redeeming the time

wow I finally have access to the blog and the power is still on so here I go w/ a quick update.  I don't believe a day has gone by that we didn't lose power.  for all you sci-fi fans, you've heard the term "an interruption in the space-time continum."  Well that is pretty much how we feel.  Just the ups and downs hurry-up-and-wait-y-ness of it here is enough to drive you over the edge at times.  For example finding out there was something important we needed to do yesterday but we didn't find out til 5pm and since it was Friday afternoon we can't do anything about it until Monday.  Couple that with the heat and learning to be patient with 2 2yr olds who can't speak English.....and, yeah, there are some hard moments. 

Today we woke up w/3 mosquitos inside the net :( so pray against malaria!  I made pizza last night from scratch!  What a nice change!  Our diet here is about 80% starch (Pastor Scott, you'd love it here!)  The stuffed bunnies took their first bath yesterday.  Even w/o a dryer they turned out ok.  Our boys have a very hard time sharing, normal 2yr olds do, but people who have never had anything nice have an even harder time.  If you are getting gifts for them, a tip: duplicates in different colors is a great idea.  Meaning get one boy the green car and one boy the same car in blue etc.  They love toy cars, ride-on toys like a tricycle and playing outside kicking the ball around.  They are definitely going to need stuff to climb on and jump off of like a swingset/jungle gym etc. 

Even though we have a new lawyer who is very great, [for the curious: http://cms-advocates.com/] this will still be a huge miracle to have completed in just a few more weeks so continue to ask for miracle on our behalf!!  We have an appointment to apply for our visa ahead of the court date which is great news!  we are going early Wednesday AM for that (remember we're 7hrs ahead of you on the East coast) pray that every single necessary document is deemed acceptable and we can move forward with speed.  Also ask God that our lawyer will feel a strong sense of urgency and compassion for us because of our prior bad experience and will honestly do his very best to expedite our case. 

Also, we don't want to wear out our welcome with our hosts.  Pray for favor with them also.  They were pressed into service in a sense because they are related to the person we were originally going to be staying with but it was her 50th anniversary celebration the week we arrived and she had house guests.  They have a 4 yr old son (turning 5 in a few weeks) who is perhaps a bit sick of not being the baby and not getting his own way and having to share his toys etc.  He woke up grumpy this AM.  I can hear him whining right now as a type.  I'm sure it is hard for he and his sisters to have us here every day and also this is their last week of vacation before school starts up again for them.  Well it is 9am, time for breakfast. My boys woke up at 6:30 as they always do, but the maid doesn't serve until 9am. we usually  get food and serve ourselves but I wanted to write an update before we lose power which usually happens early on weekend days.