Day of Rest

I think it's going to be harder to blog on here while we're in Paraguay than I thought. There are so many things I want to write about and so many pictures I want to post that I just can't do it justice. All our pictures are on one computer and I rarely have access to that computer so I can't get to the pictures to post them as frequently as I'd like, so bear with me.

Let's talk about today. Today truly was a day of rest, unlike our usual Sunday's in Kitchener when we're running around constantly and feel more worn out by the end of the day on the Day of Rest than other days of the week! Church here starts at 8:30, so we were out of the house by 7:30 to get there early. There is a LOT of fellowship time that happens here at this church and it's wonderful, especially if you know the language! Haha.

So, we had a wonderful morning at church and I was thankful that I could understand about 40-50% of the message this morning! How I wish Mr. Wallace would have taught us USEFUL words in Spanish class like alabanza and goya (still not exactly sure what this is, but one form or another is used often in the songs) instead of limpia parabrisas and uvas y acetunas (windshield wipers and grapes and olives really are not useful words when trying to speak to people at church).

This afternoon, Karen and I took Stephen and Timothy to La Quinta for a welcomed swim in the pool. Wow. It was beautiful, warm, sunny and relaxing! Liliana came and joined us for a bit at the side of the pool and eventually the dads and the little boys came after their naps. Another teacher, Emilia and her fiance came as well and we all sat around drinking terere and I played with the boys on the tennis courts with balls and hoola hoops. I'm telling you, it was a super, relaxing Day of Rest!!!

I appreciated today because for some reason, I'm SICK! It's warm and sunny here and my nose is dripping like a faucet and I am sneezing up a storm! Why in the world am I sick? I've also been feeling a bit more tired and weak than normal and I know it's from some other health issues, so a day like today was more than a blessing!

It's been interesting that since I can't really communicate too well with everyone, I have been watching people. I can see those that have servant hearts and are always running around (Running Paraguayan style, I mean. That means that they are just constantly busy, not that they are actually running fast.) You can see the people that are given to hospitality, those that are gifted in music, those that see the needs in other people, those that welcome others in the church, those that are drawn to the children. If I can recognize their gifts so clearly just by watching them a few times, it made me wonder what others might see in me when they initially watch me. Not that I want PEOPLE to see something in me, but my question for myself is that I wonder what gifts am I using so appropriately that it is obvious that God is present? Does that make sense?

It's the end of my day of rest now. Tomorrow starts another busy day. Mondays will be our days off from school, but it will be busy. It's our only day to really get anything done. I look forward to the next Day of Rest. I hope your day was restful today, too!