Thursday
After breakfast, China and I took chicken off the bone and cut it into chunks so I could marinate it until supper. We were looking forward to sharing Chalupas with Simon’s.
I finally buckled down and got some office work done. I had a number of emails I needed to reply to, which I took the time to do, and I got to work on an editing project that has been waiting.
In the afternoon, we got to work on food. Steph made fresh salsa, China rolled out tortillas, and I fried chicken and shells. We had lots of helpers. I was pretty sure we were going to end up using every dish in the kitchen because we had so many things going at the same time.
Jheyson came to have supper with us. I would say the Chalupas were a success. Everyone ate until they were full, and we gathered up the fragments–not quite twelve baskets full–and kept them for breakfast burritos the next morning.
I went on a motorcycle ride for the first time in my life after supper. A friend of mine and I went out to have a chat. You can call him Fred. He’s wrestling with a decision for Jesus, and the devil is really fighting for his soul. Please pray for Fred.
Friday
Simon took me out to get the truck aligned. It cost less than $4.50 to have it done, and it seems to have taken care of >90% of the issues it was having. Someone–we will not mention Simon’s name–left the keys in the truck, and they were locked inside. Thankfully, a window was open, and the mechanic got them out with wire.
While we were out, we picked up a few things, the most important of which was coffee! I think we did other things, but that’s what sticks out in my mind.
In the early afternoon, there was a grocery packing for the Venezuelan work the church here does with local refugees. They help something around 1,000 people per month with food and other necessities, including medical emergencies.
Several of us went to help the group with the packing. Afterward, Kenton convinced me to take a short ride around the valley. It was supposed to be a half-hour drive, but we managed to more than double that. What? Carol?!
Back at the house, we played gray wolf until supper time. It is a lot of fun to be able to run without feeling like I might be dying. We played until the other adults were ready to leave for a double date.
We couples left the youth in charge of all the littles while we went out for a chicken supper. Simon took us to a nice restaurant that had both ice cream and coffee. Steph and I felt spoiled.
It was a true joy to spend time with another couple, talking about things light and heavy, things happy and sad, things of child-training, community-making, and all sorts. They are good friends.
Saturday
After breakfast, Simon and I took a few boys with us to town. We first went to the bookstore where the church brethren were working together on pouring a new concrete floor. That was fascinating.
It warmed my heart again to see them all working together. There is strength in believers being busy in God’s work, but greater strength in being busy together.
We then went to pick up some food stuff. Simon often does the Saturday shopping; he’s pretty efficient at it.
After lunch, I took care of the boys while the ladies went out to town for a little time together. They wanted to look at a material shop one of the church sisters has and to do a bit of other shopping. China was especially eager to find the coffee shop.
Simon vacuumed out my truck and washed the outside of it, too. Bless his heart. I’d about forgotten the truck was white. Simon then went to get more water from Ernest’s. While he was away, I showered our boys.
China made biscuits to go along with supper. We invited Jheyson to join us so that he could enjoy them with us. We are just getting ready to eat, so I’m going to stop the blog there.
Juan David 