that one friend, "Gabby" had recently returned to the area after living in the capital for a number of years. He tracked her down and learned she was grieving over the recent death of her mother. His heart went out to her immediately and he brought her to our farewell party so she could meet Rick and I. Vanesa is also reaching out to her in this time of grief to help strengthen her faith in God.

Vanesa Nolasco, a Dominican missionary dentist, shared her testimony recalling as a young person watching Calvary expand the main church to accommodate the growing congregation. She said God had placed in her heart to share the love of Christ and she gained experience as she helped Calvary teams over the years. When she finished her dental training and needed support to work under Students International, she said she knew her friends from Calvary would respond because they had a heart to reach the Dominican Republic for Christ. She has been faithfully working at Students International for over 8 years now.

Roy Makosky has been on all 10 of Calvary's large group mission trips (he missed a teaching trip and a medical trip). And his wife Glenna only missed one of those in 1991. They live in Minnesota but are very committed to the work here. Over the years they have built a relationship with Ramon and Denis Vargas. Ramon, an elder at Nueva Vida, is passionate about evangelism. He and his wife Denise have ministered in just about every community around Jarabacoa. And though the years, a relationship has formed. Roy and Glenna pray for Ramon and Denis. And when they return, it is always exciting to hear what God has done, what God is doing, and what are the things that need prayer.

An Invitation to Faith

Part of the group accompanied Dominicans on two afternoons to evangelize. Unlike Americans, rural Dominicans typically welcome any visitor onto their porch or into their living room for coffee and good conversation. This enabled the Dominican believers in the two neighborhoods to talk about spiritual matters and invite their neighbors to a Bible study. I think it is safe to say the team members found this a challenge as they shared their testimonies through translators.

Rick and I are involved in various Bible Studies in villages outside Jarabacoa. Some are discipleship groups, but one in particular is clearly evangelistic. It is held on Saturday nights in the local butcher's lean-to. Alex (pictured with Rick) is a butcher with a calling. He may kill animals by day, but he is brings life to souls in his off hours!

Earning the Word

As we have been discipling adults in rural communities, we have talked about parents' responsibility to pass their faith on to their children through instruction and actions. Several parents asked for help finding Bible passages to read to their children. Wanting to encourage and reward this desire, we purchased several copies of "The One Year for Children's Bible" in Spanish (published by Anno Domini Publishing). Including shipment to the Dominican Republic, it cost about $20, so we were only able to buy a few copies.

We offered the book to believers in two of our study groups for free, IF they memorized a set of 16 Scripture passages. This seemed like a daunting task, but everyone was excited by the prospect of such a beautiful book full of Bible stories to share with their children.

Pictured above is Julio, a leader at a church in Los Higos, who attends Rick's seminary class. Below Ana Maria, of Montaña, joyfully displays her copy of "La Biblia en Un Año para Niños." After these two had earned their books, the others redoubled their efforts to memorize and asked how many copies were left! We were very thankful when the team from Calvary Evangelical Free Church in Rochester, Minnesota arrived with more copies that had been donated. Now we can offer this great ¨deal¨ to more believers.

How big is your God?

Just how big is your God? Is He bigger than the stockmarket? Is He bigger than your company? Is He bigger than your illness? Is He bigger than your church? Is He bigger than Osama? bigger than Obama? Someimes our problems, enemies and even our heroes loom so large we lose perspective.

As Northamerican missionaries working in a developing country, we daily encounter problems that seem insurmountable. Often the people we are working with feel the same way.

One community where we work often only gets running water a few times a week and the people living there have learned to adapt to a situation that would cause most North Americans to tear their hair out. Not long ago, the water plant that supplies the community broke down and was off line for weeks, supposedly waiting for parts. As some wealthy people in this area have wells, they made their hoses available to the community. Our church members and others spent their time and energy hauling buckets of water up to half a mile back to their homes to meet their daily needs. The also collect rain water from their roofs. Needless to say that this took all their time and energy. The situation became desperate and we prayed with the believers that water would be restored. One day, we came to hold Bible study and found no one had shown up. We visited the nearest house and found two women out back washing clothes. After greeting us, they said, "Please forgive us, we don't want to have Bible study today. We just got water back AND the electricity is on for the first time in three days. We have to take advantage of it and do laundry and clean our houses!" We praised God with them and then visited from house to house and spent time with them while they were washing and hanging mountains of clothes.

In December we wrote about a disabled boy named Jordan who lived up on a mountain outside Jarabacoa. He has since died. We didn't hear about it immediately because the community is so isolated. There are thousands more children just like him being cradled by parents who live in isolated areas without the resources to adequately care for their physical needs.

Rick recently met with a leader in another of the 5 daughter churches. He sat in their tiny 12X14 home and heard their passion for reaching the lost in their community. He was there to invite the man to a seminary class Rick is teaching. He has a hunger to learn more of the Bible so he can teach others. Rick then asked about their needs and how we could support them and pray for them. The man shared that they are praying for a home that is more adequate to raise their children and hold Bible studies. Most evenings after 8 the youth show up and hang out with them until about midnight, all crammed into their tiny house. They also shared that they were praying for another pair of shoes. This man only has one pair that serve for work, going to town, church, everything.

Just today I spoke with a woman from church who has a heart condition that we have been praying for. After catching up a bit by way of greeting, she put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Becky please pray with me. The cardiologist just prescribed a medicine for me. I haven't been feeling well, always short of breath. I went to the pharmacy to buy the medicine and came away in tears because it is so expensive." She wasn't asking me to buy the medicine for her, just to pray with her that God would heal her or provide the means to take the medicine. The medicine would cost about $50 a month. This seems like little to us, but with an average annual income of $250 per month in this country, that medicine might as well be made of diamonds.

As North Americans we are "can do" people. "Where there's a will there's a way." We innovate. We problem solve. When one solution doesn't work, we go back to the drawing board. And when all else fails, we throw money at the problem. Because surely with enough money anything can be fixed. But fixing the problems at hand is not always the best solution.

However, God always has the best solution. We see this time and again in the Bible. God is concerned about us and our planet at the very deepest level. He not only wants to provide for our physical needs, He has a plan to save us for all eternity.

I have learned that as soon as a problem comes my way, I need to go on my knees to Him with it. Before I try to solve it, before I react to it, sometim9es before I even let myself feel the pain of it, I take it to God. As I process it with Him, I begin to see it from His view. I have learned to ask myself, "How big is my God?" And my answer is always, "Bigger than that!"

"Can there be any God but this God that I love? He surrounds me with His strength and clothes me with His grace. He puts into my hands gifts to relay to others. He entrusts me with tasks far beyond my human capabilities and enables me to carry them out. He me as daughter and servant destined to accomplish His purposes amongst the peoples of the world."
Psalm 18 (paraphrase from Psalms Now)

Blessed Feet

<sup>Romans 10:14-15 says:

14</sup>How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

We want to show you some blessed feet!





Please pray for the people! They represent many who travel through the mud and in the heat to proclaim Jesus Christ! They are real people that we have come to know and love. They are partners. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Will you bless them with your prayers?

Rick and Ben Climb Pico Duarte!

On March 8, 2009 Rick and Ben Mackey, David Henry, Paul Pederson, Roy and Glenna Makosky and Lane Bellar climbed to 10,164 ft, the highest point in the Carribean -- Pico Duarte! It was an awesome experience. Tougher than we had imagined, but we made it! Paul Pederson shares the trip on his blog...

http://wideopenspaces4.blogspot.com/search/label/Pico%20Duarte

Ben's Climbs over 10k...

• Pico Duarte, 10164 ft - March 8, 2009, located in the mountains not far from Jarabacoa, DR
• Volcano Acatenango, 13,041 ft - December 10, 2006, located in Guatemala, just outside of the city of Antigua.

Not bad for a 10 year old!

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

We are all different. In our family, we have found that we have different reactions to the same thing. Enjoy the following. It sheds a little more about our life here and how it is different.

Driving Rules

If there is a spot, take it.

Rick...AWESOME!!!!
Becky...God please HELP!!!

Bigger gets the right of way.

Rick...I need a bigger car and a bigger motercycle!!!
Becky.... [was unable to comment since she is still at an intersection waiting to make a turn]

Drive Offensively, but in a Defensive kind-of way

Rick...Ok
Becky...That makes no sense.

Living

No power, no water, no shower

Rick...A little more deodorant should do the trick
Becky...I have learned how to take a bath with only a bucket of water...a well developed skill!
Ben...no importa, I took a bath last week.
Elena...Just heat the water over the stove and I will be waiting.

If you can get away with it, do it.

All of us...NO!

Turn up the music in your house so you can hear it while you visit at your neighbors house a few blocks away.

Rick...what kind of music?
Becky...GRRRRRR!!! Glad I have a supply of earplugs!
Ben and Elena...refused to comment because they were too busy dancing merengue.

Having a housekeeper

Rick....another woman around the house to tell me to take my shoes off before I come in?

Becky....haven't cleaned a toilet in two years....WOOOHOOOO!

Ben and Elena....hot chocolate every morning and someone else makes my bed....couldn't be better. Oh, except we have to obey her just like Mom and Dad, shoot.

Water the dirt road in front of your house in order to lower the dust from cars and motos.

Rick...Precious water, what a waste, I need a shower!
Becky...Thank you.
Ben and Elena...Fun puddles to try to jump with my Bike
Becky...More laundry...UGH!!!

Pointing with your lips

Rick...How can I ever find something when people "point with their lips" GRRRRRR!!!
Ben and Elena...A mastered skill.

Cross Cultural living is not always fun but it is never boring!

Future Plans

We came to the Dominican Republic in the middle of May, 2007 and we made a commitment to Iglesia Nueva Vida until the fall of 2009. This past September, we started praying and asked you to join us in praying for clear direction regarding whether we should return to the US or continue in ministry here. Our desire is to be in the place God would have us, doing what He desires.

Today we share with you that we feel God is leading us to stay and continue in ministry here. While we have not had the easiest transition here, we have survived! And we see that God is using us to equip men and women. There has been a lot of growth but there is much to be done.

If you have followed our blogs, you have read about our highs and our lows. We continue to have these but we also know that we will have those anywhere. It is just life. Going from a 2 year/short term mindset to one that is "open ended" was challenging. In some ways, we roughed it for 2 years and now we are talking more about what is necessary to make a home. But we feel confident that God has lead this way.

We don't know how long we will be here but we believe that God will let us know when we are to move onto something else. In September 2009, it will be 3 years since we left for language school in Guatemala. It is our plan to come home in the fall of 2009 and stay until just after New Years. During this time we want to visit with family, friends, people who have supported us. Becky will also see doctors in the States regarding her health problems.  We also hope to get some training that we believe will help us in ministry. This training focuses in two areas:

1. Teaching Oral Learners using a Story Telling Format. We have investigated this a lot and feel that this format would be excellent for teaching Dominicans.

2. Dealing with Poverty. We struggle with the poverty that we see around us. How do we internally deal with this and not feel guilty for the wealth that we have? The poverty here is not always obvious. It is more of a mindset of helplessness. How do we really help?

For the first training area, there are conferences and books available to help us. One conference is in Minneapolis in mid-September. The second training area is a little more challenging. We feel it may be the most helpful to us if we can spend time with someone who has spent years working with people of poverty.

During our time in the US, we plan to home school our children. Ben and Elena's school, Doulos Discovery School, will be giving us textbooks so that our kids can keep pace with their class and easily join the class when we return to the Dominican Republic. This is a huge blessing.

Of course, many of the details are not nailed down. But we wanted to share with you this decision. You have walked with us and we are thankful for you.

It's worth it all!

This past Wednesday, I had no idea what was going to happen. A week before, Damaso and I were about to go to our weekly Bible study in El Montaña and Damaso asked if we could first stop at a church in Jarabacoa. We did...Damaso was up to something and I was curious to see what. Arriving at the church, we found two men. It was obvious that Damaso was meeting them for the first time and after the typical greetings (which consists of trying to find out if we know the same people), he said them, "I want to have a time of praise in El Montaña and wonder if your worship leaders could come and help us with the music?"

Finally I knew what this was about. This past year we had seen a lot of growth among the believers in El Montaña. And Damaso wanted to have a time of celebration. A time of praise to God for what God has and was doing. A great idea! But to be honest, I was curious to see how this would happened. I know how things are planned in the United States but things work different here...I was ready to watch and learn.

In this first meeting, they decided that the praise service would be in one week and Damoso and I were on our way. I quietly noticed that there wasn't any talk about the time, length of service, or what would be needed to make this happen. I honestly wondered if it would really happen...or would just get forgotten like some other things that I have tried to plan.

On Sunday Damaso told me that he needed the sound system that we recently purchased with funds raised by the believers in El Montaña. The system hadn´t been installed yet because they needed to raise money for 2 speakers. This is another story for another time. I asked if he now had speakers for it. It seemed he did and he would like to pick them up on Monday.

Many times, this and that can cause that and this to not happen. It is life here and it drives us crazy at times...and other times it can be awfully convenient. Monday turned to Tuesday and Tuesday to Wednesday morning. Finally Damaso and I went to pick up some speakers that someone lent to us for the evening. All through this I had my doubts about what was going to happen but found myself chuckling as things just seemed to fall into place.

Damaso suggested we stop by the church again and talk with the worship leader. We did and within a few minutes I found myself loading equipment into the car. A drum set, a guitar amp, a speaker. I didn't expect this. I expected one or two singers with an acoustic guitar and well, now I was even more curious about what would happen. Leaving the church I mentioned this to Damaso and he shared that he was a little surprised too. I asked him if he knew what was going to happen tonight and he laughed and said that we would find out.

I agreed to be back at the church at 6 pm. Once again, I wasn't sure what to expect. We spent about 45 minutes load more equipment and waiting for praise team members. On the way, I was asked what time the event was planned for and having learned a little bit, I replied ¨It will start when we get there and are ready to start.¨

We arrived to the El Montaña church and people were there waiting for us. We weren´t late. Some members were decorating the front of the church. Others were sweeping and many were just there trying to see what was going on.

We setup, everyone arrived and Damaso begin the celebration. I had no idea of the joyful experience I was about to experience.

There were some obvious reasons to praise God. For the first time I can remember, you could stand anywhere in the church (it isn't big) and you can hear who is speaking from the front. The difference was amazing. And this small church had worked hard to make it happen. Months earlier they had started praying about their sound need and God had provided. I looked out and saw the people who had worked so hard to raise the money to buy a sound system and the smiles were HUGE. Even though they knew they still needed to borrow speakers...God had helped them greatly and now they were able to enjoy the blessings of their work.

As a result, this celebration drew people who didn't regularly come to church. For the first time, they could really hear that there is something going on at the church. From their houses they knew something new was going on and many came to see exactly what.

During the service Damaso asked for some testimonies of God's work this past year. Josefina shared how God is worthy of our trust. She talked about her struggles and how God really does meet needs. She was standing before her neighbors. These people knew her and knew her well. And as she proclaimed the greatness of God, I was brought to my knees. 7 adults and teens led the church in worship. Testimonies were given of God´s faithfulness. It was a special time. Sometimes in ministry, you find yourself questioning whether it is worth it or not. This was a time where I was able to say "Thank you God, it is worth it! You are working. Thank you!"

I had no idea how this would be pulled off. But it sure did. And what a blessing it was to me!

Health

As many of you, friends and loved ones, may have heard through our updates, I, Becky, have been struggling with poor health for a few months.  It started last fall with a general run down feeling and a series of unrelated infectious illnesses.  I saw a local doctor and was diagnosed with anemia.  This had occurred the previous fall as well.  Two years in a row is not good.  I began taking iron and looking for a specialist in Santiago (ie big city) to get a more thorough exam and testing.  Added to my general run-down feeling, low resistance, and anemia came crushing fatigue and debilitating joint pain.  Now life was really not fun.  

Although I have given enough bodily fluids to start a research project, as yet we do not have a definitive diagnosis.  It appears to be something autoimmune.   Along the way a nodule in my thyroid was found, although my thyroid levels are normal.  This is being followed up thoroughly.  I am on an arthritis medication for the joint pain which helps most on all but the worst days.

It is discouraging to be so incapacitated by some mystery problem.  But we count our blessings.  We have a supportive church community here.  Having part time house help is a huge blessing.  The warm sunshine we have most days is a delight even when one is sick.  I am learning a great deal of humility and growing in trusting in God that He can work this for the good.

We appreciate your prayers and support. 

The Good Old U.S.A.

On Christmas Day we flew to Miami, returning to the U.S. for the first time in more than a year and a half. We went to celebrate Fred and Carolyn Mackey's 50th wedding anniversary. All four sons and their families spent a week at Daytona Beach relaxing, exploring, playing games, and eating. We had a great time with family.

After we returned to home, I told Rick I wanted to write a blog about our trip. "Oh, boy," he said. "I can't wait to see what you're going to write." He declined to share what he was afraid I might say!

So I thought I would let Ben and Elena share about the experience, since it was their insights that were very interesting. Some of the first observations were:

Elena (shown in a picture with her cousin) got a kick out of reading all the bilingual signs in the airport. She is in first grade and already reading English and Spanish. I realized that when we left the U.S. originally in 2007 at age 4, signs were beyond her no matter what language they were written in. She would carefully read both languages and then declare, "Yep, they say the same thing!" She had fun directing us through the airport using the signs.

Ben and Elena were both impressed with the car we rented in Miami to drive to Daytona Beach. They were bummed Rick hadn't picked the RED car though. However they were very perturbed that we insisted that they wear their seat belts. (We fudge a little on that in the D.R., especially when we stuff 10 people into our Suzuki SUV.) The long 4.5 hour ride up the straight highway was the longest they had been on in YEARS. You can drive that long and longer on our island, it just happens that we haven't done it. They were both sure they would be car sick, since most roads in the mountains where we live are windy. But they were amazed at how straight, smooth and flat the highway was. They were impressed that Daddy drove 70 miles per hour also. We never go that fast in the D.R.

As we drove along we asked them what they saw that was different or interesting. Ben asked, where are all the motorcycles? We began to count them and saw 7 by the time we arrived at our hotel. Most of them were huge compared to the little bikes dominating Jarabacoa. (Also I don't think too many people go out on the highway on their bikes on Christmas Day, even in sunny Florida!)

We were quite surprised to see two people begging. "Even Americans beg, Mom?" Begging is seen some in Jarabacoa, but is a given at every intersection in the major cities here. So we had a little talk about how people suffer everywhere in the world, even in America.

The kids had HUGE grins on their faces when, after numerous forays off the freeway to find a restaurant open on Christmas Day, we stopped at a convenience store and basically ate junk food for lunch. Equally exciting was the supper at Burger King that night. Rick and were not so thrilled; we were hoping for a real meal at a restaurant we don't have in the D.R.

Lest you think that everything was amazing and stupendous to our kids, they were underwhelmed by the ocean. The Atlantic in Northern Florida in December is a lot colder than the Atlantic/Caribbean in the D.R. Ben and Elena preferred the semi-heated pool.

A Trip to the Grocery Store:

I went to the Winn-Dixie near the hotel with Ben and Elena in tow. I was a little concerned that it would be "Mommy, Mommy, can we get....." As we crossed the parking lot, Elena asked, "Mommy is this were the girl found Winn-Dixie in the movie?" Well, not exactly. Before getting a cart and beginning to shop, we did a tour of the store. It's a lot different from our little grocery stores in Jarabacoa. For one thing its cold, very bright and there is music in the background (very annoying!).

I must say I was very proud of my kids. What did they ooo and ahh about? The candy isle? No. The snack isle? No. The fruit, veggies and dairy! "Mommy, can we get grapes? Mommy, they have celery-will you make peanut butter boats? Mommy make sure to get carrots and peppers! "Grapes are expensive compared to all the local fruits and celery here is very limp. Ben and Elena eat carrots, cucumbers and peppers almost every day so they couldn't imagine a week without them. They begged for frozen peas and corn. They also begged for frozen pizza! Fresh milk, pre-sliced American cheese, cheese sticks, and blueberry yogurt topped the list as well. I have to say I was very proud that they didn't try to fill the cart with junk food. There is plenty of junk food in the D.R. if only their mother would buy it!

I laughed when Elena dragged me to the canned beans isle and licked her lips saying, "Please, mommy will you make us rice and beans this week?" We settled for rotisserie chicken from the deli which tastes sort of like Dominican chicken. And we happy to see that the deli even had "moro" (black beans and rice).

We really enjoyed our time in the US. It was so good to see family. We think it had been about 5 years since Rick and his brothers had been together. Celebrating our parents 50th Anniversary brought us together, hopefully this will happen again before their 100th anniversary!