{"id":448,"date":"2011-12-01T08:56:13","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T16:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/?p=448"},"modified":"2011-12-01T08:56:13","modified_gmt":"2011-12-01T16:56:13","slug":"showers-of-blessings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/2011\/12\/01\/showers-of-blessings\/","title":{"rendered":"Showers of Blessings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Entering this week, I felt like I hit a language plateau. \u00a0It is easier to feel progress at the beginning of language learning, but in the middle the gradual increase becomes painfully slow. \u00a05 hours a day we sit in class and I desperately try to form sentences from the words that I know to describe pictures in front of me. \u00a0I know that I am making progress, but some days it is difficult to keep that in perspective. \u00a0 Yet in this week of discouragement, everywhere I looked blessings came our way. \u00a0God sure does take good care of us!<\/p>\n

\"Some
Some day I will be able to speak to people here<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OUR FIRST PACKAGE ARRIVED! <\/strong>We were blessed this week to receive pepperoni, Macaroni and cheese, Swedish fish, parmesean cheese, new books, and so much more. \u00a0There was something in the box for all of us and it was such an encouragement to our hearts. \u00a0Tyler’s glasses also arrived, but those were not received so warmly. \u00a0Hopefully in time he was come to appreciate them more.<\/p>\n

\"We
We love new books! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Not
Not so sure about glasses<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nothing like a party to brighten the week.<\/strong> Emmaus (a\u00a0friend) turned three and so we got the blessing of attending his Birthday party. \u00a0This was a special treat for the boys and therefore blessed our whole family. \u00a0It started at a park where they got an hour of jumping fun. \u00a0Then we got to watch “Cars 2” in English projected on a wall. \u00a0Almost as good as a movie theater.<\/p>\n

\"Climbing
Climbing up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Coming
Coming down<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Let's
Let's do it again<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Jumping\"
Jumping<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Blessings mixed with sadness<\/strong> – We found out that Ethan’s first friend, Canaan and his family will be leaving Africa in February because of health reasons. \u00a0This marks the continuation of our life of goodbyes. \u00a0Ethan was very sad when he heard this news. \u00a0I did, however, thank God for the short time we had with this family. \u00a0Canaan played a huge role in helping Ethan adjust to school and life here. \u00a0Also as they leave, they have allowed us to purchase items from them that they will not be taking back home. \u00a0This means that we now own the basics of a furnished house. \u00a0This is a huge relief to us knowing that we will not have to worry about this in the future.<\/p>\n

\"Canaan
Canaan and Ethan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Tyler
Tyler and Emmaus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bet
Bet you can't find Tori<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Less than 2 weeks – <\/strong>Our first visitors arrive in less than 2 weeks. \u00a0We ARE SO EXCITED! \u00a0We can now see the day on Ethan’s calendar and I am not sure who in our family is the most excited.<\/p>\n

\"Ethan's
Ethan's Calendar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"There
There is the day!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thank you God for all the blessing you send our way!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Entering this week, I felt like I hit a language plateau. \u00a0It is easier to feel progress at the beginning of language learning, but in the middle the gradual increase becomes painfully slow. \u00a05 hours a day we sit in class and I desperately try to form sentences from the words that I know to […]<\/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-448","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\/448","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=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/joel-mcmartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}