Here's the Scoop

Hello again! For many of you, this blog entry is going to be a review. For others, however, WARNING: you may be in shock after reading this and may about want to kill me for being such a slacker of a communicator.

Here are the basic basics:

Back in August 2008, Paul was born in KY.

Shortly after, we were on a phone call with our bosses at Willow Creek. They asked us if we were interested in moving back to the US and working at the home offices. The awesome thing is that we were starting to pray about the idea weeks before they said anything....

It did not take long for us to make a decision, especially because we had hired Rafael, our Dominican staff member, to start to take over our jobs.

In September, we headed back to the DR knowing that our time would be short and sweet.

Goodbye Party in the DR with my small group

In just eight short weeks, we sold our things, packed boxes and researched where to live in Chicago.

Phil, Mark's dad, found a great rental house in Elgin, IL. He set up the Christmas tree so we would be welcomed when we arrived. It was awesome.

Our super cute Christmas cottage in Elgin

We said goodbye to our life of three years in the DR. It was hard, but it was time. It was clear that God was moving us on to our next adventure.

We celebrated Christmas in KY and IL and started our new jobs at Willow Creek.

Mark is Director of Latin America now, which means he will be traveling a ton to find partner churches for Willow Creek. He's so excited and is just right for the job. He's heading to Costa Rica next week.

I am working part time in Communcations/Marketing for all things missions related at Willow Creek. It's going to be a great challenge. I have a lot to do.

Paul is in Willow Creek's day care (which is in the basement) three days a week. He loves his teacher, Miss Marge... and has three new buddies named Jet R, Jet T and Lincoln. I also think he is happy to have his own crib for the first time and not have to be sleeping in a cardboard box (more to come on that... :) Paul in his new crib

Paul has two teeth, can hold his own bottle and is crawling backwards. I'm waiting for my camera cord to arrive from the DR and then I will attach photos.

Please keep reading our blog. I promise it will still be interesting... maybe even more so than before. God is teaching us so much and is using us in crazy ways now that we are back in the US. It's really exciting, really...

We've Moved...

And we'll give you one hint:
We're not in the Caribbean any more...

More to come.

Donde esta Waldo? (Where's Waldo?)

We took this shot while at the beach over the weekend.
There is one human being in this photo - where is he?

Enchanted Engagement at Willow Creek

This is unbelievable - but has nothing to do with our blog! :) If you've seen the movie Enchanted, you will get a kick out of this real proposal that happened at Willow Creek last week. I guess the guy is on the children's ministry staff and got all of his friends to help him out - and even the video teamto get it all on tape! Unreal!!!

Missionary Kids

We've been blessed this year in our growing friendships with two missionary families from the United States, the Speegles (from Kansas) and the Renkemas (from California and Michigan).

Now that we have little Paul in the picture, it's great for me to process with other American moms... especially since we are all raising kids in another culture.

Paul, too, has formed some cool friendships with the two 2-year-olds above, Indira and Edwin.

It's funny, because although both Indira and Edwin have somewhat limited (yet budding!) vocabularies, they can both clearly say "Baby Paul" and are big time fans of our little guy. It's hilarious. They both scream in excitement when they see him and want to touch and play with him... personally, I'm so thankful for these two families and that our kids are able to hang out at this stage in life.

Weekend at Nueva Vida Church

Nueva Vida Church's Community Center

Next month, Willow Creek is going to highlight (during the main service) the work of one of our partner churches in the Dominican Republic, Nueva Vida church. The pastor's name is Raquel, and although she is now in charge, she never aspired to be in any kind of a leadership role.

Her husband, who was previously the pastor of Nueva Vida, died of cancer almost 15 years ago, and when it was time to choose a new leader for the church, the congregation picked her. All she ever wanted to be was a pastor's wife, so this was really a stretch from what she ever imagined herself to be.

After assuming the role, she felt a strong conviction to be a pastor who was different from the rest. The result? A thriving church, full of youth who have left their gangs, quit drugs and are now passionate about God... with a school, clean water plant, woodworking shop, dorm for homeless young men, computer classes, literacy program... and a passion for evangelism and discipleship. God has used this lady!

We have become good friends with Pastora Raquel and her family since we've moved here, so it was exciting to know that the video team who came from Willow Creek is going to be able to capture her story and show on screen what God is doing through a simple woman who says to God, "You can use me..."

Raquel and Paul

Jim, the video guy

A proud Dad with a kid in his White Sox uniform (the Dominicans LOVED seeing Paul in a baseball outfit... he was a hit with friends and complete strangers alike)


Sporting the Sox gear that finally fits

Never a dull moment for us in the DR

Babysitter

This is Paul's first babysitter, Alina. She's 13 years old and knows more than I do because she practically raised her baby brother who is now two. It's such a blessing to find someone you trust to watch your baby.

Pictures of the Day

Family trip to the beach

Salvaged re-bar ready to be straightened and resold

Our friend, Pastor Esdras Kelly, in his wife's preschool in the town of Bani

Spinach and lettuce garden on the back side of a Compassion International location with which we work

Goat alongside the path where I pushed Paul in his stroller last Monday

Mark navigating the traffic on his way home from Peralta

Three Months Old

November...

Can you believe that it's already mid-November? We can't! Where did the time go?

Thankfully, we have figured out that our power outages are now scheduled. From 9am-12pm each day we are without power. Now that I know, I can plan around it and do my emails and laundry before 9am... so that's nice.

Here are some photos from the past two weeks I thought I'd share.

Mark and Paul after bathtime

Paul loves anything that is stuffed, especially his frog and now this penguin

Paul and Me (I'm smiling because Paul had slept 9.5 hours the night before... hasn't since and never had before, but it was a nice little gift)

We had a team here last week in the town of Consuelo. This is a photo of Paul in his car seat with mosquito netting in the little barrio town of Guachupita. He was a hit.

Paul with his best friend, the frog rattle

When Paul is wide awake every morning at 6:30am, Mark gets up and plays with him. Usually it involves a four-person conversation with a gecko and bird.

Gimme some power!

Hello from the land of the power outages! It makes it really difficult to keep up a blog when you only have Internet for about two hours of the waking part of the day! Apparently, the Dominican government is indebted to the power company, so the power company decided to sock it to the general population until the government pays up.... ugh... I think we're about to land on the other side of the issue, but we've had horrible power for the past week.

Lots has happened since I last wrote... and since I don't know how long 'til the power shuts off again... I'm going to keep it brief and summarize things and move quickly! I'll also attach a couple of good photos for each, and hopefully will be able to post more later.

Cherry Family Visit -- My Mom, Dad, Sister (Lindsay) and brother-in-law (Joey) were here for over a week. It was an amazing time together at the all-inclusive resort and hanging out at my house. Highlight #1: My sister announcing that she is PREGNANT! We are all thrilled for her and can't wait to meet Baby Keck! Highlight #2: Paul put his feet in the Caribbean Sea for the first time! Highlight #3: The three last days when it was just my parents Paul and me.

Congrats Lindsay and Joey!Mark's Trip to Bolivia -- Mark boarded a plane to La Paz while my parents were with us in the DR for a Latin American Theology Conference. He was thrilled to see old mentors from Wheaton College (Dr. Lindy Scott), travel to another country (which is practially communist at this point!) and get to know Latin Theologians from all over South America. Highlight: Well, we'll have to see what Mark has to say about his highlight, now won't we? :) Paul in Size Two Diapers -- I never thought I would feel anything as my baby progressed from diaper size to diaper size... but (sniff), he said goodbye to the Size 1 Sesame Street characters this week and hello to the Size 2 Winnie the Pooh. He also has crossed over the three months threshold... which means that he is now totally aware of the world around him and how he interacts with it. Goodbye infamous fourth trimester! :) Highlight #1: He found his own feet last week Highlight #2 - His new best friend is a frog... they have quite a relationship as the frog goes everywhere he goes, they trade stories that make him laugh, and he even hits in the face sometimes.

Spinning Classes for Steph: Yup, I have finally decided to get my little self out of the house and do something physically! It's hard when you're breastfeeding, and living here, where everything is 10x as hard to do, I think the timing is finally right. I'm going to start taking classes at our church's workout gym with my friend Jen.

New Favorite Song: I finally found it! I have heard it at a Beth Moore Conference and at a Willow Creek event, and LOVED it... and I finally found the name of the song and dowloaded it onto iTunes. Look it up if you haven't heard it yet...

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Holy, Holy, is He
Sing a new song to Him who sits on Heaven's Mercy Seat

(Chorus)
Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing:
Praise to the King of Kings!
You are my everything,
And I will adore You…!

Clothed in rainbows, of living color
Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be
To You the Only Wise King,
Yeah

(Chorus)
Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come, yeah
With all creation I sing:
Praise to the King of Kings!
You are my everything,
And – I - will - adore You!

Filled with wonder,
Awestruck wonder
At the mention of Your Name
Jesus, Your Name is Power
Breath, and Living Water
Such a marvelous mystery

Better run... please keep us in our prayers this next week... we have an announcement to make and will share it on the blog as soon as we can...