All the way from TX

Last weekend our friends Mark and Elizabeth Mason visited us from Lubbock, TX. They braved the long journey from TX with 3 flights each way...even spending the night in Dallas on the way home. Elizabeth and I met at Kamp Kanakuk when we were in 9th grade, and then were roomies at Baylor! She is the greatest friend ever, and maintains long distance relationships better than anyone I know. Her and Mark are such a blessing to Elliott and me, and we had a blast showing them around the island.  Check out Elizabeth's blog for pics and stories! (Thanks for letting me mooch Elizabeth)

You will be missed....A LOT!

Well, our only American friends here in Santo Domingo are moving back to the states.  We are really sad....REALLY sad. We met John and Sarah and their two kids Evie and Ransom shortly after we moved down. We are going over to their house tonight for dinner and goodbyes. We don't know what we are going to do without them here....they have been such a huge source of fun, fellowship, and encouragement for us. 

John and Sarah, thanks so much for always being up for hanging out. You will be missed greatly.We will miss hanging out at the pool, eating together, playing video games, "cultural venting," Sunday lunches at "Panera/Chipotle," watching movies on the roof, and so much more. We can't wait to hear all that God does in and through you in the next stage of your life. And, if the Missouri cold is too much to handle, you always have a hot, AC free room waiting for you at our house. 

We love you, 

Wissy and Wissy (no, thats Elliott)

bittersweet cold water

About six weeks ago we rigged up our cooler next to the tub and began mixing frigid tap water with a large pot full of boiling water to arrive at a pleasant bathing temperature.  A full cooler provided the two of us with just enough warm water to thoroughly bucket bathe (although one typically finds it difficult to rinse his/her armpits).

Last night all that changed.  The heat is back, waaaay earlier than we expected, so I escaped to the refreshing cool waters of a simple shower.  We're hoping it's just a January "heat wave" and the temps will soon be back in the 70s.  Summer isn't supposed to arrive in Santo Domingo until mid February!!!

In conclusion, there's nothing sweeter than a refreshing cold shower to cool the body on a hot night.  The bitterness comes in realizing that the desire to take a cold shower indicates that the hot nights have returned... 

The Blessing of Family

(The gender of our baby is announced in this post!!)

This year Christmas was different. We celebrated in the DR.

AND, we had the awesome blessing of getting to share it with my family. My dad, mom, brother, 2 aunts, uncle, cousin, grandmother, and my aunts mom came down to celebrate with us (there were 11 of us total). Right before we moved here, we threw out the idea that my family come down for Christmas and that we go to the beach for a week....thinking that it was a lofty request....but that it was worth throwing it out there. Everybody immediatly responded...WE ARE IN!! My mom went to work and researched just

 about every hotel on the island. She found us an awesome brand new hotel in Punta Cana (on the east coast).

We had the BEST week together. The beach was one of the most beautiful beaches any of us had ever seen. We took lots of walks...ate too much food...played Apples to Apples, Rummikub, and worked a puzzle...played lots of tennis...had our own Christmas Eve service on our balcony...had a gift exchange...and just enjoyed being together as family. And then, on Christmas morning, we had everyone guess what they thought baby Drake was...8 guessed boy, and my grandmother Hap guessed girl. HAP WON!!! We are having a baby girl!!!

On Saturday we checked out of the hotel, and loaded a bus to Santo Domingo. When we arrived at our home, Rosario and Javier had prepared an enormous Dominican lunch for all of us. We then took them up to Cielo to meet some of our friends and show them around Mission Emanuel's property. We had a great last dinner in the Colonial Zone....and then had to say our goodbyes.

I don't know if Elliott and I were ever able to express to them how much it meant to have them all here with us. We can't imagine what our Christmas would have been like had they not come. It is also so wonderful because now they all have seen where we live and got a glimpse of our lives. I know I am biased...but I think I have the best family in the world.

Metered

After reading our previously written post titled "Darkness," my dad thought that we were deliberately refusing to pay our power bill. Afraid we were serving as a bad example to others and worse, a poor witness to Christ, he called me out. So, just to clarify, we were not refusing to pay for our consumption, but rather, were not given any opportunity or means to pay. In retrospect, I suppose we could have estimated our usage costs, gone to the power company's office and handed them cash. The truth is, for better or worse, that option never crossed my mind until now. Anyway, Tuesday a team of sub-contractors installed a watt meter on our home, so we're now officially within the electric company's grid, and regarding this matter, I think above reproach. That's good. I'll make a comment on this post when we get our first bill…