Reliance


"14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us."
1 John 4:14-16

This is one of my favorite verses (especially verse 16), because it reminds me that God is in control of my life. He is holding me under His wing because of His great love for me, not because of anything I do! I not only can rely on Him, but I have to!


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Yesterday I got the chance to take pictures of Heidi with her Valentine roses :). Here are a couple:








(Ellie was interested in the flower, wondering what we were doing, and why we were blocking her way to the door!)






It's so much fun when I have a reason to take pictures!

Home Again II



On Monday and Tuesday, optical went to the same village, Ciento y Seis, where I had fun hiking up the neighboring hill several times with the kids. The view from the top was so pretty; I got pictures of it, but my camera couldn't quite capture the beauty.

Here we are before we went up, playing Cat and Mouse:

All the kids wanted a piggy-back ride up the hill: :)

I took a lot of miscellaneous pictures throughout the day, which don't have to go in a particular order. Here they are:







I love this boy's face! It makes me smile every time I see it :).

Outside of the school where we set up optical:


The second day Liz held this little baby (I think it was a boy), who was adorable! He had such huge eyes!

Isn't he precious?

Home Again


Oh, how I miss the Dominican sunrises...they were such an awe-inspiring reminder of the Lord's love and promises, and it was so precious to see them every morning! But even though I only got to see seven DR sunrises, I've found that the Lord has been so good to remind me that He is near and watching out for me always by giving me mini-sunrises here in Pittsburgh. They have taught me that His love reaches way up here, and through them I've felt God telling me that He wants to work in my life here and now, not just when I'm in the DR!

We got back from the Dominican Republic a week and a half ago, although it seems like so much longer since I was soaking in the warm sunlight and breathing in the calm breeze. There is something surrounding MGM that radiates wholeness and goodness, and it is hard not to be affected by it. I know that the compound is so soaked in prayer and the Word that the spiritual atmosphere touches everyone, and I know that every single one of us who went down was doused in it - whether that be consciously or unconsciously.

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Now here are the pictures from the beginning of the week (going mostly in chronological order).

Here is Lizzy, on the bus to the compound, with the look of excitement on her face (which we all had!!):

The morning view from the Upper Room!!

And another picture from the Upper Room, a sunrise:

Ruthie on the trucks, on the way to church:

I'm so disappointed that I don't remember this little girl...she is so cute, and I love this picture! I think I might have taken it at the first church we went to on Sunday, Samuel's church:


Liz, in the Upper Room:

Rachel:

Katie:

Elizabeth, getting her hair braided (for the first time that week!). She only got the top part of her head done, but it got sunburned in the middle of the week, and when she went to get her hair braided again at the end of the week she suffered so much pain because of the sunburn! I felt so bad for her!!

This little boy was soooo cute!! I love his eyes in this picture:

Lizzy and a friend: :)

Ruthie and Phoebe:

During the week when we went to the villages, we would gather right away and make a big circle (with the villagers if they wanted to), hold hands, and pray. It was a good way to start the day:

I got to do optical several days this week (optical is my favorite!), and it was fun to find the huge +18 glasses again! Everyone loved them:

I also got to spend time with the kids and watch VBS for a while, and it was neat to see the kids react with us. This girl was leading the group in prayer:
And this girl was watching what we were doing: :)

These boys were trying not to look too interested in the stories and games: ;)

This mom and kids (I'm not sure which of them were her children) were very willing to be photographed!

This little boy was so adorable! I love the blissful, happy expressions on his face:




I have so many pictures that I like that it's hard to choose which ones to post! I think I'll end up posting a lot :). So there are definitely more to come!