story from miguel.

Miguel over the past few months has been writing down stories that come to his head. I thought I would share one with you with the idea that there is more to come. They all have a moral at the end.

Here it goes.....

Una vez un mendigo estaba en la calle con mucha hambre. En eso estaba pasando el rey y el mendigo penso se le pido algo el me dara muchas cosas porque el es el rey. Cuando le pidio,
"Senor deme una moneda,"
el mendigo esperaba mas, pero el rey le dijo,
“Porque tu no me das algo, Yo soy tu rey?”
El mendigo contesto,
“Yo no tengo nada.”
El rey respondio,
"Busca algo tendras por ahi."
El mendigo, enojado, busco y encontro tres naranjas, dos mangos, y poco de arroz y todavia estaba enojado. Tomo cinco granos de arroz y se lo dio al rey. El rey tomo cinco moneda de oro, una por cada grano de arroz. Rapido el mendigo dijo,
“Senor, aqui tengo mas!”
El rey le contesto,
“Lo siento, solo te doy que lo que tu me das a corazon.”

El conclusion, es claro que el rey representa a Dios y el mendigo a nosotros. Que aun cuando tenemos solo queremos que Dios no de mas. Pero nosotros no le damos tampoco.

English translation:

One time a hungry beggar was on the road. Along came a king, and as he was passing by the king, he thought that if he asks for something from him, the king will give him many things because he is the king. When he asked,
"Sir, give me a coin,"
the beggar waited for more, but the king said,
"why don't you give me something, I am your king?"
The beggar answered,
"I don't have anything."
The king responded,
"look for something among your things."
The beggar, angry, looked and found three oranges, two mangos, and a little rice, and still he was angry. He took five grains of rice and gave it to the king. The king gave five gold coins, one for each grain of rice. Quickly, the beggar said,
"Sir, here I have more!"
The king answered,
"I'm sorry, I only give you that which you give me of your heart."


In conclusion, it is clear that the king represents God and the beggar represents us. Yet when we have only what we want, God doesn't give more. But we don't give to Him either.

remember ian?

Remember the little boy, Ian, we took care of last fall, and whom we joined with a family in Haiti? Well, we recently received word that he is adjusting to his new family and doing well. He still isn't walking totally on his own yet, and still shows some signs of being insecure due to his past of being shuffled around so much. But apart from that he is doing really well and his new mom and dad, Anne Mirise and Roger, are loving him up! Here is a picture of them in Haiti. Due to a cold he had, he wasn't all smiles, but comfortable all the same.

who invented the floaty?

Did your mom ever put those inflatable, yellow, tube like things on your arms when you were a kid to keep you from going under water and drowning? I can't say that my mom did, at least not that I remember. Or I'm sure if I had put them on, I would've rebelled against them. But I've certainly seen other kids with them on whether they liked it or not. At first I saw this kid up on a cliff carting two gallon jugs with him. I naturally assumed that he was coming to this fuente (spring)


to fetch water for his mom (I'm sure that's what his mom was thinking he was doing as well!) But then he decided to throw himself over the edge of the cliff with a gallon in each hand. After another couple of jumps, I realized that he couldn't swim and that the jugs were actually his security system. Why have I seemed to have lost all my creativity and ingenuity in my daily life? What a simple solution.



Meanwhile....during the time I was watching this little boy and all the fun he was having, Miguel was swimming down river at top speed to save a middle aged woman as she was literally drowning down stream. Thankfully, Miguel was able to do so and became her hero. Maybe we all should take lesson from the little boy next time.

the moto.

Somehow imagining the Dominican Republic without the moto would be like imagining China without the bicycle. Although you would be hard pressed to find too many middle or poorer classed Dominicans who could afford to buy a moto without making payments; most somehow manage to get their hands on one some way or another. At first glance you obviously see its a way for a person to get from one place to another place; or as someone sitting behind the handlebars, a way to make a living for your family. But if one day you had the chance to sit on the side of the road and just watch the motos pass by.......O the life you would see!

The motos that sell snow cones and icecream are favorites for people to encounter. Or the moto that sells bread stacked 4 feet high on three sides can be amazing to see. Or how about the moto transporting the washing machine tied to its back or the 100 pound propane tank. I heard a funny story one time about two motos trying to transport a long ladder with one carrying the front end while the other carried the back end. Talk about talent! I'd have to say one of the funniest sites I've seen is a whole family on a pasola or moped (not so funny in and of itself as its as common as a plantain on its stalk around here). But try to imagine with me, mom sitting behind dad driving, one kid on dad's lap, other kid on mom's lap and dog between dad's legs with its tongue hanging out and head peering out the side! I wished I had seen the site of Miguel on his moto with his brother Daniel and two live pigs strapped on either side. The pigs ended up being roasted for our wedding reception. Just the other week, our Toyota Landcruiser broke down within a few blocks of our house. We had no worries though as Miguel got on his moto and with his leg sticking out and pushing on the back end of our jeep we were able to make it home in no time. So you see....how could we ever get along without the moto?

This past weekend we had the chance to go out on the moto and explore some of the back country villages. They are something you'd never get a chance to see without a motorcycle as most back country roads tend to be unpassable in a car or truck or jeep. Aside from me screaming every now and again for Miguel to slow down as we went flying up and over the hills, we had a grand day exploring and swimming in the rivers.

We hope this blog will be a chance for us to share our adventures, struggles, and concerns with you all. It comes as an inspiration from my brother, Cody, and a gentle prodding from my brother, Ben.