{"id":1411,"date":"2012-09-05T21:23:31","date_gmt":"2012-09-05T21:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/?p=1411"},"modified":"2012-09-05T21:23:31","modified_gmt":"2012-09-05T21:23:31","slug":"blessings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/2012\/09\/05\/blessings\/","title":{"rendered":"Blessings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>One of my favorite things to do is look around at the blessings that surround us.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The screens are finally up and our bug population is drastically decreasing.<\/li>\n<li>A smile on Ethan&#8217;s face after his first day of school.<\/li>\n<li>A new cabinet in our kitchen to keep my Tupperware safe from the dust.<\/li>\n<li>A chance to host a group of our coworkers from Dakar for lunch.<\/li>\n<li>A day off from language (I think God knew I needed a little break)<\/li>\n<li>A relaxing trip to the beach with our host family.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1420\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1420\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020048.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1420\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020048.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020048.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020048-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1420\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">We took a day trip to the beach with our host family<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1416\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1416\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020042.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1416\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020042.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020042.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020042-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1416\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">All 11 of us traveled in a 5 passenger car for an hour and half, but it was worth it!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1418\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1418\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020044.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1418\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020044.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020044.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020044-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1418\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">We still spent the entire day in French and cooked a full meal over a charcoal fire <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1415\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1415\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020040.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1415\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020040.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020040.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020040-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1415\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">But for the first time Joel and I were able to relax in the host world<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1417\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1417\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020043.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1417\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020043.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020043.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020043-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1417\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The boys had a great time (once Tyler got over the shock that the beach was sandy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1419\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1419\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020045.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1419\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020045.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020045.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/files\/2012\/09\/P1020045-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1419\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Thank you God for your gentle reminder that we are making progress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>One HUGE Blessing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Before we had the need, God had already lead someone to help us with exactly what we needed for Ethan&#8217;s year of schooling. \u00a0Isn&#8217;t our God just amazing? \u00a0It was just one gift, but even that one gift has made such a huge difference.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A great school for Ethan &#8211;<\/strong>\u00a0 After Ethan&#8217;s first day we were so thankful for the school that God provided for him. \u00a0It is a great school and for the first time since we arrived in Africa, he actually likes going to school. \u00a0His teacher speaks a little English and he is making friends there. \u00a0I can&#8217;t tell you what a blessing this is for our whole family.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A new community of people<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; We enter one more African community and get an opportunity to build more relationships. \u00a0We pray that God will use us and Ethan to be a light to this community.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The\u00a0testimony of how God provides &#8211; \u00a0<\/strong>We shared with our church here about the whole process of choosing a school for Ethan. Then later we got to testify how God provided.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A marker of God&#8217;s faithfulness for our children to see &#8211;\u00a0<\/strong>Ethan was amazed as we showed him all the details that God worked out for his schooling. \u00a0Those moments when we get a chance to see how God is touching our children&#8217;s hearts are so special.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is only one gift of many that we have received, but each gift has made a huge impact in our life and ministry here. \u00a0As I\u00a0marveled\u00a0at what God did this week, it made me once again so thankful for the team that surrounds us with prayers and support. \u00a0So Thank You!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of my favorite things to do is look around at the blessings that surround us. The screens are finally up and our bug population is drastically decreasing. A smile on Ethan&#8217;s face after his first day of school. A new cabinet in our kitchen to keep my Tupperware safe from the dust. A chance [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":830,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2545],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1411","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-updates-and-news","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/830"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}