Smith family blog

Moving Forward

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:59:34 -0500

So once again a few weeks have gone by and we haven’t posted anything. Even worse is that I haven’t posted anything since...February it seems. I’m afraid that any promises I would make to post more often would go unfulfilled so instead I’ll just say this: My bad.

If you still want updates from me I’ll tell you what to do. These days I tweet. No I don’t tweet every minute, hour, or even every day but I try and tweet on behalf of the TEAM and ICDU regularly. In addition I will post messages on our team’s facebook fan page in an effort to keep people more up to date with the work. If you are technologically savvy and can follow us on twitter or facebook then I suggest you do so. Usually what we are posting in those places are good things to be praying for and we could use your prayers.

Since this is our family site I would feel bad to not give you a few updates, and pictures, of our family:

- Shaye has begun to cultivate many different smiles which she uses very effectively to say ‘I love you’ or ‘Can I please have that, please?’ If you thought I was a pushover before you should see me now.....
- Shaye’s spanish speaking skills have really taken off in the past month. She speaks in the present, past (all three major tenses), and present subjunctive very easily and has recently begun to make up songs in Spanish. Yes I am jealous.
- Larissa and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on July 26. Looking back I am more convinced than ever that I made the right choice all those years ago.
- Larissa thinks Cora can say “hi” while I just think she does a good job mimicking us...I am prepared to accept that that might be the same thing
- Cora has started rolling over and she won’t stop smiling. Not many complaints here.

A few pictures:

posted by Kyle

Finished!

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:29:47 -0500

I finished reading the entire Bible today. I started on February 17th with intentions of reading it within 3 months. Um, that didn’t happen, but I kept after it, albeit more slowly than I had hoped. And I finished Revelation this morning after less than 5 months! New personal record. I’m happy.

I have several reflections to share and some things to think through and pursue in further study, but let me leave you with one verse that I read just today. It is easy to try and make the Bible more confusing than it is, and to shy away from some passages that are quite clear. I appreciated this verse for its perspective.

“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Revelation 21:8

How would your life be different if you lived as though cowardice and lying ranked right up there with magic, idolatry, murder and flat out not believing in God? Food for thought...more to come.

posted by Larissa

Be careful what you pray for...

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:32:19 -0500

If you pray for boldness to speak up in a conversation with a friend AND to learn humility better, the end result will be conversations in which you get up the guts to say something and have it not go like you would have wanted. That’s how you learn boldness and humility at the same time. Now you know.

Please be praying for the friends we are trying to reach. Sometimes it’s frustrating.

posted by Larissa

Time flies

Sun, 4 Jul 2010 20:21:59 -0500

Yeah, so I really can’t believe that it was so long ago that I sliced my finger open and that was the last post we have put up. Only because a ton of things have happened since then, and my finger is even all closed up again, though it doesn’t feel like it did before. We had our very first Peruvian missionaries retreat in Lima, closely followed by visits, the arrival of our interns, and some special events for us here.

We may or may not get caught up. We might just pick up from here and point you to other blogs that have covered some of the other items. Regardless, we have lots going on (which is why we don’t sit down to write!), and are excited about possibilities. Just this week, we will be hosting the families of two different Peruvian friends, the teen girls, and possible another friend in our home for meals and conversation. Up until recently, I was frustrated with the slow speed of progress like this in making more friends and deepening relationships with those we have. God is good, and is providing opportunities as fast as we can schedule them. Please be praying for open hearts, bold conversations and real relationships. It is my hope that our home and our family will be a place of acceptance, peace and growth for all who come through, including us!

Just to keep you a little up to date, here are a few “Shayeisms” of late:

1. Talking about the Amazon over dinner one night (apparently they are learning the areas of Peru at school), and she indicated the top of her calzone, saying, “This is Amazon, too.” She meant parmesan.
2. When a security vehicle came by, siren blaring and she said, “That was an alien car!” Alien? Oh, she meant siren.
3. Asking me today to sing Jingle Bells, including the part that you put on the horse to ride. I asked if she meant a saddle to ride on the horse’s back or a sleigh to ride behind it. “Saggle, yeah, the saggle”, she says.
4. Singing tonight on the way home, instead of saying “in that humble stable”, she said, “in that Bible sayal” (say-ul).

I love that she is in a stage of communicating that she is pulling words from memory right and left, and getting them right most of the time!

posted by Larissa

Tonta

Sun, 23 May 2010 23:20:10 -0500

That means “fool”, which we would use more as as “idiot”. That would be me. I’m typing with one finger wrapped thoroughly in gauze (interesting, to say the least. It’s bigger than the keys, so I’m aiming in the right general direction. Hello, backspace key!). The anesthetic has officially worn off since last night and it hurts, folks!

What happened? I’ll spare you the details, but I never have preferred that kitchen knife, and I will now remember to always, always, always, always, ALWAYS put plastic wrap under food that I am freezing so that it doesn’t stick to the plate or pan. I have cut myself before doing this, but not this badly.

Thus, my first stitches ever in my life. It took a while to stop bleeding at home, so I called our friend Judith, a pediatrician. I asked her how to tell if I needed to go get stitches. She asked if I could see the muscle, to which I had to answer that I don’t know what muscle looks like, so I don’t know. She stopped by to take a look, and turns out you could see the muscle layer beneath the fat and skin layers. Lovely. So off we went.

The first worst part was the iodine cleansing, which stung like fire. The vigorous wiping/scrubbing didn’t help minimize that either. Then the anesthetic shots were the most painful, because there is no good fleshy space to inject into. After that, it felt much better for a while!

3 quick stitches, the aforementioned big, puffy gauze finger, and some pain pills and antibiotics to prevent infection and we headed home. I have to go back Monday to get a progress report, then Friday to get the stitches out. It is bruised, swollen, and I still have one part of my upper finger that is numb, so we’ll see if that feeling comes back.

Now for pictures, for those who are interested. If you’re not, don’t click. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Knees might be affected.

posted by Larissa