Our first Colombian wedding!

Our 2nd month here in Colombia, God brought into our lives 2 dear Colombian friends, Carlos and Gloria. We met Carlos in a music shop where he worked. Carlos was so helpful the first day we met him, and he and his precious wife Gloria, have taken us under their wing to help us get settled in Colombia.


Gloria's brother (whom we really did not know) got married this past week and they invited us to the wedding. Carlos was asked to play for the wedding, and he in turn asked me to play, but I told him that I have never been to a Colombian wedding and I would have no clue what to expect. (But I did practice and had my music with me, in case he INSISTED that I play, at the last minute.) BOY! Was I ever GLAD that I was not playing. The wedding was to begin at 3:00 P.M., BUT DID NOT START UNTIL 4:15. While everyone sat there and waited, Carlos doodled around on the piano, looking nervous and watching the door for the bride. Then different people would walk up to the platform and lean over and tell Carlos that they had a song,(NOT A PART OF THE WEDDING PROGRAM) and then they'd walk to the mic and sing a song or some prayed, just to pass the time. I WOULD HAVE DIED, for I would have been in the middle of a nice wedding song, when those people would have wanted to sing. Since Carlos was just doing doodles, he would just casually slip into the song that they wanted to sing. The wedding was beautiful. One thing we did notice was that the Father of the Bride surely did "take his job seriously", for he almost LIFTED his daughter onto the platform, and then into the DECORATED CHAIR that she was to sit in during the wedding. (Yes, the bride and groom both SAT, for almost the whole wedding.) We also noticed that the bride did seem to be EXTRA nervous. After the wedding we learned that the POOR bride had just had APPENDIX surgery 2 DAYS before the wedding. HELP!


Then we left for the reception, which was beautiful, BUT LONG. We enjoyed our time there, visiting with Carlos and Gloria and meeting their family and friends. They served a delicious cake called "Tres Leches" (made with 3 different kinds of milk!) AND THE CAKE WAS CUT AND SERVED FIRST! Then HOURS later we were served a delicious meal of Rice with peanuts, Roast beef, Chicken with mushrooms, Russian salad and Coke ("POKE") to drink. The reception went ON AND ON and we did not get our food until shortly before we left. Colombian people LOVE to be up front, noticed, have the microphone, etc. So, every uncle, cousin, friend, and even ENEMY walked to the front to talk in the mic and GIVE their advice to the bride and groom. We were telling Carlos how we are NOT COLOMBIANS and would DIE if we had to get up front and say something in front of everyone, so He teasingly threatened to get us up there to talk. WE GOT HOME FROM THE WEDDING (WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO START AT 3:00) AT 11:15 PM ON A SATURDAY NIGHT! UGH! But, it was an interesting and FUN experience.

Our little Noah!

Our Noah. He's our baby, (but is now 3...BOO HOO!)and the CLOWN that brings so MUCH JOY to our family. In a country where most people have brown hair and brown eyes, NOAH, with his blond hair and BLUE eyes gets WAY more attention than he wants!! We were at a wedding this week, and the whole WORLD came up to him and said, "OH, Look at that PRECIOUS BABY!" After they walked away, Noah looked at me FROWNING and said, "I'm NOT PRECIOUS, AND I'm NOT A BABY!"
This past week he had a stomach flu, and so I had Phillip buy him a coke to help him feel better. You have to know that we RARELY have pop or Coke in our home. So, after a few sips of that stuff, Noah became ADDICTED. He kept coming up to me and saying, "Mommy, could you give me some more "POKE?!" (Coke!) He thought that that drink was so good, that every now and then, he might just have to "pretend to be sick", just so he could get that again. HA!


When I was growing up, there was a boy that interpreted the Golden Rule like this: "Do Unto others and then SPLIT!" Well, Noah has heard us quote him and so tonight I heard Noah say, "Do unto others and then SPIT!"
When we ride on buses to and from church, sometimes we have to sit by the OPEN DOOR. It is usually chilly here at nights, and sometimes rainy, which makes Noah cold and he wants the door shut. So, I have taught him to PRAY that Jesus would PLEASE shut the door. So, now each time the bus door closes he'll look at me and say, "MOMMY, JESUS JUST SHUT THE DOOR!"

TOGETHER FOREVER!!

In 1992, I went to God's Bible School (GBS) and there I met a WONDERFUL man named Phillip Dickinson. It was not quite, "love at first sight", but close. We started dating and dated for 3 happy years and then got married in the GBS chapel. I remember as a new bride, practicing writing my NEW NAME over and over again, and oh the THRILL it brought. When I said "YES" to him, I had NO IDEA that that would involve selling and storing our things, going to Costa Rica to language school for a year, and then moving to Bogota, Colombia to be missionaries, to tell others about the LOVE OF JESUS! But, God is helping us, and He has met all of our needs. Now Phillip and I have been married for nearly 12 years, and Phillip is my STILL MY VERY BEST FRIEND. God has blessed us with 3 beautiful children and we are Happy serving Jesus here! Even after 12 years when I sign my name and see "DICKINSON", IT STILL BRINGS A SMILE TO MY FACE!


I read this poem this morning, and it made me cry, FOR I AM SO BLESSED!! I'm including a couple stanzas from that poem for y'all to read.

"Ain't got a lot of riches and sometimes the going is rough
But I have a family that loves me, and that makes me rich enough.
I just thank God for his blessings and the mercy he has bestowed
I'm drinking from my saucer, cause my cup has overflowed!

When things went wrong and my faith got a little thin,
Then all at once the dark clouds broke and the SON broke through again.
So Lord help me not to gripe about the tough row I had to hoe
I'm drinking from my saucer, cause my cup has overflowed! (Author Unknown)

That's my girl, Kimberly!

Each week I make around 100 cookies to pass out to the people of our church. This time I made 108 banana muffins to pass out at church. BUT WITH MY LACK OF PANS I COULD ONLY BAKE 12 AT A TIME! ALL EVENING LONG I was baking, taking out, buttering and refilling my muffin molds, until all 108 were baked! I hope to find another muffin pan SOON!) On Saturday, Kimberly made her first batch of HOMEMADE BREAD BY HERSELF AT 9 YEARS OLD!!!! I was 11 when I made my first bread. Of course, as Mommy, I'm VERY pleased with Kimberly and the GREAT job that she did. I'm glad that my girls are catching my vision of how FUN it is to bake and cook! SMILE!


Our people here LIVE ONE DAY AT A TIME, THINKING ONLY FOR THAT DAY! (and that is how they shop for their groceries too. First, because they probably do not have money to shop for a week's groceries, Second, it's their culture to live one day at a time.) So, if Phillip announces on Sunday that on Friday night he will come at 5:30 to have a class or church service, and TO BE THERE...when he arrives THERE IS NO ONE THERE!!! Another preacher has told us that he has to call his people on the phone the morning, or day of the event and REMIND them. Here, as to not hurt you, they may tell you they are coming, and then not show up, most of the time because they FORGOT! The problem is that our people are soooo poor that they have no phone, so we have to get there to the church, and then walk around from house to house "FINDING OUR PEOPLE" for the special event. HELP! SMILE!