the proposal

Many want to know the story, so even though I won't write eloquently enough to do it justice, here it goes:

     Eric's first day in Lima was a sunny one, so he suggested that we go to the beach that day. I knew he wanted to hang out at a nice beach that wasn't too touristy, but I had some trouble with finding one because apparently all the pretty beaches in Lima are packed with people. We decided to head to Barranco, which was quite the adventure because neither of us had ever been there. I mean, of course it was Eric's first day, but even I, being Peruvian, had never been that far south in Lima. I didn't even know where to get off the bus.

     We got off and explored, had a good lunch and kept walking, trying to find out how to get down to the water (the main part of the city is several stories above sea level). We finally found the stairs and made our way down to the rocky beach, where we got our feet wet and did all we could not to slip and fall on the rocks. It wasn't a pretty, sandy beach, but it definitely wasn't crowded either.

     Eric asked me to sit because he was going to wash my feet. He asked if I'd like to take a video of it, and I said sure. He knelt down and poured the water on my feet, beginning to tell me that he wanted to serve me, that he wanted to wash my feet for the rest of our lives. That he was devoted to loving me even though he knew it would be hard at times (no kidding haha). That he wanted to point me to my first and greatest love, Christ. Sweet things :)

     Once he dried my feet off, he stood up to take a box out of his pocket, opened it and asked me to marry him!! I was laughing with joy as soon as he reached his hand to his pocket, and couldn't stop smiling quick enough to answer him. He didn't miss a beat and said more sweet things like he'd waited 21 years to do this :) He finally said "what do you say?" and I cried "of course!!" YAYY :)

     I didn't expect (although a girl can hope) him to do it when he came to visit me in Peru because I was sure that he didn't know Lima and thought he wouldn't have been able to plan. I'm just so impressed with his improvisation and spontanaeity. And, as exciting as this all is (!!!), this is serious business. Eric showed me with his proposal and his promise that he knows that, and he's not taking it lightly.

     Check out John 13, when Jesus washes His disciples' feet and gives them the example to serve each other and others as He served them (not only by washing their feet, but by enduring everyone's punishment for their separation from God). His humility is a beautiful showing of the amazing love that He has for us.

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills--where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip--He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you--the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm--He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

celebrating 2 months in Peru with a new home!

     Let me start by praising the God who created everything; He who knows everything; He who holds all things together; He who lovingly brings His children back into His family when He changes their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). What an honor it is to live for and sometimes suffer for the purpose of making God a big deal! In the words of John Piper, “are we glad that we exist for the glory of God?” Because that is, after all, why we exist. It is why He created us.

     I want to praise Him for constantly reminding me that I must depend on Him always. Any little thought that I can complete something on my own or control something by myself will lead to me not relying on Him for everything. And if I’m the one “controlling” something, then I’ll be the one to succeed, and then how can God get the glory that He deserves?

     I have lived in the home of Armando and Maria Breña and three of their six daughters for a week now. They live in Breña, Lima (ha!) which is about a 20 minute bus ride to campus each morning. It has been such a blessing to live with this wonderful family, which has (along with the pastor Vicente and others at Restaurando Vidas) truly been a beautiful picture of what the body of Christ should look like. They opened up their home to Lauren and me when we needed another place to live, they’ve moved around furniture at least twice to make things more comfortable in the home, and they’re not demanding money from us… wow. It’s so good to enjoy the blessings that God gives us and praise Him for His ability to care for us, His children.

     After so many years of being the only girl, I now have 4 sisters! Maria (29), Ruth (21), and Techy (16) are great. They’ve been so helpful the past week while Lauren and I have gotten settled. They laugh and talk and joke with us, and it’s really fun to have sisters actually. Four of the five of us sleep in the same room. One night last week, the three of them were all squeezed onto the bottom bunk talking (so precious) when Lauren and I came in. Once we were ready for bed and sat down, they turned to us to include us in their conversation, and we talked until midnight, the 5 of us. It was really so sweet to be a part of.

     Although I’m missing vegetables, I get a hot breakfast and supper every day at the house! And it’s great being able to try and enjoy some meals with them that they usually eat. Something funny about meals in Perú (there are four): desayuno (breakfast), almuerzo (lunch around 2 or 2:30pm), lonche (sounds like lunch, but it’s not… tea and bread sometimes with ham around 6:30pm), and cena (supper around 10 or 10:30). Wow. Lauren and I were pumped last night when the dad made us some supper even though it was only about 8:45.

     Praise God for His goodness! Thanks to you who prayed about my housing situation, I am loving you and loving Him who tends to our needs and comes to our rescue.

new address!

Armando Eduardo Breña Bendezu
Atención: Sarah HartAv. República de Portugal 227
Breña, Lima
PERU

More to come about the wonderful new home tomorrow! :)

spaghetti sauce, volleyball, and moving

     On Friday night, as a celebration of the end of September, I made spaghetti sauce! This wasn’t out of the jar (or here, out of the bag) sauce… this was homemade, from-scratch, start-with-tomatoes kind of sauce! What I couldn’t believe was that I’d never made it before. I grew up in the kitchen of the Pampered Chef Queen, for crying out loud. I’ve been cooking supper since I was in diapers! Anyway, the sauce was yummy. Tomatoes, carrots, garlic, red pepper (which is a little spicy here), and oregano. It didn’t even need salt! I was proud of my accomplishment. I also tried a “tres de leche” from a bakery nearby for my dessert, and it was marvelous.

cake at the bottom, strawberry and chocolate on top!

     Saturday, Lauren and I went to a volleyball tournament with our friend Alex, who is really nice and speaks English really well. We watched two games. First, the Brasil national team played Colombia, then Perú played Argentina. The coliseum was packed with Peruvians for the second game, and man did they get into it. There were drums and horns, and we waved our little flags and screamed “Vamos Perú!” and “No pasa nada!” like it was our job. Unfortunately, Perú lost their game, but it was still fun!

Arriba, Perú!

     A big update: Lauren and I are moving tomorrow! We are moving in with Maria and her three daughters. Maria is really active in the church that we’ve been going to, and has done a lot to help us since we’ve been here. It’s been great to live so close to the school, but my hope of living and being a part of a Peruvian family hasn’t come true with the Rosales family. It has been good, and God definitely blessed us with our sister Carmen, but I’m excited to experience life with our new family. Maria will cook the meals, her daughters will be around and are excited for us to come, and we aren’t going to have to pay rent! What a huge blessing. Vicente, the pastor of the church and the first man we lived with, wants to give Maria money for us to stay and be fed there. They have really taken us in, it’s amazing. God blessed our conversation with Momma Carmen tonight when we talked to her about it, and there were no angry words or misunderstandings or hard feelings. I think this is definitely the right thing to do.

     There will be other, different challenges and adjustments in our new home, of course, but this will definitely be a better situation. No one in the family speaks English, so we’ll get a lot more practice with Spanish. We’ll get to sit around the supper table with a family and traditional Peruvian food, and maybe most importantly, we know we’ll be welcome and loved here. I think it will help our time in Lima to be more enjoyable as well. We’re moving tomorrow (Monday) around 4pm. Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying for our housing situation… God has very lovingly provided for us, of course. He will continue to care for us, and my prayer is that I would always trust in and depend on Him, even if the situation is challenging or frustrating.

Matthew 6:31-34: “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough troubles of its own.