june in cusco

our life has been on fast forward since we got home from the US on June 1st. We had a few busy weeks of preparing for two back to back mission teams, and then the receiving of the teams. The second group stayed with us in our home, which was great, but crazy in and of itself. Imagine 11 people plus two children sharing  two showers (with warm water half the time). No one got really sick though, which was a blessing, because it's so common for at least one to fall ill. Both teams have come and gone now, and the last few days have been spent getting our lives, ministry and house back to "normal".

We also got the short-lived good news that we were expecting again... only to find out soon after that I miscarried. It's been good on one hand to have the teams here because it's kept my mind off things... but also has made it difficult to talk about and grieve through. I am feeling much better these days though, and continue to trust in God's perfect will and timing. We aren't planning our future but if we can have another one eventually, we probably will.

"Normal" for us is anything but. And now my time is going to the preparation of moving yet again. The owners of our house are trying to sell it... they were asking $300K USD.. but have just told us they are going to RAISE the price because our other neighbors are asking $450K and the others (which is even more of a joke) - $800K. Can you believe they would even ask such prices, in dollars too! Well, so is the life in Cusco. People have their eyes closed to the world around them, and only see their own little reality - having no idea what they are actually asking. And the sad thing, is that someone just may pay $450K for a piece of land so they can build a large apartment complex on it, sell them and get rich. It's a joke. Really. If you saw our house you would know it is not worth 300k, there are some serious issues with it, but then again, it is the land that people are paying for. Thus being said, we are looking for another place to rent.

Although moving is such a CHORE, I am looking forward to it - hopefully to a cleaner, safer neighborhood. I am still having issues with my eye condition, and in part living in this dusty environment hasn't been helping. I have not, thankfully, had another severe ocular attack as I have before, but I am dealing with pain and dryness. We keep praying about it

Need to go make lunch for the fam - hopefully I will blog again before the end of the month!