“How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You.” Ps 84:4

Monday, November 8, 2010

Getting company here is exhilarating. Who doesn't love their life to turn upside-down for a few days and fall behind in all their regular chores and have the kids be over tired for days afterward?
OK well maybe not too many people, however I still love it. I guess I'm special that way. I like to look at it like a little vacation from regular life. And how great to have such dear people visiting us in our home and in our town! This past week my cousin and his family came to visit, and what a great time we had! All the kids got along great and we got a lot of exciting projects done. The one that will and already is affecting us the most is the idea Lyle had to move the water pump - we now have better water pressure and we aren't using electricity off the solar system! Plus we did all kinds of other work, like putting up wind fence around the garden, planting trees, a general cleanup of the yard, and redid the grey water system.

Now I know, you are all thinking wow, I'd love to come visit and work like crazy the whole time!

It was a great time we all had together though, and so encouraging for me not only to spend time with family i normally don't get to spend a lot of time with, but to be able to connect and see them get excited about this area and to know the people that I have come to love so much. I am honored they came to spend precious vacation time with us.

A group of friends also came from my church family in Taber - when it rains it pours! I love spending time with dear friends and new acquaintances and seeing them so motivated and excited to keep loving the people of this valley. It is easy to feel a bit like an island sometimes but it does not take too much to see that I have so much support and encouragement from this amazing group of people who so easily accepted me into their family nearly 8 years ago.

And so now as a result I am encouraged, blessed, have new vision for a growing project, a clean yard, I can shower at night and my garden has a lovely layer of manure turned into it. Does life get any better?

Now this is generally the point where I would add pictures, however my camera is on the fritz so I guess I will say, stay tuned to see if I get any pictures emailed to me. hint hint.

:)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I have often wondered how Alex's condition would change with time, or if we would discover more issues along the way. Well, after a visit to the Optometrist in Ensenada I now know more about his eyes and the problems he could potentially develop.
The reason I thought to have them checked was a program I had seen about two girls who had a different type of Ichthyosis, where one of them had actually lost her sight, and I wondered if the same could happen to Alex. I also realized that every picture of other children I have seen who have Ichthyosis have glasses. So I had his eyes checked, and we found out exactly what I had been afraid of - Alex is not getting nearly enough moisture into his eyes, which can potentially lead to irreparable damage and eventually blindness. He also will need perscription glasses, and when he is older (between 8 and 10) he will need a surgery to correct his lower eyelids. Needless to say, I was somewhat unnerved yet relieved we are finding out now and not when it is too late.
Alex now has a longer regimen of care mornings and evenings and even throughout the day, including drops every 2 hours, eye gel at night, cream on his skin at least twice a day, medicated cream on his feet, and oil in his ears. Putting baby oil in his ears prevents skin buildup on his ear drums, which has been a real problem lately and was actually the reason we were in Ensenada in the first place, visiting the Otolaryngologist.
Leaving the doctors office I was on the verge of tears, wondering what else I was missing and wondering if he was going to be ok. We stopped at Walmart to pick up some cotton, something to clean out his eyes with and some more drops. It was then that I remembered that even though he would always have all of these challenges and struggles he would still have an amazing life if he continued to take joy in the small things and have a great attitude of thankfulness. What reminded me of this? His discovery of a hot air hand dryer in the bathroom. He was absolutely delighted and laughing like crazy and I thought, when is the last time I laughed about something like a hand dryer?
Every day there are gifts everywhere, things that I could enjoy, that I skip right over while worrying about things I have no control over - like problems I haven't thought of yet, or whether or not there will be enough sun today to get us electricity or to dry my laundry, or whether or not the kids are going to be ok, if they are going to do well in school, if they will find work and their life after our house, and on and on. Some days seem so hard, and I bring way more responsibility than I really need, or in reality deserve, on myself. Every time I start to feel like this - overwhelmed with the job ahead - I try to remember that all I have guaranteed is today: right now. This moment. Will I enjoy it?








How could I not? :)

Friday, September 10, 2010

It has been way too long since I last wrote something, however the living of life always trumps the writing about it so this is a chore that often gets pushed to the back burner.
The last post was when Veronica first came to live with us - that was over four months ago. Since then the school year ended and another began. Summer started and ended just as quickly, mostly spent getting used to living with each other, figuring out how to get along and finding where we all fit.


It was rather cool as far as summers go, however we did manage to get a few beach days in here and there.



Another family wedding meant another trip to Alberta, it was wonderful to spend time with family and friends celebrating the marriage of my youngest sister Cheryl. I was also able to meet 3 of the newest members of the family that had been born in the past few months, family gatherings keep growing every time I head north!





At the end of August we celebrated Alex’s birthday, five years old already! He is getting to be so grown up, hard to imagine that he is the same age now that Gumaro was when he and I first met. Alex is quite the character, often making us all laugh with his silly antics and great sense of humor. He is also very strong willed, and is very clear on what he believes to be right, and on what he wants. He started his last year of kindergarten (they will do up to three here) the day before his birthday at a new kindergarten close to home.




Actually this year all three kids are in a new school, which has been another tough transition, but one i believe will be a positive one. For the last few months of last year Veronica attended the Zarahembla school where she had started the year (close to the base, about 15 minutes away) Gumaro was at the private school in town and Alex was at a kindergarten a few blocks away from that school. Having kids in three different schools with three different starting and ending times was a challenge! So this year the school is about 3 blocks away from the house, and Gumaro and Veronica are on the same schedule. This means they can walk home, and equals a lot less driving back and forth for mom :)



Well I could probably write more, but I am also behind on my newsletters and there is still homework to be done and uniforms to be washed before tomorrow! Hopefully I'll be able to write on a more regular basis, feel free to remind me if you are reading this a few months from now and see there are no new posts. :)
Blessings,
Karen

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

New Additions, and Moving Forward

Today is a new day. Something rather ordinary yet extraordinary happened at our house; however before I get too far ahead of myself I will update on the newest goings-on at Ranchito Windiana.

Almost 2 weeks ago the director of our La Paloma (Families for Children) of which we are a part, came to me with a problem. One of the girls they had living in their home, who had been there about four years, needed a new placement. Unfortunately, the only other option within DIF (Social services in mexico) was a home far away that has, well to put it mildly, a very bad reputation. So he was wondering, would I consider taking her into my home?

Now this girl is not just any girl, this girl is 13 year old Veronica, Gumaro's biological sister. These two have always gotten along about like oil and water, so my first reaction / thought was, ARE YOU INSANE? His timing was particularly bad also, because Gumaro was not having a good week at that point. Steve asked me to think about it, and I told him "Well, I think I'll pray about it, because if I think about it I will definitely say no." We both laughed nervously and off I went.

The children from this family are well known within the foster system in the baja; all have very strong personalities, have very high attention needs and have a very keen sense of justice (especially when it comes to getting their own way). They are intelligent, bright, wonderful helpers and their biggest struggle is finding their place in this world - desperately seeking specific roles in a family, in their classrooms, with their peers, etc.

So I went home, trying to imagine what it would be like to have two of these siblings living under one roof. Then I stopped doing that and talked to God about it.

I realized very soon that the choice really wasn't one, as I obviously could not let this little girl go off to who knows where into who knows what kind of situation without at least giving her a chance; so I went and cleaned up the other bedroom upstairs. As I did this, I started to actually look forward to her coming, because I could start to see a lot of the positives that she could bring to our household. For example, Gumaro is often off doing his own thing with the neighbour kids, or playing soccer or whatever, which leaves Alex alone at home. Veronica loves Alex (as most 13 year old girls love small children) and I thought this could be beneficial for him and her, as it would give her a role in the house that she so craves. What strikes me about this now is realizing that I could begin to see the possibilities as I started to put the plan into action (cleaning out her room). This is how God works, I believe, even if something seems insane and we can't see how or why God would do something, when we step forward in faith he starts to show us His vision.

So, to make a long story longer, Vero moved in with us on Monday, May 3rd. She was not terribly excited about it, however I feel like she is adjusting very well. I expected a lot of outbursts, however she has been fairly calm and respectful. Her relationship with Gumaro remains rather, shall we say, strained, however they are siblings and I believe it is really good for the both of them to learn to live with each other. Since their personalities are so similar, they are able to see the things in each other's behaviour that they don't like, that they actually do themselves and ideally will be able to change and adapt. It has been really nice for me to have her here, she is really a sweet girl, she likes to cook and help in the kitchen, and she has really taken to helping Alex like I had hoped. It is also a nice change for me to hear the kids upstairs, laughing and talking, and even fighting, because the boys were normally always right at my side (especially when i was preparing food). They are able to distract themselves, now that there is someone else older there, someone different to play with and organize games. That all being said, there is still a long way to go for Veronica, as I can only imagine how difficult it would be to be uprooted yet again from a place where she had been so long a part of the family.

This brings me to the rather ordinary yet great occurrence of today. Yesterday some of the neighbourhood kids came over because Gumaro had told them that Vero was now living with us, and they wanted to meet her. She was very shy at first, very unsure of herself, however I was eventually able to convince her to come downstairs and meet them. They ended up going for a walk, and said they would come back today.

Which they did; two girls, exactly Veronica's age, and their two younger brothers. Besides them another boy who lives close by was also visiting. So for most of the afternoon my house and yard was full of the sounds of giggling teenage girls and laughing, yelling, rough housing boys. All afternoon I worked on feeding them, cleaning up the house, and regular chores listening to this delightful noise. Then later on in the day I was out watering the garden and one of the neighbour ladies walked by, and we chatted over the fence for awhile.

The idea, or vision I had for this place, was to create a home and an atmosphere that people would want to be a part of, that kids and teenagers and whoever would feel comfortable coming to. A place where my kids would play happily and safely, socializing with other kids while I still knew where they were and what they were doing. A place where someone could see and sense something different, where they could see Jesus in everyday life. Being new in a community, especially being an 'extranjera' (stranger/outsider) has made it difficult to really get to know a lot of people, but today I could really see the beginning of the realization of the vision, and it filled my heart with joy.


Veronica


Vero and Alex at the River


The kids climbing on the World's Largest Rock
(at least, according to my neighbour Chino)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Are We Mexican Enough?

Living as a stranger in a foreign land is a confusing enough position to be in. I mean, no matter what you do, how you live, or how much time you spend in a place, the fact is and always will be that you are from somewhere else. It is your label, how you are recognized, judged by and sometimes why you are discriminated against.

All of this seems quite simplistic, however, when you become a foreigner parent to some local kids.

It's an odd thing anyway, parenting is. I mean, you never really have any idea what you are doing, you just mainly do what you parents did, or try to at least, with your own differences here and there for flair and a little originality. So how do you raise kids in a culture not your own in a way that won't make them stand out? So in our everyday life it's a consideration - are we really mexican enough? Are my kids going to turn out too 'americanized'? Will they end up not fitting in their own culture, or in mine, but end up in a weird middle ground somewhere?

Of course that being said, that "weird middle ground" is basically the definition of Canadian culture, and really is it so bad to grow up in a multicultural setting? When I first moved to Mexico I thought it was my responsibility to become as Mexican, and non-Canadian, as I possibly could so as not to offend. I quickly realized that this was not only not at all expected and insane, but impossible. I already am what I am, neither could I, nor would I want to change that.

So how does a Canadian who grew up in a Dutch-Canadian community raise kids in Mexico?

I bring this up for two reasons. First, because it came up the other day while i was spending time with some of my wonderful Canadian friends who came down to visit. The question was, do you think you guys are mexican enough?

Now it may seem like a funny thing to ask, but it is something that I actually think about quite a bit. But what does it even mean? Whether or not we are eating enough beans and rice? If we can handle our hot sauce? Do we break piƱatas at birthday parties? Or are there things more important than cliches that we are missing out on because of my cultural cluelessness? English is the main language in our household, however I can really only see a benefit to both kids as it is very desirable to be bilingual here, and both speak Spanish at school.

Now I am going to digress here for a moment, to bring up another point - are we really supposed to be 'fitting in' here on earth anyway? Sure my kids are growing up differently than other kids, but what kids aren't? and isn't that the idea? I want my kids to know who they are, and Whose they are in Christ. There are so many people in this world, most of them Christians, who have no idea of who they are, and what it means to be a child of Christ! Everything else, cultural, social, economical, is completely irrelevant if this main point is not understood. In the world the important thing is that they grow up seeing the differences in themselves and others, and appreciating those differences the way God does. Loving God and loving our neighbours is our mandate in life, whether or not we are eating the same kind of foods or speaking the same language.

So going back to the original question my answer would undoubtably was, yes I absolutely think we are Mexican enough. Why? Because we are here! We are part of a mexican community, my kids are in mexican schools, they have mexican friends, eat mexican food and celebrate mexican holidays. I mean, really the only thing that isn't mexican about these kids is their mom! (no worries though, I'm getting there; I've got the mexican driving down no problem) However if you are looking for other proof, I got it today, which also happens to be the second reason I bring this up.

The past few days have been kind of cold and really windy; spring is actually quite similar here to spring in southern alberta. So I decided it would be a great day to make one of the kids' favorites - Shepherd's Pie. Now, i realize this is nowhere near Meixcan food, to me it kind of defines good hearty canadian prairie fare, but hey old habits die hard, and whats wrong with having some international cuisine sometimes anyway? So I set down steaming plates of good ol' meat and potatoes, and what was the first thing out of their mouths?

"Where's the salsa verde?"

What could I do? I let them add it, but it felt sacrilegious. I mean, who has ever heard of spicy shepherd's pie?

Then again, no one needs to wonder where these kids come from.



Little Revolutionary


Que Guapo!


Honors to the Flag


All ready for school


Cheering on the Canadians for Olympic Hockey Gold

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

My New Nephew

So my new little nephew Jayden Michael was born this morning, and since i am feeling rather nostalgic I thought i would take this opportunity to post some of my fav pictures of my 'little' brother. Love u Jer, congrats!

Little bro


Baby #1, Madison!


Two J Winds



Now a Momma and Daddy of two!



This was totally fair



Classic. Brother and sister, the early years


and the later years. I miss hanging out with this guy


When there were only three...


No wonder his kids are so cute


The whole lot of us



Now, to the casual observer it may seem odd that i have no actual pictures of the new little guy, but thats because i don't have any. yet. :) Besides i thought it would be weird to post pictures of someone I haven't even met yet anyway. My brother, on the other hand, I have spent some time with. Often I end up talking about and reporting on things happening here in mexico, but people rarely see the other half of my life that is on the other side of the continent. I grew up in a big, crazy, happy family and a lot of who I am comes from those formative years growing up on the potato farm with 6 siblings. The only really hard thing for me to be here in Mexico is being away from all these people who know me better than anyone! and love me anyway :) That's kind of life on earth though, isn't it? Your heart split in two until we are all in one place with the One who put us together in the first place!!! Looking forward to that day.
Many blessings to all of you out there that are my family, blood or otherwise.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Beginnings

So, here is the first post on this blog. I am unsure of where to start, seeing at i have sent out many updates to friends and family and supporters over the years, however since this is new I suppose an introduction would be in order.
I graduated with an agricultural degree in Alberta, Canada, and while i love the ag community and all that comes along with that life, I felt like I was lacking a certain direction and passion. Life seemed flat and meaningless until I surrendered my life once again to the Lord my God in 2003 and once again became a part of a church family. Becoming part of this church community translated into becoming a sponsor for our youth group, where i found myself preparing for a week long missions trip to mexico. That trip sparked something in me that I had not felt in a long time - a realization that I was part of something big, that if we are willing to take big risks for God He can do amazing things through our lives. It gave me a vision of purpose and I was excited!I sold my home and many belongings and headed south on October 1, 2004 with my Mom and everything I owned crammed into my little jeep. :) I had no idea what God's plan was, what i would be doing or what it would be like but it was the adventure of a lifetime and I knew God would only lead me where He would keep me. So, I dropped Mom off at the airport in San Diego and kept heading south.

Now, things are not always as neat and tidy and simple as we would like them to be, however suffice to say that God is working me into where He wants me, changing my heart and showing me His every day. In 2005 I started working with La Paloma Families for Children, a ministry under IDT, and in October of that year my first little charge arrived in a flurry of activity called Gumaro. He is a very special guy and is growing into an amazing young man of the Lord. I was someone who had never been a mom before, didn't speak a lot of spanish and knew nothing about ADD, or ADHD, or FAS or any other initials they were throwing at me. He was a 5 year old who had never had a mom of his own, didn't speak any english, and didn't know much about the initials either.There were some bumps and bruises along the way but he and I made it, eventually finding ourselves in a rental house in the same community as our mission base. It was there that Alejandro joined us in October of 2006. Alex was a 14 month old the size of a 6 month old, with an unidentified skin condition and fear of everything. We have since learned he has a rare skin disorder called Ichthyosis, and that he is an amazing little boy with a wonderful sense of humour and endearing smile.





Skip forward yet again, and I am here, writing at my desk in my very own house, on my very own property, in a little community north of where our mission base is. God fast-forwarded a dream that I thought would take years to get to completion, and I look forward to every day to see what may happen next. I love Jesus, and these boys, and life so much it almost hurts. What an awesome God we have, and what a privilege to serve Him in this place! I invite all of you out there to come along with me on this journey, to see what God will do here on our Rancho Windiana.
Many Blessings,
Karen, Gumaro & Alex