Donation = God's Perfect Provision

This week we were given a donation from the local butchery of 100 pounds of meat bones. Yes I said meat BONES. The are bones left over from butchering that still have scraps of meat on them and can be used to boil up and make stew, gravy, added to beans, etc. These are the only "meat" many will get and a treasure for those that are poor here in Mozambique. We made room in our chest freezer and our small fridge freezer to store them. Yesterday we started distributing them and continued today. So far we have been able to give them to a primary school (200 kids), a children's feeding center (75 kids), an orphanage (15 kids), a local church that will give to their widows and several individuals in need. We still have about 1/3 left and will continue to distribute.

We are just so grateful for God's Perfect Provision through this unexpected donation!

My Guys

Here is what my guys have been up to lately.....

Preparing for Easter..

Drawing...

Playing...

And fixing things.

Grace & Mercy

A friend on Facebook recently posted this quote.

'Grace keeps giving me things I don't deserve,

and Mercy keeps withholding things I do....'

I like it.

It is true.

I need it.

I was going to try to have some deep, insightful exposition on the topic but....

it's all pretty much been said.

A Day at the Beach

Sunday we drove to the beach in Beira.

The flood waters had receeded, mostly.

The boys sported their new hats from Grammy.

They were excited for a day in the sand.

Our friends were great company.

The boys did lots of creating.

I enjoyed coffee.

And the view.

There were fish to be caught.

Games to be played.

And laziness had by all.

Finally, A Good Use for Rats

From a online news article: "For quite some time, dogs have been one of the main tools used to detect land mines. However recently, there is a new animal that is proving to be just as useful in sniffing out landmines and other unexploded ordinances-rats. The non-profit APOPO, based in Tanzania, has been training rats for mine detection and is currently putting them to work in Mozambique to clear minefields left over from conflicts in the 1960s, 70s and 90s. The rats wear harnesses attached to a wire held on either end by a handler. The rats then run up and down the attached wire, and each time the rat reaches the end of the wire, the handlers move slightly in one direction, until the rat has meticulously inspected the entire section. The rats are trained to detect the smell of TNT, and to start scratching and digging when they find something. They are then called over by their handlers and given a tasty reward, and the mine can be removed."

I guess there is finally one good use for rats here in Mozambique!

Plumbing Day

Today started off quite WET. Yes, I said wet. I woke up to my husband in the bathroom laying under the sink in a puddle trying to stop a leak that apparently had been dripping all night long. We are not light sleepers so neither of us heard the water dripping so by the time it was noticed early this morning there was quite a little BIG puddle on the bathroom floor. My hubby skillfully jammed a rag in the hole with a screwdriver to stop the water and left it until he could get some parts to replace the broken part. Once he returned with the new part (2 of them actually) he once again got on the floor and replaced the part. Only problem was as he was tightening down the connection the part broke apart. Yes, the brand new, cheap, Chinese imported, part was no longer any good. But because my husband is a pessimist BRILLIANT he had another one to replace the new broken one. So he did, very carefully. It worked. Since he had been to the store to buy plumbing supplies he next decided to tackle the kitchen faucet that has been dripping more and more each day. He removed the old faucet and replaced it with the new one that was all shiny and sparkly. I was impressed. This evening as he was washing supper dishes (isn't he great?) he started yelling for Nate to get him the biggest rubber band he owns out of his desk and come quick. Of course I had to see what all the action was about so I headed into the kitchen to find my hubby trying to hold the new, sparkly, cheap, chinese imported faucet together with his hands. He had tried to turn the water off and the faucet knob had completely broken off in his hand. I couldn't help but smirk and laugh out loud as water was squirting into the air with the faucet in Marc's hand. Once he had secured it with the rubber band he got busy putting the old faucet back on. Hey what's a little drip?? At least there is not squirting and no large puddles.

Mozambique's Beauty

When I think of the beauty in Mozambique, 

I often think of  

the deep red earth,

the striking mountains....

or the lush green valleys...

Those are indeed beautiful.

 However true beauty is not found in objects

but in PEOPLE,

the faces of Mozambique

that God desperately loves.