Light in the Darkness

Tragedy really shows a persons character (thankfully we can change our character as we learn & grow and become a better version of ourselves). It can really bring out the absolute worst in a person. It's sad to see it unfold. But it also breaks my heart to see people in such pain, with absolutely no hope or peace. What a sad way to live life, without forgiveness and hope.
In life, there will always be tragedy. How you respond to that tragedy is what really matters. Unfortunately we do not always see justice served this side of heaven. God said He would have justice for all and He is good on His word. So even if we do not see results now; truth and justice win out in the end. Honestly, I do not know the truth in this current situation and honestly no one does unless they physically were present during the altercation. I do know a son died, a grandson, a cousin, uncle maybe? A life was lost and that is sad no matter what! And everyone wants the truth and justice when someone dies. That is completely understood and justified.
Protesting for a cause is fine and good especially since we are all about freedom of speech in this country. But causing physical harm to someone, something, or yourself is not the answer.


Love is what we are lacking. True, genuine, unconditional love is what we need. Love is the evidence, the fruit of all good. Love is the outcome when you give rather than take. Love is the outcome when you are selfless rather than selfish. Love is the outcome when you protect rather than harm. Love is the outcome when you serve rather than slave. We need more love in our lives. More love in this country. Love brings peace. Love brings healing. Love brings forgiveness. True, real love that is unconditional, comes from God. Jesus is love. He was & is the example. We need that love.
And lets not forget that just because one person responds badly, lies, cheats, murders, does NOT by any stretch of the imagination mean that all people who look or talk or walk like that person are the same. Just as we do not want to be judged or put into a box, we should also remember not to do that to others. We should treat others as we want to be treated.
Jesus we ask that You be with our nation in its crisis. We ask that You are evident in the midst of all the pain, anger, resentment, bitterness, confusion and chaos. We ask that people would have enough love for themselves and others to be wise rather than react in anger or speak in anger. We ask that those who chose justice as their jobs would live out what they pledged and be men & women of honor. Sometimes it is hard to take the high road but we ask that You would bring truth & justice, peace that surpasses all understanding and unity. What the enemy intends for evil, please turn it around for good. Bring joy in the midst of the darkness and let Your light shine through and make a difference in the lives affected by all of this tragedy. We thank You Jesus that You are here in the midst of all this even though we are undeserving. We ask for Your grace & mercy and forgiveness through all of our failures & shortcomings. We are not perfect but You are. So please provide a way where there seems to be no way. Help us to learn & grow from these awful situations so that we can be better people for ourselves, for others and for our nation. We thank You now for all that You have done & will continue to do. We thank You that You see the bigger picture even when we do not. We trust in Your unfailing love. Amen.

Superstitions

where do they come from? why do people believe them? they are stories passed down from generation to generation? or is it merely a cultural thing? how do you break those bondages? as a missionary at heart, knowing that respecting your elders is a big thing, how do you know when or if it is okay to speak up or out? i have always struggled with this in all areas of life, not just here in peru. i have always been the peacemaker or voice of reason and i had to learn to be confrontational and to defend myself and/or my beliefs.  i know so many who will speak so freely, without a care in the world of who they could possibly offend. but i am always thinking of how my words can be interpreted and who i might offend and so oftentimes i say nothing. but i know sometimes i should speak and i do more now than ever before but i still struggle with it. so back to these superstitions. we give power to them by speaking them and believing in them because words are powerful but that does not make them right or true. And they only have the power that we give them. how do we take things that have been engraved in us and just stop believing them when someone just comes in and says they are not true without anything to back it up!?! How can I respectfully disagree without offending? I usually just let it be but when it comes to Britan I find myself wanting to defend my parenting. I love my son and would never do anything to intentionally hurt him. But thats the same thing other parents would also say and yet may be doing things that are not right and true. And I am not better than anyone else so its just a sticky situation all around. I guess what I am saying is that if we are believers in Christ, we put His ways and His truths ahead of what we were raised to believe and ahead of what our culture says. We are to believe His Word entirely and seek His Kingdom! I feel as though I will never be in that place personally where I can step into leadership and make a difference, influence lives. But who am I to say that? It is not me who makes a difference or influences but Christ in me so then I guess that means I can step into that role if He would like me to because He is the one who changes lives, not me. I just have to be willing and He will use me. He uses everyday normal people like you and me so that when something does happen, and it will if He's in control, so all the glory goes to Him! Anyway, I guess that means I cannot hold back. I cannot wait for the right moment. The moment is now and He wants it all. I am here Lord, use me.

Life is So Short...

To be living in the past, or living a lie, or to live on pause, or not living at all. We have but this life to live and love our Savior and to love others and show them His perfect love. How can we sit here and think we are better than others, more deserving, or be judgmental or hate. God said love the sinner, hate the sin. So that does not mean we get the option to judge or hate the person who lives in sin. We are supposed to live the example in love and let God do the rest. He is the only one who can judge because none of us are perfect. Even as we love and live for God we fall short and sin. But we do have the choice to live in sin and we need to know the difference.

True repentance means turning away from the things of the world. We are to live in the world but not of it.

I am so blessed to be here and to be reminded of all the little things that really matter, like family and friends and spending time with them, loving on them and reminding them who they are in Christ. I am so not perfect and I can be a hypocrite at times because I struggle in the faith often but I love God and I so desperately want to live my all for Him and I so desperately want others to know His love. His love is so perfect and beautiful and compassionate and forgiving. He takes away the pain, wipes away the tears and gives us peace and  comfort and hope. It definitely does not mean that life all of a sudden becomes easier or that we will not have problems because we will. Its the way of the world and we live in it so there will be times of great difficulty. But we have the one who can bring us hope and strength to endure those times. And if we do end up dying, we have hope in Him that we have died but we are alive with Him in heaven, free of all pain and difficulty.

Anyway, not trying to preach to anyone, but myself maybe. It is just my way of expressing my thoughts and you can agree or disagree, that is fine. I just have to be honest with myself and anyone who may be reading.

Today we will have time with family and maybe some friends. We are going to just take these last days in, every moment and hopefully get more pictures in. We do not have any set plans except tomorrow to go to the pools. Otherwise, we are just hanging out with family as much as possible. I hope you have time this weekend to be with your loved ones and share with them your love, the love of the Father and to bask in His precious love.

With all our love,

Rita, Brian & Britan

Oh Peru...

Sometimes it is so surreal that we are back in Peru. Other times it is as though we never left. If we had the house we are currently living in, plus some alterations based on personal interest, I think we could live here. If we had jobs that could provide our needs and were safe. In other words, that won't be happening anytime soon. But we are open to God bringing us outside of Oklahoma or the USA if He thinks we should go. Being here reminds you to be thankful for what you do have. And also proves that one can survive without all the materials of the world. There are so many without water, without clean water or four walls around their house. There are so many without bathroom or kitchens or proper bedding. We must be thankful for what we have because there are so many without. And they could be your neighbors just next door! Remember that when you go to buy unnecessary items. That could be well-spent money that could bless orphans or families who are without! We have mostly spent our time with Brian's family so they can have time with Britan! And he is loving it, soaking up all the attention and playtime! Britan also went to the beach for the first time! He only got his feet wet, mostly playing with sand! we are also getting in some  pool time and enjoying this hot weather before having to return to winter weather :(   days have passed so slowly and it has been so lovely but our departure is rapidly approaching and we are sad to say goodbye. We leave Monday night for Lima and dp we leave Lima Wednesday around 12:30 am. So we will be back before you know it! Thank you for the  prayers, they are felt! Britan seems to be doing so much better, thank God and  YOU!

Pacasmayo Here we are!

We took the bus to Lima. It was a long 12 hours from Lima. The buses have upgraded since I was here. They have internet, chargers for computers & phones and each person has their own tablet in front of them. And the seats are like lazy boy chairs. They also feed you dinner. I of course forgot to take my medicine before we began our travels so I was sick for the first 2-3 hours. Brian had to take care of Britan because I could not move. It was awful. Blah. Britan did well other than not wanting to be in a car seat for 12 hours. He has really adjusted well and nothing seems to faze him. He is loving his time outside, getting all dirty in the dirt and spending time with his aunts, uncle, cousins, and grandma.
We have been blessed to stay at the orphanage so I have been able to see some of the kids, most of the kids I knew are gone and it is all new faces. I did not realize so many kids were being adopted to the USA to the same area as the others in Missouri. How awesome is God!! We have been blessed to also spend time with Maggie & Jake and their kids! It has been nice to visit! We mostly have been just hanging out with family in our little home for our time here.
Everyone loves Britan. I do get a few comments about his feet and putting shoes on backwards but he is fine. Britan is not wanting to eat a lot, just go go go! So much new things to see and do, he doesnt know what to do with himself.
Tomorrow we may go to San Pedro to the little mini water park after lunch, depending on how much it costs. Lima is so expensive, thankfully its not as bad here. But we do want to help Brians family out if we can with a kitchen, new connections for electricity and maybe a table. We will see what we have towards the end of the trip to be able to do that for them. It is hard. Brian has been saving up for this for the past two years just so we can have this time with them and so he could bless his family while we are here but we have to be careful with how we spend it. So please pray for wisdom.
Anyway, the time goes much slower here which is nice because we want to enjoy every moment we have while we are here, taking in everything.
I think from all the travels, my lower back gave me a hard time today. All of a sudden I had massive pain and Brians sister was able to massage  it and I rested and felt much better. I was thinking of Heather and her appendix and was like OH MY GOSH please NO! Thank God for our health and thank you for your continued prayers for our health while we are here.
Britan has scared us 2 times since being here. In Lima at the hotel he fell face down the stairs. He was on the 4th stair down and i could not get to him fast enough and he had a good cry and I kept an eye on him but thank God he is okay. But then when we got here to Pacasmayo we were at a restaurant and sitting down and Britan got up and started running around and i thought the door was closed but it was open and he slipped out and both Brian and I got up and ran screaming because the roads are so busy. It was a terrifying moment as a parent that I do not want to think about. My goodness.
Otherwise Britan just wants to get all dirty with this dirt and sand because he is not used to being outside in the dirt. Haha! We do not have a yard at our house in the USA.
Anyway, we are having a wonderful time. We have monopoly and cards and we are just hanging out. I hope you are all blessed and well. My thoughts are with you. We love you all.
-Rita, Brian & Britan
P.S. I apologize for errors. This is a spanish key board & I do not know how to change some things.

Peru here we are!

We left for Peru on Tuesday morning. The flight from Tulsa to Dallas ended up getting delayed. We flew to Dallas but could not land so we returned to Tulsa and sat in the airplane. We did not get to Dallas until 11:45 am instead of the ETA of 9:25 am. So that put us behind for all our flights. Thankfully our Dallas flight was delayed since the weather was bad but then we did not leave until 1 and so then we were going to miss our flight from Miami to Peru. But there was an airline worker standing at the gate with a sign for LIMA and he took us by the Little car to our gate and we rushed on. I felt like we were on Home Alone, rushing to make our flights and leaving Kevin behind. But instead of Britan being left behind (thankfully), our bags did not make it onto our flight. So when we arrived to Lima at 10:30 pm we did not actually leave the airport until midnight because of having to fill out paper work. Thankfully the pastor was waiting for us still and he took us to our hotel, which is a great place to stay if you ever come to Peru and need to stay in Lima. Friends House. It is in a  really safe área of town and it is a really good Price. It is where the peace corp workers stay when they come to Lima.
Side note: This keyboard is in spanish and so it changes words I write, so excuse all the weird and random errors.
Anyway, since we had to wait to receive our bags, we could not purchase our bus tickets so we had to stay two nights. We did receive our luggage on Wednesday morning but the airport people were so kind as to go through our bags and take a few things for themselves for all the trouble it took for them to get our bags back to us. We are short my nice camera that Brian got me for mothers day & my birthday 2 years ago. We are also short Brians Surface Tablet, which he was going to leave with his family so we could stay in better contact. And Brians favorite pair of shoes. It is unfortunate & disappointing but things happen and we are safely here. That is what is most important. God is so good and got us here safely and we trust He will continue to keep us safe in His arms as we journey on! I put too much trust in the system, forgetting how things can be here sometimes but thankfully we serve a big God.
We got to explore Lima, eat some yummy foods. I got to go and see Gap here in Peru. It looks good and nice, it seems over priced but not sure if that is just me or what. They do have security guards in suits by the doors which i thought was too funny but I am sure needed.
Britan is doing really well through it all. He did wonderful on the flights, only crying 2 times when he was really tired. He is getting a Little stir crazy in the hotel since the room is so small but he is doing great. We leave tonight at 6:30 pm for our final destination. We are super excited and cannot wait to see Brians family and to enjoy the rest of our trip. Thanks for the continued prayers. They are much appreciated! Until next time, have a blessed day & week!
-Rita, Brian & Britan