On Shaky Ground

Where I am from, the climate changes produce thunder storms and a tornado or two.  But here in Peru they produce earthquakes.  Last night around 1:30 am we had one about 4.5 or so.  It was about 40 miles north of us, and I didn't even wake up to notice it.  Ell is at church at a weekend board retreat, and called this morning to make sure I was okay.  Since I had no idea, I was or course fine.  

Then at about 7:45 this morning we had another quake.  This time it was about 5.5 and 15 miles south of us.  The house shook pretty good, but it didn't last long.  The only reason I was nervous, which I usually am not, was because I was downstairs in the kitchen making breakfast and the kids were in the family room upstairs when it happened.  I ran up the rumbling stairs and hopped over the baby gate, hoping nothing had fallen on my babies.  They were fine, and Shaylee seemed totally unaware.  Micaiah looked at me like, "what?".  

We have had no aftershocks from this one, although Ell said we had them all through the night.  I am grateful to the Lord for always protecting us.  Most Peruvians are used to this, and although they take precautions, don't seem to mind.  It takes a little getting used to for us.  But I know that any Peruvian would be scared silly to spend March or April in the midwest and see lightening and downpours.

My Son's a Genius

I know, it's a disease that affects us all shortly after becoming parents.  We are positive our child is smarter, cuter, stronger, taller, or some other "-er" than every other child.   I suppose I was hit with this bug quite a while ago, but I never really told anyone of my condition.  Well, tonight I am letting you all know - my son is a genius.  I will spare you all the subjective parental bragging, and just cut to the facts.

He has been working on counting for a couple weeks now.  Until just a couple days ago he really only counted to two.  But yesterday he made it to six and tonight he went all the way to eight (in English).  Yesterday he also counted to five in Spanish.  He can identify the colors black, red, yellow, green, and blue.  And knows all his body parts including random ones like elbow and forehead.  He can follow commands like "bring me a toy for sister" or "get me a diaper for Micaiah" (and he can distinguish between the two).  And to top all this, he is not only learning several new words in English everyday, but in Spanish as well.  His favorite thing to say in Spanish right now is "soy lindo", which means "I'm gorgeous".  I know there may be those of you out there thinking your child is just as smart, if not smarter.  And to you I say, "great, let's form a club!"

Anyone care to brag about their child's latest accomplishments?

Oh, How I've Missed Crumbs!

Since the age of two or three I have had excema.  Or so we have always thought it to be such.  I used to have it on my elbows and backs of knees.  When I was pregnant with Micaiah I got it on my feet.  After Micaiah it greatly diminished, but came back with avengence during my pregnancy with Shaylee, this time on my hands.  It has not gotten better since then, and might even be worse.  It has gotten so bad that people have occasionally asked me if I burned the backs of my hands. It's kind of embarassing.  

Over Christmas a good friend told me of a co-worker with a rash on his hands.  He discovered it was a gluten allergy or intolerance, and was able to completely get rid of it.  So for a little over a month now, I have not eaten any gluten (the protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and oats).  This means no bread products of any sort.  Now, you can buy gluten-free(GF) products in N. America, especially at the ever-popular health food stores.  But most of those products are hard to find here.  But a few weeks ago I discovered a park that has an organic market on Saturday mornings.  There I can not only find organic produce, coffee, milk, cheese, and clothes, but also alternative flours!  Amaranth and quinoa flours are originally from Peru and still used readily in the mountains, but here in the city we are "too advanced" for them.  Until now!  I tried several recipes for pancakes, breads, and rolls, but was still lacking a binding ingredient not available in Peru.  But tonight I found a recipe online that looked promising, since it did not call for that ever-illusive binder.  I made the batch, and behold!  I ate pancakes!  Elliott even tried them and said they were good and he would eat them frequently!  As I resisted the urge to totally gorge myself on pancakes but settled for licking the plate clean, I contemplated how I was not afraid of the crumbs.  That may sound odd, but for over a month now I have been avoiding the wheat crumbs left in my butter dish by my toast-loving husband.  But tonight I made a food with crumbs, and I could eat it!  It has truly been an exciting day for me! 

The Temple

What does it mean to you that "your body is a temple" (1 Cor 6:19-20)?  How are we to "honour God with [our] body"?  Does that mean no sex out of marriage? Don't be drunk?  Don't drink?  Don't smoke?  Don't be a glutton?  Does it mean we should never eat anything unhealthy?  Or always eat organic? Exercise three times a week?  What does it mean, and how are you living up to your own definition?