Passion for Paraguay

Leading on Empty I am almost finished reading Leading on Empty, by Wayne Cordero. In it, Cordero talks about a difficult season in his life when he hit the wall. The message in this book, in addition to wise counsel from friends, has encouraged me to make an intentional effort to stop. One of the recurring themes in my life over the past few years has been the idea of respecting the Sabbath. But I must admit that often, for extended seasons, our ministry over the past 12 years was done at an intense pace and with few or no breaks at all. Even with the best intentions, fully devoting our lives as missionaries can cause us to miss the point of God's plan for our lives. Over the past 23 months, I have thought a lot about the tasks and ministries that Julie performed as wife, mother, preacher, teacher, radio administrator, and pioneer of Children of Promise, a child sponsorship program, in Paraguay. I can attest that Julie was a very hard-working woman and someone who gav...

January 2014 - News from Norberto & Anahi Happy New Year, and thank you for standing by us throughout 2013. It was a growing year for me as a person, as well as a time of transition as I emerged from the deep grieving of 2012 into a more steady emotional state. I thank God for you and your prayers. Last January, I was still crying a lot and wondering how I would live another day without my Julie and Timothy. If I could, I would still change things and have my wife and son back with me. But over the past year I realized that God is in control—of our time, family, resources, talents—and we are but his managers. He has given me the strength to go on and to enjoy seeing Anahi grow into a beautiful little girl. Learning to manage the role of father-mother has been difficult, and I have gained a huge respect for single-parent families. I realize more how dependent we really are on God and our need to daily connect with his Word. Over this past year I have also been involve...

I wanted to publish this blog a month ago. I am ready now. Here are some random pics which helped me process the pain of my second birthday without my little boy. I have been going through my e photo albums over the last few days. I have looked at every birthday since Timothy turned one, on Nov 23rd of 2006. He grew fast and was a true joy in our lives. I have given myself permission to feel his absence again this weekend. I must say that focusing on Anahi has helped me deal with the loss of Timothy. I am doing much better and I am accepting Gods ways for my life. Here are some priceless pictures Timmy prayed on his own. He also sang Lob und Dank before we started eating at birthday number five.  Grandma Diane and great grandma Grace both came to celebrate his 5th birthday My sister Nila and Priscila have been by my side and very supportive at every event with Timothy. At three months, Timothy learned kicking the ball in his basket. I got a kick of hi...

I was going to post November 23rd, when my son Timothy would have turned 8, but somehow I could not do it. Some days I grieve, while other days I celebrate life with my daughter Anahi. More days than not I am doing ok.   Service at Obligado Chuch of God Its been busy as I transition out of my current position as interim pastor of the Obligado Church. Back in mid 2011 Julie and I had accepted an interim-part time position to help this local church. After nine months of serving the Obligado church we had our terrible accident.   The church has embraced me and became my extended family over this past year. I have come to love these people and feel that God has placed them in my life for such a time as this. I am wrapping up my work in the Obligado Church, to continue with my other responsibilities as missionary and pastor.  Dancing to one of her little toy songs Making sure her parrot is ok Anahi is growing up and giving back so much. I celebrated her ...

Timothy's room Timothy loved to create, and he would often kneel by his bed to work on Lego projects. His mind was inquisitive and, while playing, he learned to troubleshoot. I loved that about my son. The week of the accident, Timothy had dumped his Legos onto one of his two beds. The last morning we left the house together, that's where his Lego collection was. His bike was parked in one corner of the room. His airplanes were sitting out. One of his favorite soldiers was lying next to the bed, which had automobile-design sheets on it. For the first seven months after the accident, I kept this room locked. I did not have the courage to step inside, and I did not want anybody else to go in, either. I needed time to allow myself to accept the fact that he was not with me. Holding on to how he left the things in his room seemed to give me the peace of something familiar, to which I could go back when I felt ready. I needed to see the room just how Timothy lef...

The last two months were hard. Somehow July and part of August brought back a dark sense of despair and hopelessness. I was doing so well, at least I thought. I had passed the one year mark in April.  I was feeling renewed strength and feeling like the worst was over. Suddenly bam bam, I felt the world coming down I believe that several things contributed to my slipping back into an acute state of grief. One, grieving is cyclical as I have learned. It bytes back when you less expect it. Second, Julies birthday was in July and August would have been our thirteenth anniversary. Third, I was back in the states on a very short trip and happened to visit a few places that Julie and I would have been together on our last trip. Among these places,  is our campus at Anderson University, another was being with relatives and just being on a plane alone with no one to share my journey with, knowing that wherever I landed, Julie would never again meet me at the airport with her smile, s...