Going somewhere?

He's down!!!

After 3 nights of sharing my bed with a cranky, crying, fussy 7.5 month old that I swear is destined to be a professional football (soccer) player from all the kicking he does in his sleep, who is currently rejecting all solid foods and has decided he wants to be held ALL. THE. TIME...

the kid is FINALLY down for a nap!!!

Can I get a HALLELUJAH?!

So in these precious few moments I sacrifice much needed sleep to bring you a report on our summer.

Don't you feel LOVED?!

Haha! But really, I just need to get all this out of my system before I explode!

Over the last 3 months we have been in 2 different countries and a few different states as well...

Please hold.
The monster has arisen... (that is totally said in love!)

21 minutes. He slept for 21 minutes! ARRRRGGGG!

At least that little cat nap has changed his rebellious attitude and he's currently sitting on the carpet chewing things that ought not be chewed and watching some show about bugs made out of vegetables on Baby TV. P.S. I never want to eat carrots again.

OK, where were we? Oh yeah.

So we have been out and about quite a bit over the last few months. First of course to Atlanta, which you can read about in my previous post entitled "Fa la la la." Then Josiah and I finally got to Bermuda where he met my side of the family and rest a little since we haven't had the chance to do much of that lately.

It was well needed and so appreciated after 6 months of waiting for passports. #shoutouttohermajestyspassportoffice

(Crabby UPDATE - Now in his Exer-saucer)

Then with two and a half days to wash laundry and repack we headed out for for a ministry trip with the Juan Dolio church leadership team to West Virginia.

It was great to see many who have supported us and loved us well, and to minister to those still suffering from the recent flooding and a ministry that cares for and educates families of babies exposed to drugs before birth. It was a humbling experience being reminded that people suffer all over the world. We must all step up to help one another! Check out the report a local newspaper wrote about the trip.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE!


(Crabby UPDATE - Now on my lap. Typing with one hand.)

From there we traveled to Pennsylvania to visit my sister, brother-in-law and supporting church, Clymer Baptist Church. Robersy and I updated the church, fellowshipped with the members (AKA Ate well, as good Christians do.) and were challenged by other visiting missionaries who shared their call and vision to serve in England.

I love seeing others that God has called to serve in other parts of the world.

Of course we also LOVED being with family and taking a few minutes to breath with a couple nights in the Poconos (THANKS MOM!!!) and a visit with Charles and Ashley Carter (fellow missionaries) too.

Photos of our last leg will be posted next week to give you something to look forward to! Haha.

(Crabby UPDATE - Back on the floor. Knocking things over on the TV stand. Breakables removed.)

So needless to say, it's been a great summer but a BUSY one indeed.

As we hung around JFK airport for 6 hours on our looooong layover we walked to each gate to see where each flight came from and where it was going. Incredible to see flights to Japan, Amsterdam and England. So many flights of all different shapes and sizes headed in all different directions. And it got me thinking...

But you'll have to tune in next Monday to find out what :)

(Final Crabby UPDATE - Daddy is home. Praise God Almighty!!!)

Magical milk and other life lessons.

Saline drops are your friend.

Breast milk is magical. Put it in eyes and ears to help infection. (It works, people!)

Don't give cough medicine after eating a bowl of oatmeal cereal. 
Barf. 
Everywhere.

These are a few life lessons I have learned over the last week while tending to our cuddly little peanut, Josiah. Although he is the happiest sick kid I've ever met... he has still been very demanding :)


As you know, I like to get our blog out every Monday but these last few weeks have proved difficult as we've been busy with teen camp, trips, ministry, groups and of course trying to stay afloat as the craziness of summer winds down.

Ministry has never been 9 to 5... but summer adds its own dose of CRAZY!

Saying that, we are so grateful for the amazing, unforgettable experiences we have had over the years, and the beautiful people we have had the privilege of serving beside.

Last week I gave you a run down on our trip to Atlanta, but had promised some updates on camp. 

It was an incredible (and tiring!) few days where teens enjoyed the preaching of God's Word, Bible competition, worship, sports, challenges and plenty of games. There were several decisions made, including Salvation and dedications. Please be praying for those who made a commitment! That their churches would come alongside them and help them to grow!

Here are just a few photos from Mud Day and one on the last day of camp:

Upon our return from Atlanta, we were able to serve with some of our favorite people!

Robersy has gotten to play a WHOLE lot of baseball lately :) and even translated (YES! Translated!) for a visiting team led by our director (John Zeller) and former MLB player, Keith Madison.

Tuesday Girl's club has been going great too. Last week we were able to share the Gospel with over 31 young ladies. We pray this time during summer makes a lasting impact on their lives!

Of course between groups and ministry we've been able to celebrate graduations, Father's Day (celebrated a little later that the States/Bermuda), and Josiah's 6 months! 

It has been a fantastic summer and we are ready for a little down time before the school year begins again.

Thank you for your prayers and I look forward to updating you again next Monday <3

Love,
The Laras

Fa la la la la...

"Ooooh, it feels like Christmas!"

I squealed with excitement as I got a chill from the breeze after the freshly fallen rain.

Robersy and I were sitting outside on the porch playing Phase 10 since the electricity had gone out for the fifth time today. ("THIS is the reality of the Dominican Republic..." Luci pitch)

Shivering I ran inside to get feety pajamas for our scantly clad child jumping in his Exer-saucer. Robersy gathered the ingredients to make some yummy Dominican hot chocolate and I lit some candles for seasonal ambiance. We love winter!

Brrrrr...

A brisk 77 degrees.

HA-HA!

So maybe it's not a New York Christmas or even anywhere close for our Canadian or UK friends/family... but for just a second that's exactly how it felt.

In fact, aside from the weather, it has felt like "the week after Christmas" since our return from the States last Saturday.

You know what I mean?!

You plan (and plan and PLAN) and prepare and travel and celebrate... then in a blink of an eye, it's over. Oh how you wish you could go back and do it all over again.

That's how we feel :( All 13 of of us!

But in the same breath we can not even find sufficient words to express our gratitude for the love and kindness shown by dozens of people through meals, equipment, uniforms, shoes, accommodation, transportation, time and several, SEVERAL other ways.

We confirmed that neither the English nor Spanish dictionaries successfully describe our hearts.

Yet we shall try :)

My Facebook contains well over a hundred photos of our Atlanta baseball trip but for those who didn't get to see... here are a few highlights from our time traveling with 10 Dominican boys on their first trip to America.

We were excited to see a miracle right before our eyes when Robersy, Josiah and my passports arrived through DHL Express DAYS before our scheduled departure.






The plane ride was especially thrilling as it was the first time for all the boys! We made it with no tears and only 1 barf bag filled which was sweetly handed to me at our arrival in to Atlanta. #thanksbuddy

We were given a warm welcome by Taylor Barnes (the man who put all of this trip together following a life changing mission trip to the Dominican Republic last year), his family and friends!

Immediately we were whisked away to see an Atlanta Braves game!!! 

After a looooooong drive home and a good night of sleep we were up and ready to go again with a visit to a Sunday School class and some time of worship with Pastor David Sampson and Parkway Baptist church.

For the next few days we had a Vacation Bible School in the mornings and practice/games in the afternoon and evening.

We studied Noah's Ark, but this wasn't a VBS for toddlers! We learned interesting facts about Noah and his relationship with the Lord as well as cultural information to help us understand the times in which this historical event occurred. Kyle (our Bible teacher and Parkway's youth pastor) even led us outside to measure the dimensions of the Ark! 





Of course there were games, snacks and music.

Our boys are STILL singing the VBS songs - in English!!!

"It was an ocean commotion!!!"
"Rock the boat. Rock, rock the BIG boat!"

VBS is where many friendships were formed for both the kids and for us adults too :)


Then off to baseball...

The Gospel was preached at EVERY game! 

P.S. See that super cool dude next to the preacher... that is Charles Carter. He, along with his amazing wife, Ashley, helped us translate for the week. We are so blessed by their friendship and ministry <3

I know you can see it in their eyes... but these kids LOVED every second! They even made the news! Not sure how to add the video from Channel 3 news, but here is the article from Channel 9 below...

News Channel 9

Then the boys were invited to a baseball presentation at... Lake Winnie Theme Park!

Bumper cars were their favorite, but we were able to get all the boys on a wooden roller-coaster too. They had a BLAST! Even though one boy claimed he was having a heart attack on a drop during the ride :)






The boys (and their coach) were proud to represent their homeland in the presentation and felt like celebrities as they shook hands/high-fived with each little baseball player of the teams represented.













In one final HOO-RAH, we said our goodbyes at a pool party.

Amazing that language was not a factor in the friendships formed.

Tears were shed by all.








And with that, we packed our bags and headed home once again.

Forever changed because of the sacrifice made by hundreds 

......(Taylor Barnes & family, Pastor David and Melissa Sampson & the Parkway Baptist church, Moriah Baptist (accommodation), Iglesia Misionera Juan Dolio (our home church), van drivers, cooks, cleanup crews, laundry crew, VBS team, the whole youth group, Choo Choo, Cracker Barrell (x2!), Chick Fil A, all other food suppliers, Chick's Lumber Yard (uniforms), all of our fans who traveled near and FAR! Everyone who gave... Everyone who prayed. I know I'm missing people, but please know from the bottom of our hearts we are so, SO, SOOOOO blessed by you!)......

and the love of one ALMIGHTY GOD!!!
To HIM be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Unpacking and packing again... in faith.

I am not a mean person. It was not my intention to leave you hanging all day!

Shortly after I posted a Facebook message to give a little preview of my blog... the electricity went out. It has been out until 5 minutes ago. PHEW! A long, HOT, electronic-less day :)

However I did get a lot done. Organized Josiah's clothes (This kid is growing like weed. No that is not a typo. Once, when I lived in San Pedro, I asked a man to come and put grass in my concrete backyard. He did so and I saw a plant growing in the corner. It wasn't the same as the other grass so I plucked it, threw it out and more grew back. The more I plucked, the more vigorously the plant grew, and the more excited the gardener was to help me with my yard. Did a little Google search. Boom. Missionary Sarah - before I was with SCORE - was unknowingly providing marijuana for the gardener. Not okay. #sidejob #supportgrowing LOL.)

Uhhh... sidetracked. Where was I?!

Oh yeh. So I organized Josiah's clothing, then... dun, dun, DUN... I packed. IN FAITH.

The truth is, we have no passports in our hands. HOWEVER, we do have a DHL tracking number and a pick-up date.

Remember Robersy's passport was supposed to have been sent... well, it had been locked in examination with Josiah's passport. After a million and one calls to the British Embassy in England we got a lovely young man who listened and, thank the LORD, believed us. He went directly to his manager, who spoke directly to the examiner. Get this - they have NO IDEA why it has taken 4.5 MONTHS (that's right people - I did NOT start working on this yesterday. It has been 4.5 MONTHS) to get these passports back. So the manager apologized and expressed them off to us.

Anyways, according to DHL we can pick up Robersy's on Wednesday at 8AM and Josiah's at 8AM on Thursday. Please pray for no hiccups. No strikes. No storms. No problems. And all should be fine - "according to HIS will."

So needless to say... there have been tears, mini panic attacks and little sleep. This is such a BIG opportunity for these kids and I don't want to let them, Taylor, Pastor Sampson or anyone else down. We appreciate your prayers until these passports are in our hands.

But in FAITH, we pack. And in FAITH we send you the following game dates / times / locations.

Monday, July 18th at 6:30PM at Chickamauga GA.

Tuesday, July 19th at 6:30PM at Baylor High School in Chattanooga Tennessee

Wednesday, July 20th 2:00PM in the afternoon in East Ridge Tennessee @ Camp Jordan Park


Thursday, July 21st at 6:30PM at McCallie High School in Chattanooga Tennessee

You are only welcome if you are cheering for our Dominican team :D haha. 

Just kidding! 

Come out and support us. PLEASE make sure you come over at the game and say hello too!

OKAY, running out, but I hope to update you on camp before we head out to 'MERICA. Until then, here is a photo :)

Prayers!