Building Our Mud House

Yep, you read that right… we are building a mud house.

Really, it is a house made of adobe bricks.

For those who might not be familiar with adobe bricks… they are basically bricks made from a mixture of mud and some form of dry matter like straw or leaves, but here they use pine needles.

In Honduras, building a house of adobe is much cheaper and more efficient then wood or concrete. Especially when built the right way. I will share, with pictures, later on how they make the adobe... it is a very interesting process!

It has been exciting and overwhelming building our new home.Exciting because we are now making our home here in Honduras permanent. Overwhelming because we have never built a house before... especially a mud house!!

Thankfully, my dad was here for two months to help start the building process for the house. He has almost 30 years of experience with building homes in the USA. Even though building with adobe has been a new learning-curve for him… he has been so valuable with helping us make decisions and being our middle man between us and Pasito, our foreman.

But he is back in the states now.... Waahh!  Thankfully, he will be back in June to help finalize our house (hopefully!).

Because of his absent, it has been more challenging doing it all.. the ministry, our family, the house, the calls, the decisions, etc... but we are trusting in the Lord and so thankfulthat my dad is simply a phone call away when we need to ask questions or make sure things are going the way they are supposed to happen.

Every Saturday afternoon, we head over to our home and look over everything the men have done the past week, make sure everything is done the way we want and discuss different projects for the next week. We go there at least once or twice during the week in the mornings to talk to the men, but I enjoy going Saturday afternoons because everything is quiet... peaceful... and I am able to drink in the views surrounding our new home.

So soothing and breathtaking!

My husband, Jon, has been pulled, stretched and challenged beyond anything he has experienced with the building of our house. At least three times a week he has been calling my dad, updating him on the house, asking questions and being the middle man between my dad & our foreman. Going back and forth in English & Spanish and trying to keep it all straight in his head. He often says he has no idea what he is doing and if he is doing things right and hoping that he is doing things right, but...

I am moved by his efforts to do the best he can do with what little he knows about building a house. His efforts makes me pray for him all the more and love him all the more!

Making phone calls is one of his least favorite thing to do, but he makes those phone calls for me... knowing that I would do it if I could.

I would love to take this responsibility off his shoulders, but all I can do it stand next him and help him carry the burden to the best of my ability.

I know God is using this time... this season... to make my husband a stronger man for the future of Rancho Oasis. Please pray for him when you think of us!

As for me, it has been a challenge to be flexible with how I want my house to look.

I have all kinds of ideas, dreams and specifications of how I want my first (and hopefully last) house to be build. I even have a board on Pinterest dedicated to everything I would love in my "future" home!

I am very thankful that my mom helped draw up the plan for our house. She patiently drew up plan after plan after plan until we were finally satisfied with the layout of everything.

Honestly, I was super nervous when we started the foundation of our house before my dad arrived back in February. I did not want a repeat of mistakes that happened to the house we tried to build on the current property that we are living on at the moment.

So far, things have gone well and I pray that it will continue to go well till the very last detail.

Through it all... I have been challenged to be flexible and content. Especially when a change or two has to be made when a detail doesn't work out the way I hoped it would.

As you can see from the pictures... our home is pretty big, but for a couple good reasons.

I wanted an area where we would be able to host meals for large groups/teams in my home or somewhere around my home and my parents suggested a courtyard in the center of the house.

I loved the idea, but struggled to make a decision because I didn't want to have a large house... especially when our neighbors live in very small and simple homes. I didn't want to be viewed as a rich gringo family with a huge house, but in their eyes... we are rich, no matter how small and simple we try to live.

Through much prayer, we decided to go with the bigger house and courtyard for two reasons... one, to have plenty of space for our ministry partners to eat meals with us and to do Bible studies together as the ministry grows and two, to exercise my gift of hospitality by having teams & visitors in my home for meals.

Many of you know I love to cook. I enjoy cooking up good food for teams (usually have anywhere from 10 to 30 people at once!) that come alongside us for a week or two... so, it made more sense to use our home rather than build a separate building for meals with teams and large groups.

Now, I have to share with you a fun thing we are doing around the house.

Wine bottles in the walls.

Yep, you read that right. Let me explain...

Look at the picture above... see the small windows on the right wall and the 3 skinny windows straight ahead? Those windows will be filled with wine bottles of all colors. Pretty cool, right?

In the two pictures below, you will see bottles in the walls. When the afternoon sun hits it just right.

Does it look awesome?!

Well, they look pretty cool right now, but I will for share pictures later once the walls are done and the light is hitting the bottles just right. Then, they will be pretty awesome  :)

I have a love for glass bottles... especially wine bottles. No... I don't drink a lot of wine, but I do like to enjoy a nice wine once in a while. Haha! Anyway, I enjoy looking at them even more and using them to decorate my house with flowers or just simply as it is.

You are probably wondering what method I use to cut the bottles.

After trying all the different ways to cut a wine bottle... my dad found a method that consistently cut through the glass with very little cracks. 

My dad made a simple frame that we stick my heavy duty glass cutter in and roll the wine bottles on it just below the neck area, then we do a careful combination of heat and cold for the neck part to fall off. Next we tape two bottles of the same width together. I will have to show you guys step-by-step pictures later... when my dad comes back in June.

Please keep us in prayer as we move forward to complete our home. We are trusting in the Lord for His provision to be able to pay the men and buy materials needed to complete the house.

Our home is providing consistent jobs for several men who were not able to find work for several months before we came along. Many of these men are Christian men, including the foreman... who is a pastor of a local Baptist church.

Every time we go over there... there are smiles on these men's faces and gratefulness in their eyes for the jobs they have to provide for their families.

Unfortunately, we recently had to let some men go because we are not able to pay them. We are praying and waiting on the Lord's provision to be able to put those men back to work!

Please pray along with us!

I am excited to be sharing all this with you. I was so encouraged by the responses to my previous post and truly believe that they are confirmations from the Lord that I am on the right track!

I hope you are equally encouraged and blessed! Have a wonderful week celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!

Until next time...

"Where thou art, thou is home"

Emily Dickinson

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Ready to Make Noise, Again!

I’ve been too quiet around here. The past few months has been quite a ride for us and I just couldn’t seem to keep up with everything. Especially here at JMN.

My heart wasn’t in it anymore for a time.

I was tired of trying to keep up with everything that keeps a blog going… taking pictures, pinning on Pinterest, posting on FB, emails, affiliate links, tracking traffic and writing.

Especially writing.

Having a blog is a lot of work, but I realized recently that it doesn’t have to be that way. I am not keeping a blog to make a business out of it like most of my blogger friends… so why am I trying to do everything they are doing? They hire VAs to do most of that work! I guess part of me likes the idea of earning a small income on the side to help bless my family and our ministry.

That idea is not a priority because God has been so faithful to provide for our needs. I don’t need to be a work-at-home-mom. I already have a full plate with my growing (and noisy) family, trade school and working alongside my husband in the ministry of Rancho Oasis. Plus, we have a new property where we are building our new {permanent} home!

Life is very full and overwhelming at times right now.

The last few months of silence on here has been good for me to reset my priorities, refresh my heart and rethink my motives with blogging. To spent more time with my family. To be more focused on our day to day to life. To seek the Lord on what HE wants me to do with the blog.

Pull the plug or change the tune?

I know what He wants me to do and have known, in my heart, for a long time 

Before, when I was posting somewhat regularly, I really wanted to be more real in my posts… sharing about our everyday life as missionaries and a family living in a third world country and my deafness. I just couldn’t seem to pour out the words that have been sitting in my mind and heart for so long… so I just focused on recipes and sharing a little DIY here and there.

It was easy…. and safe.

But I am now ready to make noise again… I am ready to pour it out and get noisy!

But… honestly…

I am a little scared.

Scared that what I share will be silly or not good enough, rejected, criticized and leave me discouraged all over again, but I can’t let fear stop me from doing what I know I am supposed to do. I also can’t let what other people think or say stop me from doing what I must do!

What am I supposed to be doing?

Journaling… sharing about my life and our ministry in Honduras along with recipes and other things, but be more focused on just being me, here on the blog.

I am no super-mama or anything like that… I am just a deaf mama, wife and missionary. Yes, I am unique… not because of how I described myself, but because of what is written in Pslam 139.

"Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex (unique)! Your workmanship is marvelous... how well I know it." Psalm 139:14

Now, I am excited to begin, again, what I intended to do when I first started my blog.  I have so much to share with you… especially about our new {permanent} home and how we are building it. It has been a fun learning experience for me.

I am even more excited to share with you the news that I will be moving over to my own domain very soon… like in May or June! You can see that I now have www.just-making-noise.com, which is under construction right now.

Thank you for being awesome, faithful readers by showing your wonderful support, using my affiliate links and sharing words of encouragement through emails or comments. Quite a few of you emailed me over the last few months, asking why I haven’t been posting and shared with me words of encouragement & prayers.

Those emails have done so much for me! Those simple, yet uplifting words from pure strangers is a beautiful example of how God can use anyone to reach out to me in a powerful way.

Again, thank you and I am so grateful to have a special group of readers who enjoy the blog. Please continue to lift my family up in your prayers when you think of us.

Until the next post… Hasta luego!

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How Should We Make Our Plans & Goals?

Wow. 2013 literally flew by. At least for me, it did.

It seems like every year flies by a little faster. Am I the only one that feels that way? I still remember the days of my youth where I felt like some days would never end. Now, fast forward to today… I would give anything to have those days again!

As I look back, I wish I could've slowed down some of those days. Makes me think of the story in the Old Testament where God stopped the sun… I wish He would make the days slow down enough for me to be able to look back more clearly and reflect on all that has happened in the year of 2013.

Most of the year was a blur, but I do, thankfully, have precious moments and times that I will treasure in my heart and mind for years to come.

(source)

But… now that we are in 2014, everyone has been talking about making resolutions and setting goals for the new year. Everyone is asking these questions…

What do I want to do different this year? What do I want to do better? What do I want to avoid? What to do I want to change? What do I want to accomplish? What… what… what.

Thinking through those questions and reading up on plans, resolutions & goals posted by friends on Facebook,  it occurs to me that you and I can make all the plans & set all the goals we want, but it is God who directs our steps (Proverbs 16:1 & Proverbs 16:9). It is God's purpose that will prevail. (Proverbs 19:21)  Plans will succeed when we commit our actions to the Lord. (Proverb 16:3)

(source)

Without God… my plans & goals are meaningless, directionless and even a bit self-centered.

With God… my plans & goals will most likely change or never happen or will happen somewhat, but that's the beauty of faith. Truly, it is not me or you making things happen… it is God who works in me to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Ephesians 4)

I can make all the plans and set all the goals I want, but if I am not living a life of surrender…faith… love… and sacrifice, then they will mean nothing and accomplish nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2)

(source)

The main thing you and I must remember to do is surrender our mind, heart, soul and body over to Him… daily... then the year ahead of us will be what He wants it to be and it will be a great year, no matter what happens!

Honestly? It is so much easier to just go along for the ride, look forward to the adventures ahead and enjoy the fact that God is in control. He's driving and I am the passenger. I can enjoy the scenery going by, one day at a time.

But it's not always easy to do that.

Yes, I have my days where I don't understand where He is going or don't like where He is taking me or why He is allowing something to happen or get mad when He doesn't take me where I think I should go, but really… why try to understand everything along the way? (Proverbs 20:24)

He is God.

(source)

For the past 6 years since we moved to Central America to start RO4Y… I have not made much of an effort to set goals or resolutions for the new year. Why? Because His plans and goals for my life are so much better. (Psalm 40:5)

Of course, I've made plans and goals over the years, but many of them were not just for me... but for the Lord and/or my family and/or other people. I make my plans and goals praying that God will ultimately direct my steps as I step out to act on the plans/goals.

Almost always, my plans change or takes a different direction....

I didn't plan to start up a trade school.

I didn't plan to have 4 kids.

I didn't plan to move from Costa Rica to Honduras.

I didn't plan to move back to Iowa after 2 years in Mexico.

I didn't plan to become a missionary.
I didn't plan to get married at 18.
I didn't plan to quit riding/training horses for a time.

These are big things that happened in my life starting most recently. All of them God's doing and looking back... I wouldn't change any of them.

Yes, I have my days where I wished my plans had happened instead of God's plans, but then I am reminded of this verse along with the others listed above...

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

There is no better place to be than in the center of God's plan... even if that means being in rural Honduras for who knows how long. This, my life now, is where I am supposed to be... a wife of a great man, mama to 4 amazing kids and missionary to the Honduran people.

(source)

In the end of it all, I just pray for the strength to daily choose to embrace the life God has given me. It is hard sometimes, but... the one plan/goal I do have that helps me get through the hard days and will hold on to till the day I stand before Jesus.

Is to hear Him say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant"... in stereo with my healed ears.

(source)

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Somewhere Over the Rainbow... My Girls' Birthday Party

Whew! We have been back in our home for almost a week now and it feels really good to be back in our space, but we are still going through some re-entry adjustments.

All in all, we had a great furlough... it was busy, but fruitful. We've come away with many new memories and my girls' birthday party is one of them.

My two oldest girls, Naomi & Tabitha, are unique... they are my Labor Day babies. Both born on Labor Day two years & 3 days apart. I always say God sure has a sense of humor having me go to labor and birth on Labor Day... not once, but twice in a row!

For the past few years, we've celebrated the girls' birthdays right at the beginning of our yearly furlough. I did my best with doing simple birthday celebrations for them, but this year decided to really go an extra mile and put in extra effort to really throw a party for them.

I actually started planning, by accident, back in May!

It all started on Pinterest... of course (rolling eyes). I was simply browsing around and a beautiful picture of a rainbow cake caught my eye... not only that, but the caption said something about using homemade, all natural dyes.

Yep, that caught my attention and an idea started blooming in my mind.

That's when I started my 'Birthday Pin Board'. Gotta love Pinterest!

I started planning, pinning and made a list...

Girls' Birthday Party - Rainbow Theme

Rainbow skirts for all 3 girls.
   - measure them (waist & length)
   - ask a friend if she can make 3 of this rainbow skirt.

Birthday banners
   - rainbow colors
   - order from Etsy

Small Plastic Horses
   - spray paint them in red, green, blue, purple & orange (orange turned out hideous!)

Cake Stand
   - ask a friend to make a simple kind using a wood circle and old ice cream sundae glass.
   - spray paint white or red?

Rainbow Cupcakes
   - contact a friend to help make the cupcakes
   - bake in mason jars
   - make simple buttercream frosting
   - make rainbow sprinkles using natural, homemade dyes and coconut sprinkles

Rainbow Fruit Sorbet
   - buy fresh or frozen fruits (strawberry/banana, mango, pineapple/banana, kiwi and        
     blueberry)

What made this a successful party was my asking for help from friends. I learned from past experiences that I couldn't pull off a simple party like this without some help!

All of them were glad to do it... especially for the girls. You all know who you are, thank you!

The girls knew they were having a small party, but the theme was a surprise. I knew there was no way I could plan a complete surprise party, but I can surprise them on the theme!

I had originally planned to do the party on my parents' front enclosed porch where the walls are a fresh white, making the room bright and sunny. I wanted to string up the banners across the room to give it a festive look.

My mom did a great job decorating the enclosed porch with fun mix-matched chairs, plants and pictures that all basically match with the colors of the rainbow theme.

In my mind, it was a perfect set up and excellent for taking good pictures. Plus, there was enough room for everyone who was invited to sit comfortably and enjoy the party!

But right when we arrived to my parents' house from Honduras... the weather took a turn from comfortably warm to super hot all week.

It was a melting 100 degrees outside by early afternoon on the party day. Waah!

I was SO disappointed, but made the choice to shake it off and make the best of it. The party was not about making everything look perfect, but for my girls and they don't care if the set up is perfect or not... it is the thought, effort, joy and excitement that counts and that is what they will remember.

I asked my hubby to help me bring in the yellow, retro 50s table (a wedding gift from my parents to us) from the porch and pushed it up to the window... there I pulled back the curtains as far as it would go to allow as much light in as possible.

Sigh... not how I wanted to look, but I knew my girls will still love the surprise.

I get to work prepping for the party... getting my colorful stripe dishes out (my family kept them for us when we moved to Central America!) and setting up everything on the table.

I also started working on the rainbow fruit sorbet, which I will share more below. My friend dropped off the cupcakes and I send my mother-in-law out to the garage to spray paint the mini-horses.

During this time, the girls were kept busy upstairs so they wouldn't see their 'surprise' party.



Once the mini-horses were dried. I set them up on the cupcakes... they were perfect. Do they look awesome?!

I did have orange spray paint, but it came out clumpy and a hideous bright orange color. The paint was coming off and I didn't like the idea of eating bright neon orange paint with my cupcake. Those poor neon orange horses got tossed aside.

The colorful sprinkles on top... those are actually coconut flakes that have been naturally colored!

I will have to do a post on how to make homemade colored sprinkles with coconut flakes. It is pretty simple and a fun project that I know my girls will enjoy! The sprinkles really perked everything up. I almost didn't even want to do them, but change my mind later. So glad I did!

I set up all the jars on the cake stand and around the front of the stand on the table. I was so pleased with how everything was coming together. Shows how a good attitude helps you see everything in a different & better light!

So, using the natural rainbow cake recipe... my friend helped make these rainbow cupcakes and the buttercream. Do they look lovely and natural?!

She was concern the colors weren't bright enough, but I wasn't expecting the bright, obnoxious, artificial rainbow colors and thought they looked perfect and so natural. Like they should look!

For the ingredients, I originally wanted to use sprouted flour, but the bag I ordered didn't come in time. We made do with regular whole white wheat flour with a little bit of unbleached flour. We used organic cane sugar, but we cut the cane sugar back by a 1/2 cup or so. We also cut the sugar back in the buttercream. My girls don't like sweet cake (woohoo!) and neither do I.

The cake was a little dense & chewy, but tasted really yummy and the buttercream was perfect with it. Even my husband, who is not a fan of cakes, really liked it a lot!

Next is the rainbow fruit sorbet.

Of course.

Me being the "Ice Cream Queen" and recently knighted as "The Ice Cream Mentor" by some of you guys... I had to make and serve some form of homemade ice cream for the girls' party!!

My parents have an ice cream maker, but I didn't have time to re-freeze the bowl over and over to get all the rainbow colors. So, I did a short-cut that is super easy and a no-fail method!

You can actually find the tutorial of how to make the rainbow sorbet in my ice cream ebook, Just Making Ice Cream... there's even a picture of it on the front cover!

Hmm, maybe I will share with you how I make these fantastic rainbow sorbets in a later post... with a video, maybe  ;o)

Anyway, I like to mix banana with the frozen strawberries and pineapples because of their higher water contend... which can make them very icy once frozen. The banana helps them stay creamier and makes it easier to make nice scoops once the sorbet thaws a little.

Man, the textures and colors of this rainbow sorbet is just downright delicious! When thawed a bit, the sorbet scooped up beautifully. See the last picture below.

Next, I send up the girls' outfits. Darling rainbow skirts handmade by a local friend!

I finished prepping everything and got my photos done. Just before we were expecting our guests to arrive... I called down the girls and we got ready with our cameras to capture their expressions when they saw the table.

As you can see... they loved it!

"Oh mama! The horses look so cute! Did you paint them?"

"Mama made rainbow sorbet! Yea!"

"Ooh, look at the colorful cakes in the jar!"

"Look, there are sprinkles on the frosting!"

"We are having a rainbow party! Thank you Mama!"

Even though Poema's birthday wasn't until October I still had to have a skirt made for her!! 

Don't they all look darling?!

I am humbled and honored that the Lord has blessed me with 3 girls. I have a big responsibility in raising them because they will be learning from me as they grow up.

I pray that my life will lead each of them to desire a relationship with our Lord and follow Him all the days of their lives.

I want to show them a love of life that can found only in Jesus.

I want to be an example of a humbled wife that loves and submits to her husband through everything. I want to show them the joy that can be found in family and children, no matter how challenging it can get.

When I pass on from this world, I want to be remembered by them as a woman, wife and mama who loved Jesus with all her heart, soul, mind and strength. Leaving them inspired to do that same.

That's a big and sometimes scary responsibility. I am human and make mistakes, but I remind myself that my girls don't need me to be perfect... they just need me to be real and humble.

That's all.

The party was a hit. The cupcakes were delicious. The rainbow sorbet was yummy. Everyone enjoyed their time with us and celebrating the girls' birthdays.

Thank you Lord for another year that we can celebrate with our 3 special girls!

Would you like a scoop of rainbow sorbet??  :o)

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