The Blessing and gift of journals

I can’t say enough how Julie's words in her journals have blessed me. Over the 12 years of our marriage, we occasionally read to each other entries from our journals. But only occasionally. Why read each other’s journals when we had each other in person?

In person, we could talk and share insights, struggles, and dreams. We met every morning for Paraguayan tea time. It was a ritual, a sacred date that we considered one of our daily highlights. Missing the 6am tea time was almost a transgression of a family tradition.

Today during my early tea time, I opened a journal from six years ago. Julie was sharing her struggles as a mother, wife, and daughter of the king.

A few months after Timmy’s birth, she wrote: "It’s my first Mother’s day ever. Thank you God for the privilege of being a mom. What a life change I have had in the last six months. Timmy has consumed so much of my time and energy but it is all worth it. Timmy is sitting up unassisted and soon, will be crawling. It is amazing to see his growth. Praise God for a healthy child." (May 14, 2006)

Four days later, she wrote: "We are putting up our fence on our new lot. It is so exciting. Thank you God that we are able to buy a lot and plant trees. On mother’s day we planted a Lapacho and a chivato. Timmy is more full of life each day. He is flexible, fairly easy going and not a cry baby." (May 18, 2006)

Just planted grass and Lapacho national tree

Entries in 2006 reflected the life of our little son and ideas about our future home. It was a stage when we had just purchased a property and were thinking and dreaming about home ownership. We planted grass and trees before anything was ever built. We began saving and looking for ways to finance our home. We had been married six years, four of those in Paraguay. We were excited about the future. God had given us a sweet little baby. Life was busy, dynamic, exciting.

The first bloom of our pata de buey tree, only three months after Julie planted it

The next six years were incredible. We were able to see Timothy grow and go to preschool and first grade. We were able to move into the home that we'd both dreamed of. We got to host people from at least seven different countries. We got to see Timothy play in his own, blue-walled room. In a sense, God gave us the gift of seeing things happen and dreams come true.

Just reading these entries brought back a ton of wonderful memories. Thank you for the gift of good memories. Thank you that dreams do come true.

As I process my grief, deep inside I know that God will restore and that I will see a few more dreams come true. I am continuing to journal, even if my journal never sees the light of the day. It’s a blessing that I get to enjoy.

Norberto and Anahi

Christmas in Paraguay!

If you're wondering what Paraguayans do at Christmastime, they have some great traditions , including the " noche buena " meal on Christmas Eve at midnight. They eat lots chipa guasu (a type of corn casserole, stay tuned for a recipe), asado or grilled meat (some eat it cold), salads, especially fruit salad, watermelon and drink mucho terere . Families travel from all over the country, many even return from working in other countries like Brazil, Argentina, and Spain, to celebrate with loved ones. This is us at last year's Kurrle celebration in Asuncion. Festivities are anything but a silent night with fireworks, loud music and drinking cidra (hard cider). Most Paraguayans do not decorate Christmas trees (we decorate ours in shorts!) or emphasize Santa Claus. Instead, they put beautiful nativities " pesebres " in their yards and in store fronts. Kind of novel to focus on Christ at Christmas, isn't it! To beat the heat, many Paraguayans g...

Paraguayan Weddings

On Valentine’s Day, we had the joy of attending the wedding of Sandra and Anastacio, young leaders in the church. Sandra is my assistant with Children of Promise and Anastacio, apart from his carpentry job, has a popular youth-focused radio program every night at 8:00 on our station. We’ve been to quite a few weddings, and these are some of the uniquenesses of southern Paraguayan wedding celebrations from our North American culture: 1. Nothing is fancy. Emphasis is placed on the act of marriage and not on the decorations or food. 2. It is not an expectation that parents help pay for expenses. Most families just make it each month with regular expenses and cannot afford to pay for eleborate feasts. Most couples have to spend months saving for their own wedding. 3. Borrow as much as possible. Many times wedding dresses are borrowed 5-10 times, because few women can afford their own. Flowers, decorations, shoes and ties (Norb loans out his ties often...since he never wears them!...

How to make Rosella (Roselle) Juice and Tea

This is rosella (not to be confused with grosella, which is gooseberry). Rosella is from the hibiscus family. It's harvest time here, and we use the rosella to make juice and tea. It's properties are absolutely tremendous. It helps sooth colds, coughs, helps digestion, promotes healthy kidney function, is a treatment for cancer, and reduces a fever and that's just a few of its benefits! To make rosella juice, first de-pit the fruit and wash the skin thoroughly. Put the fruit into boiling water until the water is bright red (about 15 minutes). The color is so vibrant, Roselle is sold to make dyes. Strain the fruit (which can be used to make a delicious jam) and refrigerate the juice. Add a few squirts of Stevia for a healthy drink. The finished product looks exactly like red Kool-aid, but is entirely full of nutrients. We can't get enough of it. We dehydrated the petals for hot tea. All you need is two dried flowers to infus...

ChristieMarch 14, 2013 at 8:52 AM
What a beautiful way to remember, from Julie's own words. I'm so thankful she recorded them, and I feel guilty that I haven't done more of that. You and Anahi will be blessed by those journals for many years. :) I'm glad to hear that you are writing, too!

Passion for Paraguay

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