Around here

Here is the building where we spend the majority of our days learning Spanish Grammar and conversing in Spanish.

This is the apartment complex in which we reside.  We are right in the middle of the building.

Every winter a large group of retired folks bring their RVs down to RGBI and spend several months volunteering at the school.

Many of the volunteers have spent this winter building a block wall around the back of the RGBI property.  This picture only shows approximately 1/4 of the wall.  When they complete the project, they will have used around 16,000 concrete blocks.

The campus is also overrun with wild kids who are enjoying the freedom to cruise around on their bikes.

Our Apt

Untitled from 5Larrabees on Vimeo.

Costume Day at School

All week was spirit week at school.  On Tuesday the kids dressed up like characters in a movie. Gabby was one of the Incredibiles.  Rebekah was a human from The Lord of the Rings.  Finding costumes is a bit more difficult without a Goodwill, but I think they turned out pretty well.

A great deal

While our friends and family in KY are enjoying, or maybe not enjoying, the snow, we are loving these tasty grapefruit for only $2.00 a bag.   So if you like grapefruit, TX is the place to be.

Wildlife

Here are a few pictures from the bird watching trip we took our first weekend here in TX.  Let me know if you know the names of any of these beautiful birds.

Immutability

The other day as I was getting ready for class, this amazing sunrise filled the sky.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to capture another one of God's sky paintings.  It is the first one to have palm trees.

Edinburg, TX 2014

As I thought about the colors ricocheting through the clouds and the brightness of the sun, I realized that this sunrise was similar to others while at the same time being different from others.  Here are two more sunrise pictures I've captured.   Do you see the similarities?

Lawrenceburg, KY 2013

Wilmore, KY 2006

Our walk with God can be like these sunrises.  We can experience different aspects of God's character at different moments in our life.  When we lose a loved one, we lean on God's comfort.  When our bodies become injured, we hope in Jehovah Rapha.  When we realize the vileness of our sin, we rejoice in the forgiveness of God and the sacrifice of His Son.  The longer we walk with God, the more of His many attributes we get to see.

Yet, just like the sunrise is always created by the sun, so God is always the same.  He never has changed, nor will He ever change.  This brings great comfort to me as we turn our world upside down and everything around us changes.  Knowing God is the constant fills our hearts with peace, joy, and the courage to keep following Him because He will never change.

I can't wait to see the breathtaking sky in Paraguay, and I can't wait to experience the new things I will learn about God as we serve there.


  

Things that feel like home, A.K.A KY

With every move one expects to encounter new things.  That is a given.  But these last couple days, God has opened my eyes to seeing the similarities.  Here are a few things to make it feel like home.

Liberty Tax Service has a person on the street corner swinging a sign and wearing a Statue of Liberty costume. We did notice that he was not hula-hooping like the woman in L'burg, but he was entertaining none the less.

A child began to respond with great emotion when his mother told him he could not have the candy at Wal-mart.  Awww, it's the little things.

Having a potluck.  It was with new friends and helped build relationships and remind us that we are not alone.  Thank-you 2nd semesters for this warm welcome.

My children still complain about school and tell me that home-schooling was great.  The grass is always greener.

We ran out of milk yesterday at breakfast.  This definitely solidified the feeling of home.