The Criggers

I want to write more posts.  In fact my original goal was at least one a week.  I like writing.  It’s a sense of accomplishment that I don’t get in my normal day.  (Mostly because once I hit publish it’s done….no two or four year olds come screaming through and demolish it….unlike the cleaning, and the laundry, and the dirty dishes…..seriously do we have to eat three times a day…on a plate…with silverware?????)

But it’s harder than I thought to get an idea for a post.  Life is very ordinary…or as our 4 year old Kolby would say “normal”.  We get up around 8, get ready for school, send Kipp and the girls out the door (to walk down the stairs to school….so maybe that part is NOT so ordinary), and then the boys and I spend the day cleaning, playing, cleaning, laundry, cleaning, playing.  You know it’s a lot like what we did in the States….probably a lot like what you do each day.

Life is busy but a different kind of busy than before.  Being busy at our church ministry meant one of us being gone most nights of the week….basketball Bible study, youth group/event, community group, Ladies Bible study, occasional music practice, meetings, ect.  Our ministry here is much slower paced.  We’re home every night together but preparing for science and Bible lessons takes up a lot of Kipp’s time.  And then there is just music practice on Sundays right before church.  Plus Spanish lessons on Mondays after school.  It almost makes us feel like we had more of a “ministry” in Michigan than we do in Chile!  (Now don’t quote me as saying that missionaries don’t work as hard…..because all of the career missionaries here are MUCH busier than we are….our ministry is just much smaller in scope than theirs!)

But then I realize that it’s really just a different kind of ministry.  We’re filling a need at the school which allows the missionary kids an easier education that’s in line with the school’s in the United States….which makes traveling back and forth easier….gives their parents more time to focus on their ministries.  And we’re really in training ourselves for ministry.  The Spanish we’re struggling to learn and master is what we want to use in ministry back in the States when we return.

So if any future posts seem very normal and ordinary….well that’s because our life is very ordinary

In fact if your life seems very ordinary maybe you could do what we are doing!  The school is looking for several missionaries to come teach next year……

Well it’s a boring title for a post…..I know but it’s all I’ve got right now!

Kipp’s Bible classes were assigned a project to create a model of the tabernacle.  Here are some pictures of the students and projects from the High School Bible Class.  ( I have some from the middle school Bible class that will follow….maybe tomorrow)

Kimi and Kiara in their traditional Chilean dress.
The kids had their first program today at Santiago Christian Academy.  In celebration of Chile’s Independence , the kids, under the guidance of two great Chilean teachers, put together a show of traditional Chilean music and dance.  They did a wonderful job!  We loved seeing the kids perform.   Read the rest of this entry »

You know what I’m talking about.

“Great Aunt Ruth good to see you.”  Hug and kiss.

“Grandma and Grandpa”  Hug and kiss.

“Uncle Al and Aunt Candy” Hug and kiss.

You get the picture.  Maybe you can relate from your own family gatherings.

Okay so now you get the idea of how we greet one another in Latin American culture.

You lean in for a friendly hug and a kiss on the cheek…..

…when you come….and when you go…..

Men…Women…Children.

It’s sweet.  (and only slightly overwhelming the first few times.)

But yes, I can truthfully say that attending church is definitely more kisses than a Gause Family Reunion!

 

Updated Prayer Requests:

Continue praying for Kipp’s knees.  The one he had the ACL repair on is getting stronger every day but is still weak.  He’s had a few rough spots with his other knee but it seems to have improved greatly in the last week.

We are thankful that Kimi has been declared healthy after her episode with Lyme’s Disease.  She will be undergoing allergy testing next week to see about resolving some stomach problems.

Kolby’s finger is healing rapidly and is only sore when Mom forgets and squeezes his hand too tight while walking.

Pray that we will be able to find a Spanish tutor in the next month.

Pray for wisdom for us as we make decisions on our house which is being rented while we are gone.

 

So this will be a quick post…..

………..with no pictures…sorry.

I have a longer one to write later but I am too lazy tonight to download the pictures from the camera that go with it!  HA!

We are learning Spanish.  Slowly….very slowly…not rápido.

And it’s mostly words here (aquí) and there…not too many (muchos) sentences.  We usually string together a mixture of English and Spanish and hope we are understood (comprendo).

For example:

“I want un kilo of kiwi por favor.”

Some phrases we have learned while trying to drive around.

“Donde es Vespuchio?”  (A major road in our area that we seem to always be looking for)

And of course we have picked up lots of words.

Bienvenido – welcome

Gracias – thank you

Cuatro Hijos – 4 children…..usually said with much disbelief at how many kids we have!

Los siento – I’m sorry….said often as my kids jostle people through the market

And of course a host of others.

Now I knew the kids would pick up the language quicker than we would but I didn’t understand how quickly until we were driving home from a friend’s house and Kamden (2) was in the backseat playing with a ball.  He kept throwing it on the floor and I kept handing it back until I had finally had it and I told him we were done.  He started saying something that I couldn’t quite understand.  After about three times I got it.

“just un mas”

He was saying “just one more” in his own mixture of English and Spanish!

As if the two year old language isn’t hard enough to figure out without adding in actual foreign words!  Ha!

Love it!  I’m planning on him translating for me on our next trip to the feria!

 

What?  YOU didn’t get the day off?

Hmmm.

Well unless you live in a Catholic country you probably did not celebrate Assumption Day with a day off  school and work.  Chile is…so we did.  Which prompted a quick google search on Assumption Day.  Here’s what I learned.

Assumption Day is the day celebrated by Catholics that Mary, mother of Jesus, was bodily taken up to heaven at the end of her life.   It is a feast celebrated in honor of her heavenly birthday when she was carried to heaven by the angels.  It is believed to be a gift to her from God for living such a holy and devout life and of course being the mother of Jesus.   That is it in a nutshell.  Of course there is more…if you are interested in the full version the article on wikipedia was extremely thorough and helpful.  Click here for the full article.

What it reminded us was that we have a country full of people who believe they can live a holy enough life that they too can attain heaven.  We have a message to give that tells of the free gift of salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross.  No amount of holy living will get us to heaven but the sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross will.

In medical news…of course we seem to always have some of that!  Kimi is returning to see the doctor today after three full weeks of antibiotics to see if she has dispelled the lyme’s disease from her body.  She still has a swollen lymph node so we’re waiting to see what the doctor says.  Kolby got  his finger slammed in a metal toy box at the school’s concha (covered play area) and appears to have possibly broken it.  We are splinting it to his other fingers and hoping for a quick recovery!  We’re very thankful for the generous amount of time the missionaries, especially Sherry Hagerty, have spent in helping us drive to and interpret our doctor’s visits.

Kipp is accompanying the jr/senior high students on a ski trip tomorrow.  He is lamenting that his knee injury could not have happened at a worse time as instead of snow boarding in the Andes he will be sipping coco in the ski lodge.  Maybe next year….

We miss you all!  If you get a chance drop a line here or on facebook to let us know how you are doing!

(And if anything is spelled wrong…I’m sorry…spell check is set to Spanish so almost all my words are  underlined in red…and clicking on help doesn’t help since it’s all in Spanish!  Ha!)