Surprise, surprise!

First off, I want to share that this week we received the great news that donations made to the Second Tunic can now me made online! I added the link to the left side of this page, just under their address. In case you can't find it, it's found at http://www.secondtunic.org/donate.html and the page details three ways you can donate: check by mail, automatic transfer (with a printed application) and online through PayPal. For those who have never used PayPal, well we first used it about a month ago. I'm not sure that I really understand the whole process, but ultimately you pay with your credit card, it just get's processed by PayPal.

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I want to stop and thank each of you who have made a donation to us for Christmas. And also those who sent cards and gifts. It feels really wonderful to know that people back home are still thinking of us even though we are miles away. And since I'm talking about donations, I want to mention briefly that our funding has not changed significantly since we left in August. We are still at about 75% of our total funds raised and/or pledged. It would be wonderful to say that we had all of our funds stashed away and everything is completely taken care of. However, I get the impression that God does not usually work things that way. Instead, He is attempting to teach us total reliance on Him. Now our American-ness kind of fights that. But the more I see how some people live here, I realize that in some ways totally relying on God is the ONLY way to really live. It's not an easy lesson, and I've a long way to go yet. But I am making progress. And that's what matters!

So, now to the SURPRISE! Well, the other day Christina heard that we apparently had something waiting for us at the post office. So yesterday we found the local post office to pursue this package. After a long, confusing wait, we came to the conclusion that there was no package waiting for us. As far as we could tell, we were told about the package we had picked up last week. It seems that communication goes that way sometimes here. So we went back to the clinic, where we discovered something was waiting at the clinic! Surprise! It was a card from back home. How sweet it was! So then later in the evening, Christina got a message that there was something at the clinic and we owed someone money for the delivery fee. Now, after the day we'd just had, we were confused. But Christina had night shift, so we left early to check it out. Lo and behold, there lay a package in waiting. But not just any package! This package was none other than the long-lost, mysterious birthday package that left the US November 17! SURPRISE!! And here's visual proof:

And in case you can't read the little blue stamp near the middle:

Now THAT explains a lot! But then it also creates a whole new realm of questions. Ones that probably never will be answered. So thank you all for the birthday cards, even if they arrived so late. We really appreciate it!


Here are some random photos I've taken recently (if you click on any photo, above or below, you can see a larger image):

This was taken at night from our spare bedroom window

This was the same night from our "porch" out front (there was lightning behind the clouds)

A beautiful sunset with some billowing clouds over the mountains

Our Christmas card