Happy birthday and The boy is sick!!

Know one is ill... at least not that I know of. I'll get to the sick part later. Sunday morning arrived and Pamela turned 5!!! Wish we could have a cake and celebrate like back home but will have to wait. The kids were excited that they would get to go to church again. Yuri & Carol (Y & C) came to pick us up. The kids couldn't wait to get to their Sunday School classes. After church Y & C took us to a McDonald's. It had a playland which went over better than the Happy Meals. The kids had heard of a McDonald's but never been to one. Wellington ate his meal well, but I think the others were not as impressed. When Gabe saw his burger he began disassembling it... getting rid of the bun. Yuri also bought the kids some ice cream for Pamela's b-day. When we got back to Lar Ragote we began packing things as Berto came to help move us back to Betania...our home away from home. Once we settled back in, we had Pamela open her gifts from the Grandma's. She likes them and so does Lidiane. But she will have to wait till Tuesday, as that is her b-day. Sunday evening we were able to web cam with our 3 older kids back home as well as my mom and my bro-in-law and sis-in-law. It was good to see and talk with them... technology is great... sometimes. The 4 kids here were trying to make sure their face was in the web cam and were all talking and touching the computer... basically chaos. I told the ones back home to be prepared for it. Of course they didn't understand much of what the 4 were saying. The girls wanted to see Amilia...Amilia. Well Amilia pretty much just laughed or was smiling at them. One thing we notice, the kids are comfortable with their surroundings. At Betania they know most of the people and they make their rounds during the day. But it can be hard to learn when you are comfortable. You are not being pushed or challenged as much. And you can get a little lazy. Now I'm not saying the kids aren't learning, they are doing well with English, but they do not depend on us as much as they could. Isn't that like our lives? When we are comfortable (maybe complacent) we aren't as motivated to "learn" or should I say grow. I doubt this principle is new to many of you. We grow more when we are under pressure or in the middle of trials. The Gospel spreads more when there is persecution. People become strong when they weather the crisis in their lives. A friend of ours recently sent an e-mail and quoted something from our former pastor (Scott Gardziella), "God is more interested in our 'growth' than our 'comfort'" That pretty much hits the nail on the head. So where are you... comfortable, squirming a little, or aching from discomfort? Maybe a more important question might be... Where do you want to be??... ouch! Remember Peter got out of the boat and into the stormy waters. Take your pick... something made by man or in the storm... holding the hand of Jesus. Ok now for the sick part. As you may have read before, Gabe will eat just about anything put in front of him. Well that now includes 3 things I wouldn't care to taste. The first night at Lar Ragote I was giving Gabe a shower. Well they use a different brand of soap. While lathering him up he licked his soapy hand... and kept licking. The other hand then his arms. I couldn't get him rinsed fast enough. I told Rebekah about it and she said when she puts baby lotion on him he eats it if it isn't rubbed in. Then last night after we had been using the white (dry erase) board, I found him sucking on the marker with the top off. I told Rebekah and she said he was being a typical 2 year old. Typical or not the boy is sick. God Bless. We have something special plannedfor the kids tomorrow... stay tuned!
Dave