Gymnastics

My girls, Emma and Sophie, have decided to take gymnastics.  There is a lady here that teaches a class on Mondays.  I was excited because it was something my sister and I did for many years when we were younger.  It was a ton of fun and we always enjoyed it (except for the chest rolls, right Carlena?).  Anyways, little did I know it would be so difficult for Sophie.  This is the girl that her whole life, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING has been easy for her.  But not gymnastics.  She couldn’t even do a proper somersault.  Seriously.  This was a new feeling for her and she got very frustrated and wanted to quit.

I, of course, would NOT let her quit.  “Stick it out and keep trying, Girlie!”  So after school for the last few days I have been working with her, stretching my own muscles into handstands and other strange bendy shapes to help her learn these moves so she no longer feels “like the only one that can’t do it”.  I asked her what was holding her back from just getting out there and trying and she said FEAR.  Fear of what?  Getting hurt or doing it wrong, she said.  Really?  Yup.  That is what she said.  In my head, I am thinking, “How hurt can you get doing a somersault?”  To me it didn’t make sense.  But, in her head that fear is very real and it was holding her back.

What fear in my life is keeping me from giving my all, trying my hardest, and being willing to just go out there and make an honest effort?  Sometimes it just seems easier to let someone else do it.  Especially if they are doing it “just fine.”  But, when I allow that, I am not being stretched.  The easy way out is not always the best way out.

Now after three weeks of gymnastics, Sophie is feeling a lot more confident and a lot less fearful.  I have learned from her how important it is to overcome your fears.  You just have to change your mind about how big you will let them be.  Life can be so much more fulfilling without fears blocking the way.

Love you

Rachel

Squids and Surfing

Anyone care for some flavored squid??? It is available here in loads…look appealing? And check out this lovely front yard adornment! Not sure if this is supposed to be like a scarecrow or a piece of art. The purse says Mickey Mouse on it.

How about this nice purple shirt? Can you read it?

The kids had so much fun the other day “surfing on their butts” (In their words). They flattened out some cardboard boxes and rode them down the various hills we have here.

We have been having these amazing sunsets lately. Sophie took one of our cats Tux out to watch it.

Love you all

Rachel

Our Dorm

We are truly blessed to have a great group of kids in the hostel right now. I am thankful for each one of them. Because of their unique personalities, they each bring a different dynamic to our “family”.

We found out this week that there is a good possibility we will be adding a new guy, Nathan, to the dorm. There is a family here that has to leave very unexpectedly to get to the States. This family just found out that their youngest girl has diabetes. There is no way to treat and properly regulate her insulin here so they need to get it taken care of somewhere else. It is Nathan’s Senior Year and he has been at the school since Kindergarten. It would be so difficult to change schools now, so he may live in the Hostel so he can graduate with his class. He is a really great kid and would be a welcomed addition.

These are the kids we have now:

Thanks for all your prayers to help make our ministry possible.

Love

Rachel

Prayer

In church today we had a missionary start his prayer with, “Dear Jesus, thank you for this day…”  And for some reason I was surprised.  I don’t really know why, but I was.  And I began to think.  How DOES a missionary pray?  How does a pastor pray or Billy Graham or Mother Theresa?  Do we expect that their words always need to be eloquent and theological?  Do they have to quote scripture and make each prayer long and drawn out?  Do they have to use loud speech and hand gestures?  Do they need to say things that make us nod and yell out “Amen?”  Or can it be simple?  Can they start out with “Dear Jesus, thank you for this day…”  Then I thought, how should a son or daughter of THE KING, pray?  We are not praying to a space up in the sky or a high being that is floating around us.  We are praying to our Father-our Dad.  It is not the words at all that matter.  Who cares how fluffy or unfluffy they might be.  If you don’t mean them, what good are they?  Prayer is a direct connection from your heart to His.  Make it count.  Mean every word.  Even if you are thanking Him for the day, He cares.  And He hears.

Love you

Rachel

Ramadan

We are approaching the end of Ramadan here.  It is the Islamic month of fasting, where Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from dawn until sunset. Fasting is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility, and spirituality. It is a time for Muslims to fast for the sake of  Allah and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramadan, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds.  It is always celebrated with much feasting on a holiday called Idul fitri.  People travel all over to be with family during this time.  In many parts of the world, including many places in Indonesia, they are not allowed to even swallow their spit during daylight hours.  Fortunately It is not as strict here where we are.

The dorm kids will all be gone during Idul Fitri.  The hostel is closed and they will be with either their parents or their guardians.  We enjoy them, but it also nice to have a time of relaxing where it is just our family.  I love being able to make breakfast in my jammies.  That is one thing I can never do when we have a dorm full of kids.  Isn’t it funny how little things can be so fun sometimes?

Being in Indonesia this time of year when there are so many Muslims all around me makes me so thankful that I can go to God whenever I mess up and ask for forgiveness and I can know for sure that he hears me and will forgive.  Even if it is the same thing I keep messing up over and over…(which is so very me.)

God doesn’t hold it against me.  He doesn’t love me any less.   In fact, it is just the opposite.  He is tenderly waiting for me to confess and come back to Him.  That is love.

Love you-

Rachel

If you have time today read Psalm 32 :1-5

Caterpillars

Friday night was our first Game Night with a meal.  The Senior class had tacos for sale while all of the volleyball teams played.  Garth is coaching boys volleyball again and is really enjoying it.  The kids have improved quite a bit since last year.

Saturday we got up bright and early and drove 1 ½ hours to Kali Biru (Blue River).  Wyatt, Emma, Cale and I were all car sick on the way there.  In fact we had to stop once for Cale.  He said he either had to puke or poop: either way I didn’t want it happening in the van.  We pulled over on the side of the road for him, and then an Indonesian man came over and motioned for us to follow him.  He wanted us to come into his home and use his kamar kecil (bathroom).  That was very kind of him.  A gesture like that helps you to feel accepted into a new culture, and we were very grateful.

The entire day was a wonderful time of bonding with the dorm.  The girls and I hiked up the river to a place where you can

dig clay out of the riverbed, then we floated our way back down.  The boys had fun trying to outdo each other with flips and climbing the cliffs.  The last picture is of this really cool caterpillar that we saw while we were there.

We feel so blessed right now to be in a place that is so naturally preserved in places that you can see the fingerprints of God all over it.  To see types of trees that I didn’t even know existed, to hear calls from birds that are unlike anything you ever heard before, and to see creepy crawly caterpillars that look like they could be part troll…amazing!  I am glad that I can share all this with you.  Then, in a way you can experience it too.

Love you-

Rachel

Happy Birthday Annie

One year ago today we had the wonderful privilege of welcoming baby Annie Joy Blessing into the Peterson/Erickson/Vyskocil family. She has lived up to her name in immense ways by being both a joy and a blessing. We are so very thrilled to have her.  All of us here in Indo miss her something awful.  But we are so thankful to God for giving her to us!  How amazing!!!  Thank you to everyone that prayed her into this family.

Happy Birthday, Annie!  We love you!!!

Things are Getting Done

Things have finally been getting done here at the hostel.  And that makes me so happy!  The maintenance workers decided to come over and finish some of the projects that were half done and start the ones that were waiting.  So this week we got our dinner table back!!!!, and they connected my oven to a gas line so now I can use it.  They brought back some of the cabinets that they had taken out so things can get organized now and put away.

Here are some pictures of Henche working in the kitchen, Cale at our new table, the multitudes of laundry that we have every day, the outside of the hostel in the evening, Ibu Poppi taking the trash to the dump hole, and Cale just out of the wash tub “helping” me garden. (Watch out mosquitoes!)

Our Dorm for this Semester

I want to introduce you to our dorm for this year.  At the beginning of the summer it looked like we would be completely full again with 6 boys and 6 girls.  However, much changed in the past three months and it looks like we will only have 3 boys and 3 girls.  At least until Christmas.  Then we will get a bunch more.  I am finding that I do like having a smaller group.  It feels more like a family and less like a small crowd.

These are the kids we have in the order they are standing starting in the front left:

Elisa, Emma with one of our cats, Sophie, Brittany, (second and third row) Dani, Garth, Katie, Colton, Wyatt, Ben, and me.

Cale was napping so you have to imagine him in there somewhere.

This is a really good group of kids.  Ben and Dani are brothers and Colton and Brittany are brother and sister.  For the most part everyone gets along really well.  Our kids like being with them and they enjoy hanging around with our kids as well.

Speaking of our kids, here are some pics.  Cale looking cool, Emma relaxing, Sophie getting to know our new kittens, and Wyatt with his new haircut.

Love you

Rachel