Missionary Friends from Ecuador

In the middle of our marathon day on campus at Wheaton College, we had another meeting with some very special people!

Meet Oscar and Lori Aguirre, missionaries with Pan de Vida in Quito Equador, and their two precious boys!

Dave and I have known Lori for over twenty five years as she was one of our youth group kids from Malachi Ministry days on the military base in Heidelberg, Germany. It's been at least 23 years since we last saw her!

Lori met her husband a number of years ago while in Ecuador doing (I hope I get this right Lori!) an international residency from Duke University for her nurse practitioner license. They fell in love, got married, started Pan de Vida, had kids and...the rest of history!

We've tried many times throughout the years to coordinate our times in the States, but it's never worked out until now! We only had a few hours together, but they were very precious.

See the blanket I'm holding? It is an absolutely gorgeous alpaca blanket, handmade in Ecuador. I'm so happy to have one to remember to pray for this dear family and the work God has called them to.

"Lori and Oscar, thank you for driving out to the suburbs to see us today! We're so proud of you and the work you're doing among the needy in your country, and pray God's richest blessing over you as you share about it during these weeks in the States."

Boundless Riches

What an incredibly rich slice of life we've experienced these past weeks while in the States.

Between the two of us we've preached, taught, shared, counseled, prayed, greeted, hugged, eaten with and been blessed by countless people as we've shared our lives, the Lord and news of what God's doing through Josiah Venture.

This Sunday was no exception.

Dave had the privilege of opening God's Word at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Fort Collins, CO, one of our beloved church families who have stood with us in ministry for over thirty years!

Want to hear Dave's message on a very interesting passage in Galatians? Go HERE to find it.

Going to Faith feels a bit like "going home" since I've been coming back here for over thirty years, ever since the very first summer I served with Malachi Singers back in 1984. Dave was a student at CSU in the early 80's and this church body embraced him back then, and still embraces us today.

My dear friend, Charlene, who's been to Czech twice on a short term mission's trips, and even helped to make the curtains that still hang in my house there today!

While there are many old faces that we love and cherish, there are always new ones that we meet when we're there.

This mother and daughter came up after the service to share with me that the daughter is Czech (adopted at birth) which was so special to hear. But we had an even more meaningful connection...one that the mom didn't know about, but at the mention of her mother's name, I did.

Many years ago her mother, in her 70's at the time, visited us in Czech and did some early education testing with our two boys, aged 5 and 3 at the time.

She gave us truly profound insight into those little boys that could only have been inspired by the Lord as they were really too young for her educational testing. But her wisdom caused us to make shifts in our parenting for the rest of their school years, and I believe they are different men today because of her words to us years ago.

Her mom is in heaven now, but you can imagine how much those words meant to her daughter! And who knew we would meet up today, at a church they don't usually even attend! Oh how rich that connection was.

More richness...sharing lunch with Brad and Thea Jensen, the pastor at Faith and long time friends. And bonus richness? Having Dave's mom and dad there, as well as Brad's delightful mom!

Oh, and a fun little ride through Fort Collins in a convertible with Thea! Don't you love the Colorado pick-up in the background?!

After a wonderful lunch with those dear ones, we rushed back to our friends' house where we'd spent the night, grabbed our things and headed for the Denver airport to catch a flight to Chicago.

But not before getting a picture with my long-time beloved friend, Linda, who always cares for us so well when we're in town! "Bless you Linda and Mike for your love, kindness and generosity to us!"

These delightful times with people we love are all part of the grace of God and his boundless riches in Christ! We are rich indeed!

Dave's Parents

I already wrote a post about my Saturday morning, but wanted to post one more today as well.

These past few days being with Dave's mom and dad in Englewood, CO were just wonderful!

Dave got to relive some of his boyhood memories by harvesting vegetables still coming out of his dad's garden in late October.

Aren't those beautiful vegetables??!!

And do you see the little white pieces of paper in the baskets? Those are there because they put his vegetables out on the sidewalk to sell to anyone coming by! (the little note on the left says, "50 cents, or whatever you think it's worth"!)

I couldn't believe I captured an old car driving by just as I snapped that photo of the wagon! It's almost as if we went back in time to years ago when this was a common occurrence.

Well, it IS a common occurrence at the Patty residence, and has been for many years!

SO thankful we had a couple of days to be with Dave's mom and dad, enjoying their vegetables, but even more, the fellowship and time together!

"We sure do love you Mom and Dad!"

The Best Saturday Morning

 My Saturday morning started off in the very best way.

Dave's dad brought in this carton of freshly picked berries just to delight me, his daughter-in-law! These are the last of the raspberries and blackberries on the bushes in his garden. And he let me have them. How loving is that?! They were incredibly delectable! And yes, I ate almost all of them all by myself!

Shortly after, I was off to another bountiful feast.

You can't see it all, but my mother-in-law and women of Bethany EV Free church in Littleton put on a very nice breakfast brunch this morning.

For me!

After chatting and sampling from those yummy treats, I had the privilege of sharing my missionary story for an hour with these wonderful women this morning.

To prove I was really there, I turned my phone around and got in the picture too!

"Thank you Bethany women for loving me well all these years, and for coming this morning to hear me speak!"

After the breakfast gathering, my mother-in-law and I headed off to make a stop at a certain place near her house. It's not really a complete trip to Englewood, Colorado without a visit here!

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know that I really enjoy Polish Pottery. In fact, I live just three and a half hours away from the factory in Boleslawiec, Poland and have made many a trip there through the years!

And of all things, there is an amazing Polish Pottery Outlet right down the street from where my in-laws live in Englewood. So I always like to go see what's new in their beautiful shop when I'm visiting.

I wasn't buying for me today - no need to do that here in the States since I can get it at home! But it happens that the daughter of some friends is registered there for her wedding so I was able to pick up a few things that I'll take to her next week for her upcoming wedding.

Mom Patty and I dashed home after that to get lunch ready before Dave and I had to leave for Fort Collins. Hated having to interrupt Dave and his dad having a great conversation!

But all too soon it was time to say good-bye. Sweet pictures to follow about that on another blog post today.

Denver Family and Friends

Not only is the Denver area home to Dave's parents, but to some other special people as well.

This afternoon my niece, Kerith and her husband, Jake, and two precious girls, came for lunch at mom and dad's! I hadn't yet had the privilege of meeting their newest daughter, who also happens to be my birthday twin. Well, sort of!

Precious Harper was due this year on my birthday, August 17th, and did in fact arrive on that day...European time! But in reality here in the States, she was born in the afternoon on August 16th. But I still claim her as my birthday twin!

Their other little sweetie, Rilyn, is a delightful, smart, darling, sweet two year old. Wish I lived near her so she'd know her great aunt Connie better. We took some selfies so she'd have them on her mom's phone to remember me by!

Another very special friend lives in the Denver area as well, and she came to whisk me away for a few hours after my niece and her family left.

Meet Jerri, my maid of honor nearly twenty nine years ago!

We served together in Malachi Singers the first summer I went to Germany in 1984. And we've been close friends ever since. What a gift to just sit in a tea shop and talk for three hours straight!

In the evening my nephew, Jonathan, came over to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner...and to see his aunt Connie!

A senior at the high school Dave graduated from in Englewood, he is the son of Dave's sister and our brother-in-law. They live just a few blocks from Dave's parents, but both happened to be out of town while we're here. We're sad to have missed them this time.

But my aunt/friend tank is all filled up after a day of seeing many of my loved ones!

Boyhood Home

We didn't get up at 5 AM like our farmer friends, but we were still up before the sun made an appearance this morning! We watched the sun rise as we drove to the Portland airport to catch an early flight.

But before we did, my dearest Michelle, long time best friend, met us at the airport for breakfast!

Michelle would want you to know that it was her idea first that Dave and I marry...long before either of us had gotten the "download"! :) Responsible for many important parts of my life, she's a significant person in my life and it was a joy to connect for even just an hour before we boarded our plane.

Soon we were in the air, again, and headed to yet another destination in this whirlwind travel month.

Anyone recognize that airport? Or this house??

A very special boy spent his childhood here.

Yes, this is Dave's mom and dad's home in Englewood, Colorado!

Oh what joy to sit at this familiar table with these dear ones, hearing dad pray before the meal and eating an amazing meal made by mom, a woman with the true spiritual gift of hospitality. How many people have sat at this table over the past 40+ years and experienced what we did tonight?!

So glad for some family time with them these next few days.

The Farmer and the Missionary

I missed getting a photo picking up Dave at the Portland airport today after he flew in from Alabama, of all places.

What a funny moment, to drive up to an airport in a city where I don't live and have him there waiting on the curb! At least it's an airport I'm familiar with since I spent my junior high and high school years in the Portland/Vancouver area.

We immediately headed out of congested Portland and into the peaceful setting of rural Oregon, just in time to see a little bit of the sunset.

And reconnect with these dear little ones!

Well, we were also reconnecting with their parents, who we've known for many years, but since I didn't get a picture of them (remember, I'm having a hard time remembering to take photos this week!), I put these cuties in to tuck away their sweet faces.

After a wonderful dinner, time of sharing about JV, and a rousing game of Bible charades and tag between the little boys and I (SO impressed by how many stories they know at 3 and 4 years of age!), we headed over to the little kids' grandparents' house to catch up and spend the night.

Very dear friends of the Patty family long before I came onto the Patty scene (Dave's grandpa farmed with their grandpa many years ago!), we dearly love these people. It's Dave's dream to write a book with Jerry someday, and call it "The Farmer and the Missionary". He picks up so many good life and spiritual principles when we're there with them!

And the sweet blanket in the picture? Shhhh!! Don't tell, but it's a baby present for a certain little man who is due to arrive on the scene of our lives quite soon. "Thank you Kris!!! It's so perfect for our Pooh-loving son and HIS son!"

Time went by all too quickly as we said goodnight at 11 and have to be up at 6 in order to head for the airport. But so thankful for a few hours of sharing life together!